Chapter 492: Chasing

Julius was in the middle of running away. The suspiciously friendly guy had been waiting for him outside the cave entrance. Not only that, but he had put together a little gift for Julius. Jonas had organized everything from valuable materials to cores from the monsters Julius had defeated. The cores were even sorted by color and vibrancy. It was so neat that it made a chill run up and down his spine.

Julius didn’t really know what to do with these cores, but the guy insisted that he take them. It was easier to say yes, rather than no.

Lyra was there as well, looking like she was getting along very well with the handsome guy. Apparently, she had come back when he didn’t show up. It was nice of her, but honestly, he hoped she wouldn’t return.

It would have made things easier for him. He wanted to try the teaming-up thing, but it was clear that he wasn’t made out for that sort of thing, which was why he had explained to her that he wanted to go his separate way.

Of course, she didn’t like that. She wanted to continue working with him. He would have as well, he enjoyed her company and felt like she was a good person. Still, he had a feeling that she wanted to stay with him because of his strength. But he also explained the truth of the matter. She wasn’t strong enough to keep up with him.

Surprisingly, that was enough to convince her to back down. She looked upset at that blunt reason, but the dozens of bodies around them likely made it more convincing. She had probably already realized that she would only hold him back. Which, to be fair, would be the case for most people, even his friends. They would likely meet again once they got closer to the pillar of light. Jonah seemed insistent that it would happen.

That was how he found himself on the move. He wanted to put as much distance as possible between himself and Jonas. Unlike Lyra, the other guy hadn’t been so easy to convince. For some reason, he really wanted to tag alongside Julius.

To Jonas’s credit, he seemed like a very competent person. Julius assumed that he was even stronger than Lyra. His aura control was impeccable, and he never seemed uncomfortable in Julius’s presence. However, his extroverted nature made Julius uneasy.

Once Julius made it far enough away, he removed the disk from his storage ring and placed his feet on it. His feet were locked onto the disk, and he slowly fed his mana to the item. The last time he hadn’t been as careful was the reason why Lyra had demanded they go on foot instead.

He didn’t blame her either. If not for his ability to heal from most injuries as well as his ability to fly, he might have felt less comfortable using this board. That said, the board was awesome.

It moved very quickly and was shockingly nimble. He wasn’t the best at controlling it, but he was learning bit by bit. What made the item even better than his kinetic energy was how little mana and focus it required.

When he flew with his kinetic energy, it required almost all his focus and consumed a massive amount of it. While kinetic energy was very sustainable, it still put some strain on Julius if handled that much for an extended period.

This board solved those issues, and as long as he was fine with soaring across the plains on an unstable board and some vertigo, it was an extremely useful item.

He continued to head deeper into the rift. The pillar of light was still far away in the distance, and he wanted to see how much land he could cross in the meantime. The board only allowed him to fly ten feet off the ground, but in a flat environment like the plains, it was more than enough.

He passed several other competitors along his way. Most of them were heading toward the center, much like he was. Some of the people he had come across were fighting monsters of their own. All of these monsters were strong. Maybe not as strong as the gray goblin-looking monsters, but they were definitely at the top of Tier 3. He wondered how many people were still participating after the first day.

He glanced at the horizon where the sun was setting over some large mountains. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought this was the real world. It certainly didn’t feel like any rift he had been in. He was curious what kind of secrets this realm was hiding.

Once the sun disappeared, the sky darkened, and the moon’s brilliance showed itself. The moon was massive, and even at a half moon, it lit up the entire sky with breathtaking beauty. For a few minutes, he just stood on the board, hovering in the air as he took in the mystical atmosphere. He tossed the two tokens he had acquired in the air as he relaxed.

He wished he could say he was surprised when he was forced to create a barrier at the back of his head. A bolt of pure mana slammed into his barrier out of nowhere. Julius turned around and looked in the direction the mana bolt had come from.

He had sensed the mana bolt coming with his mana senses, but his perception skill hadn’t detected any lifeforms around him. That meant that the attack had come from at least two hundred feet away. That was how far his sphere of perception extended at the moment.

He closed his eyes as he pushed that sphere outward. Two hundred feet was something Julius had become somewhat comfortable in maintaining. It was a good distance that strained his mind, but not so much that he wore himself out. In large crowds, he was forced to limit the distance even more. But out in the plains, his sphere was able to be quite large without his mind self-combusting.

Stolen novel; please report.

However, if he really needed to, he could extend that two hundred feet to more than double. That was precisely what he was doing at the moment. He let his sphere flare out, and he tried to see if he could sense anyone. The only problem with doing this was that his brain couldn’t handle the pressure for very long.

He was forced to draw his perception back before his brain ruptured. The farther his sphere traveled, the more severe the strain became. It was only because he had [Phoenix Renewal] that he felt comfortable enough doing that. Even with that, he didn’t like messing with his brain.

He could survive almost anything, but he didn’t know how well he would handle getting his mind scrambled like eggs. It was why people like Lily were so scary.

He sighed when he wasn’t able to sense anyone despite extending his senses. The mana bolt had come out of nowhere, and he wasn’t able to track it down. He didn’t even know if the attack came from the direction the bolt originated from. For all he knew, the bolt was shot from a different position altogether.