Jill’s P.O.V

  Jill tried to see what happened. It was a little too fast for her eyes, but her forewarning let her get a glimpse. This time the explosion was like the first. The one that had almost killed her back in Mash’s world. Why did it happen again? The last explosion wasn’t nearly as bad.

  That was the last thought that went threw her head. All rational thought vanished when she felt the pull. The tug of the universe as it fixed the damage her attack had caused. The pull was strong. Strong enough that she wondered if it would pull her skin off. Her foresight hadn’t seen that result though, but she couldn’t relax with the vision. Her body remained stiff, as the pull shifted to a push. Existence itself pushed outward, and space rippled.

  She remembered the last time this had happened. The ripple had force behind it. It was true the force dissipated quickly, but that didn’t make her any less terrified. Even if she knew that the ripple wouldn’t kill her, she tried to raise her arms to block it. She wasn’t fast enough to beat space, and the ripple struck her. It tore her apart. It felt like her body had been ripped in half, but then the feeling was gone. The brief sensation was so horrible and quick, that her mind began rejecting it. The lingering pain in her abdomen opposed her mind though. Then she fell on her hands and knees and vomited.

  It took several seconds for her to readjust. When she did, she was able to see a much more devastating sight. That was the only way to describe her attack. It was devasting! The building around her attack was gone. Her eyes darted between the edges, and she could just barely make out a perfectly spherical outline. The dirt was disturbed, and the walls had other cracks too, but the real attack had formed a near-perfect sphere.

  This was it. Even a god couldn’t resist something like that. How could anything survive being erased? She unconsciously closed one eye, and everything went dark. She had closed her good eye. Luke had done all he could, but even he couldn’t bring back her other eye. The eye itself was there, but she couldn’t see from it. Her eyes had depicted space. They made it seem like she was spying on the stars. One of her eyes was devoid of stars now, and Luke couldn’t bring them back. It hung as a reminder of the being that had tortured her for nothing. Jill felt a smile creeping onto her face. She really did it. She had something that could harm a god. As if in confirmation, she felt the rush of a level up.

  Mash P.O.V

  Mash watched as Jill threw her weapon down at one of the golems. The golem didn’t even bother trying to dodge. It seemed like it had given up after Jill’s first dodge. Mash had been a little surprised by the beam of light, but it was just heat, right? That didn’t seem all that dangerous. The lightning on the other hand was impressive. It was really lightning, unlike his magical variant. That didn’t mean that it was any stronger though. Although, it was a little faster but for things moving that fast it was hard to notice. Mash’s eyes traced the falling javelin.

  He watched as it struck something. It had been moving quickly, but he noticed it stop slightly before hitting the golem itself. A quarter of a second was all he would’ve needed to realize what was coming. He didn’t have that time, and he saw the golem warp. It wasn’t just the golem either. Everything around it seemed to vanish for a second, and Mash couldn’t see Jill’s weapon anymore. It seemed like reality was swallowing itself. The effect only lasted an instant but pulled on everything in the room. The things closest were simply disappearing. Even the light was being swallowed.

  Mash resisted the pull, but it wasn’t as easy as he would’ve liked. It felt like something had gripped all the hairs on his body and was pulling him forward. The instant passed. That was when the explosion came. After the tug came to the wave. The space bent wildly around where Jill’s weapon had struck. He could’ve sworn he heard something bend or break. A ripple pulsed from the impact. Unlike water, it didn’t travel horizontally. It rippled in every direction at once. Mash couldn’t dodge or even defend against the effect as it rolled toward him. It struck and bent everything in his body. Then it fixed itself.

  The whole thing had probably only lasted a second, but Mash shivered. The ripple had hurt. It felt like his whole body had broken and then put itself back together. The pain lingered within him. This was worse than when he had run miles as a kid. He let out a groan, but it was nothing compared to the breaking noise that he still heard. It rang in his ears as his body tried to adjust to what was happening. Priscilla was helping a lot with that, but he didn’t thank her. He couldn’t really think straight. He just stared at the arena, at the golems. Or rather the place where the golems had been.

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  Seven golems were gone, and the last was missing half its body. It was made of ice, and it lay on its side unmoving. The wall nearest to the golems had a hole in it. He got a nice view of the basement as Jill’s attack had taken most of the floor with it. Mash hadn’t even noticed a lower floor before. Mash just stared at the space and shivered again. Okay, maybe he wasn’t durable enough to survive that. He remembered that distinct moment when he saw true nothingness. Or was it when he didn't see anything? That brief instant where Jill had erased everything. It was horrifying, and he could understand why the people back home were so anxious. Just what did it mean to be a god-killer?

  The surprise and awe were wearing off now, and there was someone he could ask that question to. Plus, he wanted to yell at Jill for being thoughtless. He wasn’t alone in that either. Anger radiated off of Red. Her aura made it easy to read even without his domain. Luke seemed more concerned than angry, and Fifty-One just stared. He still wore his mask, but Mash saw how frozen the rest of his body was. He was still surprised.

  Mash glanced toward Jill and leaped from the viewing area. Like the previous room, it was a slightly elevated platform. His jump would take him right to her, and he grew more concerned too. She wasn’t standing. Rather she had fallen to her knees and was just staring toward her attack. He couldn’t see her face, and couldn’t help but remember the last time. Not the small explosion in the arena, but the world-shaking one that had done just that. He remembered the damage, the devastation and this was similar. His jump carried him a bit further than he intended, and he landed in front of Jill. He turned quickly and all of his words froze.

  Jill was smiling. That alone would be worrisome, but she was also crying. Tears streamed from her face and landed on her clothes. She didn’t wear anything fancy. She had a thin leather breastplate over a simple shirt and pants. The shirt had a high collar though and it was clinging to her neck. The tears were soaking it. Her eyes were closed too, and his domain was giving him mixed emotions. He was at a loss for words. What did someone do in a situation like this?

  He decided that saying anything would be a mistake. The only thing that came to mind was nothing. So, he said exactly that. Instead, he walked over to her and sat down beside her. Either Luke or Red had noticed his own actions, and they slowed. Red didn’t yell, and Luke just continued to look concerned. They didn’t stop but walked over and sat down beside Jill as well.

  [Should I look through her thoughts? I believe I can help as I did for you.]

  [No!]

  Priscilla had good intentions, but that was definitely not the right thing to do. It worked for him, because of his special relationship with Priscilla. He didn’t think Jill would enjoy the process either. No, he stopped her from doing anything. The only thing they did was sit. Silence stretched on. Even Fifty-One had known better than to bother them. Either that or he was still stunned by the damage to his building.

  Mash didn’t know how much time had passed but eventually, Jill stopped crying. She didn’t wipe her eyes or anything. The tears just simply ended, or maybe they ran out. He didn’t know how long they sat there. Finally, he decided to break the silence. If for nothing else than to give Jill some water. He opened his storage space and pulled out some water. He could make water out of magic, but it wasn’t as good as the fresh stuff, and he still had a barrel or two. He didn’t enter his storage. He still had another duplicate in there and he willed it to get some water. It was one of his old creations, and he could tell that it was somehow less than the ones he could make now. Mash ignored that for now and pushed the glass toward Jill while speaking.

  “Are you okay? Do you want some water?”

  Mash broke the silence, and Jill opened her eyes. Mash stared into the mismatched eyes and felt like her gaze was oddly empty. It wasn’t the missing stars from one of her eyes. It simply felt like there was less life in them. Jill almost seemed to hesitate, but she took the cup of water and drank from it. She did it slowly and none of them rushed her. They had all had their problems and needed time to recover. Mash remembered the days he spent going through his memories, but that didn’t mean he could understand what Jill was thinking.

  “I did it. That attack. It can hurt a god. I did it.”

  Her voice was broken. She wasn’t crying or smiling anymore. Although she seemed to struggle for every word. Mash heard people say that they needed to force the words out, but now he felt like he was seeing it first-hand.

  “Why am not happy? Why did I level?”

  The questions weren’t actually meant for them. They were directed at nothing, but Red interjected despite it.

  “Because the world sucks. Nothing we can do but keep going and hope it gets better.”

  Red rarely spoke like that, but the words couldn’t have been said any other way. That was the truth, and not just for Jill. Mash nodded along unconsciously. There was nothing he could say to argue with that. That thought was already burned into his mind. It was basically the same idea that Priscilla had presented before. Although she had done it, by letting him know of her expectations of him. He felt like he should share that.

  “You remember when I froze up after the stuff with the Elders? When it felt like everything, I did was horrible. Priscilla helped me get through it. She reminded me that I still had a future. The past would always be the past.”

  The words felt weird coming from his mouth. He hadn’t shared the more personal details with the other, but he thought that all three of them could benefit from it now. So, he didn’t let himself stop with just that. He continued to share, abbreviating what Priscilla had said and shown him.

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  Chapter 278: Done

  Name: Mash Stellumbra?????? Class: Chimeric Vagabond

  Level: 112

  Health: 3000 / 3300

  Energy: 4400/ 4400

  Fortitude: 330

  Endurance: 210

  Strength: 275

  Agility: 275

  Intelligence: 230

  Wisdom: 120 → 130

  Charisma: 110

  Free Stats: 40

  Skills: Hunt, Thunder-wood Creation, Inhuman Hibernation, Chimeric Transformation, Thunder-wood Imitation, Chimeric Reconstruction, Vagabond’s Path, Chimeric Domain, Adaptable Monster Core, Chimera’s Constitution, Wooden Body, Mimic’s Avarice, A Touch of Nothingness, Golden Body

  Skills: Hunt, Thunder-wood Creation → Magical Layered Wood, Inhuman Hibernation, Chimeric Transformation, Thunder-wood Imitation → Wooden Birth, Chimeric Reconstruction, Vagabond’s Path, Chimeric Domain, Adaptable Monster Core, Chimera’s Constitution, Wooden Body, Mimic’s Avarice, A Touch of Nothingness, Golden Body

  Hunt: You have gone beyond your limits when fighting enemies and devouring their power. Go beyond your limits. Continue current fight even after depleting energy. Stats improve while at 0 stamina. Continues until either you or your enemies are dead.

  Current Bonus: +100% stats

  Inhuman Hibernation (Broken): You have stolen the techniques of mages and monks to form an artificial technique, your inhuman body morphing it to fit your corrupted nature. Hibernating will increase the rate at which your body recovers, healing only physical wounds.

  Current Rate: +200% recovery

  Thunder-wood Creation → Magical Layered Wood: You know how deadly sticks can be. Forge your magic into your wooden creations. Your magic has been layered into the wood allowing it to carry every kind of magic. Its durability and resistance increase with your affinity.

  Chimeric Transformation: Transform your body taking on aspects of those which you have consumed. Control which aspects to take and combine them to create the perfect form. Greatly increased energy consumption when combining forms.

  Thunder-wood Imitation → Wooden Birth: Form imitations of creatures you have consumed, imitating some of their bodily functions through your wood. Impart your own life into the creature to grant them true vestiges of life.

  Chimeric Reconstruction: Consume what you kill for more than just stats. Steal their flesh to repair your own. Their blood becomes yours. Your enemies are nothing more than your medicine.

  Vagabond’s Path (unique): Having chosen the path of the vagabond, you have freed yourself from your own world. An explorer at heart, you laugh as you leap between worlds. Open portals to worlds you have already been. Once per cycle of the moon create a portal to a random world. Create a world of your own, portal to personal world granted.

  Chimeric Domain (Passive): Your eyes just weren’t enough. Sense the changes in the mana around you. Connect to the mana and life in your space and inherently understand the nature of the mana and life. Your presence suffuses the space, weakens the magic and strength of enemies beneath you. They cower beneath your might.

  Current Range: 53 → 57 feet

  Reconstructed Adaptable Monster Core (Passive): An unnatural mana core has fundamentally altered your body, fusion with a monster has given you access to its potential. Stamina and Mana combine to become energy. Your monstrous body is better able to handle the changes to your core. You have progressed your core further, by forcing it to adapt. Now, you may only further your core by repeating the process.

  Current Bonus: +80% efficiency

  Wooden Body (Passive): You can connect with the wood that you are touching. By expending your energy, you bring your creations to life as another one of your limbs.

  Chimera’s Constitution (Passive): Giving up your humanity has improved your body, improving your physical control, natural defenses, animalistic intuition, and mana control. No longer a human in any sense, you are no longer bound by that which limits them. You have created your own race, improving your rate of growth.

  Mimic’s Avarice (Passive): Devour your enemy in battle to temporarily raise your stats. The fresher the victim the stronger the bonus. Gain full benefits even when consuming through your magic. Absorbs some properties of those you devour alive. Removes the negative effects of things you consume.

  A Touch of Nothingness (Passive): Belonging to no race or group, you have embraced the nothingness that is a part of everything. You are free, and automatically resist others' attempts to bind you. Constantly emit the aura of nothingness within your domain. Your allies will gain some of the freedom you possess. Enemies weaker than yourself will slowly lose that which makes them whole.

  Golden Body (Passive): Having stolen the techniques of another world, your body evolves beyond its old limitations. However, even this transformation is incomplete. Seek out the next Step and truly make this power your own.

  Trial of the True Body: 25 → 27 / 100

  Mash Stellumbra

  Age: 18 (15)

  Ki-Realm: Third Monstrous Realm

  Body-Realm: Golden Chimeric Body

  Path: Path of the Blood Bond

  Vitality: 300

  Strength: 250

  Dexterity: 252

  Mind: 221

  Ki: 4070