Just Another Beginning After the End | TBATE

Asceticism Journey (5) - 11 Months

A/N: Another chapter as we come closer to the end of the Asceticism Journey subarc. 

Happy reading :D

[11 months later]

I stared at the chimeras before me, their grotesque bodies still something I was unable to get used to. Still, that didn't prevent me from getting sentimental. After nearly a year of using them as training dummies, it seemed, as improbable as it was with their terrifying appearances, that I had grown attached to them.

"Alright, boys, let's do this."

Dressed in torn rags, I held a glowing orb that glowed a solid orange like my core in my hand as I began circulating mana throughout my body.

Sending a surge of mana into the orb, I lowered my sense of gravity. I ignited Elegy, a clean light-yellow spear revealing itself.

I chucked the orb, and before it touched the ground, a pair of translucent light-yellow ears and a tail had materialized.

—CRREEEAAAKK

With an ear-raping sound, the 6 cage doors screeched open, different chimeric mana beasts slowly prodding out.

I pointed the spear at them and roared with a grin.

"Come at me!"

—ROAAAAA

With deafening roars, the largest of the chimeras charged at me. It was a six-legged beast, each pair of legs coming from a different creature. It was as large as a building standing on its feet and...

—FWOOOSH

...Yeah, it could breathe fire.

But not to worry, I've fought this guy over 50 times now.

The light-yellow spear changed form into a blade. A massive blade. Stretching at least 20 meters, I swung the weightless sword down, splitting the fire in half. The fire that could melt any normal metal diverged and crashed against the cavern's walls and ceiling.

However, a flying-type chimera took this as a chance and swooped in, successfully grabbing me by my shoulder.

"Urghk!"

The sharp claws hurt, but it was a pain I was used to.

Seamlessly changing the form of the giant sword into a dagger, I sliced at the chimera's leg. Slicing through like butter, I was freed from its grasp and plummeted down into the open jaws of a crocodile-like chimera.

I spun midair and changed the weapon into a spear.

Responding to the mana I pumped into it, the weapon grew in length at a frightening speed, easily piercing the mouth of Crocky, as I've come to call it.

Despite their mostly easily pierceable skin, chimeras had rapid regeneration because they didn't need food but just survived off mana, making them mostly mana. Plus, since today was execution day, I needed to wrap this up quickly.

I changed my grip and used my body weight and downward momentum to swing down, causing the sharp bottom end of the spear to flick up, slicing through the chimera's head. I quickly changed its form and let the kinetic energy take me back down to the ground...

...Not.

Unwilling to waste even a second, I changed Elegy's shape into a normal-sized sword and spun, bringing it with me in a circular arc.

With a light-yellow trail, the blade easily sliced through the head of a wolf-type chimera, and I deftly landed on the ground, rolling. Altering the properties, I used the centrifugal force of my landing to spin in a circle, kicking up dust. Using the mana stored within my tail, Elegy's light-yellow blade stretched to become like a bladed whip* with a trail of light-yellow light following it. Slicing through the gathered wolf chimeras, I managed to completely eradicate them in one fell swoop.