To Blake’s relief, either his math was wrong, or his injury was not as severe as he feared. After only a scant forty-five minutes of hiding, he regained partial use of his arm. Now, thirty minutes after that point, the limb was almost completely healed.
Unfortunately, he would soon need to test its stability in combat.
For the last fifteen minutes, Blake watched as patrols appeared beneath him. He could do nothing to block his scent from being carried away by the wind, and while it did not give away his exact position, they knew he was nearby.
When the Lupus failed to locate him, they organized search groups to systematically flush him out. Despite the darkness, and his shelter residing over fifty feet above the ground, it would only be a matter of time before his exact location was pinpointed. However, he had no desire to move until forced.
What the hell is that?
Blake stared off into the distance as the forest began to slowly lighten. The remote trees became visible and eventually the source of the light was revealed.
Illumination
The aether based spell produced a floating globe of light so bright, it provided visibility for almost a hundred feet in all directions. Its use was almost guaranteed to give away his position, especially when a second globe appeared on his right.
On a hunch, he strained his eyes to search the trees above the two sources of light.
Damnit! I knew it!
The Lupus did not just travel along the ground. He could faintly hear the rustle of the monsters that stalked through the bare branches above. They came from downwind, and by Blake’s estimation, would converge on his location within a few minutes.
I knew they’d find me eventually. At least it was a nice rest.
His first instinct was to run and hide, as he had successfully done before. However, with the addition of the light, that would be a losing proposition. They could keep up the efficient spell for hours, and their sensitive noses would never cease to function.
Meanwhile, Blake had used a large portion of his aetheric energy in his earlier flight, which had only recovered to sixty-six percent. Between his Dampen Sound and Spatial Shift, the two spells consumed a large amount of resources quickly. If he chose to flee, he would not be surprised if he ran out of energy within half an hour.
No, I need to take out those two aether users.
Unfortunately, with Lupus in the trees, it would be difficult to repeat his earlier performance and ambush them from above. Either the pack leader was brighter than the average monster, or these creatures learned from their mistakes. Neither possibility comforted him.
I need to get back on the ground and go on the offensive.
Unlike the Lupus, Blake needed to utilize Spatial Step to reliably travel through the canopy. Once he teleported onto a branch, he remained immobile until his spell was ready to be used again. That strategy worked fine while he fled a single pack, but now he would need speed to remain ahead of the horde.
No time to climb down.
Before the approaching light could reveal his location, he activated Dampen Sound and stepped off the branch that had been his shelter. After a brief moment, he began the spell form for Gale and aimed it downward. A second later, a blast of air left his extended hand and immediately slowed his fall.
The maneuver was not perfect, but it shed enough of his velocity that he was able to land without breaking his legs. He hit the ground hard and rolled in an effort to soften the landing further. As he tumbled, his spear stuck into the ground and forced him into an immediate stop.
Despite the complication, he came out of the risky move with only light bruises. With his back to the ground, Blake pumped his fist into the air in celebration.
That was badass!
He chuckled to himself as he stood and then activated Mind Sense.
Good, they didn’t hear.
Blake had been worried that Gale would produce enough of a racket to give away his position. Luckily, Dampen Sound affected a decently large area, something he planned to use to his advantage soon in his new plan.
With his aether spell still active, he sprinted through the woods at an angle from the two sources of light. Eventually, one of the creatures would run across his scent trail and follow it, but he hoped to kill his targets before that happened. He circled around the area in a wide arc and used Mind Sense to locate his first target.
Perfect.
Blake chose a lone Lupus on the edge of the pack. He hoped to use Dampen Sound to block out the commotion of his ambush, but was not certain it would be effective enough. To determine the feasibility of his strategy, he would need to test out the method on a single enemy. If he was wrong, he could flee and come up with a new plan to take out his two eventual targets.
He hid most of his body behind a tree and dropped his aether spell as he waited for his target to approach. A minute later, he heard the sound of leaves rustling in the distance. After straining his eyes, he faintly saw the shadow of movement in that general direction.
The wolf-like monster moved slowly as it zigged and zagged, its snout just off the leaf covered ground. Blake could hear its sniffs from even forty feet away as it searched for his trail.
Blake waited until there was only twenty feet between them before he activated Dampen Sound, and unsheathed his spear. He channeled chi into the tip, and then used a Guided Spatial Step to appear behind the distracted Lupus. The moment he arrived, he thrust his spear forward and impaled the surprised beast.
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Its yelp was short-lived, and the moment his combat log confirmed the kill, he immediately dislodged his weapon from the corpse. Blake used Mind Sense, and let out a sigh of relief when the brief pulse confirmed he remained hidden.
I can’t believe this works so well.
Blake accomplished something unheard of in his past. Aether users who focused on stealth were generally not effective until after level ten. Even then, they were best utilized as scouts, not assassins.
Basic aether spells were only able to counter a single sense. Since they needed to be channeled, the spell caster was forced to choose. Blake did not seem to have that problem, and could only assume it was his high affinity which let him break the rules.
At level ten, combat classes gained access to advanced spells. These abilities were capable of affecting multiple senses at the same time, although their energy requirement was much higher.
High level aether users could easily remain hidden from their enemies, but they had a weakness. They struggled to eliminate their targets quickly. In order to maintain their Invisibility against even level targets, they had to heavily focus on their Magic Power and Stamina. This meant their Physical attributes lagged behind.
Dual classes could somewhat overcome the issue if they utilized chi or psi based spells. However, that was not nearly as effective as Blake’s performance. He was not fighting even level monsters.
The Lupus he faced were two levels above him.
Each enemy he killed in this scenario granted him around six million nano. It was twice the amount he received from the same monsters a single level above him. If his ambush tactics remained effective, he would receive a giant windfall of nano by the time he was done.
If I survive. Time to focus, Blake.
He shrugged off the distracting thoughts and focused on his next target, a Lupus almost a hundred feet away. His Mind Sense revealed the creature as it traveled along the lower branches of a tree.
Before he engaged in combat, he quickly checked his status, as he had a theory he wanted to confirm.
Guided Spatial Step - 58%
It was the first ability he evolved, and was also the closest to mastery.
Blake sprinted forward through the dark and relied on his Dampen Sound to mask the sound of his feet as they crushed the leaves. When he was only thirty feet away, he watched the Lupus leap from one tree to another.
Before it could do so again, he channeled chi into his spear tip, and used Guided Spatial Step to appear behind the Lupus. He thrust his weapon forward. The enhanced weapon easily pierced through the creature’s toughened hide and instantly killed his enemy.
Blake almost reflexively kicked the corpse off his spear, but stopped himself before he inadvertently announced his presence. Instead, he dragged the dead body with him as he intentionally rolled from the branch, and used the bubble of Dampen Sound to muffle his hard landing. Only then did he extract his spear.
After his weapon was clear, he performed a quick check with Mind Sense. He was reasonably certain they remained unaware of him, otherwise their howls would fill the air. However, the ping doubly assured him that he remained hidden, and he quickly checked his status once again.
Guided Spatial Step - 62%
I was right!
It was well known that spells were mastered far more quickly in combat. That was why he did not just use the ability repeatedly from the safety of his bunkhouse. The safer method worked, but would take him weeks to reach mastery in a single spell. It was far more efficient to gain nano while he simultaneously mastered his abilities at a faster rate.
However, his simple experiment showed that he had just gained an entire scenario’s worth of mastery in a single use.
Is it because they’re two levels above me, because I’m channeling two spells at the same time, or both?
Blake considered the question. While he had killed monsters a level above him in his past life, he had done so with a full team. If there had been a difference in mastery gained, he had never noticed, and neither had anyone else he knew. Although, it was quite possible that someone had discovered the information and kept it secret to give themselves an advantage.
Blake snorted in disgust and shook his head.
Sounds about right.
Unlike others, he planned to share it with everyone. That is, as soon as he figured out the mechanism behind the increase. Bad information was worse than no information.
I wish I would have thought to check when I fought the Kofa.
Blake could not blame himself too harshly for not thinking of the experiment earlier. At the time, he was heavily wounded and desperate. He needed to eliminate his rivals before they finished the scenario objective, or he would be stuck on the Mander planet forever.
It’s fine. I’ll have plenty of time to experiment in the future. Assuming I survive.
If Blake’s math was correct, he would be able to evolve his aether spell after only ten more kills. A quick check of his status confirmed that his Dampen Sound ability also gained mastery at an increased rate. Although, it would take far longer than his teleport to reach one hundred percent.
For the next fifteen minutes, he slowly picked off Lupus at the edges of the pack. Each successful assassination gave him greater confidence, and brought him closer to evolution. Now, he just needed a single kill, and he could evolve his ability a second time.
Unfortunately, that was when his luck ran out.
Howls echoed through the woods as a Lupus pinpointed his fresh scent trail. It was now only a matter of time before they tracked it back to his location and surrounded him.
Better get the next kill fast then.
He used Mind sense and located a nearby Lupus. It had briefly frozen when it heard the howls, but now loped forward toward the source. Blake immediately sprinted after it and quickly closed the distance. When he was only twenty feet away, he charged his spear with chi and teleported beside the monster.
Unfortunately, the Lupus unknowingly evaded his attack.
The creature dashed to the side to dodge a large rock, and Blake’s spear only grazed it. Regardless, it yelped from the injury, and its head swiveled to see what damaged it. When it saw Blake, its eyes widened in alarm, and it howled in warning.
Blake did not have time to find out if his Dampen Sound kept their fight a secret. He needed to immediately end the fight and escape to evolve his spell. However, before he could thrust his spear forward once again, the Lupus blinded him with a Flash of Light.
Shit! No way they miss that.
For a split second, the entire woods lit up, bright as day.
Blake blindly lashed out with his spear, but felt no resistance. After his attack failed, he immediately shifted his Focused Regeneration away from his shoulder to his eyes in an effort to speed their repair. He then activated Alacrity to speed up his actions.
Rather than thrust forward again, he twirled his spear in a circle around him, and was elated when the end slammed into his enemy’s form. With the monster located, he quickly pulled his spear back and thrust it forward. This time, he felt resistance as the chi enhanced tip pierced through the Lupus’ hide.
Yes!
Without his eyes, he was not sure if his weapon was lodged in a critical location, and was unwilling to take the chance that it would live. He heaved his spear first to his left and then to his right to widen the injury. Unfortunately, his combat log confirmed it still lived.
How much does it take to kill this thing?!
With a grunt of effort, Blake levered his spear to lift the entire Lupus off the ground and over his head. He then slammed it down hard into the ground. A moment later, he received six mega-nano for its death.
Blake immediately used Mind Sense and swore when it showed him seven Lupus converging on his location. Since Blake was no longer hidden, he decided to drop Dampen Sound. There was no need to waste his energy when it would do no good.
While Blake could normally take out two or three at a time, seven was a bit much, even for him. That also assumed he could see. Without the use of his eyes, he had no chance of escape, and did not like the odds of direct combat.
Come on, damnit! Heal faster!