CHAPTER 155: EYES OF SPACE

The scaly centipede monster shot out of the ground, throwing chunks of snow in every direction.

The ground trembled beneath its massive body as it broke free from the frozen earth, its long self twisting and coiling like a living mountain of white scales.

Snow scattered into the air as the beast reared back, hissing like a snake.

Lucius stood still, watching the monster through the dim blur of his spatial vision.

’Even though I understand what these equations mean...’ he thought, his head aching as endless geometric lines and coordinates danced through his vision. ’How can I take advantage of them?’

He guessed the bloodline affinity allowed him to know what these elements were... most were what kind of elements existed in the centipede, for example the bones were made of Calcium like regular bones but with a bunch of other stuff as well which made them mutated.

This ability would have been more fitting for someone that liked pursuing science but for someone as inherently lazy as him, it wouldn’t work out too well.

He blinked, the glow in his eyes shifting a bit.

The monster was coiling tighter, its huge body flexing and segments grinding against each other like plates of moving armor. It felt like it wanted to rest...

Through the chaos of lines and shapes, Lucius noticed something... It was an irregularity, a gap between two thick bone plates near its midsection highlighted with a pale crimson glow.

’I feel this is a weakness,’ he thought, spreading his senses further.

More points appeared across the creature’s body, each were clear in the web of space around him. ’And all of these are weaknesses.’

Even though the System description didn’t say anything about the Eyes of Space "showing weaknesses" the understanding came to him instinctively... like breathing.

He didn’t waste time. He raised his hand, and tiny orbs of space formed at every weak point he could perceive.

The air around him bent and trembled, light curving unnaturally as the orbs condensed.

"Boom," he muttered under his breath.

He snapped his fingers.

Instantly, each orb expanded, compressing space in on itself before detonating outward.

A series of explosions erupted inside the monster’s body, echoing like thunder trapped underground.

The shockwaves tore through bone and flesh, blasting holes through the creature’s armored hide.

The centipede screeched in agony. Its massive mouth opened wide, and a wave of freezing air poured out, washing over the clearing.

Lucius didn’t wait... he launched himself upward, bursting out of the monster’s maw just before it clamped shut again.

’I’m free of that goddamn smell!’

Spinning in the air, he stared up at the writhing behemoth.

The creature’s body spanned the entire clearing, easily coiled around several times over.

It was enormous... larger than the GRIMMAW Guild’s entire building back in Northcrest.

The snowstorm had thinned here, but the cold was biting enough to sting his skin.

’Fucking big,’ Lucius thought as he exhaled a frosty breath.

The centipede’s multiple eyes glowed an icy blue, each one locked on him.

It screamed again, the sound of the scream sounded like steel grinding against each other.

"Unfortunately, only one of us can be here," Lucius said calmly, lifting a hand.

His eyes glowed with light as the spatial equations intensified around him.

There was a pale dot in the middle of the monster’s head.

Like before, he didn’t need the System to tell him what it was.

He instinctively knew that was the weak point.

The ground quaked. Bone plating on the monster’s back split open and reformed into massive javelin-like spikes.

They shot through the air at incredible speed, cutting through the wind with a deafening shriek. Lucius didn’t even move.

The javelins shattered before they reached him, disintegrating as they touched the invisible barrier of Infinity.

Lucius grinned. "It’s been a while since I did this."

He lifted his right hand and pointed directly at the glowing weak spot.

"Spatial Distortion."

Normally, the spell only created a controlled ripple... an unstable zone that bent light and force and it wasn’t particularly strong too.

But this time, the air warped violently.

The coordinates of space twisted like thread snapping under pressure.

The distortion collapsed inward into a single point... then expanded.

A black void formed on the monster’s head, crushing everything it touched. The beast didn’t even have time to scream.

Its entire skull crumpled like paper, imploding under the sheer force before bursting into fine mist.

The centipede’s body spasmed once and then went limp, crashing to the ground with a quake that shook the entire frozen field.

Lucius hovered for a moment before descending, landing softly on the cold snow.

’And that’s another spell down for the count...’ he thought, taking slow breaths. At this point, his average space spells would be too volatile to use in regular spars.

He deactivated the Eyes of Space and blinked as normal sight returned.

Color flooded back into the world, but his head was pounding.

His body trembled from exhaustion and every muscle in his body ached... He could guess this was the after effect of this.

He glanced at the corpse sprawled across the field... it looked like a frozen mountain of shattered bone and frost.

"I’m tired," he muttered under his breath.

The words left his mouth as white vapor.

He could barely stand straight.

Using the Eyes of Space didn’t just drain mana... it consumed endurance, willpower, and focus.

His entire body felt heavy, like he’d been fighting for days without rest.

He dropped to his knees, panting. "I need something to eat..."

Lucius reached toward his inventory tab instinctively but then groaned.

"Oh, right. I didn’t store any food." He wiped some blood off his face with the back of his hand and looked at the massive corpse beside him. "Figures."

’System, is this edible?’ he asked.

[Depends...]

Lucius stared blankly at the message hovering in front of him. "Depends? What the hell do you mean depends?"

[Centipede meat contains trace amounts of frozen mana. Improperly cooked, it may cause organ crystallization.]

He frowned. "Organ crystallization? You mean... turning into ice?"

[Yes.]

Lucius sighed and dropped backward onto the snow, staring up at the gray sky. "Great... I kill a monster and can’t even eat it. What a waste."