Lucas Maxgrave
In the story, he was a sadistic bastard who...
enjoyed his fights a little too much.
Was this really it? Should I just forfeit at the start of the fight?
Well at least I now had some new knowledge.
While thinking about if I could use mana to enhance my brain or not, I realized I could just ask the system. So, I did, and its answer was,
*Yes, enhancing your thinking speed is possible.*
*New quest has been given to the host regarding this new information.*
Hmm, so it was indeed possible to enhance my brain and there is a quest about that? Lets see.
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Mana is the essence of the universe itself, making countless possibilities regarded as impossible before doable. Discover a new path for yourself to use mana and strengthen your body and soul.
Objective:Understand the origin of mana(partially)
Rewards:+3 Upgrade in Mana Capacity +1 Upgrade in 3 random stats excluding Mana Capacity.
Failure:No punishment for failure.
Notes: The overall stat upgrade was exclusive to the Daily Quest and The Quest rewards may change according to the hosts performance.
I stared at the system, it was basically telling me to become enlightened. How was I supposed to do that when even a SSS class would struggle with that?
Also, although the system said it was possible, it didn't say it was safe and I know what happened when I handled mana wrongly while using my legs. They exploded.
So, although messing around with my mana and brain sounded like a surefire way to become a vegetable if something went wrong, I still decided to try it.
Why? Because I didn't want to die whilst being tortured. At least, not to a man.
***
Sitting in my room, I finally gathered the courage to try it.
Sitting cross legged on the floor of my room, I closed my eyes and focused on the flow of mana within me.
I directed the mana towards my brain, slowly and cautiously.
Although my mind felt a little clearer, there seemed to be no major changes.
So despite hesitating, I decided to increase the volume of the mana flowing towards my brain.
Thoughts began to come faster. I could feel my perception of time changing, as if the world was moving slower while I remained the same speed I had been.
I opened my eyes and waved my hand to test it out and it really was working, my hand was slower than it was supposed to be.
I got excited and tried to stand up, but than came pain.
A sharp ache went towards my head, forcing me to cut off mana flow.
I collapsed onto the floor, clutching my head as the pain subsided.
"Huff- I... I think it can be usable in actual battle. This may help me score higher points against Lucas even if I lose."
I decided to rest for now since doing anything more may endanger me losing my brain.
***
The morning of my match arrived, and my nervousness was worse than ever.
As I entered the arena, the crowd's cheers seemed distant, muffled by my thoughts.
Lucas was already there, with a smug grin across his face.
"I dont know who you are,Douglas Preto. But I hope you're ready to give me a good time."
This man didn't even remember the guy he threw an entire tray at, and it was to my face too dammit.
Although I wanted to curse at him, I didn't respond. There was no point in exchanging words.
I decided to use Overloaded Senses right before the match began.
"Overloaded Senses, Sight, 1 hour." I said in a low voice.
*The user has chosen one of the five senses to strengthen up to three times.*
*The chosen sense is: Sight. Skill is active for 1 hour.*
The AI's voice resounded across the arena.
"Begin!"
Lucas moved first, closing the distance between us in an instant.
He was fast, really fast.
I barely managed to dodge his first attack, a slash from one of his daggers that was shaped like the moon.
I knew I had no time to pull out my bow, so I tried to retaliate with a mana infused fist but he immediately deflected it with ease.
"Come on, is that the best you can do?" He mocked me with an annoying grin.
I gritted my teeth but channeled mana into my legs, trying to create distance between us since I had already touched him and that was my main objective.
"Let the hunt begin" I muttered.
*The marked prey will not be able to dodge any attack(via projectiles) coming from the user for a minute and a half.*
The systems voice resounded within my mind.
I also tried to use Flight for the first time in a real battle with a comically large wooden bat I brought over as a second weapon.
"What the-"
Lucas was flabbergasted with my usage of the affinity but he quickly regained his composure and quickly deflected the arrows
I sent hurling at him.
"Boomerang"
The arrows Lucas deflected started turning back towards him, which caught him off guard and actually pierced him.
"ARGH- HOW DARE YOU, HOW DARE YOUU." He shouted frantically.
I forgot this guy was not only sadistic but egoistic and extremely self centered as well.
But something was weird, with every arrow that pierced him, instead of getting excited it seemed like he started getting...
Angrier?
Wait a minute, does this psycho consider anger a positive emotion so it gets multiplied by my Bow of Eros?
Ignoring his blood curling screams and my thoughts about his anger, I continued shooting arrows at him and used boomerang every 10 seconds, and whenever he came close to me I used Flight to create distance between us.
But this time I wasn't fast enough to use Flight.
"I FINALLY GOT YOU, DOUGLAS." He shouted in excitement but mostly in anger, not realizing he had fallen right into my trap.
I used Boomerang once again and since he hadn't seen the projectiles coming back to me but himself only, he hadn't expected it in his franzied state.
It pierced his shoulders and I immediately tried to use my Flight to escape once again but...
"YOU LEAVE ME NO CHOICE, DOUGLAS PRETO." Lucas said as he held me to prevent my escape, than looked at me in the eyes and he...
Smiled.