I have always seen it in battles: the winner gives his opponent a split second to defend or counterattack like they are trading blows.
I wasn't like that. I never gave my opponent a chance.
The moment I hit the demon on the head, causing internal damage, I enveloped my hand in essence, hardening it by condensing the energy.
My essence glowed red, and cracks and blood appeared on my right hand. I ripped through the demon's chest, breaking its rib cage, and pulled out its heart.
Everything happened in seconds. The sudden use of essence to condense it caught the demon off guard.
I held its head with my left hand and crushed it. Blood, bones, and brain matter splashed all over my chest. I pushed its body to the ground.
Then the essence exhaustion hit; all the strength in my knees was gone. I started coughing up blood.
I had used internal destruction about five times.
I had used phase once.
I had used healing essence once.
I had used essence to move.
Just using phase one took a quarter of my energy, and using healing essence once took another quarter. Healing internal damage was harder than healing external wounds.
Most external wounds are just cuts and scrapes, while internal injuries vary. For example, if I broke my hand, it wasn't just the bones that were damaged; the muscles around it and the bone fragments traveling in the bloodstream caused more harm.
The stronger my opponent, the stronger their attributes, meaning it cost me more energy to inflict damage.
But Connor didn't know what the problem was, it was overexertion. He pulled too much essence too quickly, which damaged his blood vessels and heart. But Conor didn't know that.
POV of Jacob
Jacob looked to his left; the old man had already killed two demons. He knew what the old man was going through: overexertion.
He needed at least five minutes to recover. This was why Jacob had been tempering his body on the first floor: to extend his over-exhaustion limit.
He blasted himself away from a fire fist from the demon, landing gracefully at a distance. He tilted his body to avoid a long-range fire attack.
The fire demon advanced on him with quick steps, catching Jacob off guard. It struck Jacob with internal destruction, and Jacob's body dropped lifelessly to the ground.
The demon grinned, ready to finish Conor, but then it felt cold in its chest. Looking down, it saw its heart in a hand.
Jacob pulled his hand out and threw the heart to the ground. He used one of his skills, Flame Twin, a skill that consumed a huge chunk of his mana.
He finished the demon with one of Conor's moves: a simple application of essence to rip out an opponent's heart. But he did it differently; he burst his fist with fire mana to gather momentum.
I lifted my head from the small nap and looked at the message: "5 minutes of rest." I lay on the ground.
I closed my eyes, and before I knew it, five minutes were over.
Three more demons exited the door, and four towers of fire shot up into the air, making it feel even hotter.
Demon, Level 45 - Fire Warrior
Demon, Level 45 - Fire Warrior
Demon, Level 55 - Fire Warrior
I stood up from the ground and looked at the sky. I could smell burnt bodies; they didn't disappear because the floor wasn't over. I smiled and took out my dick to pee.
I wanted to pee; everyone looked at me like I had committed a crime. I hadn't pissed or shit in days, so the moment I got the chance, I took it.
I didn't know what prompted this. I turned my head towards Jacob and said, "Are you gay? Why are you looking at me?"
Dead silence.
Then Jacob burst out laughing, tears starting to appear on his face. I finished what I was doing and said, "I guess you are gay. Anyway, stay close; they are stronger than you."
"I have a few tricks up my sleeve. Do not underestimate me. I have been holding back; my true flames are too hot to be released. If I ever use that flame, run."
I noted his seriousness; it seemed like he wasn't joking. I smiled at how serious he was. "Why didn't you use it when we were facing the boss monster?"
"Why should I use all my trump cards? I'm not stupid. Each of us has four class skills and around three to four other skills, depending on what we bought with skill points. I spent all my skill points on fire manipulation. This skill makes me superior to everyone who can use fire."
I nodded at him. "Just fire manipulation? That seems expensive for just one skill. Twenty points for fire manipulation?" I asked to make sure.
"Yes, fire manipulation isn't just fire manipulation. It's the ability to manipulate all fires. It gives me a stronger core and faster recovery."
"So that's why you were able to control the eternal flame?"
"Bingo."
"Bingo indeed. Well, now I think it's time to use one of your skills because we are screwed."
"Indeed."
"Status," I said, but nothing came. The system was unresponsive. I shouted to Jacob and asked if he could see his status.
"No, I didn't get the time to check."
"So check now. It isn't working!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, frustrated.
"It's not working either," he laughed.
Five minutes into the battle.
Essence surrounded my body. I lifted the Level 45 demon into the air and let it go. Jacob flew up, fire surrounding his hands. The flames propelled him upward.
His fist made contact with the demon's chest, burning right through it. At the end of his attack, blue flames blasted out into the distance.
He landed gently on the ground, smirking at me. I gave him a dap, our eyes locking as we looked at the now-dead Level 45 demon.
The Level 55 demon advanced on us, its eyes meeting ours. It smiled and dashed at us. I blocked its attack but was sent flying. I covered my legs in essence, digging them into the ground to stop.
I cracked the floor as I slid across it, then pushed off, cracking the ground further. I raised my leg and spin-kicked the demon. My leg collided with its hands, creating a shockwave. It took it like a champ, not even flinching.
I glanced at Jacob; he was fighting another demon but was at a disadvantage. Alert, I shifted my head to the left to dodge a jab. I hit the demon with internal destruction in its chest, pain spreading across its face.
It slammed its hand into my face. I staggered backward, wiping blood from my nose. Alert, I dodged another incoming attack.
As I was in mid-air, its fist collided with the ground, cracking it under the pressure. Rocks and pebbles flew everywhere as it blasted itself at me. It was right in front of me.
I phased through a punch. The demon spun right behind me and punched me after my phase. The demon had adapted to my phase. These little shits shouldn't be called fire warriors; they are all liars, not true to their class.
I was sent flying into the ground. With a quick step, I arrived right beside Jacob, grabbed his arm, and threw him at my demon. With my right had, I will my skill death mana.
I elbowed his demon in the face. It staggered backward, and I landed an overpowering essence attack on its chest with my left hand. Bang! I could hear it struggling to catch its breath.
I slammed my fist right in its face, it staggered backwards.
In mid-air, Jacob sent a barrage of fire blasts, which didn't do much damage. His attack was meant to be overpowering.
He charged his hand with mana. An intense wave of mana exploded outward. His hand collided with the demon—or so he thought; it moved out of the way.
Bang!
It was Jacob being blasted into the ground.
I arrived just in time to stop the Level 55 demon from killing Jacob. I glanced at his body, seeing blood leaking from his face.
This demon wasn't like all the other demons.
I walked around it, condensing essence around my body. It started to shape like a human, covering me. The essence became thicker.
I channelled everything into overwhelming internal destruction, which it blocked.
It smiled at me. Immediately, I kicked it. It blocked and spun me in mid-air, then kicked me up into the sky. I didn't know how long I was up there.
It felt like an eternity. I landed on the ground, my body rolling. I pushed myself up, and Jacob appeared beside me out of nowhere.
"Where have you been?" I asked, smiling at his company.
He smiled in return, took his battle stance, and said, "Sorry I'm late, old man. I had to rest. I didn't want to overheat."
Fire surrounded his hands, and black marks started to appear around his fingers and wrists.
I summoned my mana, and black mist began to pour out. I willed my essence to strengthen my bones instead of covering my body.
I kept it inside. I had learned that it was more powerful within my body compared to being outside.
As my right foot dug into the ground, I achieved a speed I had never reached before with quick step.
The monster ducked as I swung my left hand. It landed a hit on my chest with a bang. My body took it, but I could still feel the impact.
A surprised look appeared on its face. My fist came down, ready to dig into its face, but it shifted to the left. My death mana hit it, or so I thought—it phased through it and kicked my feet off the ground.
I was thrown into the air. The demon attempted another move, but nothing happened. Jacob attacked with his blue flames. The demon dodged, it was clearly lethal.
The Great Wall
The human kingdom had a wall—a massive wall that surrounded them built in just 5 months. Reaching a height of 300 meters, it was an enormous structure that humanity once thought was an impossible task. Yet, it was built.
The technology behind the wall was quite simple. With earth manipulation and reinforcement spells, they achieved the impossible. Even the system acknowledged its existence. However, the wall came at a cost. Humanity's primordials spent hundreds of days building it, which led to more humans focusing on building classes, thus neglecting other essential classes.
The wall, a great achievement, became humanity's greatest downfall. It clouded the insiders' thinking. They all believed the wall would protect them from all foes and enemies, but they were wrong.
At the top of the wall stood a man. The raging lightning blocked his face from view as it flashed throughout the sky in a frenzy. Yet, he stood calm amidst everything.
A bolt hit his chest, glowing with a deep red hue. The power spread through his body. He condensed its unruly nature, pushing it into his core. From his core, it cracked the surface, shattering it. But the lightning didn't rampage; he willed it to form a new core made of lightning.
Attributes Earned:
Lightning Core: You have tread a path of no return and shall be rewarded. Create a true lightning core and forsake all other elements. You will never be able to use any other elements. Perks: Increase in the usage of lightning mana.
Aldrin smiled at his achievement. He had accomplished something no one else had done—he had changed his very being.
He looked to his left and saw his sister staring into the distance. He admired her beauty, but beyond that, he knew the pain she had suffered, and he vowed it would not happen again.
She looked around and then at him. She blinked, and blood ran down her eyes. In response, Aldrin handed her a piece of cloth.
"What have you seen, sister?" Aldrin asked in a concerned tone.
"Death. I have seen thousands die. I have seen the wall fall, and I have seen you die in battle. My brother, your death is written in stone," she said sadly.
Aldrin froze in his tracks and walked towards the edge. He stopped and sat down. "So my death is written."
"Is that all, sister?" he asked.
"No, the primordial of death will be the one to take your life."
"Have you seen his face, sister?" Aldrin asked. She shook her head in response. as she sat beside him, and touched his legs.
Aldrin then holds his sister's face, their eyes meet and they kiss. Their greatest sin was incest.