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Chapter 68: Voices in My Head
Chapter 68: Voices in My Head
Warlock Ch 68. Voices in My Head
Cassius watched, his gaze sharp and calculating as he observed the new spell in action. Damian could feel his mentor's scrutiny, the weight of his expectations pressing down on him, but he ignored it. All that mattered was keeping the Grimclaw contained.
The creature's HP continued to drop, each second bringing it closer to defeat. Damian's body screamed in protest, the strain of maintaining the spell almost overwhelming, but he pushed through the pain. 'Come on… just a little more.'
The Grimclaw's struggles grew weaker, its movements slowing as the dark energy sapped its strength. Finally, with a final, shuddering roar, the creature collapsed, its HP dropping to zero as the last of its life drained away.
Damian staggered, the spell fading as he released his hold. He couldn't believe it. He'd actually managed to take down a level 50 creature on his own!
[Congratulations! You have leveled up to Level 25!]
[Shadow Barrier Lv. 4: Increases shield strength by 70% and absorbs up to 75% of incoming damage.]
[Dark Dominion Lv. 2: Increases range to 15 meters and duration to 15 seconds. Damage increased by +25% per second.]
Cassius approached, his expression unreadable. For a moment, Damian wondered if he'd done enough to impress his mentor, if this victory would finally earn him a word of praise. But Cassius just gave a slight nod, his eyes glinting with approval but no sign of the satisfaction Damian had hoped for.
"Not bad," Cassius said, his tone as stoic as ever.
Damian let out a shaky laugh, still trying to catch his breath. "Yeah, not bad," he muttered, resigning himself to Cassius's version of "praise." 'Yeah, I should stop hoping for the impossible,' he thought, shaking his head. Cassius was as much a statue as he was a mentor—solid, unyielding, and with zero sense of sympathy.
But even as he groaned, he felt a strange sort of pride welling up. He had just survived another level 50 creature without Fenrith's help. It was grueling, but he'd done it. He'd actually done it.
Damian wiped the sweat from his brow, pushing himself up slowly. Every muscle screamed in protest, but he ignored it, squaring his shoulders and standing straight. "Alright," he said with a heavy huff, "let's continue." He braced himself, knowing full well Cassius would push him further. 'Might as well get it over with,' he reasoned.
Cassius raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly. "Oh, you're starting to understand how this works." His voice held a touch of satisfaction, a rare reaction from the usually stone-faced warlock.
"After several rounds of training with you?" Damian laughed dryly, shaking his head. "Yeah, I've come to understand that begging you for mercy or a break is useless. I just have to make it quick, don't I?"
"Good," Cassius replied, crossing his arms as he observed Damian with a glint of approval. His tone remained as flat and unyielding as ever, but Damian didn't miss the faint trace of satisfaction in his mentor's eyes.
"But you know what?" Damian groaned, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck to shake off the lingering aches. "One day, Cassius, you're going to be impressed by me. And when that day comes, I'll make you actually praise me."
Cassius smirked, his eyes gleaming with amusement. "We'll see."
Damian scoffed but took it as fuel. He wanted to prove to Cassius—and maybe even himself—that he wasn't just some apprentice learning the basics. He wanted to be more, to push past the expectations Cassius seemed to have.
Cassius lifted his hand again, and for a moment, Damian braced himself, expecting another brutal summon, maybe even something nastier than the Grimclaw. But instead, Cassius merely flicked his wrist, sending a pulse of Mana rippling through the air. In seconds, a faint, translucent barrier shimmered to life, surrounding Damian like a glass cage—an unmistakable prison.
Cassius' eyes narrowed, a slight smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth. "This time, Damian," he said, his tone smooth yet laced with that quiet authority he always had, "I want you to use what you've learned. Craft something new. An offensive skill, something that can break through a barrier in a single strike. No tricks, no repetition—just pure, controlled force. Shape your Mana like it's part of you."
He closed his eyes, breathing deeply, feeling the Mana flowing around him, waiting, like an ocean of potential just beyond his fingertips.
But then, a voice echoed in his head, catching him off guard.
"I just learned a new spell!" A voice—cheerful, proud—rang through his mind like a distant memory, catching him so off-guard he almost broke his focus.
Damian frowned. 'Wait… was that in my head?' he thought, trying to shake the strange feeling off. The tone of the voice seemed familiar, but… it wasn't Cassius. And it definitely wasn't the ancient artifact's voice. Yet it felt so vivid, like he'd heard it before.
Then another voice, low and a little skeptical, echoed through his mind. "More spells? How could you learn a new one so quickly?"
"Because I'm a genius!" The cheerful voice responded. "This one's special, trust me. I call it… Hellfire Spear. It's got enough heat to shatter even the strongest barriers with a single hit! Here, let me teach you, Cassius."
Damian's breath caught. He opened his eyes. 'Cassius?' He knew that name, of course, but that wasn't the Cassius he knew. No, this felt like someone younger, livelier—a far cry from the calm, imposing figure standing right in front of him. 'What's going on? 'He couldn't explain how these voices were filling his head, but something about them felt so… real, so connected. Almost like they were fragments of a forgotten past.
Shaking his head, Damian took a deep breath and tried to refocus. But as he concentrated, something strange happened. His Mana began to shift, instinctively shaping itself, almost as if his body remembered how to cast this Hellfire Spear without him fully understanding why.
'Cassius… yesterday wasn't our first meeting, was it?' he thought, feeling his heartbeat quicken. The memory… if that's what it was, had stirred something deeper, a feeling that went beyond today's training.