Chapter 23 - Anticipation
Added 2023-05-04 23:14:46 +0000 UTCFirst Father peaked above the horizon, bathing the world in an ominous red glow. Through the gaps in the trees, Jiran watched the sky turn as the boulder before him rolled uphill at an agonizing pace.
His hands pressed against its surface, mana and muscle united in a grueling effort to move its mass another centimeter.
Samris was on his fifth trip up the cleared hill. He had left his shirt somewhere nearby. Sweat coated his impressive musculature as he jogged up the hill, the round rock the size of a small house easily pushed in front of him.
With a shake of his head, Jiran refocused his efforts. Envy provided the fuel to connect with his mana for the next push. Until Samris’s whispering voice cut through the distance between them.
“I told you to start with the smaller ones, Jiran. I’m not sure how you’re even moving that thing, it’s bigger than you are.”
Jiran grinned, suddenly finding plenty of inspiration to fuel his advance. One steady footfall after another, he pushed forward until a cloud exploded and a wave of density crashed into him.
Jiran watched everything unfold in slow motion.
The boulder stopped its forward momentum and turned on him with all its mass. The ground beneath his feet gave way from the added weight, causing his boots to sink into the dirt, holding him in place.
He reached for a Forcing to pull himself out of the way only to find his mana bottomed out. Then, the beast of stone struck. It rolled over him and bounced down the hill while wild density thrashed his body.
Jiran lay indented into the ground, groaning.
Ugh, boulder-kun just tried to take me to another life.
Samris appeared above him, looking down at Jiran’s misery with a happy smile.
“Told you,” Was all he said before hauling Jiran out of his dirt-angel and pushing him toward the firepit, where the morning's catch roasted.
After eating and converting the meal to mana, Jiran resumed his training. He stuck to the smaller boulders that he could lift above his head and ran them up the hill one at a time.
I have to figure out how to reach that state of mind while I’m moving. So far I’ve only managed it while standing or sitting. I wonder what I’m missing.
Jiran was so focused on his mental state while he ran that he failed to notice the giant spider before it was practically on top of him. The beast screeched in his face before rearing up to bring four deadly piercing claws down on his body.
Moving on instinct, Jiran pivoted sideways and angled his boulder to absorb one of the blows. The rock was cracked in two but managed to angle the claw away from his body.
Jiran crouched for a split second before blasting forward with a combination of Coating and Forcing that sent his fist through the beast's neck, pulverizing it completely. As Jiran sailed past, the head fell to the forest floor behind him.
Still flying through the air, Jiran grabbed one of its jointed knees and used it, along with his momentum, to swing clear of the beast’s front.
A geyser of gore shot out of the new hole in its body. Jiran nodded to himself, pleased he had learned to get out of the way before the spray soaked him. He gave the creature a strong kick to the side, sending its mass tumbling down the hill.
He picked up the two halves of his rock, one under each arm, and continued his trek up the hill as if nothing had happened.
Something about the movements connecting with my mana. Emotions connect mana, and mana connects movements. Gah, I don’t know! This is way too frustrating. I wonder if this has something to do with Lenton’s task. It all seems connected. I can’t wait to finish here and head to the library.
The towering thoraxes of two more spiders crested the top of the hill. Jiran saw their bodies expanding and heard the sound of air being sucked into massive lungs. Before their faces came into view, he threw his two chunks of rock at where he expected them to be.
One struck true, slamming into the face of the beast right as it crested the hill. The other slammed into a leg, snapping the limb. Jiran was on top of them a moment later. Two glowing hands ripped through exoskeleton like it was flimsy plaster.
Forcing + 1
The beasts were dead before their webbing was ever released. Knowing what was coming, Jiran quickly put distance between himself and the corpses full of air just before they exploded in a shower of green guts and sticky thread.
When he saw the lumbering forms of four more spiders, he took a cautious step back.
That’s unusual, they rarely hunt in groups larger than three. Did something happen in their nest?
A loud crunching reverberated through the forest, swiftly followed by the sound of a bag popping. Moments later, a dark shape emerged from the darkness. It was easily four times as massive as the spiders. It was similar to a snake, covered in thick scales with a long body.
The top of its slug-like head had scales colored in the shape of an eerie, grinning face. Just below that warning coloration was a cave-like mouth large enough to walk into.
The beast lifted its bulky upper body off the ground, and with its long coiled tail, leaped into the air to land on one of the approaching spiders. The crunching sound from before resounded once more as spider legs cracked under the snake's immense weight.
Then the tall thorax popped inside its gaping maw, filling the snake with tasty arachnid innards.
Jiran shuddered in disgust. Samris appeared beside him, holding out the heavy billhook.
“Peak tier two, freshly mutated in the densoon” He said dismissively while looking down at the snake as if it were no more than an annoying fly.
“It is not a weakness to rely on tools, Jiran. Anything crafted by human hands is a viable weapon against Madra’s demons. The empire stands strong because we rely on each other, never forget that.”
Jiran nodded and grabbed the spear. He prepared two gauntlets of Coating and waited patiently for the right moment.
Coating + 1
The giant slug-snake leaped twice more, coming down on a spider each time. As it fell upon its prey the second time, Jiran struck.
He pulled himself through the air with Forcing wrapped tightly around his gauntlets. His billhook sank deeply into the thick scales of the beast's side when he plowed into it. The monster gurgled in pain, spider goop flying out of its mouth as it roared.
I hurt it! Unlike that stupid crab. I can do this.
Finding confidence in his success, Jiran yanked the spear free and leaped onto the snake's back. Flipping his weapon upside down, he plunged it into the beast as hard as he could.
Another gurgle of pain escaped its cavernous mouth as he yanked the weapon free. Purple blood that smelled of rotten fruit oozed from the wound as he lifted his arms high for another strike.
It’s so slow. Do beasts have uneven attribute distribution? Maybe it has a ton of durability instead of agility. As hard as I’m hitting it, I would probably have to keep this up for an hour before it dies.
A tingling sensation of something being not quite right jerked Jiran’s focus back to the deadly beast that writhed under his feet.
Some of the thick scales had begun to vibrate almost imperceptibly. Trusting his instincts, Jiran leaped from the beast just as those scales buzzed through the air like bullets.
He watched with wide eyes as one of those scales punched straight through a nearby tree limb as thick as his thigh, bringing the entire branch crashing down.
The snake gave him no more time to think as it turned in his direction and coiled its tail in a familiar fashion. Jiran leaped to his feet and charged at an angle toward the monster as soon as it sprang into the air. The beast flew overhead and crashed into the ground where he had been.
As the creature tried to pin him down, Jiran dragged himself through the air with copious applications of Forcing. Seeing his mana drain far faster than he could kill the beast, Jiran was about to give up when a flicker of movement caught his attention.
Forcing + 1
It came from behind, barely having entered his peripheral vision before slamming into his back and blasting him into the snake’s side. Scales vibrated and shot from the beast, instantly penetrating through his body. Pain erupted in his shoulder and stomach.
A flipping, falling sensation was followed by Jiran smashing into the ground. A groan escaped his throat as he frantically scanned his surroundings in an attempt to reclaim his bearings.
The snake-slug was now forty meters away.
Dozens of gray, fruit-sized creatures zipped through the air to slam into the snake. Each time they connected, an explosion ensued, sending scales and purple blood flying.
Jiran tracked the gray creatures back to their source where he found a hideous creature no larger than Samris. The bat-like suicide bombers sprouted from its body. Upon being birthed in a wet spray, their wings unfurled from their little bodies in a sight that knotted Jiran’s stomach.
The bats flew through the air in zig-zagging patterns, dodging the scales that were launched at them. Several fell from the air, dead before getting a chance to unleash the payload inside their tiny bodies.
Many more landed, wreaking havoc into the side of the vulnerable slug while the spawning beast remained at a safe distance.
“Another peak tier two, interesting,” Samris observed calmly from beside Jiran.
“Usually, mutations this strong take a bit longer to develop during the densoon. I wonder if there is something nearby that is propagating their more rapid development.
“Regardless, I think that’s enough for this morning. If I let you go back in there, you will be too injured to complete the tasks Master Filibree has set before you today.”
With a snap of his fingers, a wave of force erupted away from them in a perfect circle. Jiran’s mouth fell open as the wave annihilated everything in its path. Trees, bushes, even the snake and bats were all reduced to less than dust in an instant.
Jiran gulped as he regarded the massive, empty field they now stood in. For three hundred meters in every direction, nothing was left but dirt.
He really could have turned the village into a crater. I’m so glad I never got on his bad side.
Agonizing pain swiftly reminded Jiran of his place in the world. He looked down at his side to see a gaping hole that steadily leaked blood. His left shoulder was no better. Not wanting to continue losing the precious fluid, he capped both injuries with a Coating before packing what remained of his mana into them.
Samris was already gone by the time he finished, reminding Jiran of the walk of shame that awaited him. With one shaky step after another, he made his way down the long trail back to the manor.
I’m still not strong enough to beat tier two beasts. Maybe I’m being too ambitious. I only have a single skill right now. Usually, people don’t even fight beasts until they are tier three. I’m missing two critical skills that round out the standard human kit.
I should stay focused on completing Master Filibree’s task so I can tier up and get access to another skill.
When a densoon wave came, Jiran was ready. He dropped the Coating from his wounds and spread it across his hand. As the holes in his body leaked blood, he quickly absorbed density and converted it to mana.
With his energy topped off after only a few seconds, Jiran resumed his steady march home. He stopped at the creek to clean the blood and gore off before arriving in front of the library doors. He glanced over his shoulder toward the staff dining room.
I bet breakfast is ready by now.
A deep breath brought with it the scent of dusty pages and old leather mixed with freshly cooked bacon and eggs. With a soft smile of anticipation, Jiran pushed open the doors and entered the library.
