Reborn with the Conquest System-Chapter 48: Two against one

’Is this why people seek strength? Because the feeling itself is so overpowering that they cannot ever stop seeking power?’ His gaze was locked onto the dead shaman on the ground.

Unknown to him, a dark current was passing through his brain. Each cycle caused a new wave of pleasure to seep into his body. After a few cycles, it receded back into the depths of his mind, hiding once more.

[While that is true, I’ve slightly enhanced what you’ve felt. That was your reward for performing well and grasping magic this quickly.]

His eyes squinted at the sudden system message. ’So you’re drugging me passively? Please stop doing that.’

[Okay.]

Before he could ponder why the system so easily agreed, both of the shamans had stepped out and were facing him.

"Why are there two of you, isn’t it called a duel?"

Annoyed, his voice was laced with a murderous intent. Having awakened his mana, his emotions were apparent to those who had even a shred of mana sensitivity.

"We will face you together! It was never agreed upon to be one on one fights, so if you don’t like it, give up!" The older shaman yelled back.

Magnus mind went blank for a moment. ’Shameless old bastard!?’

Shaking his head, he spoke softly.

"Pathetic."

The two shamans heard him and they began to fume, yet the chieftain’s words interrupted them.

"BEGIN!"

’Surprise attack!’

The first thing Magnus did was raise his hand, electricity crackling at the tips of his fingers.

A split second, and a lightning bolt was shooting towards the two shamans.

Already prepared, the younger of the two threw out a wooden totem. A thin yellow barrier flickered to life and shielded both of them from the lightning.

Before Magnus could launch follow up attacks, more totems were deployed and began to float around the two shamans. Twelve totems began to circle around them as the barrier became thicker, obscuring whatever was going on inside.

As Magnus gathered his mana—

A large rock spike shot out from inside the barrier, aiming for Magnus heart.

In response, a fist met the spear, shattering it into countless tiny pieces.

’Don’t tell me—’

His thoughts were cut short, as more magic projectiles began flowing to shoot out of the yellow shield.

Fireball! Ice spike! Lightning disk! Metal rain!

Projectile after projectile was dodged by Magnus, some of which managed to graze his body. His defence however, enhanced by the undying dragon martial arts, made most spells ineffective against him.

’How does this disgusting martial art even work? The only thing that happened is the lightning slightly scorching me—the rest bounced off like I’m a tank!’

Only now did he realise, he never had time to ponder about it.

[As long as your stance isn’t broken, your body will passively disperse most physical force. That’s the simplified version. And when mana is used alongside it, it also has protective effects against spells. ]

Images flashed through his mind, realising the core principle of the technique.

’So as long as my legs are both on the ground I can benefit from it?’

[Yes.]

’Wait! I now have mana! I can use my martial arts techniques now!’

[That’s right, dipshit.]

Following the memories he got from the skill, Magnus stopped his movements. He turned directly towards the yellow bubble where the two shamans were.

A fireball was hurtling through the air, aiming for his head. His eyes burned with a fierce resolve as his fist clenched.

The fireball was upon him!

’Right foot up, then—’

His foot slammed into the ground, while his right hand was raised behind his head. A deep gray color spread out across his entire body, growing darker the closer it was to his fist.

FIRST FORM, STONE FIST!

His fist, that suddenly felt as if it was made from lead, shot towards the incoming fireball with a whistling sound.

The car sized fireball was penetrated by the fist, yet it still ended up engulfing Magnus in his entirety.

The orcs had an interested expression as they had clearly seen the mad man punch a fireball that could melt houses.

Yet more projectiles followed from inside the shield, at an even faster pace than before. The first thing that was fired was a large spear of ice.

’Etin.’

A familiar name echoed in his mind as he saw a familiar magic.

Swept away by a momentary reminiscence, Magnus looked on as the spear came into contact with his skin.

CRACK!

The spear broke instantly, causing Magnus to snap out of his memories. Instead, he looked at the incoming projectiles, most of which were non-physical in nature.

’Too late!’

His arms spread wide, as if welcoming the incoming barrage. His skin darkened a shade further as his mana began rapidly dwindling, reinforcing his body.

63/98

The first fireball impacted his body, yet his hands were aimed at the two shamans inside of the barrier.

More spells rained on him while he unleashed his own.

Lightning dragon!

Ice spear—Crack

54/98

Lightning dragon!

Fireball—Boom!

36/98

Lightning dragon! 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Metal spear—

The spear shot into his arm, piercing a hole into it as it drew blood.

The lightning dragons danced, by now 6 of them aa they covered the barrier like an incapable net.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The rate at which offensive spells were thrown at Magnus was reduced as the barriers kept cracking one after another. Barrier after barrier the two panicking orcs inside had become visible to everyone.

The older shaman had joined the younger one in frantically casting barrier after barrier, yet they kept being broken faster than they could erect new ones.

3...

2...

Magnus instinctively felt he only had 8 points of mana left in his tank. Dropping his hurt right arm to let it rest, his left hand had lightning appear on it.

’Down to the final barrier, lightning dragon!’

The already weak barrier flickered upon another impact, before it crumpled like paper.

"NOOOOOO—"

With one desperate yell, both of the orcs were engulfed by the net of lightning. The scream was cut off as only the sounds of electricity were audible.

A dozen seconds passed, and the ground where the two had stood had dissappeared, leaving behind an uneven crater.

3/98

Magnus body went back to his normal color. His skin, though charred in a few places and a hole in his arm, was mostly intact.

"Huff... I win, right?"

The chieftain’s gaze was switching between where the shamans had been and Magnus. After a long moment of silence, he finally sighed, before loudly declaring :

"Winner, MAGNUS!"

"OOOOOOOOUUUUUUUH!"

The countless orcs on the rooftop began to yell, prompting more yelling from the entire city underneath.

Magnus raised his fist as well, a triumphant smile on his face.