Chương 29

Alex studied Beckett for a second. The guy felt genuine to him; Beckett genuinely didn't seem interested in hiding anything about himself. But it felt like he kept catching Alex off guard, somehow. Alex wasn't sure he'd expected the guy to finish the Ice Slime quite that quickly. He'd weakened it first, and Beckett had a type matchup advantage, but still. The fire lances were also slightly misshapen, which wasn't unlike Alex's Mana Spears before his Mana Manipulation's rarity upgrade.

But in terms of efficacy Beckett's lances seemed far superior, even without considering type matchups. The explosiveness aspect, Alex assumed, was due to a fire Mana Manipulation support. Is Fire straight-up better than Pure at pure offense? Alex wondered. All affinities had their advantages and disadvantages. Maybe to an extent? But Mana Spear's a legitimate, popular Skill. Surely there's a reason it has its place. He felt curious. I wonder what I could be doing with my spear.

It wasn't that anything he saw from Beckett's lance directly gave him inspiration; the way it worked was very different from Alex's fake Mana Spear. But he felt certain his spear could improve, and significantly. A part of him began to consider the idea. They had very similar levels of talent, if with different affinities.

He knew it didn't actually work this way, because of their differing affinities, and gear and experiences, but he couldn't help but think— if he can achieve that in four days, I can at least get close. There was also Beckett's question to consider, about what his spear was precisely. For the second time that hour Alex was forced into a dilemma. He wasn't sure he liked being put in this position again and again.

And if they kept delving—and if Alex kept using his powers near full capacity, which he wasn't sure he could avoid—it'd be pretty obvious what his talents were.

"You're a private guy, huh," said Beckett, with a light smile.

"It's fine, I get it. I can ask less, just let me know."

"I just want to do my own thing," said Alex, returning a wan smile.

"And be left alone."

"Believe it or not, I can keep a secret," said Beckett. He wrenched his spear out of the fallen Ice Slime. He looked at Alex with wide eyes.

"I swear." Alex considered him. I kind of believe him? At least, I believe he believes it. Whether Beckett would actually be capable of it was a different story; the guy seemed kind of excitable. As for what Alex genuinely didn't want to reveal, it was really three things—his Outworlder status, how high, precisely, his talents were, and of course the arcstyrion thing.

"It's Mana Manipulation. My Pure and Force affinities are pretty decent," said Alex.

"I believe it," said Beckett. He grinned.

"My Fire and Lightning affinities are also pretty decent." Is that a cheeky jab? Alex wondered. But the guy said it sincerely. Unless he's totally seen through me, and is just playing with me. Alex was amused. He doesn't seem the type, but who knows? Beckett was back looking at his spear, which was stuck in the Slime. At least, it had been stuck in the Slime; the Slime's fallen, darkened, almost puddle-like form dissolved into mana, vanishing into the air.

"Aren't rift creatures supposed to drop items?" said Beckett.

"It's only occasionally," Alex replied, walking up to him." Ah." He seemed disappointed.

"I wonder how it sensed me." Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"I'm pretty sure it has mana senses," said Alex.

"It probably sensed the mana on your spear when you closed in."

"Wait, you could tell?"

"It squelched whenever you summoned fire mana," said Alex.

"I assume it's because it sensed the mana type. It is a being made entirely of mana, after all, and it seems to absorb mana." Alex nodded at the icicles, dripping droplets of mana-filled icy water.

"It makes sense it'd have a way to sense it," he concluded.

"Smart," said Beckett, nodding. It didn't feel all that smart to Alex—it felt pretty clear, actually; he was surprised Beckett hadn't realized, given what else the guy noticed. It also reassured him that this guy was probably not, in fact, some secretly all-knowing genius. They continued onward into the forest.

As they went they discussed a little about ice mana, and how to keep it off their weaponry; Alex had realized you had to keep your mana flowing on the surface of the blade, as well as flooding the blade's surface with mana. It was somewhat more intensive, but it worked.

"It's like you're cycling mana across the blade," was how Alex explained it. It wasn't actually dissimilar to what he'd read cycling, as in the passive Skill, was like. Which also got him thinking. Beckett brightened.

"Like what the Slime was doing?"

"As in, what?"

"Cycling its mana. Especially when it does that giant bounce? That's why it froze so much stuff when it bounced—it was moving the mana into anything it touched."

"You seem certain," said Alex.

"You didn't feel it? It was cycling the entire time we were fighting it. I'm pretty sure it has like, two Skills."

"I didn't, actually," said Alex—now he was wondering why he hadn't.

"You should work on your soul senses," said Beckett candidly.

"It's what all my mentors tell me to do, like, starting now. It's supposed to be pretty useful in future."

"I'll keep it in mind." He decided to focus a little more on what the Slime was doing with its mana, the next time they came across one. As it happened, he didn't need to wait long. Two slimes, only a minute of walking away, both bouncing around, back and forth.

"How's your mana?" said Beckett, before they started.

"Almost full." The extra mana regen from his new ring, and his new Class Level—plus his increased efficiency of all his Mana Manipulations, thanks to his new rarity level—was doing wonders for his casting capacity. These two slimes were almost identical to the first, except for the fact they were each about two feet smaller. Also Level 4. Beckett glanced at him.

"You think you can take the one on the left one on one for a bit?"

"I'll be fine," said Alex, thinking, with amusement —was my performance against the last slime that unimpressive?

"You're pretty undergeared," said Beckett.

"I can lend you my chestplate if you want, we'll be more even."

"Keep your chestplate," said Alex.

"I'm pretty decent defensively, should be okay." It wasn't just his pride speaking, he hoped.

"Alright." Beckett grinned.

"Let's fuck up some Slimes." The guy held out a fist; Alex wasn't usually a fist-bump kind of guy, but he bumped it. Beckett walked toward his side of the clearing, and this time he went in cold; no mana on his spear. This time the slime didn't react, even when he was within ten feet. Alex walked in as well. When he was close to striking range, he placed Swordforce on his blade. But right before that he placed a Mana Shield right behind the Slime.

The Slime squelched, preparing to leap at the big mass of mana suddenly behind it. Also confirming, perhaps unsurprisingly given their makeup, that Slimes weren't the smartest species. Alex stepped in and treated it to two slashes. To his right there was a flash of brightness and he knew the duels were on. A few things jumped out at him this fight. The first, the freezing capacities of this four-foot-tall slime were a lot less than the last, six-foot-tall slime. It was somewhat less potent overall.

Which made observing it a lot easier, especially since he could redirect it with his mana constructs. When he got up close to it—when he was slashing, pretty much—he focused his soul senses, and realized Beckett was right. Ice mana was flowing through the Slime's body constantly. He tried noticing closely the way in which it moved. Slime biology was very different from human biology—cycling was probably a lot simpler in a uniform mass—but he took mental notes regardless.

Another thing he took from this fight was that his Mana Shields were very effective against Slimes. Freezing his Mana Shields didn't seem to make them much less effective as barriers, and they held up pretty well to the Slimes' bounces. Before long he'd slashed the Slime nearly a dozen times with a Swordforce-laden blade, observing the creature with his soul senses all the while. With his ability to split concentration, focusing his soul senses with one part of his mind was a simple task.

He finished off the Slime without difficulty. Beckett had finished his fight about thirty seconds before; the guy waved, and it was then that Alex noticed there was a patch of icy mana clinging to the left side of his chestplate; it seemed the freeze penetrated deeper in. The guy winced a little as he waved.

"What happened?" said Alex, bewildered.

"I tried finishing it quickly this time," said Beckett, looking slightly embarrassed.

"And I was up a little closer than, uh, was maybe necessary. Turns out it can split up into four mini versions of itself? One went right into me, and—yeah. But the mini-versions seem pretty weak, it only took two Lightning Spears to finish them." After a pause, "I'm fine," he added. Alex considered it. His Slime didn't split, and neither did the first Slime.

"Maybe only a few of them can split up like that?"

"Maybe."

"Probably best to be careful."

"I—yeah, I will. But look at this!" Beckett gestured at the open space in front of him. There, lying on the ground—the space where the Slime had been, Alex guessed—there was a jelly-like perfect sphere; it seemed to be created out of a similar material as the Ice Slime, just extremely condensed, and icy mana drifted off it in wisps. As Alex drew closer, he could feel the wealth of ice mana endowed in it. Its aura felt different to anything around it, more like Alex's sword than the ice. It was a treasure.