Capítulo 17: Not a Fairytale
Fearing more of losing this opportunity given by the entity, Samael lets out a fearless battle cry as he charges at the Imps hovering in the air. It's said that this trial focuses on his willpower more than his battle prowess, so he must prove himself worthy.
Like eagles stalking their prey, the Imps watch him while growling menacingly.
Soon enough three of them descended from above and flap their wings straight at the charging Samael, their demonic eyes are fixed on him and their protruding tongues are drooling at the sight of the coming meal.
Growl!
Not even equipped with a weapon, Samael uses his bare hands and tackles one of the Imps.
Even though he doubted that he was able to overpower the Imp and actually take it down, he was surprised to find that he was strong enough to tackle the Imp as the two of them crashes on the ground and screeches away.
Despite managing to do so, the Imp's tail whipped his face and knock him to the side.
Samael feels a burning sting on his cheek from that whip but he quickly recovers and saw the Imp he tackled earlier already lunging towards him. But even though the sight is horrifying, he steeled himself and kept his will unwavering.
Pointing his index finger at the Imp, he then chanted, "Magic Bullet!"
Immediately after he chanted that, a gray ball of mana appears at the tip of his index finger. It was one of the famous neutral spells that all rising mages that has just stepped into the path of power would need to learn and master.
Not only it's an offensive spell, but this Magic Bullet spell also trains their concentration.
Even though Mages gain their own affinity to a certain element, there's a requirement in doing an elemental spell. Novice Apprentices that had just awakened their affinity would need to learn to feel and control mana properly before learning any elemental spell.
Novice Apprentices can train themselves by mastering different kinds of Neutral Spells.
Only when the Novice Apprentice can use three or more Neutral Spells can they be considered a Senior Apprentice and allowed to try and learn an elemental spell. When they can use their very first elemental spell is only when they can call themselves an actual Mage.
Samael has been stuck at Senior Apprentice, he was never been able to use an elemental spell.
But despite not being able to properly use an elemental spell, he doesn't stop training and can even use four Neutral Spells instead of stopping at three just like many other mages. Magic Bullet is one of them, a spell that fired a concentrated ball of mana.
As the Magic Bullet gathers at the tip of Samael's index finger, a change happened.
Contrary to the usual Magic Bullet spell that is colored gray, the natural color of mana, Samael saw that the ball of mana at the tip of his index finger slowly turned from gray to purple. It catches him by surprise before the Magic Bullet flew and cuts through the air.
Swoosh!
Bam!
The backlashing force of the spell propels Samael backward as it's stronger than usual.
On top of that the Magic Bullet which is now purple in color connects with the Imp's chest and sends it crashing away, growling with a painful screech. The Imp keeps on flying away before it crashes near the edge of the island.
Looking at this with his butt against the ground, Samael was stunned for a brief moment.
"I- It's never been that strong before..." Samael mutters to himself.
But unlike Samael who was stunned by the changes that happened to his Magic Bullet spell, the other two Imps rushed to his back without mourning their comrade that was sent crashing away. In a panic, Samael tried to defend himself. By the time he stands back up, it was already too late.
Splash!
"Huaakh!" Samael vomited a mouthful of blood as he can feel a stinging pain in his chest.
Looking down at his chest while blood keeps on drizzling down from the corner of his mouth, he can find the two Imps managed to stab him with their claws. The rigid and scaly surface of their claws easily tore through his flesh and bone.
Samael then falls to his knees when the two Imps pull out their claws from his body.
A disturbing amount of blood came out of the punctured holes in his chest, he can feel the strength inside of him gradually decrease as more blood gushed out of his body and creates a pool of blood around him.
Instead of finishing Samael off, the Imps started laughing at him in ridicule.
Each of them is not restraining themselves and lets out their laughs, pointing at Samael mockingly.
Their laughter brings back the picture of his burning town that was slaughtered by those mages that are unafraid of committing sins, he gritted his teeth but he simply doesn't have any strength left to retaliate.
Slowly his vision is starting to get blurry, but his eyes then caught sight of an Imp.
Samael saw the injured Imp that had been hit by the enhanced Magic Bullet. It pulled itself up, exposing only a minor wound on its chest indicating that even with the enhanced Magic Bullet, the Imp was still strong enough to survive.
Not long after that, he saw the injured Imp roar and charge forward in rage.
Clearly, the Imp doesn't appreciate that Samael managed to wound it and intends to repay the wound ten times over. The last thing that he saw in his blurred vision was the Imp slashing at him with its claws before everything went dark.
It's unknown how much time has passed, but Samael suddenly woke up gasping for air.
Jolting his eyes awake as if he had woken up from a nightmare, he reaches out to the sky with his hand while his chest heaved up and down as he tries to catch his breath. Realizing that he was not dead, he grabbed his chest and finds that the punctured holes were gone.
'H-How am I still alive...?' Samael thought, his eyebrows dipping into confusion.
Samael can still remember that the injured Imp slashed at him with its claws and definitely decapitated his head, he was supposed to be dead. But as he surveys the place, he realizes that he's still in the same place as before.
Following that, he also caught sight familiar a dozen flame embers appearing in the air.
Upon seeing this scenery all over again, he quickly understands the situation he's in right now. 'So that's what the Anti-System means by immortality, I'll keep on being brought back to life until I've proven myself worthy...'
Realizing that fact, Samael slowly stands up while still rubbing his chest in pain.
Even though his condition has recovered back to normal again, the pain from the punctured holes was still lingering in his body. As it seems, the pain of his death would still linger on even when he got brought back to life.
Just as he was about to straighten his back, his body suddenly froze.
"Samael..."
Samael heard his name being called and instantly recognize the voice it belongs to, he slowly looks up at the spot in front of him before his eyes widened realizing that there was a woman standing there, looking at him with a kind and nurturing nature.
No matter how many years it has been, he would never forget this woman. "Mother..."
Completely outside of his expectation, Samael can see his mother, Diana standing across the island with a tender expression. "You need to keep on living... bring forth God's wrath upon them. Do not show any mercy, punish those people that shield themselves behind God's name"
Diana chanted her last words to her children which spark a fierce lightning inside Samael's heart.
But before he could do anything, an Imp appeared and landed right behind her and plunged its sharp devilish claws deep into her back. Samael's lips quivered as he watched, feeling all too familiar with what he saw next. The Imp flew up to Diana's head level and grabbed her by the head, lifting her from the ground.
Following this horrifying sight was the laughter of the Imps again, filling Samael's ears with ridicule.
"Weak human... can't even save your own mother, did you?"
Upon hearing what the Imp said, Samael's eyes were drowned in bloodthirst as he charges forward like a lunatic. Casting a Neutral Spell called Dash, his movement becomes faster as he intends to slaughter the Imp which makes him witness this traumatic sight all over again.
It was a scene that keeps on visiting him in his sleep, he doesn't need to be reminded again.
"RAARGHH!!" Samael shouted hysterically, anger is instill deep in his voice.
Pulling his right arm back and clenching his right hand into a fist, he intends to punch the Imp. Samael even uses the Mana Punch spell, showing that he had put everything that he has into this punch that he was about to do.
But instead of the gray mana that enveloped his fist, it was the purple energy again.
The veins inside Samael's right arm were glowing with this weird purple energy, replacing the usual feature of the Mana Punch spell that cloaked the caster's fist with a gray mana that increases the punching power.
Even though Samael was drowned in rage, the Imp didn't move from its spot and kept grinning.
Just before Samael's fist cloaked with purplish energy was about to connect with the Imp's mocking face, two other Imps tackled him and held him by his arms, preventing him from doing anything. No matter what he does, he was not able to break free.
Striding forward nonchalantly, the Imp stands in front of Samael with the same devilish smile.
"What do you think will happen...? You somehow manage to defeat us with anger alone?" the Imp chuckled, laughing at the fact that Samael thought he could do something. "Don't be mistaken, this is not a fairytale. In the harsh world of reality, only people that are willing to do anything it takes can become strong. You, on the other hand... is destined to be weak!"
Status de energia semanal
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Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder