Archon of Danmachi

This Mind Bolt of Shiki's was a simple light blue orb of Mind the size of a baby's fist, shot at high speed from a magic circle over his palm or wand that dealt concussive damage. Although this "high" speed was easily dodgeable, even by a sufficiently experienced Level 1, it was still not that bad considering it was his first time creating a spell and he didn't yet possess a falna.

Electing to test his newfound magic on some goblins, Nox tracked a group of three to the forest and started observing them. He felt his rage bubbling up to the surface by was stopped by a new discovery.

It was at this moment, he discovered an ability granted by what he deduced to be the Arcana Skill, that wasn't obvious from the description. When it said it increased his magic perception it meant more like an ability to see the flow of magic.

He wasn't quite sure why it only showed now since he had fought lone goblins before but he surmised it had to do this being the first goblin he saw after using magic for the very first time.

When Nox observed the group of three goblins, he could see the mana in their magic stone and how it flowed through their bodies. After marveling at this ability for a little bit, He quickly decided to mount a sneak attack with his Mind Bolt before he was discovered.

Pointing his wand at the closest goblin, Nox fired his spell.

'Mind Bolt' He didn't even have to say it's name like in a flash cast spell like Firebolt so he just thought of it in his mind.

The orb of Mind hit the target goblin square in the back near the neck, instantly killing it. The other two quickly turned towards his direction and charged filled with the bloodlust prevalent in all monsters. Nox dispatched one more with another Mind Bolt and pierced the chest of the last one who had already nearly reached him with his sidesword.

'Not bad for my first real fight after acquiring his past life's memories! Not bad at all!' Nox thought to himself as he collected the three small magic stones that belonged to the goblin. Unlike in the anime, he had to fully remove the magic stone from the goblin's body and only then would it disappear just like in the light novel.

Even though it went fairly easily, Nox knew the stress of would start to weigh on him after the adrenaline wore off, specially since he had to actively suppress his rage in order not to make stupid decisions so he made his way back to his cave. As he settled down in his futon after eating a small meal, Nox unwittingly fell asleep, laying in slumber until daybreak the very next day.

He woke up suddenly and alarmed at having fallen asleep and after realizing how long he just slept but since he was in a safe environment, he quickly calmed down and got to work.

Seeing the flow of mana in the goblins' bodies gave Nox some ideas on things to try out so he sat and meditated. Entering a state of focus, he attempted to guide the mana in him to flow along his entire body. He thought this would allow him to strengthen his body like that of a monsters but instead, cycling his mana allowed him to draw the energy in his surroundings to replenish his Mind even quicker.

Although it was a pleasant discovery, since it required a lot of focus and didn't become a new spell, it wasn't useful in battle quite yet. Still, after numerous failed attempts at enhancement, Nox figured out the trick. Merely cycling his mana didn't mean he was doing it in his physical body, it was more of a spiritual thing so first he had to channel his mana into his body and then cycle it. As he got a handle on it it became a spell which he simply called Mind Cycle.

Mind Cycle not only enhanced his physical abilities but it also increased his perception, reaction speed and resistance to damage, making his skin and muscle tougher like that of a monster's but it was still quite a weak effect and the spell put a burden on his body, making him sore after using it.

Having accomplished this however, Nox moved on to another matter, improving his Mind Bolt. After some slight adjustments to the spell's formula in the Arcana's records, he swapped out the old Mind Bolt in his magic slot with the new one. The change was simple but effective, Nox increased the orb's power and speed by compressing it. He also figured out that he could keep the magic circle of Arcana out to fire successive shots more quickly.

The process of coming up with Mind Cycle and improving the Mind Bolt took up the entire day, so he went to sleep looking forward to tomorrow and testing his newly improved magic against the goblins in the forest.

The night passed and after a quick breakfast, Nox was on the hunt for more goblins and after taking slightly more time than two days before, he found his new test subjects, a group of five goblins.

Nox eyed the group of goblins, stealthy from a bush as he prepared to ambush them. Holding back his bloodthirst that made him want to simply jump in there and slaughter them all with his sword, Nox prepared for a sneak attack with magic.

'Mind Bolt' With four quick shots before dispersing the magic circle, four of the goblins were disposed of. Now he would use Mind Cycle to finish the last one in melee combat.

As the goblin charged forward and attacked, Nox took a step further and blocked the attack with his shield before it gained momentum. At the same time, his sidesword pierced the goblin straight through the mouth, killing it.

"Whew!" He exclaimed as he thought. 'That's how you do it! I'm sick and tired of all of anime's static blocks, matching strike to strike and most of all separating attack and defense.'

Nox continued to hunt goblins in the forest until he managed to track their origin, a settlement in a clearing deep within the woods. Dozens upon dozens, maybe over a hundred goblins lived there and he had no idea on how to take them all out. For now, Nox returned to his cave and started thinking about his next step.

'I could always just ignore the settlement and go to Orario. There's no reason to delay that since getting a falna will only benefit me . . .' But as he thought that, a feeling of unwillingness sprouted within his heart.

He knew the monsters that destroyed his village came from there and he wanted them gone! Now later but NOW! The only thing stopping him from charging over there and starting a battle that may very well kill him is his rational mind.

There was no running from it! To solve the hatred in his heart that kept attempting to cloud his judgement was to go on a massacre and end that settlement of goblins. This had to be done before he could move on.

'Guess I can only firm my resolve and do it. I'll at least refine my magic on the goblins that leave the settlement to gain a sufficient level of strength before I take on the main objective. It will also help shave down their numbers . . .'

And so, the methodical massacre of gobins begun. Shiki practised all his skills on any goblin that dared to step out of the settlement. He became a highly efficient predator, prowling the woods in search of unsuspecting goblins and the results were staggering.

Even with their efficiency down, Nox's Polymath and Exceed Skills were still working along with his High Human talent to improve his skills at an unnatural speed. Meanwhile he kept developing his spells to work better and create a new one to fill his remaining magic slot.

What Nox wanted in order to take out the settlement was a spell with an area of effect so he could more easily deal with his enemies' numbers. Using his Mind Bolt as a foundation, he developed another spell, the Mind Missile.

This staple of many RPGs was simply a larger orb of Mind that left a light blue trail of light during flight and caused a Mind explosion on impact. It cost considerably more Mind than the Mind Bolt but would be far more useful when the enemies were tightly packed.

Nox also found out that he could cycle Mind through his body to enhance it even without the Mind Cycle spell but he required immense concentration to do it so it was impossible to maintain in battle but it certainly gave him ideas for the future.

He also created a spell called Mind Boon that could enhance equipment by pouring Mind into it. For the Goblin Settlement Annihilation he removed Mind Bolt from its slot and Replaced it with this spell since he figured it would be more helpful.

The end of the goblins was nigh and roughly at 3 a.m. in the night, Nox started his assault of the settlement.

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P.a.t.r.e.o.n is officially up!

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You'll get to read up to FOUR week ahead, a full month, but I'll still post here.

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