Murai still felt great about himself, even though the cause for his improvement was a simple meal of a single kill. He found it satisfactory, but that was about it. Gazing away from the tail of the Horn Snake, he forgot the meal, reaching the glowing space of the tower once more.
Only a brief satisfaction was on his face since he had a tower to breach, and fish to kill.
There, he heard another message of the Will of the Battleworld descending to his soul, indicating the start of another Wave.
[4th Wave starting! How about 2 Horn Snakes? Nah. It's simple to go with duels since you think you are so mighty and strong - for a duck]
[Incoming opponent!]
[Berserk Octopshark: A monster of quite a disgust, and even more questionable appearance. Its tentacles have many suckers in the shape of a shark's mouth, filled with ferocious teeth and terrifying biting power. Careful of its main mouth, though, which can shred any kind of meat to nothingness. Your biteful would barely satisfy it]
[A ferocious name for this species leads to quite offensive and aggressive behavior. Their diet is mainly other fish and meat. It cares little about any manners]
[Level 14]
[Class D]
[Notable abilities]
[Tentacle Whip: Berserk Octopshark can use its extensive reach of dozens of tentacles to use them with great speed and precision]
[Level 6]
[Grade D]
[Berserk Aura: an ability to turn anger and the power of emotional frustration into power. It is an ability that increases Dexterity and Strength, allowing this species to be quite dangerous in cost of Vitality.]
[Level 10]
[Grade D]
[Core abilities: Berserk Octopshark is a more physically based monster. It doesn't have mana, but a strong body with the utmost offensive powers. Careful about its tentacles, and more about its suckers]
Hearing it, Murai watched how tentacles emerged from above, appearing so disgusting as the mechanical voice told. Every one of them was quite big and long. Two of them almost added to a single Horn Snake, and this Octopshark had dozens of such tentacles and they were quite larger than Murai's height.
A massive beast ended up obscuring his way to the tower above. Swirling tentacles stirred the water, and in the middle of everything was a pair of two crimson eyes along with a round mouth. A roar spread from these chaotic movements, shocking the waters so even Murai felt it in his Diving Sphere. Octorpshark's eyes were even more deadly with distinct redness in them. The whole appearance of this monster was that of red crimson.
Each tentacle ended up in the sharp point like a shark's fin, swiping the water while a few even destroyed some old walls made of rocks. Adding to that the suckers, each tentacle were extremely dangerous with the ability to tear many humans apart.
In this way, it was kind of funny to view the scale of both foes. One was a tiny little duck, 30 centimeters tall, at best. The other was a dozen-meter large Octopshark that fit into this tower much better.
However, the majority of its mass made the tentacles, which swirled like eels out of the water.
“Are you kidding me? This thing can barely fit into this tower. It will make things so difficult. How am I supposed to do anything about this?” Murai asked, upset about this monster's size in consideration of his own mass. But this choice of an enemy wasn't up to him. It was rather an indecent foe but welcomed one since he felt he could defeat it with relative ease.
After all, another addition to the consumption of the Horn Snake was mana itself. He gouged his Mana Pool to become almost full. Perhaps it was because of the effects of these waters, meals, and time that he spent waiting. It gave him decent coverage for his mana spending and he should be able to go all out. Overall, it was equivalent to 3 Grade D Mana Replenishment Potions.
Lisa found it surprising, as the course of returning the mana to the body was quite impressive in his core. She wished she would have such effects herself, but not like it mattered in her current form and evolution.
“I want to see how you will deal with this, Murai Hisagi,” Lisa said behind his head, enjoying the ride on his back.
Simply. I will kill it.
“Is that so? How?”
“Have you ever heard of grilled octopu.. shark? What a weird name.” Murai was hesitant to even remember its name.
“You think you can use your Flames under the water? It would have diminished powers, and add to that pressure, and the Celestial Pool which seems to be of higher quality in this tower, it would become weaker. It obscures such fierce affinity.” Lisa said, not believing his words that seemed illogical, but what should make sense, let alone appear logical? She was alive for the third time, talking and helping a quacking duck which she understood by simple notion of his Will. As ridiculous as it was, she accepted it.
I know that, but even a flame can be dangerous under the water. After all, the deep temperate of the waters makes any kind of creature quite weak to fire or high temperatures. This fish is cold-blooded and hates any kind of warmth. Murai deducted, and without many choices or arguing with Lisa, he Conjured a hefty amount of Mana above him. Now, that he was back at his peak, he had all intentions to kill and not be afraid of his Core.
Breath was easy, and mana issues weren't an issue, apart from his deeply rooted issues with the Beast Core.
More than a 1/5th should be sufficient.
A sun emerged into the shape of a globe like before. It was glowing with light, but this time, it had some added heat, coming from his newly acquired Flame Affinity, turning the water into bubbles, and the tower to prismatic light. It made the water boil in its surroundings, but not enough for it to be effective all around him.
Using the power of this heat wasn't something Murai had to worry about since his Mana Pool was large, and pushing more Flame into it made Lisa's truthful worry less than important. And even his Core took it surprisingly well right now, perhaps because of the Flame that went into it by his own accomplishments.
Glaring above, Murai was confident since such a big opponent shouldn't be able to dodge or change the income of this fight at all. Murai was right, and Octopshark felt the high temperature with disgust. Flipping its tentacles in anger, its eyes glowed in a powerful wave of Berserk Aura.
Its strength quadrupled, and tentacles swelled in power. It hated the glow too, but it wasn't as bright as the fundamental mana ball when Murai fought against Horn Snake.
In this way, the cup of rage of this Octopshar spilled above its normal capacity, making any kind of intelligence lacking. The Octopshark raged forward, moving its tentacles first since it could lose a few. They can regrow since it was a basic fighting tactic it usually did since its Vitality wasn't bad as well.
Hm? Did it attack? No boiling octopus then. Murai figured and decided to change his tactic in a moment of change. I like them chopped to many pieces and served charred and soft to the touch of a tongue. He thought, turning his mind up a notch, Shaping to form something new out of this raging flaring sphere.
The globe of mana changed, making strides of flaming pillars in the appearance of 5 rough spears. He didn't have to be too precise with such things, nor too accurate. At least not for their purpose and his learning Shaping. The spears were indistinct to be called one since Murai was doing his best to Shape all 5 of them at the same time, which was a big task to his stressed mind and Core combined. It was his best try, so it was passable, and it didn't need to be perfect.
Perhaps his Core wouldn't even allow him to create them better, so he moved them first.
It was hard, but this amount of mana wasn't something he couldn't wield as single or two Mana Blades, but Shape them into a simple motion and sent them forward? That was a concept of Outward Shaping, which fundamentally worked in different principles from the blades. Like arrows, this mana will be lost but shot out of his care, so he had no continuous stress to maintain them under his Shaping.
It was a different degree of hardness to work with it, than a simple Mana Blade. To kill it, he should hit every vital area this huge Octopshark had and 5 spears were the minimum requirement to do so. He surely didn't want to give it any chance of a second wind, so as usual, Murai did his best so there would be no regrets.
That was his motto in his past life as an assassin, and it made some sense. After all, with many living experiences, Murai always kept some teachings or something along the lines of learning for the next ones. In this way, he was never bored or turned stupid. Remembering the important stuff and not the useless stuff was a key to learning from life to life.
It was a part of his Cursed Living, and that was something he decided to keep up since it made him remember his purpose and history.
All of the time too, his New Beginnings and even all of his Ends too.
Octopshark's tentacles were quickly approaching, and their speed wasn't small at all because of the higher gravitational pull from above.
Alas, it was too late for the tentacles to reach Murai. He was ready with his Shaping since figuring out the rough shape was easier than making proper spears, with handles, and curves. In a sense, they were like spikes, with only a rudimentary sharp point that acted for its primary purpose. A flame within them also turned dimmer, making a place for denser mana under Murai's command.
In a moment, Murai flashed the 5 rough spears above, small pillars of flames shot from their bottom, propelling them above at high speed. It was so damn fast that the water ripped apart, causing the pillars to change appearance to small points like needles, ripping the water apart.
This caused the Diving Sphere to travel a dozen or so meters down because the pressure of this attack was high. It wasn't that bad to make it destabilized, but Murai was still kind of nervous.
“Holy shit... This was dangerous. I never thought such a huge monster would be so fast.” Murai said, feeling that his fast and quick decision was quite resourceful, but needed. The tentacles almost reached him, and if he was late by a second, it would've been a disaster.
“It's because of that pressuring gravity or whatnot,” Lisa explained with her arms around his neck, a finger pointing beyond the pieces of flesh, bloodied water, and tentacles that began floating around the tower. “It comes from the top of the tower where is the end. The tentacles were faster because of that.”
Unsurprisingly. Murai wasn't impressed. “Right... Good that I wasn't hesitant. Good handling of power and control was passable, but...” He paused, stabilizing his Diving Sphere. “What sort of trial is this? This sort of place is disadvantageous for me more than normal but also not much to make me suffer. If the careful strategy is up in use, I can fight it. A challenge, huh? Who would make a trial in this sort of place, or.... like this at all?”
“It doesn't matter, Murai Hisagi. This pressure did not restrict your mana all that much. Have you noticed that?” Lisa said, feeling that she shouldn't mention it but felt like talking, for once.
“Did it? I thought I was so powerful it didn't even matter. Hehehehe.” Murai argued, raising his beak high above in a lofty manner, laughing and observing the destruction above.
And as right as his laughter was, the Berserk Octopshark was cut to many pieces. Spears pierced its flesh, ripping it apart. This was only possible through Murai's improved control and recovered mana and his Shaping. He made the quickest attacks he could come up with, along with most mass of mana.
In fact, calling them Mana Arrows wouldn't be that far-fetched. Adding to it the quantity of mana he could use, it was about the best choice he had available. A lot of mana was gone in a moment from his mana pool. An ordinary mage would've been unable to do this at all, even if their level were 20 or 30.
However, there was a sense in all of this.
The Octopshark was weak against such attacks since its flesh had no defensive scales. Its body was quite soft. Adding to that this tower and space, Octopshark was like a living target. Its flesh wasn't simply too weak, the defense wasn't its forte. Murai used it to his advantage, focusing on his well-defined knowledge and experience to deal with the foe in an easy and effective manner.
Whatever, I feel good. My Beast Core is in check. Damend beast... It won't crack inside of me, or take the mana out of my hand. What about the 5th Wave? Murai dismissed Lisa's comment, deciding to focus on things that mattered.
“It is coming. 10 minutes are remaining, so I hope it's not something ridiculous. For now, move up with your Diving Sphere.
Murai didn't have to hear her twice. He traveled up, but it was getting slower and slower.
2 minutes later, and about 10 meters until the end, the last Wave of this tower was announced.
[Last dub to the world! Your power is... good? Enough? Impressive? IMBALANCED? It doesn't matter... as we make things balanced enough]
[The height of your experiences speaks volumes of your challenge]
[The last foe before you is one of the top monsters of this Dungeon according to the rulesets, set behind by its maker]
[Speedo Shark: A prime predator of the sea, and eater of many species. Its blood wasn't one to be colored by the water, but the blood of its enemies is]
[It is one of the highest dexterity-based fish species below level 30. That is the Speedo Shark with high powers and special species' abilities]
[Level 18]
[Class D]
[Unique passive ability: Encompassing Dexterity: dexterity at its base is increased by 50% without any negative impacts. Further bonus added by being under the water]
[Notable Abilities]
[Diving Dash: Speedo Shark can quickly charge and change direction mid-attack, or not. It's a very flexible ability that makes the most deadly weapon]
[Grade B]
[Level 14]
[Fine Scales: It caused a lowered defense, but a high aptitude for friction and movement, allowing for higher speed with very few passing obscurities to make the Speedo Shark slow down]
[Grade D]
[Level 13]
[Jaw Bite: The powerful teeth of the Speedo Shark aren't big or overpowering, but sharp they are. It has a powerful bite and teeth that are sharp at its core, and adding speed, they can shred things apart. A duck... for example]
[Grade D]
[Level 13]
Murai heard it all and watched the enemy emerge beside some wall. It was more of a shadow, and it only appeared for a single moment. It was like dust or bubbles. The Speedo Shark used its Diving Dash immediately, and adding the effects of gravity since it appeared above, it was like a blink.
Bubbles spread, and a line in the water appeared in his line of vision.
The Diving Sphere was penetrated so fast that no water even seeped before Murai repaired them with a flick of his mind.
He didn't feel injured, but an incredible blow was forced to his shoulder, stumbling him along the Diving Sphere. His body seemed fine, and feathers took it the best for some reason. No blood was there, but Murai wasn't sure what the shark even attacked him with.
Looking down below, he noticed a rather small-looking fish that could resemble a shark to some extent. It had a small head, with everything indicating its purpose of utmost speed. It was sleek, with narrow and small fins around its body and on top.
What a freaking speed. This sort of bastard will mean trouble. Murai thought and checked his shoulder just to be sure. He wasn't indeed injured, which was a surprise to him since he was sure he was attacked right now with that Jaw Bite. It definitely felt like a jaw was around his neck, but here he was, safe.
Speedo Shark turned up, eyeing its foe with killing intent seeping out of its eyes. It had ferocious teeth that were small, but deadly. As it looked, this species of shark was quite small. It wasn't more than a meter long and was even smaller than Murai in height.
Diving Dash.. huh? It was that, or it was a simple use of gravity? I can do something like this too, but why should I bother? Mana will be plenty for you, small fish.
Murai sneered and prepared his following battle tactic that amounted to nothing but another experiment. He had no special clue how to deal with such a fast opponent, so first, he needed to see what kind of speed he was dealing with. That was a rather bold idea, to begin with, but it was a common tactic that Murai was familiar with.
The first hit? It was a moment of surprise and unpreparedness. He knew it could have been a moment of his death too, but what if that or this... He didn't care about things that didn't happen.
There was no time for carelessness any longer, and Murai knew it.
This time, he made no flames, since his vision had to be perfect. Flames could add bubbles and steam and make an easier target out of his slow-moving body in the Diving Sphere.
Right.
He was like a target, and Speedo Shark was a gun, ready to shoot up and deal a deadly blow - if accurate enough. Just now, it perhaps missed, or it glided through the Murai's feathers instead? Neither of that mattered since the last Wave started, and time ticked by. This time, it will be much tougher foe than the previous ones.