[Enkonomiya's POV Continued]
…
…
-BOOM!
-BOOM!
-BOOM!
-Slash!
Easily slashing most of his incoming attacks, I dashed towards him, while he kept escaping me like a snake he was.
Though his temper was quite something as he kept on shouting how he would do this to me and then do that to me. Well, not the first time someone said that to me, so I was more or less used to it.
"You motherf*cking b*itch! Just what the heck are you?!!!" he shouted as he finally calmed down a little and his attacks were a bit more precise now. I just kept dodging his attacks as I looked deep into his heart, especially at his half core.
Cores.
To understand that point, we need to understand the concept of Mystic Being.
Simply speaking, any being that can channel a particular energy through its body is a Mystic being. Although it is more complicated than that, there are two requirements for a being to be called a Mystic being, without which it cannot fall into that category. One is that it should be able to survive on its own and not depend on a location, power or even a host.
That is why dungeon monsters, or monsters that are artificially created, aren't Mystic beings.
The other requirement is evolution. Mystic beings should be able to evolve themselves into something.
Zombies fall in the category of Mystic beings, but humans do not. Neither any other race. Most races, in fact, don't channel energy through their body, but through the gaps in their body. It's like passing the energy without touching it at the molecular level.
As for the beings, for example, zombies, who can channel it through their body, they can materialize that energy into cores by converting that part of the body where most dense energy travels through. That is why Mystic beings mostly, if not all, have a core.
Cores are like a storage unit of energy that Mystic beings can use to evolve after having it condensed enough. They can also use it to force evolution. Or they can use energy from some other parts of the body, for example, eyes and skin, to make the core stronger, in exchange for a faster but limited evolution.
A prime example would be Nightcrawlers. The zombies use the energy stored in their eyes and skin for utilities for evolution, which result in their faster but strange evolution. While the other parts get enhanced, the other parts like eyes and skin, get weakened very much so. Enough to nearly kill them at times.
"It took me 10 years to perfect it at this point. You have no idea how much I have sacrificed to get it here. How many times have I had to put my life on the line? This is something I take pride in, I cannot let you step all over it," that Slythereen spoke as he looked at me with a deep glare.
He was talking about his core.
"Slythereens always fascinate me each time I meet them," I said as I chuckled and moved forward. This time I decided to use 20% of my power.
Just like before, he attacked me, but this time I just slashed all those attacks left and right, without really deviating from my usual pace and direction. At which, his eyes bulged out, as he couldn't believe what he was witnessing.
"Every one of you always blabbers so much. But how come it's always about how you killed and put your life on the line? Like okay, you did that but… why do you always assume that it is a great thing? You are doing it for yourself only, right? It's not like you are sacrificing your life for someone else.
Listen kid, feeding yourself, breathing a little, taking a step towards your goal is something that is your responsibility towards your existence. If you can't even do that, then you are far worse than a worm.
If you want to actually boast about something, why don't you try doing something for someone else? It takes courage, you know? You never know when that person might even betray you. You never know if the person whom you save might end up killing an entire country or something. When you save someone, it's not a simple matter of life and death. You are taking the responsibility of changing an entire future.
Are you brave enough to do that? To save someone who might betray you when his turn comes? If not… then don't you dare boast about that foolish pride to me," I spoke as I reached closer to him while he was still trying his best to attack me.
His eyes were still glaring at me. His teeth were still clenched as he spoke,"the last time I saved someone… my entire nation was killed in front of me."
I looked at him with a calm smile as I spoke,"How coincidental. Me too," and then I slashed him… though his body started shining as he jumped far back.
'Forced Evolution,' I thought as I saw his body going through a forced evolution right in front of me. I saw his body changing its color. From the previous yellow to a bit more greenish.
From the back of his scales, giant wings began developing and his eyes, which were smoother, started developing a layer of scales around them and within them. A single horn grew from the left side as he looked at me with a slight glare.
"It seems like you understand what I have been through… too bad you are an enemy… I cannot let you live," he said with a deep voice as he prepared himself to launch at me and I increased my power from 20% to 50%.
'To make me use half of my base power, he certainly was strong, I guess. I wonder if he can make me fight for real,' I thought as I waited for him to jump at me.
-Whoosh!
-Slash!
-Slash!
-Clank!
Our blades clashed against each other and a high-speed sword fight ensued as he went on with full attack, while I took a defensive stance. I saw him adjusting with his newfound powers within the battle itself. At every step, he was improving a little. At every step, I had to use more of my skills.
His improvement was making me smile a little, as I kept going, on and on, while he tried his best to get an attack in. Though, as he fought more, he finally realized that something was wrong. Even though he realized something was wrong, he kept going on.
And after exchanging blows for another minute or so, I saw his increment in skills and powers coming to a halt. I myself found that I was using 67% of my powers right now.
"You are a monster too, aren't you? Too bad we got a monster of our own, working around in the lab nearby. As soon as she gets pissed… haha… it will be over for you," he spoke with a slight smirk and I was confused a little, wondering what he was talking about.
"You might not know missy, but… we have a Half-God with us right now," he spoke and my eyes widened in realization….
Before I spoke with a slight smile escaping from the corner of my lips,
"Just a Half-God? Is it the Witch?"