CHAPTER 76.

For a moment, Amber’s vision blurred, but the crystals around the room flickered, and even though her senses had been dulled from Sharp Instincts being suddenly incredibly supressed, she knew⁠— she understood that she had to move as soon as possible.

She mustered a feeble dash from Quick Dash, the skill almost becoming useless and then⁠— a flash of white light hit where she had just been standing. Her eyes widened for a moment before it⁠— exploded.

[Elemental Resistance has leveled up from 3rd Rank level 9 to 3rd Rank level 10.]

Her resistance leveled and Amber was sent flying rolling across the ground, luckily, her Legacy Branch skills weren’t completely useless, suffering about the same suppression as the 4th Rank skills, but things were bad. She had also managed to store her sword before it went flying across the room.

“This sucks⁠—” Amber coughed up blood.

She forced her Essence to heal her broken bones, and while it was wholly unaffected by the⁠— whatever the fuck the boss had just done⁠— the same couldn’t be said about her other skills. Recovery of Curses was barely working, Crimson Fervor, Crimson Fuel, Cursed Supreme Momentum and Cursed Supreme Berserker’s Body had essentially lost a third of their effectiveness, and Crimson Break’s effect had straight up been halved.

It was all in all⁠ a terrible situation—

Amber dashed away from another white laser that destroyed everything in its path, cutting through rock as if it was nothing⁠, then⁠— the explosion came. She was sent flying, unable to get enough space to avoid the blast.

She landed rolling⁠.

[Physical Resistance has leveled up from 3rd Rank level 9 to 3rd Rank level 10.]

Another resistance leveled⁠—

And Amber’s eyes widened as another white light cut overhead, this time it completely missed her as it cut in a horizontal manner, but she tried to move in a rush because⁠—

And it exploded.

Multiple bones broke at once as she was sent flying like a ragdoll.

[Magical Resistance has leveled up from 3rd Rank level 9 to 3rd Rank level 10.]

The mere shockwave from the blast was a deadly thing, but now with all her skills being useless it was basically fatal, magical resistance didn’t do anything to make it better. She came to a stop as she tried to get up only to find her both of her legs broken along with one of her arms, she couldn’t feel her jaw either, but Amber⁠— pushed.

She pushed her Essence into all her body at once, as it lit up with a pale blue light⁠— but she focused it all on healing. In an instant, multiple bones snapped into place and as soon as she could move⁠— she lunged away using all her strength.

Amber felt some muscles tear, and a moment later nothing came. She paused into a stumble as she turned towards the Abyssal Briroar who had smoke coming out of its maw and was now free of the Curse of Consuming Flames. Amber sent a Fulminating Slash at it, but it basically did nothing to it. Then, the boss roared at her and Amber saw an all too familiar notification.

[Momentum within the space shifts.]

Shit⁠—

And she barely backed off as the spot where she had just been standing was carved out by the headbutt of the boss monster. But before she could react, it whipped its tail at ridiculous speeds. She thrown around like a doll when a new notification came, or rather⁠— two came.

[Recovery of Curses has ranked up. Recovery of Curses is now 4th Rank level 1.]

And, two ranks had changed.

2nd Rank ⁠— Twice a day, the skill can enter overdrive, doubling its effect for 30 minutes.

4th Rank ⁠— The closer to death you are the more effective the skill becomes.

Amber immediately used the 2nd Rank finding it to no longer be completely useless, and the 4th Rank basically made her bones instantly snap back into place. However, it didn’t make much of a difference because⁠—

The monster rammed into her.

She felt her bones be crushed as she was sent into yet another chamber⁠ with breaking rocks. Amber landed in a rolling mess of blood⁠— all while her body forcefully jolted her consciousness awake by healing her tremendous injuries in a mere second.

I’m dying. She could just tell, otherwise the 4th Rank of Recovery of Curses wouldn’t be working that hard to keep her alive. And at this pace, she was going to die if she didn’t change anything. She gritted her teeth and managed to get out of the way just in time for a silver fireball to strike.

Burning stone exploded in all directions, landing as it melted to the silver flames, and Amber reached, this was her opportunity to change things.

“No pain no gain or whatever the fuck⁠—”

And she grunted her as her hand burned in tremendous pain. Her Essence was hard at work to keep her alive, and she could feel her core slowly shifting⁠— or doing something as the healing improved. She also felt her senses sharpened and in response to that, she dashed away.

The spot where she had just been standing exploded, rocks pelted at her and Amber mid stumble, turned to see the Abyssal Briroar which opened is maw and she⁠— swiped.

Fulminating Slash.

It hit its maw and caused it to let out an angry growl, and this time having recovered a lot more, she managed to react by summoning the Cursewelder to block⁠— the tail of the Abyssal Briroar struck and she was sent against the wall behind her.

In a single moment, more notifications came as her pain lessened.

[Elemental Resistance has ranked up. Elemental Resistance is now 4th Rank level 1.]

[Physical Resistance has ranked up. Physical Resistance is now 4th Rank level 1.]

[Magical Resistance has ranked up. Magical Resistance is now 4th Rank level 1.]

4th Rank ⁠— Elemental attacks from the same source grow weaker the more they damage you.

…

4th Rank ⁠— Physical attacks from the same source grow weaker the more they damage you.

…

4th Rank ⁠— Magical attacks from the same source grow weaker the more they damage you.

Her resistances had, once again, become useful. Amber pushed her healing as she felt her warm core, then, she got out of the way as the wall next to her exploded from the charge of the monster. But this time, she didn’t run, instead she turned and Abyssal Briroar and rushed. Even if Quick Dash was half useless, it still helped her reach the side of the monster.

And she cleaved, followed by Fulminating Slash, she tore a hole into the side of the monster⁠— a very shallow one⁠— and stuck her hand into it, using Crimson Fuel.

Burn⁠⁠—

In an instant, she felt herself be healed like never before and the monster⁠— roared. Flames exploded in all directions pushing Amber back and burning her considerably. The injuries would have been a lot worse if it weren’t for the 4th Rank resistances. However, Amber frowned.

Just what am I supposed to do then…? No, the answer to her was obvious. Her skills were doing jack-shit to the monster, so the clear answer was Essence. However, all it was doing right now was keeping her alive, and at the same time⁠—

I have no opportunities to try using flames either, Fulminating Slash is essentially useless too. I can’t ignite my core like this.

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Amber frowned, she needed an opportunity, something to delay the monster⁠— and it clicked. She remembered her offered class skill.

I can replace a 4th Rank skill with it, and have it begin at 4th Rank. While it wasn’t something she had done before, she knew it would work.

[New Core Skill! For reaching level 150 as a Cursed Supreme One you have been offered Curse Reignition⁠ — level 1.

You’ve grown adept to inflicting curses upon your enemies. However, not every enemy bears their curses forever. Now, you can reignite said curses upon your target. This skill can be used once a day. The higher the skill level the lower its cooldown.]

It’s an incredibly good skill for my situation. Amber looked towards the basically curseless Abyssal Briroar. If I use it on it…

Amber readied herself, right now, she had two skills as potential candidates to replace, and they were Cursed Cleave, and Cursed Stomp, and while she was leaning towards Cursed Stomp, she could directly replace Cursed Cleave⁠— also Cursed Stomp was invaluable against mages even if it was useless in other aspects more often than not.

So, she made her decision.

Amber immediately cleaved at the Abyssal Briroar, causing it to spit a silvery deluge of flames, and she cleaved again, angering it further and causing it to chase after her. Whatever its momentum skill thing it was, it wasn’t active. So instead, it chased after her and breathed its silver flames upon her.

All while Amber ran from the monster and cleaved⁠, she ran around pillars and weaved inbetween rocks to gain distance but the Abyssal Briroar charged through it all. Then⁠— it used its momentum thing, managing to strike Amber and break her bones. But this time, she managed to recover and not land in a perpetual state of being thrown around.

She continued cleaving at the monster until⁠—

A new notification came.

[The currents of fire open.]

And with a stomp from the monster, Amber was forced to dodge to the side as a pillar of silver flames⁠— exploded through the ground. Her eyes widened as she was lightly burned and then⁠— the monster stomped away.

She barely stumbled out of the way and the currents of fire continued coming. In mere seconds, the room turned into a white hell, one that had lava raining from the ceiling, and one that constantly burned Amber as she desperately tried to get out of the way. Her core was burning⁠— all because of how desperately she was trying to heal herself from all the damage she was taking.

Amber did her best to dash away from everything, all while she sent Cursed Cleaves at the Abyssal Briroar. However, that did nothing as the monster continued to stomp.

She weaved between the pillars of flames, all while her feet were constantly burning to the now silver burning ground. She sent another cleave to the monster and that was when she made a mistake.

Amber’s eyes widened as she saw the ground beneath her opening, and she couldn’t use Quick Dash. But even then, feeling the heat beneath her feet she knew that this attack⁠— this attack would put her out of the fight, and it would probably get her killed.

Dash⁠, she screamed inwardly, dash⁠—

And she teleported across the room as a notification came.

[Quick Dash has ranked up. Quick Dash is now 4th Rank level 1.]

4th Rank ⁠— the teleport cooldown has been halved.

The 4th Rank was great, however, what it represented was even greater. She could now use the 3rd Rank of Quick Dash ⁠— she could teleport from perilous situations once more ⁠— it was something that made her grin.

Amber immediately stepped out of the way, and then sent a cleave at the monster. However, this time, she didn’t continue dodging. No⁠— she rushed towards the Abyssal Briroar, and cleaved.

The monster in response, stomped faster and faster, Amber was singed by the silver flames as she tried to fight back and then it roared unleashing a ring of silver flames and expanding it outwards.

In response, Amber used the 3rd Rank of Quick Dash and landed past it and right below the Abyssal Briroar.

She immediately cleaved with the Cursewelder, tearing a small hole into its chest. The monster didn’t stomp, instead it tried to claw at her, but Amber weaved inbetween the strikes and continued cleaving. She carved at its flesh until⁠— it happened.

[Cursed Cleave has ranked up. Cursed Cleave is now 4th Rank level 1.]

And Amber replaced the skill, lamenting just getting rid of Cursed Cleave like that. However, the upgrade ranks of the new skill were the most technical she had ever seen but also…

[New Core Skill! You have learned ⁠Curse Reignition⁠ 4th Rank — level 1.

You’ve grown adept to inflicting curses upon your enemies. However, not every enemy bears their curses forever. Now, you can reignite said curses upon your target. This skill can be used every 3 hours. The higher the skill level the lower its cooldown

2nd Rank ⁠— Curses can now be reignited even if they are still present in the target, multiplying the amount of curses on the target by 1.5 times.

3rd Rank ⁠— Reignited curses come back with twice the intensity, if 2nd Rank is used this effect does not apply.

4th Rank ⁠— If the target is killed by the reignition, the same curses can be reignited on a different target. ]

They are great⁠— no, they are fucking amazing.

Amber upon gaining the skill understood its intricacies. While she wasn’t delusional to think she could use the 4th Rank against the Abyssal Briroar, its 4th Rank was basically a Curse Battery that refunded itself if it killed the target. And its 2nd Rank made it apply to any curse, rather than curses that ended on their own. After all, the skill judged each curse individually and applied its effects per curse.

But that didn’t matter, because the Abyssal Briroar had extinguished all of the curses from its body, meaning it was the absolute best case scenario.

Amber immediately raised her hand and touched the monster⁠—

“Reignite,” she called, unleashing all the pent up rage in Cursed Rage Synergy.

And the abyssal monster burst up in flames as it unleashed a screech for the first time since the battle began, blood splattered in all directions as it fell to one knee, nearly squeezing her. Then, Amber used the 3rd Rank of Quick Dash to get as much distance from the monster as she possibly could.

She wasn’t foolish enough to think the monster would die from that. No, she wasn’t going to make that mistake again, or even assume it would make a significant difference.

She dashed back, making as much distance from the monster as possible before she clapped her hands followed by a whisper.

“Fire.”

Her Essence flared, and her core immediately reacted to what she was doing. But she didn’t pay that any mind, instead she pulled her hands apart, creating a bow of flames once more⁠— in a much faster way than ever before. But Amber didn’t care about that, instead she began to form the fire arrow as she pulled back.

At first, it looked like a mass of flames, but soon it gained shape. Soon it became incandescent. Soon it began to consume the air around it. And soon, it became a weapon that could heavily injure any monster at her level.

But Amber didn’t stop there. She couldn’t stop there.

She had to do more.

* * *

Sid'fril paused as he watched the battle from his throne. So far, he had been convinced that Amber wasn’t her, that she wasn’t the next person that would earn his true, but he was wrong.

He was wrong because of what he was seeing.

“Amber, just what are you…”

Now, no longer did he think the elf was crazy for asking her to become his disciple. Now, he no longer thought the prodigy claims were too much praise. Now, he realized his mistakes.

Amber was something else.

And for the first time in centuries, his heart beat in excitement at the sight.

* * *

Amber pushed herself to draw more as her core became incandescent

The Abyssal Briroar screeched as the flames around its body subsided. And from the curtain of smoke that was ahead, Amber saw the all-too-familiar glittering white. It was the attack that summoned light of impossible spectrums, and it was coming.

But all Amber did in response was narrow her eyes.

Just like many times before, my life is depending on this to work.

However, in spite of seemingly hoping for a lucky breakthrough⁠— enlightenment. Amber was confident in succeeding, even without a sudden revelation. She now knew a lot more things about Essence than ever before. No⁠— she knew a lot more things about her Essence, and that was why she would succeed.

To push my limits, that is my Essence⁠— that is a core axiom of my life. Her Essence flared like never before.

During her time in Vir, she had risked many things, she had learned many things, and seen many things. And one of the few things that were engraved in her mind was Ill’hine. Not its environment, but the things she saw.

The gigantic creatures, the powers that existed, even the races. It was all so much different than Vir, and it was all so much more different than anything she had seen before. But it was because of that sight she understood something.

She saw the Abyssal Briroar as it still prepared its attack.

In the end, you are nothing compared to what is out there.

And while she wasn’t any stronger than the Abyssal Briroar, she was going to be. She was sure she would be, and that was because⁠—

I want to break my limits.

The flames slowly began to shift as more Essence was drawn into the bow, they slowly turned into a shade of crimson.

I want to become more than what I already am.

The flames went from crimson to purple as she began to feel her core shaking.

I want to become a god⁠— and I want to go beyond that.

The flames became a vibrant blue as the Essence supply from the cube began to dwindle⁠— flicker intermittently.

“And it is because of that, that you need to…”

Amber took a deep breath, and the Abyssal Briroar fired its beam of death.

“Die.”

And loosed the blue arrow⁠—

In a single moment, the Cube of Stars gave out, her core was hit like a hammer burning brightly and the arrow cut through the white⁠— destroying it in an instant and then, hit.

The room exploded. The ceiling, the floor, the pillars around⁠— Everything melted from the blue fire that consumed it all, and the explosion continued upwards, surging and melting apart the floor with much more strength than the whatever the Abyssal Briroar could muster.

The flames consumed everything in their path, and Amber dropped to her knees panting.

She had done it.

She stared ahead at the blue inferno, as she saw the disintegrating shadow of the boss monster.

She had killed it.

Amber smiled and the flames at her core⁠— snuffed. The once burning nucleus completely died.

What?

Amber paused and then, heard a tremble. Followed by another, and another. She raised her head as she saw the writhing— no, moving shadow within the flames.

Amber paused and a roar echoed⁠—

Then, something that she didn't expect or could ever fathom happened. Abyssal Briroar stepped out of the blue flames.

It was burning, its flesh was melting, however the flames on it were quickly dying out.

The Abyssal Briroar was alive.

Very much so. Amber paled.

And it roared as a familiar system notification came.

[Momentum within the space shifts.]