"A mutant… how rare." I said as I drank one of my spare potions. "Seems like I can't brute force this like I've always done." I said lifting my right hand up. "Stand back dwarf." "You didn't go crazy have you?" Thurium asks, wondering what am I doing as he backs off from the rats. "Crazy? I was at one point in my life." I said, closing my eyes. Darkness covers my eyes, and I can feel it once again: Mana. If one were to tell another you don't need mana to be diamond rank, even giants would laugh. With one of my senses temporarily gone, I can feel the mana so much more clearer. Mana is something that transcends the physical world, and nearly all creatures are capable of using it to some extent. Sensing only a few strings of mana around me, I imagined myself taking them. Even though my arms are frozen in the physical world, I can feel them moving in the spiritual one, grabbing all the strings of mana. As soon as I "grab" them, I can feel the string resisting against my pull slightly before giving up. A cold sensation then overflows through my body, like a chill during winter. "Ah yes mana! I was wondering if you were actually diamond ranked or not!" Thurium said with excitement, putting away his pistols as if the battle was won. Feeling this once familiar feeling, I pull out my left arm now, both arms pointing towards the rats. The green gremlin has recovered enough and dashed at Thurium, who's now completely relaxed. "Greeee!" I heard it shout, sensing its fingers closer and closer towards the dwarf's heart, but not close enough. "Geee?" It said, its body now no longer under its control, alongside gravity no longer applying. Opening my eyes again, I turn to the dwarf. "Stab out his heart, he might also be-" A loud bam soon filled both of our ears, but this time it wasn't from my armor. "Kaaaa!" The rat screams in pain, two of its arms broken from the impact. "Maybe you should have reinforced the armor from the start." Thurium said as he ends the green gremlin's life with a stab to its heart, no longer concerned. But it was hard for me to muster a word, as I slowly walked to the now scared creature. The impact from the armor broke both of its right arm and the mutated arm, both bending in odd directions. "Keee…" It said, trying to endure the pain while standing up. As it struggles to pull out the sword from its waist, I just stood there, waiting, enjoying its fear. "Just a few minutes ago you were acting so cocky…" It pulls out the sword, a fine straight sword. "Keee!" It screams once more, charging at me without fear. "Friend, are you done? Playing with monsters is extremely dangerous." The dwarf states as he stood there, bags on his back and hands. I can see the fear in the rat's eyes, and I too got bored. Throwing a punch amplified by mana, I now can feel the shape and curves of its manastone, shining with life. The rat, sensing its inevitable death, struggles some more, before throwing its sword to the ground next to Thurium. Seeing that it's ready to face death, I pull out the manastone from the rest of its organs, blood and guts spreading across the floor. But even with it dead, a small feeling tells me that it died with a face similar to a human grin. "Now let's get to work." I said as I looked upon the small pile of corpses lying on the rocky floors.
But before that happened, click. My heighted instincts instantly made me latched upon the walls as the ground below crumpled below. But I forgot that not all adventurers have heightened senses, and especially not from dense creatures like dwarfs. "Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Thurium's voice echoes as gravity drags him deeper and deeper down the hole. As someone who never experienced empathy it would have been easy for me to just let him die, but my pride refuses to owe a debt to anyone, and especially not from the deceased. "Giai damn it…" I mumbled under my breath as I jumped down the hole. The dwarf is just flailing around, like a bird who forgot how to fly. Looking down, even without my perfect vision I can tell this hole leads extremely further down, perhaps to even adamantite ore levels of deep. The hole seems to get bigger and bigger the deeper we go, so I gotta make this do this quick.
Using my remaining mana, I reinforce my armor to their limits, hardening them as much as possible. Using the solid rocky wall, I push my body towards the dwarf, slowly but steady catching up to him. "AHHHHHHH!" His voice fills my ears, so loud I could've sworn I felt blood down my neck. "Stop panicking! I know you can possess at least a bit of mana! Concentrate your mind and grab the string! But the damn dwarf just wouldn't listen, too much fear rampaging inside him. "Stop panicking!" I said now annoyed, punching his forehead, one of his many pearly teeth falling out as a result. While it is rather violent, it did the job of bringing him back to his senses. "Wake up! Grab the mana strings and convert it onto our bodies!" I can see that we're only at most 40 meters from the floor, yet this dwarf can't do shit… Using the last few seconds, I grab the dwarf's arm and slam him on top of my chest, planning to use my body to nullify the incoming damage. Just as I use the last thin string of mana to reinforce both his and my armor, I feel heat engulf my back, I can sense fire, but even without my mithril armor or mana reinforcement, the heat felt safe… like a feeling when human babies first saw the color of fire… "Am I dead?!" My mind wondered, but that thought died the second I was formed. Opening my eyes, I see a red-orange flame engulfing both me and the dwarf, a rather warm feeling. "Is this spirit magic?" I ask, my voice a little surprised. "Indeed it is friend." Thurium said as he hops off of me and scrubs the dirt off his armor. "I was lucky there was a wandering fire spirit this deep underground." "Now let's- Aughhh!" It's the same feeling again, like a needle pressured against my head, the concentrated pain feeling worse than before. Even as a goblin I had my fair share of pain, yet I can never endure this pain. "Telonio!" The dwarf yells as my vision blurs, and the world turns upside down.