Chapter 19: Convergence of Wills
Steady fingers. A cold mind.
The creature lunged from the side of the crystalline formation without warning. Yukeli had already expected it. His arm raised the crossbow before his mind even finished processing the movement. But he didn't fire. Not yet.
Instead, he activated his other skill: [Subtle Domain Manipulation].
He didn't attempt anything grand; nothing that demanded too much essence. Just enough. Just enough to survive. His will touched the environment. Loose grains of crystal and dust trembled on the ground. As the creature took its next step... the soil gave way slightly beneath its paw. Not enough to trap it completely, but enough to delay it. For less than a second.
But in a battle like that—less than a second was everything. Yukeli fired.
[ Primordial Essence: 47 → 45 ]
The bolt streaked through the air and embedded itself into the upper part of its foreleg. The creature reacted instantly. Crystal began to grow around the wound, faster and more efficient than before. Sealing. Blocking. Adapting.
Yukeli retreated immediately, his mind already executing the next move. He pulled at the subtle domain again, this time kicking up a fine cloud of crystalline dust into the air. Nearly invisible, but enough to obscure. The creature's eyes hesitated for just an instant. He fired again.
[ Primordial Essence: 45 → 43 ]
The bolt struck its flank. But again—crystal grew. It sealed. It blocked. The Mark of Hunger tried to connect, tried to drain, but the flow was interrupted almost immediately. Too fast. Far too fast. The creature was learning—and so was Yukeli.
His movements were more fluid now. More precise. He didn't waste energy. He didn't panic. He manipulated the environment—small diversions, slight interferences, tiny advantages. Nothing decisive, but enough to stay alive.
The creature advanced, and this time... it answered. Crystals grew beneath its paws even before Yukeli could try to bind it. Anchoring it. Stabilizing it. Preventing interference. It had learned to resist. It had learned from him. Both were evolving. Both were getting better. But they were also getting weaker.
Yukeli's essence was dropping. His body ached. His breath burned. And the creature... its regeneration had slowed. Its crystal grew more sluggishly. Its movements were less precise, but still lethal.
They stopped, separated by several meters. Both breathing heavily. Both observing. Both understanding. A stalemate. Neither of them could win like this. Not with weak attacks. Not with hesitation. If they continued... they would both die.
So, without words, the decision was made.
Yukeli moved his left hand. The space beside him distorted, and his sword appeared in his grip. Cold. Familiar. Real.
The creature reacted immediately. The crystals in its horns began to glow intensely—more than before, more than at any moment in the fight. Yukeli raised the crossbow again. But this time, he didn't limit the flow; he forced essence into it.
More. More than before. More than was safe.
The weapon trembled. It responded. It accepted.
[ Primordial Essence: 43 → 35 ]
The bolt that formed was different. Denser. Brighter. Heavier. Dangerous.
The creature did the same. Crystalline fragments began to break away from its horns. Hovering. Trembling. Controlled. Its foreclaws dug into the ground, and then—! It lunged.
The fragments sliced through the air like living projectiles, and at the same moment, Yukeli fired. His bolt crossed the space in a perfect line of destruction. Both had stopped running. Both had stopped testing.
Now... they were trying to kill each other with everything they had.