CHAPTER 46 - Turning point IV

Leo

*Squeal* *Squeal*

“Argh!”

*Squeak* *Squeak* *Squeak* *Squeak* *Squeak* *Squeak* *Squeak*

“Come you disgusting things!” I taunt the monsters swarming me to come.

*gasp* I can even get a second of rest in between the attacks.

My enemies are so piled up that it is impossible for me to flee just by running, which is good... I wouldn’t like it any other way.

Claws come swinging at me from all sides, but I don't panic. I have been dealing with that kind of attacks for a while now and I am already used to them by now.

I use my qi blade to push ahead, slicing the mole in front of me as I use the mana I had accumulated to create a big wall of spikes around my other undefended flanks. Having cleared the incoming threats, I use the cover of the spikes to suck all the surrounding mana.

But the makeshift dome of rocks and dirt doesn’t hold for long, soon crumbling, succumbing to the hard claws of the moles.

I take a quick look around, and I can see a whole army of them still waiting for their chance to get to me.

‘I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but this is way too many of them.’ I think as I jump to avoid a new attack coming from below my feet. I escape the range of the long and sharp claws of the monsters one after another, using everything I have in store to keep myself alive.

I am doing fine, but I can't help but lay my eyes on the unending wave of enemies. ‘It’s going to be a long night.’

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An hour before

I left the meeting with haste. Angrier than ever before and wanting to forget about everything that happened in the last few hours.

‘This sucks! My anger isn’t going to go away just by wishing it to disappear, and I can even stay mad at Sera for what she has done.’ I try to get my mind free of useless thoughts, but I can’t help but mull over Sera’s speech.

I try and try, and try again, but try as I might, this rage won't go away. The sentences keep repeating in my mind, reminding me of how useless I was and still am to everyone who puts their faith in me.

That’s when I spot it, a group of moles in the distance.

Just looking at the monsters I can feel my anger rising. The mere thought of them being tied to the monster that sacrificed my family makes my blood boil. ‘All of you should just die.’

Not in my right mind, I rush at them, fueled by anger.

The group is formed by ten moles the size of average humans. Their claws resemble knives, making me realize that the ones I saw before were not fully grown yet.

I dash at them nonetheless, and moments after, they all lay at my feet, massacred.

I take a second to realize how far I have come, trying to remain calm, but it doesn’t work. Shortly, I notice a big park up ahead, where more groups of the moles are “patrolling”, and I remember how the moment I touch that ground their whole nest will be unleashed on me from every angle, alerted by the vibrations on the dirt.

‘I am just scared, just like she said. I am scared of being too weak, of not being able to save the people I choose to lend a hand to.’

I gather qi on my legs as I run to the park, a sprint carefully timed to end in a jump. A jump that will put me in the perfect spot in the center of the whole park.

‘If I want to push away the idea that I am not good enough, I just need to prove how strong I am.’

I reinforce my whole body with qi as I fall, focusing all the mana I can gather in my way here on my fists, which I slam on the soil as I crash into the floor. Synchronizing the mana with the soil as I land so that I get the best possible outcome too.

A huge ripple comes to life all around me, sending waves of dirt all over the place, just as if I were a rock falling into a still pond.

An amazing job, if I say so myself.

I prepare for what’s to come by putting my mind to replenishing the qi inside my body, extracting it from the floor in droves as I start hearing movement underneath my feet.

I grin to myself.

‘What better way to prove how strong I am than to prove to myself what I am capable of?’

Sera

Maria panics as she tries to assure the rest of the group that everything will be fine, but even she herself isn’t that sure as she looks at me.

I can see it in her eyes, she is thinking again about useless things. ‘I need to intervene.’

“Sis! Get it together.” I catch not only her but everyone’s attention with my shouting.

“I know I went overboard with Leo, but you already know he isn’t someone who would go as far as to kill someone without a good reason.

“Indeed, he didn’t seem like that type of person, but you gave him quite a good reason to do something that you would regret.” Mark, the person in charge of the logistics of the group comments.

“Whatever, I still think it is better to act as I did than following my sister’s plan. Nothing good would have come from bringing his sister's name out of a sudden in a heated argument to force his hand.”

‘Yeah, that’s right, I prefer to vent with him like I did to try and get some response than to lie to his face and make him work towards our goal fueled by lies.’

I kind of expected his outburst from earlier, but what would have happened if he discovered we baited him to do our dirty work by telling him that his sister was a prisoner of the vampires?’ The thought alone sends shivers down my spine, even more now after experiencing his power firsthand.

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‘It was worth a try.’

Leo

Time flies by, and each minute it passes I lose more and more strength.

My fight against the moles keeps raging on, with more and more moles poking their heads out of the nearby tunnels or directly pouncing at me from below.

I have been using my qi only and magic to fend off the waves of monsters, but my qi reserves keep dwindling even with the constant flow of it rushing in through my feet and the ground.

I try to use my magic attacks every now and then to get some breathing room and get rid of numerous monsters at the same time, but it keeps getting harder and harder.

My magic attacks take a lot of my focus from the fight just to gather the mana I need, forcing me to divert the monster's attacks with qi or take risks in the meantime. In fact, the process itself of gathering mana implies my use of qi, taking another chunk of my reserves and exhausting me even more.

I try to stay with my feet planted on the floor as much as I can for an easier absorption of qi, yet the countless claws that rain on me, make it into an impossible task. I keep fighting back though, slash after slash, they fall one by one.

‘Unfortunately, it's been over an hour into the fight and I have yet to make a dent into their numbers. Meanwhile, I am already running on fumes.’ I start hastily thinking about a solution, but it is even harder to get my mind on track for one second without getting stabbed to death by dozens of sharp claws.

Bruma starts to feel restless as she wants to help, but I stop her by sending some calm emotions through the link that connects us. She has been glued to my head the whole time, leaving me on my own after noticing my intentions.

She is the best partner I could ask for in a fight, but for this one, I can’t get help from her. I need to surpass this hurdle on my own. So I shake my head and try to come up with something.

‘Should I focus on qi and give up on my magic? No. I need the magic to keep momentum and replenish qi in between waves.’

‘Maybe going all out to open a path and fall back? I would probably be able to flee if I really put my mind to it.’ I ponder on my odds of success seeing the current situation.

‘No. I won’t retreat. I need to be able to at least do this much.’ I steel my resolve as I keep up the pace at which I slash the big moles in two.

My movements are starting to get sluggish due to the fatigue, even with my improved body, my stamina won’t last all night if I keep this up.

‘It was already difficult before, but now it is even worse with the amount of variables to take into account.’ Not only do I need to keep an eye out for any moles sneaking on me from below, but the bodies of the ones I have already gotten rid of fill up the ground now.

The bodies littering the place hinder my ability to sense the ambushes from below, not to mention that they work as obstacles to my moves. I improve my mobility as I adjust with the surrounding chaos, but it won't last long before I mess up somewhere.

One time tripping or getting caught somewhere and losing footing is all it would take for me to be ripped to pieces.

That pushes me to think of more desperate measures. What comes to mind is the new mixture of qi and mana, the one that nearly blew me up before.

‘Is going to be risky, and I will need some time to focus, but it could work. It would definitely be more efficient at wiping out huge patches of enemies than my magic attacks in this situation.’

The big explosions of the dreaded mixture of energies make it all the more attractive in my current disposition, where I am surrounded on all flanks.

I gather my mana, starting the preparations as I force the mana on the battlefield to submit to my will.

Soon enough, I manage to get together a big enough amount of mana at my disposal, and I start.

First, I strengthen my lower body with qi as I stomp the ground. I don't forget to move some mana to the soles of my feet to send another ripple around me, creating some space. I am extra careful while doing so as not to mix both energies, now being more conscious of the implications that it has.

After clearing the area, I put my whole being into creating the best stone defense I can with the remaining mana.

I force the mana I gathered to synchronize with the rocks around me as a thick wall starts to rise around me as if it were roots, creating a small cocoon all around.

‘And now that I have my own fortress to buy time.’

I quickly group some more mana and scan the area with it, looking for the best place to start bombing. I soon discover where to start from, so I get rid of useless thoughts as I start to create one of my new trump cards.

‘Last time I discovered that while when combined they explode, both powers work in different manners.’ Qi is the stable one, it will work as the container while being used as a barrier, dividing both powers apart while I prepare the attack.’

I start creating a sphere with qi, but instead of creating it with raw power, I mold it. I shape it into a thin barrier devoid of qi inside. Then I repeat the process to create another barrier, surrounding the empty sphere with another layer.

Once the sphere has both layers, I poke a hole into the outer one and fill it all with qi. Stopping seconds after when I feel it reaching its limit. ‘Now, for the dangerous part.’

I start hearing noises outside of my stone fortress, probably the banging of the claws of the monsters against the stone walls.

‘I need to speed up things, at the end of the day, they are moles. I doubt they will be stopped by some rock and dirt, no matter the density.’

I dive even deeper into my mind as I feel like I enter a trance.

I choose a spot on the outer layer where I start shaping something similar to a pipe or elevator. Making it possible for my mana to pass through the outer layer filled with qi onto the inner one.

Obviously, I shape the qi of the “tunnel” as I would a barrier, making it so stable that it's impossible in my understanding to let anything pass through or mix with it, just as the inner barrier of the sphere that will soon hold the mana inside. Is the only way that I can contain the mana without a mixture of both energies.

I can feel the strain as I force the qi on the outer layer out of the way to make way. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have filled it to the brim…’

I finally succeed and create a tunnel to the inside devoid of qi, making possible the injection of mana into the core of the sphere through it without surprises.

I can feel the strain of my actions on my mind and my whole body shaking from the strain of the ordeal. I slowly fill the core with mana, discarding the sounds of clawing on the walls around me in the process.

Once I am done, I carefully reform the tunnel I used to inject the mana and reform the sphere to its previous state. Two layers, easy enough. Two layers filled each with a different kind of power, ready to clash one against the other once I remove the wall that separates them.

I take a big breath as I focus only on maintaining the two qi barriers that keep the energy in the sphere from dissipating.

And I get ready.

The stone wall is nearly destroyed by now, I can even see through some parts of it. Claws keep raining on it continuously, slowly tearing chunks of it.

‘Let’s hope I didn’t get too carried away by filling the sphere with nearly all the qi I had left.’ I think so as I will the inner barrier to disappear, letting both energies collide and mix.

I watched mesmerized for a second as the mana acts as a trigger for a large chain of explosions.

Quickly, I send the sphere flying away at the far end of the swarm of monsters through one of the small holes of my now crumbling fortress as I dissipate the outer barrier of the spheres, letting out the explosions.

I even will the dissipating motes of qi to bend inward, that way creating an even greater outburst of energy all at once.

My roughly crafted bomb flies rapidly through the air as I do my best to gather some more qi from the ground and deploy a barrier around me and Bruma with it. However, the moment I catch a glimpse of the explosion, I go an extra mile and deploy a second one.

Then a deafening explosion shooks the battlefield, sending a shockwave all the way here.

‘Shit! It exploded too close!’ I burn through my remaining qi to gather some more mana quickly and rebuild the stone wall, but it soon crumbles.

The two barriers I deployed before are the last defense against the oncoming threat, so I keep sending all the qi I keep gathering from the ground and through my feet to them, reinforcing them as much as I can before I reach my limit and pass out.

‘Bruma…’

It all fades to black.