Utopian System

After recovering some energy, Elio prepared for his next move.

Pushing from the barrier, he advanced several steps before quickly creating another carbon structure. Like saving progress in a game.

The process was slow but effective.

Each barrier represented a point of no return, a small victory against the force trying to push him backward. His muscles ached from the constant strain, but his determination never wavered.

In the distance, he could distinguish the tunnel's end.

There was no physical barrier this time, just a point where the force seemed to dramatically intensify. The wide chamber waited beyond, and with it, surely, the true challenge.

The monsters.

His eel continued swimming around him, its red glow a constant reminder that something fundamental had changed in this level. Why did his familiar seem immune to the force affecting him? What secret did that crimson glow hide?

♢♢♢♢

Near the chamber's entrance, Elio allowed himself a brief rest.

His mana and stamina needed to recover after the exhausting advance, but time was pressing. The power emblem still had a few minutes of duration, and he intended to make the most of them.

With a small series of helium impulses, he managed to overcome the last stretch.

The chamber revealed a peculiar spectacle: eight creatures floated in an orbital dance around a central sphere, the source of the push he had been fighting against.

The creatures moved with grace similar to his eel, but their bodies were more compact. A black line divided their silver bodies, over which pulsed a bright red line, identical to those he had seen in the tunnel.

'Area attack,' Elio thought, preparing his usual strategy. 'Eliminate as many as possible in the first hit.'

Elio accumulated his mana, which now reached 7 points, finally the same as his level.

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He had adapted to it at last, but wanted to start all over.

From level 8th.

But it wasn't going to be that easy…

When he released his first combo, something unexpected happened.

The magic, instead of flying toward its target, shot backward, impacting against himself. The pushing force from the orb affected even his own attacks.

The explosion alerted the creatures.

Their silver bodies glowed as they launched themselves toward him, the surprise factor completely lost. However, as they moved against him, the central sphere had deactivated, at least freeing him from the constant pressure.

Taking advantage of the precious seconds before they reached him, Elio fired two quick combos.

Thanks to the power emblem, the monsters hit by the attacks died instantly. 'At least something good came from finishing the deposit challenge,' he thought, grateful for the temporary advantage.

But two of the creatures had managed to move far enough to avoid the attacks.

Elio sent his eel to intercept them, but in an instant, the monsters simply... vanished.

And reappeared right in front of him.

The impact was brutal.

Elio was thrown against the wall, his mind barely registering what had happened. The creatures' speed was amazing: 8 base points, but their movement bursts reached 16. His eel, with its speed of 7, had no chance of catching them.

Looking at his chest, Elio noticed two bright red marks, but had no time to analyze them.

He tried to use his last charged mana point to attack one of the creatures, but the moment he released the magic, his body shot forward in a straight line at a speed of 16, impacting against his own attack.

A mark disappeared, but before he could recover, the second one catapulted him directly toward the creatures.

The impact gave him two new marks, and the cycle began again.

The creatures were using him like a ball in a macabre game, throwing him from side to side without even giving him time to think. Each time he tried to charge mana or regain balance, a mark sent him flying in another direction.

His eel desperately tried to intercept the monsters, but the speed difference was too great. The creatures appeared and disappeared in bursts of movement, using the marks on Elio's body as anchor points for their perverse game.

'It's not just speed,' Elio managed to think between impacts. 'They're manipulating momentum itself, like the central sphere but in a more controlled way.'

Each mark was like a force vector waiting to be activated, and the creatures seemed able to detonate them at will, turning Elio into a living projectile bouncing throughout the chamber.

Micah's memory prevented panic from overtaking Elio. Instead, each impact, each bounce, only served to feed his anger, transforming it into something cold and calculating.

'Only 8 points of damage', he analyzed while being thrown from one side of the chamber to the other.

The creatures' direct impacts were almost insignificant compared to the damage he had done to himself with his failed attacks. However, the G-force of constant direction changes and the endless rain of hits was beginning to take its toll even on his system-enhanced body.

'Focus,' he ordered himself, allowing them to use him as a projectile while accumulating mana. The pain was nothing compared to what he felt in his heart. Each hit, each new mark, only served to strengthen his determination.

The first priority was to prevent them from marking him further.

With 4 points of his 7 accumulated mana, Elio created a carbon sphere around himself, completely enclosing his body.

The existing marks made Elio violently crash against the sphere twice, but when they stopped, he was clean of marks and out of the creatures' direct reach.

The monsters began hitting the protective sphere, marking it with their bright red lines. Elio could feel the energy accumulating in the marks, preparing to send his refuge flying through the chamber and against him in the process.

'I don't think so,' he thought, waiting for the precise moment.

When the sphere began to vibrate, preparing for explosive movement…

Elio exploded it.

The carbon fragments shot out in all directions like shrapnel. One of the creatures, too close to dodge, was hit head-on. Its silver body disintegrated instantly.

The second creature had been much luckier, miraculously avoiding all the shards. It appeared behind Elio, preparing to mark him again.