In a short span of time, Terran had performed the action of tearing down his metaphorical dam 11 times. What happens when a dam breaks? The answer is a given: the water in the lake flows out. However, in this case, the water was mana, and Terran was feeling drained. He was nearing a state he hadn't foreseen; his blessing had never failed him even when there was an absence of mana. So why was he losing energy now?
His brain scoured over all his memories as he searched for a way to make sense of his situation. It did not take long for a theory to form. He had noticed it before, but his short attention span moved on too quickly. He had been focused on the introduction of ability points into his system.
The description of the skill under his friend Jonnie's blessing: Inconel Claws (Active.) Transforms user's fingers into blade-like claws. Costs 10 points of mana to activate and consumes 1 point of mana per minute while in use.
This description included something that Gaia's blessing did not: it consumed mana. Did this mean his healing did not use the mana in his body? But then, where did it come from? A simple possibility was that it came from the atmosphere, yet this was also not possible. The wasteland had no mana, yet that never stopped it from working.
Terran decided to pocket this mystery for another day as the answer would not affect his current situation. What was important was that he could not be so frugal with his future blessings, nor should he carelessly let mana leave his body.
While the runic sword had proved powerful with such an influx of mana. It was clear it was not meant to support such an overbearing flow. This was because the blessed on the battlefield could cut through monsters without much trouble. If they could achieve such an effect without throwing away all their mana, why couldn't he?
Looking down, Terran could see a broken shaft with half a handle which was all that remained of the mighty sword. "No matter how much mana I have left, I still need a new weapon."
With this in mind, Terran dropped the handle and started a leisurely stroll through the chaos. Beasts occasionally attacked him but quickly moved on after crushing him like an ant. Not all the beasts were hungry like the orc and wolves. After all, a beast with any sense of intelligence would know that this was no place to have a meal. Ignoring food, what other reason would they have to keep fighting an enemy that was already dead? It was not the most glamorous title, but at the moment, nothing was more accurate, Terran was the cockroach of the battlefield.
Not all the blessed were lucky enough to be S and A-ranked. In fact, some of the weaker blessed, like the previous owner of the sword, had already perished. So Terran did not have to walk very far to find a new weapon.
"Oooo, these are more my style!" In front of him was a pair of sickle-like blades.
Terran did not even bother giving his thanks to the dead blessed as he robbed him from his grave. However, this was not because of his inconsiderate nature, but instead, because he had become distracted.
One of the two sickles gave off a faint glow in his hands. It was not as bright as the runes on all the other weapons, yet they were glowing all the same. More importantly, he had not released the flood gates, and his mana was not being drained from him at an unrestrained rate.
Seeing the glowing sickle, Terran immediately pushed more mana into the hand holding it. The pressure built, but he was careful not to let it overflow. Amazingly, the glow of the runes increased. Happy with such a shocking change, Terran then directed the mana in his body towards his other arm.
Unfortunately, no glow appeared on the second sickle. Nevertheless, Terran could feel the flood gate about to burst, so he directed his focus back into the hand with the glowing sickle.
When you lift weights, you create tiny tears in your muscle fibers. Your body then naturally repairs them while adapting to better handle stimuli and consequently becomes stronger.
In the past few minutes, Terran had gone through a similar process. He had torn down his dam so many times that it had caused a little outlet to form. But, of course, this outlet was only in one of his hands. Hence, he could only wield one sickle without losing another absurd amount of mana. At least, this was the conclusion that Terran reached.
Terran chose to drop the second sickle because he did not believe it was worth letting the rest of his mana leave through his other hand. Although he was a fan of using dual weapons, it was not worth it when only one would be effective. On top of that, they were unevenly weighted. After being empowered by his mana, the glowing one had become as light as a feather.
Terran looked for another pack of wolves with a new stable weapon in hand. They were one of the weakest creatures on the battlefield, and Terran wanted to compare the strength of his sickle to his unstable sword. It did not take long as they were also one of the most numerous monsters.
Blood spilled with one swing; the sickle cut through the wolf as easily as a knife through warm butter.
[31/100]
A devilish smile appeared on Terran's face at the sight of his kill count increasing. No cracks appeared in his weapon, and barely any mana left his body. On the other hand, the time it took for him to kill the wolf had not increased in the slightest. The improvement was colossal.
Time faded into itself, and Terran lost himself in a trance of combat. Blood was everywhere, and the fighting had not slowed down in the slightest. Even though a few humans had fallen, the numbers were insufficient to determine an outcome. Meanwhile, endless beasts continued to swarm out of the golden portals without showing any sign of stopping.
The reality was disappointing. Despite Terran's rapid improvement, his contribution continued to be meaningless. There were simply too many beasts for him to make an impact.
It was not until something caught his eye that Terran froze. In his moment of contemplation, a wolf bit off his left arm. This was the moment he had been using to take their lives, but he hesitated. This was because the number in his retina was currently sitting at [99/100].
"Wait, will the trial end if I kill one more beast?"
He had never imagined the number of lives he had to take would be filled so quickly. He thought this milestone would be a happy occasion, but instead, he felt anxious.
"This trial has left me with more questions than it has answered. If this truly is the past, like I believe it to be, then wouldn't it be a waste to leave so quickly?"
Coming to this realization, Terran only saw one path forward. Hayley had said if he called her name loud enough, she would come help. Of course, she had meant to help save his life, but Terran did not care. He saw no better candidate to question, and so, with all his vocal cords, he shouted her name.
Surprisingly, it only took an instant for a hand to be placed on his back. His vision distorted as he disappeared from the grip of the wolf's maws and appeared in a forest a few thousand meters away. The gruesome sounds of fighting could still be heard clearly despite the distance.
The truth was that Hayley had never stopped keeping an eye on him. Only a handful of humans knew that he had been pulled out of the hands of Gabriel. As Hayley had played the most prominent role in this, she was naturally the most curious. How could she let Terran escape her so quickly?
Hayley was about to ask if Terran had enough mana to regrow his arm, but a new one regrew before her words could even leave her mouth.
"What's wrong? Are you running low on mana?" She had seen him regrow parts of his body so many times that she was starting to wonder if he was immortal. Still, the logical side of her told her he had to be running low.
Terran, was in fact, low on mana, but not for the reason that she believed. When Terran's first sword shattered, she had been confused, but after he picked up the sickle, she had assumed that the problem had laid in the weapon. If Terran had told her what actually happened, she would have called him a liar. Luckily, this subject did not come up.
"I—." Terran paused for a second. He had not had the chance to think about what he wanted to ask.
"What year is it?"
The question caught Hayley by surprise. As for why Terran asked, he wanted to establish a timeline.
After a second, Hayley responded. "The year is 25 A.D."
Terran had learned from the history books that A.D. stood for 'After Descend.' A new era had begun the day the angels had first descended from the skies.
"So, this event took place 84 years ago." Terran thought to himself, the current date being 109 A.D.