Thirteen drew back her right harm, her hand clenching into a fist. Channeling mana through her arm, she infused her skin, flesh and bones, increasing their durability and resilience. Taking a deep breath, she drove her hardened knuckles through the closest clay head, shattering it and causing a short shower of fragmented skull pieces. Just like that, the golem crumbled.
A whisper of movement behind her alerted her, cutting her moment of glory short as dropped into a low crouch, feeling the whoosh of the arm sweeping where her head had been moments before. Two more golems lunged at her simultaneously, their arms slashing downward, their speed increased by gravity. Thirteen made a desperate roll to the side through dust and shards, some of which managed to cut and pierce her skin, zapping away at her mana.
Trying to get up, her foot slipped on a golem’s remains and before she could fully regain her balance, a hardened fist crashed into her face. The impact sent her tumbling, falling on one knee. She spat out black blood, more mana lost in the process. Her injuries healed quickly and were inconsequential in the moment, however, the continuous need to repair her body was tiring her out.
Getting back to her feet, she slashed upward and cut off the arm of an approaching golem, chips of clay spraying like blood. Another golem lunged, its arm extending. Thirteen seized it by the wrist in a lightning-fast counterattack, using the creature’s own momentum to pull it close and impaling it face-first on her sword, destroying its rune.
Finding two other golems behind the one she had just killed, Thirteen kicked it off her blade and right into the others, using the momentary disturbance as a chance to get in close. Her blade flashed twice in rapid succession, slashing across the golem’s faces rather than cutting through and making them drop dead. Stone dust billowed around her like fog. Behind it, she could see only two silhouettes remaining.
They had her in a pinch, lunging from her left and right at the same time, but Thirteen had enough time to simply take two quick steps backward. Unable to halt their movements, the two golems crashed into each other with a thunderous impact that left both of them cracked in multiple places, including their faces. As their faces brittled and movement furthered the cracks, their runes were destroyed before they even had the chance to perform another attack.
Thirteen stood, breathing heavily as she watched the last of this wave fall. Her white shirt had ripped in multiple places, specks of dust looking like bruises on her pants. And then the notifications appeared.
You have defeated [Lower-Grade Clay Golem]. Lower-grade Spirit will be integrated into the Thirteenth Spirit [Thirteen].
You have defeated [Lower-Grade Clay Golem]. Lower-grade Spirit will be integrated into the Thirteenth Spirit [Thirteen].
You have defeated [Lower-Grade Clay Golem]. Lower-grade Spirit will be integrated into the Thirteenth Spirit [Thirteen].
…
You have defeated [Lower-Grade Clay Golem]. Lower-grade Spirit will be integrated into the Thirteenth Spirit [Thirteen].
Congratulations! Your existence has reached a new level. You are now a Level 5 Spirit.
You have received one Stat Point to assign to your stats.
Strength: 5 → 6
Mana: 4,000 → 5,000
Thirteen’s body staggered, her balance slipping as she sank to her knees, twisting her sword in time to stab it into the ground and turn it into a crutch to lean onto. I… haven’t been this exhausted since… I can’t even remember. I don’t think I have ever been this tired. To be reduced to this pathetic state by mere lower-grade spirits…
Only the mana granted by the level up kept her sane right now, without it, she would have struggled to even stay conscious.
Mana: 1,231/5,000
This wave had been tougher than any of the others. But these waves had already left the realm of ease after the eighth. Battling more than ten opponents at the same time, even if they were slow and simple as the golems, was difficult without getting hit. And fancy swordplay was not enough to make up for a large difference in numbers.
Though I no longer have to rely on this sword alone, Thirteen thought, an eye on the skill section of her status.
[Mana Manipulation (F)]
Allows the manipulation of mana within your body.
The description given by the system was not inaccurate in and of itself, however, it did not account for what kind of creature Thirteen was. Her body was pseudo-physical, but was, in the end, just made up of mana. It simulated physics, but it was not made of real flesh and blood or bones. As such, the durability and resilience of it depended on the density of mana making up her body. Not only was she getting more durable the more her mana pool grew, but if needed, she could harden certain parts of her body. Like she had done smashing that golem’s head in.
But even with that ability, she was getting hit nonetheless and the accumulating damages were whittling her down. Having reduced her to this pitiable state. When she was level one, this much mana had more than her capacity at the time, but now it had to sustain a more demanding vessel, and it was lacking.
The skill itself had just appeared in her status when she had manipulated mana for the first time since her summoning. It was an ability that basically every spirit had, so it was quite surprising that the system did not recognize that beforehand like it had with Nihil’s summoning and her other skill.
Not that I should worry about that. If this keeps going, I’m gonna die, and soon. If the next wave followed the pattern–which it had no reason not to–then she would be facing seventeen golems next and she could not say that she was looking forward to it. Nah, I might as well just admit that I was stupid. I was trying to bite more off than I can chew.
As a spirit, her mana recovery rate was amongst the most extraordinary ones there was, and her mana was already approaching two-thousand again. However, almost as if to tell her that they were aware of that, too, she could feel magic come alive at the back of the chamber for the fifteenth time since her summoning. The magic circle grew slightly bigger yet again and Thirteen’s expression turned grim. She had reached the breaking point of her pride and arrogance. What point was there in prioritizing her own level when she was going to die?
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Her best option was to optimize massacring golems and simply outgrow the damage she would sustain in the process. Not only that, but Thirteen, for all the confidence she had in her own ability, recognized that fighting alone was going to become more and more difficult.
A thin smile found its way to her lips and she lifted her left hand, pressed thumb and middle finger against each other, invoking the magic-turned-skill and released the skill with a snap.
“This situation is screwing my judgment,” Thirteen muttered. Screw my plan, screw strategies and reason. Those things are overrated anyways.
Nihil emerged from the ground with a vigorous roar, his front hooves striking the air. Thirteen’s smile widened, the concerns she had previously fading away. Her reasons for not using Nihil the whole time had been reasonable, she thought, but she had suffered an oversight. His mana consumption would only become a problem if she ran out of mana. So if she could grow faster than he drained her pool, the problem would be essentially non-existent.
It was my mistake, a fool’s mistake. It’s like the first time we ascended to kingship. You and I against whatever the world throws at us.
She reached out to Nihil, caressing his neck. “If it is the two of us, no foe is our better,” she whispered into his ear. “And we are going to be victorious today, too.” Nihil responded with a sharp puff, as if to tell her that it was an obvious thing. As if scolding her for her oversight.
“Don’t,” Thirteen said sharply, “this whole mortal world business is new to me, alright?”
Nihil snorted again. The approaching tapping of slow footsteps broke their moment of reprieve.
Thirteen sighed and leaped onto Nihil’s back with fluid motion. Nihil’s body shook and he huffed. Looking back at her, she saw her reflection in his black eyes, torn clothes and dirty hair. Not like someone from her station should look. Though I suppose it fits someone who lost everything…
Another puff of Nihil ripped her out of her trailing thoughts. Underneath her, he pawed the ground, hoof clicking with anticipation.
As predicted, Thirteen counted a total of seventeen golems. They still bore lower-grade spirits and no remarkable features beside their rune, but Thirteen felt something different. A tiny change that she could not quite put her finger on.
Thirteen’s fingers tightened around the crude handle of her rock sword, the rough surface cold and dry. Her mind flickered briefly to a different sensation, a better one. They should have given me a lance. Maybe they deliberately didn’t? But how should they have known? Not that it matters, for now, I should focus on survival.
She leaned forward over Nihil’s muscular neck, running her bronze-colored fingers through his coarse white mane. “Are you ready?” she asked in a soft whisper. His response came as a deep, rumbling snort that she felt vibrate through his entire frame. “Try not to kill them as you hit them,” she murmured, punctuating her words with firm, affectionate taps against his powerful neck, “but don’t spare them if they become a bother.”
Straightening her back, Thirteen shifted her weight and clenched her thighs against Nihil’s sides. Her left hand wove firmly into his mane–a grip she’d once considered painful to her precious steed, until Nihil himself had insisted upon it. Her charger knew his own capabilities best. And she tended to underestimate him. “Let’s shatter some clay puppets,” she breathed, and Nihil exploded into motion.
The sudden acceleration slammed her backward, but centuries of experience had taught her how to react. She rolled with the movement, finding her balance in the sweet spot between rigid control and fluid adaption. Nihil’s hooves struck the chamber floor like war drums, each impact echoing off the walls as they thundered toward their enemies.
The golems clustered together, their movements uncoordinated yet somehow threatening in their sheer number. For most horses, it would be dangerous to simply crash into their foe. Injury was almost inevitable and death not unlikely, but Nihil was no ordinary mount or animal. His entire being radiated bloodlust and fearless determination as he paced forward, straight into the enemy’s midst.
Three golems formed the vanguard, although they just happened to be in front of the others without any strategic intent behind it. They raised their arms, no doubt sensing their target approach. Thirteen pressed herself low against Nihil’s neck, extending her sword out to the right like a steel wing. Nihil moved beneath her with grace that seemed impossible for a shire his size, swerving in a perfectly timed pivot to the left. The motion guided Thirteen’s blade through one golem’s neck, the force assisted by the charge ripping its head away. In his move, Nihil’s bulk shattered another clay doll, resulting in a small shower of shards.
You have defeated [Lower-Grade Clay Golem]. Lower-grade Spirit will be integrated into the Thirteenth Spirit [Thirteen].
Nihil danced backward, easily evading the clumsy strikes of nearby golems. Though their blows would barely scratch him, Nihil knew not to sustain unnecessary injuries. Despite his size and the large target he provided, Nihil was quick on his hooves, proving just why he was such a phenomenal beast of a horse. He had power, yes, but finesse, too.
Thirteen felt the battlefield shift through her mount’s movements. Her eyes darted to movement on both sides–five golems attempting to flank right, three more left. Frowning, she tugged Nihil’s mane with practiced pressure. “Circle back,” she commanded. Nihil’s response was instantaneous. Nihil pivoted on his rear hooves like a dancer, bringing them face-to-face with the group on the left.
Two clean sweeps of Thirteen’s blade decapitated the first two golems as they approached one after the other, almost as if delivering themselves to her. The third was met with a more violent end as it ran right into Nihil and was crushed beneath his hooves as a result. Its body was then pulverized and broken down into thousands of small shards as her angry shire stomped on its remains with a grudge.
When Thirteen surveyed her surroundings again, she noticed something peculiar. The remaining golems had spread into a ring formation, slowly contracting around them. Their movements, while individually awkward, undoubtedly showed hints of coordination now. Something’s off. They never did that before. And they surrounded us while we were busy. Low-grade spirits cannot act like this on their own.
She studied their swaying frames and stumbling steps, noting an underlying pattern. Not tactical thinking, she realized. Someone has given them commands or is commanding them. But who? And where?
Nihil’s warning snort snapped her attention back to the immediate threat. She watched as her mount lashed out with his hind legs, destroying another golem with devastating force, the movement forcing her to strengthen her grip on his mane.
A flash of movement to her right–she responded instantly, her blade singing through the clay of a golem’s face. When she turned, Nihil’s teeth had separated the top half of another golem’s head from the rest. He crunched through it, then deemed his foe not worthy and spit it out.
The remaining nine golems kept their circle and closed in on them simultaneously. Their formation, while theoretically sound, couldn’t compensate for their individual lack of strength. Nihil became a whirlwind of destruction as he spun and turned while kicking and tackling. His hooves tumbled golem after golem, throwing them back, crushing their limbs. At the same time, Thirteen’s blade never stopped moving, each strike flowing into the next in a deadly succession of slashes and thrusts. Together, they dismantled the golem’s formation piece by piece until the final golem crumbled.
You have defeated [Lower-Grade Clay Golem]. Lower-grade Spirit will be integrated into the Thirteenth Spirit [Thirteen].
You have defeated [Lower-Grade Clay Golem]. Lower-grade Spirit will be integrated into the Thirteenth Spirit [Thirteen].
You have defeated [Lower-Grade Clay Golem]. Lower-grade Spirit will be integrated into the Thirteenth Spirit [Thirteen].
She did not gain a level, and Nihil did not look like he leveled up either, if he even could in the same way as her, but that was not important. Thirteen checked her mana reserves.
Mana: 1,732/2,000
She had not lost anything to injuries this time and still plenty of mana to keep Nihil around. Whoever caused these waves would soon learn just how frightening she and her mount were.