Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Explaining to Hatchet all that had happened with the dragon went a lot soother than he expected. He just listened to everything without once interrupting. He did give a rather interesting glance at the gloves once he explained what they were, how they worked and that he totaled the area by trying some of his weaker moves.

“So you're telling me that you saved a disguised dragonling while in the city and as thanks for that its mother made you a pair of enchanted gloves?” his tone sounded exasperated.

“Yeah, pretty much” I answered.

“I think it’s a good thing you are going to become an adventurer once you decide to spend your stat points, don’t think the village will survive you staying.” he mumbled under his breath. “ On the upside these will at least let you be somewhat safe around here without always having a minder.”

With that explanation out of the way he told me to move a little further away from the village and continue my “demolition” so that other hunters wouldn’t stumble upon me. They had become rather jealous of us since with Hatchet's high level we tended to venture out further and actually find something to hunt, they would be quick to share news of my magic for a reward.

Getting used to the gloves was not all that difficult, I did learn that some of my tricks were best not put through the glove. The first time I tried to speed myself up by using the earth to give me a boost I launched myself into a tree. Right now with the values of my physical stats any enhancement that affected me directly was best used without the gloves amplification.

The impact from the tree was mitigated by the shield, it was the big bruise on my left leg that let me know that my magic still followed some of the rules of physics. Any push that launched me forward had to be withstood by my own legs.

After a week of playing around with my new boost in power Hatchet decided that I was finally ready to go by myself for a little while. This didn’t mean that I would go all by myself out in the forest, simply that we could now split up to cover more ground while staying in range to call for help. Though if he was calling for help it meant either he needed some healing after a bad fight or I should go start the evacuation.

On the third time we split up I found myself a small group of kobolds. They must have survived the raid on their camp and retreated towards the caves before being scared back in this direction by the salamanders that forced them out in the first place. There were only three of them which made this a good change for me to fight something that could give me a challenge.

I took aim and infused a shadow arrow to start and fired at the one holding a staff. I wasn’t ready for a fight including magic coming at me so I had to take that one out first. The arrow was fully covered in a thin dark membrane and flew silently right on target. My adage of [Piercing Shot] meant that the headshot was an instant kill.

Feeling out of options I went to the last thing I could try. I used [Mana Syphon] to remove the mana keeping the earth strong around my legs. The feeling that came with it was surprising, not only did I manage to break myself free from the earth but I also rolled completely out of the way of the fireball. A quick look at my own body with [Mana Sense] told me that I was in a similar state to the second kobold for a quick moment there. I had somehow enhanced my body using mana.

The annoyed snarl coming from the kobold broke me out of my reverie, I could go about pondering and testing things after I dealt with him and I was no longer in danger. I drew a second arrow in my bow and infused it with air. I didn’t need the stealth provided by shadow so I went for penetration.

The arrow made quick work of the kobold much like the first. At the same time I felt the earth grip me again. The kobold had gone for a repeat of the first attack, hoping to pin me in place for a second fireball most likely. One that he will never get to launch now.

Instead of quickly freeing myself I instead tried to enhance my body with my own mana once more. This time I focused the enhancement only on one arm just in case it had the same outcome. That proved to be a wise choice as I felt the agony shoot up my arm. Despite using the same method as the kobold mana enhancement didn’t seem to work like this for me.

My second test consisted of using [Mana Syphon] to free myself once more. This time however I not only syphoned the mana at a much slower rate but I also looked carefully at the process with [Mana Sense]. I could clearly see the mana in the earth change as it got absorbed into me. Once there I felt myself enhanced once again.

The enhancement was also weaker than it was the first time, it did however last through the syphoning process and an instant more after it finished. This was an odd discovery, could I only enhance myself in a fight against another mage?

As a test I used [Expel Mana] to release a small amount of my mana into the area around me. I then used [Mana Syphon] to draw it all back in. I could see my mana change as it got sucked back into my body. I’m not sure how my legendary skill works but it clearly doesn’t take the mana to top up my own reserves. As the new mana drew into my body I felt myself grow stronger and faster once more.

This was a great discovery, though the fact that it took quite a bit of my focus just to use [Mana Syphon] meant that I was not ready to use this in combat on my own mana, it was a starting point. Hopefully in the future I would be able to subconsciously use both [Expel Mana] and [Mana Syphon] together to keep myself enhanced.

The excitement filling me up spent me along to loot the kobolds and continue my patrol. Starting tomorrow my training is going to change once more.