Chương 201: Rest

I trudged on, moving from zone to zone, battling many different kinds of monsters, collecting their cores when they had some. I still had to understand why some had them and some didn't, and how they could be used. I should ask Rhea, I was sure she was already putting them into her rituals. Ding! Another kill notification.

I commanded my interface to stop showing me kills for the mosquitoes, they were too many and were starting to distract me, but I was happy with the outcome, the plan was working, and I was steadily accumulating points, little by little. As I constantly moved from one monster territory to another, I noticed that here, contrary to the previous places we crossed, every monster had some measure of magic, from energy projectiles, to body enhancements, to mental manipulation attacks.

That had been the easiest to resist, the energy was insidious but not plentiful, my aura devoured it in a moment, but I allowed the Dread Mongrels to affect me just to see how it would work, after all, most of the Guild fighters would face these tomorrow. The giant dogs were a terrible sight to behold, no two were the same in appearance, but all were characterized by a throaty, wet growl, and a mangy coat of fur.

Furthermore, they showed something that I would describe as a maddened-looking face, worse than a mere rabid dog, they looked like they wanted to hurt you. Then came their magic, it was a field of dread that tried to make your will crumble as you approached them.

It was particularly ineffective against my aura, so much that it felt similar to the fiery environment of the kors in terms of drain, but if enough of the mongrels surrounded you, well, that field would compound its power, probably making a normal man just have a heart attack from fear. Aside from their magic, their bite was the most dangerous weapon they had, the rest was quite unassuming.

They were around level forty but not surpassing fifty, the scouts were right, they would be good training for the fighters, easy levels. Against me though, mental magic had particularly little effect. Even when I let their magic affect me, I felt my heartbeat accelerate for a couple of seconds, then with a push of will even that little effect disappeared.

It was a given with an upgraded Willpower attribute, and these monsters were just too weak, but it left me thinking, there were for sure mental magic skills, a powerful mental mage would be terrifying to fight against, especially if you weren't aware of them being such. I continued my exploration. I was finding new ways to apply my skills, especially my Entropic Lance, I felt like I was on the verge of a breakthrough.

I was modifying the skill way over the intended limit, creating weapons of all sorts with it, then shields, then geometrical figures. The hardest creation I managed were chains I used to link to Aura Tether, the skills resonated with one another, and the dark squid-like monster that was retreating underground got pulled back by the construct.

"Come back here you little shit!" I pulled both physically and magically, the monster was an ambush predator, and it managed to evade my senses, not because I couldn't perceive it, but because I wasn't even trying. I was exhausted and, not seeing any monsters around, I let down my guard, a grave mistake, because the bastard here managed to break a couple of ribs for sure. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. I was wheezing as I unearthed the monster.

I kept the chain with my left hand while I created another chain, this time the links were sharp like blades, in my right one. Then I began to whip the stupid bastard, one strike at a time leaving a multitude of bleeding furrows on the body of the creature. It shrieked as I whipped it, every strike making my ribs flare with pain, pain that fuelled my anger as I rendered the creature into chunks. You have killed a Chtopod Lv 31 I flopped down on the ground, heaving. A fucking level 31…

If it was stronger I would have possibly died. Ha! That would have been fucking funny. Dying not because of a kraken, but a small octopus not larger than an armchair, after defeating the Venomfall Serpent… absurd. I felt like shit, I felt like I wanted to just curl up and die. And not for the pain, the physical pain was there yes, but it was the curses that were killing me, and the constant low mana.

I had a splitting headache after using my Accelerated Perception too much, my vision swam, but I couldn't afford to rest right now. I was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by too many other monsters. I was scanning the surroundings, they were approaching underground, silent and deadly. My only way of dealing with them fast was to form a tether and let a hex slip inside, then detonate it.

But that would leave me more and more drained, I needed to replenish my resources, and heal these ribs, at least they didn't puncture a lung. So I opted for a different solution. I stayed there, lying on the ground, fighting against unconsciousness, all the while monitoring the presences that were approaching me from below. As soon as one was about to strike, I formed a tether, manifested it and locked it in place, now the monster couldn't retreat, and couldn't advance.

But it was hard, taxing on my aura and my mind. But I had to do it. I slipped a hex into the link, then began to drain the creature, blessed life-force flowed into me, along with some mana and some other dark elemental energy. My mind was busy multitasking, taking the mana for myself, using it to power the drain.

The life-force, blessedly, was doing the work by itself, albeit inefficiently, but the energy not focused on the wound made it so that the rest of my body felt a bit of reprieve too, so I let it work by itself. The remaining dark energy I simply expelled. I could feel a cloud of the stuff suffusing me, then dispersing in the atmosphere, like smoke.

Normally I would have tested it, tried to use it somehow, I was sure it would be a great source to use in conjunction with Veiled Marionette, but I didn't have the mental capacity for it, especially because more of the octopus-like monsters were approaching. Too dumb to understand that they were going to die, to me it was both a blessing and a curse, because while I needed their energy, their numbers were the problem.

With my full stats I would be able to bear the mental strain without a problem, but now, despite my Passive Casting skill, I felt like I was reaching a limit. Three more links snapped into place on three more monsters, my mind was getting hazy, the energies flowing into me were mainly getting consumed to fuel my skills, but I was managing to accumulate a little mana. Another batch of monsters were approaching and as I tried to form another link, I simply couldn't.

My skill and aura were at their limit, so I detonated the curse on the first monster I captured and linked the new one, then I repeated the process. Again, and again, and again. How much time passed? I felt like I spent hours just resisting, I was done though. Just silence remained. The monsters were all dead, the ground beneath me was a catacomb, one that was not going to ever be discovered. At least my ribs were mended, and I regained most of my mana. But I was so, so tired. I just wanted to s-"Oho!

Who do we have here?"