NOVEL NEXT Chapter 30 Malicious Encounter
Sprinting throughout the forest, Jon felt his enhanced physicality being put to work, following the image of the four-legged beast in front of him. The world around Jon blurred as his figure flickered over fallen trees and patches of mud.
The speed at which Jon was moving exceeded that of even the fastest human alive, an acceleration reached through the combination of [Cometh Thy Red Horse Awaits] and [Lamentations Of A Frozen Affection]. Jon had to be careful just how much force he released each time his foot touched the ground, lest his foot became caught in a trench of his own making.
While Jon did not have an accurate measure of how fast he could run, instinctually he felt that his speed was closer to a herding dog more than an actual human.
Jon felt his physical enhanced work in tandem with his preternatural senses, born from his first ability [Monstrous Intuition]. [Mine Is The Sea Of Knowledge], memorizing the movements and patterns his prey made, further increasing the effectiveness of his five senses.
Running through the forest without a care in the world, Jon felt as though he was the wind made flesh, speeding over leaves, roots and flowers as if there was nothing left to hinder him anymore.
The distance between himself as his target shrunk, despite their best efforts to escape from Jon's vision. Ducking and weaving through trees and large growths of shrubs did nothing to escape from his [Eyes Through The Looking Glass]. Despite the movements of his head and body, his eyes remained firmly locked onto his prey, only glancing away for brief moments when his eyes spotted something moving within his prereferral vision.
When the figure of a four-legged feline appeared directly in front of Jon, the young human felt a surge of spiritual energy flow into his [Requiem Of The White Star], urging him to enter his [Stance Of The White Star].
A long white trail of warm air escaped his lips, as he swung his spear as if it were a club, smashing the feline-creature across the mid-section, causing it to yelp before releasing a cloud of thick yellowish gas.
Jon retreated backwards several metres, eyeing the cloud of putrid-yellow gas, an impassive expression marring his face. He could feel an instance of [Cold Requiem] proc against his target, but not the direction or location of the debuff, causing him to narrow his eyes, muttering something beneath his breath.
Jon's shadow rippled for a moment expanding fifteen feet in every direction around himself. The eyes of his shadow could become his own, allowing Jon to see through walls if his shadow could stretch far enough to peer through an existing gap.
While his shadow could not feel the gentle breeze against his face or the taste of blood on his lips, it could feel objects that it was currently in physical contact with. The rough texture of bark against his back, or the prickly sensation of thorns on his hip.
Or even, the sensation of four paws standing on top of his chest.
[Thou Is But Shadow Of Oneself], did reflect everything that his shadow experienced back onto Jon.
Jon felt his backfoot push down on the ground beneath his feet just a little too much, causing his centre of gravity to shift further downwards. The eighteen-year-old managed to adjust to this peculiar position, before thrusting his spear forward through the thick yellow gas, wincing as the System altered him to a brand-new debuff.
[Putrid Aroma]: Reduces the effectiveness of the five senses. Reduces resistances towards poison-related damages, afflictions and debuffs.
Jon let out a small tsk as he watched the same notification appear in the corner of his vision again, indicating that he afflicted with two instances of this debuff. Just as its name suggested, the thick, vile scent of the yellow gas caused Jon's eyes to water and his nostrils to burn, the sound of his footsteps somewhat suppressed while within the limits of this ability.
Jon merely ignored the effects of the debuff, relying on his [Green Is The Flesh, As Red Is The Blood] to suppress the damaging effects of the [Putrid Aroma]. Continuing his spear thrust, Jon stifled the urge to grin when the tip of his wooden spear pierced through the flesh of his prey.
There was a piercing yelp partially silenced due to the [Putrid Aroma], Jon's enhanced senses immediately picking up the thick scent of blood. Not for a single moment did the momentum behind his thrust vanish, Jon extending his arm as far as he could possibly stretch it, piercing through bone and organs before coming out on the other side of the beast.
Channelling even more spiritual energy into his physical enhancement Spell, Jon's rapid burst of acceleration somehow grew even stronger, urging him to go even further. With a small trait of yellowish gas behind him, Jon pushed out the other side of the ability, a small blueish feline impaled on the end of his spear.
Jon broke its neck ensuring that the beast was dead, rather than just pretending to be.
He did not continue to underestimate the intelligence of the mutated beasts within the small realm, knowing that anyone of them could possess a Fragment Of Mind, or even a Fragment Of Wisdom. If Jon was killed during a fight, he could only blame himself for not being strong enough.
If Jon was killed after a fight, then he could only blame himself for being too dumb for dropping his guard.
After a couple of minutes, Jon retrieved the fragments the beast possessed within its heart, letting out a small sigh, not feeling any resonance between himself and the fragments.
'Fragment Of Poison and a Fragment Of Legs. Damn, I was really hoping for a Fragment Of Speed or a Fragment Of Acceleration. Legs just seem kind of… well, don't think I would be looking forward to that particular mutation.'
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There was no Mana Core within the beast, causing Jon to shake his head before hoisting the beast over his shoulder, still impaled over his spear. Even if its ability somewhat put Jon off food for the next few hours, he was still willing to risk that chance if it meant filling his stomach.
Smiling, Jon thought about the discussion he had with Avahni and Wilheim just a few hours ago. While there was a chance that neither of them would choose to integrate the fragments or hold off on integrating them until they obtained another Mana Core, Jon suspected that the two of them would integrate at least one new fragment.
Even if the fragments didn't quite suit them, possessing an additional ability might be the difference between life and death during combat. Targeting an unsuspecting opponent with an ability you kept in reserve until the end of the fight, or regenerating from wounds sustained over the duration of the fight.
From Jon's understanding, a Mortal Ranked individual could possess up to thirty-six different abilities, spread over six Mana Cores. Such a number gave one a little bit of leeway when deciding the type of abilities they could integrate.
Taking a small half-step over a small ditch between two trees, Jon paused, feeling his [Monstrous Intuition] tremble. Jon's pupil dilated from the strong response, causing his vision to appear blank as he stood motionless and unmoving.
His figure remained almost inhumanly still for a second, before one of his fingers violently twitched as the eighteen-year-old instinctively laid down flat, feeling something slash through the space he once stood in.
Rolling away from the ditch, Jon flicked the corpse of the blue-furred feline off his spear, narrowing his eyes as he scanned the dense forest around him.
There was no warning or visual indication that an ability was coming his way. There was only the instinctual feeling within Jon that if he did not move, he was going to die.
Jon's ears twitched, a response from his [Monstrous Intuition]. The incantation of [Cometh Thy Red Horse Awaits] halfway out of his mouth before Jon felt himself affected by an overwhelming sensation of rage, preventing him from finishing the Spell chant.
[Silent Wrath]: Reduces resistances towards mental-related damages, afflictions, and debuffs. Increases physical strength. Prevents the usage of abilities with the Spell Trait.
[Mine Is The Sea Of Knowledge] resisted some of its effects, so Jon could only unconsciously flood his passive ability with a steady stream of knowledge natured spiritual energy. The resistance effect of his Sea Of Knowledge grew stronger, allowing Jon to push through the wrathful emotions, settling on the figure of a pale-skinned humanoid roughly thirty feet from his current location.
He could almost see the shocked expression of on the red-skinned humanoid, its four-eyes meeting Jon's own, before a look of grim realization settled onto its face. It's lips muttering the beginnings of another chant.
Jon felt his breath hitch, as the grip on his spear unconsciously tightened.
'This red-skinned guy… he isn't trying to communicate with me. That strike was aimed for my neck!'
Jon felt his [Monstrous Intuition] urge him to move. Not in any specific direction, but move, nonetheless.
With the possibility of his Spells being interrupted, Jon decided to forgo the chant for [Cometh Thy Red Horse Awaits], instead settling into the [Stance Of The White Star]. The rotation of his Ice Mana Core rapidly increasing in strength as his eyes gained a silver-white tint to them.
The freezing sensation of ice natured spiritual energy flowing through his veins brought Jon a sense of relief before his figure flickered, running behind the nearest source of cover. His figure ducking and weaving throughout the forest thicket, trying to prevent the red-skinned humanoid from following his figure and knowing his location.
'Whatever that ability he used was, it was near invisible even with [Eyes Through The Looking Glass]. I might not be able to risk relying on [Cometh Thy Red Horse Awaits], but I might be able to peer at his status and see how many abilities I am dealing with.' Jon gritted his teeth, pushing the limits of his inhuman speed to the test.
His mouth moved swiftly, his Minerva-Sagacity Eyes piercing through the soap-bubble-like veil that concealed this individual's status page.
Name: Han Of The Red Wind
Age: 20
Rank: Mortal
Tier: Fifth Initiation
Mana Core(s):
[1]: Wind
[Fragment Of Slash]
[Colourless Wind Blade]
(Wind, Slash, Spell)
[Fragment Of Stealth]
[Invocation Of The Silent Gale]
(Wind, Stealth, Spell, Buff)
[2]: Wrath
[Fragment Of Mind]
[Mine Is The Throne Of Ira]
(Wrath, Mind-)
Jon winced, feeling a sharp burst of pain emanate from his temples, the effects of his [Eyes Through The Looking Glass] forcibly cancelled through some unknown ability. Jon had barely managed to peer at the first half of his status, seeing the Rank of his opponent and his first two Mana Cores.
The fact that he had obtained a Fragment Of Mind caused Jon's own Sea Of Knowledge to churn violently, still actively resisting the effects of [Silent Wrath]. His spiritual energy had attempted to pierce through his opponents ability but ended up being resisted through what Jon could only assume was his Throne Of Ira.
Lifting his head past the tree he was currently hiding behind, Jon could only narrow his eyes at the red-skinned figure violently shaking his head, letting out what he assumed was a string of vicious alien curse words.
Jon could feel the rapid beating of his Seir-Glacial Heart in his chest, flooding his system with the cool sensation of ice natured mana. A sense of clarity filling his mind, as his Knowledge Mana Core slowly pushed out anything unnecessary to the task at hand.
Taking a deep breath, Jon could feel the effects of his abilities all working in tandem with one another.
It did not matter what abilities, or how many abilities his opponent possessed.
He would fight through them, his spear striking true.
Glancing down at the wooden spear in his hands, Jon felt his grip on the object loosen, letting it drop onto an overgrown patch of grass. If he were fighting against a beast, Jon could see his wooden spear working, but if he were to fight another person, he would require something… sharper.
'I can't not use it in this situation. My opponent possesses two more Mana Cores than me, who knows how many abilities he has managed to integrate?!'
Taking another deep breath, Jon brought up his System task rewards page and accepted the reward for the completion of the sixtieth optional task.
There was no hesitation as Jon selected the fragment of his choice from the list.
The eighteen-year-old watched as a small, rectangular silverish-platinum gemstone appeared in the palm of his hand. This beautifully shaped gem drew more than Jon's eye, something deep within himself drawn to the nature and essence of the fragment in his hand.
Jon smiled as he accepted the System integration notice. It did not take even ten seconds before the familiar sight of an effect description page appeared in front of him.
[Fragment Of Spear]
[Behold Thy Luminous Spear, Clad In Green Radiance]
(Wood, Spear, Summoning, Ability, Weapon, Buff, Debuff)