Running was something Ethan rarely did in his old life, not because he was lazy but it wasn’t necessary, if you needed to go somewhere you always had a car, public transport or other means to reach your goal. Well in his new life it became something essential for him. Picking the mage was the right choice for him, he wasn’t as nimble as an archer or rogue should be and he couldn’t see himself brandish a sword and defend himself with a shield.

  Well now he wished he had a way to defend himself properly, jumping back he nearly slipped on his own ice while a sword tried to pierce his belly. More of those ghoul like creatures literally ran towards him, appearing from the fog, their red glowing eyes the first thing he could make out.

  Do you have any ideas on how we get rid of them? He asked Nora while bending backwards, to avoid a slash to his chest, surprising himself with his sudden flexibility. In the moments he wasn’t attacked he managed to attack with ice spikes or his staff, keeping them at bay. Ethan tried to create a pillar but the moment he was out of reach they hacked away at the ice until it broke.

  While jumping around his wound opened again, his side burned while blood stained his robe, feeling it run down his leg made him realize how serious the situation was. But there was nothing he could do, the undead resisted his magic to some degree and their weapons, while worn and rusty, could still kill him if he wasn’t careful.

  He could feel Nora through his connection with her and she seemed to have an idea but it took some time before she finally answered. I might have a plan but I honestly don’t know if it works. But if you manage to push them into the water I see no reason you couldn’t surround them with ice but for that you need to go on the offensive. Also they seem to manage quite well in water, you know with the whole swamp thing.

  Ethan listened while sidestepping and avoiding attacks, it worked for the most part but he still got cut twice, one hit landing on his thigh while the other clipped his shoulder. The pain was something else, the cut off steel felt different than anything he encountered before. The wounds burned like fire, he felt hot and cold, both switching every few seconds.

  With grim determination he nodded to himself and Nora, grabbing his staff in a white knuckled grip he jumped towards the ghouls. His first hit got blocked but he used the bounce of his staff to twist the end around and hit the monster’s knee, making it buckle. While stronger than the rest those were still undead. He pulled his staff back and casually kicked the thing into the water. Using his dwindling mana he froze its limbs using the surrounding water.

  Another step forward and he raised his staff horizontally, blocking an overhead swing, the staff held and he sent a silent thank you to his patron. While he blocked he summoned a wedge on the ice path, making the ghoul slip to the side when he took the next step. He froze this one too and Nora jumped from his arm and slithered back to the first ghoul, crawling through its eye to kill it. Ethan would have gagged if he had the time for that.

  With two of the creatures down he felt a bit safer, still he needed to be careful. Three of them attacked at once, two of them jumping from the water left and right while the third barreled over the ice path, holding a two handed axe that he swung left and right like some berserker. Again Ethan jumped back, the tactic growing stale in his opinion but it worked and with some making to make the path slippery he watched the berserker slip and to his surprise, fall forward and land on his axe, splitting his skull. “I wish I could see that again in slow motion.” he mumbled before using his staff to block the ghoul on the right, kicking the one on the right with his foot.

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  While pulling back the second one thrust a dagger into his, Ethan screamed and pulling his staff close he hit him with an overhead swing, making its unprotected skull burst like a melon. The quickly turned back to the other ghoul, the one he blocked with his staff and thrust his staff into its chest, making it tumble into the water where he froze it with his last mana. Nora was busy literally ripping their brains apart while he gasped and pulled in a large amount of air, sweat and blood covered his body.

  Ethan looked around, his focus already wavering but he still turned to the frozen ghouls and slammed his staff on a skull until it broke. In the time it took him Nora killed the last one and made her way back over to his side. His mana regenerated a few points and he closed the wounds on his body with ice before turning back, the path was still intact so he limped back the way he came, using his staff the first time for its purpose, he leaned his weight on the staff and groaned with every step.

  He didn’t dare to open his status, worried what his HP would say so he walked for a while until he found the large island he spotted before, it was empty and just a mess of mud and grass too stubborn to die off. Still it was better than sitting on a path of ice that could collapse under him. The meager amount of mana he had hardened the ground for him so he didn’t sink into the ground.

  Dropping on his ass he took a deep breath and looked down at his battered body, the dagger still lodged in his calf. He didn’t dare to pull it out and risk the blood loss, he froze it in place properly and hoped his health would tick up enough so he could remove it, the feeling of it rubbing on his bones was giving him goosebumps.

  Nora seemed agitated as she finally said something after he insisted she talk. Why didn’t you use your aura? It drains basically no mana and it would have slowed everything down that entered it. Yeah, what hadn’t he was his thought until he groaned and closed his eyes.

  Ethan realized how full he was off himself, something he criticises others for happening to him. He thought he was unbeatable after the goblin camp and his fight against those zombie beavers, the fact that he had magical powers made him think he was unbeatable. He should know better, with all the running away and fights he had so far, nothing was easy and he overlooked a crucial ability. Something he even got extra experience for because he unlocked his aura early, he just forgot a crucial ability. “I’m such a dumbass” he hit the ground next to him with his fist. Groaning when his fist hit something hard under the thin layer of mud.

  He used his hand to move some of the mud away and he saw something he could only describe as a magic circle, it looked intricate and the fine lines of the symbols seemed almost untouched by the elements. He found a small green gem in the middle and rubbed some mud off it. The gem started to glow and a notification appeared in his vision.

  Catacombs Dungeon located….transfer will commence shortly…please wait.

  “No, no, no!” His face pale, a dungeon with his wounds? He already envisioned his death at the hands of undead monsters swarming him. With a groan he sat up, a silent scream twisted his features when he put pressure on his wounded leg, the dagger moving again. He managed to push himself on one knee when the green glow filled the circle and a moment later he was gone.

  The magic circle powered down and the swamp was silent and empty once again.