Power of Runes

But instead of growing scared, Ash grew happier.

Finally, something that could prove as a challenge.....

With a crazed smile stretching across his face, Ash increased his speed until his surroundings blurred. The monster also turned fully towards him, its mushroom head tilting slightly as if measuring his intent, before it began walking forward in a slow and deliberate manner.

Ash felt his heartbeat quicken, each thump echoing in his ears. A wave of excitement coursed through him, and he could feel his blood rushing to every corner of his body, making him feel even stronger. The surge of adrenaline brought with it a strange clarity, sharpening his focus to the smallest detail.

As the distance closed, Ash tightened his muscles, gathering power into his legs, and leapt into the air in a clean, powerful arc, aiming straight for the monster's mushroom head.

But...

The vines on the monster's back suddenly surged forth. Their ends elongated, narrowing into sharp, needle-like points that whipped through the air, aiming to pierce Ash before he could reach his target.

{Phase}

The word left Ash's lips like a chant, soft but clear. A single runic symbol appeared faintly upon his glabella, glowing for a heartbeat. His body flickered, and the vines passed straight through him, harmlessly phasing through his form. For an instan,t he became untouchable, and as his body emerged again, still mid-air, the rune dimmed and vanished, the spell fading.

The vines, failing to halt him, coiled back in frustration, and at the same moment, the monster raised its enormous hands, trying to crush him between its wide palms.

Yet Ash's momentum was far too strong to be stopped. He had avoided using teleportation deliberately, not wanting to sacrifice the speed and force behind his movement. Instead, he chose a spell that devoured his mana at an alarming rate, almost draining one of his cores completely, just to ensure his strike would not lose power.

Gliding past the sweeping hands and evading the lunging vines, Ash closed the gap. His body was wreathed in crackling lightning mana, and Eclipse, his Sword, was cloaked in shimmering layers of space mana. With one clean motion, he slashed.

The blade cut through space itself, and the strike cleaved into the mushroom monster's head, severing it from its body with terrifying ease.

-ThuD!!!!!

The massive body collapsed, shaking the ground as the headless form crumpled. Ash landed gracefully a short distance away, his fall controlled and silent, as if he had descended on invisible strings. But as he straightened, shock washed across his face.

Am I really this strong.....?

Or was the monster just too weak.....?

Ash could not decide what to blame, but the way the beast had fallen so easily left him both surprised and unsettled. There was pride in the strike, yet the victory tasted hollow.

He should have been satisfied, but instead he felt a pang of disappointment.

Sigh, there goes my wish of getting experience.....

His shoulders slumped as he walked slowly toward the fallen monster, intending to retrieve its mana crystal. It had become a habit of his—every beast he killed, he harvested the crystal and stored it within his soul vault. Those destroyed entirely by his spells left nothing behind, but any that remained intact were collected.

Mana crystals were highly valuable. They sped up the process of mana absorption for awakened individuals, serving as a direct source of energy. Ash had tested them himself, once even purchasing a mana crystal from an S-rank beast, but the result had been disheartening. Only a tiny fraction of its mana had been absorbed by his body.

His Primordial core was a bottomless well, containing only the purest form of mana and expelling the impure one. Because of this, trying to fill it with normal mana crystals was nothing more than a delusion.

There was one possibility, though. If he could acquire crystals from a Mythical Rank beast, then perhaps every ten or so could raise one of his stats.

But the problem was obvious.....

No one sold Mythical Rank mana crystals. To slay such a monster required an individual of the same level, and they would always absorb the crystal themselves to strengthen their own mana. Such treasures would never reach the market, making it nearly impossible for him to obtain them.

And there was none present in the dragon treasury too, the dragons have their own way of growing stronger, different from the humans.

He could, in time, grow strong enough to hunt such monsters himself. But the bitter truth was that he needed those crystals now, not in the distant future. His potential, after all, was capped at Rank A, not Rank SS.

Still, he gathered crystals diligently. If not for his own growth, then at least as proof of his kills, and as gifts for Elysia, whom he knew would treasure them far more than he could.

But as he neared the monster's dead body…..

His instincts suddenly flared.

In that instant, Ash teleported into the air, appearing right above the creature's corpse.

Below him, the once-limp vines of the fallen monster shot out with blinding speed, striking the ground where he had been standing only a moment ago. At the same time, several other vines wrapped around the severed head and dragged it back toward the neck.

What followed made Ash's eyes narrow. The detached head reattached itself, and in the blink of an eye, the wound healed completely, leaving not even a scar.

Ash smiled, seeing that, his voice carrying a twisted excitement.

"Nice. It would be truly a shame if you died this easily.."

{Verdiction}

Two hundred replicas of Eclipse, forged entirely from life mana, surged forward like a storm of radiant blades. Yet just before they struck, countless eyes suddenly opened all over the creature's pale, fleshy body. Every blade froze mid-air, suspended as if locked in invisible chains.

Ash's expression tightened. He instantly teleported away from that spot, reappearing several meters back, his eyes still locked on the monster. The monster—no longer slumped, but slowly rising—stepped out from the suspended swords' range. The blades were released a moment later, slamming uselessly into the ground, scattering dust and debris.

Was it telekinesis…?

It was nothing like space freezing, and definitely not time stopping. Ash had experienced both before, so he was certain. This was different. The only answer left was telekinesis or maybe something else.

So, to sum it up, the monster has unnatural healing, it survives even after its head is severed, it controls vine-like limbs, it has raw physical strength, telekinesis, and its body is certainly poisonous… but is that all?

Ash didn't believe for a second that it ended there.

"A Bloodshrome…" he muttered at last, deciding on the name without much thought. His naming sense was never great, and even he knew it.

Still, it's not that bad… anyway…

The Bloodshrome turned its countless eyes toward him, each unblinking gaze carrying a suffocating weight, as if trying to peel away the layers of his being.

Why do I always end up facing monsters with countless eyes..? First the Hollow Mother, and now this Bloodshrome…

Cursing his luck, Ash gathered lightning around his legs, letting it fuse with space mana. His figure blurred with speed so extreme it resembled teleportation. In the blink of an eye, he appeared right in front of the Bloodshrome's stomach.

Eclipse crackled with violet lightning as he concentrated every spark at its tip, channeling his strength into a single devastating thrust.

But… his blade stopped.

Despite the lightning still raging with the same intensity, his sword refused to push forward, and even his body felt locked in place.

Ash's mind became sharper, calmer, as it always did when danger rose. Adrenaline surged through him like liquid fire, and with a sudden force of will, he tore himself free, teleporting instantly.

He reappeared a short distance away, violet lightning still crackling wildly around him.

Without hesitation, he charged once again, aiming to pierce the monster's body. Yet, just like before, his blade was halted before it could even touch.

If it has this power, then why did it not use it before...?

Ash thought, and the answer was not that hard to see. There was no need to use Omni Thought or Lightning Reflex to speed up his mind, for the reason was simple. Before, there were no eyes on the monster's body, but now there were.

Is its power connected to the eyes...? Or is there some other source I have to destroy before I can kill it...?

As he considered this, the ground around him began to shift. All kinds of rocks and plants, from large stones to mushroom-like trees, floated into the air and twisted unnaturally. Their edges sharpened, ground down until they were as fine as needles, all pointing towards him.

Ash chuckled when he saw that.

"At least think of something unique, dumbass... You are not creative at all..."

As if insulted by his words, the projectiles launched forward, cutting through the air with terrifying speed. Yet Ash simply teleported away, leaving them to tear through nothing.

When he reappeared behind the monster, the projectiles twisted unnaturally, turning one hundred and eighty degrees in midair, chasing after him again. At the same time, the vines on the monster's back whipped toward him with frightening speed.

And just like that, the game of cat and mouse began. Ash flashed from one place to another, his figure flickering between blinding bursts of violet lightning, weaving his Lightning Step and other movement skills into the fight. But no matter how he moved, either the vines or the projectiles always caught up to him. And whenever he tried to attack the monster itself, his blade and spells were once again stopped in their tracks. The monster evaded, unharmed, as if mocking every attempt.

Through it all, Ash remained calm. The fight was proving to be a challenge, and that was exactly what he wanted. Yet it was also clear that they had reached a stalemate.

But I doubt the creature can carry on this stunt forever. There is always a limit to mental energy... While I can teleport endlessly as long as it is short-distance teleportation, thanks to my dual core...

Let us see who is more patient...

Time began to slip away. Minutes stretched into an hour as Ash studied the monster with sharp eyes, testing it again and again, while the creature did the same, its countless gazes locked on him as if dissecting every move.

Eventually, he noticed the first signs of strain. Some of the floating projectiles wavered, then dropped heavily to the ground. But the ones that remained did not weaken. Instead, they grew even faster, sharper, more relentless. The vines too lashed out with greater intensity, forcing Ash to push himself harder. In the end, he had to use Omni Thought just to keep up with the increased speed.

Even then, no clear pattern revealed itself.

Should I use Elemental Sight too...?

His thoughts wandered for a brief moment. Ever since he overcame the chains of his memories and learned to live in the present rather than being consumed by the weight of the past or the uncertainties of the future, something inside him had changed. His Will had grown sharper, steadier.

He had learned to give his all in the present moment, to learn from his mistakes, and never to repeat them again. Because of that shift, the abilities he once could not handle together —Omni Thought and Elemental Sight—had now become possible, though they overwhelmed him mentally, sometimes to the point where his body demanded instant rest, dragging him into the depths of sleep.

He had also used both of them together when he fought with Hollow Mother, but he somehow was able to not fell asleep. And continue to fight despite the strain.

But now, he had no other choice.

The third eye symbol appeared faintly on his forehead, and at once his vision changed. The dull, black and white world around him blossomed into something overwhelming, a field filled with countless shimmering particles.

He immediately turned his gaze on the Bloodshrome.

The Bloodshrome's form was even more grotesque under this sight. Its entire body was woven from wood and twisted plants, pulsing with an unnatural vitality. Around it, and around the projectiles, there was a thick concentration of pale, transparent, water-like particles that flowed in restless waves.

Ash realized this was an energy he had never seen before with his own eyes. It was not attribute-less mana, that much was clear.

Is it some sort of energy belonging solely to this creature, or is it...manifestation of mental energy?

Ash did not know, though he leaned towards the latter.

And on its blood-like mushroom head, twinkling like ominous stars, the glowing orbs shimmered faintly with an even brighter shade under his sight, as if it was a....

Source...? Is it the monster's power core or something...?

He had finally found a lead.

***