SSS Awakening: I Can Create Skills By Will

Chapter 136: Return to Sender II

Another stone launched from the distance.

He slowed it out of habit, threads spreading through the air, wrapping around the spinning mass. It dragged, slowed, then hovered.

The explosion never came.

And that was the interesting part.

Intent Weave didn’t physically touch the stone. It structured space around it. The threads weren’t solid. They interfered with movement and pressure flow.

But what he was creating wasn’t impact.

It was controlled suppression.

He didn’t know the exact reason it worked that way.

He didn’t need to.

He was going to exploit it.

He let the stone crumble and began moving his hands slowly through the air.

Threads formed.

Thin at first.

Then thicker.

Not randomly. Not wildly.

Deliberate.

The explorers behind him noticed.

Ryn frowned. "What’s he doing now?"

The captain barked another order to the frontline, then glanced at Arthur. His eyes narrowed.

Arthur wasn’t just intercepting anymore.

He was weaving.

The threads curved instead of forming a flat interference field. They arched outward and looped back in. Layers upon layers, tightening at two focal points.

Arthur’s grin widened.

"If I can suppress momentum," he thought, "then I can hold it."

He studied the long range ogre in the distance. The way it loaded the stones. The way it pulled the mechanism. The angle. The release timing.

It wasn’t random strength.

It was stored tension.

A catapult.

He could do better.

He raised both hands now, fingers spread, shaping the air between two dense clusters of threads. The space shimmered faintly as his mana layered into a thick band.

Not a wall or a net this time.

But an elastic construct.

It stretched invisibly between two stabilized anchor points in the air. The middle sagged slightly under its own pressure.

He pulled it back a little.

The threads resisted.

Elastic.

Good.

He adjusted the density again. More reinforcement. More control. The field hummed softly around him.

Behind him, one of the explorers shouted, "Arthur! What are you doing?"

No answer.

Ryn squinted. "He’s smiling again."

The captain’s voice turned sharp. "Arthur!"

Arthur ignored them.

He was focused.

He tightened the threads again, making sure the structure wouldn’t collapse under sudden force. Intent Weave wasn’t meant for this. It was meant to dominate flow and suppress movement.

But suppression and redirection were cousins.

He wiped sweat from his brow without looking away from the construct.

"Come on," he murmured. "Give me a good one."

As if in response, the long range ogre roared.

The lean ogre retreated fully, pulling out of close combat and moving back toward the artillery unit.

That alone made several explorers uneasy.

"They’re planning something," the scout called out.

The long range ogre adjusted its stance.

Then it pulled.

TWANG!

Four stones launched at once.

The air tore open.

FWOOOOM!

They screamed toward the formation.

The captain’s voice thundered, "Arthur! Fall back! Don’t take that head on!"

Arthur didn’t move.

Instead, he glanced back briefly and smirked.

"Trust me."

That look made the captain pause.

"...Everyone," the captain growled, "prepare to charge."

They hesitated.

Eight seconds felt like forever.

Then...TWANG!

Another four stones followed the first.

Eight in total.

The dungeon shook as they cut through the air.

Ryn cursed under his breath. "He’s lost it."

But he didn’t run.

None of them did.

They trusted him.

Even if they didn’t understand him.

Arthur planted his feet.

The first four entered his radius.

He didn’t suppress them fully.

He guided them.

The threads wrapped around the incoming stones, not to stop, but to redirect their vectors toward the center of the elastic construct.

WHRRRR..

The stones hit the stretched intent band.

The air rippled.

For half a heartbeat, everything paused.

Then

The elastic snapped forward.

BOOOOM!

The first four stones shot backward.

Not deflected.

Launched.

Their speed doubled by stored force and rebound compression.

The explorers’ eyes widened.

"What.."

The second wave reached him.

Arthur drew the construct back again with his will. The threads tightened further, absorbing the incoming momentum without triggering detonation.

The stones hit.

The construct bent.

The air screamed.

Then it released.

BOOOOM!

The second set flew back even faster than the first.

Eight massive boulders tore across the cavern toward the long range ogre and its position.

The monsters didn’t react fast enough.

The first impact landed directly against the catapult structure.

CRASH!

Wood and bone shattered instantly.

The second and third followed.

Then..

BOOOOOOM!

This time the explosion happened where it was meant to.

At full velocity.

At multiplied speed.

The blast swallowed the artillery position in fire and debris. The shockwave rolled outward violently, shaking the entire cavern. Even from their distance, the explorers felt the pressure slam into them.

Dust and stone rained from above.

The lean ogre roared in fury as it was thrown off its feet by the blast.

Silence followed for a second.

Just dust drifting.

Arthur lowered his hands slowly.

The construct dissolved into faint threads and vanished.

Behind him, no one spoke.

Their jaws were still open.

Ryn finally let out a breath. "He... sent it back."

One of the casters whispered, "He didn’t just send it back. He improved it."

The captain stared at the explosion site where flames flickered among broken stone.

Arthur turned around casually.

"You were saying something about falling back?" he asked.

The captain blinked once, then shook his head with a short, almost disbelieving laugh. "Charge!"

The explorers roared and surged forward.

Arthur walked with them this time.

Calm.

Satisfied.

But not drunk on it.

He replayed the sensation in his mind.

The way the threads absorbed momentum.

The way tension stored inside the construct.

The way release multiplied force.

Intent Weave had never been meant for offense.

But he had bent it and reshaped it.

And it worked.

The smoke cleared further ahead, revealing shattered stone and a heavily damaged artillery position.

The Ogre had tried to overwhelm them with force.

But Arthur had returned it with interest.

As the faint translucent window flickered before his eyes, acknowledging his intent