Chapter 268: Just Rest Jin
The massive Earth-Rending Ursa shook its heavy, stone-plated head, its glowing yellow eyes locking squarely onto me and Emma.
With a deafening roar that shook the leaves from the canopy, it charged.
"Jin!" Emma shouted. Her silver bracelet flared brilliantly, and a shimmering light dome snapped into place just as the beast swiped its massive claws.
The heavy stone claws screeched against the hard-light barrier, sending violent sparks flying into the dim forest.
The shield held, but the sheer force pushed Emma sliding backward through the dirt.
"Its armor is too thick!" Emma strained, holding her hands up to maintain the barrier.
"My light spells can blind it, but I don’t have the offensive spells to pierce that plating!"
A standard blade wasn’t going to cut it.
I let out a slow, controlled breath. Up until now, I had kept this entirely under wraps. In this world, rare and destructive affinities, especially dark variations, carried heavy, often dangerous stigmas.
But with Kyle gone and a territorial boss actively trying to crush us, I didn’t have the luxury of holding back anymore.
"Drop the shield on my mark," I ordered, shifting my stance and lowering my blade.
Then closed my eyes for a fraction of a second and dug deep into my mana core.
The air around me instantly dropped in temperature. The heavy, metallic tang of ozone flooded the clearing.
Crackle!
Thick, jagged arcs of pitch-black lightning erupted from my right arm. The dark energy spiraled down my sleeve, violently wrapping around my sword until the entire weapon hummed with a terrifying, chaotic frequency.
"Mark!" I shouted.
Emma dropped the barrier.
The Ursa lunged forward. I didn’t dodge.
I stepped directly into its path, channeling the black lightning into my legs to artificially overclock my nervous system.
"Rolling Thunder."
I vanished.
Then with a deafening crack that sounded like the sky tearing open, I instantly reappeared directly beneath the beast’s guard.
And unleashed a rapid, consecutive flurry of five ascending strikes. The black lightning didn’t just cut the stone armor, it violently detonated upon impact, blowing apart the thick rock plating and sending the massive bear staggering backward with a howl of actual pain.
I landed gracefully, my blade still dripping with dark, crackling energy.
Then paused, a sudden spike of actual panic hitting my chest. I kept my eyes on the bear, but my mind was entirely focused behind me.
Damn it... I just used a dark-attribute element in front of Emma, I realized, my grip tightening on my hilt.
She wields light magic. She’s going to back away—
"Jin!"
I quickly glanced over my shoulder, fully expecting to see a look of horror or betrayal.
Instead, Emma’s bright blue eyes were wide with pure, unadulterated awe. Her face broke into a massive, radiant smile.
"You have an affinity!" she cheered, her voice ringing with genuine, absolute joy.
"And it’s a lightning variant! Oh my gosh, Jin, that is amazing! You finally awakened one!"
I blinked.
She wasn’t scared. She was just... happy for me. Happy that the ’talentless’ noble finally had a magical affinity.
A quiet, helpless exhale escaped my lips.
"Keep it distracted!" I yelled back, a faint smirk finally touching the corner of my mouth.
"On it!" Emma beamed. She thrust her hands forward, launching a volley of blinding, concentrated light-spheres that exploded directly in front of the Ursa’s face, completely disorienting it.
I turned my attention back to the beast, my interface instantly snapping back to life.
[Target: Earth-Rending Ursa -> Carapace Status: Compromised -> Locating Structural Flaw... Found.]
A glowing red crosshair appeared over a massive crack in the bear’s chest plating that my Rolling Thunder had opened up.
I didn’t hesitate. I sprinted forward, my boots kicking up the damp earth.
[Command: Personal Kinetic Output -> Modify: +200%]
My muscles screamed as the edited parameters flooded my system.
I launched myself into the air, clearing the bear’s blind, frantic swipe.
Then raised my sword high above my head, channeling every single ounce of black lightning I could safely draw into the tip of the blade.
I brought the sword down, driving it perfectly into the exposed crack in the stone armor.
The dark lightning violently discharged directly into the Ursa’s core.
The massive beast stiffened, its yellow eyes rolling back.
Black electricity violently arched out of its mouth and through the cracks in its armor before the creature let out one final, shuddering breath and collapsed heavily into the dirt, dead.
I ripped my sword free, the black lightning slowly dissipating back into my core. I let out a long, exhausted breath, wiping a streak of sweat from my forehead.
A moment later, Emma came jogging up beside me. She looked completely unharmed, her silver bracelet glowing softly.
"That was incredible," she breathed, looking down at the massive, smoking beast, and then up at me with complete admiration.
"You were hiding that the whole time? No wonder you’re always so calm."
"Let’s just keep it between us for now," I said, crouching down to pry the high-tier token pouch from the beast’s collar. I tossed it lightly in the air, catching it with a satisfied nod.
Emma smiled, stepping in close and seamlessly looping her arm right back through mine, practically humming with victory.
"Your secret is safe with me," she promised softly.
The adrenaline of the fight began to rapidly fade, leaving behind a heavy, hollow ache in my chest.
Using the dark lightning had burned through a massive chunk of my reserves.
I let out a ragged exhale, my vision swimming for a fraction of a second.
And forced myself to walk forward, drawing my hunting knife to carve out the high-density mana core from the Ursa’s chest cavity.
I swayed slightly, my boots slipping on the damp moss.
Before I could even kneel down beside the carcass, a small, warm hand gently wrapped around my left wrist, stopping me in my tracks.
I blinked, looking down. Emma was standing right beside me. The bright, cheerful energy from a moment ago was completely gone, replaced by a terrifyingly calm, focused stillness.
Without a word, her fingers slid down my hand. She grabbed the band on my ring finger, the spatial ring Tessa had given me, and smoothly pulled it off.
[MP: 666/1,650 —> MP: 6/660]
The sudden, violent severing of Mana expansion hit my system like a physical sledgehammer.
The color completely drained from my face.
My legs instantly gave out under the crushing weight of sudden mana exhaustion.
"E-Emma?" I gasped, my voice barely a whisper as the forest spun violently around me.
Surprisingly I didn’t hit the dirt.
Emma caught me effortlessly. She guided my dead weight down onto the soft bed of moss, shifting her legs beneath me so that my head ended up resting perfectly against her lap.
I tried to push myself up, but my limbs felt like they were filled with lead. I couldn’t even lift my arms.
Emma looked down at me, her bright blue eyes incredibly soft, yet completely unreadable. She reached out, her fingers gently and rhythmically ruffling my messy hair.
"It’s okay," she murmured, her voice sweet and soothing, like she was comforting a frightened child.
She raised her free hand. And a massive, perfectly spherical dome of dense, golden light expanded outward, completely enclosing the two of us and isolating us from the rest of the dark, violent forest.
The sounds of the Obsidian Woods, the wind, the distant howling of beasts, were instantly cut off.
We were trapped in a perfect, glowing cage.
"There," Emma whispered, a deeply satisfied smile gracing her lips as she looked around the barrier. "Now no one will disturb you."
She shifted her gaze, bringing her hand up into the ambient light. She held Tessa’s ring between her thumb and forefinger, examining the intricate, expensive runic carvings with a look of profound, icy disdain.
My chest heaved as I fought through the nausea of mana depletion. I forced my heavy, sluggish hand to lift off the moss, weakly reaching toward her.
"G-give it... back," I managed to choke out, my half open eyes glaring up at her.
But she didn’t gave it back.
She just smiled softly. And caught my trembling hand mid-air, gently lacing her fingers through mine and pinning my hand against her chest.
"Shh," she shushed me softly, her thumb brushing against my knuckles. "You overexerted yourself. You just need to rest, Jin."
Before I could even attempt to argue, she leaned down. The golden light of the dome reflected in her eyes right before she closed them, and she pressed her lips firmly against mine.
"Mmm~"
It wasn’t a fleeting, nervous peck like in the courtyard. It was deep, deliberate, and completely possessive.
She was effectively locking me down, using my own physical vulnerability to trap me in her lap, completely isolated from the rest of the world.
My mind raced, but my paralyzed, mana-drained body couldn’t even twitch.
I was completely, utterly at her mercy.
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