Chương 31: Pugilism? (4)

(4) (4) Just like when he'd first arrived, Rowan stood at the opening of one of the many caves that looked into the broodmother's chamber. But this time, he was far closer to the water. So close that it was torturous that he couldn't quite reach it. The waterfall was just over a dozen yards from him, and its source wasn't far above him, either. He wanted nothing more than to just reach out and take a long, long drink. But, reluctantly, he turned away.

His mana was mostly regenerated, still missing a bit because of the experimentation with condensing the energy he'd done earlier. He already had dozens of ideas on how he could get to the water with his mana, his favorites being making a bowl of mana to harvest the water and actually flying with it. But he knew they wouldn't work. Rowan thought floating a bowl over to the waterfall was actually a good idea, but he just couldn't do it yet.

He'd never thought much about the range of his [Mana Manipulation], since it rarely affected him. He was able to use the skill in about a ten-foot bubble all around him, and when he needed to fire projectiles past that range, he just gave them enough momentum to keep moving after they left his field. But he couldn't do that if he made a mana pot. After all, he wanted to get it back to him, and the waterfall was far out of his range.

He'd even considered doing something with his chains, but nothing he thought of would work. As he continued walking away from the waterfall, he moved to his second idea: flying. If he could form a platform or platforms of mana beneath him, Rowan thought he might be able to keep himself airborne and even move around. But it only took a moment of thought to realize he was nowhere close to that yet. He could barely move around two small constructs at the same time, let alone bear all of his weight and move him around.

Still, even if flying wasn't an option, he thought that he could use the pot if he was just able to find an open tunnel that was just a bit closer to the waterfall. Shaking his head, Rowan refocused. If he couldn't get water from there, he would just get it from the System. He was only three kills away from completing his quest, after all. So, with his mana mostly full, he was more than ready to hunt some more bloodspawn.

Rowan continued through the tunnels, the prospect of his next set of rations putting a slight pep in his step. It would even be nice to get more food; he didn't eat large amounts at once, but a little bit here and there added up, and his bag was more than half empty. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long to find an opponent. Or, actually, three of them. Two hounds and a single normal-sized humanoid. It was perfect. Except that the humanoid bloodspawn was different from the rest he'd faced.

Rather than just fungi-infested flesh, the creature's body was covered in bone plating, seemingly growing straight out of it. The armor wasn't everywhere, but there was enough of it that it would be hard to land meaningful blows, especially since most of it was growing in vital areas. Even its face was lightly armored, though the beast's throat was still exposed. Focusing, he brought up descriptions for the three bloodspawn.

[Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 3] [Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 3] [Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 10] It was level 10. Even higher than the brutish bloodspawn that had caused his broken arm. He'd killed a regular level 8 bloodspawn with relative ease, but had almost died and still had a fractured arm from fighting one of the brutes who was just one level higher. Levels were good as a rough estimation of something's strength, but he couldn't rely on them. After all, he'd been killing enemies above his level for a while now.

Hopefully, though, the beast before him wouldn't be even stronger than its level suggested. If it was, he didn't know what he would do. He was watching them from around a corner, and they still hadn't noticed him, so he began to prepare. He formed a blade of mana but kept it floating alongside him, using his one good hand to hold his mace; it was the most effective against the hounds, and he wanted to get them out of the way before he engaged with the armored humanoid.

Around him, half a dozen darts of energy formed, ready to be shot forward at a moment's notice. Rowan still wasn't great at controlling so many constructs at once, even when they were so small and what he had to do was so simple. He would probably have to temporarily sever his connection to his mana blade to fully control the darts, but he could always regain control of it afterwards. As his chains came to life, wrapping around his fist and legs, Rowan prepared one last thing.

He wasn't sure how effective it would be, but he took a moment to compress some more mana within his pathways, ready to be used at a moment's notice. Then, with nothing else left to do, he set down his food bag and attacked. As he'd planned, Rowan dropped his control over the larger mana blade to focus on manipulating the darts. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The miniature projectiles shot forward, all aimed at the two hounds.

He wished he could've done some damage to the humanoid with his initial barrage, but his aim wasn't good enough to ensure the darts would get past its armor, and he did't want the projectiles to go to waste. The needles of mana pierced into the doglike bloodspawn, piercing their flesh with impunity. But it didn't kill them. As the trio was still reeling from the sudden strike, Rowan arrived. Instantly, he drove his fist into the humanoid's chest, the mace in his hand only adding more weight behind the blow.

As his chain-wrapped fist hit the creature's armored torso, he felt the steel links digging into his hand before the strike sent the creature flying back. It was terribly painful, but he couldn't let it affect him. Not now. With the armored beast temporarily out of the picture, he focused his full efforts on killing the two level 3 enemies. Before he could go on the offensive, though, one of them leaped at him. But its leg, already pierced by several darts of mana, failed it.

The jump went off course, allowing Rowan to easily sidestep. And as the beast flew past him, he thrust his fist out, once more using his mace to add more force to his blow. There was a sickening crack as something inside the hound shattered. Then, it was blasted into the stone wall of the cave. [You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 3] He was forced to dive out of the way as the second bloodspawn charged him, gnashing its fungi-infested teeth.

It tried to charge him once more, but the blade of mana—which he'd regained control over just earlier—flew in from the side, leaving a deep gouge on its side. Rowan moved in, trying to take advantage of the opening, but was forced to dodge away once more as a clawed hand slashed at him. With the humanoid back in the equation, he was forced onto the back foot once again. For all the bone plating on its body, the armored bloodspawn was surprisingly nimble.

It still attacked slightly slower than its unprotected brethren, but most of Rowan's retaliatory strikes were entirely ineffective. At the same time, the injured hound continued its relentless assault, trying to clamp its jaws onto him while he was occupied. But as the small beast tried to attack him once more, Rowan thrust out his arm. The chains binding his hand sprang forward, growing longer as he poured more mana into them.

They wrapped around the creature before it could so much as react, completely incapacitating it. Then, he swung his arm forward, using the hound as a flail against the armored bloodspawn. Instinctively, the humanoid struck out with its claws, trying to block the blow. But the makeshift flail's momentum was too much, and its claws only served to shred the hound's flesh. The smaller bloodspawn crashed into the armored creature with surprising force, nearly knocking it over.

[You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 3] As the bloodspawn was still reeling from the blow, Rowan struck again, bringing his mace down on its head. Still, despite being off-balance, the humanoid still managed to raise a bone-covered arm, blocking the blow. The mace cracked the creature's defenses but didn't do any more damage. Before he could follow up, the beast retaliated, sweeping its claws outward. He leaped back and sent his mana construct at his opponent, aiming for the chinks in its armor.

As they continued to exchange blows, Rowan found it oddly reminiscent of fighting the ants, just that this time, his enemy was far more nimble and dangerous. But he was making progress. Slowly, cracks were appearing across the beast's armor, growing with each blow he landed. Parrying a strike with his mace, Rowan moved in, slamming his fist into its stomach. The thin plate of bone that stood in his way shattered, its shards piercing into the beast's flesh.

Compared to the rest of its torso, the area was lightly armored, with some parts of it entirely devoid of defenses. Pressing his advantage, he drove his knee upward, striking the bloodspawn's unarmored chin. He ignored the pain in his leg and slammed his mace into its side, finally knocking it to the floor. It tried to retreat and get back onto its feet, but found its legs bound by chains. Immediately, the beast began to scratch at its constraints, but it couldn't break out of them quickly enough.

Rowan slammed his mace directly into its chest, sending cracks lancing through the thick armor. He struck down again and again until entire chunks of the beast's bony exoskeleton were chipping off. He would've liked to strike at its relatively lightly armored face, but even as it clawed at the steel links binding it, the beast kept an arm up to protect its head. He almost didn't notice when the chains finally shattered from the humanoid's struggling.

The moment it was free, the bloodspawn kicked both of its legs at him, forcing him to block. Rowan raised a chain-wrapped arm to intercept the blow and, at the same time, more mana poured into the chains he was using as makeshift armor, elongating them and adding more layers to his defenses. He would've liked to use more chains to soften the blow even more, but the rest were either occupied or had just been shattered. The creature's feet collided with his chains as it kicked with all its might.

Just as he'd intended, the steel links softened the blow, absorbing most of the impact. But most was not all. What was left was more than enough to send him stumbling back. Wincing in pain, Rowan forced himself to ignore the jolt of agony that shot up his arm. But by the time he shook it off, the armored beast was already on its feet and charging him. The bloodspawn swung its claws with abandon, each blow forcing him back.

The chains were both a blessing and a curse as, even without his direction, they tried to wrap around the creature each time they made contact with its claws. Sometimes, it slowed it down, but others, it left a hole in his defenses. He did everything he could to defend from the barrage, but even with his chains and mana blade adding an extra layer of protection, it simply wasn't enough.

As he blocked yet another strike with a length of chain, Rowan could only watch in horror as one of the creature's claws slid perfectly through the tiniest gap in his defenses, formed by the chains there moving slightly after trying to [Bind] the creature. Even as he pulled away, the sharp length of bone caught him, leaving a gouge in his right arm. He scrambled back, trying to regroup, but the bloodspawn was on him again. With the new wound on his arm, Rowan found his reactions slightly off.

The rhythm he'd kept that had allowed him to keep up with the beast's relentless attacks until just earlier broke, and he found his defenses pierced once more, this time landing just a small scratch on his stomach. With a grunt of pain, he tried to find an opening to regain the momentum, but he simply couldn't. Slowly, cracks were forming along his chains as he continued to manipulate them, holding them in the air like a barrier. Another claw pierced through his protections, moving towards his neck.

As it neared his body, Rowan released the concentrated mana that he'd been storing within his body, shooting it from his chest. [Mana Manipulation lvl 14 → Mana Manipulation lvl 15] As the bloodspawn flew away from him, Rowan slowly got to his feet. It seemed the fight was going to be more difficult than he'd expected. But even so, he couldn't help but be just a little excited.