It was time to test them on a real live target. He created ten blade disks after realising he only needed mana to create these barriers and they won't disappear unless he dispel them, they were 30 in diameter cm each.
Although they did not need mana to maintain they did need mental strength to control. He can ofcourse regenerate mental strength so that was not issue.
The issue was, there is a limit to how many or how large they could be. In this case the mental strength worked like physical strength so there was a limit to how much weight it can hold.
With his current mental strength he can control two at most if he want them to be at full power, if he adds another their strength and speed will drop significantly and he did not know how to increase ones mental strength, he just knew it was related to the soul somehow.
He whistled and Snow came running. Time to go hunting girl. She jumped into his arms and they went deeper into the forest. His ten disks were stuck on his back.
It seems his barriers can stick to him, literally and they can stick together. He has no idea how or why he just knows it does. Maybe mana with the same signature is magnetic to one another, he chose not to feel on it.
They walked a few kilometres deeper, they had passed a few beasts but they were either too weak or the gentle kind he did not want to kill for no reason.
They stopped, Snow squaked on his shoulder. Yeah buddy, there's our target. Infront of them was a bear, it was huge, probably 3 metres tall on all fours.
It was covered in thick red fur, it claws were crimson and heat radiated from it. Flame bear, he whispered. Flame bears were natural E rank beasts.
Natural E rank beasts meant they would naturally reach E rank even without effort. Every adult flame bear was an E rank. However they can grow stronger than that like every creature in the world.
The way beasts level up is different from humans and other races. They grow by either consuming beast cores, flesh of the sentient species or plants filled with mana, killing alone does not give them experience and it was a well known fact that they cannot learn abilities unrelated to their species or bloodline.
Even herbivorous beasts consume beast cores at times although their preferred method is mana plants. The bear infront of them was currently eating the flesh of a crystal antler stag, the beast core was long gone, probably ate it first to make sure it is not stolen.
The bear sniffed the air, it had smelled him. He was hidden behind the bushes but it raised it head and looked directly where he was hidden and roared.
The roar was so loud it shook the trees, birds flew away in fear. It had noticed him so there was no point in hiding. He came out and stood infront of it.
The thing stood up standing in it hind legs. It was almost six metres tall now. Truly a behemoth, jet of flames were coming out of it nostrils, it eyes red from the fury of having it meal disturbed, or maybe they were just red but the fury was still there.
With a thought, two of the ten blade disks flew out from his back and floated next to him. They were spinning so fast wind was gathering around them.
The bear opened it mouth and a huge jet of flames came flying at him. Snow jumped from his shoulder and landed on a tree branch, she was going to sit this one out it seems.
He casted a barrier infront of him, the flames jetted on the sides without touching him. When they cleared his barrier appeared without a single stretch but the ground in front of him was melted and turned into lava.
A small smile surfaced his face, he could see his growth. If this was the him before rank up,his barrier would've cracked or shattered from that attack.
Before, he could only survive against an E rank but now, he could truly hold his own. Maybe not defeat them as his means of attack are still lacking but they would probably find it almost impossible to kill him too.
He was starting to wonder why he showed such restraint for the past week, Ohhh yeah that right, he doesn't want to reveal his actual ability to others.
He felt it was truly strange for someone with perfect memory to be so forgetful but did not dwel on it. The bear roared with fury seeing his attack did not work.
It opened his mouth even wider, balls of fire came flying at him like bullets. Unlike the jet of flames these balls exploded upon contact with the barrier.
It held for a while until it shattered like glass. Before he could cast another, more balls came flying at him, he was forced to jump backwards to avoid them.
The shockwave from those explosions made him lose his footing. He watched as another ball came at him at supersonic speed. He willed his flying saucer blade disk forward.
The disk and the fire ball collided, the fire ball was cut in half and exploded. The disk continued forward but had lost most of it power.
By the time it reached the bear it was slower and weaker. It was shattered with a single claw swipe from the angry ball of fur. He sent the second one before the bear could adjust itself.
He watched it with anticipation as it drew closer to the bears neck, he watched everything in slow motion,Just as it was about to hit, the huge thing moved. It body blurred to the side in a blink.
This is an unexpected surprise, he said in his usual flat tone. Who would've expected a bear to have such an amazing movement technique.
It looked like flash. I thought beast could not even learn those types of techniques. He watched this thing closely, with caution this time. Scars were visible in it fur covered body.
This thing is an experienced fighter, it had survived many grueling battles, if he underestimate it, he could die. He could recognise what caused some of those scars. The one on it face is probably a sword.
There were also arrow scars on it body. Then there was a large claw scar on it stomach. This thing has experience fighting humans and other beast, did it learn that technique through watching humans? He finds that hard to believe but it did just use flash infront of his eyes.
He increased his vigilance, the disk was already next to him, another rose to replace the shattered one. He and his foe sized each other up, each ready to attack. A squak came from a tree then they both moved.