Path to Transcendence

Julius was only still conscious due to [Savage Dance]. Fortunately, the chieftain wasn’t chasing after him. Its attention was shifted elsewhere.

The troll mage had finally revealed itself from its hiding place. It appeared that it was hiding itself in the ground using earth magic and the chieftain was busy arguing with the troll mage with loud grunts and growls. It almost seemed like it was berating the mage for interfering in its fight.

Julius did not mind this at all. He needed all the time to heal his injuries and the more time they wasted, the more time he had to figure out a plan. At the moment it seemed pretty hopeless. The chieftain was already a tough opponent, it was faster and stronger than Julius. Then if he included its aura ability that broke down his mana constructs it was even more challenging.

However, when he added the mage to the situation, it became almost impossible. Julius would have to constantly keep an eye on the mage as he fended off the chieftain, he had to admit that they made a good team.

He needed to take out the mage first. If he could do that, then he would have a chance. The problem was getting to it. The chieftain wasn’t going to just allow Julius to walk right up to the mage and cut its head off. Not to mention, the mage was able to hide in the ground.

Julius never took his attention off them, but they still seemed like they were arguing between themselves. It felt like they had dismissed Julius as a real threat after the last exchange. It pissed him off at being so casually dismissed. But he would be able to use this to his advantage. A plan started to form in his head and he realized that it might be possible.

They should have never allowed me this much space.

Julius was fully healed by now and began creating as many explosive spikes as he could control. The mage’s gaze snapped toward him instantly, sending a mass of black mana at Julius and falling out of sight, hiding in the ground.

Julius blocked the curse with an aggressive usage of life and fire mana, then finished forming a dozen spikes. Next, he cranked up [Pure Compression] as much as he could, condensing the fire and kinetic mana inside the spikes beyond any point he had ever reached before. Julius had come to understand that the more condensed his constructs were, the harder it was for the troll to break down the spikes with its aura. Additionally, he expected the mage to have a similar ability too considering that it had already attempted to disrupt his constructs earlier and he was hoping it would also find the extremely condensed constructs hard to disrupt.

The chieftain was shockingly not charging at Julius. Instead, it was slowly stalking toward Julius with an arrogant smirk plastered to its face.

This motherfucker, he doesn’t think I am a danger. Doesn’t he remember how close I was to jamming a spike in his forehead before he was saved by his friend? Or is he that delusional?

It didn’t matter. He was going to take this ugly fucker down regardless.

Julius felt [Fighter’s Will] activate for the first time. The skill sent out a rippling of energy throughout his body and mind, and the effects were added on top to [Savage Dance]. Julius never felt more wired in his life. It felt like everything was on a hair-trigger.

He was able to push [Pure Compression] and [Arcane Construct] even further. His eyes started to bleed from the exertion, but he started smiling like an idiot because it was working. His constructs no longer had a red ethereal glow around them. They were changing visibly. Now they were solid violet, similar to what his enhanced [Firebolts] used to look like, except, way more powerful.

Julius saw the chieftain pause as it stopped to feel the mana radiating from the spikes and he smiled at its obvious discomfort. However, the chieftain noticed Julius’s smile and didn’t let that unspoken challenge go unpunished. It’s pride as a pack leader would not allow another being to defy it. The chieftain no longer took its time but roared and charged right at Julius.

Julius was able to feel subtle movements of earth mana gather around his feet. He understood how he had not noticed it last time, but now that he was expecting it, it wouldn’t catch him off guard again. He immediately dashed to his full speed, avoiding the earth trap and heading towards the middle of the plains, getting more distance between him and the chieftain.

Julius was throwing out his newly improved spikes at the chieftain. Each spike boomed every time it was released, ripping through the air with a large penetrative force. This time, the spikes weren’t broken apart by the aura. They were still slowed down, but they impacted against the troll’s skin, leaving large gouges in its flesh. The fact that he was now able to hurt the troll, enabled him to keep his distance easier.

Julius kept regenerating as many spikes as he used, making sure to keep a total of at least ten at all times. As he was raining attacks on the chasing troll, he was looking out for any mana usage from the mage.

The mage had laid out several clever traps that almost got Julius and many curses that he had to protect against, but Julius was getting close. Each time the mage used its mana, he was able to narrow down its location. That was another reason he was running around. He had learned while finishing off the remaining trolls under the landslide that [Spatial Perception] had a hard time perceiving through so much rock. However, it was still possible, he just had to be closer.

Julius doubted the chieftain noticed, but he wasn’t running around randomly. He was systematically clearing each piece of the land.

Julius felt a tug from the direction the last curse had come from.

There!

He had managed to precisely sense the mage’s body several feet underground moving slowly. He mentally tracked its location but didn’t know how the mage was able to know his location yet, so he erred on the side of caution. He pretended that he had no idea where it was as he continued to keep the chieftain at a distance.

Julius continued to dodge around the chieftain, waiting for his opportunity. It was close, but he couldn’t afford to mess it up because he was impatient.

Finally, the perfect moment presented itself. The mage had just released another burst of mana and was directly behind the chieftain. Julius didn’t hesitate and sent half a dozen spikes rocketing toward the troll. The chieftain was about to evade when it saw the spikes curve around it, missing it entirely. A look of confusion flashed across its face and turned its head to see the spikes heading into the dirt behind him.

The spikes smashed directly where the mage was hiding, the first three were meant to clear the surrounding dirt and rock, exposing the cowardly rat-like mage. The next three speared the mage like a shish kabob. One in its skull, one in its throat, and one in the chest. The mage didn’t even get a chance to avoid or disrupt the constructs before it was blown up to pieces.

For a long moment, Julius and the chieftain just observed the mage’s scattered flesh. Then they met eyes and Julius could see something very satisfying deep behind those crimson-red eyes. Fear.

Julius could practically smell the hesitance and fear emanating from the troll. Just a few minutes ago, the chieftain had been so sure of its victory, it had even allowed Julius time to recover. Now the tables had turned and it realized that it was all alone.

Julius wasn’t going to make the same mistake, while it had been standing there doing nothing, Julius had been replenishing the spikes he had used. He estimated he had around a third of his mana left, but it would be more than enough. He knew the chieftain’s style now and knew how he would put it down.

Julius formed an axe entirely made of compressed and hardened mana. It wasn’t practical, as the axe didn’t have that much weight to it, but it was symbolic in a way. It resembled the axes the troll leaders had used. Julius sent three spikes straight at the troll’s chest. However, he didn’t even let the troll dodge them as he preemptively exploded them, creating a wall of flame and obstructing its vision.

The troll seemed to remember the trick from before and preemptively turned around, swinging its fist where it expected Julius to strike. Except it was wrong to assume that Julius would attack it from behind. Julius used the wall of flame as bait, hoping the chieftain would take it. In the meantime, he didn’t move from his place and wound up the axe to slash through the troll’s ankle, taking it off at the joint. Even though the axe didn’t have much weight behind it, Julius figured out that a shit load of kinetic energy could compensate for that.

Then Julius sent another slash across the back of its neck. The chieftain’s spine was much harder than its joint and the axe splintered, getting stuck in its neck. Julius didn’t try to wrench it out, instead, he used the troll's back as a springboard and launched himself away as he blew the axe up.

The axe wasn’t like a spike, so it didn’t do much damage, but it did distract the troll and allow Julius to send the rest of the spikes at it. With its mobility crippled, the troll wasn’t able to dodge the spikes. Its aura prevented the worst of the damage, but they still blew up its back and neck, leaving a crater of missing flesh. It was enough damage to knock it out for just a moment, however it wasn’t dead yet. He could still see the thing’s skill regenerating the missing flesh at an outrageous speed. Julius didn’t give it any more time and sent one last spike at it. The chieftain’s aura skill was no longer active and the spike was able to pierce deeply into the troll’s skull and explode, blasting it apart in a mist of blood.

Julius didn’t move for a long time, he just stood there frozen in place. It didn’t feel real. He half expected the chieftain to stand right back up and continue the fight. Honestly, he was surprised that his plan had worked. He thought the mage for sure had a final trick up its sleeve.

However, in the end, it was only Julius left standing amongst them. He took a look around him, observing the area around him. The ground was littered with small craters caused by his constructs and several large spikes and pits of earth magic were scattered about. Other than that, it was silent except for the soft trickle of the creek nearby.

The first thing Julius did was go check the mage’s body. He needed to see it in person himself. Looking back, Julius could appreciate the mage’s skill in a weird sort of way. Sure, it almost killed him multiple times, but it was also a great example of not needing superior firepower to win a fight.

If Julius didn’t have [Pseudo-Phoenix Renewal] there was no way he would have lasted even a couple of minutes against it. Those curses were deadly and completely overpowered. Of course, he can’t be saying that with a healing skill like his, but against many others he could imagine the trouble they would face.

That mana-stealing curse took a third of his mana before he could even react and he was lucky that he found a way to defend against it. Then there was the fact that the mage was also an earth mage who was able to hide in the ground from his senses. It made fighting that thing a real pain in the ass and Julius hoped he didn’t have to fight any more annoying opponents like that anytime soon.

Julius found its body scattered around the large crater he created. He wanted to find its core. Not because he wanted to use it, but because he wanted to keep it for sentimental reasons. However, he wasn’t able to find one no matter how hard he searched. It was unfortunate but not that big of a deal.

Finally, Julius walked back to the chieftain’s body, compared to the mage it was in much better shape. Before the spike had blown up its head, the troll’s regeneration skill had almost fully healed it. The only thing that was missing was a bloody stump where its head used to be. He cut open its chest and revealed the life core glowing inside its chest. It was much different than the other trolls, not to Julius’s surprise. The essence inside of it was pulsing with potent life energy. Julius was thinking about keeping it and maybe turning it into a nice accessory. It would be a nice reminder of his time in the rift.

Speaking of which, Julius noticed an enormous mass of energy gathering dozens of feet away from him. He immediately went into full alert mode, creating several spikes ready to fire at a moment's notice. However, he was worried for nothing, a portal much like the same one that sucked him in was being formed.