The Dark Part 07: Connor Vs Vanessa

Ariel, show me my stats. Probably we can take them on directly.

{Notice: It's risky to face them head-on, slowly killing them one by one is safer! Those are your stats!

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Name: Connor Von Eric Hakai Monke . Level: 14

Age: 24 Race: Human.

Social status: The master of the Von Eric family, The master of the Von Eric Hakai Monke family.

Class: Hero, Divine Slayer. Portfolio: Destruction.

Titles: Toxic gamer, Merciless, Another world traveler, Tamer, Partner of the gold dragon Kinryuu, Destroyer.

Health: 940/940

Mana: 1651/1651

Stamina: 833/833

Strength: 24 ,Dexterity: 30 ,Speed: 30 , Magic: 38 ,Luck: 16

Constitution: 32 ,Wisdom: 30 ,Intelligence: 38 ,Charisma: 28 ,Will: 32

Martial art Skills:

[Martial arts: Level 17],[Mace Arts: Level 8], [Throwing: Level 1],[Sword arts: Level 13], [Pain resistance: Level 14],

Evocation Skills:

[Fire Magic: Level 16], [Water Magic: Level 9], [Wind Magic: Level 18], [Earth Magic: Level 23], [Lightning Magic: Level 12], [Light Magic: Level 4], [Dark Magic: Level 5], [Pure Magic: Level 21], [Enchanting Magic: Level 26], [Sound Magic: Level 6], [Magic Control: Level 20].

Restoration Skills:

[Holy Healing Magic: Level 13], [Holy Detoxification Magic: Level 7]

Taming Skills:

[Taming: Level 8], [Shapeshift: Level 9].

Draconic blood Skills:

[Draconic physic: Level 7], [Draconic senses: Level 6], [Draconic stomach: Level 3]

Ariel Skills:

[Ariel: Level 21]= [Appraisal], [Sentient], [Analyse], [Encyclopedia], [Minimap], [Ego].

Hero Skills:

[Patron of the holy maiden: Level 6]

Curses from the god of creation:

[Plot armor: Level 3],

Destroyer Innate skills:

[Destruction: Level 20], [HeAw%=DeLoAw%: Level Unknown].

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See! I have far more superior stats, we can win easily!!!

{Notice: In terms of raw stats that's true but what about skills? Vanessa has [Claws Arts: Level 36]! you don't have any skill of high enough level to be able to stop a single claw strike from her. Dead in one hit is the outcome of you fighting directly, it doesn't matter how much HP you have if your head was cut clean off!}

Wait, what do you mean? I thought having more hp means that you can take more hits right?

{Notice: You seem to have misunderstood something. Having more health doesn't mean you can take more hits, it means you take longer to die. Having a defensive skill is what makes you able to take more hits.

Let's take the situation when someone's head was cut clean off. In the case of a normal person with low HP, he would lose consciousness immediately and die a few minutes later because of the lack of oxygen circulation to the brain, A brain death. In your case, you won't lose your consciousness. Your body can't move since it has been separated from your brain but your head can, you can move your mouth but can't speak since there is no connection between your vocal cords and your lungs. Why is this important you ask? normal people can't cast magic without chanting or hand gestures, you can since you have me do that part! Your HP will start to decrease rapidly until it reaches 0 and you lose consciousness and then die like a normal person.

To save yourself from dying in such a situation you need to reattach your head to your body and heal the wound with magic before your health drops to 0. Of course, if you have a companion they can still save you after you lose consciousness as long as your brain is still alive.}

Wow! I didn't think of it that way! I can see why you want to play it safe.

{Notice: This is the point! don't get cut to pieces, you will die! Vanessa can cut you to pieces with [Claws Arts: Level 36], keep away from her!}

What about the Undead? Why can't you see its stats?

{Notice: I don't have a definitive answer, I tried Appraising him like a normal person and failed, then I tried to appraise him like an object as he is a dead corpse and failed again! Maybe it needs another type of appraisal or the creator of that undead made him hard or immune to appraise!}

The possibility to kill me and the unknown, no wonder you gave them purple and black. They are tricky to deal with!

{Notice: When Vanessa ordered the undead to stop the wall earlier I managed to conclude that the catalyst used to control it is the ring on her finger!}

Then our priority is to separate Vanessa from her ring?

{Notice: That would be hard, cutting her hand off with the first strike is possible though! That will prevent her from issuing orders to the undead, rendering him a standing doll!}

Connor took a glance at the golden ring on Vanessa's left hand engraving the image of his target into his brain. I need to take that no matter what or else I can die pretty easily.

{Notice: We need to decrease the number of assassins as much as we can first. Mei is still following us and has been killing the random monster that she finds, we can count on her as support!}

Then how should we attack?

{Notice: I just finished Analysing [Dark Magic] and how the dark vision that [Draconic senses] provide. There is a difference between night vision and dark vision. Night vision is what animals like cats have, a reflective surface inside the eye that reflects light making it possible to see with minimal light. Dark vision on the other hand works in complete darkness, the eyes emit a small amount of light that gets reflected by the environment making it possible to see!}

I don't understand what you mean but I get that both need some light to work, right?

{Notice: True, and [Dark Magic] erase all light in a certain area. This means that Magical darkness created by [Dark Magic] can block both Dark vision and Night vision! The only way for them to see is to use [Light Magic] with a higher level than your [Dark magic]}

But I can see normally in it, how does that work?

{Notice: You are the caster, so whenever I'm doing calculations for magic in your subconscious I make it so you can still see!}

So thanks to you, I'm not affected by my spells?

{Notice: That's right! Do you remember when you fought the frogs and engulfed yourself in flames using [Fire Magic: Fire burst]? How do you think your clothes survived that? How do you survive that? It was me designing the magic so it won't burn you too!!}

Let's get started then, this time I want to decrease their numbers to at least eight.

Yan(Connor) the serpent woman steadily walking behind Vanessa, right in the middle of the group. Connor's muscles started to tense up as he readied himself, the faint glow in his eyes symbolizing the massive amount of magic circulating inside him.

[Dark Magic: Dark domain]

The wave of darkness spreading from Connor at near light speed robbed the assassins from their sight, throwing them into confusion and distress.

Without any delay, not even letting them realize that they lost their sight. Connor skewered them using [Earth magic: Stone spears].

The spears were still digging into their bodies, even a fraction of a haven't passed yet. Ariel noticed something off, Vanessa who was walking in front of Connor has disappeared.

Even the word duck is taking too long to alert Connor. Stuck in this slow-motion Ariel watched as Vanessa reappeared from behind Connor swinging her claws at his neck.

I can see her, I can react to her movement but I don't have authority over Connor's body to be able to act. Our only chance is to bet on you, I will let you see, so save your master! Go, Mei.

Vanessa's claw swiftly cut Connor's head off, as she was aiming her second attack at Connor's flying head she felt a cold pulse of mana, blood lust, murderous intent directed at her.

"Squeakkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!"

Multiple veins dragged Connor's body away from Vanessa, pressing his head in place in the process.

"What?" Vanessa yelled in surprise, looking around to find the source of that magic. Not much time has passed since Connor has activated the darkness, less than four seconds, and half of her men are already dead.

She noticed other veins popping from underneath her, There's more? [Shadow Magic: Shadow step] Teleporting a few meters away, she distanced herself.

Mei was on her trails, set on killing her, she laid her hands on Connor, she needed to die.

Vanessa was tied with veins the moment she reappeared.

"Death Knight! Kill Yan!!!!!" Vanessa screamed her orders to the death knight, Vanessa has already realized that Yan(Connor) is the hero.

At that moment, when Vanessa was distracted by issuing orders to the death knight. Mei took the chance and bit Vanessa's ring finger off.

The death Knight who was swinging his sword down on Connor stopped in his tracks as Vanessa lost control. Looking toward Mei, Vanessa gasped.

"The hero's pet, it was a monster?"

[Combined Magic: Blast Furnace] The motionless death knight was swallowed by earth as waves of heat started swelling from it.

"This should cremate him nicely!" Connor has already healed his neck, the pain has enraged him to the point that you can see veins popping on his forehead. He has shifted back to his original look.

Ariel, you have a better reaction time than me but can't act unless I give my approval! It's like a game, no matter how good you can aim it means nothing if you can't push the attack button.

I will start swinging blindly and you aim. I will just keep spamming the left click and you aim! Can you do that Ariel?

{Notice: Easy!!!}

Connor activated every skill he has, but not all of them had actually started since Ariel didn't give them direction. Mana violently started to leak from Connor's body, his eyes glowing faint blue he looked directly at Vanessa.

Connor started jumping and swinging his sword randomly, to an outside viewer it may seem funny how Connor was moving someone may even say it looked stupid, but...but for Vanessa...it was terror...this hero is crazy, we should have never crossed him.

[Wind Magic: Air jet] Connor's body got ragdolled toward Vanessa.

[Earth magic: Earth spears] the spears were aimed at all the assassins except Vanessa, those who dodged the first spear got stabbed by a second one. They all fell one after another, They were no match for Ariel's timing.

Connor swung his sword at Vanessa's neck from mid-air. The speed, the angle, everything about that attack was weird! Vanessa wasn't able to predict Connor's movements even with her long years of experience.

In a split second, Vanessa decided to teleport behind Connor to avoid his attack completely. Launching another attempt at his neck. She did so but to her surprise what awaited her was fire, Ariel had cast a fireball behind her before attacking.

Shit! He knew where I would appear! Is it magic detection?

"A...ARiel… Is my body supposed... to move like this? I swear I heard my shoulder pop off!!" Connor was barely speaking, He looked as if he was possessed.

The squad has reported that the hero was possessed by something, is this what I'm facing? That's right his eyes are glowing blue! That was the indicator.

"That's...Good...just don't...break...body!!" Connor was stuttering alongside his wiggling body.

Fear took hold of Vanessa after seeing this monstrosity called the hero.

"Fu*k this shit! I'm out!" Vanessa teleported a few meters away from Connor in an attempt to run away, she was then caught by Mei's Veins.

Easey! Vanessa slashed the veins as if they were nothing. That moment was all that Ariel needed to catch up to her.

[Sword Arts: Swift slash], [Wind Magic: Extended wind blade] Connor's sword boomed as he swung it down on Vanessa. The wind extended the blade's reach, it was a hard hit to avoid. Vanessa was forced to block with her dagger. That was because her left hand is injured, she lost a finger to Mei. Blocking with a single bare hand is risky.

At the moment of impact Ariel used another magic, [Pure Magic: Violent vibration] With a sharp noise, Connor's sword started vibrating at a high speed. The moment Vanessa realized that Connor's sword is digging into her dagger she backed off.

[Shadow magic: Shadow step], [Dagger arts: fast swing] Vanessa delivered two lightning-fast slashes one to Connor's left and the other to the right. She did that by teleporting with shadow steps.

Ariel dodged the first strike as Vanessa had predicted, the second was sure to hit. Vanessa was using [Right dagger of the hunter] planning to run away when the confusion effect took hold of Connor.

The sound of metal hitting solid rock rang through the cave. Multiple-flying discs of stone protected Connor from Vanessa's second strike.

"What is this magic you monster!!!!" Vanessa screamed

The fight after that didn't take more than three minutes, Vanessa kept teleporting around Connor trying to get a hit in with her Claw and dagger skills, in the hope to get some poison into him and then run away.

Ariel, using Connor's body, wasn't able to score a vital hit on Vanessa, she was just that strong. But thanks to her familiarity with magic Ariel was able to be a step ahead all the time with magic to counter Vanessa's attack.

This kept going until the breaking point, Vanessa was the first to run out of mana!

Shit! I can't teleport. Vanessa's magic failed her.

Ariel took the opportunity and with swift yet weird movement [Sword Arts: Twin slash], [Lightning Magic: Paralysing shock], She cut Vanessa's hand off so she won't be able to use her claw skill and lastly knocked her unconscious with lightning magic.

The moment Ariel confirmed that Vanessa is unconscious she tied her up with earth magic before letting Connor handle the rest.

"Ahh! my joints hurt so badly!! I almost stopped you mid-fight. Didn't I tell you that you can't hurt my body?" Connor complained to Ariel.

{Notice: I Didn't pass the limit of your joint, I just pushed your body to its maximum flexibility. Otherwise, we won't be able to dodge Vanessa's fast attack!}

I thought you said That it's impossible to dodge Vanessa Claw's skill with how high her level is?

{Notice: That implies to you, not me!! your reaction and thinking speed are simply too slow to keep up! Were you able to see Vanessa's movement when we were fighting?}

I was able to see her but I wasn't able to know where she will teleport, I could see her attack but I doubt I can react fast enough to block them.

{Notice: That's right, every time you failed to guess where Vanessa was teleporting you should have died there! We need to work on your reaction time or get a skill to help you with that!!}

Now, what should we do with her? She is still alive, right? Connor was at Vanessa lying in front of him.

{Notice: Call Alice, We need her to look for something!}

Ok! I will call her.

"Alice, can you hear me?"

…

-"Yes, Connor-sama! What do you need from me?"-

"It's not me this time, Ariel wants to talk with you!"

{Notice: Alice, I need you to find me some information about enslavement Magic, a guide on how to use it will be most helpful!!}

-"Can I ask why you need that?"-

"An assassin group was following us and we managed to capture their leader alive!"

-"Connor-sama are you alright? you didn't get hurt, did you?"- Alice was clearly worried the moment she heard Connor got into a fight.

{Notice: He is well and kicking! We need her to guide us to Roa but I doubt she will be cooperative!}

-"In that case, I will get a magic guide from our library, just wait for a moment!"- Alice hurried to get what Ariel wanted.

A few minutes and Alice returned with a thick magic guide.

-" I believe this book has a chapter about how to cast enslavement magic. Do I read it for you?"-

{Notice: No need for that, just flip the pages I can then read it directly from your memories!}

-"I shall do that then"-

Alice finishes going through the intended chapter.

{Notice: this seems similar to [Taming magic] but this is designed to work on intelligent creatures by suppressing their ego rather than increasing their ego to allow them to link with the master!}

Taming Magic: Works on animals and no intelligent creature. The theory is that reinforcing the creature's ego and sense of self allows it to link with the caster. This is why tamed animals display personality and intelligence as well as a will to protect the tamer.

Enslavement Magic: Works on intelligent creatures of similar or lower rank than the caster, for example, a human can enslave humanoid (Humans, Elves, dwarves...) and lesser humanoid (Goblins, kobolds...) but can't enslave a dragon! This magic also includes a contact that usually favors the caster. The theory is that suppressing the target ego and sense of self will make them easier to control, that is why slaves are usually submissive and can't stand against their master.

{Notice: we need to make sure she won't attack us again, guide us to Roa without tricking us, learn how her magic works, tell us their full plan and finally get rid of her. Those are the terms that we should include in our contract!}

-"I agree! those terms seem reasonable"- Alice agreed with Ariel.

"Hold the phone! What are you talking about? Those terms are straight up horrid!! and what does she get? death!? I'm not agreeing to this contract!" Connor objected.

-"Connor-sama, those terms are for your safety!"- Alice called him.

{Notice: she is right!}

"No, We killed enough!"

… After about an hour Vanessa woke up in the middle of the dark cave to the firelight.

"You! finally awake?" Connor called to her.

The moment she saw his face she jumped backward reading her claws to engage in a fight.

"Sit down, I healed your injuries but you still need to rest!" Connor told her without moving.

"What is the meaning of this? What do you need from me?" Vanessa asked.

"For the meaning, it means you're still alive, for what I need, it's a guide to Roa!" Connor answered in a monotone voice.

"Why should I listen to you?" Vanessa growled.

"Simple! Look at your shoulder!" Connor said, pointing to her left arm.

Vanessa hurriedly checked her left shoulder, a slave mark was tattooed there.

"Enslavement magic! So you're saying it's over for me?" Vanessa sat down as she realized that she had to obey him, at least for now.

"The contract rules are, you guide me to Roa, show me how the city works and where I can get supplies, guide me to a way to the surface if you know one, without tricking me after that you're free to go and I won't pursue you!" Connor told her.

Vanessa chuckled a bit, as she heard the terms.

"Joking even at this time, are you sure you're right in the head? or did I hurt the mighty hero that badly!" Vanessa didn't believe a word of what Connor said.

"Then check your stats! you should have something for that, right?"

Vanessa took a crystal orb from her shadow to appraise her stats. Connor was intrigued by the shadow pocket as he saw her using it.

The moment she saw her stats, Vanessa's expression changed, she had a dumbfounded face as she turned toward Connor.

"Did anyone told you're stupid?" That's what she said.

"I've been told that I have a monkey brain...so I guess they did!" Connor replied.