Chapter 48: The Hungry Ghoul (5)
Berserk mana ran in madness within Wrik's body, with no hold. He needed to get rid of this mana as soon as possible, and the best way would be to vent it on the monster before him.
Wrik left the two girls behind, advanced straight towards the hungry ghoul. Behind him were Evan and Davin, approaching with their weapons as well.
Tanya had two magical tools in her arm: her usual staff and the ugly wooden wand of the goblin shaman. She helped from behind with her ice spells, casting rapidly, though it wasn't of much help. The carapace on the ghoul's body was harder than they had imagined. None of her ice spikes could pierce into it. All the effects the spell caused were only a few dents, which healed rather quickly. But she did succeed in distracting the monster.
On the other hand, Michelle pulled out the golden necklace from her neck and started casting, closing off her eyes. She needed help from the artifact to complete the spell she was preparing.
In the close quarters, Wrik took the lead and attacked immediately at the Ghoul's lower body. He didn't care if he was wasting too much mana. For the first time here, he didn't have to worry about running out of mana.
The sword sliced, almost reaching its bone as it growled out. Blackish liquid flew out of the cut with the awful stench. Wrik twisted his body a bit towards its left side to avoid getting in contact with the poisonous liquid.
The Infector struck its claw at him, which he blocked with his sword on the left with a hanging guard. The impact felt like a train hit him at the moment. His palms went red inside the arm guards.
'It's better to dodge than blocking,' he mused. He took a couple of steps backwards behind the tall monster instantly. While Evan slashed at the thing. His target was the lower body as well.
"Attack its lower body, it's already injured there," Evan shouted as Davin joined him from the other side as well.
Evan's sword got blocked but Davin succeeded in hitting at the same spot where Wrik wounded. This time, it felt less restriction to reach the bones.
The half-ghoul growled in madness. It didn't bother Davin, but thrust a kick towards Evan, which Evan had no time to dodge. It hit him in the abdomen as his body fell three metres away.
The Infector was trying to fight one at a time. But how could Wrik allow that?
Wrik engaged again. He struck with a faint at its right side. His silvery eyes glowed out when he found out that the monster fell for it. The Infector ran its left arm at him when he jerked his sword vertically below the arm and pierced its chest hard.
That wasn't over yet. Wrik twisted his head downwards to dodge the hammering claw. The sword was still struck at its chest. Wrik pierced harder with every bit of his strength as he roared with the monsters. One in passion, while the other in agony.
The sword pierced half the length of a foot inside its chest as it screeched. Then Wrik pulled his sword downwards, making another slash as the cold blade made a vertical scar on its carapace till its abdomen. He retreated half a dozen metres immediately. This was the biggest wound anyone has caused to the ghoul till now.
Wrik gasped for breath. His inside was still raging with mana, though it was considerably less than before. He used a good amount of mana in that last strike, and the result was more than he had expected.
While Wrik took a breath, Tanya attacked the same hole in its chest with her Ice arrows. Though those were not useful before, they turned out to be pretty useful now. The deafening screams were proof of that.
"It only has a beastly intelligence," Wrik said; his vision never left the three feet tall beast. "Attack on its lower body or the spots that were already injured before."
Wrik advanced again; Evan and Davin were on his left and right, respectively. They needed a few dozen seconds more to delay it.
Davin attacked first from the right side with a low swing at its leg while Evan assaulted the other leg as well. But the thing ignored them, leapt towards Wrik with a growling screech. If it was only mad before then now, it's totally out of control.
Wrik blocked the claw with his sword against his right arm. He gritted his teeth harder as he felt the power behind it. He was about to make a turn to slash at its abdomen when he felt another tremor in his arms. The other claw of the thing hammered at his sword.
And the sword broke.
One-third of the sword tip dropped on the ground when the Infector kicked him with all its might. Wrik felt waves of air in his face as he flew dozens of feet away to knock against the wall.
It was faster than before. More painful too. His back, which was already injured from before, snapped with a new cracking sound as he laid against the wall.
Wrik!" Tanya shouted as she defended the thing from approaching him.
A fog of mists condensed in the underground tunnel. Yet it didn't cause any discomfort for Tanya and her companions in their vision. Tanya ignited her innate ability [Mist of Change] at the last moment. Though the mist was quite thick, it wasn't helping much against the ghoul, apart from blinding it.
"It has a good nose," Davin said. He and Evan were doing their best to keep the monster at bay.
"I should thank Ton again for the armour . . ." Wrik coughed out a mouthful of blood and struggled to pick himself up. More than a couple of his ribs were broken, not to mention the impact of hitting the walls. He didn't know if any of his ribs would be left alone if he didn't have this new armour set. "Shit,"
Yet he caught another danger sign coming his way.
Just as he was about to climb up, Wrik desperately rolled sideways as another figure flew towards him with the same momentum he was thrown at.
"Davin, are you still trying to hit me with your body?!" He couldn't help but say, looking at the poor figure of Davin smashed at the same spot.
"I wouldn't . . . cough . . ." Davin said, giving his head a few good shakes. "—If I had any options."
"Are you alright, Pal?" Wrik asked. It appeared that his friend was not as lucky as the last time. "Can you continue?"
Davin focused his gaze by blinking a couple of times. He said, "My head is dizzy . . . but I should be fine."
Wrik looked towards the redhead and noticed weird red and golden runes were forming in front of her in a magic circle. It was quite huge and had about half a metre radius. Her expression was heavy, as she was still closed-eyed, concentrating.
"It looks like the girl is almost finished. Let's go, we have to delay it a bit more." Wrik moved again, both hands on the broken sword. Davin followed him as well. If they didn't finish their work, all be for nothing. And none of them would want that.
The thing was still rampaging. Evan and Tanya were barely keeping it at bay. With a quick exchange of glances, the three of them encircled it while Tanya was at the back.
Wrik advanced recklessly, like before. He already used most of his mana up. Moreover, his sword had lost one-third of its length, he can't play it like before. He and Davin advanced towards it from the front, but didn't attack. Both of them exchanged places as Evan swung his sword at the back of its head, leaping in.
But the huge infector still had its resilience, jerked its arm sideways, twisting its body. The sword was successful at dealing a hit at the back of its neck before it flew away from the impact of the infectors' claw. Even Evan's arms were injured from the impact, but more was yet to come as the Half-Ghoul attacked Evan again.
Most of its attention was on Evan. How could Davin and Wrik miss this chance? Both of them swung their swords lower at its leg, cutting downward. The three-metre-tall infector growled in pain as it kneeled in almost open.
"Girl, it should be a good time." Wrik bellowed as both he and Davin vacated from the infector.
Michelle opened her eyes instantly. Sweat was dripping on her exterior as a hue of scarlet light reflected on her face from the magic circle. Michelle opened her lips and muttered only one word, "Burn."
With that word, the temperature in the tunnel rose as the tunnel became radiant.
The red and golden runic magic circle glowed out in everlasting glory, as blazing red fiery flames charged at the huge infector—kneeling in front of Michelle. In a blink of an eye, the crimson flame caught every part of its body, burning it still as it howled in agony.
"That's a delightful scene to watch," Wrik said. While beside him, Davin nodded in agreement. Evan stood beside them after collecting his sword.
Tanya had an eccentric expression on her face. "What is this spell?" She frowned. It was not something she had seen before.
But the caster of the spell was in the condition to answer her inquiry. Michelle barely kept the magic circle steady. If she did not have the necklace, it would not even be possible.
The blazing crimson flame continued devouring the enormous body of the ghoul as the awful reek lessened up. After half a minute, the flame stopped burning when the ghoul turned into black charcoal.
It broke down into smaller black burned charcoal on the ground.
Every one of them sighed in relief. The hardest thing was over. 'The congratulations notification should appear soon.' Wrik mused inside, as a thin smile appeared on his tensed muscle.
Then he noticed something luminous in the black charcoal. "There's something in it," Wrik said as he approached ashes—the leftover of the ghoul.
He didn't outright pick it up, ran an inspection on it with his innate ability. Who knew what kind of stuff it was? It could be poisonous.
Soon, a blue window appeared in front of him.
[Origin Core
Grade: D.
It's the origin core of the half-ghoul. Very few of the Infectors have an origin core. Its . . .]
Wrik couldn't finish reading, as suddenly he heard a loud 'bang'; his smile tensed to a gloomy glare. His perception told him that the threat was coming his way. Moreover, it was the sound of a firearm.
____________________________
End of the chapter: The Hungry Ghoul.
Next Chapter: End of Phase II.
You know what comes after the end of each phase, REWARDS.
Leave a comment, Power stone, or Review if you like the story. I'll really appreciate it.
Chapter 49: End of Phase-II
A FIREARM FIRED. Wrik's vision turned slow immediately. He could see a small projectile rushing towards him. The slow-motion of the projectile only lasted for a blink of an eye until it totally missed him by a respectful distance. But he found that his heart was racing in madness, it's still didn't calm down.
A golden mana shield appeared in front of him abruptly as Tanya asked, holding the ugly wand. "Are you alright?"
Her eyes were only at him for a brief moment, then she glanced in the direction the shot was fired from. Her emerald eyes turned colder instantly when she noticed the few figures standing there.
The one that fired at Wrik was the hooligan that they met on phrase-I. The one who was after Tanya. Wrik had totally forgotten about these hoodlums.
The interesting thing was that the burly boss was squatting on the ground, as a foot was on the back of his neck. Wrik and others knew who this foot belonged to.
"Now we're even," Aasan said, still holding the neck of the burly man with his foot.
The minions of the boss were bewildered at the scene. They didn't even see how Aasan appeared behind their boss, much less stop it.
Aasan looked around at everyone's exterior. His eyes widened, noticing the charcoal body of the ghoul. He said. "You guys really killed that thing." He then gestured at the one he was holding. "What should I do with him?"
As soon as Aasan said that, an ice spike flew directly at the head of the boss, who was pinned down. The head burst immediately, spurting out blood and grey matters.
It was Tanya; she finished the hoodlum boss saying nothing. Her expression was disgusted, as there's no remorse for the killing.
Wrik sighed. Tanya already gave that guy a chance on the very first day, yet he had to throw it away. The mobs that came with the dead guy fled frantically, seeing the pitiful figure of their boss. Tanya didn't shoot further, nor did any of them.
Then something intriguing happened again. The figure of Aasan, who was pinning the boss, turned into smoke before disappearing. It was as if he was never present there.
"Young lady, you could have warned." Aasan's voice sounded out again, but it was from a few tens of metres away. Two figures approached with the usual pace, one with a leg injury—Aasan, he didn't have the colour he had a moment ago when he was pinning down the boss. His face was pale, with weary eyes. While the other figure was the mercenary man—Laman, following behind like a good soldier.
They were not the only ones blessed with innate ability.
Tanya said nothing, dissolved the shield in front of Wrik. Her expression was still cold.
Nobody took the care to say anything as well before Wrik said. "Thank you for your help there . . ."
"It's nothing." Aasan shook his head. "As I said before, I owed you one from before."
Wrik nodded, but he didn't get up. Contrary to getting up, he sat there, sighing. He was extremely tired, with the borrowing of someone else's Maha mana to confront the evil thing—it took away most of his mental and physical energy. He glanced at the stone-like thing in his arm to try his inspection on when all the notification that was stored while he was busy in the fight flooded in with the congratulations message about completing the mission.
[Auxiliary system Mana Circuit progressed from 22.3% to 47.6% from channelling an overwhelming amount of mana.]
[Magic force increased by 2.]
[Perception increased by 3.]
[Agility increased by 2.]
[Strength increased by 2.]
[Mana application advanced to (D-). Now you can use Mana sense more effortlessly. Mana Discharge advanced as well, though it's far away from being adept in it.]
That was not all. A bigger window appeared, congratulating all of them.
[Congratulations, User Wrik Everknight. You, with your companion, succeeded in completing your quests.]
[You succeeded in saving the life of your companion An Byul. 1000 Omega credits are added to the interface.]
Only a thousand credits for all the stuff they had done, Wrik felt disappointment with the OMEGANET. He was not the only one as he heard Davin's grunt.
"Wait a few moments. It isn't over yet," Tanya said. And she was right. As another window appeared in front of everyone.
[OMEGA announces the disclosure of the Phase-II of the Trial for special case #x013xxxx.]
[The completion of the main quest: Cleaning out the Infector nest is incomplete.]
[Correction: with special case #x013xxxx the Quest is considered as complete.]
[Rewards would be announced shortly.]
[Rewards for completing the quest would be given in the amount of contribution each user gave.
Quest: Cleaning out the Infector nest.
Contribution list:
Michelle Emmens - 27%
Wrik Everknight - 18%
An Byul - 14%
Evan Welsh - 10%
Kevin Keplin - 8%
Tanya Syfinn - 8%
… ]
[10000 Omega Credits are awarded to User Wrik Everknight for being part of the main quest.]
[18000 Omega Credits are awarded to User Wrik Everknight for his contribution to the Quest.]
[2850 Omega Credits are awarded for Killing 24 Infectors.]
[Additional 5000 Omega Credits are awarded for miscellaneous tasks.]
[Omega announced the completion of the Phase-II of the Trial of Maha Tower.]
[Teleportation circle will be generated shortly.]
Wrik gave a long sigh. He reread everything in the Window again before saying. "Is it finally over?"
"Seems like it," Davin said as he sat next to Wrik.
While on the other hand, Tanya shouldered Michelle—who was exhausted after the humongous flame spell she cast. Aasan and the other man still stood there with no words. The gangs of hoodlums had fled for their lives after witnessing the death of their boss. Nobody took the care to stop them. As most of them are extremely fatigued and wouldn't want to get their hands dirty with these few minions. Nonetheless, there's a good chance most of them would die, as there are still hundreds of Infectors running amok in this dungeon. Well, they might get a chance if the teleportation circle arrives before the Infectors.
Wrik opened his status window to have a better look at the state of his body now.
[ User: Wrik Everknight
Class: None.
Omega Rank: E (Omega origin).
Affiliation: None.
Alias: Shiny Eyes.
Private Attributes :
Strength: 19.
Agility: 23.
Constitution: 13.
Vitality: 16.
Perception: 38.
Intelligence: 29.
Magic Power: 24.
Luck: 47.
Free stat points: 1
N.B: An adult normal male's basic average stat is 5.
ABILITIES (2/4) :
1. Eye of Insights: (Grade: Mysterious) (Rank: B- )
2. Maha Mana Applications: (Rank: D-)
Mana sense: D
Mana Discharge: D-
Mana circuit (Auxiliary): 47.6%
Techniques and skills :
>Swordsmanship: D-
Achievements (0):
OMEGA credits: 38120; OMEGA Points : 0
N.B: With the over-exhaustion of the Innate ability, the user's mental health is precarious. Advising the user to use [Eye Of Insights] with caution or it might leave some long-term effect. Apart from mental health, a few ribs were broken that needed a proper health checkup . . . Advising to check it up as soon as possible at the medical facility at the sanctuary.]
His Omega Rank still hadn't advanced. Maybe it still needed something else. Most of his attributes had doubled since his arrival at the Trial, while his Mana applications advanced too with the swordsmanship. Then Wrik read the last para in the window and sighed. He took a mental note to do a checkup as soon as possible, couldn't let the health shake his progress.
"So what's the third phase about?" Wrik asked, finding the silence a bit awkward.
"No need to worry about that, I heard it's the easiest of the three phases," Tanya said. She had similarly sat down with the redhead girl beside them. The red-haired girl, Michelle, seemed almost drowsy, leaned against Tanya, closing off her eyes.
"Is she alright?" He couldn't help but ask.
Michelle was about to open her mouth, but Tanya answered before her. "She needed a bit of rest. The spell didn't damage her, only seized all her Maha mana. She would be fine after the Maha Mana regenerates."
"Good to know," Wrik nodded, then asked again. "You're good as well?"
"I should be the least of the ones you would be worried about," Tanya said. "I hope Kevin and the other girl were not badly injured."
Wrik nodded. As far as he had seen, both Kevin and An Byul were injured severely. Especially An Byul. She was at the death door when they reached her with the injury at the head and the berserk mana running amok inside her body. Wrik could only hope that the medical facility in the sanctuary was good enough for the treatment.
"Don't worry, there's no threat to their lives. It's only a matter of time until they heal up." Tanya said, noticing his worry. Then she looked past him, to a far corner, and said. "Looks like we're finally leaving this hellhole."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
0 Power
stone 
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