Chương 67: Chapter 68: Happy Hunting (III)

For all the torment the basilisk had put him through, Ember had imagined it would be a little more intelligent. Yet here it was, wreaking havoc while being harried by packs of goblins. At least the goblins seemed to have come prepared. There were roughly three hundred of them, divided into several infantry groups. At the front were the taller and bulkier hobgoblins, besieging the wounded serpent head-on. Leading them were a couple of robust figures, which he could only imagine as their chieftains.

Behind them stood a line of Goblin Shamans, the wives of the chieftains, according to goblin traditions. There were not one, two, or three, but five of them, each carrying a black wooden staff with a large coloured gem embedded at its tip. A different colour for each kind of elemental attunement. It was the first time Ember had encountered female goblins, and shamans nonetheless. Their figures did not differ much from his imagination, though the bone armour and helms made them appear even more grotesque.

Anyhow, his attention quickly shifted to the elemental powers they were invoking through their staffs. Two were casting fire spells, one commanded earth, another wind, while the last invoked pure kinetic force to shield the hobgoblins fighting in close quarters. The greater part of their force consisted of long-range attackers. Nearly two hundred of them were scattered high upon the ruined walls, firing arrows and sling bombs at the ginormous serpent.

Individually, their attacks amounted to little more than a nuisance, but collectively it was far more than merely distracting the monster.

"I have to hand it to them," Dawn muttered.

"If nothing else, they are persistent." They rested on a vantage point higher up on the wall, which granted them a more acute view of the chaos. With the monsters busy and the natural darkness providing camouflage, they had no fear of being discovered.

"Do you think the goblins actually stand a chance against that thing?" He couldn't imagine it. Even Elin's advanced spell only wounded it, whereas the goblins, though they had their own capabilities, were too primitive to prepare anything devastating enough to harm the thick scales of the silver creature.

"Hmm..." she hummed thoughtfully.

"Before this, I would've thought they were simply throwing bodies at it to see if it sticks, but looking at all the wounds your basilisk carries, the contest between them might actually be closer than anyone will believe." Ember raised an eyebrow, his gaze scrutinising the battle. He couldn't see it, but Dawn was more experienced and knowledgeable than him to come to such a conclusion.

Either way, he would be delighted to see the basilisk fall, though the ideal outcome would be for both sides to destroy one another.

"Of course, it won't happen without sacrifices," Dawn continued.

"Half of them wouldn't surprise. I'd wager they'll need a few more packs to even stop the basilisk from fleeing.

"We should just sit back and enjoy the show. It's going to be a while." Ember cocked an eyebrow.

"Are you sure about remaining here?"

"Remember what we came here for, my dear protégé," she explained.

"You need those glittering stones from the shaman's staff. If everything goes well, we might not even have to fight to get them. Hell, even if the basilisk decides to flee, the goblins will still be too devastated to face us. Well, me." She paused, her lips curling up into a grin, the dimple deepening on her cheeks.

"You're still too green." That he had to admit. Compared to her, he was too green. Trusting her judgement, he leaned against the stone wall and began cultivating his Mind Mana. It had been over three years since he had awakened the attunement, yet Mind Mana remained an uncanny element to him. It had never grown quickly despite all his experiments, whereas the rate at which he exhausted it seemed to grow more and more as his skills developed.

Ember had believed having higher Will and Insight would make the process easier. While that proved true in some respects, his daily reliance on mentally demanding tasks also consumed a great deal of Mind Mana, leaving his overall progress disappointingly slow. Perhaps that was simply the nature of the Mind Attunement. His mastery over Kinetic Attunement was at a similar phase, yet Ember had found acclimatising to that element considerably easier.

After half an hour of cultivation, he had accumulated enough Mind Mana to conduct a couple of proper experiments. The goblins remained fully occupied with the basilisk, paying them no attention. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Without ceremony, he accessed three breaths of mana, infusing them with Mind Mana before extending three thin strands from his palm. The task itself was not difficult.

The problem was that Mind Mana seemed unusually averse to leaving his body. He had to coax it outwards for several moments before the mana finally flowed from his palm.

"You're starting already," Dawn said, sitting upright.

"Make sure you don't waste your Mind Mana by scattering it everywhere." Ember already knew that. Mind Attunement behaved nothing like Kinetic or the other elemental attunements. Its usage was more... underwhelming? Or rather unnoticeable. It didn't need much fanfare, as far as he was aware. He allowed the thin strands of mana to stretch several metres away from where he sat. The objective was simple: to detect something.

"Got anything?" Dawn asked, deliberately reaching out and placing a finger directly into the weave.

"Wait, that..." Ember immediately sensed a disturbance within the flow with her tampering. The strand, however, did not collapse. As Dawn moved her finger back and forth, the weave distorted before naturally returning to its original shape.

"What is it?"

"I can sense the movement of your palm, but..."

"But you can already do that with pure mana," Dawn completed him, nodding thoughtfully. Tilting her head, she considered the problem.

"Close your eyes and direct the weave towards me." He obliged. Retracting the strands, he guided them towards her. The weave connected with her torso, and even with his eyes closed, Ember could clearly detect the contact.

"Concentrate," Dawn's voice echoed.

"Imagine what you're sensing in your mind's eye." Ember didn't need to pay attention to perceive the distinct trail of his Mind Mana. He could already sense everything the strand touched with a little focus. The problem was that his perception extended no farther than the thread itself. The strand could follow her movements, but not accurately enough for the System to recognise it as a genuine spell.

"I have another idea," Dawn said after he opened his eyes.

"Wrap the mana around your body like a cocoon. And close your eyes again." He immediately understood what she intended. Even if it would consume significantly more mind mana than before, he agreed. Although it was quite impossible to form a cocoon with only three breaths of Mind Mana. Even nine breaths might not have been sufficient, let alone the meagre amount he currently possessed. Dawn knew that. With her exceptional perception, she easily identified every point where he channelled his Mind Mana.

Only seconds after he closed his eyes, Ember sensed something travelling along one of the strings before striking him. A pebble? Before he could confirm it, more tiny shards flew towards him from every direction.

"Don't try to dodge," Dawn instructed the instant he instinctively moved.

"Your job is to detect them through the weave. Who knows? You might even end up learning Omnidirectional Perception or something." Ember could detect them. In fact, the more intensely he focused, the easier it became to perceive every pebble passing through the network of mana. Whether that would be enough for the System to recognise a new spell remained to be seen. Still, he could already imagine how useful a broader version of this technique would become in battle.

Regrettably, much to his dismay, he exhausted nearly all of his attuned Mind Mana and was forced to stop after only a couple of minutes. Still, there was no notification or change in his status.

"Still no luck," Dawn observed, noticing the disappointed look on his face. He shook his head.

"At least, I can see some practical use of this." Even ignoring combat, he could practise Split Focus simply by dividing the mana into multiple independent threads.

"I bet you'll get something out of it if you keep practising."

"Do you think releasing the mana in a burst could work like sonar?"

"Sonar?" She arched an eyebrow.

"Like how bats detect everything around them."

"They use sound waves," Dawn replied.

"Scattering your mana like that can be terribly wasteful with how difficult you find cultivating mind mana. You can always try if you run out of better ideas." Ember nodded. In truth, he had already attempted that once years ago. Back then, however, his control over both his mana and his Will was insufficient. The next experiment on his list was attempting to analyse the runes within an artifact. He wouldn't be able to Appraise anything with his lack of knowledge, but analysing shouldn't be hard, right?

Before attempting that, however, he needed to replenish his Mind Mana. Dawn clicked her tongue.

"I've seen Mind Mana used in all sorts of ways, something like Voice of Command, telepathy, emotional manipulation, psychic attacks, and even some rather unsavoury ways." She sighed.

"Unfortunately, I never learned how those magelings actually shaped their mana to cast those spells." As much as Ember wanted to obtain his Apprentice title, Dawn seemed almost equally frustrated by not being able to help him with Mind attunement.

"Do you think condensing all my Mind Mana into a psychic attack would work?"

"It might have some effect," Dawn admitted.

"But you should refrain from trying anything like that for now. I can only imagine the backlash if anything goes wrong." Ember hid a small smile. Honestly, he wouldn't have minded suffering a splitting headache if it meant obtaining the Apprentice title immediately.

"The objective isn't to rush," Dawn said sagely after a moment of silence.

"You have plenty of time to earn your title. You might even learn a few intermediate spells before your trial."

"Speaking of intermediate spells, do you know the requirements for the Mage title?"

"Already thinking about the next promotion, eh?" She smiled.

"Well, it doesn't hurt to tell you. Though I must admit, it's considerably harder than becoming an Apprentice. You'll need to have a proper mana system, and learn eighteen—" She stopped mid-sentence, her gaze darting around sharply before she grabbed Ember by the arm and pulled him backwards. Ember opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but she shushed him with a gesture.

After covering dozens of paces, she immediately activated the bracelet on her wrist, as a shadowy cover enveloped them, blending seamlessly with the surrounding darkness. A heartbeat later, several humanoid figures darted through the darkness, landing precisely where the two of them had been hiding a moment ago. Ember's eyes narrowed the instant his gaze fell upon them. It was the group from the Asaraii Clan.