Cultivating Talents [LitRPG Mana-cultivation]

"Lincoln, get back on your feet and keep retreating," Hector yelled. He ducked, then stepped forward and turned. He yanked on the tail of a shadow lizard, his blade slamming into its head. A moment later, it slipped off his knife, slumping to the damp ground. Hector swivelled, taking another step back and continuing his retreat.

At this rate, Jodie's going to be overwhelmed.

His ginger friend held her own, but the number of shadow lizards attacking her had practically doubled. With Lincoln's wall in the way, they no longer had a third target, but that would last only a minute. As they continued their retreat, the shadow lizards would skip the wall entirely.

The ground rumbled, leaves cracking, as a white luminescent form barreled past Jodie. It slammed into a lunging shadow lizard, causing the creature to crumple against a tree.

The figure then swivelled and grabbed another shadow lizard from the air, slamming it into the ground with a splat. Mirea's puppet mowed through several more shadow lizards with ease, giving Jodie some room to breathe.

"If we keep retreating," Mirea yelled, "we're only going to get overwhelmed. We should use the wall as a funnel. Try to keep them flowing through that."

Hector spared a glance over his shoulder. Standing in front of her two puppets, who carried Otter, Mirea's eyes locked with Hector's. Hector nodded. She was right. These things were wearing them down. They would overrun them before they could leave the forest at this rate.

Hector ducked under another shadow lizard and thrust his knife forward. The blade sank through its flesh before he ripped it back out, the shadow lizard slumping to the ground with a soft thud.

They had to hold the line here. Her luminescent puppet continued to blitz through the shadow lizards coming towards it, whilst Jodie delivered precision strikes to their sleek forms, crushing them against tree bark and the ground.

Hector gritted his teeth and spread his feet apart. His eyes tracked a shadow lizard that leapt from one dark spot to another. It wouldn't catch him off guard. But as he slowed his breath and prepared himself, a screech split the air.

Lincoln, who had gotten to his feet, stumbled back. He locked his eyes on something within the canopy. A shadow dropped from the sky a moment later, slamming down onto the mud wall.

The mud gave way with ease, splitting like clay, chunks shooting out as a large black-scaled creature loomed before Lincoln, its long neck arched into the sky. Its long snout sniffed the air, golden eyes locked onto Lincoln, and a hiss crackled out from the creature's throat.

"Is that its leader?" Hector muttered, dodging another shadow lizard. He kicked off the ground, rushing towards the big lizard as Lincoln continued to scramble backwards. The creature lazily raised an arm before slicing towards Lincoln.

Hector pulled on his latent static field. The bubble of electricity whirred to life, and he zipped forward as he pulled on his [Volt Runner] Talent. Hector yanked Lincoln off the ground, the claw slicing inches from the two of them and cutting a deep furrow into the damp ground where Lincoln had been moments before.

Hector and Lincoln staggered to a stop by a tree a few feet away from the creature. Lincoln, breathing deeply, clutched at his chest with one hand, while he hooked his other arm around Hector's neck. Hector paid him no attention, his eyes moving from the creature to his sister and the two boys just behind her. Had they seen him? Not that it mattered.

"Get them out of here!" Hector yelled.

Mirea seemed to understand, as she blinked and commanded her puppets to continue carrying Otter farther back. His friend, Nonami, seemed not to notice as Mirea's puppets began moving. Nonami instead focused his eyes on the creature that had just dropped in. Raising a hand, he pointed at it.

"That's it! That's the thing that almost killed Otter!" Nonami yelled.

So he hadn't seen him. The knot of worry within Hector's chest slipped away. He retracted his static field, causing the small spams Linclon was going through to stop.

Hector eyed the creature. It let out a low hiss, its golden eyes moving towards him as its black scales seemed to shimmer in the faint amount of dappled light coming through the tree canopy. The smell of jasmine had increased a lot. Was this creature the thing giving it off?

"Get back, Lincoln," Hector said, turning to his friend. He released his grip on Lincoln's waist and let the boy stagger to the side. "Keep moving back. I'll keep this thing distracted."

A low hiss emanated from the creature as its powerful front limbs slammed into the dirt and it dragged itself forward once, twice, before exploding into a burst of speed.

Hector shoved Lincoln to the side and zipped away as the creature barrelled through the tree that had been behind him, taking a chunk out of its trunk. Hector stepped to a stop, eyes snapping to Jodie, who had her arms raised.

"Don't!" he yelled. "Not yet." His gaze moved to Nonami and Otter. The two boys were still in sight. If she used [Blazing Arsenal] now, they'd see. That would raise too many questions, which Hector did not have the time to answer.

The creature raised itself from the dirt, wood chunks falling from its body and clattering to the ground.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"Then what would you have me do?" Jodie yelled, ducking out of the way of another shadow lizard and slamming her palm into its abdomen.

Its tongue lolled out of its mouth as it bounced off the ground and slumped to a stop at the side. "If that thing hits any of us, I don't think we'll be any better than Otter over there."

"Just give me a moment!" Hector yelled as what was no doubt the Shadow Wyrm took another step towards him, its two front limbs dragging its body across the dirt. It was mostly just made of two arms and a tail and a head—like a snake with arms, powerful arms.

The Shadow Wyrm exploded forward again, its body a blur of black scales as it zoomed towards Hector.

He stepped to the side, static crackling as he avoided the creature yet again, its massive claws tearing into the tree bark with a crunch.

Wood splinters showered the air, and Hector raised his arm, blocking them from going into his eyes.

The air cracked as the creature's tail whipped out, zooming for Hector's head. He dove to the ground; the force of the air slamming through his chest as the tail screeched overhead.

He was on his feet in seconds, backing away and gasping for breath as he rested a hand on a nearby tree. His eyes flickered over to Otter and his friend again. Mirea stood at the boy's side, walking backwards. There was no way the two of them could see what was going on. That was good.

Raising a hand, Hector aimed for a position just out of view. There, the pool of fire bubbled to life, licks of flame twirling into the air and wrapping together to form a fireball, even as the creature began lumbering towards him again.

Before it could break into another crazy dive, Hector released the fireball. It shot free from the pool, streaming through the air with a bubbling roar and slamming into the creature's side.

Flames erupted across its scales, covering it like water thrown onto stone. It washed over it, and the creature shrieked, flailing about on the ground and snapping at the air. Its tail smacked down hard onto the ground, and it leapt into a tree, flames trailing behind it as it disappeared into the canopy with surprising ease.

The shadow lizards that had been bothering them moments before followed behind it, disappearing into the canopy. Even from here, with his mana-enhanced eyesight, Hector could just about make out its large body leaping from tree to tree, flames slowly petering out until there was nothing but blackness with low shaking and hissing.

Hector brought a hand to his chest, letting out a breath. The creature was gone. He corrected his mask and took tentative steps backwards, his gaze drifting through the dark swaying canopy above.

It might have retreated—but that was only for now. There was no chance that it was the only one. And given their intelligence, the thing would be back for revenge. The question was when?

"All right," Hector said. He peered over his shoulder. "Is everyone all right?"

—- —- —- —-

Hector pushed past some branches, leaves rustling, as he came to a stop. In front of him, Mirea stood, her hands clutched to her chest. A puppet stood alert at her side, its head swivelling back and forth. Jodie stepped out from behind a tree a few paces away, nodding at Hector.

"Are you alright?" Hector asked, turning to Lincoln, who was bent over, his hands resting on his knees. Had he hurt himself during his escape? Lincoln looked up at Hector, his mask barely hanging on. He then raised a hand and corrected it, letting out a breath.

He pushed off his knees and stood straight as waves of mist rolled past his waist. "I'm good. Sorry about what happened just now. I don't know what came over me. I just panicked."

Hector shook his head and raised a hand to stop Lincoln. "It's okay. I get it. The thing came out of nowhere." Hector sniffed the air. The smell of jasmine was still there, but it had decreased quite a bit. The Shadow Wyrm and creatures like it gave off the smell. Though what for? It didn't make him feel sleepy, so apart from smelling nice, it had no other effect.

Turning, Hector's eyes scanned the canopy as a cool breeze blew across the back of his hand, like a thin stream of cold water. The feeling of being watched had lessened quite a bit, but those creatures were most likely still in the area.

"How about you two?" Hector asked, turning to Nonami and Otter. The two boys were on the floor. Otter, supported by one of Mirea's puppets, gritted his teeth, still holding the leaves down onto his wounded leg, blood dripping from beneath the makeshift bandage, while Nonami crouched next to him, hands resting on the dirt, his face unreadable. He turned towards Hector.

"Are they gone?" he asked, his voice weak but firm.

"I don't know," Hector said, shrugging. He pushed past a few more leaves and made his way to Mirea, glancing down at her before gesturing behind her with his chin. They weren't as deep in the Shade Forest as he'd thought. Even from here, he could make out the grassy hills just beyond the forest treeline. Though the fog heavily obscured it. The gloom of the forest acted almost like a tinted window.

"At least we're not lost in here," Hector said. "Mirea, can you get these two back on the move so we can get out of here?" He turned his head to the side, tracking a shadow that lazed through the canopy. It could have been another shadow lizard, but the black mass seemed much slower.

His sister nodded. From the side, a puppet stepped past Hector, then bent down and scooped its hands under Otter. The puppet Otter had been resting against also readjusted itself, and the two puppets rose in unison, picking the injured boy up off the ground. Otter winced with the movement, his hand tightening around his wound.

"You're going to be okay," Nonami said, clasping a hand on his friend's shoulder.

The puppets then began walking, crunching leaves beneath their feet as they moved towards the forest edge.

"All right, guys," Hector said, glancing from Mirea to his two friends. "Let's get going."

He followed behind the puppets, with Jodie and Lincoln a few paces behind him. All three of them scanned the forest canopy to ensure that nothing disturbed their retreat. Mirea scanned the area as she walked at Hector's side. Her third puppet pushed branches out of the way for her as they moved.

A few minutes later, the sun was beating down on the back of Hector's neck. Otter lay a distance away on the grass, his wound still bleeding, Nonami at his side. The three puppets formed a circle around the group, staying on high alert as they surveyed the area. The smell of jasmine had decreased significantly, almost becoming imperceptible. Shade Forest's dense atmosphere somehow made the smell thick within the forest fog, and as soon as it got into the open air, it just dissipated. It was strange, and most likely had something to do with the shadow mana.

"So how are we going to kill it?" Lincoln said, dropping to his butt and letting out a low groan as he hit the ground. He turned his head to Hector, his eyes unblinking. "There's no way that the thing's just going to let us attack it. And it was fast, faster than it had any right to be at that size."

"Or maybe you're just slow," Jodie said, crossing her arms. She turned her head to the side, her eyes lingering on the Shade Forest in the distance. "So slow you almost got me killed in that mist-choked place." She turned back to him, her blue eyes narrowing behind her mask. "By the Great Lake, why are you even so sure you should be involved when we try to kill it? You're more likely to get us killed."