Weapons of Mass Dest Chapter 68: Yes

Chapter 68: Yes

"It's a sha that you're being sent to the frontlines. Sure, they don't instantly put you in the most dangerous spots, but in the end, you're just monster fodder."

Eric taps my shoulder; it seems friendly, but it's anything but that.

"That old man Henry said you have quite a few gifts. Actually, a lot of them for soone of your level. Unfortunately for you, you've ssed up; your mana is too high, and it will break your body fairly soon. You're crippled, too."

He looks at .

"I see that you don't understand," he says happily. "Your mana is ssed up, and its flow is terrible because of your missing limb. You have way too much of it to control with your lackluster skills, and no one will bother enough to help you level up and fix your habits."

He taps my back, and this ti it hurts.

"You have no idea how much regrowing your limb would cost. They are pretty selective about this kind of service. It's also unfortunate they took your friend away. She would have been able to heal you given a few months. But now she's in their hands."

He flashes

a bright smile.

"Tomorrow, I will have you spar with a few of my n. A bit with weapons and so basic mana exercises. Just in case soone cos to check up on you. The day after that, I will let you practice again. Just in case."

He then stops. We are alone in the hallway. It's not inside the manor but in a smaller house nearby, most likely housing for his servants.

"After that, I will make your life miserable. You will exercise until you pass out. They will beat you, you will be given rotten food that was about to be thrown away, and you will sleep in the pig pens."

His face still looks honest, and his smile is nearly perfect.

"All of that because of the way you look around," he quietens down, whispering now. "I hate your eyes. The calm look in them as you look around, trying to gather as much information as you can. You should be scared, you should be pissing your pants."

He straightens up.

"Before the week's end, I will challenge you to a duel. I will tell Henry that you insulted my father or sothing like that, and during that duel, I will kill you."

This ti, he pats my cheek a few tis.

"Your room is at the end of the hallway."

He walks away. His hate for

feels almost too much. Is he just that rotten, picking soone to torture every so often, or did he see sothing in

that he really can't stand?

I watch his back the entire ti until he leaves the hallway.

Then, I stop moving the mana inside my body and start walking through the hallway. As I thought, his mana sensitivity is terrible, and unlike Henry, he wasn't able to feel my mana movent inside my body at all.

So, can I take on soone at least 20, but probably much much more levels higher? In a week?

If I surprise him, then maybe? But the chance is low, and the risk is so high.

So, should I run away? I don't think I will be able to.

Ask for help? Who?

Try to get into his good graces? Seems impossible.

Haaa.

I lay down on the bed. The clothes they gave

are simple, and the fabric it's made of isn't soft or too comfortable. But it's clean and without any holes or blood on it.

The room is also fairly simple, but after sleeping outside and inside wet caves, it feels like such luxury.

I stop my second part of the mind from focusing on practicing [Armant] and make it try to reduce my mana signature as much as I can. I try to slow down the flow of mana inside my body. My new passive skill and trait help a lot with that and I retain as much mana inside my body as possible while trying to reduce the amount of mana produced by the Mana heart.

This night, I don't sleep and practice until the morning when they co knocking on the door of the small room I'm in.

I receive a wooden sword, and then the training starts.

My opponent is a level 40 mana warrior, and the training consists of

getting more and more bruises while Eric sits under a large parasol nearby, drinking sothing and snacking. His smile never leaves his lips.

Are you that bored? Go and do sothing useful.

Also, give

so of those sweets; they look amazing.

Thanks to my upgraded [Focus], I continue to watch the warrior's moves with one part of my mind. Even simple swordsmanship is sothing new to , as up until now, I've just continued to swing any weapon in any way that I saw fitting.

anwhile, my opponent moves differently. Sparring while holding a sword is different than just using martial arts. His balance is different, his stance changes at different tis, and his feet move in specific ways.

So, I watch him while I'm getting beaten. Still, I swing at him sotis and keep my body strengthened to reduce wounds.

There is only a 16-level difference, but his swordsmanship is much higher, and the sa goes for his stats, and he isn't even using his skill.

It's hard to compare to soone with years and years of experience after only one month of using mana.

Eric is probably even better.

The mana warrior stabs his wooden sword at , and I avoid it only because of reading his moves and him holding back. I boost my body with mana to twist it slightly to the side to reduce the impact and then stagger backward.

For a mont, I stop paying attention to my opponent and focus on Eric. I try to read his expression and body language.

Is he enjoying this? Totally.

I don't have much ti to think as my opponent attacks again. I keep my focus split between him and Eric, trying to learn as much as I can from this experience.

My other trainer is useless. It's probably on purpose, but he's terrible at handling mana, so I barely focus on him and continue planning and practicing.

This ti, Eric doesn't watch us.

Nona (Hell, group 4) -everything is fine here.

Sset (Hell, group 4) - We were hunting today; there are monsters as well. Right now, mostly boars, kobolds, and also so trolls and goblins, but stronger than on the 1st floor.

Grumpy (Hell, group 4) -They force

to kill monsters they've imprisoned and put my stats in mana and constitution. They are still very nice and want

to learn to heal as much as I can.

StrongestOne (Hell, group 4) -They are teaching us so basic orders. I think there's a war going on or sothing like this.

I try to get a few more pieces of information, but I get nothing useful.

Everyone is experiencing similar things, and if soone tries to say too much, it gets censored.

Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - Eric? Nah, we didn't even et anyone like that.

Lootenant (Hell, WhiteWing) - We think that one question mark is up to 100-200 level and two question marks are over 200. But we're not sure now. It seems like asking for a level is considered terribly rude here.

After a while, I get disconnected and close my eyes.

I don't sleep again and continue to practice.

The next day, it becos even worse. This ti, soone stronger spars with . I learn a lot, but I also get beaten a lot.

I get a soft, nearly rotten fruit that reminds

of an apple, and I'm forced to eat it while Eric watches.

I continue to observe him, and by now, I'm certain I can't defeat him in a fair fight. His mana sense is terrible, but his stats are high, which he demonstrated while sparring with Henry. He is incredibly fast, and his swordsmanship is sharp and beautiful.

He tells

to get on my knees and beg, saying that he will spare my life if I do so.

I do it. I don't believe him, but I kneel down and even touch the ground with my forehead.

Dignity? Isn't survival more important? It won't cost

anything to bow down to him. Sure, it annoys

a lot, but for , it's easy to do.

He laughs and even throws

so sweets he was eating.

I eat them as he orders

to. They aren't as sweet as those from the earth, and there's so dirt on them.

Then he says he changed his mind, and I will die at the end of the week.

I watch him leave while mana continues to flow. Once again, he wasn't able to feel

using mana inside my body.

I rember him stating that we are similar, and I can't help but chuckle a bit.

You're unaware of what makes , .

The next day, he doesn't join to watch my training, and the guards and servants seem to be confused.

I am still forced to exercise to the point I almost pass out from exhaustion.

The day after that, the servants seem even more unsure. They start searching inside the manor and in the surrounding area, and there's a flow of people coming in and out of the manor.

They don't train

anymore, so I spend most of the ti locked inside my tiny room, practicing.

They're not giving

any food, but I enjoy the peace in my room.

On the third day after his disappearance, a tall woman cos to the manor, and I'm called out of my room. When I join her, I try to check her level, but I don't see anything. There isn't even text above her head.

She appears to be 60 or more years old. Her hair is gray, and her face has wrinkles, yet she exudes an atmosphere of absolute confidence.

She's wearing a black suit that seems more suited for a male, and it only highlights her tall and slim figure.

"I've bought you," she says simply. "If you lie to , you will die," she says just as simply, and I believe every word she says.

"Did you kill Eric Hawthorne?"

"Yes."