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Chapter 34: Boss

The next fight went unsurprisingly easily, and Alex was left feeling conflicted. He didn’t want anything to do with the feeling of his body being seized by an impulse, as it had been when he leaped over a charge. He also didn’t much like the confusion of an impulse like his attempt at a handspring.

After those earlier experiences, his opinion of the impulses had been incredibly low. Both had endangered him and his friends by extension, for minimal benefit. He’d been worried that he might need to simply accept his fate and try to find a method to level up other than delving since he could easily become a danger to his friends if an impulse struck at the wrong time.

But these last two fights had been different. It was a bizarre reversal where everything felt right. Plunging his foot into a boar had been patently stupid, but it had worked. When he worked alongside Inspire, instead of fighting it for every inch, there was no sense of lost control. It just felt like a buff, one that turned reckless self-endangerment into game-changing attacks that quickly turned a fight in his favor.

In the last fight, he’d launched himself at the middle boar of three while they were in the midst of their initial charge. The momentum should’ve tossed him aside, but he’d grabbed a tusk and used it to pivot into position on its back.

It was a feat so superhuman that he shouldn’t be able to pull off anything similar until around the peak of Tier 1. And that was if he had relevant Enhancements. The strength required was beyond what he could see on his stat screen.

That worried him. Mana types granting empowerment beyond the attributes on your status was hardly new, but the extent was problematic. It was definitely power granted by the mana outside of his soul. Inspire was at least partially his, and he should have greater control of the power. He should be able to understand what it was trying to do. Instead, with the foreign part of the insight empowering him, he was wandering blind.

Was it intentionally tempting him with the power it offered, or was he seeing too much capacity for thought in what latent will remained inside of the mana? Should he still be fighting for every second of control?

The mana showed surprising intelligence. Alex could tell that the boosts he received from it were carefully modulated. None of the mana used was wasted, instead, it just pushed his limits. The mana sink was a careful watchdog, and would happily devour any amount of energy that would overwhelm Alex’s body.

This was more a curse than a blessing, to Alex. If the mana type behaved like an unintelligent fuel and just poured its power into his body, it would soon exhaust itself. There was no reason to doubt the Trialbringer’s mana sink, Alex was quite confident that it would prevail even against the full force of the mana resting against his soul.

Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be so lucky, the mana was attuned to an incredibly powerful type and created by the soul of an Imprinted. What it used to boost Alex was little more than a trickle compared to the ocean of power that rested upon his soul. It would not run out before the timer in his status even if the flow didn’t halt for the full two weeks.

It raised a lot of questions about just what was happening with the Inspire mana. David had seemed quite invested in keeping Alex alive, even driving himself to the point of passing out to create an Ability for him. The mana wasn’t quite the same. Did it want to Inspire Alex, or make Alex Inspiring?

There wasn’t enough time to think, as they approached the next group of boars. Alex’s quiet contemplation had not been interrupted as they walked, but Jess gave a quick set of orders as the fight was about to start.

The fight went easily again, with Alex sliding in between the boars as they slowed down and his friends coming in from the sides to support.

This was the power of a Rare mana type, but it was also the power of Imprinted mana. There was a difference in effect, where Alex’s aura wasn’t capable of the same improvement that he personally received.

Was his opinion of the Inspire mana improving because it helped him protect his friends, or because of insidious influence? The first option was easy to accept. He had always enjoyed the rush of adrenaline. The high he felt as he approached a win wasn’t new, Inspire just amplified it. If he could look past the worrying features, the mana type was turning into a boon.

Of course, those thoughts only made him more worried. Or at least, as worried as he could be. He was starting to realize that losing the ability to feel panic had knock-on effects that extended beyond full-blown panic attacks. Inspire was messing with his head, how long until his desire to fight back was gone entirely?

Alex couldn’t worry too much, but anger came easily. David’s mana didn’t think that assaulting his soul and continuing to attempt to gain access was enough. What was its goal here?

He needed to figure out what exactly was happening, but that would come later. He had more boars to fight.

The next group went just as easily. Hard Mode’s main difficulty before the boss was numbers, but Alex still had time before he started to tire. The buff exhaustion he’d suffered before wasn’t as big of a problem, perhaps because his attributes were higher now.

That didn’t quite fit, but he didn’t worry too much about it. Maybe it was just because the boosts didn’t last long. Either way, Alex was feeling fine even after several fights where he’d gained excessive power. He had more pressing problems.

“One more fight, and then we take a break,” Jess declared. Alex had been focused on his own condition, but now he wondered if his friends were suffering.

“Are you all struggling with buff exhaustion?” He asked, “The fluctuating attributes seem like they should be more problematic.”

“I think it’s because we’re well-rested,” Anthony noted, “My dad having us sleep before the trial was completely intentional. He has his own aura which makes sleep far more effective to recover and store energy. The exhaustion is growing, but it’s not a problem yet.”

“Still,” Alex frowned, “We can’t afford to be all out of energy by the time we fight the boss. How many more groups do we have to fight?” Normally, there would be around seven groups of boars in the trial. They were approaching that number, with five fights under their belts, but he didn’t want to make any assumptions.

“Just two,” Muhammad stated, “I can see the boss off in the distance as well. He’s still solo, luckily.”

That was something Alex hadn’t thought of. Fighting the boss with tag-alongs would undoubtedly be more difficult. Part of him was surprised that it was left alone. Boss fights that included normal monsters weren’t uncommon, but the solo boss was a big part of why this was such a common level zero trial.

Maybe the boss would have helpers if they attempted the Hell Mode of this trial? Something to consider, the Imprinted hadn’t described Hell Mode in much detail but Alex was seriously considering attempting such a trial in the future. The boars were proving surprisingly easy foes, where the main struggles of the trial had been their own mistakes.

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Well, his mistakes mainly. Becca’s unlucky fall was an error, but she’d only been put in that situation because of him.

Only a few minutes later, the group sat down to rest. Muhammad was keeping an eye out, but with only two more groups of three and the boss left they were confident that the boars wouldn’t interrupt them.

Alex wondered if Anthony had been underselling the buff exhaustion, as the group slumped beside him.

“This is a problem with our strategy,” He stated, “You guys are going to exhaust yourselves even further against the last two groups.”

“I disagree,” Jess replied, “Getting tired after five fights is just natural. They haven’t been long, but we’re pushing a quick pace. The buff exhaustion is just magnifying that.”

“It’s not too bad,” Muhammad stated, “I’ll be fine for the last two fights and the boss.”

Anthony was more winded than Muhammad, and their break ended up extending beyond the first few minutes. Alex deflected any questions and concerns about his well-being and mental state. The news that his emotions were suppressed would not go over well, and the team needed to stay focused.

Becca’s ankle was definitely sprained, to the point where she couldn’t move well enough to fight. Anthony had tried a paste that helped reduce swelling, but it hadn’t solved the root of the problem.

Soon, the rest was over, and they went to challenge the final group of three boars. Surprisingly, no impulses struck as Alex fought. Without the incredible boosts, things hit a bit of a snag. No one had expected that change, and his friends all engaged the boars in their first turn.

They were disciplined enough to handle the lack of help from Alex’s aura and reacted defensively. None of them had committed to anything brash, and they moved to prodding at the leftmost boar while Alex engaged the other two with a few minor slashes to anger them.

Alex fell into a more comfortable pattern of combat. Dodging and keeping himself out of reach as the boars tried to close in and impale him. He could hear the voice of his combat instructors as he suddenly had to focus on footwork again. He locked in, precisely dodging and pivoting wherever necessary to keep an eye on both boars while still finding attacks where he could get them.

His friends quickly did their part, and the fight was wrapped up without issue. The lack of aura had put his friends into a slightly overextended position, but that was only compared to their initial safe distance. Jess could handle some danger, and Alex had managed to keep the focus of two boars easily enough.

“Nothing that time?” Jess asked.

“No,” Alex replied, “I’m uncertain if there’s a specific reason or if the mana is just inconsistent.”

“Could be that the boars aren’t considered a worthy challenge,” Becca noted, “We’ve already beaten several groups, so the mana might be conserving itself for a real fight.”

That was close, but it didn’t sound quite right to Alex, and he was inclined to trust his instincts on this, “One of the key elements of Inspire is greatness,” He mused, “Maybe the mana type just doesn’t see bullying the boars with attributes as some great feat.”

“I don’t know much about Inspire,” Becca sighed, “But that sounds feasible. I really wish we’d spent more time learning about this at the Academy.”

“I doubt they have books that explore Alex’s situation,” Anthony disagreed, “We just have to figure things out as we go.”

“And we can do that after the trial is over,” Jess stated, “One group to go.”

Alex felt a bit conflicted as they made their way to the last group of boars. The mind-altering effects of Inspire were freaky, but the allure of putting his foot directly through a boar’s face was undeniable. If his aura had been active when Becca tripped, she would’ve been fine. If she even tripped at all.

The next fight came and went easily. It was four boars again but the group had adjusted their strategies enough to know what worked and what didn’t. The rest of the group played it safe, not wanting to risk another injury. The boars’ lacking ingenuity made things go smoothly.

Finally, it was time for the boss. Two fights without the aura had let the team recover fairly well, but they decided to take a longer break and go over strategy for the boar that looked to be around the same size as any of the monsters they’d fought so far. It was differentiated by the length of its tusks and a bulkier frame. Muhammad estimated that the thing had to weigh nearly a thousand pounds.

That amount of weight would make it dangerous. It would have an Enhancement that exacerbated the threat, maybe multiple since the trial was Hard Mode. The threat should be near the limits of a Tier 0 monster, and the group needed to be at their best for that. It would still have many of the other boars’ flaws, but boss monsters tended to have at least some intelligence.

Alex ended up discarding his claymore for Becca’s boar spear. He was less practiced with the weapon, but it was easy to use. Jess’s goal for the fight was for the group to try and corral the boar from multiple angles using their spears, and Alex’s preference for swords was less important than that plan.

As they finally approached the boss, Alex pushed his anxiety to the side to focus. Maybe it was because the mana type agreed that he needed to focus, but it was surprisingly easy. All that mattered for the next few minutes was the boar, they were going to take it down.

The group fanned out in a semicircle, with Alex venturing out in front of the rest to draw its attention. They moved steadily, not entirely sure how the monster would react. They expected it to charge Alex, but that wasn’t guaranteed.

The boar noticed them sooner than any of the others and immediately faced Alex. That was exactly what they wanted, and Alex got into a ready stance. After he dodged, he would need to act to reposition. Hopefully, he’d manage to trigger his aura, impulse or not, and the fight would be made significantly easier.

The boar charged, Alex dodged, and he turned to face it. Even with the boss’s bonus attributes, the monster hadn’t come particularly close. Which seemed odd, Alex’s Sensitivity wasn’t noticing any mana being used by the creature. Enhancements were permanently active changes, so the lack of mana was bizarre. If there weren’t Enhancements, there needed to be something else to justify Hard Mode.

His friends didn’t move to engage as the boss went into a long loop to turn without losing all of its momentum.

The loop was long enough that they needed to scramble to reposition. The boar blowing past Alex and breaking their encirclement had been expected, but as it turned to the left Jess had to scramble to make her way into position. Muhammad and Anthony had already been to Alex’s right, so they didn’t have to run to a better position.

The boar came back around, but this time it charged Anthony. Alex cursed under his breath, the boss was either lucky or had identified that he was the most agile target.

As it charged, Anthony planted his spear against the ground. The group had wanted to avoid taking a charge like this, but Anthony had called an audible after their semicircle had proven nearly useless. Alex didn’t like the decision, but he could see the reasoning. What other options did they have?

The problem was that the spear wouldn’t be able to fully halt the boar’s momentum, even with so much of the impact being redirected into the ground. Anthony was going to get himself run over.

The boar continued its charge. Alex sped up as he ran over, but he wouldn’t make it fast enough, “There’s no Enhancement. Watch out for an Ability,” He called out. It was too late for Anthony to change his chosen action, he cursed himself for not immediately calling out the possibility.

Right before contact was made Alex saw a shimmer as the boar used a large amount of mana, it kept going right through the spear. The spear pushed into it, but no momentum was lost. Even the wings beside the tip went through like the beast’s ribcage wasn’t there.

Alex saw Anthony try to jump out of the way as he realized what happened, but he was far too slow. A tusk slammed into Anthony’s stomach at full speed.

The monster didn’t run over Anthony. It impaled him. A tusk had gone right through the man’s stomach and was now pointing out its back. Alex was so consumed by the sight as he sprinted over that he didn’t immediately notice the resulting damage on the boar.

The boar’s Ability was a double-edged sword, allowing it to keep going by accepting the spear further into its body. The spear had gone straight through its chest and up out of its back.

With such a traumatic injury, the beast stumbled slightly. It didn’t go down, but the stumble let Alex catch up. Alex dropped his spear and took the longsword from his side, cutting into the beast’s neck before it could make any attempt to recover.

He received the notification that they’d cleared the trial after his third blow.