IMPERIUM INSECTUM

“Looks like it is now a one-on-one fight between you and me.”

The big guy was completely out of the picture. The null mana had disintegrated most of his body. I looked down at the hand m I had grabbed the paper golem. It was completely burned. Those fireballs are dangerous.

I glanced down toward the red orb left by the big guy's body. Seeing how I haven’t got a notification, he Isn't dead yet. I slowly made my way towards his body. I have to be careful. Unlike him, I have no ranged attacks I can use to damage him.

I slowly started inching towards the red orb, making sure not to lose sight of the monster at any moment. Suddenly, the monster's entire body started flowing with bright blue mana as the pages in the Blue Water book flicked rapidly through dozens of pages.

“Fuck! I don’t know what he’s planning, but his next attack is gonna be a big one!” I sprinted full speed towards the orb. No matter what, I need to finish him off. I can't risk the big guy coming-

“AGHHHHHAAAAAA!”

A cold blizzard filled the room, sending me flying into a nearby wall. The wind howled, making it impossible for me to hear. The cold air and cutting wind shook my body to the core, making it impossible for me to even think about moving

<w…w…what the fffff…fuck,” I sputtered out. This weakness to cold was no joke. My body felt heavy as it felt that every part of me started to slow down. God, I am so tired. More tired than I have ever been before. When was the last time I had a break? Maybe I should take a nap, right-

<MOTHER!>

I slowly opened my eyes and glanced down. It was a singular royal fly hiding away inside one of my armour plates in my arm. He was shivering like a leaf in the wind.

<Don’t sleep! Please!>

<But I’m tired…>

<If mother sleeps now. She won't ever wake up!>

I won't wake up ever again? That means….. Apollinaris, My children, Cindi…

I slowly rose to my feet. The blizzard was still ongoing in the room, making it hard to move, but I pushed forward. I squinted into the blizzard. I could just make out the red orb from the big guy in the distance. I slowly walked towards it. My legs felt like they were strapped with blocks of iron. But I kept pushing. Snow started forming on the ground as I staggered towards the red orb.

<Mother…..>

<I’m fine… just keep an eye out for anything…. Mother isn't feeling too great at the moment.>

I was very not fine. A quick glance at the System put me at around 150/300 hitpoints and declining. If I don’t end this fight quickly, I'll be dead soon.

I struggled through the thick, near, polar levels of snow that had built up to the ground. My goal is to destroy that dammned red orb. The last one is defending him for a reason… If I'm not quick, something worse will-

“Aghh!”

I collapsed to my knees again. Fuck, this cold. I can't feel my legs or even my hands. But I have to keep going. I stood up again and started walking. The blizzard hadn't let up once, but that wasn’t going to stop me; the orb was so close now. Left foot, right foot. Gotta keep moving, no stopping at all.

<Mother….>

<Don’t cry now… I’m almost close. I won't die here.>

I took a few more steps until, finally, the orb was next to my feet. I put my foot on the red orb, and with all my might, the orb shattered into a million pieces.

<There…that… will do ….it.>

I collapsed to my knees.

<Mother!>

<I’ts fine…. I need to find a way to deal with this cold….>

That’s easier said than done… think, what tools do I have? My body keeled over as the cold started to take me again. I looked at my hands… Several of my fingers were pitch black and oozing blood.

It hurts…It hurts too damn much. I don’t want this pain any more. And then it hit me. I opened up the System, and there was the ability I had completely forgoten about.

It’s a passive skill, so it's always active, but I don’t think it can keep up with the damage I'm taking. Unless..

<Sorry Apollinaris>

I had 24 points to spend, so I spent 20 points bringing it up to level 5 and dumped the rest into my recovery stat.

<YES! IM DYING….OUT HERE>

The notification disappeared out of existence. I could feel my body start to warm up as the changes in my stats take effect. I checked my health, and I was still pretty low at 60 health points, But every time I lost 1 health, I would quickly get it back.

<I’m…s.s.sstable….Need to f..f..fff.finish this fight!>

I stood up to my feet. And started to head to where the golem was previously. As soon as I started to walk, the blizzard got worse. The wind howled past my face as I walked. Good, that means you are still there. Dont worry, bastard, you’ll meet your end soon.

I pushed harder. The thoughts of what I'm gonna do to this golem when I find him fueling me hate-fueled charge.

<Mother, stop!> I stopped dead in my tracks just in time to see a piece of debris fly in front of my face.

<Thank you.. I’ll be more careful.>

I kept pushing my arms, and my body was still in imaginable pain. My feet were frozen, stiff and numb to the core, but I still pushed on. The blizzard picked up with each spot, but I still pushed. In the distance, there was a bright blue towering light. The blizzard seemed to be originating from there.

<There you are fucker>

I pushed harder towards the blue light. Step by step, it grew in size. I could feel the mana rushing from it and something else, something cold, wrapped around my foot. I glanced down, and there it was, an entire had made out of snow holding me down.

“If you think that will stop me, you’ve got another thing coming!”

I took another step forward, shattering the snow into dust. I kept walking as more and more hands sprouted out of the ground. Getting bigger and bigger with each step, some even reaching as high as my shoulders.

“Aghhh! Stop it”

I used null mana around my feet, erasing the hands out of existence, but the snow adapted, and the hands started growing bigger and thicker and holding onto my shoulders and waste Fuck. What to do! What to do!

The hands grew more and more until, finally,  they managed to hold me dead in my tracks. Fuck! Why does this golem insist on being a massive pain in my arse!

I closed my eyes and focused. I need something new. Null release isn't good enough. But what? I can't just create a  new magic spell out of thin fucking air, can I? I circulated my mana around my body, looking for anything new, any sort of inspiration. The man moved around every inch of my body; the more the man explored my body, the more I started to figure out something about it. My mana is very wild. When it moves, it moves sporadically and chaotically like a toddler who has drank 16 cans of Red Bull. This chaotic nature makes it perfect for short small, area spells like null release; however, what I need is the exact opposite. I need something that can last a long time and work over a large area. However, this is much easier said than done when my mana doesn’t behave how I want it to! Why? It is in my body, so it has to follow My rules. You hear me! I am in control!

All of a sudden, the mana froze. Good! You belong to me, meaning you do as I say now listen. I instructed my mana to move to the surface of my skin. It did so. I could feel it bubbling away under me. I sent more and more, and soon, the mana started to fight for space. They pushed and bashed against each other until, finally, one of them managed to escape through the surface of my skin. Soon, more and more mana started to escape me. I opened my eyes to a black cloud rising all around my body. I looked at the hands of snow. All the ones that held me suddenly vanished. I commanded more mana to move, causing the black cloud to thicken.

 I started walking. The snow that was at my feet started to vanish as I walked forward. Yes, finally, something is going my way. The bright blue light got brighter as the blizzard picked up, but it was pointless. The shroud cut away at the blizzard that was around me. It was odd; I could see the chaos of the blizzard take place around me, but it didn’t affect me at all Like I was the eye of the storm.... It was peaceful

“I’m sorry to say. That this fight…..”

I took one last step, putting me directly in front of him. The blue light was wooshing past him, acting like some sort of shield. I increased the null shroud around my arms. I reached into the blue light. The light screeched and screamed as it met my mana. My hands felt like they were burning, but I pushed through harder until I finally grabbed his stupid blue orb of a head.

“Is over…”

The golem screeched as I started pumping null mana into its head. The mana visibly swirled and twisted in his head, eating away at all of the blue light that was inside. I Held firm, pumping as much as I could into him.

Cracks started to appear all around his head until suddenly, my vision went bright white, and I was flung backwards...

-----

<Mothher…>

Huh, what…

<Mother, wake up! You won!>

Huh, won what?. Was I in a competition? I tried to raise my head, but I was met with the feeling of dozens of knives being shoved deep into it.

<Where am I again?>

<The fight mother… you won! Please get up. You need to recover properly.>

I nodded and slowly lifted up my body. As I did, the sound of porcelain hitting the ground filled my ears. I looked down just in time to catch pieces of my armour falling to the ground and shattering like china.

<Status>

I really should stop having fights that end with me on death's doorstep. Thankfully, I managed to gain 2 levels out of that fight.

Woah legendary. No wonder why he kicked my ass. If he had done that spell earlier…. Let's not think about that. I should count myself lucky he didn’t. I looked over to the misc section, which had something new in it. Up to this point, that menu had been pretty much useless, not containing anything at all.

< Let's see what we've got here..>

Wait, what the fuck do you mean tutorial?!