Extra's Descent

"...!"

What the hell was that?

Feeling the ominous gaze, a sudden chill ran down Brandon's spine, as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

And that was when…

—[Chain–Act]—

[Find the source of the mana density.]

[Rewards:]

[Sovereign of Creation: EXP — +2%]

[Act Progression: 5%]

————

….The system notification popped up.

A chain act.

Meaning, the quest would continue to progress upon completion of each chain.

It was interesting.

Ever since the calamity, the system had surprised Brandon even more.

It was as if the system was leading him to something.

And despite its unreliability in the early stages, Brandon trusted the system.

The system had always saved him in the past. Surely, the system is leading him to the right path.

Looking ahead, the only problem was how thick the fog was. It obscured their vision, making it hard to see ahead.

Initially, Brandon wanted to utilize [Aeolus' Blessing], and traverse the entire forest by air.

Though he knew he could barely traverse 15% of the entire forest, he had Amelia to supply mana to him.

By his calculations, they should be able to cross at least 30%.

But now that the system had given him directions, there was no other choice.

They had to trudge the forest thoroughly.

It was risky. Especially with the children around.

Looking ahead, the spine chilling gaze had faded. The fog continued to obscure their vision.

Since the fog seemed to be mana, in its gaseous form, an idea sparked inside Brandon.

With such thoughts, Brandon silently muttered.

"Mana Disruption."

All of a sudden, the fog in front of them scattered like dust. They were still there, but a small path became clear.

".....So it works."

Just like the mana empowered security cameras, back during the acquaintance party, he could definitely tamper mana in its purest form.

…Then could he tamper with Amelia's magic swords?

He could only find out.

But now was not the time for that.

"Let's go."

He urged.

With [Mana Disruption] active, wherever Brandon looked, the fog would scatter. But there was a fixed cool down of three seconds.

Thankfully, Carl was not well versed with magic. He didn't question whatever Brandon was doing.

To him, it looked as if Brandon was probably using wind to scatter the fog.

And for Amelia, Brandon had already told her everything she needed to know about his system.

He knew the ins and outs of her system, and the same went for her.

She was the only person who knew that secret of his.

After all, they both borrowed power from the system.

In the future, Brandon hoped that by the time the [Wraith's Descent] progression had reached a hundred, him, Raven, and Amelia would be strong enough to combat those forces.

It became apparent to him that the system was leading him to that act.

It was inevitable.

The progression continued to increase, but certain acts would decrease its progress.

Currently,

——[Sub—Act]——

Wraiths' Descent.

Progression: — 18%

——————————

And for the other act…

——[Main Act]——

Sovereigns' Descent.

Progression: — 1%

——————————

Everyday, Brandon would check the main act's progression. There were certain days when it increased by one. But the next day, it would decrease back to zero.

For whatever reason, Brandon didn't know.

Rustle… Rustle…

The bushes rustled, and Brandon sensed movement.

"Stay behind us."

At his instruction, the children gathered in between Brandon and Amelia.

"Not you guys."

The goblins lowered their heads in disappointment, and fixed a battle stance.

"Hurrr—"

From the bushes, emerged a pack of Frostwolves.

As expected.

—Awoooo!

And the Frostwolves quickly got to work as their howls rang in the air.

Ice–shaped spikes protruded from the ground, heading towards them.

He tried to use [Mana Disruption], but it was to no avail. He couldn't find a fixed spot to disrupt the Frostwolves' magic attack.

Crack!

Before the spikes reached them, a magic sword rained down, shattering the spikes in the process.

Brandon nodded his head at Amelia who narrowed her eyes, focusing on the battle.

It was finally time to use it.

His [Nature] affinity.

Unlike the other affinities, which conjured the affiliated affinity, [Nature] worked in the same way as the [Earth] affinity.

They were not conjure type elements, but manipulation type.

And since they were in the forest….

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—!

All of a sudden, vines rippled from the trees and coiled around the wolves like a snake.

"Hurrr—"

The ice–like crystals around the wolves hardened, the vines instantly cut off.

…..He was not too well versed in the [Nature] affinity.

"Stay here, Carl."

Gathering mana in his palms, an earth shield encircled Carl.

Having secured Carl's safety, Brandon bursted forward. The ends of his fur coat fluttered by the wind.

Black flames materialized in his palms, as threads extended from his fingertips.

The threads loomed around and wrapped around the wolf. But due to the hard ice crystals on their figure, the threads could only do so much.

Something was different about the wolves.

It seemed as if the dense fog of mana had increased their strength.

Clad in black flames, Brandon struck the wolf with his fist.

Thwack!

The wolf staggered back, but another wolf lunged themselves towards Brandon.

Swallowing, Brandon leapt up and dodged the wolf's attack.

"...!"

And yet again, another wolf lunged themselves towards him. There was no end to it. They were too coordinated.

Gathering mana on his arms, Brandon spun around. A tornado slightly formed, pushing the wolves back.

It was then.

[Aeolus Blessing]

Brandon walked up in the air, as if he was walking a flight of stairs.

—Awoooo!

The wolves' shrilling howl rang in the air. Ice crystals sprouted from their bodies.

Swish, swish, swish—!

Ice crystals shot from their figure like rapid bullets, rippling in the air towards Brandon.

"Shit."

Caught off guard, he cursed under his breath. He didn't expect the wolves to have a ranged attack.

The only thing he could do to mitigate the damage was to wrap himself around an ice shell.

Swish, swish, swish!

But that proved futile as the ice crystals cut through the shell. Cuts and grazes etched all over his body.

It seemed like the wolves had some kind of counter to whatever he would do.

With such thoughts, his assessment was over.

All preparations were complete. He had managed to lure the wolves towards a certain area. Gathering information about them in the process.

He clenched his fist.

"Huurryaaa—"

The wolves were instantly pulled in the air. Threads wrapped themselves around the wolves' ice covered figure.

And though the threads weren't capable enough to tear through their torso, it was still durable enough to lift the wolves up in the air.

Looking around, all of the wolves that had tried to attack him hung in the air, threads coiled around their figures.

Gently placing his index finger on the threads, a black ember ignited.

Vo… Voooosh—!

The small ember gradually crawled the threads.

VOOOSH—!

As soon as the black flames met the wolves' body, the flames instantly expanded, burning the wolves alive.

Truth be told, cursed flames were less hot than normal flames.

But cursed flames had a debuff effect. Burning the opponent alive would gradually sap away their strength, and eat away their mana.

The same went for cursed threads, the energy would pass onto the user.

But…

It wasn't without its side effects.

"Heh."

Using too much of his cursed affinity at once…

"Hehehe…"

…..Took a toll on his already damaged mental state.

"Hahahah!"

He laughed a sinister laugh. As he watched the wolves, burning and burning and burning.

There was a reason why the [Cursed] affinity was frowned upon.

The more they used it against an opponent.....

"Hahahahaha…!"

.....The more their inner desires consumed them.