You have defeated Formica Sub Terra, level 13.
You have defeated Formica Sub Terra, level 17.
You have defeated Formica Sub Terra, level 15.
Through effort, you have raised Piercing Throw to level 5.
“Ahahaha!”
Lucius flew through the air without reservation. With his Magic Power raised to forty points, plus the five points from his ring and the twenty points provided by mythification, he no longer needed to worry about gliding and had transitioned into possessing the full-fledged ability of flight.
He was currently flying in circles around the hive, launching vicious Piercing Throws at the helpless ants below with his new spear. The weapon was so powerful that it destroyed the carapace and brain of the targeted ants in a single blow. If that wasn’t enough, Assassinate boosted its power even further as Lucius moved from target to target, slaying insects without pause.
You have defeated Formica Sub Terra, level 20.
You have defeated Formica Sub Terra, level 19.
…
You have reached level 30. You have 12 attribute points available for distribution.
The ants continued to rush out of the hive, dozens at a time, swarming the area in search of the offending enemy. The creatures seemed entirely incapable of learning from the brutal destruction Lucius was inflicting upon them.
Eventually, he began to fill his massive storage ring with all the corpses and was forced to take a break, flying out of the immediate area of the ants' unrelenting swarming before landing on one of the tallest mushroom caps in the vicinity.
“This is amazing! We might be able to slaughter the entire hive like this! Hurry up and eat so we can get back to work!”
Whisper didn’t delay, diving into the storage ring and consuming one corpse after another, raising Lucius' Vitality to a full sixty points before the effects of consuming the ants' blood finally began to rapidly diminish.
After reaching sixty points, even after consuming the remainder of the piles of corpses, Lucius only gained an additional six Vitality points, bringing his total up to sixty-six. He rubbed his chin while gazing at his status panel after Whisper had finished his meal.
“Looks like the free ride is over. We’ll have to defeat stronger enemies if we want to keep using your ability to quickly improve our Vitality attribute. Still, entering this anomaly has been one hell of a good training run!”
“Agreed. I think we should consider—FATHER! LOOK OUT!”
Lucius dove forward out of instinct when he heard the serious tone of Whisper’s voice, his body moved out of the way just in time to avoid the massive beam of blue energy that came searing through the cavern’s sky, lighting up the darkness as it collided with the mushroom cap where he had just been standing.
The blue energy beam burned a hole straight through the thick cap of the mushroom, continuing on to impact the floor below.
Lucius stretched out his wings as he flew around the impact zone, staring back wide-eyed toward the direction the attack had come from.
Warning! Sense Danger has detected a C-Class threat!
“What the hell?!? Another one?”
Lucius’ senses finally picked up the enemy that had been just outside his detection zone moments earlier, and it was currently approaching him at a rapid speed.
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“Get ready for a fight, Whisper!”
Lucius maintained his position as he focused his vision, finally catching a glimpse of the C-Class enemy that had ambushed him.
A humanoid figure wearing flowing yellow robes fluttered through the air toward him, long transparent wings protruding from the back of its clothing. As the figure approached, it reached up with its hand, lifting the drooping hood to expose its face.
Lucius’ eyes widened as he saw the insect-like face of the being. In fact, its face was almost identical to the faces of the ants he had been slaying for hours—just smaller and more humanoid.
The creature clicked its mandibles a few times, and a hissing voice sounded out from somewhere on its face.
“Your slaughter of my family ends now, trespasser! Your strange magic hides you well! I was not able to pinpoint your position before, but now that I have been promoted to C-Class Summoner, your death is at hand!”
Lucius didn’t wait for the summoner to attack again, quickly fleeing toward the ground to use the mushroom caps as cover.
“Damnit! I was wrong. The summoner wasn’t using the ants as protection—the summoner was one of them!”
A blue beam of magic lanced through the air just above him, forcing Lucius to dive straight down to dodge it. A second beam erupted in the area he was heading toward, slicing across his chest and leaving a thick black burn on his flesh. If not for the strength of his armor, the damage would have been much more severe.
Lucius reached the ground, where he could make full use of his powerful agility, dashing through the mushroom forest as he dodged one beam after another. He appeared to be just barely holding on, but in actuality, he was luring his opponent into a false sense of superiority.
When the insectile summoner raced forward beneath the canopy, lowering his flight in order to go after Lucius, a sly grin stretched across the young man's lips. He continued to pretend to flee clumsily until the summoner was only a half-dozen meters behind him.
Lucius stopped in his tracks, activating Flicker as he dashed in the opposite direction toward the summoner. The humanoid ant seemed to react in slow motion, trying to stop its forward momentum as it slowly raised its hand to block out of instinct.
It was too late. Lucius was already too close, and nothing the ant could do would prevent him from unleashing all the damage he could on his unsuspecting foe. As he drew within striking distance, Lucius activated Burst while simultaneously triggering Blood Sacrifice. He felt blood rushing up into his mouth as he sacrificed 15% of his Vitality to the Talent.
Lucius felt an incredible surge of Magic Power spreading through his body as he spat the blood from his mouth. The surge would both increase the damage of Burst and lengthen the time he could channel the ability.
Lunging forward, Lucius pressed the tip of his [Legendary] spear into the summoner's chest, driving with all his might as he simultaneously activated Sudden Sting to enhance the penetrating power of his strike.
As the spear's tip made contact with the creature's carapace, instead of piercing through as Lucius had hoped, the force of the attack flung the summoner down to the ground with tremendous power.
Lucius quickly followed after his foe, narrowly dodging an energy beam that seared a line of skin off the side of his face, burning a large patch of the hair on his head as he descended with his spear aimed straight down.
CRACK
The ant summoner only managed to lift its upper body a few inches off the ground before the spear came slamming down on top of it. This time, the ground served as a solid surface to pin the creature, ensuring the full force of the strike was transmitted into it.
The summoner’s carapace cracked, and Lucius pulled his arm back as his spear retracted and extended in unison with his motion. He aimed at the crack in the armor and struck again. This time, the carapace shattered, and the powerful spear pierced into the soft flesh beneath.
At that moment, the duration of Flicker ended, and the summoners apparent movement rapidly increased, catching Lucius off guard as it unleashed a double beam attack from each hand directly into his chest, sending him flying into the distance. Intense pain ran through his upper body, as his chest armor was left in scorched ruins from the attack.
The summoner attempted to retreat into the air, but to its great shock, dozens of thick black tentacles rose up around it. Whisper’s shadows, now greatly strengthened by the many attribute points recently invested in Magic Power—and further enhanced by Blood Sacrifice and Burst—wrapped around the summoner.
The same shadow limbs that had once been easily destroyed by F-Class creatures were now strong enough to temporarily subdue a powerful C-Class summoner.
Lucius coughed up another mouthful of blood as he dashed forward to rejoin the fight. The summoner tried to stop him with another double blast of energy beams, but Lucius activated Overload on his ring and continued forward without slowing.
The energy shield blocked the beams for just a moment, but it was enough for Lucius to dodge and activate Flicker again. Rapidly closing the distance, he jumped into the air as he reached the summoner, activating the Sky King attribute of his spear. Plunging down, he targeted the broken portion of the summoner’s carapace.
The spear pierced deep into the summoner’s flesh, driving all the way through its chest and pinning it to the ground. Without hesitation, Lucius pulled Matriarch's Fury from his storage ring and began stabbing rapidly with both hands, utilizing the full speed of his newly upgraded Dexterity.