Chapter 49: The Forest [5] Bonus -
The light of the explosion had settled and the entire forest had come into view.
Aegon saw the destruction that had occurred before him. The guardian was no longer in existence, and the part of the forest which was caught in the blast had been erased also.
Now, he could see far in the distance, remains of flames on the ground as the line stretched far into who knows where.
The system hovered in front of him but his eyes did not look at it. He was staring in the distance, thinking in his heart.
’It is finished, I was able to destroy it without having it come back to life. Turns out all I needed was some kind of flame-like element to destroy it...’
As he thought of these, he had a bewildered expression on his face, as though he had missed something very important.
But that wasn’t the case, the thing was that he was trying to figure out if what he had heard was real.
"Come to think of it, I heard a cry after the blast was fired... was it my imagination?"
He turned around, scanning the surroundings to see if he would see anyone or notice anything that could have made such a sound.
"This forest is empty... is it not?"
He turned around, facing the area which he had just destroyed. The moon light had now penetrated into the forest,illuminating most of it.
Where he was facing was west, behind him east. His left hand side was south and his right was north.
He could only see more of the west because of the blast, however, the east, north, and south still had trees in them and the far end couldn’t be seen.
’Perhaps, it’s that child-like figure from earlier?’ thinking this he shook his head.
"No, this voice sounded more mature. Like a grown individual, and... it was feminine."
Aegon looked around again and still saw no signs of life, but he had thought it could be the partner of the tree giant.
It was only a possibility.
Since he couldn’t make anything out of his search, he turned his gaze to the system which was still hovering before him.
"I got a new ability... two?"
He felt excited as he looked at the abilities. He tapped on the first one and new texts appeared, displaying more details.
[Reward Obtained!]
[New Ability:
Omnipresence - Status "Owned"]
[Description: The user warps their existence so they exist in every point within a 100-meter radius simultaneously. To strike the user, an enemy would have to strike all of those points at the same instant. The user can then choose to re-manifest their physical form at any single point within that field, effectively making them untouchable.]
Aegon read the description and was amazed. From the name of the evolved ability alone it was already screaming overpowered.
"Interesting... So this is like a defensive ability? Nice."
"And for its basic form ’Phantom Step’. From what these displays, it is safe to say that the basic would be a short-range, reflexive teleport to dodge an attack, often leaving a visual afterimage?"
He wasn’t certain but he got the gist of it. He had the knowledge and the intellectuality, so it was expected that he would think that far.
"This is very good for when I’m being attacked by multiple enemies at the same time. It is a way to confuse them, before I strike."
"I am basically existing in-between space and time."
He let the words sink in for a moment before continuing.
"Now, how about the second?"
He turned his gaze to the second ability and scanned through it.
[Reward Obtained!]
[New Ability:
[Absolute Deflection Field - Status "Owned"]
[Description: The user is surrounded by a mult-layered, constantly shifting bubble of warped space. Any attack; physical, energy, or conceptual; that enters the field is not just diverted but "re-routed". A laser would find its path curved back at the attacker, a punch would be teleported into the ground, an psychic blast would be folded in on itself and dissipated into nothing.]
"Another defensive ability. Now it is balanced, I can attack and defend in a single fight, alternating at will."
He didn’t need to know the basic form of this ability because it would be used at some point.
"It would seem there is no skill obtained from the guardian."
Aegon gazed into the distance as he thought of this, looking at the destroyed part of the forest. It didn’t regenerate or grow back like it did after the serpent blast earlier.
It was expected. The mana that was used from the serpent was not the same as his. It wasn’t drained but mixed and familiar with the surroundings.
"If the guardian had a special skill, perhaps I would have gotten it then. But I guess; it is what it is..."
After viewing the abilities, he went back in the system and looked at his status window.
____STATUS____
Name: Aegon Zoldyck
Job: Solo Fragment
Title: Monster Slayer [+1]
Level: ?
Talent: SSS-tank Void Sovereign
HP: 79
Fatigue: 55
___________
MP: 0/38
___________
Strength: 64 ^
Vitality: 53 ^
Agility: 49 ^
Intelligence: 42 ^
Sense: 37 ^
___________
Ability:
[Particle Execution - basic: Warp Fist]
[Colossal Gate - basic: Debris Storm]
[Omnipresence - basics: Phantom Step]
[Absolute Deflection Field - basics: Personal Fold]
____________
Skills:
Wolf Armor
ExtraSelf Clone
Cannon Spatial Blast
___________
Items Owned:
Return Stone - "status": none
Wolf dagger - "status": equiped
...
____END____
He stared at his stats and noticed the new changes made.
"My HP is reduced... but there’s no problem there it would refill back."
"What bothers me the most is the MP, all that I didn’t in the last fight drained the entire MP."
"Normally I could use an evolved ability without breaking a sweat and the MP couldn’t go down much, is something really draining my mana?"
It was still a mystery to him on how his mana is being drained and there was no logical explanation for that.
He had seen the serpent and the tree giant used skill that would require mana but it didn’t seem like theirs were being drained.
"They were residents of this world, which is understandable. So, does it only apply to those who are not?"
He still couldn’t wrap his head around it. This was beyond what he could dissect.
"If I’m just given a specific clue then I would understand this better."
His eyes then moved to his physical stats.
"I have leveled up quite a lot..."he clenched his fist as he said this. "...got stronger."
He nodded his head while looking at the rest, satisfied by what he saw.
"With this, I should be able to hold more in a fight even without using any ability, until this draining thing is lifted."
As he said these words, he looked to the top of the status window; to the area where his name was displayed; to a certain text.
It was his level, having a question mark.
’Still unidentifiable? Looks like there is more room to grow."
He brought his eyes down and looked at the ability section.
"Four abilities now, and with their basics, that’s four ways to use them."
He had his gaze more on the [Colossal Gate] ability, then the two new ones he had just obtained, and thought in his heart.
’I wonder which of those three is stronger?’
It was only expected since the abilities were overpowered. The Colossal Gate was the strongest amongst the first two, but with the new ones and their description.
"I’m certain they are just as strong or even more..."
Aegon had the look of certainty in his eyes. But, he was still worn out from the fight.
His fatigue was reducing but at a small rate, he was over half of the initial and therefore needed to rest.
"If I take on any more fights, I would kill myself."
There was a tree behind him, a very long tree. Feeling it, he took a step backwards and rested his back on the tree.
"Hmm..."
While resting on the tree he went into a daze as all types of thought swirled in his head. From the first things that had happened since he transmigrated, to the fake Abyss and not to this point.
There were many things unexplained and many things yet to be explored. He has a goal and wasn’t going to stray from it.
So, he needed them together, taking on the main enemy wouldn’t be a joke but a fight to the death, and he had to be ready.
"This is not enough... huff."
As the words left his lips, all his exhaustion hit him at once; released. He was resting on the tree and pulled out for a second.
Then, he sat down on the ground, surrounded by bushes and pieces of wood.
"If I need... to get stronger... I need to know how to fight well... even without using my abilities or skills..."
His words were breaking because his throat was dry. He hasn’t drank a single water since he came here, and the fight alone made him... thirsty.
"Inventory..."
Knowing this, he called for the inventory and it appeared before him. He then took out the bag which he had kept in and opened it.
He took out a water bottle, opened it and began drinking. His head was raised up, while his right hand held the bottle.
Just then, his gaze caught something less than three meters from him. It was a bright green light appearing from thin air.
It grew bigger from every passing second and Aegon’s eyes widened. He put down the bottle, his head down; straight as he stared at this light.
Suddenly, a figure appeared before him, glowing in all green and white with a blazing long hair.
The figure floated in the air, dazzling as they appeared fully, then they opened their green eyes and looked into Aegon’s, there, he saw a beauty, with the appearance that of a goddess before him.