8 A Last Ditch Effort

Activating Tunnel and Rust I speed at the two men who in turn charge at me.

As the battle begins I make sure to keep an eye out for the amount of mana I have.

Mana: 8 (12)

Before getting close to me they split directions coming at me from both the right and left.

This causes me to cancel Tunnel and pull out my dagger.

Activating Grip and Bricks I wait for them to approach me.

"Now!" The leader who is to the right of me shouts.

Knowing their abilities from watching them I knew that the man to my left was about to act.

So predicting his attack throw my dagger straight at him.

Before turning to come face to face with the leader.

As he swings his sword down to kill me while I'm defenseless.

I smile as I activate the new ability I just stole.

Dash: For the price of one mana you will instantly skip three steps in any direction of your choice.

Dashing backward four times I not only dodge his attack but arrive at the body of the second man.

I knew that when the leader called out the second man, he would activate dash so I threw my blade straight at him.

Once he activated it he couldn't cancel it and ended up dashing into his death.

Standing over his body I reach down and rip my dagger out of his chest.

'Now it's a fair fight.'

Except it wasn't, the leader who was before me only had two abilities while I have thirteen.

Mana: 4 (12)

Now standing face to face with each other.

My wicked smile transforms into something even more terrifying.

Ready to risk my life just to have fun in this fight, I attempt to contain the excitement I'm feeling.

"You… you're having fun?" He stutters.

"You really are a monster."

Unable to hold back I let out my laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

This causes my still damaged throat to worsen but I didn't care one bit.

'For so long, I had been weak, left to survive with only what the world gave me. But now, now I can take from the world.'

As my hysterical laughter ended the man felt a shiver go down his spine.

Making use of both of his abilities that go hand in hand he readied his sword as he rushed at me.

'Yes! Yes! This is it! This is the fun I wanted!'

*BOOM*

Precision: If you look at your target for ten seconds you will be guaranteed to hit it.

Ignite: Costing ten mana, once you activate this ability the next object you touch in under twenty seconds will explode.

As the dust settled from the explosion I could only see one thing.

Health: 18%

Unable to smile from the third-degree burns that melted my face I was overjoyed.

Looking down I could see the ashes where the leader once stood.

'He tried to kamikaze,' I say to myself giving him props.

Unfortunately for him, his death was nothing more than a waste.

But for me, it made me so much more powerful.

Turning around I limp away to find cover in a building nearby.

The clothes which I wore no longer existed and the skin in my body was practically melting off every step I took.

Not even a blood trail would be left behind just chunks of my skin.

When I finally reach a building, I go up against a wall and slide down it before sitting on the floor.

The pain I felt was hundreds of times worse than anything I'd ever felt before.

Turning my head to look at the wall I was propped up against I could see black burnt flesh sticking to the wall.

Even though my condition was the absolute worst it had ever been, I was having a party in my head.

'Dream,' Is the last thought I manage before passing out.

When I wake up I don't know what time it is let alone what day.

But to my astonishment, I looked at my panel.

[Name: Arthur]

Level: 3 (45%)

Health: 54%

Mana: 0 (12)

Attack: 4

Defense: 2

Speed: 5

Mana: 12

Abilities - Breathless, Rush, Tunnel, Bricks, Stone Cold, All-star, Flashy, Night vision, Dream, Reinforce, Grip, Berserk

TANK: Your defense doubles. {This is a passive ability it will not cost mana to use}

Precision: If you look at your target for ten seconds you will be guaranteed to hit it.

Ignite: Costing ten mana, once you activate this ability the next object you touch in under twenty seconds will explode.

Dash: For the price of one mana you will instantly skip three steps in any direction of your choice.

(You will steal the abilities of every person you kill)

Mission - Slay all those who are forgotten. Your name resides in the shadows. There are no others like you: Kill everyone who still lives on Earth. (Reward: 5 levels, 50 mana, ability to travel through space)

Rank: Zero

'It worked!' I say overjoyed.

When I killed the first man and got the ability TANK I was shocked and wanted to test it out.

I had used up most of my mana by that point so I decided to just risk it and see if I would survive.

It turns out I did and it worked well. But I also learned something else.

The ability Reinforce works on myself!

The definition of the ability said 'Touch someone to give them +1 Defense.'

So I activated it and touch myself and it gave me the point.

So adding the math up. My basic Defense is two then adding Bricks it becomes four along with Reinforce it ends at five. But then I have the passive TANK which doubles it to ten.

That was the only reason I was able to survive the blast from the leader.

Looking at my body I could see that it was much more healed. There were no open wounds and my skin that was previously burnt black was slowly becoming red until it would return to its original color.

See that my health was at 54% I was able to determine that I was out for three days.

At the end of the fight, my health was at 18, and with the ability Dream every 24 hours I heal 12%. So multiplying 12 by 3 days I get to 54.

'By now the camp should be aware that something went wrong with the scavenging groups. Due to them not returning.'

With a snicker, I say, 'Just wait.'

Before activating Dream and getting even more rest.

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