CH 22: Danger Zone 2

…

Name: Kaiser Raijin

Level: 15

XP: 152,600 / 300,000

Skill Points: 24

Status:

Health: 100%

Stamina: 73%

Mana: 51%

{Skill Trees}

…

"Nice," I said, admiring my XP gain. "Go ahead and unlock the rest of Fire Proficiency II."

[Yes, sir.]

After the process, I tested my new spells. -Chains of Hell- would be pretty useful in the future. -Flamethrower- was just a stronger version of -Fireball-.

"How much for Fire Proficiency III?"

[15 skill points, master.]

"That's not that bad. Show me the spells."

…

Mana Arts → Fire Mana Arts → Fire Proficiency III

{Fire Proficiency III}

[Able to control fire mana well.]

{ -Hell Hounds- }

[Creates hounds of fire to attack enemies. Power, speed, number, and duration reliant on Mana Capacity and Mana Control.]

{ -Halo of Fire- }

[Creates a fast rotating halo of highly dense fire. Power and speed reliant on Mana Capacity and Mana Control.]

{ -Dynamyte- }

[Creates sticks of highly dense fire mana that detonate after a delay. Power reliant on Mana Capacity.]

{ -Burning Passion- }

[Creates an orb of fire mana that can be used on oneself or allies that temporarily increases Mana Capacity. Amount of capacity gained and duration reliant on Mana Capacity and Mana Control.]

…

"Cool," I said, scrolling through the spells. "These will be useful."

[I must mention that -Mana Capacity- and -Mana Control- should be upgraded to tier three to get the full effect of Fire Proficiency III. Both cost 10 skill points.]

"I assumed that, but thanks for letting me know."

[Of course, master.]

After ascertaining what my future skill points would go toward, I closed the system and began to look for a place to camp out for the night.

Dusk was nearing and the sky began to turn darker by the minute. I didn't mind being out at night, but I needed to be at 100% before fighting again. I didn't want any surprises.

I was also hungry, but I was going to wait until morning to hunt for food.

Eventually, I found a spot next to a pond that would be easy to watch for animals to come to get a drink.

I formed an igloo-looking structure out of rock with my ground mana and piled a bunch of leaves together to make a comfy bed.

When it was pitch dark outside, I could hear the howling and growling of different mana beasts. I closed off my hut except for a hole at the top to let in and out air and laid down on the leaf bed. After shutting my eyes, I drifted off to sleep.

…

The next morning, I caught a couple of squirrels for breakfast. It wasn't the most appetizing meal, but it's better than nothing.

I then began my trek further into the Zone to look for stronger beasts.

An hour after I started, I found multiple tracks that looked like they belonged to a dog creature. I followed the tracks further in the forest, eventually reaching an area that was significantly colder than before.

'Seems like this is the mana beast's territory. With an area of effect like this, they should be pretty strong.'

As I got further into the territory, the temperature kept decreasing. The trees and shrubbery around me had lost their leaves and the ground turned from grass into dirt. The temperature drop didn't bother me because of my endurance.

I reached a point where snow covered everything and the trees were completely dead. The tracks were more pronounced now in the snow. They must have just passed through because they were still fresh.

Snowflakes began to fall from the sky, which was grey above the territory of whatever beasts I was following.

The wind in the area was also picking up, creating a weak blizzard.

I kept following the tracks and eventually found a group of four white wolves that were traveling in a pack. They were quite large, around twice as large as a normal wolf back on Earth.

'I'm getting lucky these days. All the groups I find are conveniently walking back to their territory.'

I remained on high alert the entire time as I followed them from a distance. The wolves had blood around their maws, signifying a successful hunt.

As they led me through the forest, the wolf at the head of the group howled. The noise echoed through the area for many miles.

Soon after, another howl came up ahead.

'Interesting.'

The group walked forward again after they heard the verification. I followed in anticipation, wondering what their pack would have in store.

We came upon a clearing that was blanketed in snow. In the center of the clearing were several mounds of rocks and dead trees piled on top of each other. Hundreds of white wolves came in and out of the mounds. Some were outside in groups and others were inside the makeshift huts sleeping in piles together.

I stayed outside of sight in a tree and observed the camp, looking for any abnormalities.

'It seems like there either isn't a leader or they aren't here at the moment.'

All of the wolves were similar in size to the four I had followed here. There were many smaller ones, but I guessed they were the pups of the pack.

'What's the rank of these?'

[All of the fully grown adult wolves are low-tier C-rank mana beasts. The smaller ones range from low-tier E to high-tier E rank. In conclusion, I would put XP gain from the entire pack at around 2,000,000 to 2,500,000.]

'Wow. I guess I have no choice then.'

After observing for another half-hour, I finally took action. Same with the rat beasts, I built up a massive amount of fire mana and spread it over the entire clearing. Hissing from the snow was heard as the flames melted everything close to it.

Every wolf in the camp looked around in panic, wondering what was attacking them. Then, they heard explosions from outside the dome and a hole appeared at the top of the fiery curtain. A figure clad in flames fell through the hole with two massive balls of flames held above him.

Before he reached the ground, he flung the two fireballs straight down into the middle of the clearing.

*BOOM*

Massive explosions shook the ground as the flames reached the camp. Several wolves were taken out in a single attack, leaving the rest in a frenzy. No one had attacked them before this brazenly, so they were unsure of what to do.

But then, a larger-than-average male wolf howled. The rest of the pack looked at him and understood his words immediately. They began to form ice armor around their coats and prepared to attack.

I reached the ground and looked around me at the rest of the wolves. Most of them were now covered in an armor of ice.

'I guess this is a mana beast's basic defense. I should probably avoid getting swarmed.'

A large amount of fire mana built up in my left hand, paired with a large amount of wind mana in my right hand.

Unlike last time, I cast -Flamethrower- and empowered it with wind. I turned myself and slowly doused the entire area in flames. After making sure I had covered everything, I unleashed the build-up of wind mana in my right hand.

The attack this time was twice as powerful, due to -Flamethrower- being a more powerful spell.

All around me, wolves were burning and rolling on the ground in pain. Their ice armor didn't protect them from my new and improved area of effect spell combination.

Only a small group of wolves had managed to quell the flames around them. Led by a larger wolf, were around 25 snarling beasts. Their eyes were filled with animosity toward me.

The group circled me, cutting off any chance of my escape. The leader entered the encirclement and faced me himself.

'I'm guessing he's a mid-tier C rank.'

The wolf had a scar across his left eye and several missing patches of fur along his neck. He circled me and eyed me, waiting for a chance to attack.

'There wasn't any beast stronger than that one here. That means there is an alpha or there are other packs around here.'

I would've liked the idea of more packs instead of an alpha better. The more XP, the better, and just an alpha wouldn't be that much more than what I've already gained.

Seeing me in thought and ignoring him, the large wolf pounced on me with its paws extended.

I reacted instantly and used -Rocket- to flip upwards. The wolf missed his attack and I used more explosions to build momentum. I created a sharp point of rock at my heel and covered it with my flame armor. I spun downwards and swung my leg on top of the wolf's skull.

*BOOM*

A large crater formed as the wolf's head was split open from the massive attack. The ice around its body split and broke off, signaling the defeat of the strongest wolf.

'That kick is like my signature move at this point. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, I guess.'

The surrounding wolves shivered in fear. The male they looked to as their battle leader was defeated in one attack!

I looked around the group of wolves and another massive amount of fire mana built up in my hands. My armor was gone at this point. I didn't see the need to keep it up if none of them could attack me.

As I was about to unleash my -Chains of Hell- to entrap and kill the wolves, a slight tremor in the ground caught my attention.

*FWOOSH*

I quickly cast the spell and large chains spread out from my hands and shot toward the beasts. Before they could react, the chains wrapped around their bodies and melted through the ice armor surrounding them.

The chains constricted and burnt through their thick pelts and eventually their skin, causing them to die a slow and agonizing death.

But I wasn't focused on them anymore. The tremors in the ground were getting closer with every passing second.

Suddenly, the curtain of flames surrounding the clearing began to freeze over. When the flames were completely overtaken, the entire dome shattered and collapsed.

I turned on my mana vision and scanned the area. A large collection of light blue mana particles caught my attention from the direction deeper into the Zone.

There, I saw a very large wolf with dark grey skin and bright red, glowing eyes. The beast towered almost as tall as the trees. A collection of ice mana was fading around its maw.

'The alpha…'

[Be careful, master. That's a low-tier B-rank mana beast.]

'Yeah. He's got a ton of mana.'

The alpha wolf looked around the area with a piercing gaze, eventually locking onto me with unbridled rage in its eyes.

'Uh oh.'

A massive amount of ice mana collected at the beast's maw and shot toward me with lightning speed.

I quickly dodged to the side with -Rocket- and narrowly avoided becoming a popsicle.

*BOOM*

The attack shook the ground from behind me as it missed its target.

Flaming armor completely covered my body again and I used -Rocket- to keep myself in the air while I observed what the alpha would do next.

Seeing its attack miss, the large beast began to build up mana for another one. Its maw glowed blue before unleashing another beam of ice directly at me.

*FWOOSH*

The beam flew right past me as I dodged to the side again. With my mana vision, I could easily predict and dodge the attacks. I dropped to the ground to save my strength and a large spike of rock formed above my head.

Seeing my attack, the wolf's pelt began to be covered by a crystalline layer of pure ice. I flung the large spike at the creature with immense speed.

*BOOM*

The beast could not dodge it in time and took the brunt of the attack on its shoulder.

The armor around the area of impact split and fractured, but quickly reconstructed itself. Blood poured down the beast's leg after the brutal hit.

'Even when I aimed for a weak spot, it only did minor damage.'

The dark-furred alpha growled in pain and charged toward me. Ice mana built up toward its feet as it swiped its front paws in my direction.

Two large crescents of hardened ice flew from the creature's claws toward me. I quickly cast a shield of rock and blocked the two massive attacks.

*BOOM*

I was flung backward after receiving the blow but used -Rocket- to keep myself on my feet.

Before I could prepare myself, two more ice scythes broke through the dust that was enshrouding the area caused by the previous attack.

Two explosions from my back pushed me out of the way with a jolt, sending me flying to the left. Both crescents flew past me and collided with the ground.

*BOOM*

'I don't have much mana left for a drawn-out fight. I need to finish this soon.'

The wolf darted toward me when it caught sight of my figure through the dust. But, before it could reach me, massive bright orange and yellow chains sprung out from my hands and ensnared the beast.

It howled in pain as the fire chains slowly melted through its armor. I knew the armor would repair itself soon, so I used -Rocket- to propel myself high into the air, causing the wolf to be shaken off balance.

This was what I wanted. I cut the chains from my body with a slight string connecting them to me. The ends that were flung off my hands struck the ground around the alpha in four different places and constricted around the wolf.

As they tightened and bound it, a massive amount of ice mana was building up around its whole body. I took this as a sign to strike and collected all my mana in my body.

I narrowed my eyes in focus and sweat poured from my forehead. Several different spikes of each element formed over my head and above the struggling wolf. I used rapid short bursts of explosions underneath my feet to keep me suspended in the air and directed the arsenal of attacks on top of the giant mana beast.

As my attacks flew downward to meet it, the wolf had finished its preparations and unleashed a massive amount of ice mana.

The two forces met each other and a large shockwave of mana spread through the area, destroying everything in its path.

*BOOM*

I kept control of my spells and pushed as hard as I could, fighting the massive attack of the alpha. Eventually, I felt a slight slip in a part of the wolf's attack and quickly broke through the new hole.

*BOOM*

Nearly every one of my attacks slipped through and pelted the giant beast. It howled in pain as its armor was pierced through and its body was punctured like a needle cushion.

The ice armor surrounding its body cracked and broke, leaving the defenseless, gasping mana beast on its last leg.

I fell from above, next to the beast's head but out of striking distance. The wolf's bright eyes were now slowly fading as it struggled to breathe with blood pooling in its lungs.

"You were very strong. Enough to make me use all my power," I said while I gathered my minuscule mana reserves for a final attack. "I'll put you out of your misery."

A small needle of wind formed above my finger and shot toward the beast's head. When it pierced its skull, the needle expanded and ruptured its brain.

The giant alpha's eyes went blank and its body went completely still as its life faded from this realm.