Chapter 34 - Cold Death Of The Universe

Jiran ran.

His legs pumped as quickly as his mana-enhanced muscles could compress and expand. A flicker of movement to his right was the only warning he had to dive once more. Another boulder sailed overhead, landing several meters to his left amidst a shower of dirt and dust.

I’m not even a quarter way to the hills yet! Is Lenton out of his mind? Just because I beat one little crab, doesn’t mean I can take on an entire pack of tier four minotaurs that can throw boulders a freaking kilometer.

He jumped back to his feet and took off running once more. A quick glance in the direction of the latest boulder revealed an additional two of the beasts closing in from the north.

Great, they’re surrounding me. Once they all close in, I’ll unleash my ultimate trap card and be instantly slaughtered. How fun.

The beasts continued to close in from the side and rear, boxing him between their numbers and the ocean.

Within only a few minutes, they had reduced the distance between them to the point Jiran could make out more details of their hunched quadrupedal bodies. They ran on all fours in a leaping stride similar to a gorilla.

Jiran noticed a rock forming between the two horns of one of the beasts. The rock swelled in size with each step it took until it was larger than the creature's entire body.

Once the boulder was fully formed, the beast spun in a circle and whipped its head around, sending the boulder shooting through the air in his direction.

https://imgur.com/xu1LcPE

Seeing the attack coming from the very start, Jiran still barely managed to move out of the way as the boulder sailed centimeters away from his leg before crashing into the ground in another shower of dust and dirt.

They’re being drawn in by the dust clouds! Every one of them will see that dust and know exactly what it means.

Food.

Running isn’t working. I need a plan and I need it fast.

Think, Jiran. Think!

They hunt by sight. Can I hide? Maybe, but if they have a good sense of smell, once they close in I’ll be dead for sure.

I unlocked Light Control!

Jiran created a thin Coating that covered his arm, then layered a screen of mana atop it with the intent of bending light around the coating.

He stared intently at his arm as the process unfolded. He couldn't help but grin, despite the danger of the situation as he watched his skin change color to match the ground beneath him. He could even see individual stalks of grass on the far side of his arm.

Not good enough. It’s fine if I hold perfectly still but as soon as I move, there is a distortion. No way a powerful beast wouldn’t notice that.

They might also have heat vision or something similar, I definitely can’t rely on this alone.

I also need to obscure my smell.

A boulder slammed into the ground a dozen meters away. It rolled toward his crouched position, coming to a stop right next to him. The cloud of dust it kicked up washed over him, eliciting a cough followed by a sneeze he was unable to prevent.

That's it!

The ground began to rumble as the beasts approached. Their hooves, strong enough to support the weight of large bodies and boulders alike, impacted the ground like the beating of war drums. The sounds reverberated through the air and hard soil alike, causing rocks to vibrate madly on the dirt.

I need a gas, but which one? It doesn’t matter, Jiran. Just pick one!

Eenie meenie miney mo, pick a gas by its B.O.

Methane shot out of Jiran’s hands as he spun in a circle with outstretched arms. His Shaping rapidly filling the air around him with the highly flammable gas.

Is it working? I can feel something coming out of my hands but it’s not smelly. I thought methane would smell like shit.

No time to test it, here goes nothing.

Jiran shoved his face into the dirt, threw a Coating across his entire back, and created a small flame on the tip of his finger.

The world shattered as a massive hammer slammed him further into the ground. Oxygen was forced out of his lungs as the explosion ground him into the dirt like a bug under a boot.

He tried to take another breath but nothing entered his lungs.

A whooshing sound brought relief as new oxygen was pulled into the area around him and he took a deep breath that was equal parts sweet air and acrid smoke.

He couldn’t hear his own coughing over the sounds of the beasts’ bellowing and stomping around him. As black smoke from burning grass filled the air, Jiran burrowed himself further into the ground while covering his Coating with a layer of Light Control.

Through sheer force of will, he compelled his body to stop coughing and lie perfectly still. He opened his eyes to see what was happening around him but there was too much smoke and dirt in the air.

He heard some of the beasts nearby fighting. Meaty collisions and heavy grunts were punctuated by more bellowing and an occasional bovine screech.

Jiran waited patiently as his mana drained away from the extended use of his techniques.

Several minutes passed without a sound and he was down to fifty percent mana. Knowing his time was running out, he released the light camouflage with bated breath.

When there were no sounds of charging hooves intent on ripping him in half, Jiran sat up and looked at the devastation around him.

The grass continued to burn in the distance, obscuring his sight with a billowing cloud of black that reached toward the skies. The area around him had been devastated by the explosion. He sat within a crater that looked like a mortar shell had landed right on top of him.

That coating saved my ass, literally.

Inspecting himself, he found that his clothes were shredded to the point of being useless. He tore the last of the fabric off, leaving him in nothing but his underpants.

Nearby, three of the beasts lay dead. Their corpses were covered in blood and blackened, burnt hide.

Did they kill the ones that were wounded in the blast? Why? Wouldn’t they normally eat each other too?

The more I learn about these bastards, the less I like them. Beasts would be a lot easier to deal with if they all behaved the same way. Their unpredictability is disturbing.

Jiran warily climbed to his feet and approached one of the bodies.

The creature was about three times larger than Jiran and packed with layers of powerful muscles. Many of its bones extended through the hide giving it a coat of spiky protrusions that could easily impale and maim any nearby threat.

He ripped off a piece of flesh and roasted it briefly in his hand before popping it in his mouth. He stifled a moan of pleasure as his eyes rolled back. The savory meat melted on his tongue and spread through his body in an experience that left him hungry for more.

Tier four meat. Yeah, they would have torn me limb from limb.

What do I do now? I’m in the middle of this plateau with who knows how many of these things around me.

I bet they throw rocks at anything that makes the grass sway then come check out what they killed.

While he ate Jiran idly considered his best approach for getting out of the area alive.

I haven't checked my status in a while, I’ll start there.

Strength + 1.4

Agility + 1.3

Endurance + 2.1

Durability + .9

Wisdom + 1.8

Intelligence + 1.3

Molding…

Shaping…

Coating…

True Origin of Fire + 1

Further upgrades delayed due to lack of density

NAME   Jiran of Feylon

RACE   Human

AGE   8

WEIGHT  79.69 kg > 83.30 kg

STATUS  Minor burns / Mild concussion

TIMER  12:42:17

TIER   2

GROWTH  12.72 %

MANA   2

CONCENTRATION 2

STRENGTH  22.5 > 23.9

AGILITY  22.5 > 23.8

ENDURANCE  22.5 > 24.6

DURABILITY  22.2 > 23.1

WISDOM  22.2 > 24.0

INTELLIGENCE 22.2 > 23.5

SKILLS

Molding lvl 67 - Mana Expansion

Shaping lvl 31

TECHNIQUES

Forcing lvl 34

Coating lvl 37

Revelation lvl 1

True Origin of Fire lvl 10

True Origin of Lightning lvl 20

Ice Control lvl 0

Gas Control lvl 0

Water Control lvl 0

Acid Control lvl 0

Mineral Control lvl 0

Light Control lvl 0

Restoration lvl 7

Mana Siphon lvl 0

OTHER  UNIQUE - Foresight

Mild concussion? I suppose that explains the headache.

A flash of Restoration and the pain behind his eyes subsided. The moment it was gone, his vision cleared and a fog he hadn’t known was clouding his thoughts receded.

That’s so much better. Guess I didn't realize how hurt I was with all the near-death happening.

What’s next?

Attributes.

It seems I can’t absorb density fast enough to keep up with these attribute gains. I suppose that's a good problem to have, considering the alternative.

Jiran flexed the muscles in his hands and arms, trying to feel all the increases.

Without something constant to test myself against, like a rock to punch every day, It’s really hard to tell the difference.

That’s probably why eating feels so good. With the density intake, my growth increases to support the delayed upgrades.

For a brief moment, Jiran lost himself in a daydream of eating mountains of high tier food while his growth allowed delayed attributes to roll in like an avalanche burying him in a mountain of pleasure.

Then he snapped back to reality as he remembered he was still in imminent danger, surrounded by who knows how many beasts two tiers above himself and a timer that was still steadily ticking down.

Finally, the elephant in the room. Foresight huh? That’s so obvious in hindsight.

I suppose the first time was just before my first tiering when Elder Mireg gave me that bun. I knew something terrible was going to happen. I knew I was running out of time when I was learning to control my mana for the first time.

Jiran clenched his fist in anger at the memory of those priests marching toward his home, ready to take the life of a child because of some insane theocratic dogma.

It seems to trigger when my life is in danger. I can’t even remember how many times this ability must have saved my life already. As if mana wasn’t enough of a cheat. No wonder these things come with a nasty curse, if they didn’t, it would just be way too OP.

Enough thinking about it for now. My first priority needs to be getting out of here alive.

How exactly am I supposed to do that? Moving through the grass is a no-no. Running for it is also stupid.

He looked into the distance at the wave of slowly burning grass and the obscuring black smoke. A small grin spread across his face.

Scorched earth it is.

Jiran crept forward inside a cloak of invisibility until he was close enough to the wall of burning grass to feel the heat on his skin. Whenever the grass hit a wet spot and began to win against the raging flames, he doused the area with a flamethrower and pushed forward.

Within an hour, he had to dip into the density within his stomach to replenish his mana. After two hours, the density was nearly depleted.

Three hours of hot, sweaty work later, he ran into his first real obstacle. One of the minotaurs was throwing dirt on his wall of flame from the far side. Instead of creating a rock between its horns, a mass of sandy dirt was spewing into the air.

Behind the cover of black smoke and his camouflage, the beast had yet to see him.

Let's see how much you bastards like being hunted for a change.

What would be the most effective? Lightning might work, then again, all the dirt and rock they create might insulate them enough that I’ll waste my mana. Fire could do it as well but might not be hot enough to get through all those layers of meat to cause any real damage.

No, I need a different approach, something that will give me time to run if this goes horribly wrong.

I’ve got just enough mana to give this a real go and get out alive if it fails.

Probably.

Jiran crept forward quickly, hoping his obscuring layer would keep him hidden until he was close enough to strike.

https://imgur.com/FPMMzaT

He got closer than he thought before the monster's nostrils flared and its head jerked in his direction. The beast released a howl of rage that would have caused Jiran to panic just a week ago. Instead, he dropped his Coating and waited for his chance.

The minotaur moved in a blur, far faster than Jiran expected. It was nearly upon him by the time he realized it had started moving. A single moment of instinct saved him from the horn that was already angled toward him, ready to gore through his chest and pin him to the ground.

The freezing air of a mountain’s peak blasted forward and slammed into the charging behemoth. With each glacial step toward Jiran’s hands, the beast moved slower and slower until it froze completely. In the epicenter of his own Shaping, Jiran scrambled in a desperate bid to keep himself from freezing to death.

He used every scrap of mana within himself in a protective Coating. Jiran’s will was wholly directed toward the image of molecules refusing to become dormant, insistently vibrating and churning in an attempt to stave off the cold death of the universe.

Jiran’s mana sputtered out into nothing and a pervasive chill instantly soaked through his skin, leaving him shivering amidst an ocean of frost.

The beast took one more step forward before its leg snapped in half with a sickening crunch. It fell to the ground and shattered into chunks of ice thicker than Jiran’s chest.