The lull had been extremely short. A single thought crossed Michael’s mind.

I’m glad I waited until I was mostly healed.

He had judged that completing the Dungeon as soon as possible was the highest priority objective, but choosing to continue while injured would have been a mistake that could be easily exploited. His left side was no longer a hindrance. The mushroom monsters showed no sign of high intelligence, but even an animal knew when to take advantage of a weakness. Healing beforehand had been the correct choice.

In such a fashion, the Warrior kicked at Michael’s side with its right leg. Michael crouched, then jumped over the attack. His considerable Strength stat helped him. Mid-air, he drew a cross with his wand. However, before even stabilizing itself, the enemy spun on its heel and kicked at him again, this time square in the chest. The Mana Shield formed itself as the blow arrived. It cracked. The air was knocked out of Michael’s lungs. He flew backward for a few meters, sliding on the ground once he touched it.

There was no time to catch his breath. The Mushroom Warrior’s intact fist was already shooting toward his head like a bullet. His Dragonheart beat loudly. He could feel the blood rushing through every corner of his body, heating it up and empowering it. This was the strongest he’d ever felt. Michael discarded the notion of casting another Mana Shield. He needed to attack to win. These thoughts crossed his mind in a split second. The incoming fist was fifteen centimeters away from his face.

Now.

He drew a circle in the air at the same time that he tilted his body to the side. The fist flew by the side of his head, cutting across his cheek and nicking his ear. The Mana Sphere coalesced and was shot in a second. The Warrior tried to pull back, but it had ended up too close to Michael and was off balance. The Mana Sphere hit its elbow as it was pulling its arm back, severing it entirely. Michael jumped to the side and drew another circle. The enemy now had no arms. He needed to kill it while he could.

Once again, the Warrior displayed no sign of being capable of feeling pain. It briefly turned its head to its severed arm lying on the ground, before looking back at Michael. A Mana Sphere was already on its way. The monster dashed to the side, dodging it completely, before rushing at Michael in a straight line. While this made it an easier target, it was also the fastest way to reach him. He managed to fire off another Mana Sphere. As the distance between the two of them had rapidly closed, the enemy wasn’t able to avoid this one. It dug into the side of its waist, causing no severe injury.

The opponent’s left leg slammed into the just-risen Mana Shield, cracking it and sending Michael tumbling back. Michael cast a Mana Wave, forcefully hitting the Warrior. At this distance, there was no way to dodge an area-of-effect Skill. It was something Michael had noticed and planned to fully capitalize on.

He used his Skills in quick succession, not caring about the mana expenditure. It was his highest stat, after all. Spheres and Waves were fired continuously. Simultaneously, the enemy didn’t just stand idly by. Using its speed, it closed the gap between them several times, hitting or grazing Michael’s figure each time. A cut to the shoulder. A broken rib. A slice on the cheek. In this mad dance of their creation, the two accumulated injuries rapidly.

He moved around to the best of his ability, while the Warrior seemed to do the same – which meant that it moved far more than Michael – and fought knowing it was a battle to the death. Mana Shields were broken, Mana Spheres missed, and Mana Waves singed the wooden outer layer of the enemy. The ordinary Waves weren’t enough to split the enemy as they had done in his previous battle, while there was no time to attempt to “focus” their power in such a fast-paced battle. The two opponents alternated between attack and defense at startling speeds.

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Michael breathed heavily.

I’m tired.

His Endurance was his lowest stat. It should still be higher than others on the same Level because of his Race, but this fight was too much. He had also used up much of his concentration on healing. Clarity helped, but it didn’t eliminate mental fatigue. Both his body and brain were slowing down in exhaustion. Meanwhile, the Mushroom Warrior was the same as ever, with no apparent decrease in its abilities.

It was then. The moment Michael took a step back to dodge a roundhouse kick to his face, he felt something grabbing his ankle. It made him trip and nearly fall, although he still managed to dodge. He looked down, his eyes narrowing. The thing that had grasped his leg was the upper body of the first Mushroom Warrior that had been separated at the beginning of the fight.

Damn it!

This was within his expectations, but it was still a bad development. Because of the second Mushroom Warrior, he hadn’t had the time to finish off the first, even though he had split it in half and neutralized its fighting ability. The lack of a kill notification and of the spore cloud the Warriors released upon death were telling enough. He already knew that the other Warrior was still alive, but hadn’t thought that it would affect the battle at such a crucial moment.

The second Mushroom Warrior shot toward him like a bullet. He tried to move, but the first one had his left ankle in a vice grip. Because of his Dragonheart’s empowerment, it was likely that he would be able to escape, but there was no time. His only choice was to take down the incoming enemy while being held still. He gritted his teeth. A Mana Sphere was formed at the tip of his wand, but he couldn’t risk missing it. The enemy was too close. His only choice was his last resort. The Sphere floated in place.

When the kick arrived, Michael met it with his own in an attempt to minimize the damage. He pulled his right arm out of the way, as it was holding the wand with the Skill. Instead of simply trying to withstand the blow to his ribcage, he had chosen to kick back. Their shins struck each other. He felt his own break instantly but succeeded in slowing down the enemy’s attack. The attacking leg stomped heavily on the ground, bringing the Warrior closer. It was now close enough.

With a scream, Michael swung his wand at the monster’s head. The Mana Sphere floating at its tip followed its movement… And disintegrated the middle of the Warrior’s head. In the same movement, Michael pointed it at the first one’s upper body, which was still grasping his ankle as if its life depended on it, and fired the Sphere at its head. There was no time for celebration. He hurriedly drew a cross in the air. Thankfully, the Mana Shield rose just as he was utterly enveloped by the spores. They wore away at it. He could no longer contain his pain.

“Fuck!”

His left leg had followed in his left arm’s footsteps and was now ruined. He had paid a steep price in exchange for being able to stop the kick that would have killed him. He tried to power through the pain. Clarity helped him form thoughts.

I would’ve been fine if I had only outright killed the first one.

This battle had gone a lot better than the previous one, even though he had only faced a single Warrior. He would have won without serious injuries if it weren’t for the first Mushroom Warrior. Now, he was sitting in a cloud of spores, feeling inhuman levels of pain without being able to stand up, and continuously channeling mana into the Shield in order not to breathe in the spores and suffer whatever terrible fate they brought.

Man, I’m exhausted.

He focused on healing as he watched the spores drift through the air and settle down. As soon as he could, he crawled out of the cloud and laid his back on the wall. With a vacant gaze, he watched the spores’ movements. He sighed.

“I’m going to heal completely before moving on.”

There was no way for him to even stand and dodge attacks with a broken leg.

[You have made progress towards acquiring a new Skill.]

His thoughts were broken by the System notification. At this point, the green mana was very noticeable, contrasting with the blue mana. The expenditure had shot through the roof, as instead of just an arm, it now needed to basically heal the left side of his entire body. It was to that point that even Michael, with a mana pool as massive as the one he had, was feeling the strain.

I should save up some mana in case an enemy appears. No, if an enemy shows up I’d be dead either way with these injuries. I’m going to focus on healing alone.

Time dragged by, as it did when he stopped to heal. He rested while trying as much as he could to remain alert. After a few hours, an important notification rang out.

[You have acquired a new Skill!]