Regret never occurs in someone who takes a definite step forward.
Tetsu can make up a million excuses, blaming his age, stupidity, the circumstances, or his pride after outwitting an opponent several times above his level. All of them were valid, but a lie.
A lie to hide the truth. A lie to feel better after the incompetence and negligence he displayed by forgetting 'THE' rule, the very first technique.
Always cover your blind spots. For the scariest enemy is the one closest to you.
The deadliest blow isn't in skill, technique, luck, or aim. But betrayal.
Anyone can heal from a near-death blow. All it takes is the will to stand back up and face death. But who can stand after a blow to their values?
A wound not even the might time can heal. A wound that only fosters with time. A blow that shakes the very foundation of who you are. Making you crumble and forcing you to rebuild as you lose your inner child.
This is but the initial stage of regret. It is regret's weakest attack, yet it can still leave a scar on your soul.
Tetsu had all the tools. The teachings of the wisest people on Earth. Yet he always fell behind the crowd, forced to watch while others conquered what he declared impossible.
'Fight.' A single option presented itself.
No debates, no options to choose from.
Fight, his entire being edged him to move. Self-pity comes later for now...
Fight.
Tetsu forced mana into his head, infusing it with his will to command vital energy.
First, he had to cure the dizziness and acquire more information, so vision came first. To see and react.
Tetsu's vision improves, and he finds RJ and the Dandralith conversing with each other. Or at least that's what his intuition told him.
Next, concentrate on the eardrums and movement.
A pop and Tetsu heard both gargling at each other with RJ well versed with the sounds while the Dandralith had to stress on each sound. Like a foreign student trying to pick up an American accent.
Tetsu distinctly remembered their last fight, if this was indeed the same Dandralith. It was a level lower, which kept it at a disadvantage. Yet it still turned the tables around by its higher intellect.
That still didn't mean it left victorious. The battle nearly depleted its resources, which made it flee, disregarding the level-one human who witnessed the fight.
By a common tracking skill or how the boss imp sensed Tetsu, he was certain it knew about his presence. Tetsu was neither subtle nor understood how to hide his aura back then. It's either pride or a simple calculation that made it leave. A level-one human can't be worth the time or the risk.
'Resource radar.' Tetsu activates the skill and searches for all the resource bubbles.
'Smart.' Tetsu concluded.
He was facing an intellectual opponent. Which meant the level wasn't the scariest part of the Dandralith. Its battle sense and perception are.
Many ethereal needles appeared inside Tetsu's sphere. He knew his territory better than anyone else and they were more than one Dandralith in his territory.
Each needle of RR should be a dark blue with intense amounts of mana inside them. The shade shows off the amount of mana each bubble held.
While he drained none of those bubbles nearby, they should maintain their dark blue tint. Yet only the ones closest to him had that closer while the farther bubbles were depleted.
RJ is lazy. If she wanted, she would've drained the bubbles nearby. With them being accessible to anyone who can consume pure mana.
P.S. Every beast in the vicinity.
The farthest bubbles and those closest to the path Tetsu took to the safe house being drained meant the Dandralith was the culprit.
With the number of bubbles drained. It brought its group along. Five or four Dandralith. Info again helps Tetsu form this theory.
He couldn't see any of them, but he was certain they saw everything. Which meant hiding behind the tree's veil would not be enough.
He had to lure them out one by one using the grasslings as cover. The only way to survive was to pit the grass against the Dandralith team and escape amidst the chaos.
Their strategy was solid. One-on-one, they can bud in to help or wait until the first Dandralith depletes the enemy's pool. They can also keep other creatures away from their hunt, which meant they weren't in a straight line but spread out in a semicircle formation.
An intellectual fight, with them having the element of surprise and the initial attack. Team Tetsu was screwed.
Thanks to RJ, he survived. She's much stronger than them, that's for sure.
This Dandralith seemed a level higher than before. Level six? Intellectual creature level-up slower, it seems. Bad luck for them, as RJ was at level nine the last time he left. By now, she should be at least level ten or higher.
He did leave a lot of meals and an artifact behind. His fifth artifact, just in case of an emergency.
Tetsu notices heavy burns over RJ and then his curled-up hair, the result of being close to a fire.
RJ managed to cover both of them, but the heatwaves were enough to roast the jelly alive and give him first-degree burns.
Many black lines ran across RJ's body. Her defenses got sloppy as she tried to heal and act as their shield.
Tetsu forgot how fragile her real body was and why she had such heavy defenses. He still wanted to rely on those defenses. No, his plan revolved around those defenses to get them out.
A pricking sensation, a stab in his heart. A searing pain made him realize whose fault led them to this point.
She would have had a healthy body if it weren't for his stupidity.
Would burn wounds even heal?
It's not too late. He can still turn this around. There's no way some stupid dandelions are going to get the better of him or his friend.
The level difference was clear, but now he had already figured out their plan, their location.
'No more surprises there, but I have to keep an eye out for their speed or long-range attacks.' He tells himself.
Tetsu uses 'Razor-edge' to sharpen his fingernail and draws a rune 'fixed-point' at where he laid.
'Health is my priority.'
Tetsu marks the four health-bubbles near the safe house. The rest were deeper into the forest, and by extension, it meant no more bubbles he could rely upon.
Forest meant ambush or spooking other creatures. Betting on his bad luck, Tetsu says. "One verse five, Dandralith."
Tetsu marks four health-bubbles. One bubble for him and the other for RJ. The other two will be their backup.
His mana was the only undamaged factor until now, so intended to use it to the fullest extent.
Tetsu draws several 'FP' runes over small rocks and marks the location of four mana-bubbles. He planned on using one for him and him alone, as taking pure mana toward RJ is risky.
Her opponent can recover its lost mana faster than a weakened RJ.
Risk management is necessary. It's better to dispel all the other mana-bubbles. He didn't have a plan for how, but he had to do it nonetheless.
The plan was simple. Recover and run. If they follow, dry out their mana pool by forcing them against the grasslings.
The little dance between RJ and the Dandralith continued. RJ's defenses prove superior to every explosive skill the Dandralith threw.
Why did a clear opponent fight so... stupid?
Tetsu forces his entire strength into his arms, pushing himself to his feet. 'Ah, of course.' He realizes.
Tetsu stood with a hump, unable to muster enough strength in his legs or his back to stand straight.
RJ had no offensive attacks. It's but a glorified punching bag for someone to sharpen their attacks and level up their skills.
Every single bully's dream target.
Tetsu's eardrum pops out, restoring sound. Which he quickly regretted due to the many explosions that now had free passage.
He quickly suppresses his nose, which caught onto the stench that oozed out of his burnt skin.
'Can you smile...' Kile's challenge flashes in Tetsu's mind. '... When death himself knocks at your door. Can you smile?'
Tetsu relives his last moments with Kile. Him proving and scoring a single stupid point over Tetsu as his last victory. He went out with one stupid grin as he stuck it to Tetsu. 'I can… the question here is, can you?'
Tetsu tries to smile, shrugging off his guilt, the many dreams, and his only hope. His eyebrows raised high, faking a huge grin, but his lips couldn't muster the strength to follow its lead.
'Not yet.' He told himself, gritting his teeth.
A half 'Hiss' slips out. The sound timed right between two explosions.
Both RJ and the Dandralith were startled without knowing the cause.
With a single broken tooth, Tetsu's hiss wasn't very effective. In a split second, they tried to find and shrugged off the feeling, switching back to their battle.
Tetsu made a mental note of how stupid he was to remove one tooth. The reduced power/effect only startled them for a split second. He also praised himself, as the reduced effect didn't impede RJ's defense. With no way to focus his hiss on a single target, Tetsu refrained from using the skill.
In a way, it's a good thing they ignored Tetsu. He wished even the other prying eyes ignored him and concentrated on that flashy fight.
Keeping his cards close to his chest was better when fighting a clever opponent. Surprise is the only tool that can ensure their safety.
Within ten minutes, Tetsu was attacked, saved, and semi-recovered from the many explosions.
The first death blow didn't kill Tetsu, but after RJ threw him away to safety and continued the battle. The many explosions that followed did a pretty big number on his health pool.
RJ had to switch tactics and stand in front of Tetsu to block the residue.
Even now she took small steps, driving the Dandralith away from Tetsu, hoping the aftermath of the explosion didn't reach him.
She was smart in her own way.
'How is the heat not affecting her? Mana! Of course.' Tetsu argued with himself. 'I should've coated my body with mana. How dumb... not the time. Let's do both at once.'
Tetsu could shoot mana out of his hands. Which he named 'mana blast.'
This technique will drain him fast, but it should be able to counteract the heat waves generated by a mana-based explosion.
Mana stopping mana. Of course, this mana has a lot of concentrated heat mana. So, Tetsu would have to guess and use even more pure mana to counteract the effect.
Sense the heat and push out more mana, based on what amount of heatwaves he encounters. Simple. He didn't need math.
Tetsu tried and failed to maintain the mana around his body or guide them toward a target. A system skill helped him increase the range, but it's for a single technique in his arsenal.
He still was a toddler in both vital and mana control. No, not a toddler, but an unborn infant.
'Sorry for the wait.' Tetsu imagines telling his current and invisible opponents with his mouth still being too scared to move.
Tetsu exerts a small wave of mana, flooding the surroundings with his unique mana signature.
Under a grand explosion, no one notices a small drop of rain and that's good. It's all Tetsu can muster, and that's all he requires.
Runes activate over several pebbles around Tetsu. A semi-condition of 'Pluck' was applied over every single pebble with Tetsu acting as the 'Fixed point.'
The pebbles blasted off in different directions.
One miss, the second hits, and the third misses.
'No problem, I got more.' With a flick of his eye, Tetsu activates more pebbles.
The fourth pebble connects with a mana-bubble and Tetsu activates 'command touch' to draw the resource closer.
The fifth and sixth pebbles hit two health-bubbles, while Tetsu concentrates on activating the skill, he misses two other pebbles approaching the backup health-bubbles.
A small misstep and now all four health-bubbles were approaching him.
In a rush, Tetsu deactivates two of them, losing two 'RR' needles from his sphere.
'Shit! Lost two health resources. Can't be helped.' He grunts and moves on to the next step.
Tetsu focuses on the skill and then on his fingers. He rotates them in small circular motions, the only range of motion his body permits.
A wish, or his will, commanding the skill. Tetsu didn't know and wouldn't know as the saint hid away yet another secret of his progress.
A tornado of mana and vital energy engulfs Tetsu, replenishing his resources faster than any potion.
[Ding! Skill upgrade: 'Command touch' to 'Mimic On.' Level: Initiate. Rarity: Legendary.]
Now a smile climbs onto Tetsu's face and why wouldn't it? A key component in his plan just got upgraded.
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