Chương 34: Chapter Thirty-Four: Lack of Preparation

With my new levels and mana infused body, I take off like a rocket away from the hulking beast. Master Lirin already told me it was near impossible to stop a Honlir, so at this point, I'm hoping to either buy myself some time or escape entirely. As I put distance between us, I can already hear the thumping boom of the hulking beast in pursuit. It's nowhere near as daunting as when the minotaur was bulldozing through the woods, but I still feel some amount of fear run through me from the familiar scenario.

My mind cycles through the possible methods of attack while I continue to head toward a cliff side in the distance. I'm hoping there is a cave or some sort of path I can use to pin the monster like I was told, but even then, if I can't hurt the monster due to its armor, it won't do much for me. I hear branches snapping to my right, and I turn to find shadows darting back and forth through the canopy.

I can't identify any level icons in the brief windows I see them, but it seems my situation has quickly worsened as new monsters close in due to the large ruckus caused from my escapades. The fact I have no detection abilities makes this is all the more frustrating, as I have no method to find my way around besides my eyes. Perhaps this is another lesson of the Master's.

The importance of a perception-based skill or ability that I can use to guide my actions in an attack in order to weave together a strategy on the fly. For all I know, that might've been the skill he was going to teach me up until I went ahead and learned the one I am restricted from even using. Cursing my lack of foresight, I just continue to dart through the landscape while blindly heading toward an objective that I don't even know will help me with the current problem behind me.

Sinking further into <Fixation>, I use the mental skill that has carried me through so many experiences as my guide through the woods. The goal for now is to reach the cliff side and then re-analyze the situation. I need to concentrate on not getting interrupted by any of the straggler monsters that are investigating the area because of the noise. As I finally lock into my method of strategy going forward, a spike comprised of solidified mana slams into the bark of a tree near my head.

While taking evasive measures, I spare a glance in the direction of where the spike was shot from. Of course, there is nothing for me to see other than the flitting shadows from before. Based on the mana-based attack and my lack of ability to identify them, I assume the spike was a present from some Grygons following in the wake of the Honlir. The Grygons were some of the monsters I was least hoping to run into before I received actual combat training from Master Lirin.

My lacking mana perception and overall lower level makes these types of stealth based ranged attackers a living nightmare to deal with. The mana spikes are just another thing I need to worry about alongside the growing list, so I readjust my path and continue on. I can see small flickers of the cliff wall in the distance between the trees, but before I can get a better guess of how far away I am, another mana spike flies through the air and clips my ear. Okay. Screw this.

I have enough space between me and the oncoming Honlir, so I use <Emit> to release an absurd amount of the kinetic buildup from my body directly into the air in front of me. Turning on a dime, I feel an incredible G-force pull on my chest and my vision blacks out slightly as the huge output of energy causes a localized explosion that throws me in the opposite direction of where I was heading.

Hurtling through the air, branches slap my body and leaves get in my eyes while I quickly adapt to the new speed and forcefully <Infuse> mana into my bones for reinforcement. My strengthened focus hones in on one of the shadows I saw earlier, and I go to bury a fist in the figure using the ridiculous amount of momentum at my fingertips.

I can barely keep up with the blurring landscape around me, so I brace for impact with the shadow, only to feel my fist breeze through the empty air, leaving me flying directly toward a tree. Twisting my body to the side, I release another burst of energy from my outstretched hand in order to redirect myself. Due to my lack of practice, the fiery wave of heat that leaves my palm throws me to side as I wanted but also sends me into a deathly twirl that causes me to lose all sense of orientation.

Throwing my hands out instinctively doesn't help either, and I crash unceremoniously into a nearby tree. My body splinters the wood and the air leaves my lungs from the heavy impact. I pull myself out of the trunk almost immediately, but two mana spikes slam into my arm, pinning me to the tree. I know I've already wasted too much time now, and I should be heading back toward the cliff to lead the Honlir.

Regardless, I dismiss the danger of the approaching goliath and let out a growl as I rip my arm off of the tree and through the length of the spikes. Blood trickles through my fingers, but I ignore it and fill my body with even more mana. < Infuse Lvl. 7 -> Infuse Lvl. 8 > At this point, I can feel a tangible weight added from the dangerous amount of mana infused in my muscles and bones, but I don't let the pain blur my objective.

I can feel myself getting the hang of the added attributes and use my additional points in AGI to maximize the smoothness of my movement. The stiff steps and robotic tendencies of my Floor One body fresh off of death's door are completely forgotten as I fluidly weave through the canopy while dodging any incoming projectiles from the hidden figures I am hunting. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

After a few smaller uses of the kinetic bursts I was using earlier, I am finally able to catch sight of one of the elusive monsters. < Grygon - Level 25 > The Grygon has skin like a chameleon, and I watch in real time as its tiny scales meld with the surroundings and some sort of field surroundings the creature, making it almost imperceptible to the naked eye. Before it leaves my vision altogether, I am able to get a general description of the beast for future use.

Similarly to the Forest Skidders, the Grygon has a slim body and long spindly limbs. Unlike the skidders though, it is not bird-like in the least, and instead resembles more of a lizard man. Multi-faceted eyes like a fly observe me emotionlessly while its wide mouth is stuck in an open grin that reveals needle-like teeth that I identify as the spikes that have been assaulting me relentlessly.

It would seem that the monster does not create mana spikes after all, but rather uses its teeth and some sort of conversion skill or ability to utilize them as deadly projectiles while they skulk in the dark and use illusions to fool their prey. Now that I know this information, I completely ignore the shadows altogether and instead take a new approach. Every day I spent doing stupid exercises with Master Lirin comes into play as I continuously swap between the use of my skills within the same breath.

Shifting my emission vent across different parts of my body, I alternate between letting out small bursts of radiation to change my direction in midair while using my mana infused body to increase my speed from step to step through the woods. None of my skills level due to my efforts, but I can tell it is a matter of quality rather than actual discovery.

The technique I am currently refining on the fly is something that was made available to me because of the specific and often inane exercises I did over the nine days I spent in the basement of the tavern. All of the calculations and fluid shifting between each use of my skills is something that is becoming second nature to me, rather than something I needed to force like on Floor One.

My skills are nothing but a facet of my mind and body, so I treat them as such as I hurtle faster and faster through the woods in pursuit of the monsters that accost me. This familiarity with my skills allows me to dedicate more of my core skill <Fixation> on what really matters: finding the deceptive Grygons.

By now, I am heading in the wrong direction with the Honlir still trailing me in an endless charge, but I don't bother worrying about the destination as I use all of the senses I can muster to track the mana spikes that whistle through the air toward me. The Grygon's stealth skills are nothing to scoff at, but they aren't perfect. It might seem like the best way to find the monsters is by following the direction in which the spikes appear from. After my third attempt at this strategy, I realize its flaw.

Tracing the mana spikes origin points takes too long. The creatures aren't just deceptive, but also quick and quiet. For me to follow the paths of each spike is to allow the monsters time to move to their next position of attack. In other words: I am following the exact rhythm of the fight that they exploit. Testing my hypothesis, I barely dodge another spike before purposely pulling on more radiation than I can handle to let it fuel <Emit>.

The move blasts me directly in the direction that the spike came from in a much faster fashion than previously, yet by the time I reach the branch in which I believe the projectile to be fired from, there is nothing there. I use another blast to slow myself down, and as I am about to continue on, another spike plants itself in my shoulder. With my theory proven correct, I decline following where the spike came from and instead take a moment to analyze everything I can in the direction the attack originated from.

Finally, I see something amidst the flurry of shadows that try to confuse me. A branch ahead of me shakes slightly underneath what I assume is the light foot of a stealthy bastard moving at high speeds. Even with the strange field that surrounds them and their shifting scales, I can still find traces of the Grygons' whereabouts in the trees around us. A sway of leaves, a creak of a branch- all of these are clues that I will consolidate to pin down their general locations. < Fixation Lvl. 10 -> Fixation Lvl.

11 > My skill levels as I use it for something other than managing my skills and thoughts like usual. Taking in my surroundings with a certain taste of tunnel vision, I pursue the fleeting traces that my opponents leave behind for me to find. Before long, despite not being able to spot any of the monsters specifically, I have narrowed down my search to three of the Grygons in total.

The gaps in location between each assault, the timing they arrive, the angle they come from, and the various pieces of disturbed nature that they cause while moving from each spot. Based on my findings, I surmise that the monsters travel in some sort of triangular pattern as well. The angles and times might be different, but since I am the one in pursuit of them now no attacks have come from behind me or beyond the ninety-degree zone I narrow the monsters down to traveling in.

They cannot rotate behind me because of the Honlir, and they cannot move left or right because they would have to shift formation which brings at least one of the monsters closer to me than I assume they want to be. Finally, one of them screws up. While I am shifting my attention to the direction of another spike, I see the slightest flicker of blur in the corner of my eye behind a tree.

Since I have my concentration skill dialed in to such things this time around, I immediately catch the slip up and launch my body through the air as fast as I can manage without losing my sense of direction and control. Since the Grygons are not as fast as the skidders, I arrive at the tree quicker than the Grygon can escape, and I watch as it bares its teeth and attempts to conceal itself once more with that strange field.

Before it can finish, I make a split-second decision and release a shockwave of heat from my entire body in an effort to stop the lizard's skill, which scalds the bark and burns the leaves around me while knocking the flickering figure off of the branch they were standing on. I can hear a pained hiss come from the phantom lizard man, and I throw myself through the air at the falling monster while infusing my right arm with only radiation instead of mana like I usually do. < Infuse Lvl. 8 -> Infuse Lvl.

9 > My arm glows brightly and flames flicker along my skin as I ball my fist and punch the monster right where its chest should've been. < You have defeated: Grygon - Level 25 > < Congratulations! You have reached: Level 17 > My fist buries itself halfway through the skinny lizard's chest cavity, and it dies shortly after as the rampant energy in my hand cooks it alive.