Chương 17: The Battle of the Mana Spring

After trekking through the primeval forest for about half an hour, the humidity in the air began to rise significantly. That uniquely oppressive, spine-chilling aura faintly surfaced once again. Rowan halted his steps before a slope blanketed by dense ferns. Like a weightless ghost, he lay silently against the damp earth and carefully parted the broad leaves in front of him. Fifty meters below lay the low-lying ravine he had frantically fled from last time.

The microscopic natural Mana Spring was still quietly flowing. And resting in the shadows of the colossal trees behind it, that moss-covered "massive boulder" was emitting a low, thunderous rumble with every breath. A Rock-Scaled Giant Crocodile, the size of a heavy tank. Its entire body was encased in thick, coarse, earth-yellow rock plating. Its massive, muscular tail rested casually in the stream; with every slight twitch, it sent visible ripples cascading across the water's surface.

This was a genuine Tier 1 Mana-Beast. On Terra, if an ordinary person encountered a monster of this caliber, the only outcome was being reduced to a puddle of meat paste. The last time he saw it, Rowan didn't even have the courage to look it in the eye. But now, Rowan's eyes were filled with calculation. The source of the Mana Spring absolutely harbored a Mana Primordium. On Terra's black market, that was a priceless treasure worth a staggering 30, 000 Terra Credits!

With it, his deadly debt, the exorbitant cost of gear for the upcoming military exam, and even his future cultivation resources would be massively alleviated.

"Thirty thousand credits..." Rowan chanted the number silently in his heart, his right hand slowly drawing the black-steel short-sword from his waist. He didn't charge out immediately. Instead, he meticulously observed the terrain. The ravine! For Rowan, who had etched a [Water Source Rune], any place with flowing water was his absolute perfect home turf. Rowan closed his eyes. The surging mana within his crystal core instantly engaged. He no longer had to painstakingly wring moisture from the air like before.

Instead, he directly controlled the Water Source Rune, extending his mental power like invisible tentacles straight into the stream flowing beneath the slope. Even though his mental resilience was exceptional—far exceeding that of a typical single-phase mage—bridging this distance was still quite taxing for him. A faint, needle-like stabbing pain pulsed at his temples. Splash—! The previously placid surface of the stream suddenly began to boil.

The Rock-Scaled Giant Crocodile's murky, earthen-yellow slit-pupils snapped open. Detecting the abnormal mana fluctuation, it let out a low, furious growl. But Rowan's attack had already arrived.

"Rise!" Utilizing the existing body of water, three hyper-compressed, deep blue supercritical water blades erupted instantly from the stream. Carrying a sharp, air-tearing shriek, they slashed viciously toward the crocodile's head. Clang! Clang! Smash—! A series of ear-piercing metallic crashes detonated in the ravine, sending sparks flying. Rowan frowned slightly. Although the water blades were razor-sharp, the rock armor of this Tier 1 beast was simply too thick.

The Minimalist Water Blade spell only managed to leave three deep white gouges on the crocodile's scales; it didn't even draw a drop of blood. Roar—!!! Thoroughly enraged, the Rock-Scaled Giant Crocodile unleashed a deafening, berserk roar. Its hulking body erupted with terrifying explosive power. Its four limbs kicked off the mud, and like an out-of-control armored vehicle, it bulldozed straight toward the slope where Rowan was hiding. The underbrush along its path was crushed to splinters.

A gaping, blood-red maw filled with interlocking fangs, carrying an overwhelming stench of gore, instantly loomed over Rowan.

"So fast!" Rowan's pupils shrank to pinpricks. But the neural reflexes he had tempered through years of underhive brawling saved him. In the split second the foul wind hit his face, he didn't retreat. Instead, defying common sense, he executed a forward slide tackle down the muddy, grass-covered slope, scraping dangerously past the very bottom of the giant crocodile's massive lower jaw. The crocodile's jaws snapped shut on empty air. It smashed heavily into the slope, sending a shower of mud into the air.

In that exact instant—when the crocodile's momentum was exhausted and before it could generate a new burst of power—Rowan, who had slid to its flank, sprang up like a fully coiled spring.

"Get in there!" Gripping the black-steel short-sword inscribed with the sharpening rune with both hands, Rowan locked his eyes onto the crocodile's bloodshot, earthen-yellow left pupil. Utilizing every ounce of strength in his body, he plunged the blade down viciously! Squelch! The blade pierced the fragile eyeball without the slightest resistance. Murky blood mixed with aqueous humor erupted instantly, splashing all over Rowan. Aoooo—!!! The indescribable agony drove the Tier 1 beast into absolute madness.

Its massive tail, resembling a battering ram and radiating a violent earthen-yellow mana glow, twisted at an impossible angle and swept toward Rowan's waist like a steel whip. If that tail struck true, even wearing his stab-proof chest rig, Rowan's spine would be instantly shattered into pieces. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl. Yanking the blade out and retreating was no longer an option. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

In the nick of time, Rowan violently raised his left arm. Aether Core-IIα, activate! Before coming to the alternate world, Rowan had spent a tiny bit of money on the Origin Mage Network to burn a common, free D1-tier spell model into his cybernetic core: [Small Fireball]. Because spells cast by the Aether Core were inherently a tier weaker, in terms of lethality, this spell couldn't even blow a single scale off the crocodile. But Rowan wasn't looking for lethality at all.

The crocodile had just charged out of the stream. Its entire rock armor had been thoroughly soaked by the water and Rowan's previous water blades. It was dripping wet. Boom! A sphere of dark red fire erupted from Rowan's left arm, smashing with pinpoint accuracy onto the crocodile's water-and-blood-soaked cheek. Hsssss—!!! The pseudo-Tier 1 flame instantly collided with the massive volume of water. There was no explosion of fire—only the thunderous roar of instantaneous vaporization!

The immense heat flashed the moisture on the crocodile's body into vapor, triggering a miniature "high-temperature steam explosion." A dense, scalding, and impossibly thick cloud of white steam erupted like a smoke grenade, completely swallowing the crocodile's massive head and Rowan's figure in a tenth of a second. The scalding steam instantly blinded the crocodile's remaining eye.

Its vision completely obstructed, it roared in blind fury, thrashing its tail indiscriminately through the steam cloud, cleanly snapping several nearby bushes in half. However, the moment the steam detonated, Rowan had already used the recoil of the fireball and the cover of the smoke to release the dagger. Like a slippery rat, he executed a messy backward roll, scrambling out of the tail's attack range.

"Retreat!" Without even a single glance to confirm his handiwork, Rowan turned and plunged straight into the dense primeval underbrush, vanishing like a ghost. After sprinting continuously for seven or eight hundred meters, Rowan finally stopped behind a giant tree. He gasped for air, his chest heaving violently. In that sequence of maneuvers, if he had messed up by even half a second, he would currently be a puddle of mush inside the crocodile's stomach. He checked his condition.

Having just discharged a spell, the Aether Core was radiating scalding waste heat; it was on cooldown and unusable for the time being. As for the mana inside his Source Crystal Core, that high-intensity burst had drained nearly a third of his reserves. According to Rowan's experience surviving the Terra sewers, the only logical move right now was a tactical retreat. Yet, feeling the overwhelmingly dense natural mana surrounding him, a sinister, icy sneer curled the corner of Rowan's lips.

"Let's see how much blood you can bleed." He sat down right where he stood and activated the Basic Mana Channeling technique. The pure mana of the alternate world instantly flooded into his crystal core like a tidal wave. After resting for barely over ten minutes, his depleted mana bar was completely full once more. And what about that massive giant crocodile? Not only was it blind in one eye, but it also had a short-sword lodged in its eye socket, bleeding out continuously.

Its colossal size meant its stamina and mana recovery rates were excruciatingly slow. My mana bar is infinite, but your health bar... is irreversible! Fully restored, Rowan returned silently to the ravine, like a patient, lethal hunter. The giant crocodile was currently lying irritably beside the Mana Spring. It continuously tried to use its front claws to dislodge the dagger from its eye, but the sharpening rune had jammed the blade deep into the bone. Every touch elicited a low growl of agony. Whoosh!

A spectral blue water blade shot out from a tricky angle in the darkness, precisely slicing into the joint of the crocodile's right front limb—the exact spot that had just been blasted by the fireball's steam, where the gaps in the armor had loosened slightly. Enraged, the crocodile instantly spat a violent earthen-yellow beam in the direction the blade came from. But it only hit empty air. Rowan had relocated the instant he fired. He was absolutely disciplined: no greed, no lingering.

The next six hours became an absolute nightmare for the Tier 1 beast. When it tried to rest, Rowan would harass it from hundreds of meters away by condensing water blades from the stream. When it charged in a frenzy, Rowan would rely on the slipperiness of an underhive rat and his familiarity with the terrain to vanish without a trace. When the enemy rests, harass them; when the enemy tires, strike them. Rowan flawlessly executed this most despicable—yet most effective—guerilla tactic.

He was like a venomous mosquito that could never be swatted, returning time and time again. And every single one of his water blades rigidly and precisely targeted the exact same spot: the joint of its right front limb. Finally, when Rowan returned after "refilling his mana bar" for the sixth time, the giant crocodile was utterly exhausted. The blinded half of its face was caked in coagulated black blood. Its majestic heavy armor was dull and lifeless.

And its right front limb, having endured dozens of consecutive water blade strikes, had its armor completely shattered, exposing the raw, crimson flesh beneath.

"It's over." Rowan stood in the middle of the stream, his eyes as cold as ice. He took a deep breath, frantically pressurizing the mana within his Source Crystal Core. This time, there was no probing. The crystal core vibrated violently. Three water blades—visibly thicker than before, their edges even emitting wisps of white mist due to the supercritical high pressure—condensed simultaneously in front of Rowan.

"Go." Shhh! Shhh! Shhh! The three water blades flew in an almost perfectly straight line, aligned nose-to-tail. Carrying ear-piercing sonic booms, they sliced flawlessly through the unprotected flesh of the crocodile's right front limb without the slightest resistance. The first blade severed the muscle, the second shattered the bone, and the third tore clean through the other side! Squelch—!

Amidst a shower of blood, the giant crocodile's right front limb cleanly detached from its torso, smashing heavily into the muddy water. Aoooo— Losing its support, the giant crocodile crashed to the ground. The excruciating agony and profound weakness finally shattered the beast's ferocity. Struggling pitifully to its three remaining feet, it cast a terror-filled glance in Rowan's direction. Letting out a mournful wail, it didn't hesitate for a second.

Dragging its crippled body, it plunged into the denser swamp forest deeper in the ravine, leaving a massive, blinding trail of blood in its wake. Rowan stood his ground, making no move to pursue. He knew very well that a Tier 1 beast's vitality was tenacious, and its back armor was still incredibly hard. If he forced a pursuit, the desperate death throes of a cornered beast were highly likely to take his life with it. He was here for money, not to play the role of an exterminator ridding the world of evil.

The only thing that made his heart ache slightly was that the crocodile had fled with his black-steel short-sword still firmly lodged in its eye socket.

"Six hundred credits, just gone down the drain like that..." Rowan massaged his aching shoulder, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. But when he turned his head and looked at the microscopic Mana Spring flowing quietly at the bottom of the slope, that trivial heartache was instantly tossed beyond the clouds. Rowan strode swiftly down the slope and arrived at the edge of the spring. This was his first time observing a genuine Mana Spring up close.

It wasn't ordinary water at all; it was a translucent, viscous liquid—the physical manifestation of liquefied mana. It seeped out from a tiny fissure in the earth, radiating an intoxicatingly pure mana fluctuation. The surrounding wild grass and rocks, having been bathed in this liquid mana over time, were coated in a fine layer of microscopic mana crystals that glimmered faintly. Buried at the bottom of this fissure, an astoundingly valuable Mana Primordium absolutely awaited him.

Rowan took a deep breath, suppressing his violently beating heart. He didn't start digging immediately. Instead, he calmly activated his video recording function. Beep— Recording Started. Rowan deliberately angled the lens low, carefully keeping the towering primeval vegetation and the alien sky out of the frame. He locked the focus entirely on the localized view of the micro-spring covered in crystallized plants and the muddy fissure he was about to excavate.

After recording the initial, untouched state, Rowan locked the camera's viewing angle in place. He casually picked up the heavy, severed limb dropped by the giant crocodile and tossed it to the side. Then, drawing the empty scabbard from his waist to use as a makeshift trowel, he followed the fissure of the spring and began digging frantically into the mud.