One Last System

"Disturb!" 

Once again, my mana acted on its own. 

I was used to controlling every last movement of my power. If I wanted to punch stronger, I had to circulate my mana towards my hands or, alternatively, my spear. 

But when using the class skills, I only had to give my command. 

"Roa..." the monster cried, only for its voice to disappear. 

A small ball formed with my condensed mana exploded. The vibration of the magic that followed made everything in my vicinity freeze. 

For a short moment, the laws of the world around turned so weird that no living being could act. 

Myself included. 

'That's not as great as I hoped it would be,' I thought, shaking my head when the stun effect faded away. 

It was certainly a useful ability... But it was far worse than I had expected.

'Maybe if I grow immune to its effect,' I thought, theorizing a way to make proper use of the skill. At the same time, my eyes regained their focus, allowing me to track the beast's movement. 

The second it attacked, I pulled out my spear. Yet, before the paws of the monster could reach my guard, the warding totem shone with a bring light. 

I stepped forward, striking the monster down with my spear. 

As unexpected as it was, I wasn't going to give up on such an opportunity. 

"ROAR!" the monster mobilized every last bit of its remaining strength to jump away. 

It was injured but still alive. 

'I guess I can try this again,' I thought, raising my hand. 

"Bolt," I muttered, sending a condensed ball of energy right towards the monster. 

Poof!

That's right. 

The monster simply disintegrated when met with the refined ball of my energy. 

The extreme conditions created by collapsing my shot within the enemy would turn the physics of the area on its head. 

Four limbs of the monster dropped to the ground, a few steps away from me. 

'Fuck,' I thought, realizing the downside of this power. 'If I hunt with this,' I thought, moving my eyes towards the monster's remains. "I won't be able to gather shit!" 

This was a sad realization... But something that I had no time to deal with. 

Right now, the time of my mission was ticking. 

It was the time to do things in the old way. 

I picked up everything of mine before rushing deeper into the forest. 

Soon, my hunting mindset kicked in, allowing me to round up several monsters in a manner of minutes.

'That's not enough,' I thought when absorbing the cores of the defeated monsters. 

The hunger for energy that I could feel deep within couldn't be sated with such meager amounts of mana. 

'I need to ramp my speed up,' I thought, rushing into the hunting process again. 

The next twenty-four hours would decide my potential. 

I didn't know whether it would be relevant only in my current cultivation rank or if I could feel its effects down the line. And just because of that, I had no other choice but to treat it seriously. 

'Still,' I thought, analyzing the situation as my body continued to rush the hunt. 

'Isn't my spear using the warden's power as well?' I thought. 

Fighting with those new abilities certainly did feel weird. And for now, I still couldn't really grasp its principles. 

Only when I knew everything about my skills would I be daring enough to challenge the status quo in the forest. 

For now, I know several things. 

My entire performance would undergo a massive change when fighting with an active warden. 

It would protect me from attacks to a certain, untested degree. It increased my firepower, adding its own energy to my own. And lastly, it helped me to condense my mana by a whole lot. 

Every aspect of my strength would grow with those totems around. 

But I discovered something even better. 

'If I can only level this skill up by creating a new one...' I thought, bringing the Warden down to my hand. I then pulled another formation stone. 

I didn't dare to try activating two wardens at once. Instead, I sucked the energy dry from the first stone before using it to power the other one. 

Tic. 

'Are you fucking serious?' 

Even though I was in the forest, I stood frozen in a single frame. 

Wasn't this an insane exploit? Something that in a game would be used to break any sort of reason or control over the snowball effect?

'Let's try again,' I thought, focusing on the stones in my hand. 

Kill the active one. Activate the other one. Repeat. 

This simple sentence quickly sent my system into a flurry as the proficiency points started to grow at a quick rate. 

'I think I can go on,' I judged before returning to my hunt. 

Nothing was stopping me from gaining levels and hunting at the same time!

Soon, I fully immersed myself in the activity, collecting the spoils of the forest at a worrying rate. But I didn't bother taking any of the bones. I would settle with just their cores alone. 

There was no use in consuming them on the spot. Instead, using those resources within an array could bring out much more value. 

'Wait,' I suddenly stopped, curious about a certain idea. 

'If I want more monsters to come,' I thought, glancing over to my Warden's progression. 

And it was just a few points away from leveling up!

I stood above the monster's corpse that I had just hunted. Instead of leaving the site, I continued to level up my Warden while cutting out the bones that I could use. 

I only had the time to collect a few of the bones when my senses alerted me. 

The monsters were already closing in. 

'Right in time,' I thought, wrapping a second formation stone in my class skill. 

The effect of the wardens doubled. Instead of adding up, their effects multiplied. 

"Come at me," I muttered, readying my spear, wardens, and bolts. 

The monsters rushed forward... and passed by me. The variety of monsters continued to run instead of bothering me. 

And then it appeared. 

The best that once nearly took Lucius' life. The one being in the forest that I didn't dare to provoke. 

But now that I looked at it...

'Isn't it... weak?' I thought.

It wasn't an educated guess or a keen observation. Calling it anything else but a gut feeling would be an overestimation. 

But it made me step forward nonetheless.

The beast rushed ahead. 

My growth didn't magically make its speed any slower. 

Before I could notice, the first of my wardens shattered, exhausted after blocking the monster's attack. 

'Heavy,' I thought, backing off a single step as I locked my eyes on the beast. 

'Bolt!' I thought, forming and then sending the first of my magical bullets. 

I missed. 

This clever bastard suddenly changed its trajectory.

It even made a fucking flip!

'It's all right,' I thought, calming myself down. 'Don't get too heated,' I warned myself, regaining my cold blood. 

I called forth another warden with just a single thought. The second bolt of magic formed above my hand. 

The beast rushed at me again. 

This time it slashed separately with its paws. Both of the attacks managed to exhaust a warden. 

Its arms were useless now. But the beast still had its jaws. It lunged at me, hoping to end the fight in a single swoop. 

"Disturb," I thought, calling the next two wardens and raising my spear. 

Back then, this beast was a menace. A danger that I had no means of protecting against. During our first encounter, I could only cover in fear and run, hoping for its mercy. 

But now?

Sure, it had its power and was pretty dangerous... 

But overall, it wasn't my opponent. 

The explosion of the magic shook me a little. Yet, with my focus nearly crystalizing, I managed to shoot out the bolt I had prepared. 

The condensed ball of my refined mana struck the beast right in its massive head, vaporizing it in an instant. 

And just like that, I stood above the one threat that I didn't dare to face before. If not for the random encounter, I would never dare to go against it. 

'Well,' I thought, twisting my lips in a weird grimace. 'That was pretty anti-climatic,' I commented, shaking my head. 

If anything, I expected this fight to be exciting. But after its end... It just felt boring and predictable. 

"Well, then," I muttered, pushing my spear into the ground and pulling out my knife. 

The carcass of the beast looked like nothing but a treasure trove. 

'Its materials should be worth a lot,' I thought, digging my blade down into the monster's flesh. 

And its core could become the solution to my burning need for mana!