It didn’t take Jake long to reach the building where the mana consumable was located. Upon landing on the rooftop, he quickly assessed the situation. A massive whipper stood at the center of the roof. After appraising it with a thought, he realized it was an elite whipper, not just a regular one. The enormous creature lashed out at him with its arm-tentacle, but Jake easily dodged the blow, darting to the side.
Almost immediately, the whip-like tentacle zipped through the air toward him again. While Jake had no intention of fighting the elite mutant to conserve the little mana he had left, he knew he needed to deprive the whipper of its main weapon. When the tentacle reached him, he lashed out with his sword, severing it in half. With a roar of frustration and anger, the whipper retracted the remnants of its arm-tentacle.
Not far from the monster, a dead body lay sprawled on the ground—the remains of a survivor who had clearly lost a battle against the elite whipper. He must have been engaged in a tower mission, tasked with clearing all the floors of mutants and eliminating the elite monster on the roof. Or perhaps he might just have stumbled upon the elite whipper by chance.
Not that it really mattered to Jake. He was solely interested in the mana consumable he had come for, which should be stashed away in the dead survivor’s rucksack, as there was no other spot on the roof for it to be. Without bothering to close his eyes and activate Mana Vision to confirm his theory, Jake darted around the whipper, giving the massive mutant a wide berth, and dropped to a knee beside the dead survivor, who lay face down.
He ripped open the flap, and immediately a bluish glow burst forth from within, confirming the presence of a mana consumable inside. Jake reached into the rucksack and retrieved a fairly large mana item with a familiar shape. At first glance, he recognized it as a mana crystal, containing 5,000 MP. Some time ago, Jake would have been thrilled to come across so much mana, but given his current level, it wasn’t all that much anymore.
A thunderous roar and the sound of heavy, rapid footfalls prompted him to look up. The elite monster came barreling toward him, moving with incredible speed for its size. Jake jumped to his feet, waited just a moment to let the whipper get a little closer, and then suddenly darted to the side. The mutant charged past him, trying to slow down but struggling to do so immediately due to the momentum it had gained. Jake pivoted in the direction he had come from and burst into a sprint. Once he reached the edge of the roof, he performed a mana-infused jump to the next building.
Upon landing on the roof, he slowed down, then stopped completely and looked at the mana consumable in his hand. He gripped it tightly, clutching the crystal in his fist. The magical energy surged through the newly formed cracks in the crystal, heading toward his skin to be absorbed by his body.
Once the crushed crystal was depleted and all the mana it contained had been consumed, he dropped the item. Five thousand mana points wasn’t much for his current level. He could easily use it up in just a few hours. However, he now had enough mana in his body to use Cloak again, and if he took it easy, the amount of mana he now had within him would last him until nightfall, with some to spare.
Jake returned to the building towering over the bandit base. Activating Cloak, he approached the parapet and peered over the edge at the compound ten stories below. He noticed that the battle was nearly finished. By that point, all the void spiders and fiends were dead. Only the death knight remained, but it was on its last breath. One of its arms was missing, clearly having been severed by Miller, and numerous wounds and gashes were visible on its body.
The gang leader wasn’t unscathed either. The power suit he wore bore many dents and ragged holes. Armor plates had been torn from the suit in several places. The energy gun was missing as well, but after a quick scan, Jake spotted it lying on the ground nearby. The death knight must have ripped it from where it had been mounted on one of the power suit’s arms.
Miller and the death knight kept fighting while the remaining bandits watched. The massive monster suddenly swung its colossal fist at Miller, who caught it with his right hand enhanced by the power suit’s glove. Using the chainsaw attached to the wrist of his suit’s left arm, Miller sliced through the death knight’s arm, severing it cleanly in half.
The now armless monster roared in rage and frustration, a chilling sound that echoed through the compound. The death knight leaned in toward Miller, opening its jaws wide as if preparing to take a bite out of him. The base leader thrust his chainsaw into the monster’s open mouth and held it there firmly. The death knight’s body thrashed wildly for a moment, the mechanical whirring of the chainsaw blending with its anguished roar. Then, with a final, convulsive shudder, the creature suddenly collapsed to the ground, dead.
After that, everything fell silent for a moment. Then, as if on cue, the bandits surrounding their leader erupted in victorious shouts, cheering for their brave commander. Miller pumped his right fist in the air, clearly savoring the victory and relishing the attention from his grateful subordinates.
The power suit then opened, and Miller stepped out. He walked toward the fallen death knight, crouched down, and snatched the Skeleton Key from where it was attached to the creature’s hip. Now that the monster was dead, the bony loop secured around the key had become fragile. As Miller pulled on the key, the loop shattered effortlessly, crumbling into thousands of tiny fragments that scattered across the ground.
Miller stood up, examining the Skeleton Key he held in his hand. The excitement on his face was unmistakable, raising a flurry of questions in Jake’s mind. Where was Miller planning to use the key? Did he know about the Maze of Torment located in the sewers? That particular dungeon was designed for levels 15-20, while Miller’s own level was a staggering 195. Or perhaps Miller had information on other dungeons suited for higher levels?
However, there was no time to search for answers. Jake needed that key. He had failed to snatch it on his first attempt, but he was willing to try again. The trick was to stay undetected by the base’s occupants. He wasn’t sure how he would accomplish that, so he was going to have to come up with a plan on the fly.
With that in mind, he stepped over the edge of the roof and dropped to the street below.