I push mana out of my right palm and start forming a knife. I work slow and steady, making sure to not let the pressure get to me. I first make the blade out of mana, its color a light green, then I start using [Condense] on it, turning it darker and darker as I fill it with more mana, strengthening it. The undead rogue at the door is about halfway through now, and the door is starting to deteriorate faster and faster as whatever skill the rogue has is ramping up in power each second it’s active.
With the base of the mana knife completed, I move on to the next part, putting an edge on the blade. I make a small groove all around the edge, making space for the sharpest cutting force I have ever seen: condensed space. I use [Space Control] and [Condense] in tandem, creating a thin line of ‘solid space’ around the edge of the blade and compressing it to something far greater than razor sharp just as the door gets kicked in by the rogue.
The mana blade is about twelve inches long and only single-edged to save on mana. Now that I have a spatial edge manifested for more than just a moment, I can hear that it lets off a soft whine, almost like an electrical whine. I give the blade a few test swings before the rogue steps into the room, and I can lay my eyes on it for the first time.
I push down any thoughts of fleeing along with any pain or fear I’m feeling right now, and let the excitement of a fresh battle wash over me like a baptism. The undead is short, around five and a half feet tall, and wearing some light leather armor and a black cloak. Both have significant damage to them, revealing the undead body underneath. The legs are what really catches my attention, however, as they are shredded, like he went through a wood chipper feet first. Over half of the flesh and skin is gone below the waist, and the bones there are cracked in several places, looking like they are on the verge of breaking. It only has a single weapon, a silver dagger held in one of its hands, loosely hanging by its side.
The undead stares at me for a few moments, its eyes moving down to my mana blade and then back up at me, its undead face staying completely expressionless the entire time. This one looks fresher than the horde we’ve been fighting, meaning it’s either a recent addition to the bear’s forces, or it has kept it from decaying somehow. Either way, it dies here and now.
The rogue tilts forward slightly and then rockets forward faster than my eyes can follow. It crosses the room and reaches me in the blink of an eye, its dagger aimed to pierce my heart and kill me with one strike. I am ready for this, however, as my spatial perception is far greater than my eyesight, letting me track it and barely twist my body out of the way with a hasty mana boost. I immediately follow up with a slash of my mana blade toward the extended arm, aiming to sever the limb entirely, but it quickly backs up, escaping my blade's reach.
The legs of the undead look a bit thinner, and I notice some of the cracks along the bones have grown as well. Is this the price of that insane speed? The force it’s outputting to move that fast is literally tearing it apart with each step. I look into the undead’s eyes and give it the biggest grin I can while also creating two pairs of rifts in the room. One pair connects a point near the tip of my bone dagger to a point right behind its neck, and the other is hidden for now, waiting for the right time.
The rift snaps into place almost instantly after all the practice I’ve had opening them, and I plunge my dagger through, aiming for the back of the neck. The rogue charges forward once again, and I manage to dodge out of the way before it reaches me, but it still manages to slash my left arm with its knife, cutting deep enough to cause me to wince. I feel some kind of mana around the wound trying to get inside my body, probably whatever corrosion skill it has. I’m able to easily stop the corrosion from entering my body with my own mana by forming a mana wall at the wound.
I had to drop the bone dagger when I dodged, so I’m only left with my mana blade now. The rogue rushes again, scoring another light hit on me when I try to move my blade in the way of its dagger, but it reacts in time and manages to cut my leg, depositing more of that corrosion I have to hold back. Another three clashes happen, with me taking another two slashes with even more of that corrosion skill on them.
My mana is starting to run low at this point, and I think the only thing keeping me from blacking out is adrenaline and the thrill of the fight, but retreat never even comes to mind. This fight has barely lasted a dozen seconds, and it’s unlikely to last a dozen more. I will hold out.
The undead quickly recovers from its last attack by using the wall to stop itself and immediately starts another attack, using the wall as a launchpad to gain even more force. And then it finally happens, the moment I’ve been waiting for. A crack in the left femur turns into a fracture and then a break, causing the undead to slip just enough for me to land a hit. My blade passes cleanly through the arm holding the dagger, meeting no resistance whatsoever. It felt exactly the same as swinging my blade through the air, except this time a severed arm and dagger are lying at my feet.
It quickly recovers and moves out of the way of my follow-up attack aimed right at its head. I immediately teleport both its dagger and my discarded bone dagger into my storage core, depriving the undead of any weapons but its body.
We both stop for a second after this exchange, staring each other down once again. Its leg is broken, but not enough to completely immobilize it. I’d bet it can still launch a few more attacks before it’s worn down completely. Its right arm is also now severed just above the elbow, reducing its danger even more.
Not that I look much better. I have four decently large cuts across my body constantly trying to push that corrosion inside me. I’m able to hold off two of them, but two of them are on my left forearm, close enough together that I can’t stop it completely, and some of the corrosion is eating away at my arm. It feels like someone is tearing little chunks out of my arm and rubbing salt in the wound, causing major amounts of pain even though the damage is relatively small. Blood still drips from my nose, staining my filthy green coat with dots of red.
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Mana starts pooling around the undead's legs, and it slightly shifts its position, likely getting ready for one last attack after observing my condition. I try to steady myself, taking a deep breath to calm my shaking hands and fading vision. The strain of keeping this mana blade active and hiding a rift is taking its toll on me.
The undead makes the first move, and I instantly recognize what it’s going for after watching it attack me several times already. I move my end of the hidden rift in place, right in front of the tip of my mana blade. The undead changes its course last second and heads for the open door behind me in an attempt to escape. The undead reaches the door, and I don’t even make an attempt to catch it. It’s already right where I want it to be.
I plunge my mana blade into the rift, and it appears just on the other side of the door, right as the rogue rushes through. The timing is perfect, and my blade slices through undead flesh and bone like it wasn't even there. I get the kill notification just as the severed head hits the ground.
[You have slain a creature]
[Level 27 Undead Corrosion Assassin]
[You have leveled up to level 21]
I let go of several of the skills I was feeding mana to, and my mind calms just a little bit as some of the strain is lifted. My mana is low, but more and more recovers every second, now able to fill up since I don’t have to keep two or three skills active at the same time. I turn all of my focus on fighting off the corrosion, but my left arm has already taken a beating.
“How are you guys doing? I just took care of the invisible undead,” I say into the amulet as I remove my only healing potion from my storage and drink it.
It heals all of my wounds, except those on my left arm. As soon as the mana from the potion reaches the active corrosion in my body, it gets absorbed by it and seems to empower it, greatly increasing the rate it is eating away at my arm and blowing right through my mana that's blocking it from spreading further.
“We just took out the group you led us to, but we got ambushed by another group and took some damage. Corvax and I had to run. We’re trying to lose them now, but it might take awhile. Can you portal us out? ” Daniel says while breathing hard. “We had a small scuffle with the bear, and my arm got fucked up pretty bad, but a potion fixed it, mostly.”
“I’m low on mana, Daniel, almost out, and the undead poisoned me. I’m sorry, but you’re on your own. I don’t know if I’m even going to be able to make it back to the tower.”
The corrosion has spread completely to my left hand, and I feel it withering away each second while it also spreads up my arm, already halfway up my forearm with no sign of stopping. I don’t have enough mana to fight this. I need another way to get rid of it. Another plan starts forming in my head, one that would probably stop the spread of corrosion.
“Where are you? We can come get you! It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this! ”Daniel’s voice comes through the amulet, full of concern.
“If I die, it’s just because I’m weak,” I say as I resolve myself to do what's needed. I don’t know how I would even lead them here, and if they’re being harried by the bear, then they need to focus on escaping. Rescuing me would likely get all of us killed after such an extended day of fighting.
I pulse my spatial perception out to cover a few buildings around me for a few seconds, cutting it off once I confirm no undead are nearby. I drop to my knees and take off my belt, storing everything attached to it, except my sword, in my storage core, which then goes into one of my coat pockets. I put the belt around my upper arm as tight as I can make it and put a rag in my mouth, between my teeth.
In my right hand I hold the mana blade parallel to my left forearm, about an inch above where the corrosion has spread to. I try a few last attempts at clearing the corrosion with my mana or blocking it from spreading, but the results are all the same. I don’t have enough mana to fight it off or to wait it out. I have to cut out the infection to save the whole.
With one last deep breath, I clench my teeth and push the blade straight through my left forearm, about two inches below the elbow. For a second I feel only relief. Relief from the corrosion trying to worm its way up my arm, and relief from the pain of the corrosion eating my arm away from the inside.
Then my arm hits the floor, and a whole new pain erupts from my now stump. I scream out as my eyes fill with tears, and I drop the mana blade, causing it to start dissipating on the floor. I pull the rag from my mouth and press it against my stump, causing me even more pain that I have to choke down, or risk dying here. I stand up and absorb what little mana I can from what’s left of the sword and leave the building, stumbling my way toward the tower, steel sword in hand.
I keep my spatial perception to about a thirty-foot hemisphere around me, excluding everything underground me to save mana. I start forming a mana shell around my stump, which helps stop the bleeding pretty significantly.
I move through the city as fast as I can, which is pretty slow, all things considered. I have to stop and rest every couple of blocks to regen mana. I’m keeping a light mana boost over my entire body right now to give me the energy I need to move. I think if I turned it off, I would immediately crash and likely die.
They stopped trying to contact me through the amulet over half an hour ago after I stopped replying to it. They have their own problems to deal with. I’m sure that tomorrow we will all be laughing about this over some creek water and deer jerky, just like always.
It takes me over an hour to move about a mile with how beaten my body and mind are right now, and I make it within half a mile of the wall when I see something that should fill me with dread, or at least fear. But all I find myself doing is laughing. Laughing at the absurdity of all of this. A necromancer bear? A four-armed alien? A planet designed to test us? And best of all, I’m some kind of space mage! Not even a month ago I was a nobody, just going to school and doing whatever I thought I should be doing, like a good little boy. Now I’m facing hordes of undead? I’m still laughing when the undead start to surround me from all sides, blocking the nearby alleys and streets and buildings.
I finally stop laughing as two of the armored undead approach me, swords drawn. I raise my own sword in front of me, a grin still plastered on my face despite all the pain I feel. None of the undead that are making up the circle move to fight me, and the two armored undead make no move towards me either.
“Scared now? Or is this out of some kind of respect? Since I managed to behead your assassin.”
I’m about to put all the mana I have into one last portal. I have enough mana for one, probably. A small one that I would have to squeeze through quickly, but if it works, I’ll live. I’m just about to start when my amulet activates with another message from Daniel.
“Hit the deck, Ray! ”
I barely have the strength to stand anymore, so I drop and hit the ground as soon as I hear the words, and not a moment later several loud cracks ring out, and the familiar sounds of Daniel's shots tearing through undead fill my ears. I look up and see a huge, red, glowing, four-armed alien charging through the line of undead making up the circle. His arms are up in front of his head, acting as a brace for each of the undead he plows through. He doesn’t stop when he reaches me but gives me a huge smile as he passes and charges right into another wall of undead.
Daniel is right behind him, and before I even know what’s happening, he lifts me over his shoulder and runs into the gap created by Corvax. A few seconds later, we clear the horde and make it into an open street, Daniel pumping his legs and moving like the wind. I didn’t know he could go so fast, especially when carrying someone.
Despite all the hell that this planet puts me through, I’m lucky to have such good friends.