The wild boar shook its head, causing embers to fly off from its body. It breathed out hot steam as it walked off into the distance, preparing a running start before charging out once more. 15 meters away from the tree, it turned around. It"s hide bristled as black markings around it"s body gave off a blue hue.A sign of a magical beast!
In the world of Aether, flora and fauna are both split into two kinds. That of a normal kind and the other magical. Magical plants and animals are those that had evolved to be able to gather and use mana. With it, these plants and animals have special, valuable, and, most certainly, dangerous effects. This boar is an example of such.
The more mana an animal or a plant has, the more it is able to use and most certainly, the more dangerous it is. They are divided into eight cla.s.ses: F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS. Each cla.s.s being multiple folds stronger than the other. Each cla.s.s is further divided into three sections: lesser, normal, and greater. Though for the most part, they are abbreviated with the minus and plus signs. For example: -A, A, +A.
This boar belongs is a -D cla.s.s Magical Beast, the Firebrand Boar. Anything that makes contact with it"s tusks would receive a short burst of fire. If given enough time, even iron could melt down!
The man got into a stance as well. He thought about taking out his beloved spear, but decided against it. A mere wild animal doesn"t deserve the honor. If it weren"t for him being injured, he could"ve take it straight on bare naked easily.
"78 mana, more than enough," the man thought to himself.
The red light from his feet disappeared, he was going to use a different skill this time.
While the charge of a Firebrand Boar is without a doubt powerful, able to pierce through an adult man easily, it can"t change directions all too well. Once it charges, it does so only in a straight line, this is its weakest point.
The Firebrand Boar huffed put a mouthful of steam, it"s hooves rearing to let loose.
*Woosh*
The loose forest soil flew out as the Firebrand Boar charged forth. At the same time, multiple simulations went through the man"s head as he went forward the most optimum direction to intercept the boar.
"[Martial Skill: Unwavering Charge]!"
*Bang*
He felt his body being slightly drained of mana as he rushed forth. A red light surrounded him as the force of Magic propelled him at an inhuman speed. It was unknown how many soldiers and war beasts he had killed with this skill, much less some animal yet to gain intelligence.
"-15," he thought to himself.
The boar widened its eyes in surprise, but it was soon replaced with rage. In its eyes, nothing could stop its charge. It pushed forth with higher speed as the man neared it.
The man, nearing the boar, suddenly jumped and lifted his foot, getting into a flying kick position. The light surrounding him immediately shifted, moving towards his foot, speeding it up and increasing its power. His boots, while old and worn, were made out of the leather of a C cla.s.s Magical Beast! A -D cla.s.s vs. a C cla.s.s? He had no doubt which one of the two is harder!
*Bang*
The two bodies collided. While the boar certainly has a hard body, the man"s own body is harder.
While the man is weakened, he is something normal humans can"t compare to. His body has gone through training and tempering, a body that had been optimized for war.
The boar was harshly kicked away. It cried out as it impacted a large tree some distance away. It"s skin had cracked with thick blood oozing out. But it was far from dead. Steam rose from its body while a weak blue hue covered it, slowly but definitely healing it.
The man fared better, but not without a scratch. While the boots took on the impact, the shock still went through. After a rather unsightly landing, he felt his legs go numb.
He looked once more at his wrist and pressed a certain part of the magical array, shortening the information displayed.
_
Health: 226/300
Mana: 55/100
_
Afterwards, he reached down to the ground, picking up a small droplet of the boar"s blood and smearing it on the plate. After a second, the white hue rearranged themselves, showing brand new information.
_
Subject: Firebrand Boar
Cla.s.s: -D
Level: 25
Health: 178/237
Mana: 26/79 (-1 per minute)
Maturity: Adult
Status: Injured
Skills:
Basic Healing
Basic Charge
Fire Burst
_
Within the plate lie small pockets of magic, containing information about a majority of the animals and plant around the planet, a small encyclopedia of its own. It would naturally have information about a common Firebrand Boar in addition to the data inside that droplet of blood as well as the mana it"s giving off.
The man squinted his eyes, preparing to go at him once more. The boar had long stood up and recovered from the initial shock, it didn"t think that this mere human could do so much damage to itself, after all, if any other normal human dared to pit themselves against it, they could only die.
The man looked back at the little girl. From what he could tell, she was injured, but thankfully not too heavily. He sighed in relief.
"Awooooo!" The boar cried out, filled with rage.
*Bang*
Without warning, it stomped out charging once more. It sent soil and rocks flying as a hint of fiery energy twirled around its tusk.
The man prepared himself with no intention of dodging. Behind him was the tree with the girl. If he was to dodge, it would be unknown whether the girl would survive or not.
Contact!
The ground below the man cracked and ripped. The man had caught it"s tusks with his bare hands while being pushed back by several meters. Any other human and they would"ve been sent to their deaths, their bodies pierced by it"s tusks and mutilates by its hooves, standing no chance against it.
*wooosh*
A strong burst of fire came out from its tusks, the force itself nearly forcing the man"s hands off, much less the temperature. But the man clenched his teeth and held on, compared to the pain he felt in his past, the burn this fire gave is nothing.
He lifted up the 100kg tusks and lifted his foot, kicking the d.a.m.ned boar right in the throat, sending it off choking. The boar wailed out and disengaged. This time, it was the man"s turn.
The man reached out behind him and took out a single, large metal glove and put it on. Mystical inscriptions adorned it, written in the Old Dwarven language, an artifact that was given to him by certain allies of his. A look of sorrow pa.s.sed his heart as his eyes pa.s.sed through them, but quickly turned his attention to the matter at hand. He doesn"t know what it says but it"s functions speak loud enough.
While it was quite too large for his hands, as soon as he put it on small clinking sounds were made as it shrunk to snugly fit his hands. He could feel the cold steel in his hands confidently, rearing to touch flesh and do its work.
He rushed at the boar and it rushed back. Here in the jungle, it had been king, and it would not let a mere human disturb it.
The boar activated its [Basic Charge] and [Fire Burst] at the same time.
The man prepared as well.
"[Martial Skill: Piercing Spear]!"
While the man did not wield his spear, his years fighting with it gave him a type of enlightenment. For him, a spear is an extension of his body; with this reasoning, couldn"t his body become an extension of his spear?
This comprehension allowed him insight to the uses and applications of [Martial Skills], causing his fighting power to soar.
A red light traveled down his arms, covering his right fist and the mechanical glove. From it, he could feel a piercing power; his confidence grew.
"Time to end this!"
The distance between the two shortened. While the boar charged out menacingly, his tusks are just a bit shorter than the man"s arms. The man earned the first and final strike, his metal fist striking down the board head. The metal plates on the gloves pushed, moved, and vibrated, cracking down on the boar"s skin as his magic pierced it. Eventually, not even its skull remained intact. The boar cried in pain till it went silent forever.
Looking at the boar with its mushed brains, the man cleaned of the glove as he put it once more behind him. The boar"s skin itself could be used for light armor, much less it"s hard skull. He still stands amazed at this glove as much as he is amazed by magic, but he pushed such thoughts behind him. He was just a peasant orphan, the only education he received were the sheer basic needed, some math and some language. He could barely just read books, just a bit above illiteracy. Much less delve into the secrets of magic and the dwarven machinations, he even laughed and ridiculed himself for having such thoughts time to time. Nevertheless, there was a more pressing matter at hand.
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He looked at the child behind him with eyes trembling. As soon as he stepped forward, the child took a step back.
Seeing the child"s scared reaction, the man went down on one knee, trying to appeal to her.
"Come on, don"t worry little one. I"ve saved you. The bad guy is gone now..."
The man spoke slowly and softly, seemingly successful in calming the child"s nerves. The child clutched onto the nearest roots, her eyes wondered around until it affixed themselves onto that boar that threatened her life, as if confirming that it"s really dead. After what seemed like hours, she ran towards the man that had saved her life with tears br.i.m.m.i.n.g in her eyes.
"There, there little one. It"s fine now."
"T-Thank you mister. Thank you. Thank you. Thank yo-..."
The warm body on the man"s arms suddenly went limp. He panicked immediately before realizing that the child had fallen to sleep from exhaustion.
"Hai..." he sighed in relief. He got up and carried the little child in his arms.
He walked for a bit before finding a small stream. He put the child down on the gra.s.s before cleaning her up with the water, making sure to wash clean her wounds and scratches. The same went for his own hands, the burns he received were not minor at all.
Washing the child"s face he discovered a cute, delicate face hinting towards mischievousness. Her short, mud covered hair revealed a youthful, vibrant red hair. He guessed her age to be around 9.
He smiled quietly as he bandaged her wounds, but immediately frowned upon seeing one of her legs. He found a rather severe wound, probably got caught on a sharp root as she had run from the boar. If this had been anywhere else, this would"ve been amputated. The flesh ragged and were spewing out blood, a burning scar ran across it, the only good thing about it was that the bone looked intact and that the burn had severed the nerves, causing her not to feel the pain.
He reached out to his back and retrieved a small gla.s.s bottle. In it was a dark, blood red concoction. He looked a bit pained looking at it, clearly hesitant to use it, but when he looked at the child in front of him, the hesitation disappeared.
"Here it goes, a low tier healing potion I bought with my life savings."
He poured a single drop of the potion onto the wound. He saw a white hue cover it, healing at rate visible to the naked eye, but stopped after just a few seconds. He dropped bit by bit and he stopped once the wound looked easy to heal. All in all, it took only the potion 7 drops to heal this severe wound. With 25 drop in the potion initially, 18 drops are left.
"Aaaghhh!!"
The girl screamed out in pain, the wound was healed a bit, naturally the nerves would as well causing pain again.
The man clenched his teeth and poured 3 drops of the potion, completely healing the wound. Even the scar had gone and went.
The girl went to sleep once more. Without a b.l.o.o.d.y mess nor the mud, she looked cute and adorable as any girl could be.
Then he heard it. It was far, but with his hearing, it was very distinct from the forest ambiance.
"Cuckcuckooo!!!!"
A cry of a rooster, the presence of civilization!
He ran with the girl in his arms towards the cry. After what seemed like hours, he saw a smoke up high in the clouds.
Alas, a village!