Chapter 16: Chapter 16: The Next Big Step

As soon as Emil began to cast Negative Void once more, his assumption was proven correct. Each of the flame boars instantly snapped their heads and looked straight at him. With no hesitation, they kicked up the dirt as they charged. It would only take seconds for them to close the gap.

That was precious time he couldn’t afford to spare on an empowered version of the spell. Emil was left with little choice but to just use the base version. Weakened by the initial blow, the largest boar was the slowest and behind the others. With only a split second to aim, he fired at the teens running close together.

-10 Mana

However, right before the spell could hit its intended targets, they attempted to swerve around it. One teen was still partially hit in the side, while the injured adult was too slow. The Void caught it in its front leg, forcing the beast to fall mid-charge and crash into the ground. But as for the other two teen boars, they managed to completely dodge it and avoid taking any damage.

“Oh gods!” That was all Emil could get out. He attempted to jump to the left and get out of the way. But as they ran past him, a wave of heat crashed against his body. The grass and twigs in their path had been completely reduced to ash.

His body slammed into the dirt with a thud, knocking the air out of him. But he had no time to rest and recover. As soon as he glanced at them, he saw that the boars were already turning around for another charge. He rushed to scramble back up to his feet. Emil tried to quickly think of what he could do. There wasn’t enough time to cast another Negative Void, so he had to do something else.

But before he could even think of what to do for them, a sudden flash of light almost blinded him. From behind him, a wave of fire just narrowly missed him. All the snow around them had already melted from the radiant heat. But the boars must have also been hot enough to dry the brush, because that attack set them aflame. Emil couldn’t afford to take his eyes off the charging pair, but he knew it must have been from the third teen. His predicament had now turned from horrible to worse.

On one side were tusks and on the other were flames. And now, he had gotten himself caught in between both. He cursed himself for his arrogance, for thinking that this was a good idea in any way. How could he have been so stupid?

The pair came in for their second charge. Once again, Emil attempted to jump out of the way. But this time, he was just a fraction too slow as one of the tusks slashed the back of his calf. He had to hold back a scream of pain as he hit the ground, holding his leg tightly. He took his hand off and tried to quickly stand back up. But when he looked down at his shaking palm, it was already covered in a sick mixture of mud and blood.

Emil stumbled back as his head felt woozy. He looked up, and could see the reflection of the fire in the eyes of the boars. Their gazes seemed to gleam with hate as they pawed at the ground. They grunted and all three began to circle around him.

While in the meantime, the heavily injured but still alive adult was rolling around as it squealed with pain. He had been the aggressor, but now, he had quickly turned into prey. And they were fully aware of that fact.

Emil’s heart pounded in his chest, his pulse roared in his ears. His teeth chattered as he frantically glanced around at the boars. His injured leg felt like it might just give out from under him at any second. What could he possibly do now? How could he survive this?

“No!” Emil yelled out, his voice echoing through the woods. “I won’t die to some pigs, I refuse!” Panic and fear turned into anger. He felt enraged at himself for his own idiocy and weakness. But more than that, he was furious at whatever being had decided his fate. At whichever of the gods or any other being that dictated this as his destiny. If they wanted him to be killed here and now, then he’d rather shove that plan back into their face.

From his pocket, Emil pulled out every memory orb he had collected. If the gods wanted a show, then he would give them one. If this killed him, then at least he would be able to go out on his own terms. Insects, birds, and small mammals, he had the collective power of their deaths in the palm of his hand. The flame boars were an expression of fire, ferocious and all-consuming. They were animals known to never back down and always ready to take any challenge head-on.

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But as he poured his Mana into the orbs, these beasts began to back away. They had never sensed this kind of thing before, but they could instinctually tell it was dangerous. It was unlike any kind of magic they had ever known. They turned to run, to flee from the threat. But it was already far too late for that.

For a moment, time seemed to be frozen to Emil. But then, each of the orbs cracked. From them, a wave of pure death exploded outward in every direction. A sea of inky fog swept across everything. Grass wilted away into nothing, trees became dry and lifeless. Every insect and small animal in hiding was mummified into just skin and bone. Even the flames were snuffed out.

It was the complete and absolute death of everything within that area. As the world faded to black around Emil, a set of notifications appeared in front of them. But he didn’t have time to read any of them as he lost consciousness, certain that he would never wake up again.

---

But later, as the light of the morning sun shined upon him, Emil slowly opened his eyes. He was dazed and confused. For a few seconds, he forget where he was and why he had been asleep in the woods. Suddenly, the realization hit, and he snapped to attention.

 

Rank increased: Fully Mortal → Half-Undead

Max Mana level increased: 200→250

 

“Wait…” Emil mumbled as he looked at his hand. His eyes widened at what he saw. It was still covered in dried blood and dirt. But his skin had become ghostly pale. A large amount of the muscle and fat in his arm was gone, leaving mostly just bone. Emil pulled on his shirt and looked down. His chest and stomach were in the same condition.

He placed his hand over his chest. His heartbeat was still there, but it felt slower and weaker. Emil had wanted to level up his abilities and grow in power. But now, it seemed like he had gotten more than what he bargained for.

Emil looked around at what he had caused. The flame boars were all reduced to skeletons. There would be no magical organs left for him to harvest. Clouds of their deaths hung above him. He reached for his throat and felt it.

It should have been dry and painful to speak. And yet, he didn’t even feel thirsty, nor hungry for that matter. To add to that, not even his sense of the temperature was the same. Before, he at least felt a little cool. But now, he didn’t even feel the slightest hint of cold from the winter air.

Without meaning it, for better or worse, he had taken the next big step in his transformation. He needed to get back to the cave. To get to his supply bag and find something that could let him see his reflection. Emil needed to know how his face looked, to see if he could still potentially at least pass off as a normal human.

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