XV

  Kaz’s mana projectile raced towards the charging Ironbark Boar, the thin silver construct ripping through the air. Kaz didn’t wait for the attack to land, and began casting again. As his first mana attack landed on the boar, hitting it in the forehead area, Kaz finished casting [ Mana Burst ] again, this time shaking in anxiety as the boar was gaining ground and he could feel the ground tremble with the force of the boar’s bounding strides.

  His mana projectile hit the boar in the left side of his snout, causing the boar to veer slightly to the right. He quickly jumps to the side, his body bouncing roughly against the dirt in order to avoid the charging boar. The boar misses him slightly while Kaz rolls awkwardly to get back on his feet. He quickly relocates the boar, but the boar seems to be slightly confused as it didn’t manage to hit the Gnome. Kaz casts his Skill Ability again, wondering how much he would need to hit as this monster seemed to have hide that was tough, probably where the name came from. As his [ Mana Burst ] finished casting and flew towards the again charging boar, this one managed to pierce the boar in the eye, causing it to squeal loudly as it came crashing down.

  Momentarily stunned by his stroke of luck, Kaz regained his composure, and decided to try something with his mana this time for the next attack. He focused on feeding more Mana Points to his next cast hoping for more damage, but his Skill Ability didn’t react well to it, as his head felt like it was going to explode as a throbbing pulse hammered into his skull. He lost his balance and stumbled to the side, hunching over and holding his head, while a warm feeling began flowing down his ears.

  Everything seemed to quiet down and all he heard was his blood pumping throughout his body, mixed with adrenaline from the fight and the pain coursing through his head. He was then thrown to the side, as his eyes flew open, a flash of gray and brown filling his vision, and pain erupting from his ribs, as he felt a few of them crack. He lost his breath as he rolled across the dirt, trying to regain his breath and brace himself from the pain rippling through his side. He shakily got up, and began casting [ Mana Burst ], this time not trying anything special. Due to his condition, his mana construct wasn’t shaped like his previous quills, but more of a jagged piece of metal, and the silver colored mana flew towards the boar, who looked smugly at the Mage after managing to hit him.

  As the attack landed on the boar, it squealed and then snorted, becoming angry that his foe was still not out and continuing the fight. Kaz readied another attack, casting as the boar ran at him, not as quickly though this time, as it seemed to be wounded like Kaz, which gave Kaz the confidence to finish his Skill Ability, this time, returning to the previous quill shape he had mastered earlier.

  The mana construct struck the Ironbark Boar in the forehead again, causing it to stumble, losing most of its momentum. It continued its half charge, but Kaz was able to shift over to the right, causing him to dodge the faltering steps of the boar, who’s mouth began foaming from exertion and fury. The boar then buckled down as it tried to turn around and charge again, but with eyes of pure wild abandon, got up and began to swing its tusks recklessly at Kaz, who was standing nearby, trying to reduce his movement to prevent his own pain from flaring up. He gritted his teeth as he stepped back, trying to create some distance from the boar, as he knew it would only take one or two more attacks from his Skill Ability.

  He briefly wondered if he should use the knife that Merin gave him, but he doubted he had the ability or even the strength to actually pierce into the monster. He was more concerned of the boar causing more damage to him than he would be able to cause to it, as he wasn’t sure how many Health Points he could damage with no Skills with the knife. Those tusks looked just as sharp as the knife, but unlike the Ironbark Boar, his skin was very much soft and the robe didn’t have the ability to shield him from those tusks.

  As he dodged the wild lunge from the boar, he felt a ding go off and a light pulse going through his head, this one felt warm and comforting, similar to the time he obtained [ Mana Regeneration ], and he wondered what Ability Skill or Passive Skill he acquired, or if one of his current Skills Ranked up and provided him with something new to the Ability. Since he was in the middle of the fight, he couldn’t risk opening his [ Archive ], so he cast [ Mana Burst ], this time not caring for the shape of the construct, as he was also battling his waning adrenaline and throbbing pain in his side.

  His burst of mana resembled a wooden branch, as the mana lashed out from his hands, a jagged piece that seemed to split in two at it didn’t seem to be fully formed at the end. A jolt ran through his body, and his eyes glowed a bright silver, as the mana construct rushed towards the erratic beast, flying through the air faster than before. The attack landed on the side of the boar’s head, as it was still thrashing around. It let out a pitiful squeal of pain, and it collapsed, breathing heavily but ruggedly.

  Kaz steadied his breathing, trying to get himself together, as he felt his body start to tire out from this already long encounter. The pain in his side seemed to be throbbing less, becoming more of a dull pain, but every deep breath or slight movement he made would reaggravate the pain. His ears were now slightly ringing, but his hearing was returning, as he was able to hear the monster breathing heavily. The boar tried to stand on its hooves, but it lacked the energy, as its life was draining away.

  Kaz cast [ Mana Burst ] one more time, this time trying to replicate his previous construct, and formed it in his mind, trying to create a pointed edge with it forking outwards as it flew through the air. His silver construct gleamed in the light, as it rushed towards the boar. The boar shuddered when it got hit by the attack, and then stopped moving and breathing, finally succumbing to its end.

  He fell to his knees, crying out in agony as the pain in his ribs exploded. He steadied his breathing and decided to open his [ Archive ], not because he was curious about the potential new Skill or a massive Rank up, but he wanted to check on his Health Points, to see if he needed to take his only health potion.

  His [ Archive ] had other plans though, and the semi-translucent paper rolled open in front of him. The gold lettering seemed shorter this time, and it quickly turned to black, revealing to him:

  Would you like to learn the Passive Ability, [ Evasive Step ]?

  He quickly accepted, knowing that dodging saved his life many times so far, which he assumed is what this Ability referred to, and this would only help his survivability. The page burst into golden mana and disappeared. The regular [ Archive ] appeared, and he quickly checked his wellbeing stats. His Mana Points were at 31, and his Health Points were down to 30. He pondered if he should take his health potion, but decided he would wait a little bit to see how quickly his Health Points would recover, as he was currently out of danger.

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  Kaz looked back up, and noticed his Resonance went up to 8, which means his Mana Points and Health Points were both a little bit higher, but he didn’t feel the usual pulse that accompanied his increase in Resonance. Due to the intensity of the fight, a slight pulse would've been overlooked, especially since he had broken ribs, pulled too much of his mana, and also a frenzied boar trying to end his existence.

  He went over to his [ Passive Abilities ] page and looked over to his new Passive Ability, [ Evasive Step ]. It was slotted below his other Ability, [ Mana Regeneration ], with only one spot left below it. He looked away from the pages, and scanned the area around him, looking if any monsters were nearby. The area was quiet and peaceful, filled occasionally with the sounds of birds and the wind brushing around the vegetation. He wished he was in the condition to climb a tree, as it would be safer than being prone on the ground, but after checking his surroundings, he didn’t see anything concerning.

  Kaz focused back on his [ Passive Abilities ] page, and brought up the description of his new Passive Ability, which read:

  Your body responds with instinctive action. Gain a 3% boost to movement speed and reflexes while in combat. (Rank 3)

  He read it and was excited but also… confused? This seemed like a very good Passive Ability, but he questioned the added changes that would come with the Rank up. How could his reflexes be improved? Movement speed made sense, as his strength and agility would most likely cause the growth in that area, but reflexes seemed something that would be hard to increase by something in a percent value.

  Kaz mentally shrugged, figuring out that it would be something that came naturally anyways, and that he shouldn’t question the [ Archive ] when it came to this, especially when it was just a common Ability. He closed the pages and they disappeared from his vision, and he got into his sitting pose, wincing from discomfort, to begin channeling his other Passive Skill, [ Mana Regeneration ] because he wanted to recover his Mana Points in order to be able to fend off any monsters might come. He noticed the grayish brown crystal shining in the spot where the boar was defeated, a crystal that looked almost as big as the crystal that the wolf dropped when it got defeated.

  Some time passed, his Mana Points slowly recovering along with his Health Points, although at a slower pace. He was deep in focus, almost being in a trance like state, tuning out his surroundings, when something pulsed in his mind and his body dove to the side before he was able to process what was happening. His eyes flew open as a black and gray blur ran by him, clipping his shoulder causing him to tumble awkwardly on the dirt, his ribs bursting with pain from the sudden movement.

  He rolled onto his knees and hands and looked up at the sudden attacker. He met the eyes of another Ironbark Boar, although this one was twice the size of the previous boar he just fought. The size wasn’t really what scared him, it was the eyes that looked back at him, analyzing him. This boar had a trace of intelligence, something behind those eyes almost made it seem as it was planning something. The boar looked at him, huffed and walked in circles around him, not charging in at him, just simply observing him.

  Kaz got to his feet and took a deep breath, knowing this was going to be a long battle, and there was a high chance it would be his last battle. He scanned the area around them, and the closest tree was about ten yards away. Possibly he could make a run for it when the boar was on the opposite side. He put that thought aside, knowing he would resort to that at the last minute.

  He cast [ Mana Burst ], shaping it into the forked shape he came up with earlier against the first boar, the shape feeling natural to him. The Ironbark Boar in front of him paused and watched with curiosity, its eyes twinkling when the mana construct was forming. Kaz shot the mana construct at the boar, and it didn’t move out of the way, it merely stood there and accepted the damage to its rather large head.

  This left Kaz stunned, as it didn’t have a reaction, it just merely absorbed the attack, while maintaining eye contact with him. It huffed lightly, and nodded its head, not moving towards him. Kaz’s instincts were screaming at him, because this wasn’t right, was this boar just playing with him? He decided he would go down fighting at least, although he knew no one would be surprised if he became pathetic and just accepted his death.

  He bean casting again and shot another Ability at the monster. The attack landed, this one grazing its neck and hitting its flank. The freakish boar just simply shrugged, and began posturing, tensing its body, the muscles rippling across its thick skin. Kaz tensed himself, but tried to ease the tension and be prepared to dodge, as he knew his new Passive Ability would kick in to help. The boar lunged at him, charging at a speed that almost made it seem like a blur.

  Kaz lunged to the right, trying desperately to sidestep the boar, knowing if he full on dived, his legs would get caught by the boar, and knowing the strength that this beast possessed, his legs would likely shatter. Something pulsed in his head, and his body shifted slightly without his input, just as the boar charged through, not collecting Kaz along with it. He wasn’t unscathed though, as a deep gash was cut along his upper abdominal area, which was at the height of the boar’s tusks, given the size difference.

  He instantly cried out, his knees buckling from the pain from the attack and also from his previous injury to his ribs, his shirt below the robes instantly becoming warm and wet with his blood. He struggled to get on his knees, and weakly cast another [ Mana Burst ], trying to attack the boar that was unnaturally quick in its ability to turn around to face him again. His attack landed on the boar’s left side, which caused the boar to grunt, unexpecting the attack to come so quickly after Kaz sustained the wound.

  The boar faced him again, and this time, the eyes weren’t looking at him with curiosity, they narrowed and looked at him with intent to kill. The boar dug its hooves into the hard dirt, and began charging again, this time it was slower than the first time. Maybe he hit a critical spot that affected the boar? He braced himself, getting ready to dodge again, deciding he should go the opposite way this time, to the left in order to hopefully fool the boar.

  Unfortunately for him, he found out why the boar was charging slower, it wasn’t charging at him, it was simply approaching him. As it came closer to him, it dug its hooves into the ground, and slid to a stop a few feet away from him. Kaz was still moving to the left, anticipating for the boar to continue its charge. Then the boar simply turned to him, and pounced at him, throwing the little Gnome high into the air, towards the tree he was eyeing earlier.

  With a sickening thud, he collided with the tree, the wind getting knocked out of him, and fell to the ground, dazed, trying to catch his breath. His vision was fading, experiencing pain he never knew existed. He was in so much pain, he couldn’t reach into his bag to grab his potion. He simply rolled to the side, looking at the boar in the eyes, looking into the monster that would end his journey.

  The Ironbark Boar trotted over to him, neither limping nor showing any signs of pain. He heard the snout sniffing and breathing as it approached, the odor of the monster filling his own nose. Kaz closed his eyes, ready to die, as this was what happens when you encounter something too powerful. He felt a light gust of wind and no pain followed. He was glad his moment of death wasn’t painful, it felt as if a warm breeze ended his existence.

  A faint slice sounded through the wind, then the sickening thud of something heavy and wet hitting the ground beside him.

  Kaz opened his eyes weakly, his breath coming out in a wheeze, unable to move anything in his body. The boar’s head was lying next to him, its eyes were lifeless and extinguished, with the body of the boar still standing, blood beginning to drip on to the ground.

  He looked to the left of the body, and there was a beautiful white fox looking back at him. It calmly sat there, it’s 3 puffy tails waving in the air behind it. Its brilliant green eyes flashed and began gracefully walking over to him, and all Kaz thought in the moment, was that he was glad at least he would die to a beautiful powerful monster, and not some basic Ironbark Boar. As the three-tailed fox approached him, it lowered its head and tapped Kaz’s forehead, and Kaz’s world went black.