The system was not able to finish its words as the creature suddenly lunged at him with small but fast steps.
He could accurately trace it by using sound, it was a neat trick he was happy he had picked up.
The creature was around his height, maybe a little shorter but nonetheless, it was not to be underestimated.
Michael met it in the middle and struck with his Sword of Light, attempting to slash through it just like he did with the rest.
However, the hit merely bounced off, as if it was reflected.
“Ha..haha” An ominous hoarse laugh resounded from the creature as it dashed at Michael once again.
‘Did it just use a shield..?’ Michael thought with a frown as he dodged its attack.
It did seem stronger earlier, but it was rather weak now that he began fighting it.
Its moves were fast but not deadly, it felt way too odd.
Michael waited for the correct moment and struck in the middle of its attack, piercing its hollow body.
And just like with the rest of the invisible creatures, it completely disappeared after being killed.
‘Was that the same thing that killed the first monster?’ He asked the system as he resummoned a few swords of light, illuminating a bit around himself.
Well, since it didn’t let me finish last time, I’ll tell you now, the creatures are not real, they are mere illusions.
‘What do you mean by illusions? Aren’t they supposed to be… you know, not interactable?’ He wondered as he clearly felt his attacks connect.
And the laugh, it was definitely not fake.
Good illusions tend to do that, but anyway, it feeds off of your fear, I guess the first one was the fear of the unknown? Would explain why they were all invisible.
‘I see…’ Michael thought back to his fear of spiders as well, it added up a bit.
However, the last one still didn’t make sense to him, what exactly was it?
It didn’t fit in the context of his wears, who could that person be?
Don’t forget that you have the memories of the other people too, so don’t be surprised if some unexpected surprises arise.
‘Maybe’ He shrugged and decided to walk again, if it was going to give him fights based off of his fears, then he couldn’t really prepare for it.
He himself was not afraid of many things, as for the other’s memories? He was not sure, he hadn’t touched them since assimilating with them.
Michael decided to put that on his agenda, after all, even though both of them were not exactly strong or smart, they could still provide some knowledge for him.
The knowledge that could come in handy.
He continued walking, encountering a few of the invisible creatures, however, most of them did not prove a challenge.
There was one fight in particular that had been a tad bit troublesome, it was against some squishy small monster.
Even before he heard it, a shiver ran down his spine, killing it wasn’t exactly difficult, it was just time consuming.
Every time he cut it apart, it regenerated into multiple new pieces. And he didn’t exactly have a way to deal with something like that.
He had his swords of light but they do not exactly affect a large area.
As for his Heavenly Judgement? Well..
It was on cooldown. Quite frankly, it would have been the first skill he used once he realized what kind of a situation he was in.
Michael thought that maybe, just maybe, the darkness would be swallowed up by his sword and he could somehow steer it far away.
However, knowing his luck, it would have not gone so well.
For your own sake, don’t use that skill until you figure out how mana absorption works else you are actually going to nuke an entire city back home.
‘You don’t have to tell me that…’ He grumbled and suddenly collided with a wall, falling back flat on his ass.
Nice one.
‘Fuck off.. I didn’t see it’ Michael rolled his eyes and stood up, there really was some kind of a wall in front of him.
He decided to touch it, the giant said that he would come rescue Michael if he did.
And in all honesty, he wasn’t too keen on staying in this place much longer, he was barely getting stronger with the added bonus of feeling like shit because of constant adrenaline.
He never knew when a monster could pop out and try to end his life, even the weak can kill the strong with a surprise attack.
‘Nothing is happening’ He held his hand on the wall for a few moments but alas, it just felt like touching a cold rock.
However, the moment he took his hand away from the wall, it lit up, shining a bright hue across a good portion of the room.
It was blinding, he couldn’t help but close his eyes and back away a fair distance, until eventually he opened his eyes.
And by no means had he expected to see a small pillar with a giant light on the very top, illuminating the darkness around him.
It seemed like some kind of lighthouse, though he didn’t quite understand the purpose of it.
Looks like a safe zone, guess u won’t have to worry about constantly being on guard after all.
‘…’ Michael decided to ignore the system and stare at the massive light on the top of the pillar and noticed a faint trace of mana.
It was separated into 4 different directions, all of whom were on the opposite sides of this lighthouse.
He assumed it wanted him to follow them, after all, he was not exactly sure how he needed to get to this ‘wall’ the giant talked about.
For all he knew, it didn’t even exist, and the giant would swoop in just before he died or something.
You are pretty optimistic, but look, my advice is to actually restore your mana this time before going out, you still have 3 days left after all.
‘You are right..’ Michael sighed and walked up to the strange pillar lighthouse and sat down right beside it.
However, before he could have time to relax, he suddenly felt his senses expanding, and once again, the cold was returning.
But this time, it was much more pronounced, it was extremely cold. He couldn’t understand why the system was doing this since he only had roughly 20% of his total mana remaining, it would not be a good training session by any means.
Don’t worry, just sit still…
The system added and Michael began feeling a little bit warm, albeit the cold had not dissipated in the slightest.
But it was no longer unbearable, in fact, he began feeling a little relaxed.
However, as he laid back down, he noticed the light above him slightly dimming and at the same time, his mana rapidly returning.
In just a few moments, he managed to not only restore all of his mana, but also increase his mana core progress.
It went up from 42% to a flat 50%, the difference might not have been that massive, however, the 8% difference seemed like his mana capacity increased by nearly double what it had been just a moment ago.
There’s a lower stage, middle stage, and finally, the upper stage. Lower is considered anything under 50%, Middle is from 50% to 90%, and upper is everything above 90%. All those milestones increase your strength by quite a decent amount.
‘So do I tier up instantly after I reach 100%?’ He asked with curiosity as all of his fatigue seemed to have faded away.
You will reach 100% and then go through the hassle of forming the new mana thread, only then can you reach the next tier.
As Michael took a deep breath and was prepared to once again relax for a moment, the system suddenly interjected.
There is still 2% progress worth of mana stored inside that light, I hope you are ready for some training.
And before he could protest, his entire body froze up, halting any and all movement, before he began feeling an immense cold rushing through his veins.
Endure for as long as you can, good luck!
‘…’
