8 Living Mana (1/2)
Another mind crawls towards mine, feeble and fleeting. Jerking my hands back, I grip my palm that touched the mana. This thing was...alive.
The golem crashed through the field of mana before slamming his hands at me. I sidestep, bits of stone tapping my skin. I charge forward and smash a blow into his thigh boulder. A powder dusts from my fist, but no damage is done. The golem slams his fist into my shoulder.
I fly backwards, bruises forming as I land. The golem pulls boulders from its body, making its arms enormous. Like swinging whips, the earthen thrall slams fist after fist towards me. I dodge several strikes, but the attack never ceases. Two or three blows skim me before the golem turns a full circle.
Its arm drags behind it before colliding with me. A deafening echo ushers from my shoulder as I slid my feet from where I stood. I don't fall over. I stay standing after the blow, pieces of stone falling from my shoulder, face and hand.
”Is that all you've got?”
The golem rears back and lobs another heavy strike, but I dart forward. The golem's arm smashes the rock beneath us before I press my heels into the ground. I plant my feet. I clasp my hands, turning them into clubs. I torque in a circle and clobber my fist into the golem's side.
My bones bend, and my flesh sheers. I snap another blow into the monster before its arm crashes into the side of my face. Blood pours from my forehead, but I smile. I torque another blow into its side before it crashes another hit into my chest.
I slide back, my arms crossed from blocking the blow. ”Come on Golem. We've just started.”
I duck under a blow with my fist dragging behind me. With a whipping hook, I crush my fist into its side. A sharp, cracking boom resonated through the cavern. A set of bats flew away, terrified of the fight.
My body held on as we traded blows for minutes at a time. Agony burnt the creature's stone body, melting the rock to jelly. Scrapes on the boulders turned to cracks that turned to cleaved slabs as we fought. The massive health pool of the golem waned over time, mine did not.
In the last moments of the battle, I ducked under a slice of the stone and countered with a hook. Another blow missed me as I ducked, and I countered again. I weaved in counter after counter until chunks of its face fell apart. More like fighting a mountain than a monster, I tore it apart with my granite fists and agony's aura.
When the golem died, I almost felt sorry for the poor thing.
Enemy Slain. 22500*1.5*3 = 101250 exp gained. 2 levels gained.
I put both points into constitution before checking out my attribute screen closely.
Level 52 Attribute Totals
Strength - Increases carrying weight, maximum speed, and physical power 12.4
Constitution - Increases hardness, density, and weight of your body 33
Endurance - Increases regeneration of stamina, health, and their totals 48
Dexterity - Increases ease of movement, flexibility, and reflexes 4
Willpower - Increases internal motivation, mana regen, and Mental Res 26.4
Intelligence - Increases memory, critical thinking, and total mana pool 4
Charisma - Increases likeability, persuasion, and decreases prices at shops 4
Luck - Increases money found, odds in your favor, and chance of rare events 3
Perception - Increases comprehension, the five senses, and awareness 4
My attributes beefed up tremendously since investing into the perks. I checked out my character screen. The numbers amazed me.
Character Totals Regen Buffs/Debuffs
Health 944 101.12/min Agony - 430 Hp/min lost
Stamina 944 16.85/sec Elemental Res - 35.48%
Mana 100 4.74/min Plasma Res - 35.48%
Phys Dam Reduction - [33]*2.15 = 70.95% Rad Res - 35.48%
Phys Dam Bonus - [1.15*1.113] = 28% Damage Increase - 5% | CC reduction 75%
Compared with when I started, I'm over 40 times tougher. Agony burns down hp like nobody's business, and my stamina regen is effectively infinite. The willpower and constitution bonuses to agony made the skill a terror to deal with now. By level 55, I should be able to finish the determinator tree and get the last perk for constitution.
With my status checked, I moved back towards the golem's remains. Besides for rocks, a little core remained. The schema identified it.
Golem Core - Contains remnants of the mana required for summoning the golem. Can be used for many useful recipes or enchantments.
I pocketed the tiny, glowing orb before turning back towards the mana. I neared the wall of heavy air before placing my palm back onto the surface. The pieces of a mind shouted and wailed,
”Do not. Kill. Me. Beg. Stop.”
With a piece of my will, I told the conscious to calm down. The little voice immediately silenced. A message appeared,
A cloud of mana has offered to inhabit a container of yours. You are given a choice: Absorb the cloud and gain a permanent increase to your mana pool, store the cloud in the golem's core, or allow it to live within your own mana. Warning: Co-inhabitation of mana may lead to corruption. You may absorb the cloud's mana from the core at any point.
Mana is worthless for me now, so I put the cloud of mana into the golem's core. Hopefully, it would become useful later. The pool of gray water dimmed until only my little blue sacks of cyan water kept the cave lit, though the water remained. After washing myself in the dark pool, I trekked back out into the cave.
The bats increased in volume, but I dispatched them with mechanical proficiency. I couldn't not kill them if I tried. I found myself daydreaming as I fought them, the motions of murder practiced till they required no effort. As I jogged forward, an hour passed of further monotony.
Another pool appeared with the living mana. Whenever I approached, water rose from the pool of gray. Ice formed in massive chunks, even larger than the last one. They came together, forming a moving glacier. The schema recognized it,
BloodIce Golem(lvl 95) - A golem made of crystalized mana and ice, bound with blood. Can use long range ice spears, a chilling debuff in melee range, and can freeze targets. A very powerful and dangerous foe.
I pounded my fists together before charging forward. Above the golem, water spiraled into spears. The golem lobbed them at me with large sweeps of its arms. They shot forward like glass bullets. I bent backwards, dodging the first, but another stabbed into my foot, then through my shin.
Like kicking a glass table, the pain shot through my leg, electric and vibrant. I rose my fist and smashed the ice spear. I grimaced before smashing the one through my foot. I ducked sideways, dodging another spear. I grit my teeth as I pulled my feet and shin from the ice spear. Blood poured from the wounds. Cracks and a sick sucking sounded from the wound as I did so.
The mana wall rippled, and I sensed a little fear from it.
Another spear shot forwards, I ducked below. Shutting down agony, I let my regeneration start.Another lance of ice came, and I dove onto the floor. A few seconds later, the snapping sound of ice forming started again. I glanced up as the golem torqued another javelin towards me.
I rolled sideways as the ice appeared beside me. The bones in my foot and in my shin had reformed already, letting me stand again. I limped behind a boulder before ice clashed against the rock. A cool mist of ice sprayed over me. Another deafening crack and another gust of icy mist.
The golem's stomps echoed through the cavern, their volume growing with each step. A few more seconds pass, and my legs skin wraps back around my leg. Not gonna lie, it's pretty gross. I glance up and make a plan. Roll forward and charge the damn thing.
I stomp my heel, testing it in case its still hurt. Nope, good as new. The steps stop, and the cracking resonates through the cavern. As it reaches its fever pitch, I dart from the rock as the boulder splits. A sharp explosion booms behind me as I charge the golem.
When I get within ten feet, a wave of cold chills me down to my bones. I press through the cold before ducking beneath a swing of the frozen thrall. I push up with my heels digging into the ground. My right arm drags behind me as I pull it close. My momentum builds up through my core, then shoulder, then into my hand.
With an earsplitting snap, the golem's chest cracks. Keeping my arms close to my sides, I turn like a tornado. I whip hook after hook with agony melting the ice. The cracks web outwards, appearing throughout the golem. It raises its arm towards me, slamming my chest.
I fling back a few feet before it raises its other hand towards me. I duck back, but the arm extends, smothering me in ice. The frost covers me in thick layer, freezing me in place. My eyes glance around, able to move in the prison of snow. The golem snaps off its arm before pulling more water from the pool. Ice grows above its head in layers.
The spear thickens until a spear the size of a car is above its head. I struggle against the ice. I writhe and squirm with all my strength as the spear grows. The golem rears its hand back, the spear following the movement. My twitching doubles in intensity, veins popping out of my neck. The golem steps forwards and pulls its body forward. My eyes grow bloodshot from effort. A nosebleed forms and fills my nostrils with blood.
As the spear comes forward, the ice around me shatters and I fall forward. The wind of the spear presses against my back. A second later, a thundering crash leaves my ears ringing. I pull myself up, unbounded as the golem falls onto its knees.
I stare at the faceless ice. A deep, dark hatred builds before I lash out at the face of the monster. Over and over, I pound and pulverize with my fists. They act as hammers as I crush the ice into a fine powder. When it falls apart, a notification sounds,
Enemy slain. 40,000 exp*3.3*1.5 = 199,400 exp gained. 3 level up!
I place three more points into constitution, and the difference is palpable. My body stiffens until I'm moving something like wood. Even with the strength bonus of titanic, I slow down by a bit. I hit the wall of what constitution could give me without suffering some cons for the durability. From this point on, I'm investing in strength.
That is, unless the next perk gives me something special. The perk menu opens up, showing the most perk options I've ever had.
[Willful(Willpower of at least 10) - Your willpower is good. Doubles mana regeneration.]
[Disciplined(Willpower of at least 20) - Your willpower is excellent. Willpower adds an extra 2% mana regen for every 1% missing max mana. Your mana can form a shield around you, blocking 2 damage for every 1 point in mana.
[Uncompromising(Willpower of at least 25) - Your willpower is incredible. Doubles mental resistance from willpower. Half of mental resistance from willpower added to elemental, plasma, and radiation resistances. 1/10th of willpower is added to intelligence.]
[Colossal(Constitution of at least 30) - Your constitution is without limit. Half's strength requirements for moving bodyweight and limbs. Adds another 1/10th of constitution to strength. Adds .2% damage reduction per level, extra weight, density, and height per level, and each point in constitution grants 5 health. Doubles stamina consumption.]