Chapter 35 – [Chain Manipulation] (3)

Chapter 35 – [Chain Manipulation] (3)

[Chain Manipulation lvl 7 → Chain Manipulation lvl 8]

He smiled at the notification. It’d taken…Rowan paused; he wasn’t sure how long, but it’d certainly been a while. Days? Probably.

But he’d finally managed to get [Chain Manipulation] up from level 6 all the way to level 8.

He’d been making good progress on controlling multiple constructs and circulating his mana, but [Mana Manipulation] hadn’t leveled up a single time. It made sense that it was harder to level up the skill compared to its chain counterpart, though, given how it was already level 16.

Shifting his body, he let out a small sigh. He’d been hoping more of the weaker creatures would stumble upon him while he was sitting around, letting him advance his quest and maybe even reach level 10.

But other than the level 2 hound that he’d killed earlier, not a single bloodspawn had stumbled upon him.

He didn’t know for certain, but Rowan thought that, in his desperation to escape the scene of his battle with the armored bloodspawn, he’d ended up fleeing in the opposite direction of the broodmother, hence the lack of enemies.

Not letting the disappointment get to him, he focused on something more optimistic. Based on how his body looked and felt, Rowan felt like he would be able to walk around.

He’d refrained from doing so before due to the wound eating into his stomach, but now that it had mostly recovered, he thought that he would be fine.

He’d already done some testing by tensing and moving his abs and stomach, but the pain had been minimal.

As for his arm, it was also well on its way to recovery, with him able to move his fingers properly again, but the limb still wasn’t in good enough shape to be used.

Before trying anything, he reached into his food bag, grabbing a dried fruit and plopping it into his mouth. He chewed for a bit, savoring the taste before washing it down with a sip of water. Then, he stood.

Rowan stumbled as pain radiated from his stomach. But, surprisingly, it wasn’t as bad as he’d expected.

A few calming breaths later, he took a step. It was unsteady, and as he righted himself, another wave of pain washed over him from activating his abs.

Step after step, he moved down the tunnel. Then, he turned around and made his way back. The wound in his stomach continued to cry out, but he ignored it; it wasn’t truly painful, at least not compared to what he’d been through before.

Just annoying. Still, the constant waves were beginning to add up, so he stopped once he’d returned to where he’d set out from. He winced as he sat down, gritting his teeth.

All in all, it had gone better than he’d expected. He’d managed to walk nearly a hundred feet, and though there was pain, he could endure it.

Rowan had still underestimated how much of a role his stomach would play in walking, though, so he figured it would be best to let himself rest for a bit longer.

If he wanted to traverse any kind of long distance, his abdomen would severely hinder him, even in its mostly healed state.

Closing his eyes, he cycled compressed mana through his body. At the rate his body healed, it wouldn’t be much longer until he was fine.

—

The moment Rowan opened his eyes, he knew he was ready. It’d been terribly boring, sitting there and practicing his [Mana Manipulation] for hours, but he’d done it before and would do it again.

Looking down at his stomach, he found that the wound was visibly smaller than just earlier. As he moved his body, he felt little pain.

His arm, on the other hand, was still struggling. It was better than it had been, but it still needed a while more.

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Shaking his head, he grabbed his food bag, hanging it on his belt with the hook it’d come with.

Then, he grabbed the mangled remains of his mace and stood. Just like before, his body protested, but nowhere near as much.

Rowan thought he would probably have to run or even sprint in order to feel the same level of discomfort as the last time he’d tried walking about. Smiling to himself, he walked down the tunnel.

He couldn’t completely remember the route back to the broodmother’s chamber, but he knew the general direction.

As he continued moving through the twisted tunnels, it wasn’t long until he heard the sound of running water above him. This, combined with already knowing roughly where his destination was, gave Rowan everything he needed to get back.

He continued following the sound of rushing water, cycling mana all the while.

He’d gotten better at it from all the practice, but he still couldn’t maintain it without all of his concentration, which was why he’d slowed down the speed at which he moved it. It was still difficult, but far more manageable than before.

As he continued to move closer to where the broodmother resided, he heard the unmistakable screeching of bloodspawn up ahead.

Not long after, he saw a creature standing at the end of the tunnel.