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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/ralo_ramone on 2024-10-01 20:08:55+00:00.

Ilya collapsed, her back hitting the snow with a soft thud. She reached down with trembling fingers and clutched the black dart embedded in her stomach. Her face twisted in pain, and her eyes widened with shock.

“Take cover!” I rushed to her side, grabbing her by the jacket and dragging her behind the pine trunk. The dart was thin, with a serrated body, and coated in a dark substance. I didn’t need to be an expert to know it was poisoned. Ilya’s breaths weakened, and her skin paled.

Wolf and Zaon took cover behind the tree, but Firana remained exposed, trying to determine where the attack had come from. Zaon jumped out of cover and tackled Firana just as a second dart cut the air and ended up embedded deep in the bark. They crawled back, covered in snow and dirt.

Wolf knelt beside me, his Wind Sling ready to shoot. “Where did that come from?” He hissed, scanning the trees.

My heart rushed as I looked around. The dense thicket blocked my sight, and not even [Awareness] could catch the culprit. I focused on my mana sense. The world’s colors faded away. The roots pulsated as they absorbed mana from the ground and transported it towards the stem. The vortex over Farcrest looked like an evil beacon against the sky. Wolf was a small speck of pure-white mana, Zaon looked like a silvery column, Firana was a bright red torch, and Ilya was fading away. Then, I briefly caught a slight trace of corrupted mana floating between the trees.

“Stay alert,” I whispered to the others. Then, I turned my attention to Ilya. “Hang in there. Don’t move.”

I knew we had to take the dart out, but it was going to be painful. With my bare hand, I could feel the hundreds of microscopic barbs all over the surface. Pulling it out could also damage Ilya’s body. I rummaged through my potion’s pouch for the last Health Potion we had—high grade—a get-out-of-jail-free card. Or rather, a cheat-death-once card.

“Drink,” I said, putting the vial against Ilya’s lips. Ilya moved her head away, and her eyes shut in pain. “I’m not drinking our last potion.”

“Zaon, can you see anything?” I asked over my shoulder.

Zaon’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the forest. “Nothing. I can’t sense it either.”

“Wolf, come here. We need to pull the dart out,” I said.

Wolf nodded and shifted closer. He was on edge, his muscles tense and ready to react to the slightest sound. Ilya barely held herself upright, even with the pine against her back. Her skin had gone from pale to ashen. She gritted her teeth, fighting to stay conscious.

“Patch me up, and let me rest. Save the potion for later,” Ilya said, her breath coming in short, shallow gasps, and her arms losing strength.

I pulled a bunch of bandages we had raided from the Sentinel’s watchtower and handed them to Wolf.

“Put pressure on the wound as soon as I pull out the dart,” I said.

Wolf grabbed Ilya’s shoulders to keep her steady.

With a sharp motion, I pulled the dart free. I felt the barbs tearing through flesh as it came out. Ilya let out a weak, muffled cry, and her body tensed in pain, if only for an instant. Blood gushed from the wound. Wolf pressed the bandages against the wound as I tipped the vial to Ilya’s mouth. Despite the pain, she tried to refuse, but I pulled her head back and forced the vial through her lips. At first, she gurgled, but after noticing I wasn’t pulling back, she swallowed the potion.

I opened my mana sense and saw how the potion traveled through Ilya’s body, knitting the edges of the wound together and stopping the bleeding.

“Dammit, Robert. We are out of potions,” Ilya grumbled, but Wolf prevented her from standing. The Health Potion was working its miracle.

We were out of potions, and the attacker was still out there, but I couldn’t let Ilya die.

Zaon moved closer. “We need to move. Not even my [Sonar] can detect it.”

Just as I nodded, I felt a subtle shift in the environmental mana. I focused on the thicket. There it was again. Corrupted mana slithering between the trees like a smoke trail. It was getting stronger, more concentrated. I considered our options. The kids weren’t ready to fight against a high-level enemy.

“I will draw the attack. You run to the ridge over there; it will give you better cover than this pine,” I said, pointing to the east. There were thirty meters between the pine and the depression on the forest bed. Even with Ilya in tow, Wolf could cross the distance in a few seconds.

“But you are only level eight!” Firana complained.

“Captain Kiln said I have the strength of a level forty,” I replied, pulling an antidote from the potion’s pouch and giving it to Wolf. I hoped Elincia’s multipurpose antidote was enough to fight the dart’s poison, but the best outcome was not to be wounded.

I caught the Corruption in the air.

“Firana, be on guard. If the enemy is a flyer, I might need your help to ground it,” I said, channeling my mana and forming a solid shield over my left arm. “Are you ready?”

The kids nodded.

I jumped out of cover, shield high in front of me. I scanned the forest. The diffused trails of Corruption were visible to my mana sense. Whatever had shot the dart was coming close. I got the impression of hearing the buzz of insect wings, but the sound disappeared as soon as I detected it. I fed [Awareness] with more mana, and my perception of time slowed. I took everything in—the wind speed, the rustling of the leaves, the boots shifting against the snow. My brain burned like someone had shot a molten nail through my skull.

Then, I saw it—a quiver of leaves, a strange reflection of the sunlight, and the lancets flying at me.

“Go!” I yelled, and Wolf and Zaon jumped from cover with Ilya in tow.

My shield shattered. The first lancet impaled the palm of my hand, and the next two lodged in my forearm, one near the wrist and the other just below my elbow. I ignored the pain—or rather let [Awareness] suppress it—and unleashed a barrage of mana shards. Trails of blue light crossed the forest like the tracers of a Gatling gun. The shards mowed young trees and branches, but the invisible monster was too far for my attack to be effective. The more the shards moved away from me, the more energy they lost until they dissolved into thin air.

I clenched my teeth as I realized I couldn’t reliably hold the shotgun with my wounded arm.

The barrage had dissuaded the monster from attacking. My left arm numbed down, and I seized the moment to drink the antidote. The monster’s invisibility wasn’t perfect. My [Awareness] locked on the warped light around the edges of the figure. I ran forward, my mana shards gaining strength at each step.

“Firana! Bring that flyer down!” I yelled.

Firana jumped from behind the pine and propelled forward with [Aerokinesis]. The invisible creature shifted in the air, but Firana turned, almost crashing against a tree as she dodged the lancets. [Awareness] told me that Firana hadn’t seen the attack coming; she even dodged into the attack. She went by pure instinct. Firana bumped against the tree but jumped back to her feet. Then, she channeled her mana and ripped the air from under the monster’s wings, creating a low-pressure zone.

Predicting the drop, I aimed my mana shards and hit the invisible monster. The invisibility spell wavered, and patches of black chitin appeared where before there wasn’t anything. The creature’s shape became clearer—a humanoid, slender frame covered in a glossy black exoskeleton, a thin wasp-like waist, and two sets of oversized translucent wings. The creature’s abdomen ended in a black lancet, just like the one I had embedded in my arm. A viscous, dark liquid dripped from the holes the mana shards had pierced on the chitin.

Mana Stalker Lv.22 (Corrupted). Magical Abomination.

My arm throbbed with pain. The antidote seemed to kick in, but my fingers felt numb. Luckily enough, the poison didn’t interfere with my mana pool. I channeled a barrage of mana shards and pressed the attack, laying waste to the forest vegetation. The creature, however, was quick and took cover behind a tree. The bark exploded, but the tree was a centennial pine.

“Keep it grounded!” I shouted.

Firana focused, and I could feel the currents shifting. She twisted her hands, her eyes were closed, and I noticed the strands of pure white mana traveling her body. Firana wasn’t just casting a spell like the other System users I have met. She was meditating, weaving the mana, and forcing the System to bend to her desires. Maybe Ilya was right, and Firana was just a genius.

The Mana Stalker screeched, its wings fluttering wildly as it tried to lift itself again. Firana pulled the air with each wing beating, preventing the creature from creating any lift. It wasn’t an easy feat, yet Firana kept it grounded.

I dashed forward, ignoring the pain. I had to finish it now. As far as I knew, the whole Swarm already knew about our presence. I closed the distance, and the creature’s black eyes, full of rage, focused on me. It tried to contort its abdomen forward, but the lancet hit the ground.

The Mana Stalker was only a threat if airborne.

With one swift motion, I swung my mana-charged sword downwards. My blade cut through the air, leaving a bright blue trail. The Mana stinger twisted its body to avoid a direct hit, but with a quick frontal step, I buried the sword in its abdomen. The creature shrieked, and the sound seemed to pierce the sky. Then, I stepped to the side and slashed its wings.

The creatur…

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