Chapter 43: Vol. 1 – Chapter 43 – The End of the Menace

Vol. 1 - Chapter 43 - The End of the Menace

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With a rally coming from Mathias, Vek saw these human legs releasing black feathers from his steps once again. He tried to keep up with him using his small yet agile body and some unique traits from the kobold ancestors, the dragons.

Mathias, grasping tightly on Ragnius' shaft, suddenly stopped to avoid an unexpected claw strike, later making Vek some hand signs with his left hand.

Vek understood the hand sign and split up with Mathias going on the opposite side of the monster and waiting patiently for Mathias next move. At the same time, Mathias that had all the aggro of the fight on him, began avoiding the strikes of the bear monster.

*ROAR*

Another roar released by the monster sent a shockwave in his direction, causing damage that made him enter a dangerous mark, having only 1430 health.

'I think after one more hit, I will drink another flask. I shouldn't waste any resources on this fight.'

Taking in the shockwave, Mathias pushed ahead, getting right in the face of the monster unleashing a combo formed by [Piercing Rain] and [Arcane Missile].

The first attack of the spear was dodged by the bear, who visibly tried to avoid getting hit, however, after escaping the first spear attack, the other two marked the resilient body, causing [176] and [267] before taking a critical magic hit that knocked back the beast.

[You have dealt 1591 damage to the target.]

Nevertheless, the monster bounced quickly and arrived in front of Mathias with red eyes, slashing with his bloody claws, taking him unprepared for such fast speed.

"[Arcane Barrier]"

Barely casting the spell on time, the white-purple light began enveloping him into a cocoon which oscillated a lot when being hit by the monster, which pushed him back. However, as his body was pushed by this strong attack, the barrier also released a shockwave that hit back the bear.

[You have suffered 1172 damage.]

[Arcane Barrier reflected 367 damage to the target]

Vek took advantage of the moment the monster was pushed back by Mathias's barrier and quickly did a flurry of strikes hitting the bear 5 times before retreating just in time, the monster hit the ground exactly in the position the kobold was attacking.

"Phew, I almost got hit by this beast."

As he was retreating, the kobold saw the beast roar in his direction, sending a shockwave that blasted him, hitting the cave's wall, making him grit his teeth in pain from the impact. From there, he saw 3 projectiles being sent by Fayrene instantly, which made the bear react by changing priorities and charging at her.

As the monster did that, it dodged all of the attacks, which had Fayrene look surprised, preparing herself by activating the barrier. Readying herself for the attack, she saw Fayrene appear behind the bear, moving with the quick steps of [Raven's Movements] and dashing underneath this monster, he made a spin attack, and once he dropped the monster down and escaped from its heavy body, he thrusted the spear which created a bleeding wound.

Roaring creating a powerful shockwave targeting Mathias, he just received a cold snort from the spearman who stabbed Ragnius on the ground, creating a beam to support himself before sending an 'Arcane Missile'.

[You have dealt 673 damage to the target.]

"[Arcane Blast]"

[Your party member Fayrene has dealt 1587 damage to Iljnoks]

Mathias heard Fayrene say that then seconds later, a rune appeared on the bear's body, which later exploded after colliding with a white-purple light cast at great intensity. Releasing another pained roar, the bear moved his hand to squash Mathias, who drank an HP flask to heal the shockwave damage received.

Once again, back to full health, he casted 'Raven's Movement' and took Ragnius from the ground, he escaped with only being grazed by the monster's claw, which caused a heavy wound on his side.

[You have suffered 634 damage.]

Fighting the pain sent by his pain receptors, he unleashed a [Piercing Rain], which the beast failed to dodge in time because of Mathias fast attack speed, which was 15% higher than normal after fighting for 10 minutes the monster, causing [197], [239] and [215] damage.

With only 75 MP left, he took a deep breath in his chest and casted [Mana Hunger], which began recovering his lost mana, slowly refiling him even in combat with the most needed resource, mana, increasing his mana by 37 per second, but this wasn't enough for what he had in mind.

With his clear green eyes, which began shining with white-purple light and with his 'Mana Core' starting to shine, he casted a spell which he struggled for so long to learn.

"[Envocation]"

[You have lost 25 stamina as a prerequisite of activating the spell. You reached a low margin of your Stamina.]

[Stamina: 35/120]

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[Envocation]

Rating: Legendary

Channelling the mana of the world for 10 seconds increases your mana regeneration by 950%.

Skill Consumption: 15 STA

Skill Cooldown: 30 minutes

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Not minding those warning notifications, he looked around himself, seeing his surroundings change right in front of his eyes with a veil of pure mana coming from the world making his way around. The mana core began spinning like it was a fusion reactor that received fuel to work at full capacity.

"Let's end this beast, Fayrene. Have you gathered enough for your mana?"

"After you, dear." responded Fayrene, who began channelling her mana, making her long shirt sleeves start to disintegrate under the effect of the arcane magic that was focused on her hands.

Mathias also began to channel his mana into his hands and, each second releasing one 'Arcane Missile' as if he entered into a special realm where the casting felt natural without any restrictions.

He just has to think of the spell in his mind and simply push out the mana accumulated in his hands.

*ROARR*

The bear monster was roaring madly, evading the missiles that kept being shot at him. In the first 5 seconds, he found himself successful but then after one missile hit him, his evasion rate dropped down.

Each second was a true hell for the monster who created on his own, a hellish life for other lifeforms of this Gravelmark Mountain.

After 10 seconds of activating and pressuring the monster down with his continuous casting of spells, he returned to a conservative state keeping the beast at bay with his spear attacks that placed the monster into a desperate state.

[Iljnoks - 4580 HP]

Keeping his distance and acting upon its primal instincts, the bear looked at the exit of the cave, and by releasing an enraged roar, suggesting his intention, almost as if he told them, "We will meet again, and when we meet again, I will end you." type of roar.

"You wish to escape? After all this work I put here? No chance, monster."

"[Raven's Movement]"

Activating his movement speed buff, he dashed toward the bear, but he noticed the beast also used a speed ability which boosted his own, unleashing everything he had in his arsenal to escape this encounter with Mathias, Fayrene and Vek.

"Fuck, he is faster than me? No way!"

Fayrene was focusing on casting her spell, but when she saw the monster escaping, her aura started to diminish until she heard Mathias shout at her.

"Keep channelling your spell. This monster will not escape."

Nodding her head, she began increasing the rhythm she was pushing mana in her hands, and while Mathias was running after the monster, Vek appeared from nowhere, jumping from a hole in a wall directly on the beast's back starting to stab its back.

*ROARR*

The bear was slowed down by this sneak attack of the kobold and sensing Mathias, it began shaking around, trying to get Vek off its back.

It was until it stopped moving, unleashing another beastly thunderous roar which created the biggest shockwave ever, which had Vek fragile body start erupting in blood with the sound of bones being heard even by Fayrene that gritted her teeth.

Mathias was stopped in place, anchoring down with Ragnius, and could only gaze as the kobold dropped from the beast back like a dead body.

"Stupid kobold, have I asked you to do this? You just killed yourself in such a manner?"

There was anger in Mathias's voice as he asked those questions to himself, and with a cold gaze returned at the bear which seemed to no longer try to escape, it released another mad roar which blasted at Mathias, almost sending him flying if not for his anchoring.

Then with the bear almost reaching where he was fighting the shockwave, he saw the monster raise its large claws with the intention to end him, similar to the past when he was exhausted after fighting the 'Dire Wolf'.

"Hah, you wish to end me? You despise me for trying to kill you, monster? That is called Karma, you damned monster, who told you to pick a fight with a crazy person?"

"[ARCANE MISSILE]"

"[ARCANE MISSILE]"

"[ARCANE MISSILE]"

Sending out three spells while he was holding with only one hand on Ragnius, looking like a flag post moving in the wind, it had the monster stop its momentum and dodge the attacks.

He found himself lacking enough mana to cast more missiles, even though his mana was still constantly recovering.

When the monster got in his face and attacked him, he released his hand from Ragnius and was instantly propelled by the shockwave, crashing into the wall of the cave and with his eyes wide open, he began laughing like he found the entire situation amusing.

"Hahaha, you think I will get myself killed when I am way smarter than you damned beast? You need more work to end me! Goodbye and see you next life. Next time only, I will suffice in killing you."

Saying that Mathias sent a bang with his fingers from where he was, fully knowing that Fayrene ended channelling her spell that she later sent as the monster was roaring toward him.

"[Arcane Orb]"

With a large orb formed by pure magic that illuminated the dark cave into a bright white-purple light, it quickly moved toward the monster, and once it made contact, it got disintegrated, turning into gray light, followed by the notifications of how much damage Fayrene has dealt with that spell and the notifications of the monster's defeat.

[Your party member Fayrene has dealt a hit of 5570 damage to Iljnoks]

[Congratulations, your party has defeated 'Mutated Bear - Iljnoks' ending the chaos and the instability he brought in the biosphere of Gravelmark Heights]

[All party members received the title 'Menace Hunter']

[You have received 300,905 experience]

[You have acquired 500 gold]

['Fallen Iljnoks Hat' has been acquired]

['Iljnoks Dagger Claw' has been acquired.]

[Blessed Weapon Enhancement Stone (5) has been acquired]

[Blessed Armor Enhancement Stone (6) has been acquired]

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[You can't level up]

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He simply couldn't level up even though he probably had enough exp to reach the highest level in the entire game, but this didn't mean that Fayrene was part of the rule since she was enveloped by the lights of levelling up.

From where he was inside the wall, he looked at the party status and could see that Vek was still alive with his HP back to the full because of his levelling up with the amount of EXP Vek received according to the contribution to the fight he placed. In doing so, he raised up to 32 from level 30.

Fayrene was different, along with Mathias were the ones dealing the most damage to the boss monster, and she was even the one doing the finishing blow. Her level raised to a whopping 35, from her equal level with his own, 24.

[Fayrene: - Level 35]

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"Congratulations, dear. You succeeded in casting the spell you have worked for so long and sacrificed so much." said Mathias, who started to get up from where he was to walk toward Fayrene, whose right-hand sleeve got disintegrated by the magic she channelled in her arms.

The scars on her arm were like thunder marks which released a white-purple light as if they were her magic veins.

Fayrene was still euphoric about her achievements and growth and didn't see that the arm she was so scared to show was revealed in full display. Only after the mana in her body started to calm did she discover about her arm being revealed.

"AHHHH!!! NOO! DON'T LOOK AT ME, MATHIAS!" screamed Fayrene trying to hide with all price her arm.

Nevertheless, Mathias arrived closer to her and embraced her, saying to her in a calm voice.

"Shhh, shhh. Calm down. Everything will be fine. I am not scared. Why should you be afraid of how you look when I don't mind it?" asked Mathias with a warm voice while cradling Fayrene in his embrace.

"I CAN'T! IT IS TOO MONSTROUS! GET ME THE BANDAGES!" cried out Fayrene while in his embrace, trembling a lot.

Still cradling her softly, in doing so, also hiding her arm from her, he caressed her back softly, asking her with a joking tone. "Where is the monster? I don't see anything deranged with your arm. Show me what is monstrous about it."

Feeling his warmth and hearing his calming words, she murmured to herself. "The arm is hideous. That is the monster."

Hearing her murmur, he continued with a joking approach. "Will it bite me? Tell me so I know when to put it in its place."

She cried out while hugging him, slowly she started to calm down while assisted by Mathias's calm and warm words, along with his stupid jokes.

Still having her in his embrace, he said to her. "You better don't run from me just because you are scared. Let me see for myself what is so hideous about the arm. Hah, to think it would make my Grand Arcanist so scared."

"I will not *Snif*." said Fayrene while hugging him before she was kissed on the forehead by him.

Breaking his hug after kissing her, he moved back, only after Fayrene allowed him, and took her right arm in his hand, which was still giving off some white-purple light from the scar, looking at it carefully.

While he was doing that, Fayrene had her eyes closed, trembling a bit.

He could see the scar of her first failed attempt at using the spell she just used, 'Arcane Orb', running from her shoulder straight to her forearm. This thunderous scar healed well, just as Gabrils mentioned, yet now they looked more like runes in front of his eyes.

'Gabrils sure spent a lot of his powers to close up such a wound, but this is all that matters, no infections, no dead skin, only the marks which look more magic than I expected. However, this is a fantasy world. The cures are all out there. Anything can be treated in a fantasy world, this is 'Satisfy' for God sake.'

"It has healed beautifully. Come open your eyes, Fay, and look at my face."

Reluctantly to open them, Fayrene did as Mathias told her, and once she met her eyes with the scarred right arm, her expression paled a bit, but when she looked at Mathias' calm expression, who didn't show any repulsion.

"Fayrene, you need to be brave. You can't always shut down when facing this event. Your arm has no problems, only this mark, but looking at it closely, it seems quite beautiful. Mysterious and magical. Don't you think so, Vek?"

"Lord, you are right. The Mistress is magically blessed. Even my ancestors, the Dragons, might lack compared to how pure her mana is. Yours is the same Lord, but still lacking compared to Mistress."

"Buzz off, I didn't ask you for that. Also, glad to see you are still alive and kicking."

"Haha, Lord, to be honest, I was just about to meet my ancestors, but suddenly I felt envigored."

"I see. Good for you, I guess. Now don't disturb me. We'll talk later." said Mathias waving his left hand at the kobold, who shut up and waited calmly seated on the ground, watching the couple with curious eyes.

Fayrene, who heard both Mathias and the kobolds who had his own unique perspective, she felt a bit better, but her trauma was still large, filling her with insecurities and fears, making her ask Mathias.

"Really? Are you not disgusted?"

Caressing the arm, he chuckled a bit. "Even if it was a monster, as you call it, I wouldn't mind it. However, this isn't the case here."

Feeling the tickling of his touch on the scars, she took her arms away and watched it carefully. With all the encouraging words Mathias told her, she started to see the arm in a different mirror.

"Thank you for being with me in these moments and also giving me the chance to test myself."

After saying that, she went back into his embrace and kissed him on the lips, following a passionate kiss between the two for quite a while. Vek started applauding the two, saying to the two.

"Lord, Mistress, you two really look well together. Right, I never asked for your name. How may I call you two?"

The two ignored the kobold as they continued kissing until Fayrene stopped Mathias, and with some cute coughs, she turned to look embarrassed at the kobold, asking him.

"Little friend, you asked something not too long?"

"Hah, you are still weak, my Grand Arcanist. The kobold asked us for our names. Let me introduce myself first. Vek, you can call me Mathias, don't go with the Lord this, Lord that. I am not even a noble."

"Tsk, you jerk, stop teasing me. Of course, I remember what he asked. Vek, I am Fayrene."

Hearing both of them introduce themselves, Vek, who was on his feet, walked closer to them and dropped on his knees, bowing hard to them, before saying with emotions in his voice.

"Lord Mathias, Lady Fayrene, you have my appreciation for killing that monster. You don't know how much it means for my tribe and me that the monster who created hell for us kobolds to disappear."

"Raise up, Vek. We didn't do this for your kobold clansmen. I have a history with this monster. He killed me when I just started adventuring in the wilderness."

"He killed you!?? Are you a ghost?"

Fayrene giggled when seeing how obvious the kobold was about outlanders, compared to her, who knew quite a lot from what Mathias taught and told her.

"Not really. Anyway, is your tribe living on this mountain, right? Do the small skeletons inside the cave belong to your people? This is also the reason you don't wish to tell us more about your tribe."

"That… Lord Mathias, you really are smart like an elf. I really don't wish to endanger my clansmen, but that is right. Those skeletons belong to the champions of my clan who adventured to slay the monster lurking inside this cave."

"I see. This means you are also one of those champions, not truly a scout, right?"

"... Indeed, Lord Mathias. My apologies for lying." confessed Vek, whose party information changed, turning to [Gravelmark Kobold Champion - Vek].

"Nothing to worry about. If doing so protects your people, it is understandable. We will not linger here anymore because I want to climb the mountain and see the Saharan River stream for myself." said Mathias as he held Fayrene right hand and turned to walk toward the cave exit.

"Wait! I can guide you to the stream. Let me do at least this for you, Mathias."

"Hmm, fine. You probably know this place better than me, so tag in."

With a nod of his head, Vek quickly dashed toward Mathias and Fayrene, taking the lead as he guided them, and along the way, he received a notification.

[Your affinity with Vek has risen by 15 after clearing the instance 'Mutated Bear Den' and requisite of not looking for Gravelmark Kobold Tribe]

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'So the cave had the entrance toward the kobold tribe lair. They are known for being able to dig in the mountains and build their homes underground. Quite the useful race for mischievous things, such as finding Metal Ores, building a canal system, maintaining it and so on. I'll look more on the web about Kobolds. Who knows if I will ever require their help.' thought Mathias to himself, as he walked after the red kobold, climbing the mountain, following the river's streamline.

As he climbed the mountain, he reached a levelled part of the mountain, which had a large lake waiting for him, with the surrounding area being decorated by jade-like greenfields, protected by the ancient trees that offered shade and a base for the land.

"Wow, this is so beautiful, Mat. I never imagined there could be a place inside a mountain with a lake and such scenery. Come, let's go to the lakeshore and relax a bit." said Fayrene while dragging Mathias with her toward the lake.

"Michael, you really didn't scam me. Even when being drunk, you could give me the correct location for a place worth spending years. Hey Vek, mind your business for a bit. Go sleep or whatever."

Hearing this, Vek nodded his kobold head and moved to the shade of one ancient tree and closed his eyes, rather quickly dozing off.

Mathias, who was dragged by Fayrene to the lake, didn't resist and soon found himself looking at the crystal clear water and taking inside his nostrils the fragrance of the water, which instantly had him say to Fayrene.

"This is a salt lake. Interesting, so this mountain is a salt one."

"A salt lake? Is the water really salty?" asked Fayrene, hearing Mathias say that, and filled with curiosity, she lowered herself to place her hand inside the water, later taking a taste which made her spit back to the lake.

"Bahh, so salty. Yaks, I will never try it again." spewed Fayrene, some saliva with a weird expression on her face.

Mathias laughed out loud, and taking his boots off his feet and raising his trousers to the knees, he placed his feet inside the lake and turned to look at Fayrene, saying to her.

"The temperature is quite good. Try it yourself."

Still skeptical about what she should do, in the end, she followed what Mathias did and took the boots off her feet and raised her trousers, revealing her delicate feet, which she submerged in the salty water.

"Ohh my, ohh my, this feeling is quite pleasant." mentioned Fayrene as she was moving her feet in the water, holding Mathias hands with her right one, which was revealed basking in the sunshine.

Mathias started telling Fayrene about all kinds of random stuff while being accompanied by the music created by the flowing river stream not too far from where they were until he reached the part where he told her that the salty water might have a beneficial effect on her scar.

"Really?? This salty water help my scar? But I don't know how to swim. I can only stay with my legs inside." asked Fayrene, while Mathias just told her about the stories of older people in his country going to salt lakes to treat their illnesses.

"Here, I can also teach you how to swim."

With that, he took off his clothes, remaining with only his underwear, made his yours truly from some cotton fabric, making Fayrene turn embarrassed at this unexpected side.

"What are you doing?? Ahhh, put some clothes on you."

"Not a chance. I don't wish to scrub them of salt later on. See you later." saying that, he jumped into the lake, splashing Fayrene on her face and body.

"MATHIAS!!" screamed Fayrene panicking when she noticed that Mathias didn't return to the surface.

It was then that he appeared back, floating on his back and laughing at her while blowing his nose.

"Damn, this is saltier than I expected. Is something wrong, my Grand Arcanist? Did you get scared I would have gotten to the other world?"

"YOU JERK! STUPID! JERK!" shouted Fayrene from the distance, splashing some water in his direction but falling to reach him, until she stopped as if a lightbulb got lighted in her head.

Mathias's face turned sour when he noticed what this crazy lady of his tried to pull and immediately told her while waving his hands.

"NOOOO! Don't do it! You'll shake around the salt in the water, and it is bad for the environment. Be good. I'll teach you how to swim."

After he said that, he began to swim back to the surface and stop closer to Fayrene, awaiting for her courage to build up. While that was happening, he shouted toward the kobold, asking him something Fayrene had no clue about.

"VEK, WHERE IS THE BLACK MUD WHICH STINKS! I KNOW THERE MIGHT BE SOME AROUND HERE."

The kobold opened his eyes, and looking at Mathias, he walked toward another part of the lake, and later he returned with all his hands holding black mud, which scared Fayrene into retreating, asking with a disgusted expression, Mathias.

"What's that black mud? AHHH, what are you doing??"

"Mineral rich black mud is good stuff for the body. This is what I was thinking about when referring to the healing properties of the lake. Bring more Vek, hehe, we'll have the lady also tag in." said Mathias after getting on the surface, taking some of the mud from Vek's hand spreading on his body, before having Vek do his body.

[You discovered the healing properties of the Gravelmark Black Mud, receiving a rise of all stats by 15 points.]

'Hah, I have to get my hands on this mountain at all costs when the live version kicks in. Good that I know Lord Juander, it will be easy to approach him with an offer to buy the mountain once I have money.'

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