Chapter 40
Finn screamed dramatically and dove into the pocket on Kaian's chest.
"Aaaah! Scary!"
Kaian looked used to this by now.
He gently pressed one hand over the pocket to protect her.
Then he lowered himself close to the ground and endured the violent shaking.
Both with his naked eyes and through [Second Eyes], he could see the surrounding terrain changing.
Rrrrrrrumble!
Trees grew all the way to the height where the Tempest Eagle had been flying, only to be crushed against the transparent dome overhead.
Thorny vines spread everywhere.
And the darkness covering the surroundings grew even deeper.
"These bastards suddenly jumped several levels."
Kaian's thoughts immediately accelerated.
Shhhhh...
The scale of the magic was far too large compared to the mana levels of the dark elf squads he'd analyzed so far.
Take the first spell the dark elves had shown him.
[Shadow Song].
That spell increased its power by having several people repeatedly chant together.
If only one dark elf had sung, there was no way it could've created such a wide-area effect.
Then there were their main offensive weapons.
Bows and short spears.
They didn't strengthen the weapons with magic. They used poison to increase efficiency instead.
Even [Enhance] hadn't been directly cast.
They had relied on magic circles.
Tick.
The only spell dark elves spent their mana matter freely on was [Stealth].
Of course, Kaian could break through it with [Second Eyes].
But that doesn't mean Stealth is low-level magic.
If anything, it was excellent.
The problem was that the dark elves needed so much concentration to maintain such an advanced [Stealth] that they couldn't freely use many other spells.
Meaning most dark elves barely qualify as mid-rank mana users.
They were the kind of mages who would struggle even to qualify for academy admission.
There was no way they could cast a large-scale spell like the one surrounding Kaian now.
Therefore, there was only one possible answer.
The elders made this.
Tick.
The magic circle on the severed left arm Kaian had collected earlier had been quite sophisticated.
A mage below high-rank probably couldn't even design such a thing, much less engrave it.
But right now... I don't sense anyone nearby with that much mana.
It was unlikely that the elders had personally come to the hunting ground in the first place.
It has to be another magic circle they prepared in advance, just like the one on the left arm or weapons.
Yet no matter how thoroughly Kaian searched the surroundings with [Second Eyes], he couldn't detect a magic circle large enough to create this effect.
Tick.
What am I missing?
Then he suddenly remembered something.
Dark elves were a race that lived underground.
You idiot...!
Kaian immediately extended [Second Eyes], which had been focused above ground, deep beneath the earth.
A large amount of mana was detected instantly.
There were complicated magic circles...
And a large number of mid-rank troops positioned underground.
Kaian clicked his tongue in disbelief.
"That's cheating. Seriously. You even have underground units?"
Only then did he calmly wrap himself in a shield.
Whoooosh.
Tick.
Exactly four seconds.
That was how long it had taken Kaian to accelerate his thoughts, analyze the situation, and create his shield.
Then Sarvel's confident voice traveled through the air and echoed inside the [Air Dome].
"The hunt begins now! Let us see how long your mana matter lasts!"
Kaian stared blankly.
"What is he talking about? How long my mana what?"
Through [Ambient Converter], Kaian was continuously materializing surrounding mana and piling new mana matter into the enormous library within his Core Space.
That was why Sarvel's threat made absolutely no sense to him.
Sarvel, however, believed Kaian was mocking him again.
He ground his teeth and issued an order through [Mind Link].
[This is now an all-out battle. Use the [Fog Bombs]. From this moment onward, activate [Reach Vine] as well.]
The dark elves immediately detonated the [Fog Bombs].
Pssssshhhh...
Thick mana fog spread through the forest.
It disturbed enemy magic while hiding the magical signatures of allies.
Sarvel looked down at the forest buried beneath the pale fog.
His breathing was already rough.
"Haah... Haah..."
As expected, large-area magic consumes a huge amount of mana matter.
Casting [Air Dome] had already used half of his stored mana matter.
Sarvel's mana matter took the shape of sharp, transparent weapons formed by compressed air.
For him, spending mana matter meant reducing the amount of air inside his Imaginary World.
The more he used...
The worse the suffocating pressure and breathing difficulty became.
That was why Sarvel rarely stood on the front line even though his magical skill exceeded that of most dark elves.
"Hoo..."
Sarvel resisted the fear of suffocation and focused on his Imaginary World.
As long as he maintained [Air Dome], his mana matter would continue draining.
But in exchange, the hunting ground was now more favorable to the dark elves than ever before.
And [Reach Vine] hadn't even activated yet.
Sarvel smiled in satisfaction.
Your mana matter will run dry long before I suffocate to death!
He was certain the goddess of Vernas Forest would place victory in his hands.
***
"Good grief. Singing, fog... you guys really have a lot of tricks."
Inside the dense magical fog created by the [Fog Bombs], Kaian once again felt his senses becoming confused.
And on top of that, poisoned arrows and short spears flew at him from every direction.
Shoosh! Shoosh!
Tap! Tap!
Kaian's feet moved constantly as he recalibrated his mana control.
Hummm...
Kaian preferred to calculate the exact amount of mana matter required for every spell.
Anyone who saw the mountains of wooden blocks piled inside his Core Space might ask why someone with that much stored power bothered saving every little bit.
But...
You can't start getting careless just because things are urgent.
If he ignored details once or twice, human nature would eventually turn once or twice into seven, eight, or thirty times.
And eventually your lifeline gets cut.
Deadly crises always appeared during the one moment when someone thought, It'll be fine.
More importantly, filling his Core Space completely to the limit with mana matter was necessary if he wanted to expand it further.
Do you think I'm satisfied with the current size of my Core Space?!
He needed to become stronger.
Strong enough to someday wipe out an enemy army by himself if necessary.
That was why he had always used mana matter as efficiently as possible.
But...
I guess I'll have to spend a little more for now.
With the [Fog Bomb] added to everything else, detecting the dark elves through [Stealth] had become more difficult.
Kaian fed additional mana matter into the [Multi Casting] fortress.
Hummmm...!
His physical abilities immediately increased.
Swish! Swish! Shoooosh!
Tap, tap, tap.
With his hands behind his back, Kaian lightly hopped from side to side, effortlessly avoiding the dark elves' attacks.
