Chapter 13: Awakening
The moment Kim opened his eyes, a giant praying mantis with two steel blades as its arms closing in to slice Kim in half.
Shing! The sound of the blade was similar to metal which could slice a tree like melted butter. It thought that it had killed Kim but something felt off. There was no resistance! A similar feeling of slicing through a thin air. Before the mantis come back to its sense, it was too late. A downward kick from appearing from nowhere has smashed its heads bulging eyes, splitting the monster in half.
Before any other monsters would ambush him, Kim jumped from one tree to another at a quick pace. The monsters didn't waste time chasing him around. There were also several dozens of them on the ground trying to chase Kim.
Finally, no more mantis could be seen. It appears that Kim manages to shake them off. Suddenly from the dark a sudden wind come slicing through. It didn't damage Kim for a bit, but it does keep him in alarmed. Good thing his mana sense is always active. The wind was not a wind. It was something viler. A creature that lurks in the dark. A blood-sucking bat!
Not only one, but more than a dozen of them were flying around trying to suck Kim's dry. Kim would swiftly grab each one of them with his bare hand and crush their heads instantly before they even manage to put their fang into his skin. Slowly the monsters chasing him is reduced by numbers. Despite that, something felt off. He didn't really kill a lot of the bats since it was flying so swiftly. Surely, the bats were fast enough to catch him.
His heart trembles, thinking of whatever lies behind him. Looking back, there may be nothing due to the endless darkness, but if he stops now probably he would be surrounded by monsters. By the moment he tries to expand his mana sense, a loud shout resonating within the forest. The sound itself was not threatening, but it still sent some cold shiver to his spine. What worried him the most is that he could not determine the source. Up, down, left, right, it was everywhere!
Then he saw, five bloodshot eyes rushing to him with a terrifying shriek. They were apes. Demonic apes with killing intent emanating from it. As if they were telling Kim the forest is their territory and he should die for trespassing!
The apes were attacking Kim from left and right. Kim couldn't rest for a moment to avoid all their fierce attacks. Despite that, Kim was not in a disadvantaged position. He brilliantly moves from one tree to another with his agile movement. Although the ape monsters are fighting in their field, Kim is moving as naturally as them. As if he lived in the forest in his entire life.
Kim seems to be moving around randomly by swinging, jumping and bouncing around, every step he made was from precise calculations. He observed his surrounding and calculated the best route to avoid getting hit while managing a counter before he took a step. Right now within his mind hundreds of real-life information gushing in like a waterfall.
From an ordinary person point of view, he was trying his best to survive by moving around endlessly. From a strategic view, it was a hit-and-run technique to fight against a horde of monsters at one time. However, a mana-user would be overwhelmed by the display of skills shown by Kim. It wasn't just the movement, but also the way he dispersed his mana while running around fighting.
Whenever he was getting hit he would vanish and left with only an after-image, which comes with a fatal-counter. Even a high-ranking mana-user would rub their eyes times to times again whenever Kim appear out of nowhere to land a fatal blow. Kim is very efficient that there was nothing but efficiency and precision in his movement. He would absorb surrounding mana from nature to replenish his own. Even a veteran need to concentrate to be able to gather mana. But Kim could do it as easy as breathing! He is like a vacuum. He could fight for a whole day without getting exhausted.
Until this moment, he had killed dozens of monsters. Even so, there was no blood stain on his clothes. He was sparkling clean and as if he just went through a car wash after every single fight. If someone with high mana sense, he or she would probably notice that there is an extremely thin layer of mana enveloping his entire body. It is so thin that even a person dedicated several hours to concentrate the person wouldn't be able to detect it.
Its main function, however, is a protective layer. It is basically the same one as the layer protecting him when he was receiving all the mana memory from before. Even though it was not as strong but is strong enough to avoid fatal injury from Alpha Cerberus deadly paw attack!
This chain of amazing feat didn't come from just the heat of the moment! It was actually due to the infinite amount of practice he did. Although in real life, not even a second has passed since he absorbed the entire mana memory, only God knows how long he had spent his entire time training within his mental domain.
However, the feat should end soon. Kim was in no condition to fight more monsters. Even though he could absorb more mana, his body is not up to it. A bucket must be strong enough to sustain a certain amount of water before it breaks. Kim only trained his skills in handling mana. He didn't train his body or absorbed any mana. Even with his tempered body, he is still a greenhorn in mana world. Even he could dodge most of them, he still sustained injuries which feel like stabbing pain around his body.
"Your mana is still not stable. Don't lose focus! Just a bit more ahead is a vast field!"
He nodded and continue to move until he reaches the vast empty field. On the ground, hordes of demonic apes at 2 to 3 meters huge waiting for him to come down. While with him in the air were the dozens of chasing apes. Each and one of them were fierce and carried a mighty force that could blow a boulder with a single strike.
Currently, Kim is surrounded in mid-air, and underneath him are vicious monsters waiting to devour him alive. To onlookers, this would be the end journey for Kim. However, he had a different thought. A smile craved in his face when he saw the situation.
"Now I don't need to waste my time to clear this forest up"
He put both his hands together and produce a lustrous red orb which emitted beautiful radiance that attracted surrounding monsters. The moment Kim produced the red orb, temperatures rose to a shocking degree. The heat continues to grow as more mana was injected into the orb. The orb was as beautiful as a jewel but deadly enough to extinguished any being that touches it.
"Hellfire!"
BOOM! A deafening exploding sound covered the whole area of the forest.
Different from before, his skills are more refined so he could concentrate more power to make his hellfire destructive. It could be said that it is comparable or even more powerful than Alpha Cerberus mighty fireball. In a split second, the whole surrounding area was covered with crimson colour as monsters were burnt to the bone until there were no traces of it left. What was once a thick luscious forest has been reduced to the ground creating a vast plain covered with black ashes. The reason he didn't use just now was that he needs to make sure to kill every monster or it would be fatal for him if there is more monster chasing him after he's run out of mana.
The explosion of hellfire has blasted Kim away above the ground. He manages to grab one of the birds that were flocking nearby which accidentally get burnt as well and took a bite.
"Mmmm, this was cooked nicely. Taste like chicken!"
As he was enjoying his drumstick, the earth started to shake causing a mighty tremor. He looked down and saw the black ashes were sucked into the ground. It went deeper and deeper until it formed a crater as huge as kilometres in radius. Suddenly a huge earthworm at the size of the crater wriggling out from the ground and shot out the pain of misery. It must have suffered from the heat of the flame.
Kim didn't waste any time focusing mana into his fist. He kicks the air and shoots himself downward. While holding a drumstick with his right hand, he gathered surrounding mana and once again he felt like he was once with the whole universe. He had felt this feeling before when he was fighting Alpha Cerberus. It was an extraordinary feeling that could not be explained by any words. He feels like he could see the entire universe and connected with every single existing particle.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sylva who was in his study collapsed from the chair. His heart was thumping as he was breathing heavily. A sudden chill caused him to tremble as his mana perception caught glimpse of unknown power from the direction of the place which was introduced to him as Borneo.
Few weeks have passed since the event that occurs which caused an uproar throughout Earth and its occupiers. Since the realizations of the existence of a dragon, the island of Borneo has become a restricted place to enter without any permission from every representative of each kingdom.
However, none of the Kingdom expects there would be a supreme existence that was above them as if looking at the heaven. Sylva then transmitted his thoughts to Ray,
"Your Highness"
"No need formality, Uncle Sylva. Please speak your words."
"I sensed another powerful mana from Borneo"
"Is it the dragon?"
"No. It's different. But the strength.. could endanger the whole force of a nation."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lights enveloping Kim's body causing him to shine with white brilliance. The earthworm saw Kim and thought that he was the reason why the ground suddenly heated with extreme temperature. It turned aggressive and shoot its long body vertically while opening its huge mouth that could swallow an apartment building. Kim, however, didn't stop from his track and continued to push himself downward. After he finished gathering mana, he punches downward toward the earthworm.
"Fist of the Heaven and Earth!"
The earthworm was not hit yet, but the power from the fist has stopped the earthworm in mid-air and eventually push it back down to the ground. The force continued to trample the earthworm causing green juice to leak out from its body as its helplessly shrieking in misery. As Kim's fist get closer to the ground the crater became bigger and the earth started to split apart and ground beginning to float in mid-air.
Kim fist landed and caused a tremendous explosion that was several times more powerful than the explosion caused by hellfire, crushing the earthworm to bits, making green juice gushing out from its body. Of course, he didn't forget to cover his drumstick with a protective layer to make sure it won't get spoiled. As he landed he continued to munch his meat down while absorbing all the mana of the monsters he killed from the battle making him stronger.
"How can I say, I'm a great Master! Bwahahahahaha!"
Kim just ignored the self-compliment. Throughout his training, he had received an endless scolding and heard so many repeated self-glorified blabbering from the voice. He felt like his ears could turn deaf just by listening to the voice talking. During that time he learns how to block his sense completely ignoring everything within his vicinity. His heart also becoming more immune towards any annoyance which made his demeanour as calm as still lake. Nothing could bother him anymore now.
He jumped out from the crater with a single leap and checked out the surrounding. By this time most of the forest has entirely reduced to ash. Kim is about to recuperate by mediating when suddenly a vast amount of mana could be felt behind him. As if a huge monster as tall as a mountain standing there behind. His heart thumps wildly as he turns his body around. With a sigh of relief he retracts back all his mana, but still, keep the protective layer covering him.
Before he could ask anything, a voice comes to his mind sounding surprised.
"A dungeon?"
"That cave?"
"Yes"
"With monsters?"
"Yes"
"And treasures?"
"..."
"And maze, full of things to explore? Unknown things that would make people wonder? A place full of secrets.... and, and, and....."
By this time, the voice didn't even reply to Kim and just watch Kim getting excited which unconsciously made him grin.