Spearbound Ch. 48

Kade didn’t like this at all. Several hours had passed, and nothing had happened.

He had taken a spot on top of a dune as his sitting place. Hellion continued to patrol the area from above and seemed he could do it for days on end if needed. And Eliza took the extended break as an opportunity to practice her spells.

Kade was jealous that such a thing was possible for her. All his skills required him to be in combat with a monster at a sufficient [Arcana Level] to have any growth.

He watched her compress a ball of sand to an extreme level. He saw glass forming as she tried to shape it into a sharp point, but it failed.

She had made significant progress from her initial try.

“System, is it possible for me to create spells?”

No.

Kade rolled his eyes. The short answers were getting tiring. “Expand.”

[Mages] can create new spells due to their class. It is not possible for you to do so directly.

“Maybe when I was a Warrior, I could accept that, but I’m now an Arcane Lancer. Surely that means I get some of the same benefits as a Mage.”

The benefits you receive are a default addition of [Wisdom] on every level up and an increased MP recovery.

Kade frowned at the reply. Those were notable benefits, but he couldn’t help the greed he felt for more.

“… Wait, if I can’t create a spell directly, I can do so indirectly?”

Yes. The abilities you gain are your spells.

He pulled up the interface and skimmed the skill list. There were plenty of skills available that he could have focused on in his past fights, but he had used his strongest attacks, all of which included his [Soulrend]. He had to avoid that for the skills he neglected.

The time he spent in the tunnel gave him plenty of skills that were fit for a brawler. If he wanted quick access to more abilities, those would be the skills he would have to focus on in future fights.

However, Kade knew he had to choose those fights carefully. If he fought against something as strong as a mole titan, using his [Soulrend] would be mandatory.

Area Effect: +500% MP

Kade’s thoughts froze. He pulled up his [MP] on the interface.

MP: 198/198 (+500%)

He noticed Eliza looked just as shocked as he was and shouted, “Has your MP gone up too?”

She nodded and yelled back, “The system says it’s because of the Rift Zone destabilizing.”

Kade jumped down from the dune and approached her when he saw how unhappy she was. It looked like she would’ve preferred to never see such a message, even though practically made her unstoppable in his opinion.

“What’s wrong? This is good news for us. But especially for you.”

Eliza shook her head firmly. “It’s the exact opposite. If such a boost is possible, it means that it can go just as bad the other way. If I’m left with a fraction of my MP, I’ll be less than useless in a fight. I would be a massive liability.”

Kade looked at the immediate rewards, so he hadn’t even thought about any negatives. Now that it was pointed out to him, it reminded him of the restrictions yet faced in the tunnels.

Eliza was right. She would be a liability.

“You need to hunt right now,” Kade said. The area effect could disappear at any time, and she’d be better off using it than waiting here for something to happen.

Eliza apparently had the same thought since she gave him an immediate nod. “Guard the place. They need to rebuild both pillars to restore the Rift Zone. The karnathis should spend a couple days rebuilding the one in the city before they had over here.”

“I’ll be here when you return. Hellion will follow you from above and provide support.”

Once again, Eliza agreed immediately. He gave Hellion the order through the bo. He watched her disappear deeper into the desert, the baby bird slowly circling her from above.

Kade expected her to return as soon as the boost expired. In the meantime, he would be more than enough since he had an unprecedented amount of [MP] on hand. He would no longer need to ration his abilities, and that was a death sentence to practically any monster that struck.

His alertness only lasted for thirty minutes before he got bored. Returned to his dune and as he waited for something to happen. He could feel Hellion getting stronger through the bond, so that meant Eliza had come across the monsters.

At least someone is getting a benefit out of this boost.

Kade let out a breath of air in frustration and considered joining them. Surely nothing would happen if he left for a few minutes—

He sat up with wide eyes.

I could use this boost to get rid of the entire karnathi army. It doesn’t matter if there are a thousand of them when my [MP] is practically unlimited.

Kade considered getting Eliza to help him, but it would be better if they targeted different groups to avoid splitting the energy they absorbed after destroying the monsters.

“I’m going after the karnathi army. This is a perfect time to take them out,” Kade said as he stood, sending the message to Eliza. He didn’t wait for a reply and went into a full-on sprint.

He couldn’t remember exactly how he arrived at this spot in the desert, but he knew the general direction to return to the grasslands. Several minutes later, the interface appeared.

Eliza: I’m guessing you already left, so it’s too late to change your mind. I’m trying to send Hellion back to the pillar, but he isn’t listening. I know you can speak to him from a distance. Convince him. We need somebody watching.

Kade didn’t think that was necessary, but he couldn’t see a reason not to give in to such a simple request. He reached out to the bond, finding it much harder due to the distance between him and Hellion, but he could still send his intentions. He didn’t have to wait long before he got the confirmation.

Eliza: He’s returning. Send me a message if Hellion sees something. I’ll be much closer to the pillar than you.

“Will do,” Kade said before concentrating on where he was going.

He reached the grasslands less than an hour later, and he sped toward the destroyed city. Hellion had misdirected the karnathi army, but they should have abandoned the pursuit considering the time that had passed.

If they hadn’t reached the city by now, the destabilization of the Rift Zone would get them to rush to the city with all haste.

Another hour passed when Kade felt his stamina get dangerously low. He slowed his pace to allow it to recover, since that was the only thing that could devastate any of his plans at the moment. He couldn’t boost his stamina; it had to recover naturally.

Kade could see the broken city in the distance and, more importantly, a mass moving towards it.

That’s the karnathi army.

Kade didn’t get too close while his stamina was low, but he tried to count how many mages remained in the army. Those would be the only ones that could pose a challenge to him.

At his current [Arcana Level], no individual karnathi could be a serious threat, but with the number that he would need to fight, he needed to consider some extremes.

I’m pretty sure there’s a saying that enough ants can turn an elephant into a snack.

Kade couldn’t make out any differences at his current distance. He waited for stamina to recover and got closer to the army—which had almost reached the destroyed city.

He scanned the large group and could see a few mages at most. His group had destroyed most of the mages when Hellion drew them out.

Good.

Kade hesitated on his plan of action before deciding to use his fists as he intended. These targets were weak enough that his [Soulrend] would be required to draw out a victory. Still, he intended to re-create his [Soulrend].

This army would be enough to provide a level-up. What they lacked in [Arcana Level], they substituted in numbers.

Since he wasn’t in a critical situation, he tested creating [Soulrend] without saying it for the first time—just to see how far he could go without following the System’s instructions.

He thought it. And mouthed it. Both without success.

He would need to verbalize [Soulrend] as the System instructed. That would be an issue in situations where that simply wasn’t possible.

I have to ensure that the [Soulrend] doesn’t shatter in those situations.

“Soulrend,” Kade said, immediately feeling half of his health disappearing. He stored the [Soulrend] and made his way towards the army.

They still hadn’t noticed his presence since they stared at the destroyed city. He was close enough that he felt they wouldn’t have the time to scatter even if they heard him run, so that’s what he did.

Kade ran.

The rear of the karnathi army immediately noticed his rapid footsteps. The news quickly spread as the rest turned to face him. It was too late.

Kade crashed into a snarling karnathi, fist first, and erased it from existence. He didn’t stop to fight the surrounding karnathis, who were more than eager to meet his fists even though it was futile.

His only goal was to carve a destructive path toward a mage he had noticed in the army’s center. He valued eliminating the mage more than dealing with the ‘ants’ which he could kill at any time.