Chapter 86: The grind

The Swamp Thallophyte unleashed a piercing, metallic shriek that echoed violently across the clearing as Mina’s sword bit deep into its shoulder flesh. The green, glowing sap-like blood hissed as it dripped onto the cold dirt, sizzling against the black moss covering the shattered stone blocks. Instead of backing away from the injury, the apex territory guardian seemed to lock its multi-jointed frame into a posture of pure, unadulterated aggression. Its flat, armored skull twitched with a terrifying frequency as it tracked the exact positions of the five freshmen surrounding its perimeter.

The battle was far from over. Thomas did not waste a single second watching the creature’s blood coat the grit. He instantly adjusted his stance, his worn-out shoes digging firmly into the wet muck as he stepped directly back into the vanguard line to keep the monster completely occupied. Under his eyelids, the translucent blue interface of his system remained active, the code lines constantly scrolling as it continued to process the immense kinetic displacement from the creature’s previous attacks.

Julian sat rigidly on his foldable wooden chair near the tent perimeter, his bare ebony eyes scanning the layout of the thicket with absolute precision. His long fingers twitched in a rapid, geometric sequence, his spatial core humming with a steady, low frequency that sent ripples through the ambient air currents. He knew that the moment the beast was injured, its movement parameters would become entirely unpredictable.

Without warning, the Swamp Thallophyte aggressively tensed its plant-fiber limbs and launched a relentless horizontal sweep with its massive left claw. The localized wind compression around its talons shrieked through the twilight, creating a heavy blade of pressurized air that sliced straight toward Mina’s torso.

Thomas threw himself forward to absorb the incoming strike before it could shatter her positioning. He dropped his shoulder and activated the absolute maximum density of his Diamond Skin talent across his chest and upper arms.

CRUNCH!

The pressurized air blade slammed violently against his crystalline torso, the sheer kinetic force knocking the air completely out of his lungs and forcing him back three paces across the mud. Deep lacerations tore straight through his hardened skin, but his face remained perfectly calm and unreadable. He did not let out a single groan of pain, keeping his mouth shut as he forced his legs to lock down against the wet soil, preventing the monster from breaking past his defensive anchor point.

[ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

* Damage vector: High-Velocity Wind Compression & Shearing Force.

* Process Speed: Maintaining Maximum Baseline Allocation.

[ PROGRESS BAR: 12.5% ]

The progress bar was moving at an incredibly slow pace due to his low base mana reserves, but Thomas ignored the numbers completely. He lunged back into the fray, utilizing the fluid agility he had integrated from Raymond to smoothly evade a follow-up strike aimed at his throat. He drew back his diamond-hardened left fist and drove it squarely into the monster’s lower abdomen, the heavy blow delivering a dull thud that rattled the creature’s internal circulation circuits.

Ryan capitalized on the distraction instantly. Moving with a light, agile grace, his boots thrummed with a steady current of blue wind mana as he glided across the slick stone blocks. He targeted the creature’s left hind leg, driving his short sword downward in a rapid, seamless sequence of three consecutive slashes. The sharp steel tore through the outer layers of stringy black moss, widening the existing wounds and forcing more of the glowing green sap to spill out into the dirt, further compromising the predator’s footing.

The Swamp Thallophyte reacted with an insane velocity, violently twisting its calcified torso mid-air to launch a heavy tail strike toward Ryan’s flank. The sheer speed of the counter-attack was completely law-defying, catching Ryan mid-stride before he could fully realign his center of gravity.

Mina stepped into the blind spot immediately, showing the perfect, unyielding synergy of their group. She did not hesitate, raising her sword in a rigid, two-handed guard to intercept the heavy, bone-rimmed tail before it could smash into Ryan’s cheap leather armour.

BANG!

The kinetic collision sent a heavy shockwave rippling through the mud, the immense physical weight of the tail forcing Mina’s boots to slide three feet backward through the muck. Her forearms trembled violently under the pressure, but she steeled her resolve and held the absolute line, absorbing the bulk of the impact so Ryan could safely pivot and disengage from the immediate line of fire.

On the sidelines, Lina’s breathing was growing increasingly shallow and ragged as the minutes ticked by under the dark canopy. Her face was completely pale from the prolonged spiritual exhaustion, and her tattered healer’s cloak was thoroughly soaked in cold sweat. Yet, her fingers never stopped moving in their steady, rhythmic pattern. She remained crouched low behind the moss-covered pillars, her extended palms channeling a constant, unbroken stream of warm green healing sparks directly into the vanguard line. Every single time Thomas’s skin fractured or Mina’s muscles strained under the creature’s immense weight, Lina’s magic would instantly stitch the tissue back together, keeping their physical parameters perfectly stable without allowing their stamina to collapse entirely.

Julian provided the critical baseline support from the rear, ensuring the predator could never fully execute a successful follow-up blitz. Every time the Swamp Thallophyte attempted to leap onto the higher stone blocks to launch an ambush from above, Julian would raise his left hand, forcing a localized gravity fracture right over its trajectory. The dark red pockets of spatial compression would violently slam into the monster’s flanks, disrupting its momentum and forcing its heavy frame back down into the mud where Thomas was waiting to receive it.

The ancient hybrid was growing increasingly frenzied as the grinding attrition continued to wear down its defenses. It began thrashing its plant limbs wildly, its flat head twitching as the wind compression around its claws grew increasingly louder, turning into a deafening, constant whistle that shook the loose leaves from the ancient trees. It was a brutal, high-intensity cycle of violence that demanded every single frame of their collective focus. One single microsecond of panic or a single misplaced step in the deep muck would mean immediate death for any member of the group.

Thomas took another heavy blow directly to his shoulder plate, the wind claws shearing through his linen shirt and leaving three deep, bleeding gashes across his collarbone. He did not back down. He kept his dark eyes wide open, the glowing golden light of his Eye of Khepri meticulously tracing the fading mana lines inside the beast’s core. He could feel his own mana reserves dipping dangerously close to the empty mark, but his mind remained as cold and calculated as glass. He knew the fight was a test of absolute endurance, and they had to keep the pressure mounted without a single moment of hesitation if they wanted to survive.

With everything that was happening in his life Thomas knew that if he wanted to survive he needed good allies. At the moment he did not know where the loyalty of his seniors in the four horsemen lay, so he at the moment he did not know whether crossing the church was a good thing or a bad thing.

The chances of him dying from refusing the church were high, after all even the academy instructors were so afraid of them. If He were to refuse and they helped him, the church would brand them heretics and have them and probably their families executed. But that was not the only reason they would not help him, after all why would they help a Lesser. A trouble some Lesser that is, so his chances of leaving the marshlands alive were getting smaller and smaller by the minute and he was perfectly aware of that.

Even though Ryan, Mina and Lina would fight for him, he did not want them too. They were Lesser’s like him who by a stroke of luck had managed to overturn their ill fate and have a somewhat good life. As for Julian, well even though the young lord of house Carter was starting to warm up to him he was not yet an ally Thomas could fully trust. After all why would he dare trust a High-blood, maybe him getting close to them was a way to learn his secrets and then report back to the rest of the High-bloods who wanted him dead.

But that was not a mindset he wanted to have, he wanted to unite the world not break it apart, he wanted to create a world where the lesser and the High-blood can stand on equal grounds and have equal opportunities. That was his goal, that is what he wanted to do and in order to do that he had to break the church.