Chapter 110: Too Much to Process
The response came in the internal space where the Seal’s System operated. Without needing sound, without needing sight, without needing anything physical.
```
Nathan Voss.
Level: 10.
HP: 380/2,600.
Mana: 25/3,700.
Status: Hemorrhagic shock. Consciousness
at 12%. Death estimated in 8 minutes
without intervention.
PENDING UPDATE:
System detected elimination of major
A-Rank creature. Level increased from
9 to 10. Base stats updated.
New skills unlocked for review.
DO YOU WISH TO REVIEW NEW SKILLS?
```
Nathan processed that.
*Level ten.*
*I leveled up by killing the alpha.*
*Even though the guild system doesn’t recognize my Class, the Seal’s System is still rewarding me.*
*Alright.*
*Yes.*
*Show me the new skills.*
```
SKILLS UNLOCKED AT LEVEL 10:
1. Manifestation: Reaper’s Scythe.
Active skill. Manifests a corporealized
weapon from the bearer’s soul.
The scythe is an extension of the
Class. Amplifies all attacks with
base multiplier x3. Consumes passive
mana during manifestation.
Manifestation cost: 500 initial mana.
Sustain: 30/minute.
2. Reaper’s Toll.
Passive skill. Each elimination
completed during scythe manifestation
restores 5% of maximum mana.
Cumulative effect.
3. Death Weave.
Active skill. Combines Minor Necromancy
with Soul Reap. Reanimates the body
of a recently eliminated victim under
direct control with post-mortem skills
preserved. Cost: 800 mana.
```
Nathan processed it slowly.
*Scythe.*
*x3 multiplier.*
*With Reaper’s Toll, I recover mana upon elimination.*
*Death Weave if I manage to kill something with useful skills.*
*Alright.*
*But I need 500 mana to manifest the scythe. I have 25.*
*I need to accumulate mana first.*
*Or I need to activate the manifestation with the minimum reserve and accept that I’ll collapse immediately if I don’t eliminate fast.*
Nathan thought about it.
*Mana regenerates slowly at rest. Approximately 10 points per minute under normal conditions. In my current state with hemorrhagic shock, probably half. Five per minute. To reach 500 from 25, I need approximately a hundred minutes.*
*I don’t have a hundred minutes.*
*I have eight before I die.*
*Alright. Different approach.*
*System. Can I activate the scythe below minimum cost if I accept self-inflicted damage?*
```
QUERY PROCESSED.
Option available: Emergency Manifestation.
Sacrifice HP to cover the remaining cost.
Conversion ratio: 1 HP = 1 Mana.
Cost if activated now:
Available mana: 25.
Shortfall: 475.
HP to sacrifice: 475.
Resulting HP: 380 - 475 = -95.
ALERT: Cost exceeds available HP.
Manifestation would result in immediate
death of the bearer.
Do you wish to proceed?
```
Nathan processed that.
*Immediate death.*
*Alright.*
*But.*
*System. What if I first activate Extended Harvest on the fallen puppets Liaraen eliminated during her fight? The bodies are in the clearing. Their souls were already partially absorbed when the parasite collapsed, but residual fragments should provide additional mana.*
```
QUERY PROCESSED.
Extended Harvest is a continuous passive
skill. Active during all recent eliminations
within a 30-meter radius. System detects
residual fragments from approximately 40
signatures in the clearing (6 puppets
fallen by Liaraen + alpha creature +
12 reinforcements eliminated during
previous combat).
Remaining absorption available: 340
mana points.
Maximum intensity absorption time:
15 seconds.
Do you wish to activate absorption
at maximum intensity?
```
Nathan processed that.
*Yes.*
*Activate.*
```
Maximum intensity absorption activated.
Mana: 25 → 365 (over 15 seconds).
```
Nathan felt the change.
Deep in his chest, where his Class’s signature resided, something filled. Like an empty jar beginning to receive water. Slow but constant. And with the absorption, his body began to feel marginally better. Not much. Blood continued flowing. Wounds remained open. But consciousness stabilized.
His vision expanded from a narrow cone to approximately a third of the normal visual field.
Enough to see the fight.
Yorel mounted on the alpha’s back, with the horrible hybrid configuration he’d built over the last thirty seconds.
Liaraen retreating, without her lineage sword, with visible wounds.
*Alright.*
*Now.*
*System. Scythe cost with current mana.*
```
Available mana: 365.
Required cost: 500.
Shortfall: 135.
Emergency Manifestation:
HP to sacrifice: 135.
Resulting HP: 380 - 135 = 245.
Post-manifestation status: Critically
wounded but functional. Death estimated
in 4 minutes without intervention.
Do you wish to proceed?
```
Nathan thought about it.
*Four minutes.*
*That’s enough time to kill Yorel if the scythe works as the System promises.*
*And if Reaper’s Toll gives me 5% of maximum mana per elimination, the moment I kill Yorel I recover 185 mana points. After killing Yorel, the remaining puppet bodies fall without a puppeteer. I can eliminate the residual connection with Death Weave or just leave them there.*
*Alright.*
*Proceed.*
Nathan confirmed mentally.
```
EMERGENCY MANIFESTATION ACTIVATED.
HP sacrifice: 135.
Mana: 365 → 500.
Mana: 500 - 500 = 0 (used in
manifestation).
Sustain: 30/minute (impossible without
reserve; next action requires
Reaper’s Toll to replenish).
REAPER’S SCYTHE MANIFESTED.
```
And in Nathan’s right hand, without prior sensation, without visual warning, it appeared.
---
The scythe was black.
Approximately two meters total length. The shaft was made of a material that was neither wood nor metal, with a texture Nathan recognized with Soul Sense as something akin to his own Class’s signature corporealized. The blade, at the upper end, curved in the classic scythe shape but with elongated proportions and an inner edge that glowed with a dull green tone.
Nathan felt it in his hand.
Without significant weight.
Without friction.
Like an extension of his own arm.
And with the contact, something changed in his body. Blood continued flowing. Wounds remained open. But consciousness stabilized to near-normal levels. As if the scythe were compensating for physical degradation with pure magical presence.
Nathan moved.
He sat up.
Then he stood.
With the scythe in his right hand.
Without the dizziness he’d expected. Without the collapse his body had promised over the last ten minutes.
*Alright.*
*Four minutes of operation.*
*Enough time.*
Nathan looked ahead.
Yorel-alpha had continued advancing toward Liaraen over the last twenty seconds. Liaraen had kept retreating. The distance between them was now approximately three meters. The hybrid configuration was about to reach her with the deformed claws of its destroyed arms—which still had enough force to crush her skull if they connected.
Liaraen hadn’t seen Nathan stand up.
She was focused on the imminent threat.
Yorel hadn’t seen him either.
He was focused on Liaraen.
Nathan took advantage of the three seconds.
He raised the scythe.
He held it with both hands.
And with his cynical smile calibrated to the mode he hadn’t used throughout the entire fight because the fight hadn’t allowed for cynicism, he fully restored it.
*Hello, Yorel.*
*Let’s do this.*
Nathan took the first step forward.
With the scythe glowing faintly green.
With the air around him vibrating in a way that Yorel-alpha, with his consciousness amplified by the fusion, felt instantly.
Yorel turned his head.
With the first expression of complete surprise he’d shown since the fight began.
His red eyes widened.
And with his voice amplified by the alpha but with the underlying human tremor, he said three words.
"That shouldn’t—"
Nathan interrupted him.
With the first attack.
A horizontal arc of the scythe—not launched with the intention of connecting, but with the intention of diverting Yorel’s target from Liaraen to him. The air cut by the scythe produced a visible dark wave that crossed the clearing with a speed the geometry of the human hand shouldn’t have been able to produce. The wave passed a meter above Liaraen’s head, who ducked by reflex. And it struck Yorel’s human shoulder where he was mounted on the alpha.
Yorel screamed.
For the first time in the fight, a cry of real pain.
His human shoulder split open.
Blood came out. Not normal human blood. Human blood mixed with the red substance of the fusion with the alpha. As if the attack had cut not just flesh but the magical connection Yorel had established with the creature’s body.
Yorel-alpha retreated three steps.
With Yorel human staggering on the creature’s back for the first time.
With the alpha’s five jaws opening in a gesture that wasn’t Yorel’s but residual from the previous fight—as if the attack had slightly broken the puppeteer’s control over the giant puppet.
Nathan walked forward.
With the scythe ready.
With his breathing stable for the first time since the fight began.
And with the calm voice he used only for moments when he’d internally decided he was going to resolve something completely.
"Yorel."
Yorel-alpha looked at him.
With red eyes.
With his smile gone.
With the first genuine sign of fear he’d shown throughout the entire revelation.
"Hunter Voss."
"Yes."
"Apparently I underestimated your Class."
"Apparently so."
*Apparently we both used the word.*
*Doesn’t matter.*
*Let’s go.*
Nathan took another step forward.
With the scythe glowing slightly brighter.
With Liaraen to the left watching with surprise on her face mixed with the understanding that the situation had completely changed in the last twenty seconds.
And with Yorel-alpha retreating for the first time since he’d fused.
With the absolute feeling, deep in his human body coupled to the creature, that something bad was about to happen to him.
Nathan raised the scythe.
With both hands.
With his cynical smile calibrated at maximum.
With the green glow amplifying around the blade.
And with the clear decision that the next four minutes were going to be enough.