"Shit, I shouldn't have pushed myself so far..." The moment I manage to crawl back into the safe zone, I collapse onto the ground.
My body is completely covered in wounds. At some point, I thought I wouldn't survive that enormous number of Escamus. My body is full of holes, I'm missing several fingers, and exhaustion is what weighs me down the most—not only physically, but also in terms of mana, and even my Imra is unstable.
I can't sleep now. I need to recover from the deepest wounds before lying down to rest.
Glia is sleeping deeply in front of me. She returned several hours before I did. Her fur is still partially dirty; she didn't have enough energy to clean herself completely. She must have been extremely tired.
I understand her exhaustion. She fought for more than an entire day without stopping. I spent almost half a day more fighting before finally reaching this point.
A few minutes later, I manage to gather enough mana to heal the most lethal wounds. My cube hurts whenever I use it in my current condition. I endure the pain as best as I can, and when all the injuries that could cause problems if left untreated are finally closed, it's time to sleep.
Someone gently slaps my face, small and delicate pats. I can't open my eyes due to exhaustion, then a stronger blow forces me awake. When I open my eyes, I see Brendu beside me. She doesn't look happy at all.
"You look the same or even worse than when I left." Those are her first words after seeing me again after almost two days. "Even the suit you got during the tournament is damaged. This suit can withstand attacks from grade 4 monsters, and it's in tatters. You don't even have enough mana to restore it." She stares at me for a few more seconds before letting out a long sigh.
"I wasn't close to death." I slowly lift myself up. "You took longer than planned. Did something happen?" I try to change the subject.
"You only pushed your body to the point where you didn't even have enough mana to repair your suit." She hands me a cup of tea with mild properties that help restore mana faster. "Some bureaucratic matters. Everything is resolved now. Next time, I'll come back as soon as possible."
We sit down and talk for a while about how things went during those two days. Apparently, my appearance caused quite a commotion, and she had to put out several fires before they turned into an inferno.
"I've managed to improve the use of my ice affinity in my surroundings. I think I'm close to something." I can feel that my cube has been reacting to something new. That always happens whenever I'm about to obtain a new ability.
"You won't gain anything if your body, mind, and cube are in a weakened state. Your progress will slow down tremendously. We should take a proper rest before continuing." The princess makes a suggestion, and I immediately accept it.
When we return to the battlefield, I decide to continue practicing the fusion of my abilities. A freezing atmosphere forms around me and expands for more than thirty meters in every direction. The electric serpents have also improved as I've gained levels. They consume less mana and their length has increased, reaching the same thirty-meter radius.
The gravity still extends much farther away, but now I'm trying to focus most of my mana within this same radius, and I'll expand it gradually as I gain levels and slowly get used to it.
The cold around me is clearly affecting all the monsters. Their movements become slower the longer they remain within the range of my ability.
Something I hadn't calculated beforehand is the amount of mana the combination consumes. Maintaining an area filled with my abilities is exhausting for my cube. I'm avoiding using other types of constructs so I don't waste mana unnecessarily.
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I'll always be grateful for the effort I made as a child to absorb as much mana as possible and expand my mana pool. Otherwise, this would have been impossible.
An unexpected improvement has been the enhancement of my Personal World. I can sense the mana around me more clearly now. Imra has also become easier to detect, especially within the area covered by my new creation.
For a moment, I had forgotten how fun it is to train until your body reaches its limits. That feeling of satisfaction from giving everything you have to something is indescribable. I can't say the same for Brendu. She's a little worried, but she doesn't say anything for now because I'm staying within the limits we agreed on.
Fifteen days passed in the blink of an eye, with nothing but fighting, eating, and sleeping. The good thing is that we now have a large bath where we can relax. It's become a routine to finish training and then take a relaxing hot bath as soon as we're done eating.
"Are you close to obtaining a new ability?" Brendu asks while resting her head against the edge of the large bathtub, a towel draped over her forehead.
"Yes... my progress has been monstrous. I've already reached the forty-five-meter mark. The ability has lost a little power in exchange for gaining distance, but it's a fair price." I slowly open my eyes.
"What you're building is already incredibly powerful. It would be strange if you could maintain the same strength while the range keeps expanding. Once you officially obtain the ability and gain levels, it'll receive another boost. Don't get frustrated." I can feel her Imra touching mine, trying to calm me down.
I dodge claws capable of tearing through my defenses with a slight movement of my head, block an attempt to stab me from behind with my sword, take a step to the side and one backward to avoid being trapped, and then have to use my sword again to block another attack.
The Escamus surrounding me are desperate. They understand perfectly that if they don't defeat me quickly, their lives are over. The electric serpents never stop lashing at them. Even their powerful scaled defenses are pierced after repeated strikes, their movements become heavier due to the gravity forcing them to expend more energy, and small patches of frost begin to appear on their bodies.
I smile from ear to ear in a situation where I should be thinking about how to escape. My ability finally reaches the fifty-meter mark, and something changes completely. I feel something different in my cube, as if the abilities are being forced to become one.
We return to camp earlier than expected. This time, we're only tired, not exhausted.
"Don't leave me in suspense. Tell me what the notifications say." Brendu is staring at me with enormous excitement.
"I haven't read them yet. I couldn't in the middle of that sea of monsters." We both had to use our teleportation abilities to escape. Glia entered my cube when we retreated.
"Do you wish to learn the ability: Field of Frost (IV)?"
"Compatibility detected between: Field of Frost (IV), Crushing Zone (?III?), and Electric Serpent Field (IV). Do you wish to fuse them?"
After reading the notifications to Brendu, she encourages me to accept the fusion. I'm just as interested as she is in seeing what happens, so I follow her advice.
"Calculating conditions..."
"Mana quantity and control: Approved."
"Imra quantity and control: Approved."
"Compatible Laws: Approved."
"Dominion: Approved."
"Special conditions... Calculating... Approved."
"Do you wish to learn the ability: Crushing Tempest (V)?" After several seconds, the omnipresent voice finally gives me the option. I tell Brendu, and she's just as excited as I am.
"That name inspires fear and power. I think it's the perfect name for what you've created. Even as a spectator of your ability, I've been amazed by the force you can exert, and it'll only become stronger now that you have the complete ability." She gives me a tight hug.
I accept the ability without hesitation. In that very instant, all the information floods into my mind. I can feel the abilities slowly merging until they create something entirely new.
I clutch my head because of the overwhelming flood of information. The knowledge keeps pouring in like an avalanche. It feels like being struck by a lightning storm of knowledge while standing naked in the middle of a natural disaster. My mental ability is doing everything possible to keep me conscious.
Several minutes later, the pain begins to subside, and the flow of information finally ends. I haven't had a headache this severe in a very long time. It was completely unexpected. Glia is also very worried; I can feel her emotions through our connection.
Brendu was right. The ability feels different now, as if it were a part of me. I no longer have to focus my mind on three separate things to keep it active. I simply need to flip a switch to activate it. My brain, cube, and body now instinctively know how the ability functions. The burden it previously placed on my mind is now minimal.
"How do you feel?" Brendu asks with excitement and a little concern.
"Excellent. I can't wait to test it." I reply with a broad smile. One of my goals has been achieved. I'm one step closer to accomplishing everything I set out to do during this intensive training.