Ascending Endlessly: I Copy Skills

"Fuck!"

I was running through the halls of the mansion as fast as I could, burning up mana at breakneck speeds. I was getting so fast that I had slammed into a couple of walls, unable to mentally keep up with my own speed. It was really closer to propelling myself forward with mana than actually running fast.

But I didn't stop. I could tell I'd broken an arm from one of the impacts, but I had to keep moving. Because behind me, the sound of clattering nails on wood was only growing louder. I just had to keep going until I could find the entrance. Of course, that was easier said than done. While I could maintain this speed for a long time using my extensive set of batteries, the injuries I would sustain from doing so were less manageable. 

I'd already been forced to cast low heal a second time, and if I cast it a third, it would damage the spell signature. I wanted to avoid that at all cost- it was my most valuable skill.

Fortunately, before I left, I'd decided to copy the monster's C-Rank skill. I wasn't sure what it was yet, but if I encountered an enemy ahead of me, I could give it a test run. It was, at least, fortunate that the halls were so large. The mansion felt like it had been constructed for a giant- I could move pretty freely.

"Agh!"

One of the ghouls had caught up to me, clinging to my back. I lifted my feet from the ground and allowed the speed to slam me into one of the walls, spinning in the air so as to leave the brunt of the impact to the ghoul. Just as I hit the wall, another lunged towards me from the front.

'Stun!'

I cast one of my prepared skills, the D-Rank stun skill. The ghoul passed through the small bubble as it flew towards me, losing its composure and flailing in the air. I dodged to the side and allowed it to hit the wall, as well, before returning to my feet and running as fast as I could.

I had looked over my shoulder. Two, three, four… and that was just what I could see. There were probably more in the ceiling and walls. Shit, I must have looked like easy prey. Just then, one emerged from the wall, breaking through the wood and wallpaper and charging at me with a skill coating its hands. I had already prepared a card to copy any that may have been flung my way- it was one of my few means of survival. I tried dodging out of the way of its attack.

At the same time as I dodged, I cast the unknown C-Rank skill that I'd copied. Surprisingly, a blue shield was created exactly in the direction the monster was coming from. It struck the shield, losing its momentum, before charging at me again.

I didn't get to collect the spell signature from the ghoul, but learning I had a shield skill was certainly useful information. The sounds behind me were only growing louder- it meant the number of ghouls was increasing… fuck…

I was trying to increase my speed when suddenly, from the side, a ghoul shifted towards me. I happened to be holding the empty card in my hand, and it picked up a spell signature as I got swiped across the chest by the ghoul's sharp fingers. Shit! I tripped over my feet, throwing me once again into a wall.

However, this time, I barreled all the way through. On the other side, I was dumbfounded with where I'd ended up.

'The entrance..?'

Oh, my god. This was incredibly fucking lucky. I quickly fired off fire pillars, an icicle, and my pulse cards once again as I ran through the expansive entrance. However, there was a new problem. A group of four hunters was already being pushed back by around seven ghouls. They were struggling, hard, and seemed injured. 

It was sad, but in a situation like this, I would normally have to run past them and get to the exit myself. The problem was that the squadron of ghouls was completely blocking it. Damn… I'd just brought more trouble, too. 

I quickly joined the fray, leaping off the top of one of the sets of stairs and landing on a ghoul's back, stabbing it through the neck.

"Hey! More trouble's coming!"

I called out to the party. Their eyes grew panicked.

"What?! You piece of shit! You brought fucking more here?"

I ignored the curses of a younger looking swordsman who'd shouted at me. I get it. I know. It's a bad situation. We have to break through, and we have to do it now, or else we're fucked. The small army of ghouls that had been following me slipped through the cracks in the wall that I'd broken through, crawling out like a cluster of spiders. They leapt forward, attacking a burly guy with a shield who seemed to be their tank.

It appeared that he had some kind of skill to draw monsters' aggression. Unfortunately, he couldn't handle both groups attacking him at once. With fifteen or so ghouls piled on him, a rainbow glow coming from the center as all of their skills tore into him at once, he screamed for a few moments before going silent. He was dead.

Fuck. Time seemed to slow down. What could I do? There was a giant pile of C-Rank monsters in front of me. The other three hunters were only C-Rank, and could barely handle the horde beforehand. I had virtually no skills left to use, and even if I burned the spell signatures, my D-Rank skills would be effectively useless.

My B-Rank barrier wasn't very useful defensively. It was primarily a utility skill. While it could purify air, change temperature, alter humidity, and a few other useful functions, its defensive properties actually weren't much better than a D-Rank skill.

Think. Think.

What can I do? What do I have in my arsenal?

There was one attack I'd done that could potentially solve my problem. The explosion back in Oasis. However, I wasn't keen on dying. There was one solution, though. That massive amount of mana I'd used was held inside my body.

If I localized it externally, focusing it to a point, my personal capacity wouldn't be overloaded, allowing me to attack them with an immense amount of mana. Shit. I had no other choice.

"Get back!"

I called to the hunters. There wasn't much else I could do. We only had a couple of seconds before the ghoul's started attacking again, and I had to use that time to focus. Focus, focus, focus.

Four mana batteries floated up from my deck. This should be enough. Instantly, I started drawing heaps of mana out from them, but instead of holding it within my body, I siphoned it out, trying to maintain it in a small point. 

It grew into a blue marble. Then, the size of an orange. Finally, the mana, growing more and more unstable, ravaging my body as I forced it through, collected to the size of a basketball.

Four mana batteries. They were completely empty, and I was holding all of it together in front of my hands. If I lost even a fraction of my concentration, I wasn't sure what could happen- the mana would either disperse, or potentially explode in my face, killing me instantly beyond repair by even the oracle. Steeling my resolve, I continued to focus on the ball.

Layers, layers, layers. It needs to stabilize. I layered the mana, letting it fold over itself until the ball became still on its surface. In the center, however, was a chaotic ball of energy. The heat radiating off of it burned my palms. I ignored it. Okay. It's time.

I had never done this before. While I'd practiced lightly with the extension of mana outside of my body, this was a first. Maybe it was because I was in such a desperate situation, but I was shocked at the fact that I was succeeding. However, the most difficult part came next.

I used the last of the connection between myself and the mana to propulse the ball towards the ghouls. It immediately started to destabilize, but it was flying so fast that I didn't have time to process. Then, just as it landed in the pile of ghouls, it exploded.

The explosion wasn't quick. It took a moment for the reaction to occur, a glowing light growing larger and larger in the center of the ghouls, before returning inwards and being followed by a rapid burst of energy. The entire mansion started to shake as the ghouls before me vaporized, burning up in the mana. Fortunately, the hunters were wise enough to run, activating defensive skills and diving down. They weren't hit by the most potent center of the energy like the ghouls were.

Instead, them and myself were struck by the shockwave that followed. I could feel my spine shatter as I slammed into a banister, breaking through it. I tried my best to slow myself using mana, which fortunately saved me from much further damage. 

The other hunters... it looked like another one of them was primarily defensive. He had managed to put up a shield which blocked the brunt of the shockwave, and all three of them survived. I barely managed to get on my feet.

"We need to get to the exit. Now."

My back was in terrible condition. I tried to get down the stairs, but started falling instead. The hunter who had cast the defensive skill rushed up and helped me to my feet. I was surprised- I'd just gotten his friend killed, but he still bothered to help me. His face didn't seem too happy about it, but I was glad he did, anyway.

I used him as a support as we rushed towards the exit.

As we passed through where the ghouls had been, I discreetly pulled a handful of cards out from my deck. There were spell signatures all over the place.

And then we made it. We escaped the C-Rank dungeon. I felt like shit, but... wow.

I couldn't help but smile devilishly. I had just pulled off a monumental feat.