Reincarnation Of A Swordsman: The Omni Mage

Chapter 140: Only Twenty

Like Kyle expected, the dragon would need the same amount of mana cores to breakthrough the next level. All that meant was that they could only keep grinding.

Kyle refocused his attention on Void, whom had taken some time to continue his rest. "I can't blame him," Kyle muttered as he scanned the sleeping dragon. It was almost 3 AM in the morning and Kyle had dragged Void here to investigate the tide source.

'Well, he wasn't against coming... He was even excited to follow.' Such thought made Kyle nudge him after some minutes of watching him sleep.

"You've slept enough, haven't you?" Kyle asked the waking dragon that lazily stretched before him.

"*Yawn* What's our next move?" Void asked with some energy, proof that he had rested enough in this short while.

Kyle smiled that Void was ready for action before going deep into thought. He directed his eyes towards the remaining beasts that surrounded the mana origin source.

Like before, they all stood still, entranced by the glowing pool. However, their numbers had diminished alot from the first time Kyle saw them. Kyle and Void had succeeded in clearing out up to eighty percent of the beasts, leaving a little over 200 beasts left behind.

But those beasts weren't to be taken lightly... The hulking sizes of the Tier-2 beasts alone made Kyle consider getting into a fight with them.

Though Kyle had never fought a beast other than Tier-1, he had enough knowledge from library books to be aware of their strength. Tier-2 books were obviously stronger and toughe6than their Tier-1 counterparts, but the striking difference that improved with each power level was their elemental control.

Beasts of higher tiers could wield their respective elements on a different level compared to those of the lower tiers and that was Kyle needed to stay aware of most importantly.

'We'll have to try and defeat them as fast as possible,' Kyle decided before returning his attention on Void to relay their battle plan.

"So here's the plan," he started, trying to sound confident despite his nerves. "We'll go with the whistle again. But this time, I'll use a higher frequency. We can only hope it works, because if it doesn't… well, I got no other plan."

"We're talking about over 200 Tier-2 beasts. Tier-2, you know?? This isn't the same as handling Tier-1s. We be buried before we can blink."

Kyle rubbed the back of his neck. He hated to admit it, but Void was right. Even with all their preparation, the odds were overwhelming. "I know it's insane, Void. But what other option do we have? We can't sneak past them without being torn apart, and there's no way we're leaving empty-handed."

Void nodded his head. Eitherways, he was ready and excited for the battle, after all, who wouldn't want to test Tier-2 cores. A drool formed on Void's lips as he imagined indulging himself on a pile of Tier-2 cores.

"Okay, Kyle," Void snapped out of his fantasies and focused on the present. "Let's do this!"

The two began working quickly, setting up traps across the battle field. The traps might not turn the tide of the battles but at the very least, it should be able help slow down the beasts and buy them more time.

Once everything was in place, Kyle took a deep breath and raised the whistle to his lips. "All right, Void. Here goes nothing."

"Great," Void muttered, "Let's see how well this works."

Kyle blew into the whistle, pouring as much air as he could muster into the device. The soundless vibrations rippled through the air, invisible but potent. He kept blowing and his jaw started to ache as the seconds stretched into a full minute.

At first, nothing happened. The beasts near the Mana Origin Source remained eerily still with their eyes fixed on the glowing pool. Kyle's heart sank when he didn't see any immediate result.

But then, he noticed movement at the edges of the group. A few of the Tier-2 beasts began to shift and their heads snapped towards him with sudden intensity.

"They're moving!" Kyle whispered with a voice filled with both excitement and fear.

Void perked up and his sharp golden eyes tracked the approaching figures. "Wait a minute… that's not all of them."

Kyle made a quick count of the beasts breaking away from the group. "Twenty. Only twenty of them are coming!"

A grin spread across his face as relief flooded his chest. "Not all of them are coming!"

"Why do you think only a few of them responded? Was it because you stopped blowing? Or maybe the others would don't care enough to investigate?"

"Does it even matter? We've got a chance now. That's all I care about," Kyle said, sliding the [Veil of Silence] over his face once more.

Void nodded and they concentrated their attention at the rapidly approaching beasts. They both knew that this wouldn't be an easy fight. Hopefully, their pre-laid traps would prove useful.

As the beasts entered the area laden with traps, the runes began to activate. The mud trap runes managed to suck the legs of some beasts into the earth and momentarily halted their advance.

Another rune that proved helpful was the Blind runes, they managed to disorient some of the beasts that triggered it.

Kyle was happy that the traps had worked, though not all of them has performed as effectively as he had hoped. None of them were enough to take down a beast outright, but they provided precious moments of disarray among the beasts.

'This is it,' Kyle said, glancing at Void. 'Well take them while they're off balance."

"Finally!" Void exclaimed as he launched himself forward in a crackle of electricity.

Kyle surged toward the nearest beast, a massive wolf-like creature with frost coating its fur. He didn't hesitate, pouring all his strength into a downward slash aimed at its neck.

Kyle didn't slow down, delivering a flurry of slashes, each one activating the [Frozen Slash] effect. Just as Kyle thought he was going to easily slay the beast; it retaliated by freezing the ground beneath it and the ice began spreading rapidly and making Kyle's lose his footing.

'Not good!' Kyle thought, losing his balance for a split second.

The beast recovered quickly, lunging at Kyle again with its claws glowing with icy energy. Before Kyle could regain his footing, another beast joined the fray, its claws igniting with fire as it swiped at him from the side.

Kyle barely dodged the fiery strike, but the ice wolf's claws raked across his arm, sending him tumbling. A sharp pain flared where the claws had struck and his HP bar flashed a notification:

[HP: 80/160]

Kyle's eyes widened when he saw his health go down by half and it got worse when the other beasts surrounded him. He gritted his teeth, knowing how dangerous it was to be stuck between them.

'Alright, no more holding back!' Kyle thought, raising his katana.

He began spamming spells, casting lightning bolts in rapid succession. The bolts crashed into the beasts, forcing them to stagger back. Each strike bought him a moment to breathe, but the sheer number of attacks from the beasts made it impossible to avoid every blow.

[HP: 100/160]

[HP 80/160]

[HP 140/160]

Kyle felt the hits landing and his body thrown backward as claws and spells struck him. But as quickly as the injuries appeared, they vanished. His [Undying] trait was activated and it healed his wounds in mere seconds.

Kyle wiped blood from his mouth and a grin spread across his face. 'I almost forgot I'm basically undying now.'

He had renewed confidence after his health healed, making Kyle to press the attack. He focused on the ice wolf again, delivering a series of precise strikes that culminated in a devastating slash to its neck.

[Congratulations! You have slain Tier-2 mana beast: Frost Wolf!]

[You have obtained 1* Tier-2 mana core!]

[Vanquished Foes: 412/1000]

Kyle turned around to face another beast after getting his notification, dodging its fiery claws and driving the [Frozen Claw] multiple times through i its chest.

[Congratulations! You have slain Tier-2 mana beast: Ember Claw!]

[You have obtained 1* Tier-2 mana core!]

[Vanquished Foes: 413/1000]

A third beast—a hulking boar-like creature—charged at him. Kyle sidestepped at the last moment, slashing at its legs and sending it crashing to the ground. He finished it off with a flurry if [Lightning Bolts].