"Alright! We had our breakfast, we did some breathing exercises, and we 'readied ourselves' a bunch of times already. Now, can we get your Captain out of this ice now kid?" I say to Ned who's shaking slightly.
He was super enthusiastic yesterday about getting Cramer out, but this morning, he started having cold feet.
"C-can we go back and get more reinforcements?" he asks.
"No can do," I reply firmly. "We're more than enough to finish the job, Ned. Plus, do you really wanna leave Cramer here alone?"
Following my logic, he starts to become more jittery. He knows that there's no escape from this situation and the thought of having to face the creature again is making him panic.
"Wh-why do I have to be here?" he asks. "I thought you were really strong."
"Kid, I would if I know that I could do it alone," I sigh. "Primordial Energy is something I haven't studied so I don't know its limits. Plus, I'm a Mana user. In terms of destroying things, your Aura is stronger than mine so I'm planning to use that to free them."
Telling him my plan to rely on him seems to have an adverse effect. I swear, once we get this monster out of this ice, I'll beat the shit out of it for traumatizing a kid this bad.
Reaching my wit's end, I kneel I front of Ned to do one final encouraging plea.
"Look, Ned. I need you," I say with firm conviction. "You're the only one I can rely on for this. And I promise that if this doesn't work, I'll carry this ball back to Sheriff Margrave myself so you get to go home and forget about all this."
He locks eyes with me, as if to search any hint of a lie. Finding none, he plucks up the little courage he has and cocks his crossbow.
"Alright, before you pussy out again, let's get this done."
[Telekinesis]
I honestly just got this skill because I wanted to move things with my mind. I didn't think that I would use it THIS much. I experimented with its limits and it turns out that as long as I can see it, I can lift even an entire mountain and toss it like paper.
But for this one, I need the most precise control.
I gingerly lift the icy orb from the murky swamp. After this, I need to really study Primordial Energy. I don't even know if destroying the sphere also destroy the people inside! How strong is it? What are the limits? Aaaaah! The gamer inside of me is so curious about it. I wonder if it's possible to get it from somewhere...
[Divine Mind Activated]
Cramer's weakening. The amount of energy coming off of him is less than it was yesterday. Meanwhile, the creature's Demonic Aura is still going strong. I wish I could see their current condition but the sphere is frosted over to the point that all we could see are silhouettes. It's too bad that I don't get X-ray vision from my [Divine Mind].
"Mr. Cramer..." Ned says, teary eyed.
I guess seeing Cramer again is a little too much for the kid. But he has to focus or else he'll never see him again.
"Focus kid," I snap him back to the task at hand. "Cramer's barely maintaining the sphere so it's easier for us to break it. Follow my lead and we'll get our happy ending."
He nods firmly. Good. For all it's worth, this kid's somewhat trained so he just needs that little push to get the job done.
Alright, time to get the plan started.
Through the way their silhouette's positioned, it's clear that they got frozen in the middle of a fight. The creature's in a middle of lunging at Cramer's neck while Cramer's hands are outstretched. They're too fucking close together! So, in order to get Cramer out without including the creature, we need to be hella precise. That, or we bust both of them out and hope that I recognize the monster immediately so I can beat it. I actually prefer the second option since it's easier but because Ned's here, we need to go for the safest option.
"Alright Ned, inject as much Aura as possible into the arrow and then release it juuust below Cramer's armpit. Can you do that?"
He doesn't answer me. Instead, he narrows his eyes on the target I set with intense focus.
"Zeeeeeh.... Haaaaaaah."
His breathing's stabilized and with every exhale, reddish Aura Energy concentrates in the bolt. And like a seasoned soldier, he kneels to anchor himself for the perfect firing position. Unmoving, he's silently telling me that he's ready whenever I am.
Haha... I see...
This kid's the type to stop thinking when he's given orders. He said he stayed here because he doesn't want the monster to follow him just in case it broke free. However, it seems that the truth is that he's still trying to find a way to follow Cramer's final order: to kill the monster even if it means getting killed in the sphere with it.
I wonder if he noticed this about himself? I need to tell Nick to watch out for this one...
"Alright on one. Three. Two. One!"
On cue, the bolt jets off of the crossbow and nails itself on the target with frightening accuracy.
Bullseye! Good job, kid.
Now, it's my turn.
Copying Adresin's technique of moving arrows, I intend to make this single bolt run through Cramer's outline without losing momentum. But instead of using wind, I'm using ultra precise [Telekinesis] to get the same result.
"Woah! The arrow's moving like a snake in there!" Ned exclaims with childish wonder.
Ned's Aura is doing an amazing job making sure that the arrow goes through the ice smoothly. As he said, it's like a snake effortlessly burrowing through! And because Cramer's gotten weaker, I can take my time putting up barrier magic to maintain the outline before the sphere could regenerate.
The plan's working!
But...
Fuck, this is hard...
Dual casting is something I learned at the tail end of my time in the game and because the system's not here to help me, I have to manually run two spells! It's like writing with both hands on a piece of paper simultaneously and if I lose focus even for one millisecond, we're toast.
"Alright... Almooost there..."
At this moment, nothing else matters. Maybe it's because of the prospect of defeating a new challenge or the fact that my control's gotten better than I thought. Whatever the case may be, I'm currently experiencing new heights of focus that I've never had before. I could hear my heart thump and blood rush through my eardrums. The bolt seems to have slowed down. Ned's saying something but his voice is muffled to me.
I'm in the zone...
[Divine Mind Subskill Unlocked: Flow State]
Flow state? Sounds about right. I feel invincible; as if the world stood still and is waiting for me to finish.
Except for one damn monster...
"Sir Richard, look out!!" Ned yells in desperation as tar-like Energy bursts from the cracks that formed on the sphere.
Without flinching, I erect multiple barriers to protect me.
We were so close!
The sphere has gotten weaker than we thought so the creature's Demonic Aura broke free before we could get Cramer out.
"Ned! Plan B!" I yell as I jam my fingers into the sphere, rip the chunk where Cramer is, and teleport it to Ned's side. "If Cramer's conscious, he should be able to thaw himself out. When he does, you two need to get out of here!"
"But what about you?!" he asks.
Before I could answer, the other half of the sphere bursts and in one moment, the entire area is covered by dense fog.
"Haha... Mimicking voices? Hunting stealthily? Using fog? That black shit's new but I know exactly what you are you piece of shit!"
As if responding to my words, the creature produces the most ear-shattering shriek a vocal chord can reach.
[Divine Mind Activated: Your view of the battlefield is heightened]
I see it. I can tell where it is even through this thick fog. In fact, I can tell where everyone is!
Confident in its stealth, the creature rushes for Ned and Cramer with footsteps as silent as a falling leaf.
"Going for the weak first huh!? Fat chance!" I yell as I intercept it at the speed of a bullet.
This is the monster that almost wiped out Cramer's party. The same monster that instilled fear in a little child's mind. Now, this 10-foot fish-looking thing is desperately trying to get my hand off of its neck as my nails dig into it's slippery throat.
"What's wrong now huh you fucking Murckle?!" I mock as I bring it closer to my face. "Try to talk in one of your voices and I'll fucking rip your throat off."
Its eyes that was once filled with bloodlust is now filled with dread. Oh how I've missed this! All my opponents so far has been people I didn't wanna kill. Now, I can finally let loose knowing that no-one's gonna miss this guy.
Then, as if listening to my thoughts, the system sends me a bunch of notifications.
[Notice: Your Opponent is of Demonic Origin]
[From Your Bloodlust, This Universe Recognizes Your Myth From The Garden]
[With Hushed Whispers of Fear, The Demons Have Continued to Mention Your Name]
[The Universe Declares To The Other Gods: The Dreadlord of The Planes Have Descended!]