Chương 12: Training To Become A Hopper (2)

"Are you ready for it?" Was I ready for it? Of course not. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The beast beyond the invisible barrier was huge. Monstrous.

"Don't worry," Cayman said in an attempt to reassure me.

"You defeated all the jaguars with no problem, so you'll definitely handle this one just fine." Just fine? Was he out of his mind? I had just replenished all my mana, and now I have to fight this thing? It was surely not a mana beast at the basic level.

"In a while, I'm going to let these beasts out. You have nothing to worry about." Cayman sure did have confidence that I would be able to defeat one of those things. But was I really ready for this? I trudged back to the wall I had been leaning on and slumped down on the floor. Cayman's message was that we had to defeat a higher-level beast in order to level up and obtain Hopper status. I couldn't believe it. Was I going to die fighting that thing?

It definitely looked like it could kill an innocent teenager in one strike.

"All right, everyone!" Cayman shouted.

"Time to get up and kill the next round of beasts." I learnt the hard way that sometimes time flies whenever you feel stressed. One by one, my friends stood up. I could tell that Theo had just realised that he could replenish his mana by using the mana crystals, and I could also tell that he was extremely reluctant to use his crystals.

"Look over there." Cayman pointed at the beasts beyond the wall after we all lined up.

"Those are the beasts that you will be defeating to progress to stage 3." Theo cracked his neck and his knuckles.

"Really?" He was smirking.

"I can take on a hundred of those things if I have to. Basic mana beasts are no problem for me anymore."

"Oh really?" Cayman rebuked.

"They are not basic beasts anymore. Look above their heads." And that was when all our spirits fell to the ground like pins dropping. [Mana Lion (advanced)] Although the beasts were mana lions, the advanced lions were significantly different from the basic lions. The biggest difference was that the advanced lions were at least three times the size of the basic lions, and about twice the size of the largest regular lions. The mana lions had extremely white teeth that were as sharp as little daggers.

One bite from those things and you're toast.

"I can give you a demonstration if you want, but I doubt that it would lift any of your spirits up." Cayman looked ready to give a demonstration, with his sword in hand and fists looking ready to punch a grown tiger. We shook our heads. Maya looked like she was going to faint.

"I'm still not fully healed yet!" she wailed, her cries reverberating around the training hall. Cayman smirked.

"Tough luck then," he said menacingly, as if Theo's soul had temporarily entered his body.

"In real fights, you won't have time to fully replenish your energy. Deal with it." Maya's head fell as she stared at the ground in despair.

"I think you're all ready," Cayman continued.

"You'll be fine, and you won't die. Despite those beasts looking like they're ready to kill, just remember that they're only at the advanced level. That's only stages 5 to 8. They won't kill you, and their bites will only hurt for a moment." No one believed his words. Cayman really couldn't take the perspective of other people. Does he not know that he was once in the same position as us?

"Hey, Cayman?" Ben had a question, and it looked like he was bursting to ask it.

"Do you know if-""Release the beasts!" Cayman bellowed, cutting Ben off. Almost instantly, the invisible barrier separating us and the advanced-level beasts disappeared and the mana lions began careening towards us like a group of wild tigers. One stab from those teeth could be the end of someone. I couldn't tell how much mana I had; I knew there was a way to check, but I feared that I didn't have enough time to open the system and figure out how to do it. It wasn't clear in Night Hoppers how to do it.

During the previous two fights, I had relied on guesswork rather than the system to tell me how much mana I had left. Well, at least I had an advantage over my friends in a way. [Skill, 'Reading Bubble (basic)', has been activated.] A large blue dome formed around me, shielding me from the mana lion's attacks. It protected me from the attacks, however, it didn't stop the mana lion from continuously attacking. At least I could think. I had five skills I could use, all at the basic level.

I could try the teleportation method again and surprise-attack it, which worked for the basic beasts, but there was no guarantee that it would work for this advanced mana lion. However, I still had a combination of healing and recovery skills, making this a feasible option. Crack! Crack! Crack! [Skill, 'Reading Bubble (basic)', is showing signs of breaking.] [Skill, 'Reading Bubble (basic)', is showing signs of breaking.] [Skill, 'Reading Bubble (basic)', is showing signs of breaking.] Crap.

I completely forgot what level of beast I was fighting. I wasn't fighting basic-level beasts anymore. I was fighting an advanced-level beast. One advanced level beast might be stronger than the three basic level beasts I had just fought about ninety minutes ago, maybe even significantly. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. The strength level of the beasts increased exponentially as its level increased. There was no other plausible option.

The other option I had was to use my basic strength skill to pummel the beast to the ground, but who knows how many punches it would take to completely knock out the beast, and who knows whether it could have the capability to fight back? Crack! [Skill, 'Reading Bubble (basic)', is showing signs of breaking.] Cracks began forming on the surface of the reading bubble. I need to think quickly. I couldn't waste time. There was no time. Decision-making was never one of my strong points. Crack!

[Skill, 'Reading Bubble (basic)', is showing signs of breaking.] I thought about the message I saw a few days back when I first read about the reading bubble skill. It said 'Will be destroyed when used to defend against higher-level skills.' There was also a cooldown period of 10 minutes if broken by advanced-level skills. That meant once broken, I had to hold on for ten minutes before I could use the skill and replenish my mana again. I need to find a way to drag this battle. Crack!

[Skill, 'Reading Bubble (basic)', is showing signs of breaking.] [Skill, 'Reading Bubble (basic)', is about to break!] Shit. I needed to disengage the skill immediately. Reluctantly, I decided I was going to ambush the beast like I did with the basic beasts and stab it in the neck area. Come on, reading bubble, disengage! Where was the system message telling me to disengage the skill? Why was the skill not disengaging?

There were more cracks forming on the surface of the bubble, and my heart was racing like I had just dropped my phone and there were cracks all over my phone screen. But this was more important and more terrifying than my phone screen cracking. Because that was when the inevitable happened. Crack! [Skill, 'Reading Bubble (basic)', has broken!] [Cooldown period: 10: 00] Oh dear. My vision, which used to be a whole pool of blue, suddenly entered the real world again, giving me no time to analyse my situation.

The mana lion had successfully broken through my defensive skill, and its mouth was open wide, ready to devour me whole. Well, it was a learning curve after all. I had to hold on for ten minutes. That was my emergency plan. I got up, ready to run, however, there was almost no space left in the training room to run to since Maya, Theo and Ben all had their own mana lions to deal with. That was when I remembered I had teleportation. [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] One moment, I thought I was going to end up in the mana lion's stomach and become lion food, but the next, I was at the other end of the training hall, away from the lion and away from the other fights. Thank God. I needed to rest and recover. [Skill, 'Recovery (basic)', has been activated!] Slowly but surely, I could feel myself getting better. I wasn't panting and gasping for air anymore, and my legs had enough energy to start running again. I could do this.

The mana lion charged at full speed towards me, but this time, I was ready. [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Slash! I managed to stab the lion in the back. That was one stab. I just needed to do this at least ten more times. The lion was at least twice my size and twice as heavy, giving me the advantage in terms of agility. I was able to dodge the lion's most critical attacks initially. And when I felt like I couldn't carry on anymore, I could always use recovery.

[Skill, 'Recovery (basic)', has been activated.] That was my strategy. That was how I was going to put my weak body to use and defeat the mana lion! There was a spark inside me that had ignited. A flame in my chest that told me to keep going, to keep pushing harder to defeat the beast. To accomplish my goal. It told me to not stop at anything until I saw the mana lion dead in front of me, with blood pouring out from its mutilated body. It told me that nothing was impossible. Slash! Slash! Slash!

It told me that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. If defeating the mana lion looked impossible at first, make it possible. Tell yourself it's possible. Try and try again. If one stab wound wasn't enough, then maybe two or three would help. Then I could go for more. Nothing is impossible. I'll be fine. However. I was deep in my flow state when it happened. My worst nightmare. [You have run out of mana.] No! I didn't think it would happen so soon.

That was a huge blow, since I couldn't use teleportation, strength, the reading bubble after the cooldown period passed, and most importantly, recovery. I couldn't recover. I couldn't solve my stamina issue if I didn't have mana. That was when I realised my flaw: my overdependence on mana. I looked at my hands. There were calluses all over my palms, but most importantly, the blade of the mana sword I had been wielding was cracked.

I thought it had a few more uses in it, but all of a sudden, the blade split into miniscule fragments which scattered on the ground. Crack! Shit. I was out of mana and my sword was broken. I had no way to defeat the beast. I stared lifelessly at the mana lion charging towards me at full speed like a train, excited and ready to devour me whole. To crush me and chew me and turn me into mincemeat ready to enter its stomach. I was going to die.

Life had been a dream these past few days, from suddenly becoming a skill user to making friends to forgiving my bullies. None of it felt real. And now it was all going to come crushing down by the hands of a supernatural being that shouldn't exist in this world. What was I doing? What was my place in this messed up world? Why was I here? I watched as the mana lion edged closer towards me. And closer. And closer. It was really going to eat me. Until- Slash! Punch! Stab! The mana lion froze.

Its head, which was once attached to its body, fell off like meat on the chopping board, and tumbled to the floor. Blood poured out of the mana beast's neck like a fountain. Huh? I looked up. I was certain I was going to die before I even realised my dream. And once I looked up, I couldn't believe who had just saved me from almost certain death.

"Theo?"

"Yeah man," Theo said, holding out his hand. I took his hand and he pulled me up.

"I totally saved your butt from that thing. Don't worry. I haven't killed my mana beast yet so I'll let you have my kill." I was perplexed. I thought I was going to end up in the afterlife and probably see my father after years and years. And to be saved by a bully? What was life at the moment? I walked over to Theo's mana lion, which was unconscious and sprawled on one side of the training hall. I grabbed my sword and made a deep stab wound around its neck. Stab!

[You have gained 300 XP for defeating a 'Mana Lion (advanced)'.] [Total XP: 390/250] [You have progressed to stage 3!] [You are now able to become a Hopper!] [You have unlocked 5 new inventory spaces!] That was the most relieved I had ever felt in my life. And the most stressed.

"Well, well, well," Cayman said while walking over to us. All the other fights had ended, and Maya and Ben were on the floor, panting and drooling like tired dogs.

"Looks like everybody defeated their beast successfully and progressed to stage 3. You have completed your training to become a Hopper. Congratulations. Be very proud of yourself and get some well-deserved rest."

"Thank you so much," Maya and Ben wheezed, desperately gasping for air. I, on the other hand, was intrigued. I clicked on the system message that said 'You are now able to become a Hopper!' Carefully, I clicked on the word 'Hopper'. It took me to a whole new system window. [You have advanced to stage 3! You are now eligible to become a Hopper.] [You can only make this decision once.] [WIll you become a Hopper? Yes/No]