{Absolute Block Barrier blocks 212 points of Physical Damage from a [Life Level: 51] Common Core Slime.
Judgment: Barrier strength is lower than the damage dealt, Absolute Block Barrier shatters.}
{You gained 21 Points of Experience.}
“So weak.” Ingram blurted out as the Common Core Slime liquefied, revealing its dark yellow core that flashed white when Ingram saw it. As it covered a section of the barrier’s interior as a series of new system prompts began to appear,
{Absolute Block Barrier blocks 1,000 points of Physical Damage from a [Life Level: 51] Common Core Slime.
Judgment: Barrier strength is lower than the damage dealt, Absolute Block Barrier shatters.}
{You gained 100 Points of Experience.}
The system prompt continued to appear every second, as Ingram studied the fantasy creature up close. ‘While I can’t tell what color it is in this lighting, I can see it’s slightly translucent,’ Ingram’s eyes focused on the dark yellow crystal that was roughly a few inches in size, ‘This must be its core. I don’t have the ability to break it, so I guess we’re in a stalemate. A test subject has been captured…’ Ingram cleared his throat as he corrected himself, ‘I mean a willing participant for my experiments has arrived… Who am I justifying myself to? I’m going to give this poor slime trauma. Thought I doubt, they have the capacity for higher thought and are lacking the ability to retain memories long term.’ Ingram glanced down at the liquefied slime, who was still trying in vain to eat its way out of the Absolute Block Barrier. ‘Yeah, I doubt anything I’ll do will affect it long term. Maybe if it were a higher tier I might worry about its revenge somewhere down the line. I could be a slime hero’s origin story.’ Ingram laughed at his own thought before sighing.
‘How am I going to transfer you to the Physical Reversal Barrier without you eating your way out.’ Ingram felt a headache coming on, but the clueless slime kept trying to devour the barrier like it was an irresistible flavor of Ice Cream. At some point, more Core Slimes had appeared and willingly entered the barrier, for some reason. When Ingram glanced back at the many notifications, he saw the damage had changed from the initial one thousand,
{Absolute Block Barrier blocks 4,000 points of Physical Damage from four [Life Level: 51] Common Core Slime.
Judgment: Barrier strength is lower than the damage dealt, Absolute Block Barrier shatters.}
{You gained 400 Points of Experience.}
‘What happened? Why did it increase so much?’ Ingram leaned closer to the barrier and saw three more dark yellow cores had appeared within the barrier. ‘Did you multiply? No, that doesn’t make sense. How long ago was it since it changed?’ Ingram opened his system and saw over three hundred system prompts, that were growing by the second. ‘From a rough estimate, I think five minutes had passed before it jumped to four thousand. Where did the other three come from and why did they enter the barrier?’ Ingram closely observed the barrier for three minutes and saw a fifth core slime had rolled its way out of a nearby bush before entering the barrier and liquefying like the others. A second later the damage blocked jumped to five thousand.
“The oddest thing is, why isn’t the system registering them separately? Is it because they are attacking at the same time, like a combination skill? If I’m right, I need to be careful going forward. If multiple people can attack my barrier at the same time and breach it’s upper limit, I’ll be exposed to the rest of their attack.’ Ingram glanced at his meager four hundred points of HP and swallowed. ‘I’d die for sure. I should stack a few more barriers going forward. I think three should be fine for my current mana regeneration, but that won’t leave much room for me to protect others. Gains and losses I suppose, I’m not a saint, I won’t compromise my safety to help others. I refuse to be like those hot-blooded protagonists in novels that sacrifice themselves for their friends.’
Ingram had a bitter expression as the words of his mother and father echoed in his ears like chains binding him, “Always be kind to others.” and “Always help other because you never know when you’ll need their help.” He furiously shook his head before returning his attention to the five slimes trapped in the barrier. At some point, the five cores had clumped together in one position. Ingram watched with a hint of curiosity filling his heart, as he ignored the suffocating feeling of guilt in his chest.
Soon the five dark yellow crystals melted slightly, going from a crystal to something akin to taffy and firmly pressed into each other before slowly merging. ‘Is this a form of monster evolution? It’s clearly not a natural evolution, that would take too long. Instead, is it a conditional evolution? If so, why? I’m not harming them in anyway.’ Ingram watched as closely as he could and with the limited light, he saw instead of a peaceful merge like he originally thought. The dark yellow cores were violently consuming one another; it was like they were competing with one another to devour each other. ‘Is it the barrier’s fault? A sealed environment with other slimes… Is this frenzy more of a desperate survival instinct?’ Ingram felt he was close to the truth and felt complicated.
‘To devour the others to grow stronger and monopolize the limited resources of the environment.’ Ingram started to feel kind of guilty but was more in shock a simple barrier forced the slimes to this point, ‘If my hypothesis is right, then I guess this is my fault.’ It was Ingram’s fault, but its due to ignorance regarding what Core Slimes need to survive. Unlike other creatures, slimes can survive on seemingly nothing for very long periods of time. For slimes of all variants devouring other creatures or objects are more of a luxury; not required for survival in the slightest. Rather what the need to survive is, mana of any kind. This simple reason is why there are so many slime variants, the mana they devour shapes their very essence, Core Slimes are only the first form of many.
Fire Slimes, Ice Slimes, are of the basic elemental series and are easy to encounter in certain areas. Rarer types of slimes are much harder to find due to that mana’s scarcity in nature. Like the mythical Space Slime, it can devour entire mountains to store them for later or to slowly devour over the course of a few years. Getting back on track, this simple reason is why the slimes felt pressured, the Absolute Block Barrier, blocked their innate connection to the ambient mana. This is the equivalent of redirecting a river, the fish downstream are fine for a while, but eventually the water runs out. This is an extreme example, but Core Slimes are constantly absorbing ambient mana, so suddenly being cut off made them panic, but the original mana trapped in the barrier with them allowed for them to bear with it. This is also the reason the slime immediately tried to devour the barrier from the inside out, despite the risks of exposing its core.
The originally stable slime only began to panic when the Absolute Block Barrier’s unnatural mana attracted more slimes that entered and couldn’t leave. Naturally, with more mouths to feed the originally satisfactory amount of ambient mana was no longer satisfactory and it quickly ran out. So, they turned to the only other source of mana in the barrier, each other. If Ingram sealed them in a Physical Block Barrier, they wouldn’t have panicked in the slightest, they wouldn’t even attack after the first impact, usually. Of course, Ingram didn’t know this, so he watched them struggle to survive out of curiosity.
‘I wonder what’s going to happen.’ Ingram watched with bated breath, the constantly ringing system prompts were treated as background music as he watched the five slowly become one. Ingram assumed that they would eventually become one, but after almost ten minutes of fighting, there still wasn’t a winner, but a new challenger wanted to enter the fray. A sixth Core Slime rolled out of the bushes and jumped into the barrier. Ingram’s expression shifted, so he quickly dispelled the Absolute Block Barrier encasing the six slimes before the sixth slime had a chance to liquefy and break the barrier completely.
The five slime cores quickly repelled from one another before they quickly rolled away from Ingram’s location. Much to his and the sixth Core slime’s confusion. The man and slime looked at each other before the slime jumped at him. Ingram encased it in the same Absolute Block Barrier as he checked his total exp gain from that experience including the ones he already saw. Ingram was always thankful that exp gained stacked until he dismissed a system prompt and the exp gained was removed from the total on the bottom. Unlike before, Ingram didn’t dismiss any system prompts, mostly because they were created too fast and he didn’t want to get overwhelmed.
{You gained 402,021 Points of Experience.}
Ingram smacked his teeth as he looked at that huge number, ‘Sometimes I think I earn Exp to easily, but then I remember I lost all attack power, my HP is abysmal, I lack stamina, and I’m super slow. There might be other demerits I don’t know about and that thought scares me.’ Ingram sighed as he closed all old system prompts with a thought as a new set of system prompts started. ‘I guess I’m grinding exp now. It’s been what twenty something minutes since the others left. To perfectly advance, I should check that quest to be sure.’ Ingram opened the mission menu before opening the Personal Life Advancement Quest details,
{Personal Life Advancement Quest
Chose one task to accomplish to Reach [Life Level: 11] and Unlock a Sub-Class Slot.
If you wish you can choose more than one.
For every additional quest completed, you gain a better reward.
1. Block 100 Physical Damage (100/100)
2. Block 100 Magical Damage (0/100)
3. Block 100 Spiritual Damage (0/100)
4. Use a Physical Status Resist Barrier to Resist 10 Physical Status Afflictions (2/10)
5. Use a Physical Concealing Barrier for 10 Minutes (10m/10m)
6. Use the Physical Repelling Barrier to Repel 10 Entities (10/10)
7. Use the Physical Isolation Barrier for 10 Minutes (2m/10m)
8. Use the Physical Reversal Barrier to reverse 10 Entities (5/10)}
“I’m closer than I thought. I’m going to struggle with Blocking Magical and Spiritual damage, where do I even begin to find enemies that deal that type of damage. Do I need to go looking for ghosts?’ Ingram shivered, but stopped when he saw his Absolute Block Barrier. He continued reading, ‘So, the Physical Status Resist Barrier resisted my Hunger and Thirst, that’s nice. I can easily complete that part. The part for Physical Isolation is easy to accomplish, all I have to do is just make one and leave it alone. I didn’t think reversing grass counted, and from the looks of it, so did the surrounding dried blood, to an extent. I could just reverse the surrounding grass to get it over with… why not. I’ll let them become the second group of grass to fly.”
Ingram placed the Physical Reversal Barrier on a patch of ground close to the barrier the sixth core slime was trapped in. Ingram looked at the liquefied Core Slime and had an idea, so he quickly removed the Absolute Block Barrier and placed the Physical Reversal Barrier in its place, with a solid section underneath the ground. When the barrier was removed, the liquefied core slime became a puddle that dissolved some of the ground before returning to its original shape. It seemed to look around before seeming to fall into a stunned state as the sky became the earth and the earth became the sky.
Ingram observed the slime’s reactions to see if there were any side effects on living beings, but it just sat there. Suddenly, it condensed itself into a slightly smaller form before it stopped moving, as if it was pretending to be a shiny rock. Ingram smiled at its actions before reversing the reversal. Just as the slime seemed to move, Ingram quickly tested the third type of reversal, Inside-Out Reversal. The slime resisted the reversal for a second, before it rapidly reversed. The dark yellow core of the Core Slime was exposed on the outside, as it’s rubbery exterior was now its insides.
Naturally, the grass was instantly reversed, revealing its internal veins. The soil was also reversed revealing the lighter color of the soil hidden beneath the drier surface soil. Ingram observed the Core slime to see if it had any reaction, it quivered a few times as it attempted to shift its core back inside, before falling still after failing. It was like it was scared stiff from having its entire being forcibly reversed. Ingram was slightly shocked to see the Common Core Slime resist his Physical Reversal Barrier, ‘I guess normal grass doesn’t have any magic resistance, thought it only resisted for a second. I don’t know how much magic resistance a Common Core Slime has so, I can’t come to a comprehensive conclusion.’ Ingram judged before suddenly canceling the barrier, just out of curiosity.
After the barrier was canceled, the mysterious force that forced the Core Slime to reversed vanished and the Core slime quickly retracted its core before reversing its body back into its original form. It seemed to shoot Ingram a glance before quickly rolling away, even faster than the five before it. Ingram smiled bitterly as he watched this scene play out again. Just as he planned to experience the Direction Reversal, he suddenly got a new system prompt that made his bitter smile cramp,
{Due to your actions you have earned the title: A Slime’s Natural Enemy: When equipped, all gelatinous lifeforms will feel a certain level of innate fear towards you.}
‘What do you mean, “A Slime’s Natural Enemy”, I haven’t done anything that warrants becoming a natural enemy. I can’t even hurt them, if anything I should be… uh, I don’t know, but natural enemy is just too much.’ Ingram complained but dared not say it out loud out of fear that his already limited Merit would be deducted to answer his rhetorical question, though that didn’t stop the system from answering his mental questions before. Ingram sighed as he rubbed his nose out of embarrassment, “I guess I need a new test subject. I have a few more things to do to advance.” Ingram suddenly sighed, “But where am I going to find something that deals Magical and Spiritual Damage?” Ingram shook his head with an air of defeat and began exploring the surrounding area in search of more mutated beasts.
After running all the way out of the forest, Tony, Isaac, Adams, and Liz stared at the dark forest as the blazing sun began to reveal its solar might. “I looks like those variant beasts won’t easily leave the forest. That’s good, but it’s unknown how many beasts have been mutated into variants.” Liz had a tight expression as she observed the dark forests edge, seeming to see the shadows shift. “Thankfully once a beast becomes a variant, their fertility drops drastically, so there shouldn’t be too many hidden within the forest. The only problem is, we don’t know how many types of beasts exist within the forest. If we go off of the types of beasts located in the surrounding forests, then there should be about ten or so. This is counting avian lifeforms as well, while also ignoring any monsters that may have been born there.” Liz guessed with an unsure tone as she tore her eyes away from the star-lit forest.
Adams had an unnatural expression on his face, but the others thought he was scared and ignored it. Adams clenched his teeth as he glared at the forest, “This isn’t right. Is this because of me? Did the ripple appear already? No, I have to work harder. I have to be the top ranker. This is the fault of that barrier mage, he’s interfering with…” Adams suddenly smiled as something came to mind. “So that’s what it was. Perhaps this happened last time too, but that barrier mage dies here. That has to be it, otherwise the Leader of the Blazing Blades won’t arrive and burn this forest to cinders, inadvertently bating that monster out before killing it with the help of the other members of the Blazing Blades.” Adams muttered spoilers to himself with a menacing grin. Liz shivered and looked around before shaking her head with a frown as she went back to thinking about all the possible dangers she needs to prepare for in the star-lit forest. “Maybe the Tower Master’s idea was right…” She muttered as she observed the mutated forest.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Ingram was feeling unlucky, he had been walking for a while but still hadn’t come across anything. All he saw were trees he named, “Star Trees”, for obvious reasons, and seemingly normal grass, but he wasn’t sure and didn’t want to take any chances. ‘Is this considered unlucky? I mean it’s a good thing not to run into danger. But, why am I feeling so down.’ Ingram sighed before looking around before freezing. In the distance, he saw a white glowing rabbit. It stuck out like a sore thumb in the nearly pitch black forest. ‘Hello, little rabbit. Another test subject has been spotted.’ Ingram smiled as he slowly walked closer, suddenly the still rabbit perked its head up and scanned the area. Ingram instinctually hid behind a tree, before remembering he was beneath his Physical Concealing Barrier.
With an awkward expression he walked out from behind the tree and slowly got closer to the glowing rabbit. Just as he got within a ten steps, the rabbit seemed to sense him and released a bright light. Under the Absolute Block Barrier, Ingram could ignore the effects of the light, but the light itself obscured his vision. The light only faded away after three seconds, revealing a slightly dimmer rabbit. Ingram hastily used an Spherical Absolute Block Barrier to trap it, just in case it had any other skills. Once the barrier enclosed around it, the rabbit panicked and opened its mouth. Ingram felt a wave of excitement wash over him as he watched the glowing rabbit shoot a beam of light out of its mouth at the edge of the barrier. The main reason for his excitement, Magic Damage and it looked kind of cool, like a beam from some space sci-fi movie. The system prompt made Ingram’s smile widen,
{Absolute Block Barrier blocks 1,315 points of Magical Damage from a [Life Level: 51] Common Luminous Rabbit.
Judgment: Barrier strength is higher than the damage dealt, Absolute Block Barrier remains intact.}
{You gained 131 Points of Experience.}
‘Just like that and one portion of my Life Advancement quest is complete. All that’s left is Spiritual Damage, resisting physical status effects, and using the Physical Isolation barrier for eight minutes. I’ve had the two usual physical status afflictions, Hunger and Dehydration, for a while now, I should make a Physical Status Effect Resist Barrier. The only thing that’s stumping me is, Spiritual Damage. I can’t see ghosts, and I doubt this dark forest has any… actually it might.’ Ingram shook his head, his smile turning bitter. ‘I just psyched myself out, I hope I didn’t jinx myself… actually I hope I did, I need to block some Spiritual Damage. Come at me ghosts!’ Ingram mentally roared, but he wasn’t dumb enough to say it aloud, just in case a ghost was nearby.
Ingram closed his eyes before opening them a few seconds later and waited for a little over eight seconds for the system prompt and the 1.99 Meter Spherical Physical Status Resist Barrier Magic Circle that cost 508 MP,
{Judgment: Magic Circle is 99.83% accurate. Barrier strength is decreased by 0.17%.
Perfect Barrier Durability: 5,834.64 HP | Penalty applied, New Barrier
Durability: 5,824.72 HP
9 Proficiency Points gained.}
Ingram encased himself in the Barrier, underneath his Absolute Block Barrier. The feeling of weakness faded and Ingram breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Now I don’t feel like I could eat a horse. Instead, I feel normal. Time to deactivate it then reactivate it four times. The things I do for myself.’ Ingram sighed as he deactivated his barrier and waited for a few seconds before reactivating it. After the feeling of hunger and thirst faded, he repeated the cycle three more times before keeping it on permanently. Ingram mentally opened his mission menu and saw that it was complete. ‘Thankfully that worked. Otherwise, I’d give up on completing my Life Advancement quest completely, it would just take too long. Although, I still might. I don’t need the bonus Exp anyway, I have more than enough to make up for it… If I can’t find something that deals Spiritual Damage within, I don’t know a few hours, I’ll just advance without completing it.’ Ingram decided and began to study the Common Luminous Rabbit that had stopped attacking after the beam and just laid on the ground with its ears perked up.
Ingram walked around the barrier to get a good look at its eyes, but he only saw white light. ‘Are your eyes also glowing? Or is the glow some sort of defense mechanism? I don’t know. I have to get moving, I’ll study you later, well if I find another one. I don’t want to earn another title, I’m sure all the female players would call me cruel if I had a title like Rabbits natural enemy.’ Ingram sighed as he joked and removed the barrier, setting the poor rabbit free. With a flash of light, the Common Luminous Rabbit disappeared, leaving only a trail of light that burned into Ingram’s vision. ‘Oh, that really stung. I should close my eyes next time.’ Ingram rapidly blinked his reddening eyes as a white line appeared in his vision each time he blinked.
After regaining the rest of his sight, Ingram continued to explore the dark forest, in search of source of Spiritual Damage. As he walked he hummed a random tune, not at all looking like a man in a danger filled forest, instead it was like he was going for a peaceful walk at night, despite it being almost eight in the morning. Oddly, the deeper Ingram went into the forest, the more activity he heard, but couldn’t see due to the tree’s foliage getting too dense to allow for starlight to seep through. ‘This is getting dangerous, I can’t see at all now. Just a bit further, then I’ll retreat.’ Ingram stubbornly continued forward until he missed a step and fell. Ingram stifled a scream as he fell into a large lake that seemed to be quite deep because he was still sinking.
As he sank Ingram realized a very important fact, ‘I can’t swim with a barrier around me, this is going to be a problem… or maybe not. If I use a repel barrier to push me upward, I should be able to launch myself on to the shore.’ After making a plan, Ingram sank in peace, but his eyes scanned the water for any signs of life, only to see a small golden fish resting under where he was sinking. ‘Why do so many things glow in such a dark forest? For deep sea, I kind of understand, but a dark forest, that’s painting a target on your back… maybe that’s the point. Hmm, I don’t know if I should use scientific knowledge to judge magical creatures, let alone ones that can shoot magic beams. But man, I’m still sinking. If this fish is on the bottom, then I should be close to the lake bed.’ Ingram mused as he watched the golden fish slowly get closer and closer until he fell onto it. When he did, the golden fish wildly lashed out a few times before rapidly swimming away. The system prompts made Ingram’s expression light up with joy,
{4x Physical Concealing Barrier blocks 26.5 points of Physical Damage from a [Life Level: 51] Common Solar Perch.
Judgment: Barrier durability drops by 106. Physical Concealing Barrier has 5,718.72 HP remaining. Physical Concealing Barrier remains intact.}
{You gained 10 Points of Experience.}
{4x Physical Concealing Barrier blocks 26.5 points of Spiritual Damage from a [Life Level: 51] Common Solar Perch.
Judgment: Barrier durability drops by 106. Physical Concealing Barrier has 5,612.72 HP remaining. Physical Concealing Barrier remains intact.}
{You gained 11 Points of Experience.}
‘I finally got Spiritual Damage. This took so long.’ Ingram celebrated before he stopped himself as he analyzed the two almost identical system prompts, ‘I only heard four impacts, why did eight register? Does this fish have the ability to hit twice? No, that wouldn’t correlate with the number of impacts. Rather, does each hit deal both Physical and Spiritual Damage? If so, I have to be careful going forward, though I guess that’s not unheard of. I mean that’s what some magic weapons do in other games, Magical Damage and Physical Damage. Either way, what’s done is done. It’s time to escape this lake. Oh and before I forget, I should get rid two plate Absolute Block barriers and one spherical Absolute Block Barrier, just to preserve some MP going forward. I don’t need to protect anyone right now.’ Ingram shattered the three magic circles before quickly entering his Magic Circle space and activating a Two-Meter Plate Physical Repelling Barrier with 408 MP. After roughly eight seconds the system prompt appeared,
{Judgment: Magic Circle is 85% accurate. Barrier strength is decreased by 15%.
Perfect Barrier Durability: 5,834.64 HP | Penalty applied, New Barrier
Durability: 4,959.44 HP
8 Proficiency Points gained.}
Ingram summoned the Physical Repelling Barrier below him and rapidly shot through the wave before surfacing within a matter of seconds. Due to the water pressure, his momentum was only enough to reach the surface, so he removed it and placed it below him at an angle a little distance away to ensure he didn’t go flying. The repelling force launching him onto the dark shore and then some. After coming to a complete stop, he stood up with shaky legs. ‘It’s still as scary as before.’ Ingram shook his head before choosing a direction away from the lake and walking away. While he knew he was lost, he didn’t really care too much, mainly because once he gets out of the anomalous forest’s radius he’ll be able to use the sunlight to find his way back to Yonder by circling around the edge of the star-lit forest.
Little did he know, Ingram was heading deeper into the forest, towards the center of the anomaly. Just as he started walking away, Ingram stopped and decided to make a Two-Meter Spherical Physical Isolation Barrier with 1,358 MP in order to complete his Life Advancement Quest as soon as possible. In just a bit over eight seconds, the magic circled appeared with its companion, the system prompt,
{Judgment: Magic Circle is 99.83% accurate. Barrier strength is decreased by 0.17%.
Perfect Barrier Durability: 5,834.64 HP | Penalty applied, New Barrier
Durability: 5,824.72 HP
9 Proficiency Points gained.}
Ingram carelessly activated it around a tree before walking off, not noticing that instead of the usual green energy, it was a strange mixture of black, white, green, and a shifting color of black and white. ‘I have to keep it active for eight minutes, then I can finally level up again. As for my Personal Class Advancement Quest, all I have left to do is to have one skill reach Skilled, that reminds me I still have to complete my Mixed Mana Control Advancement Quest.’ Ingram remembered that his Mixed Mana Control still had an Advancement Quest he had yet to complete. With a thought, the Mission panel opened,
{Mission Tab:
Current Missions:
1. Life Advancement Quest {More Details}
2. Class Advancement Quest {More Details}
Available Missions:
1. [EX] Locate the rest of
2. Mixed Mana Control Advancement Quest {More Details}
3. Specialized Meditation Advancement Quest {More Details}
All F and E Rank Adventurer’s Guild Missions [To accept, please check the Adventurer’s Guild’s F or E Rank Board]}
After activating Mixed Mana Control Advancement Quest, Ingram realized it was already complete. ‘All I had to do was use 3,000 MP within ten days? That was finished ages ago, I don’t even know how much mana I use by the hour, while I could figure it out, I refuse to. Anyway, now my Mixed Mana Control skill is now at the Proficiency Rank, Skilled and my accumulated Proficiency points allowed it to reach Proficiency Level Nine, giving me a 29.71% increase to my Magic Stats. You love to see the numbers rise, it give a nice boost to my nonexistent ego. I mean, I doubt I could block that slash that took down an evil spirit and the mountain behind it. I’m useless unless I can block everything.’ Ingram sighed before he perked up, ‘I can complete my Class Advancement Quest now.’
{Class Advancement has been completed with all additional quests being successfully completed.
Reward: [Class Level: 21] Unlocked.
Bonus Rewards: 6,000 Experience and Specialized Title: [Rank Two Acolyte], All Magic Stats increase by 2 Points when equipped.}
‘I’m sensing a pattern here. Is each Acolyte Rank going to give one more stat point than the one before? If so, isn’t it only going to reach three? That’s usually the pattern in novels, Three Ranks for Acolytes after that it changes to Mage forever. I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong, I’m using novel logic in a game.’ Ingram chuckled as he shook his head. Just as he relaxed, he saw a flash of purple light followed by an extremely loud explosion. The sound didn’t hurt Ingram’s eardrums due to the three stacked barriers, but it did give him quite a shock. “What was that?” Ingram muttered as he quickened his pace. Once he arrived at the spot, all he could see was, well nothing, he was still within a pitch black forest.
Instead, something found him. A large light grey crane swooped down and grasped at Ingram with it’s claws. Ingram quickly encased it in the spherical Absolute Block Barrier, the barrier and the bird fell from the sky along with a new system prompt,
{Absolute Block Barrier blocks 706 points of Physical Damage from a [Life Level: 70] Common Lightning Crane.
Judgment: Barrier strength is higher than the damage dealt, Absolute Block Barrier remains intact.}
{You gained 71 Points of Experience.}
‘That was close. Why is it called a Lightning Crane?’ Ingram got his answer almost immediately when the crane’s light grey feathers turned purple as small arcs of lightning bouncing between its feathers, illuminating the surrounding area. The Lightning Crane’s body seemed to blur as it jumped its forward with its beak slamming into the Absolute Block Barrier before falling still in an instant.
{Absolute Block Barrier blocks 1,412 points of Physical and Magical Damage from a [Life Level: 70] Common Lightning Crane.
Judgment: Barrier strength is higher than the damage dealt, Absolute Block Barrier remains intact.}
{You gained 141 Points of Experience.}
After it was stopped, the Common Lightning Crane was confused as it gently tapped the barrier before tilting its head. Ingram didn’t reveal himself as he watched the Lightning Crane slide its beak around the barrier as if it were looking for a seam to breakthrough it. The Lightning Crane had spun around the barrier multiple times at different levels before falling still and blankly staring out at the dark forest floor. Ingram felt kind of bad, but just as he was about to remove the Absolute Block Barrier a long vine-like appendage slithered out from the forest in front of the barrier. The vine-like appendage quickly coiled around the barrier before squeezing.
{Absolute Block Barrier blocks 888 points of Physical and Magical Damage from a [Life Level: 70] Mutated Ancient Stellar Tree.
Judgment: Barrier strength is higher than the damage dealt, Absolute Block Barrier remains intact.}
{You gained 89 Points of Experience.}
Before Ingram could begin to understand what was happening, the tendril pulled the barrier and by extension the Common Lightning Crane. Ingram thought about running after it, but he really didn’t want to see what massive creature managed to drag away the barrier, even if it was with his subconscious permission. Ingram removed the barrier and continued forward until a wave of invisible energy slammed into the Physical Concealing Barrier, instantly shattering it before shattering all of the others,
{Physical Concealing Barrier blocks 5,624.45 of 84,800 points of Spiritual Damage from a [Life Level: 106] Ancient Lieutenant of The Celestial Mage Corps.
Judgment: Barrier durability drops by 5,624.45. Physical Concealing Barrier has No HP remaining. Physical Concealing Barrier shatters.}
{You gained 563 Points of Experience.}
{Absolute Block Barrier blocks 5,732.45 of 79,175.55 points of Spiritual Damage from a [Life Level: 106] Ancient Lieutenant of The Celestial Mage Corps.
Judgment: Barrier strength is higher than the damage dealt, Absolute Block Barrier remains intact.}
{You gained 573 Points of Experience.}
{Physical Status Resist Barrier blocks 6,254.32 of 73,443.1 points of Spiritual Damage from a [Life Level: 106] Ancient Lieutenant of The Celestial Mage Corps.
Judgment: Barrier durability drops by 5,624.45. Physical Concealing Barrier has No HP remaining. Physical Concealing Barrier shatters.}
{You gained 626 Points of Experience.}
After Ingram was exposed, he heard a cool voice in his mind, “Hello weak little human. What strange magic you have, unfortunately it can’t hide your unique mana signature. You don’t belong to this world; this world has changed so much since… Get out and never return. This is your only warning. From one outsider to another.” Ingram felt a gentle force coil around him before lifting him off the ground and the world became a blur. When the blurriness faded from his vision, he was outside of the star-lit forest. Ingram sat on the ground and quickly remade his Physical Concealing Barrier with 508 MP and after roughly eight seconds he vanished from sight along with a system prompt and a sigh of relief,
{Judgment: Magic Circle is 93.16% accurate. Barrier strength is decreased by 6.84%.
Perfect Barrier Strength: 6,264.98 | Penalty applied, New Barrier Strength: 5,836.45
9 Proficiency Points gained.}