“Hmpft!”


    I let out as I threw my shield away. Blood and gore covered it. Morrigan looked at me with envy in her eyes as she desperately tried to get rid of blood and fat covering her daggers.


    “Must be nice.”


    She grumpily said. I tore my cloak and handed her. It repaired itself in seconds.


    “Thanks.”


    I looked at the carnage we created. Numerous rat bodies laid on the ground. It smelled bad but it wasn’t a first for me.


    Killing them wasn’t hard. They were very fragile. The only strength they had was their speed. But even that worked against them. I was pretty sure if I let them hit my armor while they rushed me, they would die. Of course, I used my shield rather than my body.


    <ol>


    <li>They could easily have some kind of secret skill like exploding.</li>


    <li>I didn’t want to get covered by their bodily fluids. Yikes.</li>


    </ol>


    I just hid behind my shield while they kept slamming their bodies into it. Even when their brethren died doing it, they kept doing it. I looked at Morrigan. She didn’t have the same luxury I had. She had to dodge and attack until all of them died. It must have taken a lot of her since her forehead was drenched with sweat.


    “How is your stamina? Do you need to rest?”


    I asked. She raised her body.


    “I am fine. Just need to get away from this smell.”


    She basically ran and I followed her.


    “Enhanced senses?”


    I guessed.


    “Most of the time it is an advantage.”


    I could hear the nausea in her voice.


    “Sometimes a curse.”


    I finished her sentence. She nodded. We got away from the scene of the crime.


    “I think we can rule out this being a normal migration. This is bad news.”


    Her ears perked up, telling me she was listening despite her gaze traveling everything except me.


    “To find the reason we need to move deeper. But considering how hostile our first encounter was, it will be dangerous.”


    She straightened her back, making me liken her to a cat puffing up.


    “Good thing scouts came back immediately.”


    She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.


    “I already knew the dangers, Poyraz. I will go deeper. Will you follow me?”


    She sounded confident. Looks like she was no longer nauseous.


    “You already know the answer.”


    We moved forward, not talking anymore. I only focused on staying in the shadows and hiding my presence. One thing I discovered about passive abilities was, even though they activated when conditions were right their effectiveness changed with my focus.


    I noticed it most with Full Combat Mastery. While fighting was basically carved into my own being and I could swing my sword as easily as I breathed when I focused and tried to be better I felt myself improving immensely.


    It was the same with Shadow Melt. Right now, I controlled my breathing. I could feel my heartbeat slow down. I moved on tiptoe, being careful not to step on anything that can create noise. My senses, which were increased drastically thanks to my focus and G?kb?rü sharing his Enhanced Senses with me found the most potent shadow and I moved in it.


    Shadows clung to my armor like an ethereal veil as I slipped deeper and deeper into the darkness. It was weird, creepy even but it reminded me of the time I spent dead in the darkness. It was weirdly comforting.


    Comforting until I noticed something traveling alongside me. It wasn’t Morrigan as she wasn’t as deep in the darkness as me. Its form was shrouded but I could discern its yellow eyes. I reached towards it, tightly grabbing it. It resisted and I put more force in my grip. My heartbeat and breathing fastened as I exerted my body to pull the creature with me.


    My stealth mostly came undone and I slammed the creature to the closest tree. I was able to get a good look before it tried to claw my face off. I dragged it across the tree before slamming it to the ground all while its claws bounced off my armor. Its movements were stopped by a loud cracking noise.


    My vision became hazy. I nearly fell to the ground. I tried to regain my balance but I couldn’t get myself to focus. I fell down on my knees and hands.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    “Poyraz!”


    “Bark!”


    Morrigan and G?kb?rü sounded like I was under the water. I rapidly opened and closed my eyes.


    “Poyraz! You are having Arcane Overload! Calm down and manipulate your mana!”


    Even though I couldn’t hear all of Morrigan’s words, I understood that this was related to mana. I closed my eyes and focused on manipulating my mana. I was surprised at how little was left. What little mana I had left was all spread around my body incredibly thinly. I felt it increase as I focused more.


    I opened my eyes and realized I was covered with sweat. I was no longer dizzy.


    “Are you okay? It is still too early for you to stand up.”


    I stood up despite Morrigan’s worried voice. I was no longer dizzy.


    “Guess you are an outworlder.”


    She sounded annoyed now. Maybe she was embarrassed she needlessly worried about me?


    “What is that?”


    I pointed the creature to the ground. It looked like a jaguar with slightly oversized claws. Its fur was pitch black. It had two pitch-black fangs resembling obsidian coming out of its mouth but one was broken probably because of me. Despite its fangs reminding me of a smiledon, it was too small for my idea of a pre-historic apex predator.


    “A shadowclad panther. How did you pull it out of the shadows? I never have seen or heard something like that.”


    I wiped my sweat.


    “I don’t know. I just saw it and grabbed it. This kind of stuff is first for me too.”


    “It probably wasn’t easy considering it put you in Arcane Overload.”


    “What is that?”


    “It is what happens when you use too much mana too quickly. The intense surge and rapid depletion of mana overwhelm the body''s energy channels, resulting in a dizzying sensation and a state of disorientation. It is actually hard to happen. Not all people can utilize large amounts of mana in one go.”


    That explains why Lily didn’t warn me about it. Or on second thought, he was just being airheaded again.


    “Good thing it didn’t happen in the middle of a fight.”


    I closed my eyes and felt my mana being replenished quickly. Good thing mana recovered rapidly in this world. I opened my eyes and saw Morrigan looking at the shadowclad panther.


    “This thing is bad news, isn’t it?”


    I asked.


    “Yeah. Normally they are pretty rare and they don’t live here. I only saw them in the books. They can freely go in and out of shadows so they are a pain in the ass.”


    Her gaze left the panther and was directed to me.


    “Unless you could just grab them out of the shadows.”


    “I am still not sure how I did it so I wouldn’t bet on it. Also, is there a way to prevent Arcane Overload?”


    “Don’t use too much mana too quickly.”


    I rolled my eyes at Morrigan’s sarcastic response.


    “Haha, that really helps.”


    I said in the most sarcastic voice I could muster.


    “Train. Too much too quickly is subjective. By training your mana use you can get used to it. But I think we drew too much attention to ourselves.”


    Since I was focused on my mana I didn’t notice it but Morrigan’s warning made my ears perk up. I could hear something coming towards us. I summoned my shield and axe. I preferred my long sword or spear but I wasn’t sure if I could freely use both of them in the middle of a forest. A thick log came flying towards Morrigan’s head. I jumped in, blocking it with my shield. The impact nearly made me feel into Morrigan’s arms but I stood my ground.


    A single large figure jumped towards us. I felt Morrigan push me to the side. The creature landed where I was while I rolled on the ground to get some distance between us. G?kb?rü barked to warn me while I tried to get up. I couldn’t as something grabbed me from behind and I found myself flying in the air before hitting a tree.


    “This is going to leave a mark.”


    I thought to myself. The impact was so severe that I was showered by the fruits of the tree I hit. Some got stuck in my helmet horns. Hey, at least I didn’t break my ribs!


    “Graghhhh!”


    Something green and big charged me while I was still down. Rather than trying to find a way to save me, my brain chose to decide between making a Hulk or Shrek joke. Thankfully, G?kb?rü got my back as an ice shield managed to slow the creature down.


    “This is not even a swamp, you poser!”


    I got up and circled around the creature. It was covered with grass and moss so its shape was hard to make. However, its figure resembled a gorilla with its big, crouched stance. It charged me, using its massive shoulder as a battering ram. I jumped in the air and slammed my axe into the back of its head. It got buried into the gorilla’s head and I let it go with it.


    I fell to the ground, rather roughly as it slammed the tree I hit before. I got on my feet and realized how much my back hurt.


    (Your partner wants to share the passive skill “Regeneration” with you.)


    I accepted it. A warm feeling embraced my left shoulder and back.


    “Back to back!”


    I shouted seeing Morrigan kill the gorilla creature. I moved towards her to regroup but I was attacked again. This time I saw it and blocked it with my shield. I saw ice form on its fist, telling me Stone Cold Shield’s option to lower the enemy''s agility when blocked an attack was activated.


    Unlike item options that boosted one’s abilities, options that decreased the opponent’s abilities didn’t give out alerts so I only had visual cues to rely on if I wanted to know if they were activated or not. Another thing I had to look out and make calculations. I miss the times when I only worry about my power armor and the trajectory of my shots.


    The creature put more force onto its fist and I let it push my shield back. Doing so caused its body to follow and come forward. I projected another axe and swung it from below into its jaw. Despite its destroyed lower jaw creature still had enough strength to swing its fist only for me to parry it to the side and bash its head in with my shield.


    I didn’t even look at it while it fell to the ground.


    “Okay, who is nex-“


    “Bark!”


    I rolled on the ground to dodge one jumping from the tree. Before I could face it another one punched me. I stumbled towards the first one and it punched me. That sent me stumbling toward the second one who also punched me.


    “Motherfucking…”


    I cursed with a mouth full of blood.


    (Stone Skin is activated. Your defense increases by 10 for 10 minutes. Your agility decreases by 5 during skill duration.)


    I manifested another shield to block both of them at the same time. G?kb?rü climbed to my arm and jumped to the left one’s face. He froze its entire face, giving me time to deal with the other one. I made quick work of him before manifesting a bow and arrow to snipe the remaining one.


    I looked around fully expecting another one to come out and try to fuck me up. Thankfully, looks like Morrigan killed the last one. I felt cuts in my mouth heal. I traced my entire mouth with my tongue. Good. All of my teeth were in place.


    My body ached but I could feel myself heal in real time. Having both Rapid Healing and Regeneration felt quite good. I walked up to Morrigan but out of nowhere, a vine was wrapped in my leg. I let out a girlish scream while being pulled to a tree line.