Lewis spent a long time simply observing the apes, surprised at how well they moved in water, their bodies having become slimmer and more flexible, making them look entirely different from the nature apes. And that's another thing, these apes were called Tidal apes, a clear distinction from the nature apes, which made him assume all the ape factions had their own thing.
It was stupid of him to go up against the nature apes without a plan, simply throwing his fists around in hopes that his superhuman strength would be enough, and it had almost gotten him killed. His growing confidence wasn't unwarranted, but it had also blinded him to the truth. He was out of his depth here and he needed to think smart if he wanted to make it through. Hoping he could use his new void control skill to overpower all his enemies was a risky and ultimately shortsighted solution.
Sure, he could deploy his arcane nullfield and nullify the tidal ape's control over the water, but he knew exactly how potent high pressure water can be, able to even cut through steel, and removing their control over water won't matter if the water is already accelerated to the point where it can pierce through his body. Sure, he was tough, a lot tougher than any human had any right to be, maybe even sturdy enough to block bullets with his bare body, but he was under no illusion that the [Tidal ape general - lvl 32] wasn't strong enough to obliterate him, arcane nullfield or not.
In fact, he felt surprised that he hadn't encountered any magic that had a physical component before. The orcs all had conjuration type magic, like blasts of kinetic force and lightning, things he could fully remove with his anti-magic. Even the flame throwers and fireballs from the goblins and dungeon were no threat to him, but what if those stone spiders had instead possessed the stone spike ability of the smaller dungeon mobs, the ones he didn't even deal with do to their low level.
If someone had launched a stone spike at him, then even if he removed the magic propelling it forward, it would still retain the same momentum as it slammed into him. The same was true for the tidal apes.
Truly, fighting them near water would be suicide, with or without his arcane nullfield. Thinking about it, Lewis realized he had become what he always hated. A brute that rushed into things head first, like those thugs that would hassle him for money, threatening to do him harm and relying on their muscles instead of their brains.
When the world had changed and the portals had opened, he had promised himself to be free, to not let himself get suppressed and controlled ever again, but more than that, he wanted to be better than the people that had ruled his life. He wanted to remove his enemies without needing to get hurt and bloodied, without needing to face them head on, instead, using the magic he was promised to turn them to ash before they could get close enough to hurt him ever again.
But all that had changed when the beautiful mystery of magic had been withheld from him, instead giving him the ability to corrupt and annihilate it, forcing him to become what he had tried to avoid, a headstrong warrior that swung first without considering the consequences.
Thinking back to the first time he had seen Matt conjure a fireball, he had found mana to be utterly incredible, a fascinating concept that he was still trying to understand. His mana detection skill let him see the invisible world of mana, the patterns that make up the spell stones, and the field that forms around a spell, but his own presence erodes that wonderful, impossible energy from his surroundings, keeping magic forever out of his reach.
But just because he couldn't directly interact with mana, doesn't mean he should give up on understanding it and thinking how a mage thinks.
It only took him a handful of minutes to come up with several ideas on how to use his abilities in new ways.
Sure, his arcane nullfield destroys mana, but that doesn't mean he can't use that to his advantage. His past exploits in causing a spell to backfire was proof that it had more potential than simply erasing mana projectiles before they could reach him. The complex patterns of the spell stones came to mind. They had been carved inside of a mana crystal, the rendition of a spell made physical. Could he perhaps replicate such a thing using his anti-mana? Creating his own spell patterns inside of mana crystals and allowing the natural mana they contain to power it?
The possibility made him excited at the prospect, but it would be something reserved for the future, when he had better learned to control his arcane nullfield and when his understanding of mana and spells had advanced. Still, the idea brought his mind into the right headspace.
His skills may be powerful, but they don't have to be a destructive bomb all the time, they could be used with precision like a tool.
The explosive power of his Unraveling strike could now blow a hole straight through a tree, but it could also create a deep pit in the ground. His mana detection was perfect for warning of incoming spells and detecting the presence of enemies, but it could also show him the flow of mana in the dense vegetation, allowing him to get a basic understanding of each plants properties and behaviors. A vine that was as tough as steel, or a mushroom that exuded a toxic aura and a thorned bush that exudes a feeling of bloodlust. All things visible to him as their inner natures were revealed based on the mana they used. And all things he should make use off to get an advantage over his enemies.
Wading into the waters to fight the apes was out of the question, so why not lure them out into the open, where he would have home-field advantage? No more rushing in blind like a low IQ street punk, it was time to play things smart.
In this case, his arcane nullfield was able to pierce through the plant's natural magical resistance, eroding the plant's internal mana in a specific area, while keeping the mana reinforcement in the rest of the plant, allowing him to slice it off at the base and use it like a length of rope. In this case, not even the natural anti-mana leakage from his body was strong enough to pierce through the plant's resistance, meaning he could easily handle the magical vine without accidentally stripping out its magical toughness, something only possible thanks to his spiritual physique allowing him to withdraw his nullfield inside of his body.
He had discovered that, unlike the constant minor mana leakage from his body, his nullfield is a far more concentrated tool when removing mana from the world; its the vessel with which he could direct and control his anti-mana externally, without it, it simply dissipated harmlessly away. Only effecting unprotected mana constructs like mana crystals, although it made him wonder if his arcane nullfield was now strong enough to invade a low level persons body, but he wouldn't be able to test that out until he got out of his place.
Using this to his advantage, he formed smaller blades of his nullfield, sinking it into the mana-bathed sticks and branches, removing its mana in specific spots and allowing for him to effortlessly reshape it into stakes and whatever other form he desired. Truly, he had been underestimating the skill, his enhanced strength meaning he could simply rub his hand across the mana stripped sections and make the wood and stone crumble like breadcrumbs, leaving him with only the mana reinforced sections he wished to keep.
As a bonus, using his nullfield in a more precise and controlled way was doing wonders for the skills level.
Skill: Arcane nullfield has reached Level 14
Skill: Arcane nullfield has reached Level 15
But his unravelling strike was also being put to good use. Not blasting holes in creatures this time, but it saved him a lot of time and effort in digging and carving through solid matter. He actually had to focus on lessening its intensity. It was shocking how tough those nature apes must have been to be able to resist such a devastating skill. A single punch to the ground caused a large hole to from, deep enough to bury a bookcase, all the dirt and rocks that used to be there simply disappearing without a sound, as if they had never existed in the first place.
Admittedly, it was far less devastating on the trees and boulders due to the mana within them, but it was still absurdly potent in terms of destructive potential.
After a few hours, his preparations were complete, the various boobytraps turning the forest into a veritable home alone minefield. The tidal apes had no idea what they were walking into. So it was time to get them to leave their watery safe zone. Lewis was thankful that even creating massive furrows in the ground didn't produce any significant sound; his skills entirely silent, allowing him to prepare right up close to the river bank with the apes being none the wiser.
Finally stepping out of cover, he descended the bank, walking onto the sand strip between the water and jungle, a handful of spears carved from mana dense wood as he moved to poke the hornets nest, just like he had done when throwing rocks at the weaker nature apes, but this time, he had a plan.
He had done plenty of reconnaissance and knew that there were around twenty five tidal apes (it was hard to tell since they could sometimes dive underwater), with the leader being the taller slim level 32 general. He seemed to have the best command over water out of them all, and as such, he might be the most reluctant to leave the water. Therefore, Lewis decided to first target the weaker apes, grabbing one of his spears, taking advantage of his greatly improved strength and dexterity as he launched it through the air. The weapon slicing across the distance with the force of a falling truck, landing true as it impacted an unaware ape doodling in the sand on the opposite bank, his chest exploding as a watermelon sized hole formed from the spears impact, dragging the level 12 ape backwards for a few meters, forming a thick line of blood in the sand.
The gazes of all the apes lazily splashing in the clear blue waters or sunbathing on the white sand instantly snapped to the sudden attack before tracing its source to the opposite side of the river where Lewis stood, already launching a second and third spears.
The tidal apes began screeching in a high pitched cry of anger and outrage, lunging into the water as they shot towards him like torpedo's, the water carrying them towards him at immense speeds, surprising Lewis despite him knowing they would be powerful in their home turf. Still, he didn't hesitate, his initial attack had gotten two of the apes, the third spear having missed, but that was already better than he expected.
He kept one spear back, leveling it at the rapidly advancing figures as he backed up into the jungle, needing to make sure they would follow him as the first apes sprung from the water, emerging like leaping dolphins as orbs of water formed around them, shooting out towards Lewis like bullets.
Prepared for this, he extended his nullfield before him in a line the length of a car, using it like a whip as the invisible nullfield moved with surprisingly fluidity, his efforts to better control the field paying off as the invisible whip intercepted the water projectiles, unravelling their shapes, although as expected, they continued flying at him at high speed. But he was able to more easily dodge out of the way, knowing that even if he got slashed, the force would be greatly dispersed, allowing him to deduce the risk of being tripped up or hurt as he acted scared and thrust his spear at the apes, pretending to ward them off.
The tidal apes seemed surprised that they had lost control over their projectiles as their eyes widened, but Lewis didn't retaliate or appear to be causing it, instead playing defensive as he repeatedly blocked all their attempts with his invisible nullfield while moving franticly to ward them off with his spear, making them visibly angry as a dozen apes appeared out of the water. More than he would be able to deal with, but he had pissed them off and trampled their pride enough that he knew they would follow as he rushed into the jungle. Leaving the river behind, the apes didn't even hesitating to follow, thinking his fleeing form was a sign of weakness as they abandoned their river and followed into the jungle. Assuming his only weapon was his spear, not knowing it was he who disrupted their control over their high pressure water projectiles.
The hunt was on, they just didn't realize they were the prey.