Beyond the Amalgamation

Urgh. What’s going on? My body feels cold.

The last thing I remember is… I stepped forward, and one of the paws of that monster slammed into my side. It was so unexpected I didn’t have time to react. My body rocketed into one of the dungeon walls that hadn’t cracked. And then, everything went black.

I must’ve lost consciousness for a moment. I’m starting to get my senses back.

The smell of iron assaulted my nose while a slightly salty liquid spread across my tongue. Then came the undulating pain, quickly ramping up in intensity. A few of my bones were likely fractured, but that could be easily fixed with a specialization healing potion. My hands and legs moved when I tried to wiggle them, but they were a bit restricted. It felt like I was brushing up against rock, so my body was probably partially within the dungeon wall.

“ROOHEEOOOAHEEAAARRHEERR!” A loud menagerie of howls echoed through the dungeon chamber. It sounded like the monster was laughing. A force of wind rushed towards me, causing my body to instinctively duck. My vision quickly unblurred as my senses heightened.

A hoof slammed into the wall where I was a moment before.

My body flew from the force, rolling before stopping a small distance from the monster. I quickly gathered my bearings and stood up. My body protested, but it wasn’t bad enough to impede my movements too much.

“Clap! Clap! Clap! I’m impressed. You managed to dodge the amalgamation even in that battered state.”

Shut up you annoying woman! I thought you said you would help me if I was about to die. That attack definitely would’ve killed me! I would’ve loved to say that out loud, but it was hard to speak in my current condition.

I glanced around. One of my daggers was somehow still in my hand. The other was lying in the center of the room. So, I’m moderately injured, missing one of my weapons, and my opponent is multiple times my strength. The odds are highly stacked against me. The likelihood of winning is a bit lower than I’d like, but still…

That’s what makes it fun.

I smiled a devilish smile.

Now let me show you why I’m an Expert.

I ran towards the amalgamation, dagger in hand. The monster seemed to take my smile as a challenge, barreling its hooves and paws down upon me. They came in from all sides, but now that I was prepared, they weren’t that much of a threat. I dodged them each by a hairsbreadth, using as little movement as possible. Occasionally, one of the legs would knick me since my body couldn’t move perfectly, but it wasn’t enough to break my concentration.

It wasn’t long until I was too close to dodge the legs from the ground, but that was expected. Without hesitation, I jumped over the incoming leg. Jumping was normally a terrible idea. You wouldn’t be able to dodge another attack. The monster immediately took advantage of that opening to strike at me. Of course, that was also expected.

I swung my dagger down towards the leg underneath as though I was parrying it. Without anything to brace myself against, the momentum launched my body onto the monster’s back. My free arm wrapped around the torso, holding onto the monster’s skin.

‘Snap!’ “Agh!” I could feel my bones break, but I kept holding on. I raised my dagger into the air before bringing it down, stabbing the closest, softest part of the monster’s body.

‘Chink!’ The dagger barely chipped the surface of the skin, making a small, inconsequential wound. It made sense, after all: a monster whose strength was in the realm of the gods probably wouldn’t be phased by such a normal attack. However, I wasn’t expecting to slice the beast open.

I pushed my mana through the dagger, thinning it into small tendrils as they spread throughout the monster’s body. The technique was similar to detection magic, but, like detection magic, there were a few caveats. It was hard to push mana through living things as they contained their own dense mana that was kept in constant control by the creature’s body. The monster’s form functioned similarly to a living body, making it impossible to find what I was looking for.

However, the monster was made of mana. I mean, it has to be. There’s no way something like this could naturally exist. That meant the inside was no different than an empty cave. And where the mana is the densest…

Found it.

The monster swung as hard as it could, tossing me from its back. I tried landing on my feet, but one of my knees gave out, causing me to roll a bit further than expected. It worked to my favor though. I was back in the center of the room.

And now, there’s nothing to worry about.

I grabbed my second dagger from the ground before stumbling to my feet. The monster took the opportunity to charge, closing the distance in an instant. Tens of hooves and paws barreled down in all directions, preventing me from escaping. However, none of that mattered.

I took a deep breath in. Pulling back my left hand, I imagined myself holding a rapier, concentrating on that initial thrust. My right hand rose, preparing to swing. Mana passed through both hands. My attention focused on where I felt that dense ball of mana inside the monster.

Then, I breathed out, closing the distance faster than the monster could react.

“[Slice].” My right hand swung down, slicing through the monster with ease. The mana coursing through my dagger removed any resistance.

“[Pierce].” My left hand stabbed into the opening I made, piercing the ball of mana within the monster.

As soon as my dagger made contact, the monster turned into a puff of smoke, dispersing as though it never existed. My body collapsed onto the ground right after. I used up most of my mana, so I couldn’t move anymore. The adrenaline started to wear off as I came to terms with what just happened.

“I…did…it…” I weakly groaned.

“You sure did,” Runa said, squatting at my side before stuffing a bottle in my mouth. I gagged at the liquid flowing out before swallowing.

“What the hell was that for?” I yelled, jumping off the ground.

Runa, of course, kept on ignoring me. “I’m impressed with your vitality. You can move so much after one healing potion. Also, dual casting spells? You’re even more impressive than what I gave you credit for.”

“...I am an Expert-class skill holder, you know?” Though, I was a bit dissatisfied. Expert-class skill holders sat just below the gods. The fact that one unexpected…amalgamation, was it…could push me so far showed how weak I was. I didn’t really care to become a god myself – they were the people who had the highest mastery in their associated skill. However, I would like to be strong enough to handle an amalgamation without being on the verge of death.

Runa looked at me for a moment before standing up. “Let’s get going,” she said, walking towards the dark purple void.

I followed behind, though a bit unsteadily. “Where?”

“Through the veil, of course,” she said, pointing towards the dark purple void.

All I could do was look at her as if she was crazy.

“Come on, don’t be shy!” Runa said, still ignoring me.

I had my reservations, but she seemed confident, so I touched the void.

And immediately, my entire body was sucked in, leaving me in a purple haze.