He didn’t know if he had enough time to do a full scan, and knowing where the wolves were at that very moment wouldn’t have helped him. He could’ve also used his bandana and pretended like he had just vanished, but would the beasts buy that? Would they not look for him?

  Even if the chlorine could mask his smell and he was able to stay long enough for them to lose interest, was that the right move?

  For all he knew, they might camp by the poolside as they waited for him to reemerge. It was their home, so they had no reason to leave, and without his vision he wasn’t confident enough in making it out of the hotel. He might even end up running into something much worse.

  No, this had to end now. The next time he may not get the same chance. Heck, there might not even be a next time. He would make a move, and he would make it count.

  Deciding he’d recovered enough resources, Matt started slowly swimming towards the edge of the pool as he readied himself for the climb out. Once there, he started pulling himself out of the pool. Slowly. Deliberately. He couldn’t hear nor see, but he could feel their gazes on him. Watching him. Measuring him. They were wary, which was exactly what he had hoped for.

  He tried not to show any sense of urgency, nor panic. They might jump him, but he only needed a few seconds. A lifetime in a situation like this, but it was all the time he hoped to buy.

  Mana started gathering under his left foot, but not in the manner that it had before. Before, he had made his mana cover a single direction, now it was time for something else.

  Matt pushed mana all around him, enveloping him in a bubble of his own making. Every inch within a six foot radius was flooded and occupied, marking it as his territory. His shield. His Mana Domain.

  The wolves, sensing that something was up, didn’t waste more time, racing towards a stationary Matt who was in his fighting stance.

  Matt took a few deep breaths as he tried his utmost to be as connected to his mana as possible. The sphere of mana, or his Mana Domain, had glaring limitations, the biggest being that in order to stay connected to it, his left foot couldn’t leave the ground.

  The other problem was the drain on his resources. He was constantly blasting mana at half a second interval to get scans as close to real-time as possible, which meant he was spending mana as if it was endless, which, unfortunately, it wasn’t. It put him on a timer, and not a very long one, hence why [Revitalize] was working overtime to keep him topped up, but it still wasn’t enough, not even close.

  He was sure there were ways to optimize the skill, but for now, research and development would have to wait. Because now…

  It was time to take out the trash, Matt thought as he sensed the first wolf enter his domain, a swipe aimed at his head.

  He ducked slightly before coming back up with a jab to the wolf’s gut, rupturing organs and sending it flying out of his domain.

  Matt felt mana start to build up in the ground, prompting him to raise an eyebrow while getting ready to dodge.

  A spiked rectangular object shot out from where mana had been gathering, and towards his chest.

  Matt shifted his weight and spun on his heel in an attempt to dodge the attack, which he almost did but it was still able to graze his arm, almost tripping him in the process.

  The wolves, sensing an opening, bounced, as two different forms entered his domain, jaws wide open, aiming for whatever part of his body they could latch on.

  Matt turned and ducked, dodging both wolves, before headbutting the closest one as hard as he could.

  The beast yelped as Matt felt bones crack under the impact, before the domain was empty once more

  Matt was starting to get into it when a loud, deafening howl came from the other side of the pool. The power it held was so palpable that it had almost caused him to keel over.

  One wolf tried to make use of the opening, probably expecting the howl to have incapacitated him, pouncing at him, claws and maw at the ready to tear him to shreds.

  Matt gritted his teeth as he met the incoming wolf head-on. He had hoped the howl would give them a false sense of security, but the one from the alpha was just too powerful to completely shrug off. Fortunately, it was enough, as his fist came down on the incoming wolf’s head, slamming it into the ground, before a foot descended on its neck like an executioner’s axe, taking out the first wolf.

  Kicking the body out of his domain, Matt turned towards where the howl had come from and flipped the alpha off, to which the alpha stopped its howl, and soon mana started building up in his domain once more.

  He easily dodged the incoming attack, and this time he flipped off the alpha with both hands.

  A few more attacks came, with Matt dodging most of them and retaliating when possible. His notifications were blinking, but that’s been the case ever since the mana attack that had blinded him. He wanted to check how many wolves he was up against, but the mana domain was taking all of his focus and then some. Losing it for even a second would cause the skill to falter, and he couldn’t afford any mistakes.

  He promised himself, though, that he’d look into adjusting his notifications to at least show kills right away. He just needed to deal with this wolf infestation first.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Another round of attacks came, including the one that gathered from inside his sphere. So far they had only been able to graze him, meaning he hadn’t needed to use [Repair], but his mana wasn’t looking good. [Revitalize] was working overtime, but the mana domain simply drained an unfathomable amount.

  He wanted to start channeling mana in his other hand, in preparation for when the alpha inevitably made its move, but he couldn’t afford to waste resources right now, not until he got rid of the fodder.

  Two wolves came into Matt’s sphere at the same time, confirming that, at least, two were still alive. One was aiming high, towards his head and shoulder, while the other was going for his midsection.

  Matt couldn’t dodge both attacks cleanly, so he decided to land a blow that stuck. He leaned to the side before sending a knee strike towards the incoming jaw of the wolf.

  The knee landed with a devastating crunch, sending it flying into the pool, but the other wolf was able to shift its attack and slash at Matt’s exposed back, landing a deep gash across it.

  Matt grimaced in pain, deciding to pump some mana into [Repair] to deal with the damage. At least that was the plan, but the wolf didn’t let up, pouncing back for a follow-up attack, and one that didn’t come alone, because as it entered his domain, mana started building up where he was standing, but this time, its target was his stationary leg.

  Izzy was leaning against the wall of the large training hall—one of the public ones afforded to people from Earth. It was basically a dimly lit gymnasium with target dummies and a few private rooms that people could reserve for duels or if they weren’t keen on others seeing what they were practicing.

  The walls were heavily fortified and enchanted to protect what was outside, but inside, what protected you was your own common sense. If you blew yourself up or were close enough to someone who did, it was apparently your fault.

  Still, the hall was nothing compared to the training rooms the elites were provided. They had trainers on standby to help with any and everything—from information to practice partners, and even rare resources—more complex constructs to train against, and of course, a mansion with a staff waiting on them day and night.

  When she had unlocked her class, she was assigned one of her own, but she refused to use or even enter it. Jackson should’ve been treated the same, offered the same amenities, yet he wasn’t, so she wasn’t really in any mood to accept their ‘gifts’, ‘help’, or whatever else they wanted to dress it as. Whenever she returned to the city, they would hound her as they tried to find any information about how she was progressing, which was why she tried to stay away from the city as much as possible.

  Their help was meaningless to her. For all she cared, they could shove it somewhere safe.

  As for today, Izzy wasn’t in the training room for her own practice, she was actually watching Jackson as he struggled with his new idea.

  When she had arrived back in town earlier that day, she went to the library straightaway, where she was sure Jackson would still be holed up. Surprisingly, he wasn’t, which got her hopes up slightly that he might finally be out of town, grinding, but to her dismay, he was here, and still level 4.

  Upon her return this time, she had a plan. Check on Jackson to see how he was doing, and when the answer to that question inevitably turned out to be ‘being level 4,’ she’d drag his ass out of the city and throw him into a dungeon, where he can figure out how to be a mage there, which was exactly what she was about to do… until he explained his idea.

  At first, she thought he’d gone crazy. Then, he kept going into more and more detail, which only served to confirm that thought, but it also reminded her of who he truly was—a theory crafter. He and Matt would spend countless hours coming up with the craziest ideas and builds, and while they did succeed more often than not, it took some serious trial and error to do so.

  Problem was, this wasn’t a game. Errors here meant crippling your path, your progression, maybe even death, which was the reason for her reluctance. A reluctance Jackson attempted to alleviate by inviting her to watch him test out his idea, bringing us to this point of time, where Jackson was standing in front of a target dummy… trying to cast fireball… with his health, where a failed attempt resulted in a jet of blood instead, turning the public hall into nightmare fuel.

  “Once again, how exactly are you supposed to power up a spell… with your blood…” she asked again, not entirely convinced by neither his explanation nor demonstration.

  “Like I said before, the difference between blood and mana is that blood takes on a physical form and properties, but they both carry energy. I just need to harvest the energy in my blood, combine it with my mana, which should result in an unattuned, energy infused, ball of mana that I can do with whatever I want,” he explained, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

  “Uh huh, and that is better than being a blood mage because…?” she asked, sounding less and less convinced.

  “A blood mage doesn’t throw fireballs.”

  “Doesn’t answer my question,” she pressed.

  Jackson turned his head towards her, his green eyes peering into hers, confident, unwavering. “I’m gonna learn how to cast fireball, and then, I’m gonna blow shit up with said fireball, and whoever tells me I can’t, will be the recipient of an autographed fireball from yours truly.”

  “You do know that your obsession with fireballs is bordering on lunacy, right?” she mocked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Oh, I’m definitely a certified lunatic,” he confirmed. “Ain’t gonna stop me from bombarding that dummy into ash like the Roman Empire invading the… less fortunate,” he added, a grin on his face at the thought of finally casting the simple spell that’s been eluding him.

  Izzy chuckled at her friend’s goofiness. “I see you still have that spark in your eyes, which means I have nothing to worry about,” she said, patting her friend on the shoulder before heading towards the enchanted double doors that were the exit.

  “If you leave now, the first fireball is gonna have your name on it.”

  “Easy, big man. Your mouth is writing checks your mana can’t cash,” she teased her friend before answering a bit more seriously. “The guys are waiting. We just stopped by to resupply, and I wanted to check up on you while they did.”

  She wanted him to join her, for them to dungeon together. He was her friend, and she truly enjoyed spending time with him–whether in games or not–but she understood that he had his own path to walk, and the best help she could offer was letting him know she was there if he needed her.

  Jackson sighed. “Fine… but drinks are on you next time.”

  To which Izzy responded by flipping him off.

  In truth, she didn’t need to see him make progress, she was just worried that the lack of it was negatively affecting him, which could make someone desperate, and desperate people tended to do things they shouldn’t. But, when they locked eyes, his didn’t have an ounce of desperation in them, just pure determination, confidence, and a hint of madness. Exactly what one needed to achieve the impossible. Which was enough to assure her that soon enough, Jackson ‘the fire-hazard’ would terrorize the city of Helendar.