Infinite Arrow-Chapter 51 - 49: Embers (1)

Haaah....Huuuu....Haaa.....

It was once a quiet street inside the City of Ordelia but is now filled with a bunch of heavy breathing of a grievously injured young man holding a short bow. His skin was clawed, it tore his body and is slowly bleeding.

Despite being clawed so many times, they were all shallow. In front of the man, is a dangerous werewolf holding a bloodied sword and a deadly claw covered in blood. His mouth salivating, satiating for blood. All over his body are a bunch of arrows penetrating his flesh, yet within a few seconds, they all get pushed out of his body and his wounds slowly disappear.

As if he had never been wounded in the first place. It was an unfair fight with shitty luck and a troublesome disadvantage. A regenerating enemy is one of the enemies that archers are weak.

"Well~ Gonna give up now? You’ve run out of arrows, I counted all of them– It was... about 50 arrows or more, no?" The wolf mercenary playfully walked around him, circling the boy like how a wolf would do to their prey when hunting.

The archer’s eyes stared at the ground, defeated. It has only been six minutes since the quest to survive started and he only has four minutes left until his allies arrive. However, his fatigue meter...

[ 70% ]

It’s nearing the limit of how much his body can handle it.

The wolf thiren walked around and went to where the archer couldn’t see him, behind. With this, he has the perfect direction for a clear ambush. He can see his empty quiver, there are no more arrows left.

Cliff’s body continued to glow but it flickered, it only meant that his mana was running out and the status boosts would disappear the moment his magical circuits deactivated. After all, there are only ten left out of his fifty mana points. Using [ Mana Amplification ] for that long burnt most of his mana points.

[ MP: 15/50 ]

If my arrows won’t work, how the hell would I fight? He’d seen my other moves, and the element of surprise had faded. It won’t work again, especially for a killing blow.

A pin cushion, that’s what this enemy is. No matter how many arrows he shoots through, it wouldn’t matter. It lacks a killing blow, even if he shoots the head, it’ll be reflected using the sword. Then, he came up with an idea but discarded it the moment he thought deeply about it.

I got my hopes up... My throwing knives wouldn’t work, they can easily be evaded or reflected like my arrows...

[ Pain Tolerance lvl.1 > lvl.2! Congratulations! ]

Really, now?

Cliff couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His pain tolerance leveled up during battle, he could feel that fate was mocking him and his incoming demise from either blood loss or decapitation.

Then, the sound of an animal running can be heard coming up from behind him. He started thinking, what can he do in this situation? Shoot an arrow? That wouldn’t work, a quick shot skill wouldn’t be enough. A power shot doesn’t work either, it’ll get destroyed upon impact with the sword. Punch? No, I’m too weak for that.

In about five seconds, he’ll be clawed from behind and beheaded with the armor-destroyer sword. His mind cannot accept death as one of the outcomes, he doesn’t want to lose. Losing meant that all of the efforts he put through before would be all for naught. At the same time, he’ll finally feel peace.

Yet, that peace isn’t the one he’s looking for. A brand new chance to enjoy this new life as a brand new person, even though he has to act like a different person, it doesn’t matter. It’s to pay for the mistakes that he made during this life.

"IT’S TIME TO EAT THE TINY RABBIT–"

Suddenly, the red-haired archer quickly turned around and shot an arrow from his bow "Quick-Shot!" The arrow traveled, aiming to hit his chest but it wasn’t fast enough. It got deflected by the sword and the werewolf got even closer than before "HAH! WHAT A DESPE–"

Before Cliff could even reach to his waist, something unexpected happened. It seems like he wasn’t the only one who thought of this idea.

Shrgh!

Something sharp pierced the back of the werewolf and it dug deeper due to the force it had behind it, which is the weight of a small human being. He looked behind and found a child wearing a black cloak holding the dagger that pierced his back.

"Urgh–! Hahahaha! It’s the little princess! She has one helluva backbone! Unfortunately, that won’t work—"

His eyes widened. The veins on his body tensed and stiffened, it is practically bulging out of his furry skin. Then, he screamed and howled in pain at the same time before his body started shaking intensely.

His mouth foamed as his eyes rolled upwards, and his movement became erratic as he pushed the small lass away from him "Ah–!" Due to her being pushed away, the hood came off of her head, revealing her appearance. However, she immediately ran back to the alleyway to hide herself from harm’s way.

What is happening? Why can’t I control my body? It’s so painful, what did she do–?!

"Those words must be what you’re currently thinking right now, Randall." The werewolf could barely hear what he was saying, he couldn’t even see clearly. The only sounds he could hear were the sound of his screams and the voice of a familiar kid who he was just about to kill earlier.

[ Madness has been applied to the enemy! ]

"To think that you would let down your guard like that. A werewolf is always cautious, yet you didn’t even notice a small child... I guess you were just that fixated on me." His voice vibrated throughout the entire area. Randall could hear his voice everywhere, even inside of his brain.

It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts, IT HURTS...!!

He could feel the fluid inside of his brain come out of his eye socket, his mouth and his nose. Randall grasped his face with his sharp nails and accidentally dug deep through his face because of how painful everything was. Despite that, his body regenerated. It continued replenishing the old flesh with new ones, the body somehow still wants to live despite the mind wanting the opposite.

"I see." Cliff looked at the werewolf who was currently kneeling on the ground, screaming and whimpering in pain, like a dog. With the dagger lodged in his back, he’ll continue experiencing [ Madness ].

However, with his regeneration, he’ll be able to bypass and endure the pain once it reaches the end of its cooldown. He needs a permanent solution.

Continuously stabbing him or shooting him would be wasting his time. It won’t work on him thanks to his annoying regeneration. He can’t wait until sunrise either, it’s still midnight. If he waits for his allies, he’ll have to endure a minute with an enraged werewolf who desires to take revenge on him and the princess.

He gazes at the princess, who runs back to the alleyway. Her arm is in the air, with her fist balled up which signifies support. The hood was no longer hiding her face, he could see her. However, his vision is wavering. Cliff could feel himself slowly getting weaker every second he wasted doing nothing but thinking.

"Shit... I gotta keep myself awake... Right, what Miss Esther told me..." Then, Cliff started muttering to himself the formula of the fire spell that he looted from the goblin mage he fought before. That was so long ago, it is almost nostalgic. It reminded him of the goblin mage casting spells with a magical circle and an incantation.

It was his first encounter with an elite-type monster. He couldn’t believe that he survived that by putting points on his strength "...Imagine yourself...starting a fire with a simple flint and stone..."

Entering his mind, he imagined lighting up a fire using flint and stone. By bashing them together, it creates sparks of light. With the use of paper, if that spark of light touches the paper, it’ll create small embers of fire and smoke. After that, he’ll use his lungs to breathe air onto the flickering embers on the paper and make it big enough to burn the wood.

He held his left hand out, pointing his palm towards the kneeling, screaming werewolf while his eyes were closed. He pumped the last remaining mana he had left to his magical circuits and led straight through his left palm. It glowed blue...and slowly shifted into a new color, red

[ You have forcibly learned a magical spell without meeting the requirements. For balance, it’ll be reduced into two weaker spells. ]

[ You have learned two new spells! ] 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

[ To use it, say the name. ]

"Flare."

[ MP: 10/50 (-5) ]

A tiny ball of flame appeared on his palm produced by the mana he had been flowing through his hand. Then, it propelled itself forward, hitting the fur of the werewolf. It started a fire, but it was small and slow. At best, all this could do was burn a few leaves before becoming ash.

But that’s why it came with another spell, to help it get stronger and spread quicker.

"Combustion."

[ MP: 7/50 (-3) ]

Suddenly, the body of the werewolf exploded into flames. His entire figure was covered with fire spreading through every limb and fur that he had. The werewolf began to scream even more, his body wanted to regenerate but the flames kept interrupting the process.

Cliff opened his eyes and his crimson pupils began to glow. His skin could feel how hot the flames were from afar, yet he couldn’t help but be amazed by it, by himself, and by how he did it.

He used magic. Fire Magic.

"Awesome."

[ You have learned "Fire Affinity: Novice" ]