Frank jumped up and spun towards the source of the sound, lurching around the corner was a hulking monstrosity. Looking like a cross between a bear and dear, standing at least 8 feet tall with twisted knurled antlers sprouting from multiple points of its head. One arm was withered to barely nothing, the other side swollen to monstrous proportions, causing it to slump down on its right side from the weight. Its cloven feet thumped down on the ground with each lumbering step.
It swung its huge antlered head to and fro as it staggered into the street. At first it seemed lost, uncertain. As Frank took a step back he disturbed the pile off rocks he had just been sat on with a loud clatter. The beasts head snapped towards Frank, its maw opening to reveal yellowed, broken and dripping fangs and let out a staggering roar, before lurching forward surprisingly fast.
Frank turned to run, but before he could make it more than a few steps he felt a huge impact from behind, throwing him forward. He landed roughly and once again instincts took over. He spun around to see his assailant. The bear was viciously thrashing its head about, as if trying to savage some unseen enemy with its antlers where Frank had been stood only a moment before.
His hands raised up in front of him as he desperately thought ’Mana Bolt! Mana Bolt! Mana Bolt! Mana Bolt!’
His hands once again glowed blue and spat forth a streak of blue energy, impacting on the body of the horror bear. Each impact was accompanied by a THUNK and as sections of the bears torso exploded out.
[Mana -1 :8]
[Mana -1 :7]
[Mana -1 :6]
[Mana -1 :5]
Flashed by in the upper left corner of Franks vision. The bear stumbled forward, growling and roaring, despite missing huge chunks of its torso it shuffled forward, opening its maw as its head approached Frank.
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’It’s gonna bite me! Flashed through Franks mind as he tried to pour more power through his hands. His hands started glowing red now, and just a moment later the bears head brushed against his fingers. The light from his hands rushed out, seemed to infuse the bears head and then everything seemed to pause for a moment in Franks perception, before the bears head exploded, throwing the creatures mangled body backwards and away from him.
[Mana -5: 0]
Gasping for breath Frank read the notifications scrolling up his vision.
[CONGRATULATIONS! You have defeated a PLAGUED LURCHER! You have gained 100 EXP.]
[Magical Points: 2 (+2)]
[Mammals killed + 1]
[Plagued enemies killed + 1]
[For defeating an enemy with an unlearned Skill, you have been awarded additional Points and Skills.]
[Skill unlocked: Mana Infusion]
Frank took a shuddering breath as the implications of the notifications flooded through his mind. He’s used a new Skill, one he hadn’t learned through the system implicitly, and the system had awarded him the Skill as a reward for it.
*’I turned it’s head into a grenade, and blew it up.’ He thought to himself. ’Is that what Mana Infusion is?’ His thoughts were interrupted as the menu system opened itself up.
[Skill Details: Mana Infusion:]
[By focussing your Mana you can push it into the world as another form of energy to manifest different effects. Effects vary based on type of energy infused, the intent of the infusion, and the material infused.]
Frank let the menu close. He could infuse his mana into the world. In various forms of energy. How that energy was then released was changed by how and what he used it on. Looking around at the wasted scrap of his robots, and the ruined structures around him, he couldn’t help but grin. His last experiment had been about trying to focus and condense energy, and now he had a Skill that allowed him to do just that.
’Time to get back to experimentation.’ Frank mused as he started to pick up pieces of scrap metal and components.