Shouldn’t I add more points to Perception? I asked. I was still wading through the darkness slowly. I could see nothing, not even with Mana Sensing, and I was eager to have some sense of where I was.

Samantha said.

Isn’t that risky? I thought you were saying that the longer we stay under the effects of the illusion ward, the more time it has to mess with our minds?

Samantha said.

To be fair, what Samantha said was true. But you try running at full speed in the darkness, up a hill that you can’t see, and then get back to me once you’ve tripped and scraped your knees a few times.

Of course, I hadn’t tripped yet, but that was because I’d been careful. If I was running in a straight line, then I could probably have been moving faster. But Samantha’s combat shadow had me zig-zagging uphill.

When the 30 second mark came, I took the mana that had been building throughout my body—the mana that I was keeping from entering my core, that would normally refill my core at a rate of 70 mana per minute—and I put the mana into Perception, raising my Perception by about 30 points.

With over 50 Perception, now, I could finally make out the vague outline of the ground, the trees, and hundreds of monsters that were roaming this area in random, confused circles.

Everything still seemed muted, and almost grainy, kind of like watching black-and-white television in the 60s.

So…how were you dodging the monsters earlier, when our Perception was lower?

Oh.

I wasn’t sure I completely understood what Samantha was saying. But I was impressed. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like, having an A.I. like Samantha in my head, that I could actually completely trust.

That would be an awesome feeling. But no luck.

I focused on following the combat shadow further up the mountain.

The further up we went, the grainier my vision became. Even with over 50 perception, I started to see less and less.

Samantha said.

You said you filtered out the fake mana, I said. And you mentioned your vision. Can you just show me your processed feed? That way I’ll at least know what’s happening? I don’t want to fight the Sandman in the dark, you know?

Samantha said.

Just do it, I said.

All of a sudden, without warning, the cacophony of white-gold mana disappeared. I could even see normal colors again—I could see the sky, I could see the Parons flying high above me, I could see the brown bark of trees, withered leaves turning gold and red, and I could see the hundreds of beasts roaming randomly around me.

Most concerning of all, I could see up ahead of me dozens of Treants, standing directly in my path.

The Treants had interwoven their branches, forming a wall well over 20 feet tall, that as far as I could tell circled the entire mountain.

Samantha said.

I drew my Vampiric Blade, and charged the wall of Treants.

Samantha, to her credit, made the Treants look just like I remembered them, even adding a textured bark that I was certain she couldn’t see.

It was concerning, thinking that Samantha basically had control of my sense of sight like this.

None of the Treants had so much as noticed my presence, and they stood frozen, just like normal trees would.

I rushed towards the nearest Treant, drew my sword, and attacked the branches that blocked my path with some added Agility.

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My blade easily cut through the Treant’s branches, but the moment I it did, the whole wall of Treants reacted. The nearest Treants immediately swung their branches to build a cage around me, planting their long branches into the ground and then weaving other branches around.

But if they thought that could keep me trapped, they were sorely mistaken.

I cut through the woven branch wall that appeared in front of me with ease, following Samantha’s combat shadow as I dodged the dozens of limbs that were stabbing towards me.

Several Treants uprooted themselves to chase me, but to my surprise, the majority of the Treants held the same position, maintaining the wall that encircled the whole peak of the mountain.

The Treants’ movement speed was relatively slow, but their branches were able to swing around extremely quickly. I was just reaching the range of their branches, when I saw the second line of defenses.

I felt a chill race across my body at the sight of two bleeding, bedraggled humans staring my direction.

Directly in front of me was a woman holding one of the largest swords I have seen in the last two weeks. She held it easily, casually pointed out towards my direction, but I could only imagine that the weight of a sword like that would break a normal person’s wrist. Her blade was covered in blood and sap, and chipped in a few places.

Behind her, I could see a man in shredded robes, reading from a tome in front of him.

I could feel the power of the man’s chanting, already gathering the ambient mana around us.

What the fuck is this? I almost called out to them, but from their distanced, unfocused gaze, and the fact that the Treants weren’t attacking them, I had a very unpleasant suspicion of what was happening.

Samantha said, her voice grave.

If I kill the Sandman, will they be free?

They didn’t look like they were dying, at least.

Samantha said, with a hint of regret in her voice.

Samantha’s combat shadow was rushing towards the two people—likely the Hell-mode challengers that had attacked the Sandman with Evangeline. I saw the combat shadow throw a knife towards the chest of the chanting sorcerer.

I followed the outline’s footsteps, but I didn’t throw the knife. I won’t kill them. I can’t know for sure that they won’t come back when we kill the Sandman.

Samantha half-shouted in my head, diverting her combat shadow suddenly and sending the shadow diving to the ground. I followed suit, just barely escaping the Martial Energy of a blade that traveled in a semicircle around the swordswoman.

I felt a thrill of fear, and I poured more mana into Agility, rushing towards the sorcerer.

The swordswoman stomped a foot, and I could see the whole earth bulge out in a semicircle with her at the epicenter.

Then she swung her sword directly towards me. Not just towards where I was, but towards where I was headed as well.

The sword strike was definitely a sword skill. It didn’t look like her arms were moving that fast, but the blade was just a foot away from my chest when I realized what was going on.

I was forced to block with my Vampiric Blade using both hands, and the moment our blades crossed, I felt something break in my wrists.

My body flew back several dozen yards, and I felt my back crash against a nearby Treant.

I stumbled to my feet, but the Treant was already wrapping its branches around me, grabbing my hands and leg with a half dozen branches.

In my head, Samantha sighed.

Name:

Jarek

Level:

34

HP:

44/44

Physical Defense:

18

Strength:

30 (+5)

Mental Power:

14

Dexterity:

10 (+5)

Agility:

24 (+14)

Perception:

20

Luck:

22

Mana Pool:

106 (+10)

Mana Regeneration:

60 (+10)

Available Points:

0

Coins:

424,000

Class:

Mana Modulator (D-rank)

Profession:

Rune Master

(C-rank)

Titles:

Region Lord (E-rank)

Skills and Spells:

Identify (E-rank)

Mana Modulation (D-rank Core)

Death’s Defier (A-rank)

Mana Sensing (C-rank)

Healthy Magic (E-rank)

Aquatic Respiration (E-rank)

Polyglot (E-rank)

Soul Communion (D-rank)

Cursed Lightning (D-rank)

Spiritual Traveler (D-rank)

Soul Explosion (D-rank)

Mana Control (C-rank)

Affinities:

Internal Mana (D-rank Low), External Unattributed Mana (C-rank Low), Soul Magic (D-rank Low)

Equipment:

Vampiric Blade (D-rank): +5 Strength, +5 Agility.

Bloodied Battle Robes (D-rank): +5 Mana Pool, +5 Mana Regen.

Imperial Scout Boots (E-rank): +4 Agility.

Greedy Gloves (D-rank): +5 Mana Pool, +5 Mana Regen.

Bonded Blades (D-rank): +5 Dexterity, +5 Agility.

Communication Amulet (E-rank):

Interdimensional Pouch (D-rank):

Missions:

Zone Offense

Renegade Bounty Hunter