Chapter 41 Mana Bolt
I watched as the children's eyes went from curious to fearful. The Shamans, on the other hand, went from surprised to gleeful. One of them lifted his crooked staff, the red crystal inside dangling before it glowed in a crimson light.
I had already used Mana Step the moment I saw the children and Shamans meet. But I was too far away. Mana Step catapulted me forward, but I could only use it a second time and watch the actions of the Shamans. I gritted my teeth and pumped even more Mana through my legs.
I couldn't let these children die.
My second step brought me much further. I was still a good distance away from the Goblins, but they finally took notice of me. Mana Step wasn't quite quiet. It sounded like a small explosion each time I used it.
They all looked at me, including the Shaman whose staff was glowing. Using that brief moment of distraction, the children fled. So, when the Shaman turned his attention back to them, they were luckily gone.
This now meant I was the new target of that spell. The Shaman whipped his staff around, the crimson light now glowing like a lantern before it exploded outward. A streak of red flashed through the sky, before slamming right where I was a moment ago.
I grinned—he missed.
The Shamans yelled angrily. I was not sure whether at me or at the guy who missed, but now all four of them lifted their staffs. And all four red rubies began to glow in a threatening manner.
All four shot out the same spell; this time I was able to see it clearer. They were four fist-sized bolts of solid crimson mana that sped through the air. This time I used Mana Step right before the spells were released—I learned from the last time.
Four explosions rang behind me in quick succession, and for the first time I realized the weakness of my Class.
If I was a Tank, I would have Skills to take these attacks on.
If I was a Mage, I would have something like Mana Barrier.
Every Class, if leveled enough, would be versatile enough to give movement, defense, or offensive skills.
Even healers were likely to gain one or two offensive skills.
But I had only my five General Skills to rely on, and most of them relied on Mana—the resource I was short on right now.
Not only that, my leveling speed was abysmal. I would have at least leveled up a few times during this war, but I didn't.
Why was I thinking about this?
It was to remind myself what my Class was best at: pushing my Skills to the limit.
After reading through the Trait Gemini's Blessing, I realized that somehow talents were able to be stacked upon one another. This formed a theory inside my mind. What if, after every Simulation, I was able to at least get partially the talent of that person?
This would explain my insane comprehension and why I was able to learn General Skills like Meditation as if they were nothing, or create things like Mana Step and Mana Strike. Not only that, but I could also evolve them in a short amount of time.
With that in mind, I watched. I watched closely, as the Shaman's staff lit up a third time.
Now I was close. One more Mana Step and I would be right in front of the leading bastard.
New spells were cast. Three were the good old crimson bolts while the Shaman in front seemed to cast a faint blue shimmering barrier in front of him.
The three spells once again didn't manage to hit me as I used Mana Step.
Then I slammed into the Goblin in front of me. I expected to crush his body, but no. There was nothing. The monster simply slid back a few feet, completely unharmed; the only thing that happened was the barrier that broke into a thousand pieces.
And now I was surrounded by four Shamans.
Well, at least the children were safe.
I wanted to use Mana Step again, but I was a moment too late.
One of the crimson bolts slammed into my ribs.
I could feel it tear through clothes and skin as I was flung to the side.
The impact hurt. My ribs were definitely bruised, maybe even broken.
My skin was completely torn but my muscles were mostly intact.
Luckily, I had Mana Manipulation running at all times.
Despite the pain, I stood up again. I couldn't die here. No, I wouldn't die here. This was not how my story was going to end. This was not how I was going to end. The moment I got back on my feet, I saw another round of crimson bolts fly my way.
It was too late to dodge.
I quickly guessed which one would impact first, then lifted my arms in an X-shape.
I commanded my Mana to gather in my arms, and then I was hit.
Similar to before, the impact forced me to slide backwards, but this time I remained on my feet.
Even my arms hurt less as a result of the mana.
The three other crimson bolts hit the ground where I was just a moment ago, a breath later.
I gritted my teeth, not because of the pain but because of how badly this was going. The Goblins were once again a dozen feet away from me while I was hurt and low on Mana.
This was going shitty. Real shitty.
All alone against four Stone Rank monsters. I just beat four bears, so why the hell were these fuckers giving me so much trouble?
I couldn't think much longer as another streak of crimson traveled my way.
Luckily, I had expected them. I watched the path they traveled carefully and stepped to the side.
Two hit the ground next to me. Then I ducked.
Another bolt whooshed past my head. The last one impacted the ground before me, not requiring any dodging.
I sighed in relief as I watched the Goblins in front of me frown.
It was just a spur-of-the-moment idea, but it worked.
Since pumping Mana into certain body parts seemed to enhance them, I tried the same thing with my eyes.
And indeed, it worked. It worked so easily, I wanted to hit myself for not thinking about this sooner.
But my "Mana Eyes" didn't seem to help much. The moment I tried to step closer, the crimson bolts would be too fast for me to track. I could only use Mana Step to dodge or guess where they would land. And that was a gamble I couldn't take all too often.
So, this was how four Goblin Shamans and I entered a state of equilibrium. They couldn't reach me with their attacks, while I couldn't close the distance.
They would fling their spells at me, and I would sidestep easily. Then I would move forward, just to be bombarded with spells and forced to use Mana Step. And let me tell you, there was not much juice left inside me.
I stopped the cat-and-mouse game and instead just stayed at the edge right where they thought they might hit me. There were a few close calls, but nothing that required me to use Mana Step or, God forbid, block the attack.
Instead of trying to attack them, I started to observe.
I realized I had been an idiot. A true idiot.
I was far too engrossed in Martial Arts and close-quarter combat and didn't realize the true potential of Mana Manipulation.
Sure, I was able to create things like Mana Strike and Mana Step, but why didn't I try to copy a fireball?
Or try to manipulate my mana outside my body?
The fight would have been much easier if I had the means of long-range attacks.
I honestly blamed my old Earth mindset for that. On a fundamental level, I still didn't truly trust magic. I could wrap my mind around hitting harder and being faster. It was something close to me. After all, if you lifted weights and trained right, you would be faster and stronger, no?
But throwing fireballs? This was far too foreign a concept for the Earth me.
Yet it was exactly what was biting me in the ass right now.
So, I decided to do what I was best at: make shit up with Mana Manipulation. I stepped closer to the Shamans, mana swirling inside my eyes as I carefully observed them. Multiple crimson bolts flew towards me. I dodged.
Again.
This time I used more mana and observed more carefully. I watched how their staffs lit up in crimson light, but this time I was able to catch how the red glow solidified right before it was shot at me.
Again.
I stepped closer. The Goblins fired again.
Mana flared inside my eyes. I analyzed the way they used mana again, my mind bent on figuring this out right here and right now.
There was no other way to win. This time I focused on their hearts.
After a few seconds, I was able to gaze upon a small clump of blue mana that disappeared for a brief moment before reappearing right before it entered the staff.
It was red when it reappeared. Interesting, but of no use to me.
Again.
This time I watched as the Goblins grew frustrated.
One of them growled at me and charged at me with its staff in hand.
A big mistake. I used Mana Step in quick succession, successfully dodging a few attacks and reappearing in front of the said Goblin.
Because I didn't have much time, I was only able to land one hit square against the monster's nose before I had to dive away again.
This time I simply ran away as I heard the spells hit the ground behind me.
I turned around when I was a safe distance away. The goblin I hit was clutching his nose tight, blood seeping through his fingers. The one whom I dubbed the Goblin leader was scolding him.
The Goblins didn't repeat their mistake.
They simply stayed at a safe distance, waiting for me to make the wrong move. But they didn't realize the progress I was making. With Mana swirling inside my eyes, I could now properly observe how their spells worked. Well, not truly their spells but spells in general.
Essentially, Mana simply traveled down the channels into their hands. There it would change? I was not sure how or into what, but it did change before flowing into their staffs and then solidifying. That changed and solidified mana was then flung towards me.
Simple, but marvelous.
I decided to forgo the changing part. Why? Because I had no idea how they were doing it.
I jumped back multiple steps and closed my eyes. Mana flared inside my heart and traveled through my Mana Channels. Once it reached my hand, I forced it to stay still. By now, forcing my Mana to stay still became an easy process. However, next was something I had never done.
I commanded the Mana to solidify outside of my body. When observing Mana, it looked to be in a gaseous state, and I was forcing it to gather, condense, and then solidify in a tiny spot.
It was surprisingly easy—looks like it was something somebody with Mana Manipulation at Rare should be able to do.
The moment I felt the Mana solidify, I opened my eyes. The Goblins looked at me with wide eyes. Above my palm, a small blue ball hovered, blue streaks of mana oozing off it. I could feel the power of the spell, and a grin appeared on my face.
You have learned the General Skill [Mana Bolt - Common]. No General Skill spots open. Automatically placed into Limbo State.
I dismissed the notification instantly and flung the spell upon my opponents.
My revenge was finally here. The Mana Bolt drew an arc into the air before slamming into one of the still surprised Goblins.
Since it was my first time using the spell, my aim was quite a bit off.
Instead of hitting it square in the chest, like I had planned, I struck its staff-wielding arm and blew it off cleanly.
Chunks and pieces of it flew around the battlefield.
My grin couldn't help but widen witnessing the power of Mana Bolt. The Goblin wailed in agony as green blood gushed out of its wound. It dropped to its knees, clearly not accustomed to such pain.
Looks like they are true Glass Cannons, I thought.
Then I summoned another Mana Bolt. This time the Goblin Shamans didn't prepare to counterattack.
Instead, they all summoned a faint blue shimmering barrier around their bodies.
I realized that the Goblin without the arm and, in turn, staff, had the weakest barrier.
I also realized that the Mana Barrier followed the same principle Mana Bolt did. Gather your Mana, move it towards where you want it to be, and solidify it into a spell.
Easy, right?
Well, the moment I flung my Mana Bolt towards the armless Shaman, I tried.
And guess what? I failed.
More importantly, my Mana Bolt failed too. Their barrier was stronger than my spell. By a lot.
I forced my thoughts about the Mana Barrier away. The fight was still not done. In fact, it had barely started. I might have hurt one Goblin Shaman, but there were still three others. And now they were even more cautious.
They looked at me with frowns on their faces. I could see their unsure eyes before who I assumed was the leader spoke. He whispered something to the hurt Shaman, who argued back but eventually nodded reluctantly.
Then they split up.
My face went pale.
The armless Shaman marched into my town.
Oh, fuck.