Chapter 142 - Intermediate Warrior

Rohan was sitting in the middle of his room. His eyes were closed, and his mind focused on his mana core.

Today he would become a rank 6 Intermediate Warrior.

The red mist floating inside the core moved under his will and gathered at the center, forming a sort of small stick. The mana was compacted at its maximum, creating an almost solid item.

With the large quantity of mana he had, the simple oval-shaped sphere from the earlier beginner ranks had become a stick, and Rohan believed he had almost 60 points of mana. But that was only because of the creation of the vortex. Once it would be fully created, his capacity of mana would jump until his mana core and meridians can support 100 points of mana.

But now wasn't the time to think about such trivialities. Rohan controlled his mana and sent it all toward his first meridian, circulating through the path at high speed. Soon enough, it reached the end of the path, where the meridian was connected to the outside world, the palm of the right hand.

Carefully, Rohan made the mana spin in a direction. His control was simply perfect, and the swirl was exactly the same as the first time he had started the meditation to become a rank 6 Intermediate Warrior, albeit larger as the entrance of the meridian was also larger.

This meditation was extremely important to Rohan. Becoming an Intermediate Warrior wasn't simply an increase of raw power, but also an increase of political prestige. There were countless Beginner Warriors on the continent, but the number of Intermediate, Advanced, and Supreme Warriors was limited.

And at only 17 years old, Rohan would become one of the truly powerful people of the world.

The red mana spun faster and faster. The goal wasn't to dig the right path anymore as it was already done, and the patterns against the wall of the meridian were giving the right form for the vortex.

As the mana was moving faster, Rohan was starting to lose control over it. It was so fast that it was becoming blurry, and Rohan couldn't stop it anymore.

It escaped his control, and without being able to do anything about it, Rohan could only watch with anticipation and eagerness. From there, his months of hard work and his countless meditations showed its might.

Slowly, the mana was condensing itself. The whole meridian was shaking under such speed, but it didn't break. Rohan even believed that his meridians were among the toughest ones in the world because of the red mana. If it was breaking there, he thought that no one would be able to create a vortex.

After an unknown amount of time, the meridian stabilized itself while the spinning mana finally transformed into a red vortex. An explosion burst and Rohan's body trembled under such power.

Mana rushed inside his meridians like a river coming from the right hand, strengthening his body and his mana core. His muscles moaned as his bones hardened.

Rohan suddenly opened his eyes. An overjoyed smile bloomed on his face as he felt extraordinarily good. His body swelled with power as his jointures cracked under his might. The amount of power surging through his whole seemed to be a bit less than what he had after using the method with the red threads of mana, but it still felt incredible.

Rohan remembered that he didn't have his Essence Anymore as it was taken away by this mad Elder Kuud. Such an item was indeed great as he wanted to see his status. Maybe as an Intermediate Warrior, he could try to ask for one? Unfortunately, as everyone wanted to skin him alive, it was maybe not a good idea to gently ask them with puppy eyes.

Rohan focused once again and directed his mind to check on his body. His internal injuries had almost fully healed, and only some remnant could be seen. Since it was so light, and since Rohan couldn't control his thirst for power, he decided to try once again if he could reinforce his body.

With his eyes closed, he once again thought about his dream. Soon enough, the red dots appeared one after another and quickly formed countless red threads floating around. This method, if seen by anyone on this continent, would be seen as godly, as well as simply impossible.

After all, Rohan was controlling the mana that was around him, forcing it to spin around him to form a red dome. Using mana that wasn't his own to strengthen his body was something that no one would ever dream to do, or at least, no one in this world had the means to do so.

The red threads entered one by one inside his body. Coupled with his promotion as a rank 6 Intermediate Warrior, the further increase of power nearly made Rohan lose his mind. His bones cracked as his muscles expanded. A terrible pain extended from everywhere.

The pain was even more terrible than the time his meridian had been cracked after fighting the wizard. His whole body was heating as vapor floated above his body. He couldn't but scream as the pain was too much, and without being able to do anything else, Rohan lost consciousness.

The instant he opened his eyes, his vision was blurry. The pain had already disappeared, but Rohan carefully sized his body. The interior was badly damaged and from what he could see, this pain was because he had been wrong. The previous injuries weren't healed. He nearly cursed at his own foolishness.

He stood up on his shaking legs. Rohan instantly widened his eyes. His heart jumped as it beat harder and harder, filling his ears. Chills ran down his spine as he felt his mind spin on itself.

It wasn't his room anymore.

The place he was in was small, without any furniture. It was only made of rotten wood. Rohan slowly turned his face toward the right as he gulped down. There was a small leather bag on the floor, with two daggers and a few coins inside that could be seen through the opening.

"Fuck."

He turned his eyes toward the entrance, where the completely broken door was somewhat still doing its job. With a loud step, as if a whole mountain was smashing his shoulders, Rohan headed out of the small hut.

He slowly and carefully pushed the wooden planche that was once a functional door. The great amount of power he had was still hard to use, but it was curiously far easier than the first time.

The sun shone on his face, forcing Rohan to squint his eyes. The moment he stepped outside of the hut, a voice thundered from the front.

"You dare to come back here, slave?" The angry voice was followed by the clear sound of a saber being drawn.

Through his blurry eyes, Rohan instantly saw a young man charging toward him with incredible speed. By an extreme reflex, he immediately used Overload to slow down the time and jumped back to nearly evade the attack. The tip of the saber passed only a centimeter away from his throat.

The situation was totally out of his expectation. Without more choices, Rohan used Charge. He stomped his right foot on the floor as it violently cracked under its might. His body flew forward like an arrow, but it was only the beginning.

Rohan appeared in front of the man who was surprised to have missed. He followed with a Strengthened Blow and swung his right arm with impressive speed. The disciple that was once too fast for Rohan was unable to dodge the blow.

Rohan's punch connected violently with the man's chin. A loud clack echoed in the area as the disciple was sent flying in the distance, before landing on the paved ground violently.. It was unknown if he was still alive.