Chương 16: Demonic Grounds

You have free stat points left over. Do you wish to assign them? Yes. I used all of my 15 free stat points. Mana: 8→23. I felt like a lump had formed around my heart. There was so much more Mana inside me now. I felt so full—to an insane degree. I could only imagine myself growing from a small candle to a giant beacon of light. It felt awesome. New lines of text formed inside my vision. Your name is Timothy, you are a Core discipline Mana Martial Sect. For your past actions you are being punished.

The world morphed around me. A second ago, I was inside my room; the next, I was standing in another much smaller one. In front of me stood a middle-aged man wearing martial robes in green and black color. Behind him, an obelisk-like structure was erected. It glowed for a brief moment, and the man touched it. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, before glancing back at me. His gaze was cold.

"Your punishment has been decided, Timothy," he said.

"I am sorry to say it, but you will be sent towards the Demonic Grounds. Your mission is simple: destroy the gates that allow the Demons into our lands and give the army some breathing room. It's either success or death." I turned around to run—my body didn't move.

"You can't run, Timothy." The man sighed, his hand on my shoulder. I had no idea how he had gotten so close to me, nor how I wasn't able to move. But his grip was tight. I was picked up effortlessly by him. He carried me towards the obelisk with me still trying to fight my way out, but it was to no avail. He was just too strong for me to do anything. The man touched the obelisk and said something incomprehensible. The next moment, the structure opened up like the maw of a beast, revealing a pitch-black darkness.

I was thrown inside.

"I know you can do it, Timothy," the man said.

"You are a good disciple of our Sect. If only you weren't dumb enough to—" The maw of the obelisk slammed shut, cutting off any sound of the outside world and plunging me into a world of darkness. The obelisk began to shake violently, and I could feel myself move through space. It was like a shaky car ride, while you were being pressed against your seat, or in this case, the wall. It was also then that Timothy's memories hit me. They were sparse, but useful.

The whole world was in an eternal war against the Demons that kept pouring through Demon Portals. It was my task to destroy those portals. I was at least lucky enough to be sent to a place where the Demons were around my level. The other part of the man's memories, though, were much more interesting. He was a martial artist through and through. I could tell just how much more experienced he was compared to me. After an unknown amount of time, the maws around me opened up, bringing me out of my thoughts.

The light blinded me for a moment, and then I realized how fucked I was. Maybe a dozen feet from me, I could see a bipedal creature running towards me. It was around 8 feet tall, with bulging muscles and red skin. Its chest, thighs, and forearms were covered in a sort of chitin armor. Its head was that of a lion. It roared as it charged me. I sprang out of the obelisk and quickly scanned my surroundings. It was the only demon I could see. I sighed in relief. I channeled my Mana through my body. It was a lot.

It felt uncomfortable for a moment, but with the experience I had, I got the hang of it immediately. I wouldn't have used my stat points that way if I wasn't confident in my Mana Manipulation. The Mana arrived at my legs, and I sidestepped the monster's punch. It missed my head by a lot. Yet, I could feel the power of its attack as the wind pushed my hair back. It followed up with a hook. I ducked and stepped inside. The Mana dissipated from my legs and gathered inside my right fist. All of it.

I cocked my arm back, then, following my memories, I twisted my hips and torso perfectly in sync. The punch was devastating. It hit the monster's right side, and its eyes widened. From Timothy's memories, I knew I had hit its spleen perfectly. I moved the mana from my right fist into my left one. The process was instantaneous. Then I delivered a powerful blow to the demon's liver. It grunted and buckled over. I was now able to reach its face.

In any other situation, I would have gone for the jaw and knocked the demon out. But the memories of Timothy told me to do something different. The mana moved from my fist towards my index and middle fingers. All of it. I could feel the pressure it put on those two. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Then, I struck the demon right into its eye with my fingers. I pulled my hand back; that was accompanied by a wet tearing noise. Then I jumped back.

I was about to go for the second eye, but the pain sent the monster thrashing. It flung its arms around wildly, hoping to kill me. I stayed in its blind spot, right out of its attack range. Then, as it calmed down again, I went in, still at its blind spot. Its ears perked up as I closed the distance, but it was already too late. My fingers went into the same eye again. This time I didn't pull my arm out, but pushed my fingers deeper. I was wrist-deep into the Demon's skull.

I twisted my fingers around and scrambled the brain of my opponent. It died almost immediately. I stumbled, slightly dizzy. This fight took a toll on me. Using mana was exhausting, but I was happy I was able to use my mana the way I did in a fight. Previously, I had only tested it during training. It worked well, but inside a fight, it worked even better. Combined with the memories of Timothy, I wasn't surprised by the next notifications. [Unarmed Combat - Common] has reached level 4.

[Unarmed Combat - Common] has reached level 5. Mana Manipulation stayed the same level, but I could tell it was on the brink of its next advancement. It was then that new lines of text formed inside my vision. First Objective: Destroy 3 Demon Portals 0/3 Second Objective: Kill 25 Demons 0/25 Bonus objectives might be unlocked at any given moment. I nodded. These objectives didn't seem too bad. I was happy to fulfill all of them.

After combing through my notifications, I stood up again and finally took in my surroundings. I was inside a forest, with a large clearing far in the distance. There I could also see something. I couldn't make it out, but I knew it was one of the portals. The sky above was dark and grim, but it was still day. It looked ominous. I also noticed how the forest was completely silent. No insects buzzing. No animals or birds chirping. No rustling of leaves—there were no leaves. No bushes or grass.

I stood up and went on my way. I didn't go towards the portal, however. Instead, I found what looked like a safe spot inside the forest and began to comb through Timothy's memories more and more. Especially his Martial arts ones. He was good. No, he was fucking great. Despite his meager Mana, he managed to become a Core Disciple of the Mana Martial Sect. All because of Martial arts. I was ready to get the most out of this whole ordeal.

After reviewing everything, I got back to work on integrating the man's experience into my own. I punched and kicked through the air. Each second my attacks became snappier and more forceful. The transitions were much smoother. Within a few hours, I went from amateur to a professional. And the notification reflected that. [Unarmed Combat - Common] has reached level 6. I knew, however, this was the extent of me leveling up the skill. No, that was not true. I could level it up, but I wanted more.

The Skill was Common Rarity. That was not enough. I wanted it to be better. And for that, I needed real combat experience. I went to bed and woke up refreshed. A couple of hours later, I neared the clearing where I knew one of the portals was. I was right at the edge of the forest and clearing, hiding behind a tree and observing my surroundings. The clearing was devoid of grass. It reminded me of the Barren Lands of my territory. In the distance, I could finally make out the portal.

It was a maybe twenty-foot-tall structure, built in an oval shape and made out of a dark material I couldn't identify. Inside it, a swirling blue portal was emitting streaks of energy every few seconds. It was awe-inspiring—yet even more sinister. Demons surrounded the portal. Like the previous one, they were eight feet tall with red skin and chitin armor covering their vital parts. Each one had different animals as heads, however. One was a wolf, the other a bear, the last one a hog.

I could tell they were as strong as the last Demon. Just barely into Stone Rank. I could take one on at most, maybe two. I got lucky that the first one didn't have any skills and charged me directly. I had to be careful. I continued to observe them for a few hours and waited for one of them to walk towards me. They didn't move. They were guarding the portal. I decided to make some noise and throw rocks in their direction. This got their attention. They still didn't move.

It wasn't until I hit a tree with a fully powered mana fist that one of the demons came to investigate. It was the hog. The Demon, unlike the lion one, was much more cautious. I kept leading it further into the forest by making more and more sounds. It didn't seem much smarter than an actual hog. After a few hours of it following behind me, it finally dawned upon it that something was wrong. The Demon stopped moving no matter how many sounds I made. It was time to act.

This time instead of trying to create as many sounds as possible, I tried to stay quiet. I moved as close as possible to the hog. Only when I was a few feet away from it did it notice me. I had been channeling mana through my legs for that exact moment. I burst out from behind a tree with speed somebody at my level shouldn't have. Mana Manipulation was awesome. I arrived in front of the Demon and was immediately met with an attack towards my face. I dodged to the side. The hog was much faster than the lion.

Not as fast as me, however. Still, I couldn't keep up this rate for long. I was burning through mana at a quick pace. It threw an overhand strike. It was sloppy. I stepped inside and moved the mana from my legs into my fists. Two strikes hit the Demon's body in quick succession. Then I retreated again. Our cat and mouse continued for a few more exchanges. I would dodge, then go in whenever I saw the opportunity. My strikes were fast and hard. But the Demon's vitality was surprisingly good.

It didn't matter, however. It eventually succumbed. Another two strikes in quick succession ripped its liver and spleen apart. It grunted in pain and fell to its knees. It opened up its mouth to scream. I let it. I simply retreated further back into the forest, while still keeping an eye on the Demon. After a few minutes, it got back to its feet and walked back to the portal it had been guarding. I followed it slowly. It was hurt. I knew it was dying.

Internal bleeding was doing a number on it, and it was desperately trying to get back to its comrades. But the way back was hours away. It eventually crashed into the ground. Its breathing was shallow. With my newly recovered mana, I arrived behind it. Two fingers went into its eye and skull before I scrambled the Demon's brain again. It died instantly. Two more to go.