Charlemagne was momentarily stunned by his abrupt fall to the earth and struggled to pull himself to his feet. Several of the beams of painful green light had penetrated deeply into muscles or through tendons that connected important portions of his musculature to each other, but his healing abilities immediately began working on the damage. The creatures rushed him en masse, their long claws gleaming as they sought to rend the rooster’s flesh from his bones.
Although Charlemagne managed to avoid the initial rush of claw attacks, he found himself surrounded by the horde of enemies. He was confused, since he expected the charred corpses to be more or less identical to the ones he had fought further south. In fact, the ambient radiation in the area was higher, creating both higher level enemies before empowering them even further. The rooster was hard pressed to defend himself, his Ironskin skill showing its worth as his rapidly growing feathers deflected the few attacks that managed to touch him.
Busy watching the enemies’ eyes closely for signs of another attack, the rooster forgot about his new Special Ability, Battle Meditation for almost five minutes, killing several of his attackers but attracting an almost equal number of additional monsters. None of the newcomers used their special eye attacks, and Charlemagne guessed that they only used the attack when their enemy was in the air.
When he finally remembered to activate his new skill, the difference was immediately noticeable, and underwhelming. Everything slowed down the tiniest bit, allowing the rooster extra time to plan his next movements but not increasing the speed of his body to compensate. He did notice, however, that his Mana Core was able to draw on the ambient mana more quickly, which would have been more useful if he didn’t have so much radiation choking up his system.
Even a little bit helped, however, and Charlemagne soon found that he was killing the monsters faster than new ones could arrive. This immediately turned the tables, allowing his killing speed to increase, further weakening the monsters. The last five corpses took less than half a minute to put down.
Although he didn’t gain any levels, Charlemagne was pleased that his main attack skill and his flying skill had gone up a level. He was not as excited about Meditation, but any skill increase was welcome. He was really hoping that Mana Core would level up soon, as the difference was quite noticeable every time his advanced skill leveled up.
After purging the radiation that had accumulated in his body during the fight, Charlemagne kept moving, choosing this time to strike out more to the east so he could stay on the outskirts of the area. He walked for another five or ten minutes before spotting the next group of charred corpses. Standing far enough away that he wouldn’t draw their ire, the rooster decided to try something new.
Pulling mana from his core, he began to charge his ranged attack, pouring as much energy into it as he could. His meditation skill activated as he focused all his mental energy into controlling the wild blue ball of mana growing in his mouth, making every part of the process just a bit easier. When the attack was ready, Charlemagne fired it at the densest group of monsters.
The mana ball, although small, nonetheless carved a swatch of destruction through the assembly of monsters, breaking three of the group into pieces and crippling another four. The remainder of the group turned toward with, seemingly instantly aware of his location, and began to charge. Charlemagne ran forward cautiously, watching carefully for any eye beams, and used his newly improved Strike skill to smash the lead monster’s femur as he engaged in melee combat. This time, the entire fight was over in less than two minutes.
Charlemagne did not know the definition of the word, “efficiency”, but he understood that killing things faster was preferable to killing them slowly, especially if he leveled up in the process. He was also overjoyed that his Mana Core skill had finally leveled up. The rooster already felt stronger as the Mana Core’s strong, steady beat pumped more magic throughout his body. The feeling was of getting stronger was intoxicating, so Charlemagne sought it out again.
Charlemagne dispatched another two groups in a similar manner, snagging one more level in Strike and another in Meditation.
Feeling more confident than ever in his new strategy, Charlemagne turned due south, wondering if heading deeper into the heart of the irradiated territory would mean he could fight stronger monsters. His question was answered after a short walk. In the distance was a group of over two dozen monsters, and standing at the center of the group was a jet black skeleton almost twice as tall as the rest. Green crystals jutted out from its skeleton at various places, and two large green spikes grew from its skull like horns. Its arms hung almost to the ground and its long, obsidian claws dripped a green substance that sizzled when it impacted the ground. Finally, its eye sockets glowed with both an intensity and intelligence unmatched by the lesser monsters that surrounded it.
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The rooster retreated a bit, seeking the maximum distance that his long range mana blast attack would work. After positioning himself at what he felt was the perfect range, Charlemagne powered up his attack once again, happy that the monsters were so bunched up this time. His increased Mana Core and Meditation skill levels stood him in good stead as he charged up the most powerful ball of mana he had ever created. Then he let it fly, watching happily as the attack struck true.
Only to fizzle out.
The monsters turned and began to sprint as one straight toward the young rooster. Charlemagne, confused and angered by the failure of his attack, hesitated for a moment before launching himself ahead, crippling the first few monsters quickly by trading blows. Then he backed away, fighting a tactical retreat to prevent the monsters from surrounding him. Although he had succeeding in blunting the initial attack, the first exchange had been costly. Charlemagne was bleeding from a dozen fresh cuts as he whirled left and right, dodging the most powerful blows and turning the rest into glancing hits.
The battle quickly devolved into a slog, as Charlemagne struggled to put down enough monsters to turn the tide. His injuries continued to slowly mount faster than his innate healing could keep up, but then two of the monsters accidentally bumped into each other as they attempted to deliver simultaneous slash attacks. The rooster capitalized by leaping over the attacks, taking one monster in the head with a well-placed peck, while the other was dispatched with a claw. Having lost two of the numbers, the tide began to turn again the charred corpses.
While Charlemagne fought, his Meditation skill activated, allowing him to better split his focus. The smallest portion of his attention was on the large monster, which had yet to move. Another part went to fine-tuning the output of his Mana Core and helping to circulate mana through his body, ensuring that the right areas were reinforced at the right times. The vast majority directed the actual fighting, processing the large amount of visual stimuli that came from having a 300 degree field of vision and ensuring that he activated his skills at the most advantageous time.
The rooster disabled two more monsters, retreating once again before reengaging the rest of the horde. Things only got easier from there as the charred corpses continued to weaken. Charlemagne was able to outpace the damage he was taking, even when allowing himself to take a hit in order to strike a killing blow. In almost no time at all, the last of the monsters was disabled, allowing the rooster to finish off those still trying to drag themselves into attack range at his leisure.
The larger skeleton charged him the moment he destroyed the last of the group.
It was fast, far faster than the smaller skeletons. Charlemagne would have been caught entirely by surprise were it not for his still active Meditation skill. A green dome surrounded the monster as it entered melee range with Charlemagne, and he immediately felt a surge of radiation begin to accumulate in his body.
Allocating more of his focus to managing the radiation choking his mana pathways, Charlemagne surged forward, planning to cripple one of the monster’s legs. Having by now gained extensive experience in fighting the long-clawed skeletons, he dodged to the right on instinct as he entered the monster’s melee range. Its claw passed right through where Charlemagne’s face had been moments before as he sprang into the air and activated his Strike skill. But before he could complete his attack, the monster’s other arm came out of nowhere, crashing into him and sending him flying back to the edge of the radioactive field.
The rooster dragged himself to his feet as the monster once again rushed him, this time attacking horizontally first before following up with a vertical swipe. Charlemagne dodged both attacks but was unable to find an opening to counter. He danced around to the side, waiting for the giant skeleton’s next round of attacks. If he wanted to get inside the monster’s guard, he was going to have to work on his timing.
After another ten rounds of Charlemagne trying and failing to launch a counterattack, his patience was wearing thin. The giant corpse, however, had no such issues, attacking with what seemed like endless focus and stamina. On the next attack, the rooster tried something different, leaping over the first swipe and using his wings to help dodge the second. Having broken through the monster’s guard, he activated his Strike skill and slammed his beak straight into the giant’s sternum. The bone cracked, but held together.
Charlemagne didn’t give up his advantage, pushing off the monster’s chest and scuttling between the monster’s legs. He aimed a peck at the back of the knee, which missed as the giant swung around to face him once again. A vicious claw attack caught Charlemagne off guard, cutting deep into his body and flinging him straight out of the monster’s aura. As the rooster rolled across the sooty ground, leaving a trail of blood and feathers, the giant skeleton’s eyes glowed a dangerous green.
The blast came with almost no warning, striking the rooster a glancing blow as he continued to rolls across the blackened earth. Smoke rose from the spot where he had been struck, but the powerful beam had only burnt feathers, at least this time. Then the monster’s eyes glowed brighter again, forcing Charlemagne into a desperate dodge. He didn’t even time to regain his balance before the giant’s eyes glowed a third time.
A tiny portion of Charlemagne’s attention, the only part that wasn’t currently freaking out, was still under the effects of the rooster’s Meditation skill. It was calmly analyzing the nature of the attack, drawing parallels between the rays of light coming from the monster and the enormous energy wave attack that had been generated by the plasmodium Champion. During that fight, using mana externally had been the only way counter the attack’s immense power. But Charlemagne didn’t have enough time to build up his signature mana ball attack. He needed something else, something faster.
As the eye beams stabbed out, the rooster drew deeply into his Mana Core, pulling out as much of his reserves as he could. The green rays of light slammed into a shimmering blue shield that had formed in front of Charlemagne, seeking to penetrate through both the protective layer of mana and the flesh beyond it. But the shield held.
Charlemagne had no way of knowing exactly why his last-ditch effort worked, but the monster’s attack was radiation based. Having received the skill “Radiation Manipulation” from consuming the transmuted piece of metal from the Amazon statue, Charlemagne was able to use his mana as a medium to both capture and manipulate radiation. Without this skill, the monster’s attack would have passed right through his mana shield.
Having successfully blocked the attack, for whatever reason, Charlemagne realized that he could do so much more with external mana than he had ever considered. Maintaining his mana shield out in front of him, he once again charged into melee range, taking to the air as he accelerated to his maximum speed. The monster’s claw attack slammed into him as he flew in a straight line but failed to stop him as his shield took the brunt of the impact. Activating Strike once again, he barreled into the giant skeleton’s chest. This time, the monster’s sternum shattered, causing a chain reaction that left the charred corpse in pieces.
Panting from the exertion and the loss of so much mana, Charlemagne put his beak through the giant’s skull, watching the green light fade from its eyes with great satisfaction. It was at that moment that a large cat with orange fur and black spots struck the rooster from behind.
