The sensation of free-falling was one that was difficult to overcome.
Even after living close to a hundred lives, Lucian felt his heart beating fast when he saw the ground approaching.
The collision was going to hurt, no matter what. It might even kill him at the rate he was going, and if he did manage to survive, his body would be in rough shape.
However, none of that was what crossed Lucian's mind.
The primary thought he had was only one:
'Tsk, if I die now, then the system will increase my debt. I need to find a way to survive this fall, no matter what.'
Thankfully, Lucian was not fully reliant on his system. He had his own fair share of techniques he had acquired over the years.
But most importantly, this world had mana, one resource Lucian had mastered a long time ago. He had gotten so good at it that he no longer needed his system to guide him on how to use it.
Using the currents to shape the mana around him, Lucian was able to slow down his descent.
He would have completely stopped it if not for his young body and its incapacity to harness mana in large quantities.
That was how Lucian crashed into the desert, his feet hitting the ground first before his body tumbled over.
But the worst of the impact had been absorbed by his mana and legs, leaving him relatively unharmed.
"Looks like I managed to harness the mana in time and have a proper landing. But… where am I now? It's cold out here."
The ground was covered in a light layer of frost, but not snow. The air around Lucian was cold as well, making his bare arms shiver.
Clearly, wherever he had ended up was not a habitable space for humans long term, and only desperate people would ever think of living in such a place.
Especially since there was no chance of anything growing in these parts.
At least, not for normal people.
"System, have you finished rebooting yet?"
Lucian called, but there was no answer from the system. This was a little concerning because this was too long a gap.
A single look up showed the sky covered in clouds, making it impossible to tell what lay beyond that barrier.
With no other choice left to him, Lucian decided that it was better for him to look around for now. There was no point in wasting his time waiting around in a frozen land.
Click Crash
He had not managed to walk far when he heard that noise, and for a second, hope emerged in his heart.
That sounded like the system was back.
However, that hope was crushed within seconds, replaced by dread as a huge shadow covered his form, blocking the remaining light through the clouds.
Lucian got a few seconds to react before the huge claw bared itself his way and came crashing down on top of him.
And along with the claw came the warning message of his instincts.
'Shit! I need to form a barrier.'
Mana gathered around Lucian's barrier, and the claw collided with it.
The barrier instantly shattered, throwing Lucian towards the ground, but due to his early actions, his fall was not as extreme as it could have been.
It did nothing to slow down the attacking beast.
'I need to get back on my feet and dodge.'
Lucian's body felt lethargic, partly due to exhaustion but mostly because he had used mana in a body not used to it.
Still, to survive, he had to move. So he forced his body to move.
A blade of mana formed in his hand, shaping into the form of a blade before dispersing.
'I don't have enough control to maintain the blade. Where is that damned system when you need it?'
Lucian's complaints fell on deaf ears as he kept dodging the attacks of the claws.
The snow that got pushed up by those claws made it difficult for the beast to see him, and Lucian took advantage of it.
Due to his small size, he was harder to spot. And he dove headfirst into the pile of snow he saw nearby.
'All I need is one chance to attack. For that, I need to take this gambit. Now, let's see where the monster attacks.'
Lucian focused his magic, not into a shield but into a dagger.
Even if the monster were to hit him, he would ensure a chance to attack back.
'Come closer. Come into the striking range.'
The sound of the claw hitting the ground was loud. Lucian held himself still in the biting cold around him.
Finally, the monster came closer and sniffed at the snow. It was close.
'Now is the chance.'
Lucian concentrated all his mana into his blade, forcing it to hold shape. Even when it collided with hard skin, Lucian kept pushing forward.
His only goal was to make the blade pierce the monster's skin deep enough to touch its core.
The monster let out a loud roar and thrashed its head around to get rid of the pain. But Lucian held on to the bitter end.
'Almost there. Just a little more force and I will reach the core.'
Lucian could not see the core, but he could sense it—the concentrated mana that kept this monster alive and moving.
He looked at the monster's eyes, but he saw no light that indicated that this monster was alive. All he saw was mana swirling in those eyes.
'Is this beast… not alive?'
Lucian's question was answered the next second when he felt his blade hit something. And the next second, the body of the monster fell down.
Pulling the blade out was a little tougher than Lucian expected. His arms had no strength left, and the thought of dismissing the blade back into mana was a pleasant one.
But in the end, Lucian's persistence won over his body's weakness, and he managed to pull out the blade and the core….
Only, what clung to his blade was not a core, but a plant-like species.
"What is this? Some kind of fungus? It has a weird mana around it."
The fungus tried to move around one last time, blasting a release of mana towards Lucian.
But it was too weak to reach Lucian.
In the end, that fungus died chasing after Lucian.