Chương 134: Chapter 139: Let’s Talk

I roused my aura, making it flow down the pond. It was flowing like water, well, grey and smoky water, but still flowing. It covered the surface of the stone at the bottom completely, cradling the remaining golden liquid. Then I manifested it physically, and tentatively I started pulling the bottom-shaped bowl up. Good, no spillage. I enclosed the liquid in my aura, letting the air exit before forming a ball of it. It was actually quite large, nearly twenty inches in diameter.

I quickly calculated the volume of the liquid. Approximately, there were seventeen to nineteen gallons in there. Crazy how volume worked. It really didn't look like that much, but if my math was mathing, it should be correct, more or less. But I couldn't calculate how many points it was worth, though surely enough to warrant my trip here. I exited the place with my sphere of liquid floating beside the grimoire. I made my way back to town, slower this time.

I really didn't want to lose control of the ball and spill its contents on the ground. As I flew, this time the Lybi attacked me. I was in view and not that fast, they probably forgot the last time. Now, though, I enhanced my eyes further with the aura. I could see the little rocky birds clearly as they flew like projectiles toward me from different angles. I decided to play a little. I stepped on a platform of aura and quickly evaded the first volley of monsters, but I didn't limit myself to that.

I cast my improved Virulent Hex. ──────────── Virulent Hex Lv10 You brand a target with a highly infectious curse that spreads to nearby individuals as weakened copies. Each instance retains a fraction of the original effect and can further propagate under sustained proximity, forming a growing web of afflictions. ──────────── I selected four passing monsters, applying four different kinds of hexes: speed decrease, reduced strength, impaired movements, and loss of coordination.

I didn't cast them with much strength. No, these were weak ones, my greater stats would affect the monsters too much otherwise. I accelerated my perception further, keeping track of the monsters easily. The one most affected was the one with the reduced strength hex. It was straining to stay airborne, but after a few seconds of my time, I felt the hexes jump between targets and spread to the nearest enemy, usually when they maneuvered around me to strike.

I continuously avoided the birds, but despite more joining the fray, it was becoming easier and easier. While the hexes were weaker than normal when they spread, they still compounded when all four were together. Nearly thirty birds were trying and spectacularly failing to hit me. They all moved in a jerking, slow flight, more reminiscent of bats than robins. When I found the right moment, I swatted a bird out of the air with my bare hand. The monster exploded in a shower of pebbles and rocky fragments.

My hand, instead, was perfectly fine. A blow like this would not have hurt me even before, now I didn't even feel it. I did it not because I found it funny, but because in that specific moment there were no Lybi near me, just around me. Curse Detonation. I expected a chain reaction. Instead, a single massive blast erupted from all around me. All the monsters died instantly. Actually, I had to erect a barrier to shield myself from the rocky shrapnel that was now their bodies. I took in the sight.

The explosions had no flame, only a dark smoke remained for a moment before dissipating into the air. After the loud boom, only silence remained. I felt a shiver run down my spine, not of fear, but of pleasure. This was the kind of power I was looking for. I had managed to eliminate these monsters with little mana expenditure. The skills were extremely cost-efficient, especially the explosions. I sent more of a command, a trigger, the hexes provided the fuel.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Now I was thinking, how powerful would a curse like Withering Vessel be if I detonated it? What if I stacked many others with it too? A bad thought entered my mind. Could my skill affect the curse of the False Saint? Given the high level of the curse, the explosion would be monumental if the skill could affect it. But I wasn't suicidal, not at all.

I was thinking that if I could bear something like a partial explosion, even with severe damage, I could chip away at the curse little by little… A far-fetched idea. I was more likely to blast myself to the moon, or it just wouldn't work, but I had to consider all options. No more Lybi attacked me. Despite their bird brains, they could recognize a superior foe and let me be. I flew low, just over the forest, expanding my aura and siphoning the life force of any monster that came into my range.

I managed to drain only eight, all spiders. The fuckers were still alive, despite killing thousands. There must have been more eggs around, or another queen had emerged. Not my problem, in any case. I have to replenish my stock of life force. The Thirsting Halo was thirsty indeed. There seemed to be no way to fill this thing completely. Soon I reached the town again.

I thickened the barrier around the golden potion to not give anything away, then I descended in front of the shop, entering and finding the merchant missing this time. Only two guys from the other group were there. They looked at me strangely, then at the floating book of doom and the grey sphere.

"Hello, don't mind me, I'll be off in a second," I told them. No answer, just staring. Works for me. I put a hand on the counter and tried to sell the liquid in the ball. The System gave me a price of fifty-three thousand and change. I nodded to the men still petrified while looking at me, then exited the shop and went for the training hall. I could just sell to the shop, but why would I when I had some brownie points to gain by selling to Vix? The guy was a well of information and good advice.

I entered the hall just to see a blur passing not far from me. I accelerated my processing speed on instinct, and as reality slowed in my vision, I noticed a bloody Alya was the blur in question, and she was about to crash headfirst into the wall. I moved more on instinct than anything. I stepped through the door and created a foothold of aura to kick and push myself just behind her.

My control in the slowed time was great, not only for my stats, but because I could literally take my time to think of how to best move. I grabbed her and started to slow down before we crashed into the wall. After we stopped, I held her in my arms and looked her over. She was a mess, bruises and multiple open gashes marred her body, leaking blood. Her hair was in disarray and her eyes were wild. I sensed a presence coming closer at high speed and was about to attack when I saw that it was Vix.

He stopped well before reaching us.

"It's impolite to stop a spar, you know?" he said while looking at me. He seemed pretty annoyed, but after a moment of meeting my eyes, he frowned.

"What the fuck happened to you in the past days? I can barely recognize your aura." I gently put Alya down. She was protesting, trying to escape my grip, but I infused what life force I had gathered into her, helping with her wounds.

"Stay still for a moment, will you?" I told her. She ignored me, putting in more force and buckling in the effort to escape.

"She can't understand you, it's her new trait," Vix said. He was crouched beside us, I hadn't even felt him move.

"Open her mouth and feed her this," he said while passing a vial of night-blue liquid.

"What is it?" He rolled his eyes.

"A sedative. It will calm her down." I uncorked the vial while using my aura to encase Alya and prevent her from moving. I could feel a certain strain in the construct. She was quite strong, much stronger than I expected. But as she screamed at me, I took hold of her jaw and emptied the vial's contents into her mouth. She choked on it for a moment before I closed her mouth and forced her to swallow. It took less than fifteen seconds, but she started to calm down.

Her eyes, which I noticed had a red sheen, returned to their usual sky blue. At the same time, I poured more and more life force into her, closing her wounds and making the bruises fade.

"Hey, are you okay?" She turned her face away from me.

"Please let me go."

"You are in no condition to move right now. What happened to you?"

"I… I just… leave me… alone." She finished her last word before falling asleep.

"What did you do to her, Elias?" I pondered that question, and I really had no answer to give. It wasn't Vix's business anyway.

"Do you have a place where I can let her rest?" I asked him instead. He sighed, then motioned to follow him.

"This way. There is a small side room we can put her in for the meantime. She'll wake up soon anyway." I placed her on a stack of training mats, then we exited and closed the door.

"So, finally going to explain?" he asked me with a raised brow.

"Those are matters between Alya and me. I came to you for this," I said while pointing at the floating ball. The tall blue alien sighed, then moved toward the same table as last time, taking out a bottle from nowhere.

"Sit down. Let's talk."