The Archfiend did not run. Luke reached the monster and saw the dragon pulling away below them. Unsure how long the flying spell would hold, he needed to end this right away. In the distance, the smaller dragons approached as well, Integrated chasing after.

  As soon as Luke reached it, he grabbed hold with Threads of Mana as he plunged a thread into the monster again. This time, he wouldn't let the bastard push him back. Rather than meet resistance inside, the Archfiend reached down and grabbed the front of Luke's T-shirt, then pulled back and threw. Holding on for dear Life, screaming, Luke held on, the thread of mana connecting them straining under the pressure. A skeletal foot followed, stomping down on his face. Ignoring it, Luke pulled himself to the side, adding more and more Threads of Mana to hold himself to the monster, moving to its back and out of reach of punches and kicks.

  Drawing mana from the Archfiend in quick bursts saw Luke keep a decent amount, so he didn't risk losing out on that, but the pushing on threads meant he had to either let them disintegrate or shatter them inside with Weaver's Rupture, but that required mana as well.

  Gritting his teeth, Luke used The Healer's Moment. Everything froze, even the wind. Now, without resistance, he stabbed and cut with Needle of Life, ruining the mana channels while working on getting the monster core free. Since the Archfiend was a skeleton, there wasn't much to do about causing physical harm, but during that brief window of time, he at least managed to wound his opponent.

  Unfortunately, it did little good. As soon as time resumed, the damaged mana channels restored themselves, as if the bastard had rewound time, and another spellweave sprang to life, almost complete. The Archfiend released the spell unhindered, since Luke didn't have time to reach far enough. It was the same one as before. This time, it took him straight in the gut, leaving an oozing hole. Coughing up blood, Luke clung to the monster's back as he wasted precious mana restoring himself with Weaver's Renewal. This time, he wouldn't have lived past a few seconds, not with so many vital organs just being gone, and on the brink of death, he didn't have time to execute the skill to perfection, meaning the Thread of Mana he'd used to encircle the area in need of restoration extended too far,

  This had two effects. First, it ate into his mana pool until Luke dropped below thirty percent and into the zone where the headache and blurriness took hold. The second effect was not on Luke himself, but on the Archfiend. Being smushed right next to each other meant Weaver's Renewal affected its back and, to his surprise, Weaver's Perception told him flesh, blood, and skin regrew.

  The Archfiend stiffened, and the spell it was in the middle of casting fell apart as it twisted under those thick robes.

  "You didn't like that, did you?" Luke shouted, a nervous laugh breaking from his throat. "You used to be a person!"

  That was it. The way to beat this creature so far above him in level and power. Still holding on with Threads of Mana, Luke counted the seconds until the skill came off cooldown, siphoning mana from his opponent. If not for the regrown part of the Archfiend's body slowing the monster, it would have killed Luke. Thankfully, it couldn't seem to focus enough to cast another spell, and instead flailed until Weaver's Renewal became available again. This time, Luke made sure the area affected was vital. Its head.

  Just as he used the skill, a dark-red glow burst from the Archfiend, tearing through the Threads of Mana and throwing Luke off. The monster turned and made a sound as the hood fell back and the white glow of its eyes went out to show a pair of large, but still human eyes, wide with shock. With most of its body still skeletal, the head could not live. The Archfiend's eyes rolled back into its head, and the scream cut off.

  Congratulations! You have reached level 20!

  Congratulations! You have reached level 21!

  Before it fell, Luke closed the distance again and grabbed the corpse, putting it into his inventory.

  "Lucky!" he tried to say, since he'd just hard-countered the undead asshole, but his mouth didn't seem to work.

  In a state of shock, he'd ignored Weaver's Perception screaming at him, warning Luke of imminent death. That last shockwave was not just a gentle shove. No, it was much worse than that. His throat was sliced open, and blood poured out. A large cut to his jaw saw that hanging limp, and several more places on his body bled from deep wounds that meant he wouldn't last past another minute.

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  The Healer's Moment is still on cooldown (176 seconds remaining).

  The Healer's Moment is still on cooldown (175 seconds remaining).

  The Healer's Moment is still on cooldown (175 seconds remaining).

  Downing a health potion didn't do much, and Luke felt himself drifting away from his body even as he got to work healing himself, stitching wounds together, like he was watching himself work in third person. All he saw was blood. So much blood. Trying to work something intricate while your hands are slick, covered in gore, makes for a difficult time concentrating, and this was no different. Luke didn't use his hands for stitching. Those, he used to staunch blood leaking out of him from several places, but working the threads with his mind was similar, except harder.

  The throat wound, he closed first, doing a piss-poor job of it, but it would keep him from bleeding out in the next ten seconds. Mind swimming, he felt himself drift downward, as if the flying spell was wearing off. Or perhaps it was just his mind going, no longer able to keep a spare thought. Either way, Luke took a mental breath. That was all he could do, since his physical lungs were filling up with blood. With his body ravaged by that last spell, there were too many wounds for him to deal with them all. His way of healing would not work. Not this time.

  Luke refused to give up. Even with his consciousness slipping away, his threads of mana going still, and his heart slowing down, he took a page out of Greta's book. Out of his sister's, Kenny's, that condescending Faith Healer's. All of them. Throwing all points from the level-ups into Wisdom for mana regeneration and mana efficiency, he pumped healing mana into his own meta-heart as his vision dimmed and his thoughts slowed.

  Blood spewed out of his mouth, and he woke with a start, heart racing and adrenaline pumping.

  "Aaaah!" he screamed as the sensation of pain made itself known. Everything hurt, but the wounds were closing on their own without his input. Little by little, Luke's body restored itself. Healing mana burned hot in his meta heart, pumping out through every mana channel. Having regained control, Luke found himself able to direct it away from channels without injuries, preventing it from going to waste. Mana burned, and his head throbbed as he downed a mana potion, cursing himself for not having bought more potent versions yet.

  "Did... did I die?" he asked himself, looking down at his hands. But no, he hadn't. Close. Very close, but he hadn't stepped over that threshold. That had been one nasty spell to go out on. Making sure he hadn't dreamt it, and the Archfiend was dead and stored in his inventory, Luke doubled over, vomiting blood as the healing repaired his stomach and patched up the trickle of blood still coming from his throat.

  The Archfiend hadn't taken Luke seriously. If the monster had used that final spell right away, he wouldn't have been able to fix himself in time to defend against the next attack. Even then, it was nothing more than luck that'd seen him win. Weaver's Renewal. Without it extending past its supposed boundary, because of Luke's imprecision, there would've been no way for Luke to do enough damage.

  Hannah: "Luke! The Archons and zombies dropped dead! Did you kill that tall thing?"

  Coming back to his senses, Luke stopped the healing mana and set to fixing the last wounds on his own, not wanting to spend what little mana remained in his available pool.

  Luke: "It's dead."

  He looked around in all directions. In that state, he'd lost a lot of altitude, and the sounds of fighting from the wall surrounding the keep now reached him as he levitated not far above the top of the keep. The Dread Dragon wasn't anywhere near him. A couple of normal dragons were still heading in his direction, but not all of them.

  Luke: "I'm... below. Where are you?"

  Hannah: "Finally, he answers! Just look straight up. You should see the dragon. I'm going to start in on the wing. Lost a lot of health and mana, but I'm good to keep going."

  Luke made himself spin in the air. There it was, just like she'd said, right above him. Far, far up in the air. So were the other dragons, closing in."

  Luke: "The other dragons are on their way."

  Hannah: "Yeah. I see them. Can you catch up?"

  Luke: "I'm coming."

  With most of the healing done, Luke steadied his breathing and tried to push away the existential dread of just having escaped the jaws of death. Mana trickled in at a good rate now that he was no longer in combat, but it'd take a long time for the bar to fill all the way up. In games, your health and mana would often refill when you leveled up. Not so with The System. Poor design, if he could say so himself.

  Rising in the air, Luke set his aim toward The Dread Dragon Naxaramus and began climbing up through the air. Problem was, he found, the spell didn't respond like it had before, and moving was perhaps not slower, not yet, but making small adjustments was almost impossible. Fine control was slipping away. This had to be the first sign of the mages' spell losing its grip on him.

  "No, no, no," he whispered to himself. "Don't run out. Not yet!"