"I see," said Noah looking at his hand covered in half transparent black mana. "so if we lower our output of the energy to this degree while projecting this energy outside then it is possible to hold it in place when my mana control is sufficient."
*Yes, I perceive it as a different skill. If previous skill allowed us to project a beam of this energy from your hand then this skill rots everything you touch.*
*Ding
*New skill has been created: Dark energy beam.*
*Ding
*New skill has been created: Degenerative touch.*
/Well, it's not what I expected, but it's something. Now at least I have an attacking method./ Said Noah inside his head while looking how the plant that his hand touched weathered away. He looked around and gazed at the big tree that has fallen to the ground with his previous attack.
/But, I feel the second skill is exhausting me somehow more than the previous, although the first one used more energy./
*It might be how you perceive your mind stress. The first skill just exuded an uncontrolled beam of energy, while with second skill you have to concentrate your mind to control the energy to prevent it's dispersing as in the first skill.*
/But the Malign Aura skill that was the origin of these skills, was a lot stronger, yet it did not exhaust me so much as these two skills./
*The original skill that you ordered to hide in homework folder is working on another principle. It exudes the energy that degenerate everything around you, absorbing the energy that was radiated by surrounding objects when they deteriorated and then this energy is passed to you through the connection with that malign energy.*
*The Dark energy beam skills on the other hand uses a lot of energy that just leave your body and destroy everything on it's path without passing energy to you. So there is no restorative function.*
*The degenerative touch skill does indeed have a restorative function, however at your mana control level, you use more mind resource than you actually gain from sucking out the energy. You can indeed restore your health and mana this way, yet you exhaust your mind quite severely. But this is just a limitation of your own ability right now. It should disappear once you become more proficient in mana control.* Explained system
/Huh? System do you see that?/ Suddenly said Noah.
*You mean the being gaze at sign at your minimap?* Asked system.
/Wolf does not detect anyone in my surroundings. Nor is there any dots on minimap. Is that an error?/
*I do not believe so. It might be and effect of some kind of skill. We need more information. Please be on guard.*
/Can you calculate the angle of gaze or something?/
*Calculating.* Replied system with short message that implied it was already busy analyzing the situation to give a proper answer.
*I have found the source of the light reflecting anomaly. There are two sources of anomaly.* Said system and two yellow dots appeared on the minimap.
At that moment both dots started to quicky move in his direction in a strange zig-zaging and swirling pattern.
"So we have been found out." Sounded the voice from nearby, yet Noah did not see anyone in that direction. However he did not wait for them to strike. Noah pointed his hand in the direction of the closest dot and fired a dark energy beam.
The energy beam passed through the space exactly where the dot on his map was, however it did not look like it touched anything.
*THE SHADOW!* Sounded systems urgent voice once it quickly analyzed this event.
"Useless." Sounded voice from surroundings at the same time.
The next moment the person in black stretched out from shadow from behind him lunging at him, but a bright white flash of light blinded it and dispersed the shadows making that person drop on the ground.
/Shit./ Thought Noah jumping away when he saw another dot has closed in on him at that moment. /The energy consumption of memory erase is too big. They are too high in level./
*We need to get out.* Said system *You are no match for them.*
The moment Noah jumped away the second person appeared from the shadow but after it saw that he dodged in advance as if perceiving her position she grabbed the first person that was already coming around from white flash effect, and then they both disappeared into shadows again.
"He can pin point our position." Sounded the voice of the second person.
"Also can disperse shadows with that light." Sounded the voice of the person he blinded. "That is a nice skill."
Noah started to ran through the forest however the two dots on his minimap were moving a lot quicker than him. As if a pack of wolves they gained on him and started to close up around him from two sides.
When they were close Noah used another flash in one direction dispersing the shadow before the person in it could appear. This time the dot on his minimap disappeared and appeared at a distance from him. In this moment second person lunged at him from the other side, but a huge monster wolf's jaw snapped on it's neck from behind, making that person disperse in the empty air, leaving wolf with nothing in it's jaw.
/Fuck. Event that surprise attack did not work./ Said Noah standing on guard with his wolf protecting his back, while two dots circled around him.
"Be careful. He can unsummon the wolf from a distance and then make it appear immediately nearby." Said one voice from the forest.
/System any ideas?/
"They use shadows to move, we need an open space with less shadows that will force them to appear to fight you.*
/I doubt, I am their match in a close combat./ Said Noah.
*You don't need to be. Just struggle as long as you can in transformed state for the horny aura skill to take effect.*
/What if I just jump to mind realm?/
*I have a strong hesitation on this idea. When we disappear we leave a point of connection to the space that makes us appear in exact same spot we disappeared from. What if they have some kind of mind skill? Theoretically they could use that point of connection to attack us. We will be just sitting ducks then.*
/Okay. Let's try your plan then./ Said Noah and grabbed the wolf's fur. Wolf dashed away at a great speed carrying Noah with him. Two dots on his minimap dashed at him with even greater speed.
A few dozen meters away, when wolf jumped over a laying on the ground tree, the hand with a black knife appeared above them from the dark side of a tree branch almost gouging him, but he managed to evade at the nick of time. Next moment wolf rushed into the bushes ahead, but Noah saw knifes appear from every shadow of the leafs in it. He quickly flashed the bush with white light. Some knifes dropped down but some flew in their direction.
Wolf managed to turn to protect Noah from the projectiles but was pierced by a dozen of knifes in the side. However that did not stop the wolf and he continued to rush despite it's heavy wounds.
"Enough running, dog." Sounded the voice and a person appeared from the wolf's own shadow. Although the wolf moved, the person underneath it looked like a continuation of it's shadow and moved together with it without even putting any effort. Then the knife in the person's hand flashed and wolfs paw disconnected from its leg, making it tumble to the ground throwing. Noah off.
Noah rolled on the ground and wanted to store the wolf but before he could make an effort shadows on the ground around him started to entwine him like ropes. He flashed the light at the ground and jumped to his legs but at that moment saw how a person in the wolfs shadow slashed at the wolfs neck beheading it completely. In the next moment wolf body started to disperse
/We wont make it to that field we ran to./ Thought Noah and used one skill he did not want to use the most. Malign aura started to seep out of him and he opened his mouth to roar, but a black knife plunged into his side and he felt the energy leaving him as if it was sucking out the mana out of him. He pulled the knife out and threw it away feeling the burn on his hand from touching it. And held a hand to his hand.
/Damn it. They can sense that I was about to use a skill and disrupted it in advance./ Thought Noah.
*Transform!* Said system.
Next moment Noah willed to use skill obeying system's suggestion without any delay and his body started to change with an ugly bastard transformation. A few more knifes flew at him as if black flashes from different directions again, but something happened in his mind. World started to slow down making him perceive the knifes flying at him in slow motion.
/System?/ Asked Noah
*I use my calculative capability to quicken your brain functions. This is only momentary, I can't do this long. Dodge!*
Noah dodged. With an agile movement of his body he jumped to the side simultaneously bending his body and shifting his limbs so that the knives passed by without even scratching him. The moment he landed his body was already several times bigger and stronger. Dodging another valley of throwing knifes he turned around and smashed his fist on the tree making it snap with a loud crunch and starting to fall. He dodged away and kicked another tree making it crumble too.
When a person was about to lunge at him from nearby shadow of the falling trunk he flashed the shadow with ligh making it disperse and jumped at another tree making it fall from a punch. In a few moments there was a small area clear of shadows.
Both shadow people quickly understood what he was up to and smirked at it's uselessness. Even when the trees fall there would still be shadows. Just their moving freedom would be less.
One of the attackers jumped out of the shadow and lunged at him. Noah parried and dodged as well as he could with occasional help of system slowing the world down for him momentarily, but counter attacking was not even an option the person was way above him to even touch her. Also he noticed the second dot on minimap has disappeared. Instead of attacking he made and effort to try and snap a few more trees every time he rolled away from her attacks.
However a few moments later his attackers movements started to be more sluggish Noah did not lose his chance and smashed his massive fist at her head. When his fist was about to break her skull a hand from the ground grabbed her at the ankle and she dispersed into shadow reappearing on his minimap some distance way. Noah understood that his plan has failed and immediately used his Malign aura while both of them were busy. Black aura started to spread in the forest. However the person appeared from the shadow behind him and slashed at him making him dodge with only a graze but disrupting his skill again before dispersing in the shadow.
Although he used the skill for just a moment the trees on the ground around him disintegrated into sand and both his wound from the knife that stabbed him and the slash now healed so quickly you could see the wound disappear in moments. His mana and mind exhaustion restored to top condition.
"What happened there?" Asked one woman silently from while watching Noah from the shadow in the forest around him.
"He has some skill with status effect. We were right to be careful. If we'd attacked simultaneously we could have fallen for his trap. Luckily he did not know that once we disperse all status ailments are cleared."
"This was his plan for clearing out the trees?"
"Looks like it. We will have to engage in close combat now that he managed to clear out an area for himself, but his status ailment skill will be affecting us."
"We will fight in turns then. One fights the other covers from the shadow. Once the status effect starts to appear disperse and let the other fight."
"Fuck, it would have been easier if we could just kill him."
"We need him alive to pull out all the information we need for report to the Holy Lady."
"I know. Let's go. I fight, you cover. It's time to end it."
Noah stood on the black earth with nothing but ashes around him and no shadows as all the nearby trees were cleared out with his rampage. Now that he healed, he was ready for round two.
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It is just more evidence that nihilism is correct.
some readers must have traveled to the future to read the chapters further on, after reading and returning to the time they belong, time corrected itself and reduced views
Thanks for the chapter!