Chapter 26: Not a Power Up…

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Not a Power Up...The worm lunged its teeth toward Lian, who dodged effortlessly, rolling through the sand. "Disgusting," Lian spat, sand stuck between his teeth. "I really wish I’d unlocked something water-related—I can’t stand living like this anymore!" His voice was a mix of frustration and desperation, gritty with sand. He kept spitting as he ran, trying to put distance between himself and the monster. He wanted to focus on his notifications to see what shape he’d unlocked, but the creature gave him no respite, its relentless pursuit a shadow on his heels. "You asked for it—take this!" he shouted, dodging another bite and landing a kick to the worm’s belly, making it flinch from the impact. Before becoming a Mage, Lian was a warrior. He knew how to strike and understood basic combat, his instincts honed by necessity. But the worm felt no pain. Lian’s kick barely tickled it. That was enough, though, for Lian to gain precious seconds to cast his favorite spell—the Circle! "Ignis Arde, Ignis Globus!" he roared, blasting a fireball straight into the worm’s face. Luckily, the monster was only Iron 3. Lian’s well-placed shot was enough to finish it off, a fleeting victory in a sea of sand. Just as the creature collapsed, something else emerged from the sand. "Damn worms, leave me alone!!" Lian roared at the sky, turning to flee, his voice echoing with defiance. He had no energy left to fight, not against whatever had just appeared. "Why don’t you do like the other two worms and eat your dead buddy?!" he muttered, running across the sand, careful not to slip and fall embarrassingly. But the monster cared little for Lian’s dilemmas. It pursued with murderous intent. Unlike the previous worm, this one had a unique trait—two of its sharp teeth were crooked, not just slightly, but completely reversed. Fortunately, unlike Shadow Wolves, these worms had only one, rather inefficient attack method, easily dodged. They leaped, hoping to clamp their prey with their mouths, but all they swallowed was sand. However, through a small hole at the opposite end of their mouth, they expelled the ingested sand. Noticing this, Lian’s face twisted in disgust as he spat even harder. "Damn, that’s gross!! Have I been eating worm-shat sand this whole time?!" He ran, spat, and cursed relentlessly, a whirlwind of frustration and survival. But he couldn’t run forever—so— "Take this, crooked-teeth worm! Circle!" he thought with a huff. Since reaching 71% accuracy, drawing the shape had become much easier, a small triumph amidst the chaos. "Ignis Arde, Ignis Globus!" But... the fireball flew straight into the monster’s gaping maw, stopping it in its tracks. Lian kept running with all his strength as the worm digested his spell, puffing out a cloud of black smoke. "Damn it, again! These monsters love my magic, don’t they?" His sarcasm masked his growing exhaustion. After puffing, the worm didn’t pursue. It stayed still for a while before burrowing back into the sand and fleeing. Watching the scene, Lian stopped, bewildered. "Huh? It’s just leaving? Maybe it sensed my power and ran away..." Shaking his head at the absurdity, he took deep, steadying breaths, wiping sweat from his brow. He was practically a puddle, losing liquid with every step, a human fountain in a desert of despair. "Ah, I’d kill for some water... Did Mage Elora really not think to put food or water in the spatial ring?" Sighing, Lian trudged in another direction. "I just hope the unlocked spell has something to do with water..." A desperate wish whispered to the uncaring sands. Closing his eyes, he focused on the notifications. There were several, but the one he sought was: [New shape unlocked: Hypercube] [Unlocked shapes: Circle, Hypercube] [CIRCLE: Draw a circle to cast a fireball. ACCURACY 70%: You can use the Circle to create variants of fire-based spells.] [HYPERCUBE: Draw a hypercube to generate a spatial ripple, creating a dimensional portal. Reuse the same shape to draw a second portal, establishing a spatial link between the two points.] [Mission: Reach 100% accuracy with the Circle.] [Mission: Reach 70% accuracy with the Hypercube.] [Reward: ?] "..." Lian’s exhausted body collapsed to its knees in the sand. His wide eyes stared into the void as he muttered in disbelief, "I can’t believe it... Am I lucky or unlucky?" Controlling space was mind-boggling, and creating links between two points was a lifesaving ability. It was incredible, but there was a problem. "What the hell is a Hypercube?!" he exclaimed, thinking about the ability. "Geometric Spell, Hypercube." A grand scene appeared in his mind. A cube floated in the black expanse of his consciousness, each side connected to edges forming another cube, a mesmerizing puzzle of dimensions. "A cube inside a cube, seriously?" He lacked the energy to curse. All he could do was accept his fate. The hypercube continued to shift in his mind, showing all the points needed to complete it, but Lian didn’t have the strength to analyze it, his mind as weary as his body. After a few minutes of wallowing in the sand, he realized the Hypercube wasn’t his only gain. "Finally! I’m not stuck casting fireballs forever! So the Circle isn’t just for fireballs but also their variants... I wonder what that means." "But before I test it—" "I need to rest... There’s no safe place here, so I guess I’ll just keep cultivating..." His resolve a flickering flame in the endless heat. "Will it ever get dark in this damn place?" he muttered, preparing to use his other meditation technique. Sitting in the lotus position, Lian began absorbing energy orbs by drawing lines within them. "Alright, let’s cultivate!" This time, the process was smoother. He drew the lines fluidly, pulling one energy orb after another toward his dantian. It was slow but pleasant, a rhythm that soothed his battered spirit. Time passed, and when Lian absorbed the tenth orb... "Oh? Ten isn’t my limit anymore? Interesting... Could it be because of the three extra lines I absorbed earlier?" He continued absorbing orbs, pondering the cause. During his two days with Patrick and Sera, he had cultivated with this technique, but his limit had always been ten orbs. Time dragged on, the sun unrelenting, and Lian was dying of thirst and hunger. Thankfully, mana doubled as nourishment, but it couldn’t last forever, a temporary reprieve in a relentless world. "Great, so my limit’s up to twenty orbs..." he said, standing. His fatigue had vanished, his energy restored, and he felt invigorated. Cultivation was slow, and Lian had only tasted its beginning, but judging by his progress, it wouldn’t take long to reach Bronze 2. "I can feel it... Somehow, I’m close to a breakthrough! I just need to keep training. The stronger I get, the longer I can train, and the faster I’ll grow. It’s a positive cycle!" His voice carried a spark of hope, defiant against the desolate sands. --- Author’s Note! 1 Power Stone = 1 point in LUCK Help Lian if you have heart!