Leo's mind raced through his options, trying to calculate if he'd make it in time before she was killed. Time moved at a standstill as he thought. But nothing he had would make it in time… he was too slow. Too far.
His only ranged option was Ice Spike, and it wouldn’t even chip that armour.
He wouldn't let that stop him.
His mana flowed through his channels as it went from neutral mana to icy cold, the chill running through him as the Ice Spike started to coalesce above his hand.
That wouldn't do.
He used all the efficiency practice he'd gotten using his Refined Mana Strikes to mould and strengthen the Ice Spike as it formed. His will and mana resonated together as the magical ice elongated, growing into a sharpened lance.
Ice Spike (Common)
Upgraded to:
Frost Lance (Uncommon)
Instead of firing it, his hand wrapped around the frozen shaft of this new lance. It had the sharp head of a spear at its tip and a long body of ice. Leo held it tight as he planted his left foot forward, stomping hard. Fuel the Fire scorched through his stamina as he gave it as much as it would take.
He drove the stomp up through his hips and shoulder, and threw. Directly aiming for the neck of the Goliath.
The lance surged out of his hand with a rocketing boom, traveling far faster than he expected. The Antling Goliath was about to crush Ashley as the lance hit, embedding itself into a gap between its chitinous exoskeleton plates and creating a frosted area.
It reeled back as green/black ichor spurted from its wound.
“I'll keep it busy! Get Ash out of there!” Leo commanded.
Before anyone could reply, he was off. Sprinting directly towards the Goliath.
He tried to form another Frost Lance as he ran but it wouldn't coalesce. The cooldown had to be longer than his Ice Spike, but he had no time to look at the upgraded magic as he dashed into battle. His resources were shaky, but enough to distract it.
HP: 189/350
MP: 121/260
SP: 138/330
He quickly chugged another stamina potion, tossing the bottle aside once finished.
The Goliath had locked in on Leo as its small eyes in its helmet-like head were trained on him.
Leo kept his charge up, racing across the room and over bits of broken rubble and antling corpses. The Goliath began moving towards him, in a slow, steady charge. Its starting acceleration was slow, but with its massive size that didn’t matter, crossing the room in a few steps.
As Leo and the Goliath met, Leo's fist slammed into the incoming leg. His whole arm shook as it felt like punching a steel beam. Even with his Refined Mana Strikes activated.
The skill let him cheat the armour, sending damage where his knuckles couldn't reach. He just had to not shatter his arm doing it.
The Goliath stomped out, each giant foot causing cracks in the floor as it tried to stomp its foe.
Leo kept moving, weaving through its legs and landing as many hits as he could, each one stacking up his Iron Repetition to deal more damage. His breath was growing a bit erratic as he fought, his life moments away from ending with one wrong move.
By this point his Frost Lance had come off cooldown, but he didn't see a great chance to use it. Opting to save the mana for either more strikes or a chance to land an effective hit.
Arrows and spells began raining down upon the creature, almost all of which landed with minimal effect. Ron's sun-touched arrows seemed to at least penetrate the chitin enough to stick inside it, but Leo doubted there was any damage dealt with how tough it felt.
Leo's stamina was getting lower and lower by the minute. The Goliath seemingly with endless endurance as it continued to rampage within the building. He dropped low, dodging a swing of its large mandibles, which somehow swung out like a flail on a chain, wild and erratic.
Leo had spotted Ashley being carried away by Bjorn and Cecelia, seeing Amy also running alongside them. He sighed in relief before sliding across the floor, escaping another kick out from the goliath.
“Kid! You alright out there?” he heard Bjorn yell.
“Does it look like it? This thing doesn't stop!” Leo called back in between breaths.
“Cecelia and I can come in to assist!”
“I’ll manage!”
He didn’t want anyone else to die tonight.
He could handle this himself.
Leo refocused his strategy. Now that he no longer needed to be a distraction it was time to move into a more risky, yet more offensive approach.
He leapt up onto one of its legs as it swung out, using it as a platform to jump onto its large, plated back. The shell looked far too thick to even make a dent, so he moved for a weaker area.
He quickly approached its neck as he ran across the top of it. He spotted the area the Frost Lance had hit. It was still slowly spreading frost along the skin in the gaps of its chitinous plates.
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The Goliath, as dumb as it seemed, did not like Leo being on top of it.
It started thrashing wildly, crashing itself into walls as people tried to get out of the way. Leo struggled to keep himself balanced on top as he inched closer to its head.
He started forming the Frost Lance in his hand as he jumped during one of its thrashes. It sent him flying far higher than he had anticipated but that was fine. He wanted to get as high as he could.
Leo pushed his feet into the ceiling, using it as a springboard as it absorbed his momentum. His legs quaked under the effort, but Leo didn’t stop there. He pushed all he could into his Fuel the Fire, enhancing the power in his legs further.
Then let it all go as he pushed off.
His body rocketed forward, causing spiderweb cracks to appear in the ceiling. The lance was held tight, both hands above his head, ready to impale the ant with it.
The lance crashed like a meteor, hitting the head of the Goliath with enough force to make its legs give out beneath it. What he didn't account for was what happened when a fast moving object of lesser toughness impacts a large object with the toughness of a steel wall.
He felt his bones crack to almost shattering as his body impacted the head of the Goliath. His consciousness blinked as his brain rattled in his skull. His body crashed to the ground, limp and useless.
“Shit. That sucked,” Leo wheezed out.
His group rushed to where he landed, next to the downed Goliath.
“Are you alright, kid?” Bjorn asked in a hurry. “Didn’t expect you to use your own body as a battering ram.”
“Nope, definitely not alright.” Leo sounded like an old smoker as he choked out the words.
Amy rushed over too and started to heal him. He could feel his bones pop into place with internal crunches as they quickly mended. It was a deeply unsettling feeling, as if a surgeon was knitting his bones back together while being awake.
“You've pushed yourself too far,” Amy scolded.
“Nothing new there,” Cecelia said flatly.
“It keeps working though,” Bjorn chuckled while patting his shoulder. “Good job kid. You’re a real monster.”
Leo winced at the tremor it sent through his body.
“Sorry,” Bjorn apologised, still chuckling.
Leo got a really bad feeling all of a sudden as his eyes went wide.
His vision was flooded with kill notifications, he scrolled through what felt like hundreds.
It wasn't there.
“Uhh. Guys…” Leo said nervously.
“I do not like that look.” Cecelia’s face was grave.
“What is it?” Amy asked, lifting what remained of his armour. “Is there a more serious injury?”
“I don't have a kill notification for that thing.”
All at once the group slowly turned their heads to the assumed deceased Goliath.
It started to twitch.
“Everyone! Attack while it's down! Get him out of here!” Cecelia roared in command.
There was mass hesitation at approaching the colossal monstrosity that could tear through walls with just its momentum.
Leo tried to get up but was immediately stopped by Amy who started to drag him away, struggling with the effort.
“Don't! You're in no state for that right now, we need to get you away from it to heal. You’re no good broken!” she yelled, voice stern.
“I need to help!” Leo begged.
Amy's palm held him down as they stopped, shaky with emotion. “You need to stop! You've been fighting non-stop for days, risking your life, god knows how many times, all for people you don't even know! Like, who does that?!”
Leo lay there unmoving, stunned. Amy so far had been a solid and stern person who reminded him of a nurse that kept her cool and did what she needed to do no matter how the patient complained. Now that cool had boiled over and he didn’t know what to say.
Leo hesitated, his mind racing for an answer she would accept to let him go back into the fight.
“With great power..” Leo began sheepishly.
Amy's eyes narrowed, with a look so venomous that Leo didn't dare finish his words.
He took a deep breath, trying to take himself away from the fighting for just a moment to think.
People kept asking him why.
Why he kept throwing himself at monsters twice his size. Why he took the hits, ran into danger, put himself between death and people he barely knew. Was it so inconceivable that he just wanted to help?
He didn't have a perfect answer. Not one that made sense out loud.
But he tried anyway.
“I don't know most of these people,” he began quietly, “that's true.”
His eyes stayed on the ceiling, trying not to look at the desperate combat or Amy's face right now.
“But I know what it feels like to be powerless. To have those precious to you taken without any way to stop it. People you took for granted without expecting anything to happen. Feeling helpless as you try to pin the pieces of your life back together.”
He paused, breathing slowly and trying to control his emotions. A single tear fell from his eye as he bit his lip to stop it from trembling.
“I used to dream of this. Every night I'd go to sleep, praying that I'd wake up with super powers or in an alternate universe with magic. I told myself that I wouldn't be one that just stood by… I wouldn't be one who just looked away.”
He closed his eyes for a second.
“Maybe it's stupid. Maybe it gets me killed. But if I have the power to do something and I don't, then what's the point of having power in the first place? What's the point in surviving?”
For a moment, there was nothing but silence between them, heavy and tense. The noise of combat seemed muted, less urgent as Amy absorbed his words. When she finally spoke, her voice was quieter, losing the sharp edge it had held moments before.
“You can't save everyone, Leo,” she said softly, her eyes glistening with exhaustion. “And no one expects you to.”
Leo finally met her gaze, seeing the mix of respect and frustration reflected there. She stood slowly, glancing briefly at the twitching monster that was starting to rise under the assault of everyone, before turning back to him.
“But I get it,” she admitted reluctantly. “Someone has to do it, right? Just… don't throw your life away needlessly.”
She reached down, offering a hand.
“If you're going to fight, make it count. Otherwise, the next time I patch you up, I might not be able to.”
He took her hand, trying not to scream in pain from his body's protest as he was pulled to his feet.
His smile was pained and broken, barely held up under the effort. Amy looked away but kept pumping his body full of healing energy.
He turned towards the Goliath. It was beginning to stand. Even under the tireless assault of everyone combined. The thing was a true monster.
But it wasn't the only one.
His health was still low, his stamina even worse. There was no outcome here he expected to come out on top. Remaining alive would be a miracle.
But a miracle wasn’t something you earned. It was something the world chose to give.
Leo forged a lance of frost and gripped it tight.
Time for round two.
[LitRPG] [Cultivation] [Crafting] [Smart MC]
Synopsis (Click to Expand)
To transcend the heavens, one must first forge the ladder.
He is a Cultivator who values volume over speed.
He is a Chronicler who will not stop at the sky.