Decisive strike

"There is no way that I will let you act as a bait! Forget the punishment from sect master, I would never be able to live as someone who abandoned her saviour!"

As soon as my official plan got voiced, Eve immediately protested. Maybe it was her morality speaking, maybe this prolonged hunt managed to create some kind of bond between us. It matters not for now. I placed all the thoughts about a calm and peaceful life to the back of my head. If we won't solve our current predicament, there won't be any future for neither of us.

"It's not about you now! You fulfilled your duty as a guide already! There is no point in throwing your life away only to be a bother to me! GET LOST NOW!"

If I don't shake her to the core, all those fleeting feelings of sympathy or familiarity that she harbours towards me might prevent her from running away. If she stays here, this monster is sure to notice her aura. While she could cripple her own cultivation to get rid of it, I don't think this is a reasonable thing to ask.

'Bonger, I hope you have something suitable for this situation in the store'

Pushing the girl away with my left hand, I summon my windslord with my right one as I jump into a run towards the edge of the forest. If I stay even for one moment longer, my presence might prevent Eve from running away!

Since we didn't run away far from the treeline in the first place, reaching the open plains took me only a few moments. The same moment that I left the cover of the trees I spotted a massive figure covering a huge chunk of the sky. Maybe because I was just a speck of dust for it, this monster didn't instantly turn its eyes my way.

'Bonger, if those attribute points can be used to evolve my skills or even the raw strengths, can they be used up for a single-use attack?'

"Blop!"

"Attribute points can be used to overburn the existing abilities, paths or any other system tool. In terms of overburned ability strength, it reaches this world middle level of the spirit realm. Using the overburn disables effects of the ability for the entire day while lowering it to the base level of its grade."

Cool. That means I was right about it. No matter how insane this system is, it needs to align with the laws of the world that I'm in. While the source of its capabilities is still just a pure guess from me, at least I can take the attribute points as some kind of super-efficient energy that can be used to either develop myself, the system or just used up as a nuclear fuel!

Knowing that I have some ace in the back pocket, I can move a lot more freely. That thought instantly turns around to bite me when the monstrous penguin finally notices me. Turning around in the midair, it points its sword at me!

BOOM!

Noticing this movement, I wasn't as dumb to stay frozen in place. As soon as I can see a slight glimmering on the penguin's sword, I simply dash to the side. What I didn't expect though is that the column of fire followed me in my tracks! With my window to escape diminishing, I scream to the system:

'OVERBURN THE RUNNING ABILITY!'

In an instant, I feel like the world around me suddenly slowed down. Prompting myself upward, I take a look at the blazing inferno closing on me. Percieving the world a lot slower than normal, I can see the line of grass swelling, before suddenly withering down and igniting. With my very limited understanding of physic, I can only understand that the blades of the grass were affected by some kind of insanely strong source of energy. Connecting it with the act of pointing its weapon in my direction, this monster's sword surely has some nice quirks to it!

Recalling a status window in the corner of my eye, I can see my attribute points slowly ticking down. Comparing the speed of the penguin attack from before and right now, the cost of the overburn is about a single point per second. If I want my plan to succeed, I can't waste it on staring at the burning grass!

Jumping into a run, I can feel the entire world escaping from under my legs. Pushing myself from the ground just once properly me upwards! It feels like gravity doesn't work on me anymore! Well, that's the feeling I have for a short moment of ascending, before the ultimate law of every world starts pulling me back to the earth!

Falling unsteadily on my feet, I propel myself forward while locking my sight on the enemy high in the sky. If I want to execute the move that I figured out earlier, I need to get as close to is as I can!

With the overburn ticking my points down, the distance between me and this ridiculous monster shortens. With every jump forward, my speed raises and the entire world around me slow down. If my running skill applies to upgrade the speed at which I can move, the spirit level of this ability actually can also adjust my perception of the world to match my soul capabilities! If those are the effects one can use without even paying attention when reaching the middle level of the spirit realm, I won't forgive myself if I won't strive to reach it in the near future!

When the distance between me and the penguin shadow is near zero, I gather all my strength, bend my knees right before falling on the ground and straighten my entire body upon feeling the earth embracing my heels!

With the insane speed attained during my speeding process, I burst high into the air, right in the direction of the penguin belly!

With a quick glance at the status window, I can see that almost twenty points already went to waste! That's two levels worth of income! But this fight is not over yet!

'Bonger, overburn my blacksmith ability and executioner path!'