The pain had now become a new constant for him, it was just like breathing. He quickly moved away from the site but despite his best effort before he could fully rest he came across another group. He tried hiding this time something that he now wondered he had never done. Hiding behind a thick wall of creepers he stopped his breathing as they seemed to pass. He waited and waited until his body forcefully inhaled a sharp breath and he sensed something was wrong.

He jumped out at just the right time, tearing through the creepers a wave of red spread along with the swing of his arm. It forced them to step back and his other had followed, a wide swing of his sword and he barely beheaded two of them, the other evading the strike despite the fire burning their bodies. Swinging again, he created some distance between the monsters and himself and the turned. Before he could take a step hums sounded and he was forced to jump sideways, bringing up the sword. He barely blocked the strike, his blade cutting deep into his own flesh. He grunted, moving inward, a knife cutting off the monster’s neck.

He grabbed it by the neck, spinning, barely stopping the fall. A muffled scream left his mouth, the last arrows penetrated the monster's neck stabbing into his hand. His eyes widened, and he spun bracing as the war hammer struck, sending him flying. He rolled, barely dodging the attacks when and set of hums sounded. The monsters closed in from all sides.

Seeing no other way he waited for them to come closer while dodging the arrows, deflecting those he could not. His right arm felt numb, his left arm swinging in a semi-circle. A flame much bigger than before exploded, a swarm of red erupting outwards following the motion of his arm.

He jumped at them, the swarm exploded lighting all of them upon the fire, not allowing them any leeway. While they were trying to put out the fire, he was like a wolf among the sheep. These sheep were still much too slippery, slipping away at the slightest of carelessness.

There was not a single moment when, if the archers were alive, he was not besieged by them. It was too much of a variable. It put too much pressure upon him, forcing him to push his enhanced physic to even higher extremes.

When surrounded by the close combat fighter-type monster, he still had some meat shields, so despite the alarming rise in danger, he could still shield himself. Another kind of problem popped up when the fighters were all killed. The arrows were too fast. With only himself remaining the archers rained hell upon him.

It was an excruciating ordeal but it made him stronger. With time he slowly got adjusted to the bullet-hell that he faced during every fight. It forced him to get better at dodging. It was another trial by fire for him that dug out the abilities that he himself did not know about while refining others to the next height.

As he came out of the fight, bloodied and bruised he quickly ran away from the site. He did not want to start another fight, he was in no condition to. After creating sufficient distance he started looking for a covered space that he could use for rest all the while keeping himself alert to his surroundings.

Blocking the entrance, he bit on the knife’s hilt and a small flame appeared above his palm. It was minuscule in size and looked more like a spark than a flame. It exploded, the sparks spraying upon his hand burning the wound. His eyes closed, his jaws tightened but he repeated the process until all of the bleeding was stopped.

The number of groups he fought increased. Two, then three. It seemed as though he had blinked his eyes and now he had started becoming adjusted to the new pace. He challenged himself.

The last of the fighter took its last breath as the arrows riddled its body. He decided not to use any obstical to his advantage, purely using his capabilities to dodge through the storm of arrows. it was dangerous. But slowly as he fought, he kept getting better. It took some more time but he reached the goal. 

20, 30, 40, 50, and the number of groups he wiped out steadily kept increasing. As the number went up his abilities were further refined. He now could easily wipe out a group if he did not keep himself handicapped but he kept on pressuring himself. The results showed the way he used his body and used the spells to fight became completely different than before.

The fighting in the trees was like fighting in the sky. He had to be mindful of all three dimensions unlike the fights on the ground. The 3D environment made everything complicated. As he survived and then thrived his skill was dragged to a higher level. As he himself tried to become better it shortened the time even further.

After each fight he rested allowing his body to recover making sure it was at it maximum potential before the next fight started. The best way to rest was to sleep and to sleep required him to keep finding hidden places. There were a lot of those in the forest. In this thick vegetation, all sorts of things combined to keep many places out of the eyes. After configuring them to not allow anything in from the outside he would sleep for a few hours.

He struck its wrist, pushing the blade further in he instead struck the weapon of another monster. Closing in he stabbed the knive through one of its shoudler he pushed it. An attack struck the flying monster. A hum sounded and rolled away hastily creating a barrier. Orange colored barrier appeared. The weapons melted as they penetrated into the barrier. Not letting go of this golden opportunity he took out a spear and started stabbing the monster. Whenever the spear got close to the barrier he dispersed th energy at that area, safely allowing the weapon to pass through. Another hum resounded. He sidestepped the monster moving onwards hiding behind a tree. He quickly came out from another side attacking the remaining fighter and killing them before the archers could readjust.

He had fought thousand of fighter classes of these monsters during which he became intimately familiar with their movements, their attacks, and their behavior. Using them he started fighting them in close fights, deflecting, diverting, directing their attacks to his own advantage. He used their attacks to block and kill the attacks of their kin.

Slowly he kept on improving but there seemed to be no end to this floor. He had become so used to all the fighting that his body would execute the movements by itself while his mind wandered away. Only the archers were a danger to him but even they could be easily dodged if the environment was correctly used.

***

He blinked his eyes as he saw where he was. The sudden change in scenery brought his mind out of the auto mode and he consciously observed his surroundings. He had completely forgotten how this room looked so he went through every corner, in the end standing before the hologram.

Points: 930

Purchase:

Skills
Elixirs

Skills:

Incinerate
Cost: 405

Elixirs:

Elixir of Body
Cost: 150
Elixir of Soul
Cost: 150

Without a thought, he bought the spell, and with the remaining points, he bought two Elixir of Body and one Elixir of Soul.

After praying he lay down to sleep. It was a wondrous feeling that he had not felt for a long time. Without any worry he laid down, no worries that he would be attacked, no worries whether his body will be well once he woke up. No worries. The sleep that overtook him here where he genuinely felt safe was indescribable.

When he woke up the door was already there. Before going in there though he tested the spell. As he connected to the module information passed into his mind. He did not understand it but after going to a corner of the room he was able to draw a diagram on the ground. It was like just like how he did not understand Arabic but could read the Quran felt. Going to the other corner of the room he pulled the trigger that had appeared in his mind. An explosion took place and a grin covered his mouth.

Do not even need the bombs now, he thought as the looked at the aftermath of triggering the spell. There was no damage to the room but the visuals had impressed him and considering how useful the previous spells were he was sure that they would not disappoint.

Connecting to its spell module he quickly searched for the thing that regulates energy usage. It was the only thing he had identified but it had changed the way he fought. Again he went to the same corner and again drew the diagram. Moving back, he mentally pulled the trigger and another explosion occurred, this time it was much stronger. As strong as it was though, the amount of energy that was consumed was equally greater. Despite his energy reservoir being enhanced one more, he could feel them sharply fall after enhancing the spell. Satisfied, he offered prayer before passing through the door.

***

From light to the darkness. From peace to conflict. From ease to difficulty. Again he stood in the lightless hell surrounded by the massive trees from all sides. Everything here suddenly felt awful. An intense urge to vomit came but he had not eaten for months so there was nothing that could be thrown out. He wanted to scream in protest. He wanted to get out. He wanted to make them all pay but all he could do while being trapped in this black tower was fight, so he took a deep breath and moved. Again the cycle of war started.

From his storage, he brought out an unlit torch lighting it with a dark red flame that hovered above his palm. The flame exploded but the sparks all rushed out in a single direction hitting the torch and lighting it up.

He sat down, the torch stabbed into the white ground. How should he use the new spell? He could not set it up in advance as the fights started unpredictably and even if he set it up in advance he would be lost in this maze-like forest. He could not just set it up during the fights, the archers would fill his body with holes.

He kept staring at the flickering flames while ideas raced through his mind. Does it really need to be set up on the ground though? He tightly grabbed onto that thought, expanding upon it. He took out another torch which was just a cut-off piece of wood. He started tracing his finger across its surface but the piece of wood started vibrating. Feeling the intensity increase he threw it.

The silence was suddenly ripped apart. Getting onto his feet, picking up the torch he ran. The sound of the explosion was echoing throughout the forest and this masked the sounds.

First hit back, breaking a rib bone. As the pain started registering in his mind, power rushed into his legs sending him crashing towards a tree. His hand and legs prepared for collision, compressing as he crashed and then power again rushed into his limbs sending him flying towards another tree. Ricocheting from one tree to another he avoided the successive volleys of arrows but the one stuck in his back made him feel hell. 

Bearing through the pain was something that he had become used to and this level of the wound was considered small in his mind now. That did not imply the damage was any less severe though. Every breath, every movement caused the pain to explode.

Chapter 15:

Humming filled the air and he traced the sound, quickly changing directions from one tree to another. Despite not stopping in a single place the arrows were just a step behind him, any obstruction and he would be riddled with them. He caught a glips of the monster, the torch within his mouth making his skin uncomfortably hot but he had to bear with it.

He circled around them, his senses sharpened to notice where the fighters were hidden. The closer he got, the greater his caution. Finally, he was nearly upon the archers his eyes darting to some specific areas he had noticed beforehand. One after another, his knives stabbed into the trunk and he quickly circled the trunk dodging the arrows and then leaped at the archer. He could hear the sudden activity below making him act even faster.

A flame collided with the archer. It was small but as the sparks converged upon its hand it lit up on fire, unable to maintain its balance. He jumped, his sword cutting through its neck while it tried blocking with its burning arm. His legs sprung the moment he landed upon the trunk, and his sword swung, deflecting some of the arrows, and then he was rushing towards the other archers.

The fighters were just starting the climb and already the first of the archer was already lost. He rampaged through the archers until they started gathering together with the fighters spread around to protect them. It made it difficult to physically get anywhere near them but this forest was filled with obstacles that protected him now. 

His movement pattern was everchanging. The arrows chased after him, the hell he had experienced on the previous floor making sure he did not stop despite the burning lungs and pain-filled arms. A wave of sparks rushed out, forcing the fighter to stop. It was all he needed as he struck down another archer.

The blood on his blade disintegrating, he huffed and puffed. He spat out the torch and fell down. He bit on a knife’s hilt. Fingers warping around the arrow, with one swift movement he tore it out. The arrowhead had flesh attached to it. With a long low grunt, his body shook. it took a while when he centered himself preparing for something even worse, the bleeding had to be stopped. After the wound was burnt, he cut off the creepers and moss, using them to bandage his wounds.

He rested after hiding. Why had it exploded? For now, he did not try again but his mind kept thinking of it. Closing his eye he focused on the energy. Willing it to move into the barrier. The energy again appeared suddenly without any notice but as it was being pulled towards the path connecting to the barrier he sensed something.

The feeling was hazy but he was sure that he had sensed something. He doubled down on the feeling, hopeful that it would be enough with the enhancement he had received this time.

Coming out, he moved some distance from his camp while making marks to retrace his steps back. As his fingers moved upon the moss he could feel the energy leaving his body and going into the ground. He felt excited about having another spell through which he could observe the movement of energy but for now, focused on the task at hand.

The spell was completed and he became confused. Dismissing the spell he felt the energy being released from the diagram. Taking out another new piece of wood and started etching the spell upon it.

Visually there was no difference but he could sense the energy flowing out of his fingertips as they moved. His focus was set on the piece of wood. After reaching a certain point he started feeling resistance as his fingers moved. It was fragile, easily overcome as when he moved his finger but the energy within became chaotic. The wooden block started vibrating and he stopped.

He dismissed all of the spells and took out another piece of wood. Before starting, he connected with the spell module of Incinerate, lowering the amount of energy that was needed to be provided. He halved the energy and started again. Again he felt the resistance but this time it was much later in the process. He again restarted the process from scratch while lowering the energy again by half. This time the process was nearly complete but just before the end he again felt the resistance.

Not wanting to waste his time he pushed forward and complete the etching. Closing his eye he focused his senses on the piece of wood held in his hand. A connection was already established within his mind that would act as a trigger to blow up this bomb. By using that connection he sensed the energy within. It was chaotic like it would go out of control at any moment. His previous experience allowed him to remain calm even though he was now holding a magical equivalent of a bomb.

He dismissed the spell and moved back into the camp. He tweaked the amount of energy until the wooden sticks would consistently endure until the end. He took out the wooden spear he had made a long while ago. It was much larger than the swords he had looted. Lowering the energy to half of what was required by the spell he started the etching process.

His eye was closed and he focus on the energy as it moved. The process was completed and as he checked the energy within, it was stable. The size of the material mattered, he confirmed. Despite the success, he could not repress the bitter feelings.

He had allocated most of his time to sensing energy, to somehow gain the ability to control it but he had succeeded in neither. He could not directly manipulate the energy and he could not sense its location even after all the time and hard work he had spent upon it. He wanted to control the energy just like what he did a moment before; controlling it as naturally as the movement of fingers when he was etching the Incinerate upon the wood.

A bulb lit up. He connected to the spell module of Incinerate and started testing, trying to find out the part that made it possible to manipulate the energy with his fingers to etch the diagram.

It was like he was consumed by something. After months of getting no result, he became excited now a clue had appeared in front of him and so he kept on etching the spell until the headache became too much to bear.

Cutting the torch into even smaller pieces he lowered the energy even further till a stable diagram could be etched onto it. Leaving everything else he kept on doing it. Despite not achieving any results he was confident he was, at last, he was moving in the correct direction.

Cutting off the makeshift bandage he stretched his back muscles. Tensing the back muscles he felt only a dull pain. He stretched, slowly increasing the load upon his back. After not feeling any tears in his wound he moved out.

In his hands were two knives and within his mind, he could sense five new connections all connecting to the five pieces of wood which he had fixed upon his body using a creeper.

A hum sounded and he felt excited. Jumping aside, evading the arrows and running towards the archers. As he started climbing the trees fighters came to obstruct him but he sidestepped or instead tried to but they were more nimble than him. His knives stabbed into the tree and he moved up. Locating one of the archers he waited for them to attack. Dodging another volley of arrows, he ricocheted from one tree to another. Mid-air he grabbed one of the pieces of wood and threw it at the monster with full power.

Just before the collision, he pulled the trigger. A burst of flames exploded forth, engulfing everything within its path.

A burning body rushed at him while the remaining archers fired another volley of arrows at him. From below the fighters rushed towards him.

The heat would constantly be felt as he was chased. Seeing the flame spreading caused him much anxiety but the archers and fighters made sure that he could not end the burning monster.

His limbs compressed, the force of the jump making him stick on the tree for a brief moment. Feeling the gravity pulling him down he pulled out the knife and started climbing upwards in a circular motion. The arrows left a trail behind him while the fighters started tightening the circle.

Just when he was dodging another volley, the flaming monster jumped towards him again but this time it fell down, its jump not having enough force behind him to reach the tree. The sound of impact came while he jumped to another tree. The fighters started closing, ramping up the pressure.

Flames appeared above both his arms and rushed forward exploding just before his head. The swarm of sparks bursts into the fire as they collide with the head of two monsters. Crashing into the tree they fell down while the other kept chasing him.

With the gap created in their formation, the pressure was lowered. Evading another volley he threw the remaining wooden bombs just when the fighters were mid-air.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

The fires made them lose their balance mid-air causing them to fall down. They had barely escaped the fire but their scales got badly brunt. He grinned and started his hunt.

The quicker he got the higher the danger got, only allowing him milliseconds to react or the arrow would strike him. A pleasant feeling exploded within as the arrow rushed past, only a few centimeters away from his cheeks. It tried to reload but the flame exploded setting it on fire.

He struck the burning moss trying to put out the fire. During the fight, the fire had already started spreading. With each swing, the forest fire came into his mind making his strikes even more vigorous.

The memories flooded in, the melting of his skin, the rigid movements as the muscles stiffened, the burning hot air that escaped from his lungs burning everything along the way, being unable to breathe in as the air refused to come in. His grip loosened causing him to drop the wooden fan.

Clinching his teeth, he pulled the fan back and started to move away. It was a race against time now. What he had been trying was useless and he knew it deep down. The fire that was burning upon the trunks high above was starting to burn brighter and the occasional winds only sped up the process. Where would he even start trying to stop them, even if he had time?

Wandering through the forest he considered how to speed up the process. The critical point to take into consideration was his safety. If in every fight he started taking in wounds, even light ones, across hundred of fights he would not survive. It was more like a war and he had to make sure he did not shorten his sight upon just a few fights.

His mind processed all that happened. Now that the fire was already spreading he did not need to be careful of fire, the time he usually spent putting them out would also be free now. His thoughts went to how he had made the fighters fall using the Incinerate bombs. If he could make them even smaller, just enough to interrupt them mid-air he was positive the fights could be shortened. Hardy as they were, he now had results that they would not survive the fall from far above.

His fighting style started changing again. Instead of dispatching the fighter first, he chased after the archers from the start and as the fighters chased from behind he would suddenly change his targets, throwing wooden bombs while they were midair, messing their jumps which resulted from them in falling down.