[Flashback - When Sol was thrown into the lake]
Splash!
'My… consciousness…. it's…. fading.'
The sparkling water of the lake wrapped me in its gentle embrace. I was slowly losing strength, and my consciousness was slipping away from my grasp. It was taking my all to fight against lightheadedness.
'That monster… was of… Master rank.'
I had no chance of winning. Master rank was too powerful for me to fight head-on.
'Why did I do something as foolish as entering the battlefield? It would've been safer to fight from the sidelines by repeatedly summoning boars.'
The mana from the lake rushed into me. It was as if a murky curtain was being lifted from my head. I felt a similar sensation whenever I used body strengthening, only this time the feeling was a lot stronger.
'What was… I planning… if Master rank had entered?'
There was something. I had a plan in case an emergency like that was to happen. The answer was on the tip of my tongue. Just a bit more and I would recall it.
As those thoughts ran through my mind, I drowned deeper into the lake. The mana concentration continued to increase and with it increased the cool sensation on my head.
'The crown! It was the Crown!'
A jolt ran through my body. I had forgotten about the crown!
That wasn't all. I recognized the stupid decisions I made throughout the day! The crown's bloodlust had made my mind dull without me catching on!
'The crown's bloodlust was stronger than it was supposed to be. If the mana in the lake didn't suppress it momentarily, I would've never remembered that I could use the crown. Why did this…'
'No, the reasons can come later. I need to defeat the Master rank monster before anything else. And I need Grace Dew for it.'
[Grace Dew] Low Uncommon - 30,000 Coins
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The price was exorbitant, but I had killed enough monsters for that amount.
Ding!
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A transparent vial with black liquid appeared in my hand and I used it on the crown. Although I was inside the lake, the contents of the vial didn't dissolve into the water.
Ding!
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Ding!
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A vortex appeared from the crown and the crown changed from red color to black. Before I realized I was standing on the edge of the lake.
The Master ranked monster attacked.
Its tails tore through the air. They were rapidly heading for me. In response, I simply stepped forward and….
'Activate Crown'
Ding!
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'Duration: 1 second'
Ding!
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[Physique]: 22.9 → [Physique]: 290.9
Swoosh—!
Suddenly, I was standing behind the monster.
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[Flashback ends]
Ding!
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<< 500 Coins Awarded!>>
<< +1 Kill Points! >>
|| +500 Life Points! ||
"Haah! Haah!"
A rainfall of notifications burst in front of me. At the same time, the headless corpse of Adamantium Tailed Baboon fell and my Physique boost ended. The Master rank monster had been killed successfully! And by a 1st Mortal Awakening ascender at that!
Grrr—! Grrr—! Grrr—!
…but this wasn't the time to celebrate.
'46 monsters'
Almost 50 monsters were still alive. They had considerable injuries and only a handful of them were of the 3rd Mortal Awakening. However, I had no energy left to move and fight.
My limbs felt as heavy as rocks. I was unable to move an inch.
'The Kill Points are also emptied. I can't use the crown again.'
Rawr—! Grrr—!
The monsters didn't attack immediately. They were shaking from fear as they saw the headless ascended rank monsters.
There was only one boar left on the battlefield. It wasn't attacking due to its injury that had rendered it immobile.
'What do I do? I can summon 2 boars before emptying my MP, but that won't do much. And it will take a dozen seconds to refill my MP. Can I remain alive until then…?'
A head-on fight would end in my defeat. But there was one way to win. A stupid way.
I took a deep breath.
'Return'
Half of my MP emptied, and the boar was stored inside the summoner card.
My body was rejuvenated for a short while and I could move again. Using the chance, I picked the head of the ascended rank monster and threw it into the horde of monsters.
The monsters flinched and retreated.
Ignoring their threatening growls, I walked towards them. Step by step.
Just as I reached the horde, the monsters retreated. The stench of the 1-star Master Adamantium Tailed Baboon was keeping them at bay.
The 3rd Mortal Awakening rank monsters were slowly coming out of the horde. Saliva dripped from in between their jaws and they growled at me. I didn't falter and continued moving ahead.
I could feel my heart beating wildly against my chest. I was doing something stupid, but this was the only way.
The crowd of monsters continued to retreat whenever I stepped forward.
Law of Jungle.
The Strong rules over the weak. And I killed their leader in a single moment. The monsters were afraid. With my [Reader] attributes I could confidently say, the monsters who didn't fear death were afraid of me at this moment.
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'Haaaah, I got out alive.'
I dipped my body further into the soothing water of the lake. It was to help my body absorb more mana.
'I almost thought that those 3rd Mortal Awakening monsters would pounce on me and kill me.'
A few minutes ago, I walked through the horde of monsters and entered the lake. Thankfully, the smell of blood from the ascended rank monster was enough to steer them away. They didn't have a stronger monster to command them, or my bluff wouldn't have worked.
'If I had faltered even once while walking, they would've attacked.'
When the monsters realized that I wasn't afraid and had no opening (I was acting), they retreated into the forest. In simpler terms, the monsters ran away after their leader died.
'There shouldn't have been a Master rank here though. Was it here by chance, or…?'
'The crown too. I almost died because of it.'
It seemed that the bloodlust of the crown increased with the number of monsters I killed. The mana seeping into my head was a counter to it and it was why the lake's water allowed me to think clearly.
I could only sigh in frustration at the daring – and borderline foolish – method of fighting I had been using under the crown's bloodlust. It was even worse that although I had long realized that using body strengthening, aka mana, was somehow making my head clearer, I couldn't connect it with the crown's bloodlust until I was thrown into the lake.
My fingers slid at the pointy tops of the crown and I looked at my reflection.
'The crown is invisible.'
It was one of the special perks of a bound-type equipment. They can be turned invisible or visible depending on the user's choice. If you lose the bound type equipment, you can also summon them back to yourself.
Hehehe~ The equipment will come to you when you call for it, no matter where you are!
My body slipped deeper into the lake. The lake's rejuvenation effects were miraculous. All of my fatigue had been washed away already.
'I should breakthrough now.'
Ding!
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Three hours later the mana inside me reached satisfactory levels.
The mana stone inside my heart had yet to be condensed to its limits, but there was no need to wait. I can continue condensing the mana heart even after reaching the next rank, after all.
Ding!
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I could sense immense power coursing through my veins. My vision improved and I could see farther than before even in the night. The injuries that had been inflicted on me healed rapidly. My muscles became dense and firm. It was addicting and warm. Almost as if I was born anew. It felt like the shackles binding my mortal self were lifted.
Ding!
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The improvement in my mana flow reinforced my skills! They leveled up easily! I learned a new skill too!
Ding!
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