Chapter 135 - (135) Osmosis

Geth continued to avoid the monster's blows while allowing the monster's health to dwindle. He hadn't avoided every strike, but he would be completely healed by the time another landed.

'Just a little longer!'

He was exhausted. Mentally, he was fine.

The problem was his body. Each time Geth healed after he'd been broken by the giant fist, a considerable amount of his stamina was expended.

It wasn't something that had been quantified, but he could feel the drain on his body.

'That's alright, almost halfway there. I can make it!' He thought to himself.

Geth skirted around another swing, just barely managing to dodge. The beast had finally dropped under half health.

:Demonic Skeleton, Lvl 70 (World Boss); HP- 499,876/1,000,000:

'Something doesn't feel right...' Albus made sure that both of them could hear. Geth noticed it too.

The creature had stopped moving entirely. The blood-red light was gradually fading from its eyes.

Geth stopped running and examined the monster. The Mana holding its body together slowly pulled into its chest, causing the creature's limbs to fall to the ground.

"Congratulations User, on being the first to defeat a World Boss!"

"Congratulations User, on defeating a World Boss Solo!"

'I don't like this...' Geth sprinted to the entrance to find that it was still blocked off by a Barrier.

"Fuck!"

He turned back around and witnessed the creature's bones absorbing into a massive red sphere of Mana. The floating orb shrank and became even denser as more bones were absorbed into it.

Geth felt a pulling force coming from the dark red orb as it shrunk even further. The edges of his robe began drifting towards the center of the room.

'Albus..?'

'Geth... you need to find cover, and you need to do it quickly.'

By Albus' tone, Geth knew that his guess was correct. The giant orb had gone from the size of a house to the size of a small car.

The pull became more potent as it shrunk, the bones and weapons in the room soaring towards it. 

The Skeleton Archer standing on the other side of the room suddenly lifted into the air, its body pulling towards the orb. Geth managed to recall the summon just before it became more fuel for the sphere.

He could feel his own feet dragging against the stone as well. The blood-red orb began to look more like a tomb than it did a dense mass of Mana.

The pull became almost unbearable. Geth struggled to keep his feet on the ground. 

He threw multiple Barriers between himself and the orb, hoping to buy time. It turned out that doing this was a mistake.

The Barriers swiftly shattered, the sphere pulling the Mana in and becoming even more rampant. Geth could see the Mana in the air start to swirl around it.

Before long, a vortex was formed around a basketball-sized center that continued to shrink. There was nothing left in the room outside of Geth and the dark whirlpool. 

Geth swiftly stored his staff and struggled to reach the far edges of the room. There was only one thing that he could think to do.

He cast Mass Invocation to increase his Strength and shoved his arms down into the stone, his fingers breaking as he pierced the concrete.

The pain was nothing compared to the threat of death looming over him. He concentrated his Mana, trying to liquefy and harden certain areas in the stone to pull himself deeper.

The floor under the floating maelstrom buckled, bits of rubble rising from the ground and further strengthening the orb.

"Shit!"

He didn't have time to think about the consequences. His legs were already in the air and pulling towards the center of the slowly shattering room.

"Aggghhh!"

Geth felt the bones in his shoulders rip from their sockets as the pull became too strong for his body. The wounds continually mended, causing the same pain repeatedly as he struggled to maintain consciousness.

The self in his mind worked overtime to think of a solution. He soon turned to Albus and demanded.

"I don't care what the rewards are! Pick every Option that gives the most Skill Points right away!"

Albus nodded and did as he was told without raising questions.

"You have over 50 Skill Points available."

"Upgrade State Change until it evolves. Now!" Geth wasn't concerned with niceties at the moment.

Albus complied with his orders, "Done. Hurry and choose its upgrade!"

***

State Change: Earth has reached its stage of Evolution. Skill will be upgraded from Uncommon to Rare. Please select which path you would like to follow;

Option 1- State Change: Solidify

User has become adept at changing the state of liquids to solids and back again. 

User has become capable of solidifying any liquid source with ease. User is in the beginning stages of solidifying any form of matter.

Cost (10 MP/sec) Manipulating liquids comes naturally. Can control liquid to move in intricate patterns without much concentration.

Cost (150 MP) Can instantly solidify any liquid form if User is physically touching the source.

Cost (1000 MP) Can solidify any matter with much concentration, skipping the liquid phase and going straight from gas to solid.

Option 2- State Change: Osmosis

User has become adept at changing the state of solids to liquids and back again.

User has become capable of changing the state of most solid matter with ease. User can slightly alter their own composition to phase through porous materials.

Cost (10 MP/sec) Manipulating solids comes naturally. Can control most solids to change shape without much concentration.

Cost (150 MP) Can instantly liquify almost any solid form if User is physically touching the source.

Cost (500 MP/sec) Can alter body's state to phase through any porous material. If User runs out of Mana and solidifies inside a firm material, death is imminent.

***

Geth really didn't want to pass up on option 1, but that wouldn't save him right now.

"Option 2!"

Geth gave himself to his instincts after the upgrade was complete. The stone around his arms swiftly turned to liquid as a small section stayed solid and pulled him in.

He held his breath as the stone pulled him deeper into the earth.. Behind him, he could feel the ground shaking as the earth itself was pulled into the sphere.