A/N the fight might seem dragged out to bulge up the chapter word count, but that is the reason why the fight is long, i did it to show what the difference between a monster that just spawned from a fresh phenomenon compared to a monster that spawned from abandoned mana.
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Chapter 20
The creature reeled but countered faster this time, pivoting with its heavy forelimbs to slam a paw into Ash's chest. His shell cracked but held, and he flew backward like a cannonball, slamming into a snow-drenched slope. The ground gave beneath him, and he skidded down ten meters before jamming the blade into the earth to stop his fall. Snow exploded into the air like a geyser, and the wind howled louder, biting into their exposed forms.
He stood again, panting, and watched as the creature paced slowly now, favoring its left side. Its movements had slowed, but its eyes remained wild and dangerous. Ash flexed his fingers. His control over the extension had improved, but it still demanded focus. His shell was nearly impenetrable now, a gift of countless hours spent meditating under crushing pressure, pushing his limits until even enhanced beings like Madam Gao couldn't mark him. But this beast… it wasn't holding back anymore.
The two circled each other slowly, their footprints pressed deep into the snow, marked by claw and heel. The wind quieted. The cold grew heavier. Around them, the frozen mountain bore witness—scarred by heat, frost, and force. The battle wasn't over. It had just entered the second phase.
Ash exhaled, steam pouring from his mouth like smoke from a furnace. The bone club—his dragonfang sword—began to vibrate in his grip as he overloaded it with mana, his veins glowing faintly through his skin. Cracks webbed through the blade's surface, not from weakness, but from power barely contained within. The snow beneath his feet melted in a wide ring, hissing as raw energy radiated outward. Loose chunks of ice began to hover around him, pulled upward by the rising surge of force in the air.
The creature snarled and charged again, claws digging into the mountain's side, ripping up rock and snow as it thundered forward. Ash responded by stepping into the attack, swinging his now-burning weapon in a low arc that split the frozen ground open. The impact sent a shockwave through the mountain, causing several jagged icicles to fall from above and a narrow ledge to collapse behind them. The creature jumped just in time, flipping mid-air with surprising grace, but a trail of its blood followed.
It landed with a growl, the snow exploding in a circle from the force of its drop, mist swirling around its limbs. Before it could breathe again, Ash dashed forward, his steps exploding behind him in bursts of melted ice and wind. The sword's glow intensified as he swung upward, the edge no longer dull—it sliced the air with a whistle, tracing light like a comet. The creature blocked with its thick forelimbs, but even they cracked under the force, its claws skidding back, carving deep lines in the ice-covered slope.
A groan echoed from the mountain's guts as another part of the cliff gave way, a boulder tumbling between them, forcing both to leap away. Ash landed first, rolled, and immediately threw a punch laced with mana into the ground. The resulting burst caused a ripple that lifted the snow beneath the creature, unbalancing it. The Barioth retaliated with a spinning tail sweep, but Ash ducked, dragging his shell along the icy ground, sparks flying as he slid under the beast's body.
He emerged behind it and twisted, slamming the sword full-force into the creature's hind leg. A wet crack followed by a roar tore through the thin air as the limb buckled. Snow blasted outward, burying surrounding rocks and sending a white mist up like fog. Ash remained standing, chest heaving, mana burning through him. The world around them was no longer pristine—scarred earth, shattered ice, and broken cliff edges surrounded them, the mountaintop now a battlefield marked by fury and frost.
Ash pressed the advantage, his body a blur of movement and muscle as he struck again, each swing of the mana-charged sword sending arcs of energy into the snow-covered rock. The creature snarled and spun, its tusks catching Ash in the ribs, launching him sideways into a jagged outcrop. The stone cracked on impact, his shell absorbing most of the blow but leaving a smear of blood in his trail. A gust of wind carried loose snow off the cliff edge, revealing a sheer drop that now sat only a few steps behind him. He spat red into the white, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he stood.
The creature limped but didn't retreat, its breath visible and rhythmic, each exhale icing the ground. With a hiss, it unleashed another frost trail, zigzagging through the field like living ice, reaching for Ash. He leapt, landing behind a fallen stone spire now half-melted by his mana overflow. Still, the frost reached his boots, slowing his movements, causing his leg to tense painfully. He gritted his teeth and moved anyway, charging with a sharp yell, his blood splashing into the snow with each step. The once-smooth battlefield was now uneven, covered in frozen ridges, shattered boulders, and deep slashes in the earth.
They clashed again, this time the beast met Ash head-on, a paw strike slamming into his shoulder and spinning him midair. He hit the ground hard, rolled, and pushed up, sword dragging behind him, leaving glowing lines in the snow. His shell was cracked at the edge now, a thin fracture pulsing with white light where the creature's claw had landed. Above them, the storm began to roll in harder, thunder growling low, snow falling thicker, the entire mountain darkening around their figures. Ash's breath was ragged, and blood now streaked his arms and brow, but his stance never wavered.
With a guttural roar, the creature fired an explosive ice blast. Ash dropped his sword and thrust his hand forward, condensing his mana to form a translucent barrier just before the blast hit. The resulting shock shattered the ice wall and sent him flying back, crashing through a tall pillar of ice. Shards flew like knives, slicing across his exposed back and arms. The creature limped after him, blood staining its fur. Both warrior and monster bled into the mountain, scarred and heaving, but Ash's grip on the dragonfang never loosened. The surrounding peak was nearly unrecognizable now—clawed ridges, steam vents, broken stone, and scattered blood surrounded them, a frozen war zone under the screaming wind, before they turned to mana.
However, Ash didn't rush to absorb it. No, in fact, he just walked out of the highly dense mana area purposefully before walking down the mountain, which with his enhanced physique was actually quite easy. He eventually arrived at where his campervan was before he entered and took a hot bath. He then cooked himself a large fish he hunted himself before he sat down to meditate. The reason why he didn't meditate in the highly mana-dense area that was Mount Everest was simple.
Because Ash was intentionally causing a phenomenon. That is right, since Ash confirmed that a phenomenon came as a result of highly dense mana in one area, which then, when enough mana was gathered, would start to spin like a planet with its own gravitational force. This would draw more mana until it cracked the space-time continuum and created a crack for a mana monster to crawl through. Hence why Ash was leaving the mana from the mana in there, so that a new crack would form. He would then slay the mana, adding to the mana pool in there.
And why was he doing this? Simple, to progress from the third stage Extension to the fourth stage Projection, one has to create a core from the mana in his body, which is initially the size of a marble. But that core would grow, allowing Ash to store more dormant mana, which means that Ash's passive permanent enhancement could continue to grow faster, pushing to superhuman level. Also, the reason this stage was called Projection was that Ash, at this stage, could project mana outside of his body as a beam or an orb that explodes.
But most importantly, as his core increases, his passive permanent enhancement would continue to grow, pushing all the way to the superhuman level and more. Which means that Ash could handle mana overload and do the same thing he did to Captain America's shield to, well, everything, all without injuring himself since his superhuman body could handle the unruly mana. But Ash had an ambition, he didn't want to just start at the marble stage then spend some time growing it.
No, he wants to use the dormant mana to start the process, and once he's stabilized, he would immediately and continuously increase the size of his core. Using the extremely abundant mana in the surrounding to speed his core, increasing its size, which would not only give him access to more mana, increasing his active mana state, but he could also project large attacks. And lastly, his permanent passive enhancement would immediately take off since he had so much mana. That was what Ash was doing.
After a full fish meal and with his dormant mana full again, Ash didn't rest. Instead, he got up, picked his dragon fang sword-club, and headed toward a nearby cliffside. The surface of the cliff was already marked with previous cuts and gouges from training. The snow around the area had thinned, revealing cold stone and cracked dirt from previous impacts. Wind blew softly as Ash took a deep breath, activating his mana and purging the cold from his body.
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A/N I hope you guys can differentiate between stages since i made it as clear as i could.