I dash to the side, strengthening my body as I do so.

The world becomes quieter, black and white, with only mana retaining its color in the world of [Focus].

My [Mana Perception] works overtime as I continue tracking the four weredeer's mana signatures around me.

Thankfully, only the Battle Weredeer seems to be able to create mana projectiles, so I keep running away from them or dodging them after determining their trajectory.

One weredeer moves closer to me, dropping to all fours. A horrifying noise escapes its mouth as it charges at me, red mana glowing around its antlers.

I take a step towards it, and my [Disruption] flares up, causing the glow around its antlers and tattoos to flicker. The monster slows down, and I stab at it with my sword.

Darn it.

I immediately absorb some energy and push myself away, rolling on the ground before springing back onto my feet. The spot where I had been standing is bombarded with mana arrows.

With no more time to think, I dash again, avoiding the charge of another weredeer.

As I pass by it, I make a deep wound in its side with my sword, coated in oscillating mana.

My body is already heating up, and mana surges through me, held at bay by the second part of my [Focus].

I dodge again and absorb more energy, using half of it to pierce the leg of one of the weredeer and the other half to push myself away.

The monster's tattoos begin to glow more intensely, and I can feel all this mana in the air as even my own mana rages through my body.

Mana Circuit and [Mana Flow] both allow it to move quickly, improving my control over it while thanks to [Focus] I mold it and send it where It needs to go.

I've already forgotten Aelric's betrayal. I don't think about the tutorial, the other people, or my problems.

I just fight.

My mana surges, and the oscillating mana on my blade extends, cutting off the weredeer's leg. As it falls, I absorb its inertia and remold it into a thin cone that I shoot at its head after using [Disruption] to weaken it.

Half of the head explodes, and the remaining eye slowly loses some of its glow, along with the mana around its antlers.

[You have defeated a Weredeer - lvl 26]

I jump back. [Armament] creates armor on my forearm, and I redirect two mana arrows from the Battle Weredeer.

Then I turn and stab my sword at the monster behind me. It dodges, and another one charges at me, but I dodge it as well.

I create a dozen mana orbs and shoot them at the Battle Weredeer while charging one of my opponents. With my perception, I feel the monster dodging my attack and giving me enough time to disrupt the mana in the tattoos of another weredeer. This slows it down just enough for me to reach it and stab my sword through its chest.

The sword breaks, and I let go. A sword made with [Armament] appears in my hand, and I stab it into the monster, extending it as far as I can, making it go right through its body.

Then I have to dodge and jump behind the monster I just wounded.

The spot where I had been standing is hit by another shower of mana arrows, which also strikes the body of the monster I stabbed

[You have defeated a Weredeer - lvl 31]

I slowly breathe out and release some tension in my body.

Then, I [Focus] more and take a deep breath in, followed by a slow breath out.

Ten mana orbs appear around my body, and I feed them more mana. I make them bigger, firmer, and then elongate them, attempting to replicate what the Battle Weredeer did.

The monster roars, and I shoot my attack at it. Half of the projectiles dissipate after a while, and the other half miss the monster, causing only minor damage to the ground.

I reduce the number of projectiles to two and continue shooting at them while dodging attacks from both the remaining weredeer.

My head hurts, and my ears are ringing. I'm breathing heavily, and sweat covers my body and forehead. I even feel it on my hairless scalp.

Caught in the heat of the moment, I release the second part of my [Focus] that holds my mana at bay and use it to temper my mana projectile.

The other part of my mind activates [Mana Surge] and then tries to control the massive output of mana.

Both mana projectiles shoot off at an incredible speed and blow the head off one of the weredeer charging at me.

[You have defeated a Weredeer - lvl 26]

I stagger backward and roll to dodge another volley of arrows while both parts of my [Focus] work to regain control over my mana.

My circuit feels like burning, and my head is overheating.

I slow down and tilt my head to dodge another glowing arrow from the monster. My perception warns me that the weredeer is creating another one, and I dodge even before it shoots it off, already getting better at watching the monster's skills come to life and predicting where it will shoot.

I lower my body and start running straight at the bipedal deer, still focusing on calming my mana and only using [Mana Perception] to watch the monster.

The glow around its antlers disappears, as do its projectiles, and its tattoos start glowing even brighter. The monster roars louder than before, and its eyes follow me as I run.

For the first time, it puts all four of its limbs on the ground, and massive mana flows into its legs.

The ground around the monster cracks and then explodes into the air, leaving a small crater where it used to stand.

I absorb all of my kinetic energy, making me stop on the spot, and then I jump to the side using the absorbed energy to push myself.

The monster speeds past me and crashes through a few trees, bulldozing the forest. I can immediately feel it collecting mana into its legs once more.

A single mana projectile starts floating near me, and I make it denser and denser.

For a moment, I use the surge to boost my body and dodge to the side, avoiding a second dash. My ankles feel as if they're about to break, but I ignore the pain and focus more on the projectile floating near my body. Its color becomes a darker hue of blue.

The monster collects its mana again, and before it dashes, I release my [Focus] that is trying to control my mana and put as much as I can into this projectile.

It shoots off at the monster just as it's about to charge at me, and suddenly, the forest falls silent.

The weredeer freezes. The projectile went through its body and exited, still causing some damage to the forest behind it. The tattoos lose some of their glow, but then, with another grunt, they start to shine even brighter.

The monster is barely controlling its mana as it charges. This time, it misses me and crashes through the forest even more violently than before.

A pained roar sounds, and I feel the monster trying to collect its mana but failing as blood keeps flowing from its pierced body.

Slowly, life escapes its body while it keeps trying to stand up.

 

[You have defeated the Battle Weredeer - lvl 33]

[Lvl 30 > Lvl 31]

 

I exhale softly and calm myself down, feeling as though I am emerging from a trance now that the fight is over.

Mana?

Mana!

I quickly invest all of my stat points and go through the notifications while slowly calming down.

One part of my mind continues to calm my mana, and the other keeps scanning the area around me.

Oh, a new [Side quest].

 

Side quest: Get 5 skills over level 10

Rewards: Skill upgrade token

 

Huh, that sounds good, doesn't it?

Active skills:
Focus (Dual Focus) - Lvl 11
Mana Manipulation - Lvl 12
Mana Perception - Lvl 11
Oscillation - Lvl 7
Kinetic Redistribution - Lvl 9
Armament - Lvl 4
Mana Surge - Lvl 2
Disruption - Lvl 3

Does the already upgraded [Focus] count towards it? I wish it would, but I'm more inclined to think that it doesn't.

It just doesn't sound like the system that I know and simultaneously love and hate.

So, with [Kinetic Redistribution], I am over halfway there.

Another two skills I should focus on leveling up should be [Oscillation] and then… hmm, which one? The remaining ones are at similar levels, and I can use them all, but it would be more productive to bring one of them to level 10 instead of just using all of them.

[Armament] just showed me how useful it can be as I finally gained a decent ranged attack.

It took a long time, but I'm finally starting to feel like a mage and not a cheap, knockoff version from the marketplace. A step closer to finally taking advantage of my mana without damaging my body every time!

But the problem is that other skills are amazing in their own way.

[Disruption], boosted by the surge, feels like straight-up bullying when I use it against someone with worse mana control or lower mana reserves.

[Mana Surge], on the other hand, gives me an incredible boost to almost everything, taking advantage of my passive skill and trait.

Dang it, too many good choices! A typical first-world problem.

I don't even want to think about all the headaches I will have while deciding which skill to upgrade. Last time I got eight options for two skills. Will I get twenty of them this time?

One part of me is already scared, but a small, excited part of me screeches in anticipation somewhere in the corner of my mind.

Okay, I'll deal with that later! It sounds like a problem for future Nathaniel! Screw that guy!

But first, there's one person I need to take care of.

The person who gave me the wrong information and sent me here to die.

Aelric.