Infinite Mana In The Oasis

"Aaaaargh!"

Arto managed to break away from the domain. But not without getting injured in the process. His right shoulder had a see-through wound and his right leg looked like it had been twisted at a weird angle.

Lagartha was hurt too. She had multiple sword wounds on her body and her mana circuits were agitated. Arto was injured as a result of her extreme efforts. Most of her trump cards had been used to hurt Arto and make his injuries severe.

Arto cursed Lagartha in his head as he looked at her with hate. He had heard the potion bomb's detonation a few moments ago. Both Vasemir and Raul were not potion bomb users as their battle styles were not inclusive.

Arto had increased the intensity of retaliation against Lagartha's domain spell after that. He figured that both Raul and Vasemir would need his help. However, it turned out that he was already a few moments too late.

Lagartha was seen breathing hard while controlling a cluster of green vines around her. She looked at Arto and knew that she had managed to pull off exactly what she had promised Eren to do. Her eyes started looking for him and they found their target soon enough.

Eren had just finished killing Raul. He was standing near his dead body, drops of blood dripping from his ax blades. The potion bomb alone was not enough to get rid of Raul. The battlemage had to get himself involved personally to ensure that Vasemir had company for his journey beyond.

Eren had also made sure to claim Vasermir's and Raul's elemental attainments for himself. Aleph had helped him with this task, allowing him to digest the experiences of the two Awakened Spiders faster.

Aleph had sorted those memories for Eren. He had categorized them into useful and useless memories. He then extracted and filtered the memories he needed about elemental attainments and weapon comprehensions.

Aleph had also extracted spell-casting memories from Eren's recent memories. He told Eren that he would inject a large portion of those memories into him once he was done dealing with Arto.

Eren was interested in knowing about Raul's weapon comprehension. The guy wielded an ax and sword at the same time and he had exceptional weapon maneuverability. His weapon handling allowed him to incorporate both offense and defense into his battle style.

Eren could dual-wield as well. But he could not do so while operating two different types of weapons. The rhythm and weapon intricacies required to do something could not be obtained with a snap of the fingers. At least that's what Eren thought before Aleph extracted Raul's weapon comprehension from him.

The battlemage was also interested in digesting Vasemir's memories related to his elemental attainments. The guy had a unique take on the elemental fusion of wind, water, and fire. The white smoke he generated could be used by Eren in different ways, allowing his offense and defense levels to shoot up.

Eren's affinities with other elements also strengthened because of Aleph's intervention. After digesting these memories completely, Eren would be able to cast Raul's and Vasemir's spells on the same level as them.

Aleph had kept a large portion of his memories from being digested by Eren because he was not ready to handle them in his current situation. It would take days for him to assimilate those memories because they belonged to the two Awakened-ranked entities.

These memories were bound to allow Eren to save years of arduous work. It was like Aleph was cutting down all the obstacles in Eren's way to fast-track his progress.

***

Arto and Lagartha both looked at Eren as he stood beside Raul's dead body. The former had a grim look on his face while the latter smiled after finding out that Eren had managed to take care of two Awakened-ranked Spiders in such a short time.

"Bastard!"

Arto approached Eren all of a sudden intending to kill him right then and there. Eren was deadly beyond Arto's wildest imagination. He could not imagine that a Meta ranker would be able to kill two rank-2 entities while being in rank 1.

A series of green vines appeared and served as Arto's obstacles. Lagartha appeared beside Eren.

"Are you alright?"

Lagartha's question was directed at Eren. The latter took a long breath before responding.

"As dandy as a dandelion. Don't worry about me, Lagartha. Go. Ariadne is waiting for you."

Eren's cold reply made Lagartha frown. However, she didn't say anything and only nodded at him.

"Be careful with Arto, Eren. He won't go down easily."

Lagartha spoke before subconsciously touching Eren's shoulder. It looked like she wanted to say more to Eren. But she controlled herself. She then looked at Arto and Eren one last time before disappearing from her position.

"You! You think you are enough to hold me off until your lackeys loot the warehouse?"

Arto asked Eren with a look of contempt. The latter was a bit taken aback by the fact that Arto had managed to piece together whatever information he could gather about the trio. He had come to see what Eren and his team of two Awakened ranked ladies were planning by coming here.

Eren looked around and found himself alone with Arto. He stretched his arms and jumped a few times at his place to prepare himself. He then looked at Arto before commenting in a nonchalant tone.

"Nobody's trying to hold anyone back. We will fight with our lives on the line. And we won't stop until one of us manages to claim the life of the other. As simple as it sounds.

If you survive, you will be able to deal with the consequences of my breaching the warehouse quickly. And if you die, you won't care about me looting the warehouse anymore, would you?

You managed to get away with one domain. Let me see if you can do the same thing to my domain."

Eren said and smiled wickedly. He then raised his hand and cast his domain spell, which was larger than what Lagartha had conjured with her Awakened-ranked ranking status.

Igni Lotus!

Eren's domain spell was fueled by his unwavering intentions and his infinite mana core. Cast with the One Up spell, it delivered a powerful punch against Rank-2 beings. And since he was using it in conjunction with the array disk bought from Malcolm, it was cast quicker than usual.

Arto had his vision painted in yellow and orange flames as Eren's fire domain expanded in the surrounding area. He could immediately tell that this spell contained the power to harm him despite it being cast by a Meta ranker.

Arto was most surprised by the amount of mana Eren was injecting into his domain spell. His spell had become overwhelming simply by incorporating more mana into it. He wondered how the spell hadn't collapsed after using so much mana.

'Hex spells! I never knew Hex spells could be this powerful. And then there's this guy's inexhaustible mana. Something's up with this bastard.'

Arto gulped empty air as he looked at Eren while inside the fire domain. He had seen his share of Hexers in his life. However, he had to admit that nobody could pull off something like what Eren was doing at this point.

Arto also guessed that Eren had a huge secret about him with the way he was using his spells. He was involved in an all-out battle not too long ago. He then sneaked into the warehouse and started killing the Spiders. He fought with two Awakened-ranked entities simultaneously. And finally, he managed to cast this domain spell.

Activities like those should have taken a huge toll on Eren's mana. He should have been running on fumes a long time ago. And yet, the guy looked like he was only getting started.

The flames had started to fill the empty spaces inside the domain. They had even started to burn down the ground itself. Warm air was everywhere. And it would be impossible to breathe for any mortal inside the domain.

Eren's do-or-die emotions had taken the domain spell's effect up a notch. It had allowed the domain to become stronger and more intense than ever before.

"You…. What are you?"

Arto asked Eren in a confused voice. He had come to understand that what Eren was doing couldn't be the work of just an amateur Meta ranker.

Eren felt like he had been asked this question so many times by so many people. As if he had led different lives in his dream. In every life he led, his friends and foes alike asked him the same question in different forms.

He could also find the answer to that question within himself. It was the answer he had come to cherish throughout his multiple lives.

"I am what I need to be."

Eren clenched his two axes before he spoke. Lightning struck and Eren approached his final opponent in the warehouse with all that he had. He knew that Arto was the biggest hurdle he had ever faced so far. And he needed to overcome this challenge at the cost of wrecking his own synth body.

Eren was reminded of his car crash as he approached Arto. But unlike the last time, he had different goals. Different mindset.

'I'll be the architect of my own destiny.'

===

AN: A throwback to chapter 20. :)