I walked out of the city, yes, walked. Aside from the fact that I didn’t want Adrian to know more about my abilities, something that would probably not last long given the loose tongues of my guildmates, especially when drunk, I literally couldn’t fly around inside the city even if I wanted to. There was some kind of magic in place that prevented flight, a standard from what a passing elemental told me. Apparently, in the multiverse, most restricted flying around cities and safe places.
So walking it was. I could run, but I simply didn’t feel like it, and there were still eyes on me, I could feel them. How big was Adrian’s information network? I noticed some people I had never met before following me, if clumsily. Actually, having my stats restricted made me much more attentive, like I was back in the first days. I always kept Arcane Sense active, but now it wasn’t just running in the background, I was actively using the skill to analyze everything I could, and in conjunction with my eyes I could gather quite a bit more than I thought.
I still avoided mixing aura with the rest of my skills for now, but as soon as I was away from sight I would start hunting and practicing.
Would the Walking skill make my travel easier? I kept going back to that stupid skill. I didn’t know why, but it remained like an itch at the edge of my thoughts every time I thought about what to buy and how to best improve myself and my skills.
I should ask Miflin or some elementals about it, hell, I could ask Adrian.
Anyway, after crossing the west bridge, I told myself to take a dip in the lake tonight. I really missed my nightly swimming, one of the only activities I kept for myself and that had kept me sane all these years.
How had things changed so fast? In only a couple of weeks my world, our world, got completely flipped upside down. For the better, I would say, at least for me. But I know that most of the others don’t think the same. For them it was the apocalypse. They were separated from their loved ones, their lives got ruined, and they got pitted against monsters coming from a nightmare.
Those people I could understand on a theoretical level. The point was, I didn’t care.
The only people I cared about were those who were loyal to me and had the drive to move forward. Quinn, Alya, Marcus, Mary, Chloe... Rhea.
Honestly, about the others I wasn’t sure, but we would see.
Finally.
It took me nearly twenty minutes to approach a monster zone. I should find a better method of transportation than my two feet. This was a waste of time, but at least it allowed me to confirm that I was alone. Nobody else was around here.
In the distance I could see the lush grass shifting into a scorched land. The border to this monster territory was so stark it couldn’t have been easier to spot.
Phil encountered these monsters already and said they were just too tricky to fight on their home turf for the Guild. One, because they were fire-based, not really elementals, but monsters with elemental powers, and their territory reflected that. Somehow the land took on their qualities and stepping inside would make one feel like they were in an oven. Not only that, but flames escaped the cracks in the ground, and even some rocks or some of the still-charred but standing trees were spontaneously burning without looking like they could be consumed anytime soon.
Bizarre, but when magic was at play...
The monsters themselves, though, those were really something that I would describe as coming straight out of hell.
Because they looked like demons.
Big, bigger than a human, with greyish skin, quite muscular and hunched, claws on their hands and feet, horns that pointed down from the sides of their heads, and flaming eyes and mouths. Some had patches of fire on their bodies seemingly at random, on the inside of a leg, on the lower back, one had its head completely on fire...
It looked like there was no rhyme nor reason to it, well, maybe I would know in a bit. I had no idea about their level, but I wasn’t too worried. Despite my diminished state, I should be able to at least flee if it became a problem, and my aura was actually at full power, if reduced in quantity. Actually, my aura had never been more powerful, but let’s get to it.
I thought hard about what to work on during my walk here, and there was a little project I had in mind...
First things first.
I stepped onto the scorched ground. As soon as I entered, I could feel the heat. While the temperature steadily increased during my approach, there was still an insane jump from just a meter behind me, and I felt like I could suffocate in the smoke and fire. That was despite my magical overcoat. The Ashen Mantle was hard at work reducing the effects of the environmental magic, finally seeing some use for the first time, and I had to say, it was more precious than I first believed.
If a normal fighter without protection were to stay here for a prolonged time, they would be burned to a crisp without needing help from the monsters.
The environment, while annoying, was still bearable thanks to my items, but there was no need to suffer uselessly. I was just seeing if I was capable of resisting on my own.
And I was, thankfully.
Now, though, I roused my aura.
My world transformed into a monochromatic one. It felt like the colours, despite being removed, were expressed in more vivid shades of black and white in this new vision of mine. The flames burned a light grey, flickering as I accelerated my perception. I dropped it as soon as I started using the skill.
My mana reserves were too limited to waste them just observing the environment. Damn greedy skill, I would have to be careful.
Anyhow, the thin film of aura covering me was more than enough to bring me back to a nice, cool temperature, as my aura devoured the magic in the atmosphere. Another aspect that never really had the chance to shine before, but now was clearly working more than well.
I realized that I actually was much more suited to fighting mages than physical fighters, something to take into consideration for the future. I mean, I could and I did fight against physical opponents, mostly physical opponents until now. The only real mages I fought were the gorg mages, and those were not the greatest spellcasters, actually. But now I was about to meet some real fire specialists.
A roar interrupted my thoughts as one of the monsters noticed my trespassing. Many of the creatures turned to look at me, then I saw something strange: they started fighting amongst themselves.
What the hell was going on?
I saw them throw themselves at one another, clawing and biting with unrelenting ferocity. One of their own died then and there, but after a minute a particularly bulky monster stood victorious among the dozen that participated, throwing one of the smaller ones to the side like garbage.
Then it turned towards me and roared again in challenge.
Did they just fight to decide who would be the one to face me? Was it a fight for food or just for the sake of fighting?
I had no time to ponder the question as the monster barreled towards me. The ground under its feet cracked and spewed more flames at every step it took.
My perception of time accelerated. I could see it better now. In a second it closed nearly half the distance between us, so I didn’t have that much time.
So I looked at it, really looked.
My Piercing Eyes got infused with both the effects of Aural Manifestation and Reinforced Infusion, then I used Arcane Sense and pushed the skill to work through the input I received from my eyes.
My vision sharpened. I could see it in slow motion. The monster was a real demon, fire breathing out of its mouth and eyes, claws slicked with the inflamed blood of its kin, muscles contracting and exploding to reach me faster.
And under the obvious, mana.
No, not mana, fire.
There was fire coursing inside it. It was not normal fire, though, but a kind of energy attuned to the element. I could see it coursing through it, following its veins. I could see it being pumped by two hearts. They were positioned where lungs should usually be.
They were my targets.
The monster was just twenty or so yards away now, and its energy was starting to do something strange. The beats of its hearts synchronized, and a great amount of fire was starting to gather in the space between them, exactly where usually a heart would be.
Then I noticed the fire coming from its mouth getting sucked back in, alongside air and some of the energy in the environment.
The monster tilted its head upwards, then I accelerated my perception further, creating two finger-sized projectiles with Entropic Lance. The skill was much more tame compared to the previous version, allowing easy modification. But I wasn’t done. I hexed the two projectiles without caring for the effect and waited for the monster to step again on the ground.
For a moment, it was in midair, with no chance to dodge.
At that point I launched the projectiles at the monster.
Two streaks of light-blue mana flew faster than arrows. I needed to give it to the monster, it managed to raise an arm in time to block the left one, but the right found its mark, piercing the heart.
Curse Detonation.
BOOOM!
I had to wrap myself in a thicker layer of aura as a wave of fire erupted from the monster and washed over me without even stopping. All around me I could see only fire for a few seconds. My improved aura was greedily absorbing the flames' magic and I could feel it become slightly stronger for a time, all the while protecting me from them.
When finally the flames stopped, I could take a better look around.
There was a crater where the monster stood, a still-burning crater at least twelve feet across. While the explosion was, all things considered, quite contained, the wave of fire spread much further, managing to reach its companions in the back and push them away without really harming them. They were quite immune to fire, it seemed.
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Curse Detonation Lv41 – Level Up → Lv42
Entropic Lance Lv34 – Level Up → Lv35
Multiple skills ready for evolution.
You have killed a Fire Kor Lv54
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That thing was only level 54?
I consumed at least a fifth of my reserves to kill it. Granted, they were mainly expended in an effort to analyze the monster, but still...
The other Kors were starting to get to their feet, and they appeared to be angry.
Ok, new strategy, let’s see if this works...