CHAPTER 9 — “Fang and Crystal” #4
Not like before—not the desperate dodging and careful positioning. This is different. The mana flooding my system enhances everything: my speed, my strength, my perception. The world slows down, or I speed up, and suddenly Fenris’s massive paw is coming toward me in something like slow motion.
I step around it. Step into its space. My cleaver comes up, enhanced by [Mana Overflow], and when it hits Fenris’s leg, it doesn’t just wound.
It shatters.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│ CRITICAL HIT │├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤│ Attack: Enhanced Cleaver Strike ││ Damage: 145 (base 45 + 50% overflow + crit) ││ ││ Status Inflicted: \[Crippled\] ││ --- Target leg disabled ││ --- Movement speed reduced by 40% ││ --- Stability compromised ││ ││ Fenris HP: \~255/600 ││ ││ "NOW we're talking.
" │└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Fenris howls in agony, lurching sideways on three legs. I’m already moving to the next opening, the next weakness. Twenty-five seconds left.
The wolf snaps at me—I duck under its jaws, come up inside its guard, and drive the cleaver into its exposed underbelly. Again. Again.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│ DAMAGE DEALT │├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤│ Attack 1: Underbelly Strike --- 95 damage ││ Attack 2: Underbelly Strike --- 87 damage ││ Attack 3: Underbelly Strike (crit) --- 134 damage ││ ││ Total Damage: 316 ││ Fenris HP: \~-61/600 ││ ││ Wait, that can't be right--- │└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Fenris collapses.
The massive body hits the arena floor with a sound like a building falling, and then it’s still. The yellow eyes dim, fade, go dark.
I stand over the corpse, covered in blood—mine and its—breathing hard, and I have just enough presence of mind to check the timer before the [Mana Overflow] ends.
Eight seconds remaining.
I turn toward the summoned wolves.
They look at me. At the glowing mana crackling across my skin. At the boss they were supposed to help, now dead on the ground.
They run.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│ FLOOR BOSS DEFEATED ││ \[Fenris, Alpha of Alphas\] --- Level 13 │├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┤│ XP Gained: 450 ││ Bonus XP: Solo clear (+50%) ││ Bonus XP: Underleveled challenger (+100%) ││ Bonus XP: Creative tactics (+25%) ││ Total XP: 1,237 ││ ││ LEVEL UP!
││ Level 10 → Level 12 ││ ││ HP: 160 → 200 (+40) ││ MP: 75 → 95 (+20) ││ STR: 18 → 22 (+4) ││ AGI: 20 → 24 (+4) ││ INT: 28 → 32 (+4) ││ WIS: 30 → 34 (+4) ││ DEX: 21 → 25 (+4) ││ LCK: 8 → 10 (+2) ││ ││ NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: \[Emergency Infusion\] Lv.
1 ││ --- Direct mana absorption from external ││ sources (dangerous but effective) ││ --- Cooldown: 24 hours ││ --- "You did something stupid and survived.
││ The System has decided to make it an ││ official skill.
Congratulations?" ││ ││ TRAIT UPDATE: \[Fragmented Soul\] ││ --- Recovery rate: 4.
7% → 7.2% ││ --- Current recovered: 12.4% ││ ││ "Two levels.
A new skill. And you didn't ││ die. Today was a good day.
" │└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
The [Mana Overflow] fades, and the pain comes crashing back. Everything hurts. I can barely stand. My HP is at 38, which is better than dead but not by much.
But I’m alive.
And I’m Level 12.
Johnson limps over, equally battered, and sits down next to the massive corpse.
That, he says, was the single most reckless thing I’ve ever witnessed. And I’ve witnessed a lot of reckless things.
“Did it work?”
Obviously it worked. You’re alive. The wolf is dead. The math worked out. A pause. But if you ever do something like that again without warning me, I’m going to eat your pillow AND your mattress.
“Fair enough.”
I slump down against Fenris’s body, letting the stone floor support me. The arena is quiet now—no howling, no paws, no combat sounds. Just me and Johnson and the cooling corpse of something that should have killed us both.
Floor 4 clear, Johnson observes. One more to go before we hit the sealed sections proper. Well, the more sealed sections. The extra sealed sections?
“The important ones.”
Yes. Those. His ears twitch. How do you feel?
I think about it. Really think about it.
I feel terrible. Physically, mentally, emotionally. I just ingested raw mana through a method the System explicitly warned against, fought a boss three levels higher than me, and won through a combination of desperation and insanity.
But underneath all that?
I feel stronger.
“Like I’m making progress,” I say finally.
Good. Johnson hops onto my lap, curling up like a cat despite being decidedly not-cat-shaped. Rest for a bit. Loot the corpse. Then we should probably clear Floor 5 before those scouts come back.
“Both floors in one run?”
Why not? We’re already here. And your mana recovery just jumped to 7.2%. The faster we push, the faster you get your power back.
He’s right. He’s always right, the furry little know-it-all.
I close my eyes, let myself rest for just a moment.
Floor 5 can wait. For now, I’ll take the win.