How big is this goddamn dungeon, Lev tensely thought, ambling forward. Nothing had attacked him for the past ten minutes, and the fear of monsters watching him from afar had firmly taken root in his mind.
It came as a great relief when he deftly dove down to avoid a long, curved, and bladed arm. Overloading his armor, Lev quickly backtracked as four huge arms tried to skewer him from above, hitting the dirt ground with enough force to create small craters.
Two fire slashes raced to where Lev expected the monster's body to be. Both of them impacted something colossal, clearing the mist for a few meters around the large creature.
[Mistcrawler Juggernaut - Level 202]
The only reason Lev wasn't panicking was that the monster was pretty slow. Nearly seven meters in height, it trotted forward on six legs like a crab with almost no sound. With four scythe arms and a humanoid torso, the pale, elusive monster looked intimidating enough to send rivulets of sweat rolling down Lev's back.
Yet he was determined to take it down. Scores of arrows formed above him and four shields in front of him. Fire mana streamed into the former as earth mana imbuement increased the durability of his shields considerably.
Before Lev could even charge forward, the juggernaut swung its arms at the shields, its reach longer than he expected.
To evaluate the threat of the scythe arms, all of his shields enchanted with durability blocked the four arms. Contrary to his expectations, two of them were pierced through the pointy ends, and the other two were almost cut in twain.
Yeah, melee is a big nono for now, Lev thought from afar and fired all the conjured arrows. Filled with fire, they exploded on impact, blowing away the mist with their small shockwave and leaving flesh wounds on the juggernaut.
Seeing they weren't working, Lev formed two large lances and enchanted their tips with sharpness runes before topping them off with fire. Six shields formed alongside them and threw themselves at the now-wary monster. It only used two of its arms to bat them aside until Lev himself charged in with Stargazer.
Two fire slashes flew at it in quick succession, forcing it to block with its remaining arms. Half of his shields were already behind the monster and in contact with its body, giving him the juggernaut's accurate location.
The lances both hit it squarely in the chest before exploding in unison. With its chest torn open and core blown to bits, it was dead before its body hit the ground.
[
You have slain [Mistcrawler - Level 202]
Mana Tempest has reached Level 163
]
… Rest in pieces, core.
Lev floated back down and turned around, having barely felt two presences approaching behind him. The mistcralwer fiends charged at once after they were detected, closing in from both sides.
Stargazer ready in his hands, Lev focused on the one on his right. Mana overloaded his arm as he reached the fiend in a giant leap and swung from outside its range while holding the edge of the glaive's pole. The monster darted back in a successful dodge and raced forward to coordinate an attack with the other fiend, only for the mist to work against them.
Lev leaned to the right, letting its bone arm scrape against his armored cheek and fly past while two heavy, hidden chains descended from above on the other monster, piercing its sides with their bladed end.
He didn't spare any quarter and darted in, thrusting Stargazer in the shoulder of the fiend in front of him and releasing a large burst of fire mana. Before it could gather its bearings, Lev beheaded it. Ten fire arrows flew at the second immobilized fiend, held in place by his chains that were straining to keep it still, and put it down as well.
[
You have slain [Mistcrawler Fiend - Level 180]
You have slain [Mistcrawler Fiend - Level 181]
]
While he harvested the cores, Lev's thoughts kept circling back to a dreadful direction. The crawlers were not nearly as threating as he was expecting, and even if their numbers remained to be seen, the juggernaut was the perfect target for practice.
For some time now, he could feel his arcane brawling skill slowly becoming softer and more malleable. Lev now knew it was close to a breakthrough, and that the skill would evolve into something immensely useful.
To that end, he needed to dance around the juggernaut's arms. Even better if there were two of those monsters forcing him to avoid being skewered like the annoying fly he planned to be.
Joy. The skill better be something amazing, or I'm gonna be a sad little barrier mage.
The hesitation was slowly vanishing. Knowing what to expect, he was a little more at peace with the whole situation. He just had to dance with death- nothing he couldn't handle.
Hopefully.
****
Seven more mistcrawlers perished before Lev found something beyond his capabilities. Not the magical kind.
Three juggernauts ganged up on him as Lev was slowly advancing further in a straight line. They appeared without warning, somehow hiding all sounds and vibrations produced by their huge bodies.
Lev desperately backpedaled as scythe arms rained down from above. Weaving between the attacks that would most likely pass through both him and his armors, he barely avoided death as the monsters got better at predicting his attacks.
Seeing the situation taking a turn for the worse, Lev launched an overloaded fire slash at the two monsters on his right. The attack was blocked before it could land but the sheer explosive power of the slash sent them skidding back for several meters.
Dodging the arms of the last juggernaut, Lev flew up and took a good look at the monsters.
[Mistcrawler Juggernaut - Level 205]
[Mistcrawler Juggernaut - Level 208]
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[Mistcrawler Juggernaut - Level 208]
Gold ranked dungeon my ass.
Five large shields formed around him as earth mana streamed out of the converter, channeled to the thick, round creations. Durability runes were carved next, and received a large amount of mana to increase the resilience of the shields.
With a deep breath, Lev exhaled his fears and readied Stargazer. The shields took the lead, and he followed behind them. The closest juggernaut rushed him without missing a beat, two arms thrust forward to impale him, and the other two swung in a wide arc to block his retreat.
Lev had no plans to retreat. Earth mana imbued the shields at the last moment, blocking the scythe arms with only deep gouges on their surface, opening up the juggernaut's insectoid face for Stargazer.
Lev refrained from using mana slash and avoided ending the fight too quickly, cutting several inches into its neck with a mighty hack. Without the sharpness formation active, there was no blood geyser to show for the attack but that was fine.
The other juggernauts reached him while Lev blocked more and more scythe arms while hacking its torso, forcing him to abandon his practice swings and weave between the descending bladed arms.
His shields always stayed in front of him as Lev flew in circles around them. Letting them circle around him would be the worst possible scenario, and he always kept the juggernauts in his peripheral to avoid any surprises.
Lev slapped away a limb with Stargazer and repaired the nicked blade as his shields blocked another two to his left before he decided to press the attack. The general skill wouldn't show up if he simply kept dodging and blocking.
Shields primed, Lev dashed toward the monster furthest from the others. Three of its arms were deflected by his shields. Stargazer met the last. With sharpness formation active and supporting the fire coalesce rune, barrier met bone. Bone lost, and the severed limb fell to the ground.
Ignoring the pained roar from the giant mistcrawler, Lev spun mid-air and swung Stargazer at its neck with all his might. The blade cut deep into its flesh and stopped dead on the bone but a fire slash was already flowing out of the blade.
For a brief instant, Lev could observe the juggernaut's head fly off into the distance before he was thrown back by the blinding explosion. Quickly taking control over his flight, Lev blocked the incoming attacks from the remaining juggernauts to the best of his ability.
Two shields blocked scythe arms in time to prevent his heart and head from being pierced. Lev veered to the right and leaned back to two avoid another two but one last arm dug into his left leg.
A scream tore out of his throat as the scythe shattered the barrier armor and pierced the illusion armor before effortlessly cutting through flesh and bone and jutting out of the other side.
The scythe arm moved, and he was moved along with it and thrown high into the air. Overwhelmed by pain and anger as he was, Lev didn't even realize the monster had almost severed his leg. He simply formed a thick barrier thread and tied the damaged leg tightly above the injury to prevent blood loss.
Tears of agony and hatred flowed down his cheeks as the durability rune on his armor was replaced by the enhancement formation. Stargazer vanished in his ring as a large, spiked mace formed in his hands. Earth mana flooded into it like a river as Lev descended.
He swung his mace against the first apporaching scythe arm, deflecting it and breaking it in the proecess. The monster roared but Lev didn't even register the sound.
Weaving between the arms of the remaining two monsters, his enhancement came alive as Lev kicked the juggernaut's face with his intact leg. Its head and torso rocked back as it stumbled for several steps. Before it could stabilize itself, his mace landed on its torso with the force of a cannonball.
The juggernaut doubled over, spewing a large stream of blood from its mouth. Lev didn't get a chance to do anything further as he danced around the other monster's long limbs.
Annoyance fueled his next actions as earth mana imbued Lev's arm. Getting closer, he grabbed a scythe arm and yanked the monster forward. Unprepared, it stumbled forward a step and received a gauntlet on its ghastly face. Several things happened in that instant, and Lev even felt his flight change, but he didn't have the time to confirm anything.
The other monster had found its bearings already and was on him. Twisting out of the way of its lunge, he deftly broke another one of its limbs with his mace. The move felt natural, as if it was suddenly a part of something greater.
Like a leaf in the wind, he dodged their combined assault with only his own improved movements, waiting for the right moment. Twirling to avoid three scythes heading for him at once, he grabbed one of them again and pulled the monster closer while precisely redirecting its scythe arm in the meantime.
Unable to stop itself in time, the scythe arm of the monster passed through the opposite juggernaut's head. The flesh and bone of the sturdy monster did nothing against the sharpness of the bladed appendage and the weight of the juggernaut backing it.
[
You have slain [Mistcrawler Juggernaut - Level 208]
]
The other notifications and a skill evolution were ignored as Lev approached the last juggernaut with a mace in hand. It screeched, indignant. He effortlessly dodged its flailing limbs and flew closer, significantly faster than before, and caved its head in.
[
You have slain [Mistcrawler Juggernaut - Level 208
Mana Tempest has reached Level 164
Arcane Brawling has evolved into Aerial Maneuvers
Aerial Maneuvers - 2nd Level 1:
Practice makes perfect. The skill vastly increases your speed above ground. Flight speed is increased by 55%.
2nd Rank: Weapon handling is significantly enhanced. Chaining attacks by utilizing momentum is aided greatly.
]
Lev didn't stop to celebrate. The illusion armor vanished, and he summoned a thick barrier stick between his teeth. Gritting them as hard as he could, Lev pushed the chunk of flesh and bone hanging loosely on his leg back into its original place.
He closed his eyes, constantly streaming tears, not looking at the wound directly to avoid hyperventilating, and took out a healing potion. Unscrewing the cap and feeding himself took all of a few seconds, and all the while, he had kept his left leg tightly tied with a barrier thread.
Liquid fire coursed through the limb as the healing took effect, yet Lev didn't let himself falter. It was incredibly important to keep the bone in place so it wouldn't heal incorrectly.
For minutes, whimpers escaped his lips as the bone reconnected before the flesh was finally restored. Lev just sat there, head on his knees as he tried to get over the pain. When the phantom pain in his body finally stopped, he stood up and checked the integrity of his leg.
The bone hadn't healed completely. Lev could feel it scraping against flesh from inside without impeding his movement. The error seemed to be slight, but it still necessitated a visit to a healer.
With a sigh, he sat back down and waited for his mana to regenerate. The fight had brought it lower than 60%, and it would take some time to top off.
He didn't enter a meditative state. Mistcrawlers could show up at any moment, and Lev wanted to be prepared for all times. Stargazer in hand, he didn't use any mana to avoid detection and waited.
Hours passed quickly. Nothing attacked him, and for once, he was disappointed. Once the anger and pain had passed, he was itching to try out the new general skill. Just the new flight speed boost was enough to raise his excitement.
Combined with the boost from Heavier Lifting and the skill's 3rd rank effect, he could truly fly like an arrow now.
Drinking a bit of water out of his refillable bottle, Lev decided to check it outside of combat first.
Flying a few meters above ground, he overloaded his armor naturally and then his flight skill. Enhancement formation joined in, ready to simply empower his forward movement.
With a small mental nudge, he was off in a blur. Lev accelerated past his previous speed in a blink, shooting forward in a straight line fast enough to cause a small shockwave from his acceleration. What would've taken him five minutes to cover before only took just three, telling him in no uncertain terms that he was incredibly fast now, even compared to classes specialized in flight.
Hell yeah! It won't be long before I can travel between cities however I see fit.
That was a goal he wanted to achieve before becoming a Master. While Lev wasn't particularly competitive, even he wanted to know how he compared to others of his level. Sure, he had some data to reference about other mages of his level, but they were not the best Monarch had to offer. Some of the best would be found in the Haven, with whatever games and tournaments were going on in there.
But he didn't want to travel by carts ever again. Just being carried by Drakys twice was enough to decide that. In a few dozen levels, his Wisdom would be high enough to travel without having to worry about mana cost, and then he could fly to anywhere he wanted in a few days or less.
That was still a ways off, though. There were only two platinum dungeons, and he could only delve them so often. Having faced the core guardian, Lev no longer had any desire to hunt in the dreadwoods before evolving. Monarch knew what kind of abominations would be attracted by his presence there.
