Chapter 39: First Fight Against A Monster
He gave a antidote to Tyr too. The treant drank it happily.
As he stood in the center of the soon-to-be trap location, Mana Resonance allowed him to resonate with the flow of ambient Mana, and feel changes in it.
He listened to the soft rustle of leaves, and faint buzz of insects.
And behind it all there was a distant, rhythmic thuds of Mana.
He could feel the tremors in the ground.
It was coming.
But Isaac didn’t move.
The real reason he’d crafted this plan wasn’t just for victory in the combat practical class.
It was for Tyr.
Defeating an elite-ranked monster would push Tyr’s level straight to, or near, Level 10.
Tyr was born from the Genetic Catalyst – Core – of the Overlord rank Tyrant Verdant Treant, and Tyr had exceptional potential.
He would evolve into a powerful species upon reaching Adept rank.
Isaac wanted to make Tyr evolve as quickly as possible.
"Tyr, make sure to cover me in the fight."
...
Nero’s POV
Nero stayed low behind a half-collapsed wall.
Across the street, the others were in position.
Thalia had taken cover behind some rubble. Broon was crouched near an old pillar. Elric was on the second floor of a ruined building.
The mana-infused stone was placed where they wanted it. Inside another building. It had just enough mana to draw attention.
Nero clicked the comm once.
"We’re set," he said.
"Same here," Elric replied. "You really think Isaac will be alright on his own?"
"He’s not bad, but stats aren’t everything," Broon said. "Fighting’s more than numbers."
Nero glanced at the stone across the road. "I get it. I’m not thrilled about it either. But you saw how arrogant he was, saying he would fight the Molten Hornbull alone. He thinks having an SSS rank Talent makes him the strongest.
"We know Talent doesn’t mean anything unless we train properly.
"If Isaac doesn’t realize this soon, it will limit his future. This is why it’s best to let him do what he wants. When he is defeated by the Molten Hornbull, it will set him on the right path."
Academies trained the students in combat, but most students never took it seriously.
They thought having a Combat-type Skill was enough.
But only those who fought on field knew skills needed proper training to be used.
Slash, for example, boosted the next attack by 250%.
But it took a split second to activate, which wasn’t mentioned in the skill description.
The small time lag could get one killed in a battle unless they were accustomed to it.
"Only way to gain battle experience is to let him have a real battle," Nero said.
"Still doesn’t feel right leaving a junior like him alone," Broon muttered.
Nero sighed. "Let him mess up. Better now than later. He needs to see his limits."
There was a pause, then Nero added, "But... he did manage Mana Resonance after unlocking it just days ago. And he made a better plan than what anyone could create in a short amount of time. It’s clear is isn’t like the raffle from the academies who are drunk on their Talent. So maybe he’ll pull it off."
Just then, Elric spoke up. "I’ve got movement. They’re close."
Nero looked through a crack in the wall. The entire opposing team was walking toward the building with the stone.
"All of them?" Thalia asked.
"They’re not even being careful," Broon said.
"This feels too easy," Nero muttered.
Elric launched his spell. A barrage of fire missiles hit the building. Broon and Thalia rushed out. Nero stayed back a moment, watching.
There was a loud roar from the smoke.
Then silence.
As the dust cleared, Nero could see only one person standing. The others had vanished like smoke in the wind.
The man was calm. Pale-haired. He had a slight smile on his face, and he held the stone in his hand, spinning it slowly.
"I figured you’d try something like this," the Kael said. "But I can’t say it was a smart move."
Thalia frowned. Kael. Master-rank. Illusion Mage. Not stronger than Nero, but tricky to defeat even if they all fought against him together.
"Where’s the rest of your team?" Thalia demanded.
"Something’s off," Elric said. "They were all here a second ago."
Nero didn’t speak. His mind was already piecing it together.
"Dammit," he muttered. "Kael used his illusions to trick us. They knew about our plan. Dammit, Professor Ren, you set us up because we had an advantage due to the Elric."
"What?" Thalia asked.
"Their scout—Zeke. He can detect mana within five hundred meters. If he sensed the monster first, they’d chase it. If he sensed the stone, they’d come here. But if he picked up both..."
"Then they’d figure out which one was moving," Elric’s muttered.
"Exactly. We stayed still to set the trap. The monster kept moving. They figured it out."
Kael chuckled. "You’re not wrong. We sensed both. One mana source was still. The other was on the move. Since your guy has Mana Resonance, we guessed you used it to create a decoy."
Professor Ren had purposefully revealed Isaac had Mana Resonance.
It was to let the smart ones know what kind of plan Isaac could implement with Mana Resonance, and Kael, being an Illusion Mage who had mastered the craft of deception and trickery, had always been first to pick up clues like that.
Kael tapped the stone lightly against his palm.
"It wasn’t hard to work out who the bait was."
Nero didn’t say anything. He activated Invisibility and started moving.
"Elric," he said through the comm. "You three handle him. I’m going to Isaac."
"I’ll warn Isaac about the ambush–" Elric stopped. They could suddenly not contact Isaac.
"No signal," Elric said. "They’re using a disruptor."
"Of course we are." Kael laughed.
Elric shook his head. "Fine. We will hold back Kael. You go to Isaac before the other team finds him. I will also try to disable the disruptor, and warn Isaac."
They did want Isaac to lose to the monster, and understand that he needed to train.
But being targeted by a team of seniors and a Elite monster at once was too much.
It would no longer teach Isaac a lesson, and instead it would become a traumatic experience.
It wasn’t why Nero and others had sent Isaac alone.
"Don’t worry. I will go to Isaac quickly," Nero said.
He activated Seven Wind Step skill and bolted towards Isaac’s location.
The rest of the team moved to engage Kael.
Nero was already gone, running through the ruins, hoping he wasn’t too late.
...
Isaac’s POV
Isaac stared at the system interface projected in front of him.
"Party Invite: Tyr."
Monsters had status screens too.
He found that out only recently.
It was part of the World System itself.
Not all of monsters were smart to make use of the System, but the System did the heavy lifting. It fed the information from interface directly into their minds.
If they had intelligence even close to a newborn human child, they could use the System. This allowed monsters to level, and evolve.
Isaac sent the party invite, unsure if it would even work.
Tyr blinked once. Then twice.
A screen appeared before Isaac.
[Invite accepted.]
[How would you like to adjust the experience point sharing?]
[1. 50-50]
[2. Performance-based]
[3. Decide manually.]
Isaac’s eyes widened. "You can understand that?"
Tyr tilted his leafy head, then stood straighter, like he’d acknowledged something.
"Okay," Isaac muttered. "Give all exp to Tyr."
[Experience point distribution: Tyr (100%), Isaac Hargraves (0%)]
A deep rumble echoed in the distance.
Isaac raised his head.
Smoke trailed in the air, and a hulking figure barreled through the ruined district.
Steam hissed off its horns.
It moved in a straight line, tearing through concrete walls like they were made of paper.
Bits of burning rubble bounced off its armor-like hide. The monster stared Isaac in the eye.
Isaac took a steady breath and activated Sovereign of Land.
Mana pulsed beneath his feet.
The land responded like it had been waiting. A five-hectare radius lit up in his mind. Raw information was fed into his mind—soil density, moisture levels, root structures, buried stone, broken metal. He felt everything.
It was draining. Not enough to knock him out, but it pulled hard on his reserves.
Still, he needed that much space. The Hornbull was too fast to be caged in a small arena.
As the monster neared, Isaac raised his hand.
He began using the active effect of Sovereign of Land.
Massive roots erupted from the ground, entangling the charging beast’s legs. It stumbled, skidding, digging furrows in the earth with its hooves.
While it was interrupted, the poisonous flora bloomed.
Dreadbloom. Miragepetal. Viperthorn.
The poisonous gases wrapped around the Hornbull’s limbs, and climbed toward its orifices.
’The start was good. Now I just need to survive until poison finishes it.’
’But that’s easier said than done.’
The roots strained to hold the Molten Hornbull down.
The monster roared.
Fire bloomed from beneath its hide, and suddenly its body flared with heat.
The smell of burning bark and scorched air hit Isaac in the face.
’That... looks like a skill,’ Isaac noted.
The roots were reduced to ash in seconds.
The Molten Hornbull charged.
Its molten hooves left glowing footprints behind. Steam rose with every step. Cracks formed in the road as the heat warped the ground.
Isaac threw his arms forward, summoning more roots.
These were thicker, and larger.
They grabbed at the beast’s horns and legs, but it burst through like a comet.
Isaac braced, ready to dodge, when something massive slammed into the Hornbull’s side.