L.E. Miranda
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B2 Chapter 3: Progress (3)
🕑 Added 2024-10-04 21:30:42 +0000 UTCThere were one and a half months left to the Tutorial. Was it because he couldn’t afford to waste any more time? Michael felt that the days of training went by slowly. Relentlessly, he practiced the Skills Tairy was already familiar with. After some time, he pretended to have learned Earth Spike and Fireball and began their training as well.
Michael sat on the enchanted stone dais, wearing new robes. His eyes were closed. He focused solely on the sensation that the dais could make him feel. Mana permeated the very air, enveloping him completely. In that trance-like state, low chanting left his lips. In less than a second, a Mana Sphere coalesced above his open hand. It throbbed powerfully, like a beating heart. Yet, his goal wasn’t to stop there. He attempted to expand it. The blue light was blinding, turning almost white as the Sphere grew. Michael opened his eyes, looking at his creation. He pushed it to its very limits and beheld the result.
The blue-white Sphere was now larger than his torso. It had weakened considerably, but because of his stats, it was still powerful enough to pierce through the defenses of any creature he’d seen so far, including the Great Mushroom or the Griffin that he’d fought before. There was no need to mention human enemies.
Tairy’s voice was heard from the side.
“Good. Now do the opposite.”
Michael complied. He compressed the expanded Mana Sphere, quickly shrinking it to its original size and then going further. The mass of mana was increasingly condensed. As the caster, he could clearly feel its power, but he felt sure that it was noticeable even to an outsider. The mana in the atmosphere roiled, reacting to the condensed Sphere. It shrunk to the size of a billiards ball. It was the size of the first Mana Sphere Michael had ever cast, at his first fight of the Tutorial. Yet, its power was incomparable to before. This particular Sphere would be capable of searing through solid steel. It was his sincere belief, but there was no way to know for certain, as the Village was composed of only wood and stone.
Michael closed his fist around the Sphere. It shone through the gaps between his fingers. Before he allowed it to fizzle out, however, Tairy spoke.
“What are you doing? You’ve already gone through the trouble of creating it, so why undo it? Fire it.”
The young man stopped his actions in their track and turned to the dark elf with a confused expression.
“…Against what?”
“There’s one way to best gauge its power.”
Tairy pointed at the tree with blue leaves. Short chanting echoed. A layer of mana appeared over the tree’s surface, growing thicker by the second. In nothing but a few instants, the tree was completely covered by a shield. Tairy continued.
“Try breaking through my Mana Shield. I’ll be able to clearly feel the power of your Skill.”
Michael blinked in wonder.
“I thought Mana Shield was a personal Skill that could only be cast on oneself.”
“It’s why I told you before: never stop thinking. Consider the different ways Skills can be applied. The limitations are much looser than you think, especially if your understanding is high.”
Michael nodded. He opened his hand again. The condensed Mana Sphere shone even brighter, as if trying to compensate for the time it had spent being covered up. He strained his concentration, trying to compress the Skill even more. It shrunk slowly. He felt as if he had reached a breaking point; if he tried to make it any stronger, it would escape his control and fly wildly in a random direction. In the meantime, an unsure expression had appeared on Tairy’s face.
“Wait, maybe-”
Michael stopped condensing the Sphere, focusing on channeling it towards the tree’s Shield. In an instant, the Skill flew through the stale air.
It was fast, much faster than any Skill that Michael had cast before. It hit Tairy’s Mana Shield. It was as if a grenade had exploded. The air was forcefully moved, hitting Michael like a hammer and messing up his hair. Yet, his stats allowed him to remain steadfast. Constitution wasn’t his third-highest stat just for show. With narrowed eyes, he watched the point of collision. The small sphere rotated like a bullet, trying to pierce through the Shield. He could feel a veritable storm of mana flowing from the point of impact. The atmosphere was altered. It was as if an unstoppable force had met an immovable object.
Michael’s attention was drawn in by the spectacle before him. He only watched the way the two Skills pushed against each other. After an unknown amount of time, the Mana Sphere gradually disappeared, fizzling out. There was now a crack on Tairy’s Shield, and the old man’s voice was slightly shaking.
“…We may have overdone it. Again.”
Michael could already hear the thundering footsteps of the incoming crowd. With a single motion, Tairy opened the door to the house. Michael went in without a word. It was as if they had practiced this beforehand. The door was closed and the young man sat alone. Soon, the people arrived. Tairy deflected all of their questions or remarks, playing the NPC card. After a while of plenty of cursing and begrudging words, the people dispersed. Instead of going out, Michael waited inside. Soon, the old man entered the house, shielding them both from prying eyes. He spoke.
“I didn’t expect you to be so powerful already. I had a feeling once I looked at your Mana Sphere, but didn’t think… Anyway, that attracted too much attention, so you’ll have to stay here and lay low for a while unless you want people following you around or pestering you with questions.”
Michael nodded with a weary visage.
“Based on that Mana Sphere, am I powerful enough to challenge the Consumed Territory?”
Tairy sat next to him and scratched his chin.
“As I said before, your mana pool is already enough. The problem used to lie in your other stats, but you’ve somehow remedied that. I don’t even know what kind of Class you acquired at Level 25, but it’s doing its job.”
“I mean-”
“Don’t tell me anything.”
“…Alright.”
“With those two points remedied, all you lack is experience, both in using your Skills and in combat. Unfortunately, there’s not enough time. So far, you’ve spent most of your time fighting much weaker enemies. That won’t be the case in the Consumed Territory.”
“Isn’t it part of the Tutorial? How powerful can Tutorial enemies be? They’re meant to be beaten.”
Tairy shook his head.
“There’s some truth to that, but the main point of the Territory Wars is to pit the Villages against one another through combat and the capture of Flags.”
Michael cocked his head.
“Then why does the Consumed Territory exist?”
“It is an alternative for the truly powerful. You aren’t the first outstanding individual to be born inside a Tutorial Zone, nor will you be the last, even though you’re particularly remarkable and I don’t understand you completely. To challenge the Consumed Territory is the right of the strong, another route through which to tackle the Territory Wars. I don’t know exactly why it exists, but that’s what I’ve gathered. It’s different from the Abyss.”
Michael immediately focused on the new piece of knowledge.
“The Abyss?”
Tairy waved his hand dismissively.
“It’s not worth talking about…” His voice gradually died as he watched Michael’s questioning expression, “Ah, fine. You were right about the Forgotten; no matter how powerful they are in comparison to the ordinary people, they are meant to be beaten. The Abyss, however, is a complete danger zone capable of killing even the most skilled of contestants.”
“What is in it?”
“It consists of the very heart of the Consumed Territory. It contains nothing but a single enemy. Do know this, however…”
“…?”
“I have never known anyone who made it inside and left alive.”
Michael let out a disbelieving sigh. His logic was still sound. Since it existed in the Tutorial, it was meant to be somehow beaten. Still, did it make sense that even a high-level person like Tairy didn’t know anyone who had succeeded?
This fucking System.
Mentally, Michael discarded the Abyss’ existence. He might be a Draconic Human, but without specific knowledge about what awaited him, he could end up dead. He still had people to protect and care for. It was too selfish and risky for him to go to the Abyss. Lost in his thoughts, he stayed silent. There was a peaceful air in the room before Tairy spoke.
“Henceforth, you should hone your combat skills in Dungeons. Your Level is already quite high, but we shouldn’t think of XP alone. Once I feel like you’re truly ready, I’ll tell you to head to the Consumed Territory. Besides, you’ll be able to acquire more Skill Points by tackling Dungeons. At Level 40 there is another selection.”
Michael nodded. There was no need to dismiss the experienced dark elf’s words out of vain pride. He couldn’t throw away his life just because he thought that he was already strong enough. He wouldn’t make such a foolish mistake. Not underestimating one’s enemies was a basic concept.
“Very well.”
The next few days passed by without a hitch. Michael concentrated on staying away from prying eyes and honing his ability to use his Skills and manipulate his mana.
Soon, the time to go to the Dungeons arrived. His eyes burned with anticipation.
