Chương 19: Snake Strike

I awoke to the incomprehensible sound of voices echoing off walls. I was inside a cave. A wet and cold one, as my back was slightly numb and damp already. I had been out for a long time. I didn't open my eyes and kept as motionless as before. Through my eyelids, I could see an orange color to my left. Likely a campfire. It must have been a big cave or else we would have suffocated from the carbon monoxide already. Or we were at the entrance.

After a few seconds, I was finally awake enough to understand what was being said.

"Why the heck did you kidnap him and not kill him! For God's sake, he is a Core Disciple from the Mana Martial Sect. We will be killed!" A voice I didn't recognize said.

"Stop being such a wuss! We have discussed this a dozen times already! You think we would survive if word leaked that we spread information to the Demons?

"A familiar voice answered. It took me a couple of seconds to realize it was the village elder.

"Think about it, Jake! Do you think he would not have questioned why the Demons attacked our village the way they did? Or how they found us in the first place? Marching towards us in a straight line? Really? Even my fucking villagers were confused by this, and they were scared shitless." I would have questioned nothing. I was not Timothy.

"He would have. It's only natural a Martial artist of his standing notices something fishy," Jake said.

"Exactly," the village elder answered.

"I still don't understand why we keep him alive, however." The village elder sighed, "You are far too short-sighted. Do you think the Demons would let us live if we simply came back to them and told them about how we helped in the murder of 16 of them? And saving the village? No. I knew the village was a lost cause after the food. So, I helped. It would have been far too suspicious otherwise. But now we can say we sacrificed a few Demons for a higher up at one of the strongest Sects.

They now can use him as a hostage to negotiate whatever Demons negotiate for." Ah, I see. So this is why this weakling ambushed me. It was a mistake on my end. I stirred awake. Slowly. My eyelids opened, and I moved my body ever so slightly. The first thing I noticed was that my hands were tied behind my back. The second thing was just how large the cave was. It was at least 30 feet tall and just as wide. It curved around and up–there it was just a pit of endless darkness. Neither man noticed me waking up.

They were still having a discussion that I ignored. I kept my perception focused on their expressions. I tried to unwrap the tie. It didn't work. I was not flexible enough. I tried to break it apart. I was too weak. A tiny amount of mana flowed from my heart, through my Mana Channels, and into my arms. Still too weak. I upped the dosage—very very slowly. The rope creaked and groaned. I stopped. But it was already too late. The elder stared at me with wide eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, and I acted.

Mana flowed through my body like a raging river, and the ropes snapped. The elder and I were on our feet at the same time.

"You shouldn't—" the elder tried to say before I closed the distance and grabbed him by his neck. I lifted him off the ground and looked him dead in the eyes. He tried to remove my grip. It wouldn't budge. The Mana inside my body strengthened me to an unimaginable degree. Despair grew in his beady eyes.

"Tell me how you were able to ambush me, and I will let you live," I lied.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Jake screamed from my side and attacked. He was met with a mana-powered side kick to his midsection. His eyes went wide, and he smashed against the cavern walls, the stone splitting his skull open. His eyes dimmed, and he limply fell to the ground. I wasn't sure whether he was dead or just unconscious. He bled heavily. I turned back to the elder.

"Tell me how you were able to ambush me, and I will let you live." I tightened my grip after not getting an answer. Then, I walked over to Jake and stepped on his neck. Hard. The crunch echoed through the whole cave system. I didn't like cruelty, but I had to get answers and learn from my mistakes.

"Tell me how you were able to ambush me, and I will let you live," I lied for a third time.

"Okay! Okay! I will talk. Please don't kill me. I promise I will tell you everything you want to know. Just don't kill me." The village elder rambled on.

"Just tell me how you were able to ambush me?" I grew impatient.

"Okay! I might just be at the Mana Condensation Realm, but I spent my entire life as a spy and assassin before retiring in this village. I have the ability to ambush people at the beginning of Foundation Establishment," the village elder said.

"Besides this, I also used a quick-acting poison. One that should have kept you out for... longer. Mana Condensation? Foundation Establishment? Are these this world's equivalent to Wood and Stone Rank? It would make sense.

"So it's just experience?" I asked.

"Is that what you are trying to tell me?"

"No, no, of course not, sir. I also had—" I could feel something wrong and snapped his neck. On instinct, my head shifted to the side. His arm blurred and something cut me across my cheek. Immediately, my vision grew blurry, but this time I stayed on my feet. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. I let go of the elder, and he dropped to the ground. Dead. He was holding a tiny needle in his hand, with green liquid dripping down. I see.

So it was similar to this world's version of a skill with a combination of poison. I should have been more cautious. My vision turned black. I woke up probably multiple hours later. Both corpses were still there and in perfect condition. The campfire, however, was on its last legs, with most of the wood having turned to ashes already. I moved around, and the dizziness was gone. Looks like the poison was gone. I again reprimanded myself for such a dumb mistake, but I would learn from it.

Everything that didn't kill me would make me stronger. I pulled up my objectives. Objective One: 3/3 Objective Two: 15/25 Bonus Objective: Complete. Second Bonus Objective: Complete I nodded. At least that was done. 10 more demons to go. I rummaged through both corpses' clothes, finding nothing special besides a singular book inside the elder's robe. I guessed it was the Skill he used, or in this case, a Martial Art. It was an old book made of the same kind of parchment Max's journal was.

The pages were wrinkled and yellow. I began reading it. The Snake Strike: Volume One I was right. It was a martial art. It functioned a little similar to how a skill would. It was truly fascinating. At first, I didn't want to learn it, considering how long it would take, but then I remembered the time dilation. I should take advantage of it. I finished reading the book within a few hours and immediately got to work.

The book described the precise way Mana had to flow through one's Mana Channels, or in this case, Meridians. It took me a minute to figure those were the same things. The first few days, I just focused on making sure my mana followed the path correctly without injuring myself. The book made sure that fact was reiterated multiple times. Once that was done, I started punching out. My speed increased, but the consumption was too great. I read the book again. Then fixed my mistakes.

This process repeated over the next four days. I would use the Martial Arts, notice something wrong, read the book again, and improve. Within a week, I was able to use the Martial Arts well. Snake Strike functioned very similar to Mana Strike. It took me a week to do what the average Martial Artist needed a month for. Looks like I was a genius. And it seemed that the system wanted to reward me for my genius. You have learned a Martial Art... adjusting to your original world's standards.

Do you wish to turn the Snake Strike into a skill? Power and speed will be greatly enhanced compared to the current version. I grinned. No. I did not wish to turn this Martial Art into a Skill. It would remain what it was: more or less a part of my Mana Manipulation. A skill took up a slot. A Martial Art that became part of my Mana Manipulation took up nothing. Kinda like Mana Strike. I knew Mana Strike would eventually get offered the same option. It was just not sophisticated enough yet.

Still, I liked this development, very much in fact. Then my good mood was shattered by the next string of words. You have 72 hours to fulfill the rest of your objectives. Your time in this world is ending. Oh, so I couldn't just stay here indefinitely. Good to know. I left the cave after an hour. It took quite some time to figure out where the entrance was, but eventually I managed.

I looked inside my Storage Bracelet and was happy to notice that everything was still there and I didn't have to go out hunting hungry. Only once I was outside did I realize how much I missed sunlight, even if the sky was dark and grim. It was still a ton better than that damp and cold cave. I didn't stop to enjoy my surroundings. Ten Demons were a lot to hunt down, and I only had 72 hours.

I sped through the forest, and a few hours later I found the next clearing with a 20-foot-tall portal in the middle of it and 3 Demons around it. The pattern was the exact same. It took me much less time to find a portal than usual. The further I traveled in one direction, the shorter the distance between each portal. However, the time was still measured in days. I wondered how far the elder and Jake traveled from our original location for it to be hours now.

I stormed into the clearing and took on all three Demons head-on. I hit the first one with a lightning-fast Snake Strike to the liver, piercing its skin and flesh. Next, I grabbed the organ and ripped it out of the Demon before throwing it at the face of its comrade. I left the liverless Demon alone as it fell to its knees and cried out in pain. Instead, I delivered a Mana Strike to the Demon who had just caught the liver. Its insides ruptured. The difference in Mana amount between those two was genuinely insane.

Still, both Demons were incapacitated. With only half of my Mana left, I decided to make quick work of the last Demon. A couple of mana-infused punches and kicks to its body and legs followed by a Snake Strike to its throat once I could reach it. Then I went back to finish off the last two Demons, who were bleeding out. My Mana was basically empty, but holy shit. I entered and left this fight completely uninjured. I loved Mana. It was awesome.

Once I had recovered the holy elixir of life (Mana), I arrived at the next clearing. The fighting ended much the same. I rested, looked at my timer, then went to sleep. After waking up, I repeated the process one more time. Again. It was almost too easy. And again, the distance between portals was extremely short. Now, I only had one more Demon left to go and 48 hours inside this world. I decided I would make the most of my time here.

I found the next clearing, but instead of going out to fight, I stayed inside the forest. At first, I wanted to focus on Snake Strike but decided against it. I haven't given my dear Mana Manipulation enough love this simulation. Unarmed Combat steadily went up, even if I kept ignoring the notifications, but Mana Manipulation was simply stuck at Level 7. It hurt my pride. The next forty hours I spent simply Manipulating all of the Mana inside my body. From the tip of my forehead, down to my toes.

I tried to go faster each time and succeeded. I also tried to move Mana outside of my body—in a similar way to Sebastian's Flame Puppy, just with pure Mana—and failed miserably. Before I could deep dive and rectify my failure, my forty hours were up. I would deal with it once I was back. Luckily, it wasn't all for naught. [Mana Manipulation - Uncommon] has reached level 8. I knew it just needed a little love. I went to sleep happy and woke up feeling even better.

With two hours to go, I arrived in front of the three Demons guarding the portal. I didn't stand on ceremony; instead, I used Snake Strike and dug into the first Demon's body. I quickly followed up with Mana Strike in the same, open spot, and its insides literally exploded out and covered my face. Reminder: Never do that again. All objectives have either been completed or failed. Simulation ended. The string of words just appeared in front of me when the Demons, the portal, and the blood disappeared in front of me.

They just vanished. I tried to catch their disappearance, but there was nothing. They were just gone. Instead, a new line of text formed in front of me. Rewards are being calculated...