( [=/=] = Point of View change)
That's right, the thrill of nearly getting hit by an attack that could kill me in one shot, I could move so fast my surroundings are almost blurred and fire surges out of my attacks, I need to unlock more spells. I mean surely if she's so advanced than maybe there's even more contestants like her.
I can't fall behind.
You may hate me for what I'm about to do but I can't lose.
I stood up, only a few seconds had passed since I was knocked to the ground by that gauntlet. She can clearly catch my movements and shield herself faster than I can attack.
I need hotter flames and I can't use the daggers because they won't pierce through her armor.
I need flames that can burn through her iron armor.
If the grimoire doesn't have such a spell, then I'll create one. If the application of enhancement magic is to build up mana from the inside of my arm then maybe I can mix it.
I cover the skin of my arms with mana and compress it from my fingertips to my elbows. I compress it densely. Leaving no space between my magicules.
Mana output = Fire temperature.
Mana output is the amount of mana that can be produced and released from my core before I run out. Mana input is the amount of mana I can absorb however it's hard to do it at the same time.
Think of it as trying to breathe in and out at the same time. However the former isn't impossible.
For us contestants, we have a near infinite pool of mana- near infinite because there is a cap, I haven't reached that cap yet, even when I almost died, I was to cast spells easily.
So for us to run out of mana is hard, with that in mind. I can charge the output.
However the same could be said for her, her output may be high which is why my flames couldn't get past her armor.
I'll raise it for now, I'll raise it continuously.
I've been dodging their attacks while thinking but it doesn't seem like their attacks are aiming at me…. No, she hasn't been attacking at all.
Only the blindfolded man, it seems-
Six large metal saws wheels with jagged, spikes points suddenly swept through the trees, cutting them down effortlessly. They were aiming for Kayden, this entire time. I can't tell which tree he was hiding on but there's no use in waiting to find out.
Because the saw wheels changed pace and turned around, aiming towards me. I ran, leading them towards the blindfolded man.
The blindfolded man, once again tried to obstruct my movements but his spells weren't fast enough to catch up to me. The moment I was just a few feet away from him, I grabbed his shirt and pulled him around to face his body to the saw wheels. It would seem to be using him as a shield but I'm gambling on the fact that she won't kill him to get to me.
I was right, I watched the saw wheels disintegrate inches before it hit his body. I felt the man's body trembling from the fear of the saw's, I wonder how he's able to see.
I just let him go, there isn't much I need to do about him now. I immediately charged right towards the woman, it didn't take long. It seems the fact that she almost hit her party member left her shaken up.
But she snapped out of it as I attacked her this time without any weapons, she instantly formed thick iron armor around her body. My punch landed on her chest the moment the iron armor built up, I felt my fist put an indent into the armor.
It pushed her to the ground.
I immediately turned the output higher and I tried to strike her body again but pikes flew out of the armor, I was barely able to dodge as the pike scraped my head. However my hands were pierced, the pikes shot through my hands and pierced my
shoulders.
I raised my output as my blood dripped down the pile of the pikes, all the pikes disintegrated except the ones that pierced me. Suddenly a thick pike started forming at the belly area of the iron, then less than a second later it shot out from the iron armor. It went right through my stomach.
The feeling of my insides freezing and pain encroaching upon my body.
I vomited blood, it felt as if my insides were spilling but no.
As I looked down, my intestines were draping down the thick pike.
I'm losing strength, as if it's being sucked by a vacuum.
She deactivated the spell, and I aggressively fell onto the woman's iron armor.
The armor disintegrated and crawled away from me, well she tried to. My body stubbornly stuck to her.
She is desperately trying to crawl away. My vision is getting blurry, the sky is getting dark.
But no.
I can't stop.
Not here, I can't.
I'm pouring all of my mana into my arms.
I can't feel my arms, but I can feel my mana.
Come on, I can do it.
I know I can.
"I can't believe it. How did this happen?" My mother's voice shakes as her head falls in her hands.
What the hell. How am I here, this is when the insurance company started refusing to pay for my brother's treatment.
"Mom, I'll work to pay for his treatment. Don't worry, I won't let him die. " We only just returned from the hospital, it was nighttime.
"Oh honey… Please don't stress yourself. I can work to pay his bills. Have fun with yourself, your friends." She tried to convince me it was alright and she could handle it.
But I can't allow her to carry such a weight by herself.
"No, I can do both. I'll prioritize his bills, I don't have an issue with that." It's as if I'm watching myself.
I have no control of what I'm saying, this is all a memory.
Did I die? I must've, this must be what they mean by my life flashing before my eyes.
[=/=]
This man, how the hell is he still alive? His mana is fluctuating and the flames on his arms extinguished but I can still tell that there's mana there.
"Shit, there's so much blood. G-Get off of me, f-fuck." My body is trembling, his eyes are open but he's dead.
I killed a human, for the first time. I've been killing monsters with my Creation Magic but now I've killed a human with it. Two of them.
I nearly killed my own friend with it, how could I have done some like this. Am I losing myself?
I can't take my eyes off of this man's corpse, lifeless and unresponsive.
*Shrbbng* Suddenly the fallen trees started merging into each other, the trunks forming into legs, next an abdomen to connect it, then a body was formed which led up to the neck then forming a head. The leaves of her shaped into hair, the grass on the floor started shifting onto the body acting as skin.
It was a giant about 3 meters taller than the trees, the eyes were green glowing dots.
Meryl fell to his ass, I assume he saw the giant's mana circulating through its body. He started crawling backwards towards me, I could see his trembling from here.
Sjilo is also trembling, his eyes are fixated on the giant but he can't move, he is still trapped in the tree.
However the giant wasn't looking at us, it didn't seem notice us, nor was it moving. It was looking down at the man who was in the tree, so I hurried to Sjilo to break him before the thing could notice us.
"What are you doing? Run! Don't you understand, that's Nature's Colossal Guardian! With the damage we've done to the woods. You need to leave. Now-" The loud crunching sound was heard.
The giant was cupping its hands to pick the man up. Suddenly a green light was shining brightly from the giant's hands.
Once the light died down and disappeared, the man stood up looking over the Guardian's hands. I quickly activated one of my spells to cut through the tree and free Sjilo.
I glanced back at the man and there was a green glow shining on his neck. He must be another contestant from the other one's team. He had the look of distraught or is it anger, maybe it's sadness from seeing his teammate laying down with a hole in his body.
"You killed him!" Sjilo was in disbelief as he noticed the corpse.
"There's no time, we need to go. Now." Meryl tried running through the trees but before he could make the trees shifted together to form a wall preventing us from passing.
"AIRON!" The man cried out as he was suddenly on the ground, checking on his dead teammate.
But when did he get down here? The Guardian's hands were stretching towards the corpse, wrapping around the corpse's body.
It pulled the corpse onto its hands before a green light suddenly started to shine. If it's what I think then why would it do that to a corpse.
The man was looking at us, glaring angrily. His grimoire was floating beside him and his lips were moving but I couldn't hear him.
"Watch out!" Sjilo called out as he pushed me out of the way.
A thorn as thick as a man's arm, shot through his chest. It rose from the bushes but since when did bushes grow here?
Branches rose up swiftly from the ground before I had a chance to adjust, I tried to cut through the branches with a saw I instantly created but before I could even activate the spell, small thorns grew from the branches and punctured my skin.
I can't describe the feeling but the thorns started growing into my veins, as if a parasite was digging into my skin.
"Åsa-" Meryl's voice was abruptly cut as his legs were caught by a branch which began to wrap around his entire body.
Blood started flying in front of me but I didn't understand why until I looked down.
I couldn't even scream from the sight, there's an abhorrent feeling welling up in my body as I watched flowers sprouted from my arms.
No, they were forcefully bursting from the inside of my veins.