Chapter 62—One life

Chapter 62: 62—One life Lucen felt dread of towards the system’s sudden plan The heavy blows exchanged between the giant golem and the High-rank Bull wolf shook his bones. The wolf launched itself into the air, and headbutted the red-hot stone titan. A bang split the air and the golem stumbled. Before it could fall, however, stone hands rose from the ground and pushed it up. The golem cocked its fist back, gathering the momentum from being pushed forward, and slammed its fist across the wolf’s jaw. They both looked so slow, but after being chased by it, Lucen knew it was far quicker than him. The wolves gave their leader some distance, focused on killing as many soldiers. Knights did their best to push the wolves back, but their frenzied state was overwhelming. But the fact that three Knights had gone to help Brock wasn’t helping. The three figures streaked around the Fiend like large flies. Their blades and spears found the beast’s legs, and neck. Yet it wasn’t dead. Even with four Knights, one of which were Mid-tier attacking it, Lucen could see why. The wolf wasn’t just an animal thrashing around. It was smart and had an uncanny instinct for danger. The Fiend’s tail flicked out, slamming into a Knight coming from behind, then it suddenly swung its body to bite at another Knight. The man was already in the air, his face pale as chalk. There was a brief crunch and the Knight disappeared between the wolf’s jaws. Lucen felt chill run down his spine, and slapped himself twice. "Calm the fuck down." He glanced over at Kon, Helie and the others. Fighting hard, but they were close to two Knights, and were just helping them. They were too weak to affect the Fiend Bull Wolf in a useful way. "What’s the plan," he finally said. [We’re going to use both Hunger and Chaos mana at once. Infuse your spear with it and get it inside the wolf’s body. The Chaos will invert the wolf’s life force to death, and Hunger will steal its health] He could barely scratch its fur, not to talk about breaking skin. And he was sure now, the wolf’s yellow eyes were occasionally glancing at him. He would be caught if he tried anything. [Remember how you ordered your mana when you fought Thomas? I’m going to need you to do that for the mana in your spear.] Hide the buildup of dangerous mana? Then maybe he’d get past the wolf’s senses. And if he did it right, then no one would sense that he used Hunger and Chaos mana. [Most Knights only get to this level after tempering both soul and mind. They can hide all mana that makes up their body, and can even hide mana outside their body.] Lucen turned pale imagining what Korgath could do with that skill. Well, it was good to know that, so he wouldn’t underestimate a Knight. The problem now was whether he could truly hide his mana while in the middle of an active battlefield. Things streaked over his head, and an explosion rocked the earth every few seconds. [I’ll alert you if anything looks your way. Be quick, if the wolf kills Brock, I have a feeling we’ll be next.] He clicked his tongue, and sank into himself. He used [Breath of Veil] to study how it achieved its effect. His Dominance was already high enough, and [Breath of Veil] was long due for an upgrade. Mana was all around him, and his own body was made up of Elemental and Life mana. The air was filled with all types of mana . His body, thanks to [Song of Light], was filled with Life, Elemental, and Divine mana. Veiling meant synchronizing your internal mana in your soul with the external mana of the world. Practically pretending to be external mana in the air. [The external mana of the world is continuously moving, you have to keep your internal mana in the same rhythm or you’ll be caught] It was impossible to use his mind to read and continuously mimic how mana was moving through the world. "That’s where the soul comes in." He muttered to himself. Souls contained mana, and were able to properly follow the currents of mana. But souls were so hard to deal with, especially when his own wasn’t fully formed. It would be easier if he was a Knight already, but no point in complaining. His mana was a furious bonfire of colours. Dominance was like an invisible hand that he used to grasp fire. It escaped between his fingers, and pushed against his commands. He sunk deeper into himself, and tapped into that intent to kill that he had been cultivating. He stopped thinking of Dominance as a hand. Instead a huge pair of eyes staring at his mana. He glared down and it flickered under his murderous gaze. The bonfire sputtered, and then synced itself with the external mana of the world around him. Then Lucen enchanted his spear with his breaths, and then imbued it with Hunger and Chaos mana. [You only have five minutes at most. Find a way to get the spear into the wolf’s body, hopefully a vital organ.] That was the hard part. Lucen looked at himself through mana sense, he was essentially invisible. But he could still be seen with normal eyes. He kicked off the ground and circled the High-rank wolf. Jumping between different fights, dodging screeching projectiles, his feet splashing over the bloody earth. How? Up its arse? That would be funny. The best he could come up with was the heart, but would he be able to pierce its skin? He enchanted the spear with more of his breath, and used his Dominance to refine the wind hissing around the spear. The leg. Take out the leg, and Brock and the other Knight would kill it. But then he wouldn’t devour the wolf. Was he just being greedy? He aimed the spear at the wolf’s leg. No point in overthinking it. They win here or die. He was about to leg go, when the Fiend wolf whipped around him. Its yellow eyes widening. Then it charged towards him. It still sensed him. Death was coming for sure now, both Brock and the other Knights were caught unaware. Lucen tapped into the stored energy of [Surging Flames]. He wouldn’t die. His Dominance roared with the simple statement. Hunger mana also flooded from him into the spear. He bent his knees in preparation to take off. But the wolf wasn’t coming straight at him. It slammed its paws into the earth, and mana surged from its body. It was another spell, not for weakening enemies, but for channeling pure destruction. The ground exploded, and Lucen was thrown high into the air. He cursed, struggling to gain his balance. The wolf leapt into the air, its claw slashing towards a vulnerable Lucen. He needed to release his spear, and deflect the attack. After this his mana would be spent, and the wolf would still kill him. He ground his teeth. Why not just go for the kill? "We’ll both die then, I’m not—" Something slammed into his side, pushing him out of the way. Brock. How was he up here? The silver armor of the round bellied man glowed blindingly, and he braced his shield in front of him as the claw came down. "Brock!" Lucen yelled. The man was sent spiralling down to the earth like a silver star. There should have been some sadness in him, but Lucen’s eyes snapped back to the wolf. They were now both in the air. Hunger clawed at him, pushing regret and fear aside. He pointed his spear down, partially activating its ability to soar through the air. The wind roared in his ears, his body tore through the air. He landed on the wolf’s snout and then he slammed the spear into the its eye. The eyes were softer than most of its body, but still tough. His spear pierced deep into its yellow eyes. "Die!" he roared, activating [Starfall]. The spear turned into a white bolt of light and pushed into its skull in a bloody explosion. Lucen jumped off as the wolf howled. He was wondering how he would land as the earth drew near. Then something wrapped around his waist and pulled him sideways through the air. Helie. He needed to hug her. He looked up at the falling body of the wolf. It wrung its head about, howling in pain. The spear hopefully stabbed into the wolf’s brain. The spear was like a needle compared to the beast, but it was packed with deadly mana. Lucen hit the ground, rolling, and tried to immediately get up, but his legs shook uncontrollably. A cloud of dust rose as the wolf crashed into the earth, and silence followed, both wolf and man watching to see if the great beast would rise again. [Congratulations! You gained two new skills, Ironbody and Pack’s Call]