Winter

In one of the forests of the Regsted region, there is said to be a supreme being, one so powerful, that if he wished it, the world would crumble. One so ruthless that none who enter the forest shall live. One so insane, that they challenged the gods and lived. One so benevolent, that any who find them should be granted eternal life. One so generous that if you ask for something, they shall give it. There are many contradictions regarding who or what dwells in these lands, but the weak have blown things out of proportions. While it's true that someone who could be hailed as the strongest lives there. They don't pay any attention to the conditions of the forest, and have certainly never granted anyone something like eternal life. What truly dwelt in that forest, was a powerful mage/martial artist named Winter.

"Haaaaaaaaa" "I'm bored," Winter exclaimed.

Being the strongest was cool and all, but it caused one to lose interest in most things. Before, fighting and growing stronger were my main reasons for my actions. Whenever I stayed up late studying or training in some new magic or fighting style I had come across, I found all that fun. I found it fun because I knew I would come away stronger from it. I would go over different spells in my head countless times to figure out strange ways that they could be used. Ways that no one else would expect someone to use them.

For example, I caused tremendous explosions right next to myself for the sake of obtaining absurd acceleration. Or using perception spells that would allow me to look at stuff super far away (like super big and scary monsters) that I could cause remote, pesky disturbances near. Eventually, they would come to my location wanting my head. Of course, all they would find would be dumbfounded opponents who were cursing my name and running for their lives. But now, I didn't need tricks like that to get out of any of the situations that I got myself in. In fact, I would actively try to give my adversaries the advantage just so that I may achieve a bit of joy.

Of course, I was still trying to get stronger. This was mainly just so I had something to do. But I also wanted to be ready in case some eldritch abomination got released from a ten thousand-year seal or some crap. For now, I was trying to convert my body into something ethereal. My theory was that if I could convert my flesh into mana or another non-physical power, I would be able to increase my might infinitely, no longer bound by mortal restraints.

To get my body prepared for the transformation, I decided to replace all my bones with materials that had extreme energy concentrations. And currently, I was after a couple of treasures that I had tracked to a den of rats. Even with no intelligence, these rats have a proficiency over acid-related magics that lets them chew through virtually everything.

Jumping out my window, I gathered mana below my feet and ignited it in controlled bursts to act as a propellent, shooting me through the sky. Along with a sharp wind that I conjured that acted as a windshield, and made me more aerodynamic, I made quick progress toward the den. My chosen method of landing consisted of slamming into the ground as hard as possible, dispersing the force that my body can't endure with magic, and solidifying some mana below my feet so that I don't go through the ground. Mana is the energy that magic usually runs off. It exists naturally in the surroundings and every creature has some amount of mana inside of themselves. By absorbing the mana that exists in nature inside your body, you can make it do whatever you want as long as you have the knowledge and willpower. You can even control the mana in the environment if you are good enough, which I am of course.

The entrance to the rat's den was covered in a fluorescent green moss, flecked with small glowing mushrooms containing a swirling purple energy. Other than the occasional blood stain or bone, and the soundlessness of the environment, it would be hard to tell that it was a monster den. Not that it mattered too much. People don't tend to wander into strange holes that they find in the woods after all. The moss continued for a while inside the passage, eventually disappearing, in its place, there were many scrapes and holes in the walls. The walls started to take on a red hue, and many bones were scattered everywhere.

Ordinarily, a couple of rats would not have been much trouble. And while I say a couple, I mean many hundred. After all, rodents breed quickly. But I like my tough fights. I was going to have to make it difficult.

My obvious first step was to put away all my gear. My staff alone increases my power and efficiency by around 60%. Not to mention all of my other items. My magic knowledge is very diverse, so I was going to limit my magic usage to just some weakish water and light magic. I wanted light magic so that I could see without using something like a magic sense. Magic sense is what I call it when you spread your mana into the surrounding area and feel where physical objects are. It is similar to echolocation. When you know the location of everything, there is not much room for a surprise attack. Water magic would be the only battle-oriented magic that I was to use. The last thing I was going to do was limit my mana consumption to 10 percent of my total capacity.

If I had to break any of those restrictions then I would go ask a stranger for something embarrassing to do, which I would of course have to do (people are cruel). Having set my restrictions, I headed into the heart of the den.I had not encountered anything up till this point because I had been concealing myself. After halting this, The rats would most likely notice me rather quickly.

As I strode towards the center of a more considerable passage, all the exits were abruptly blocked by rats.

'Whew, you guys are not pretty, are you.'

Clearly taking offense at my remark, liquid started to pour from the positions of the rats. It progressed unhurriedly, even though it seemed like an entire lake's worth of whatever it was was being sent at me. Of course, this liquid was an acid. That was what these rats were proficient in after all. And by the looks of it, the ground was being consumed. Trapping me on a shrinking island in a lake of -1000000 Ph acid. This was okay because with water magic, I could create a base of 1000007 Ph and return the liquid to a neutral state. I jest, of course, I am very screwed if things progress in this manner. What I could do, however, was send out small water bullets to take out some of the rats. Acid started to fly in my direction instead of just trying to trap me in a lake, so I set up a small mist layer around me, and whenever something destroyed some of the mist, I would shoot out a bit of water to neutralize it. And with the acid growing ever closer, I knew that I didn't have much time left. Focusing most of my efforts on the passage with the fewest number of rats, I quickly cleared an area that I would be able to escape to. With even more acid flying at me, I created a water rope and had it pull me into the passage. It appears that the rats are craftier than I thought. As there were even more rats hiding in the passageway, and there was a welcoming waterfall of acid to greet me. Hurling myself out of the chamber, I pulled myself back to the center area and filled the whole space with mist. And once more, I pulled myself into a passage. I created and shot water bullets from the place I was previously standing at in an attempt to trick them.

'Now for my killer move.'

I condensed the mist into beads of water in random places and shot them at the ground. Lots of rats suddenly found themselves with a couple of extra holes in them. Once all the mist cleared, 40 percent of the rats had been killed. Not deeming me worth the hunt, some fled. This led to others deserting. And eventually, there were no more rats blocking my way, and my fun had ended.

'huh, usually treasuries look nice.'

This one definitely did not look nice

'I guess they consider half-eaten people to be treasures too.'

Quickly finding the treasures I had in mind, I was about to leave when the room began to quiver, and everything collapsed.

'one last attempt by the rats.' I smiled.

I created a water dome that looked like a wizard hat and shot through the ceiling.

"looks like I didn't break any of my restrictions," I said, merrily humming to myself. I would whistle, but it was something I had never managed to do.