Ch18. The fall

I thought I earned Quintus's respect when I first made him bleed, but I guess he must have a short memory span, or he was too hot-headed to remember that.

But his words made me remember one thing.

Something that I most definitely didn't want to remember.

But I guess I had to keep that in mind, to not forget the reason I came back to life.

When I felt the grip of his telekinetic ability tightening around me, I used [INVISIBLE HAND] to counter it.

Which I was able to do with more ease this time.

[YOUR SKILL – INVISIBLE HAND – HAS LEVELED UP]

The message from the system explained a lot, because as I felt the mana surging around me, it enveloped me like an armor to protect me from Quintus' grip.

And it allowed me to move way more freely than the first time.

My nose didn't even bleed this time.

So I walked towards him in a single step that made him flinch ever so slightly, but I saw the startle in his eyes.

And it felt good.

"I don't think today's the day I die, older brother."

And then I activated [SHADOW WALK], taking him completely by surprise as I vanished from his sight, right in front of him.

'That's right, brother. I learned a few new tricks.' I thought, as I passed by him, and I even thought of doing the same thing I did to the three bullies at the cafe, but I just couldn't let him question even more of how much I've changed in such a short period of time.

So I just kicked him as hard as I could, in the back, making him stagger forward.

"THAT. IS. ENOUGH!" He shouted, releasing such a strong wave of mana, that I flinched for a second.

Now he looked scary.

His eyes glowed in a darker tone of red, and his telekinesis felt like is was stronger than before.

Keeping me from approaching him.

I deactivated [SHADOW WALK] before I could waste any more mana on a useless effort, and I looked at him, dead in the eye.

"I told you, this is not the day I die. Now, why do you hate me so much?"

"I told you before!" He yelled at me. "I just wanted you to..."

"No!" I spoke, and now it was my time to get serious. "I don't want that bullshit that you tried to sell me at the guild. I want the truth!"

And started running around the living room, as hard and fast as I could.

There had to be a way to get close enough for me to land a clean hit.

So I thought, and as I ran around, the system sent notification upon notification.

[YOUR DEXTERITY HAS BEEN INCREASED BY 1]

[YOUR PERCEPTION HAS BEEN INCREASED BY 1]

[YOUR AGILITY HAD BEEN INCREASED BY 1]

[YOUR STRENGTH HAS BEEN INCREASED BY 1]

[YOUR VIGOR HAS BEEN INCREASED BY 1]

[YOUR DEXTERITY HAS BEEN INCREASED BY 1]

[YOUR PERCEPTION HAS BEEN INCREASED BY 1]

[YOUR AGILITY HAS BEEN INCREASED BY 1]

I didn't know that running like this would increase my stats like that, but it was a good thing, after all.

At least this time the system wasn't trying to fuck with me.

I ran, and as I did, I felt myself getting lighter and faster, and my senses sharpening almost as much as my blades.

And then, finally, I could feel it.

As Quintus sent shockwave upon shockwave toward where I was, just one second too late, I felt the mana around him.

It did feel like a huge and impregnable dome, but it wasn't.

He controlling the mana to spin all around him, like a hurricane, and for that mana control, I had to give him some credit, but I found the flaw in his technique right at that point.

I started to close the gap between the two of us, still running around him, but where I once had mana enveloping my body from the [INVISIBLE HAND], I then mimicked him.

But on my end, I focused the mana around me to spin in the opposite direction as Quintus's mana rotation.

My head began aching right after my mana collided with my brother's.

I knew I was forcing myself to do something that not even a C-rank wielder could, but I had no choice.

He was going all out with his telekinesis, so I had to go all out with the much I intended to show, too.

I felt my nose bleeding again, but unlike last time, there were five notifications from the system.

[YOUR INTELLIGENCE HAS BEEN INCREASED BY 5]

[YOUR SKILL – INVISIBLE HAND - HAS LEVELED UP]

[YOUR SKILL – INVISIBLE HAND - HAS LEVELED UP]

[YOUR SKILL – INVISIBLE HAND – HAS LEVELED UP]

[DAILY QUEST HAS BEEN COMPLETED]

[REWARDS: FULL RECOVERY X1; HIDDEN NEST KEY A-RANK – BLAKE'S LIBRARY – X1; STAT POINTS X5]

[ADDITIONAL REWARDS: *************]

Suddenly, my head ached like it was being smashed by a truck, and I couldn't think anymore.

All the mana around me was released against my will, and my body spun, completely out of control, my senses being the only things that showed me what was happening around me.

When I hit the the wall, and then the floor, Quintus immediately calmed his mana down, huffing.

As if he was actually exhausted.

Then I heard his steps coming closer and closer, dreading and regretting the moment when the system let me down.

"I don't know what kinds of tricks you have under this filthy sleeve of yours, but I won't let you pull any of them, anymore."

My head ached so much, that even Quintus' blows didn't feel so painful, but some of them made me see a sea of searing white stars.

Then I felt my body get lifted, probably by his telekinesis, and be dragged somewhere.

And I didn't think I would wake up at the Shadow Guild this time.

If nothing happened anytime soon, I would probably not wake up at all...