[You have leveled up]

I still felt the overwhelming heat of his breath. My skin was peeling at places, my armour barely held together by a few straps. I couldn’t believe it, I had done it!

The memory of the first time I faced the [Faceless Nightmare] was still vivid in my mind. It lurked from the shadows, I was not aware of what was awaiting for me. Luck wanted for me to turn around—maybe it was a hunch—and I saw it. A horrid creature of six legs half-submerged in the shadows. Walking, if it could be called that, walking towards me.

I ran. I frankly searched for the wood’s exit, and I couldn’t find it. All I could do was find a clearing, a small patch devoid of trees where light reached. Warmth, and safety. The creature’s wicked smile still followed me, and even without eyes, I knew it was gazing on my soul. But it did not step in, afraid of the light, maybe even hurt by it.

But today, it was different. A year had passed since the first time.

I cast [Illuminate], a spell that followed along my side. It would not be enough to detract the beast from fighting me, which is exactly what I wanted. As long as I could keep track of it, that would be enough.

My [Aether Sense] was active at all times, I could sense the perturbations in the magic all around me. Nothing was amiss, until it was. Somewhere down the rocky layer of earth, I sensed movement, a knot in the Aether told me that something was coming.

I prepared, steadying my pose and getting my hands in ready position. I had practiced it many times, the key to this fight would be my speed at casting. I preemptively started the first spell, [Aether Zone]. My fingers traced shapes in the air, straight lines with one and circles with the other. My other hand was drawing spirals in the air. I was declaring my own zone, an area under my absolute domain. I was the ruler inside it, and everyone else would obey me.

The beast surfaced, and I felt its magic eyes looking at me. So that’s how you see me, hum? It was disconcerting the first time, but now I knew that it had a similar ability to my [Aether Sense]. No, it was better than it. I could not track everything at once, and small details would go unnoticed. But the [Faceless Nightmare] ability had no such holes.

The zone was in place, I could now simplify my casts, attacking and defending faster than I would have before. I moved my fingers in a simple pattern: Accumulate, Concentrate, Blast, Explode. I didn’t care to add a tracking component, it was my starting shot, and it served a single purpose, angering and tricking the monster to attack.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

And so it did. Two of its legs pushed it upwards into the sky, while two others spun it towards me. It was as fast as a blur, in a second it had travelled half the distance. Its remaining two legs extended, blades of black energy forming at its edges.

I could feel the pressure on my neck. They were still far from touching it, yet the force put behind it was of such magnitude that it compressed the air. I braced for the impact, moving extended palm behind my back while rushedly moving four fingers of the other hand in an upward motion.

“[Aether Wall]!” There was no need for me to shout the spells, but I found it increased my concentration.

The wall came up barely a hair distance away from the blade, immediately raising an invisible shield that intercepted the blades. With a screech, the beast brought two more legs crashing to the shield. And it broke. Like a glass window, hundreds of pieces went flying in all directions.

Far from panicking, I smiled. A wicked smile that if given enough time, it would have been one of those evil laughs that the main antagonist does when he’s about to turn the tables.

“Die!“

With enough strength to draw blood, I closed my open palm behind my back. With the same unconstrained energy, all the sharpened floating pieces, still floating in the air, converged into the [Faceless Nightmare].

It screeched louder, in an even higher tone than before, surely from pain. But I was far from done. Those blades inserted in its body were still under my domain, under my own zone, and I was not planning to let them go to waste. I traced with both hands the runic symbols for explosion and watch with contempt as all the Aether exploded from its insides.

I should have won already, it was holding to its last breath, but it wouldn’t go so peacefully. I sensed it, I saw with [Aether Sense] all the energy condensing in its mouth. It was astronomically bad news, I had nothing to defend against such thing.

I also wouldn’t just accept it, thought. My fingers move at frightening speeds, challenging my ability to speedcast without committing errors. Because the smallest mistake, a curve that should have been a line, would signify my death.

My arms became covered by Aether, the thickest layer I managed to conjure in such small amount of time. And so did my head and neck. Any other part, I just prayed to the Gods of Adaloria, if there were any, that the beast would focus my upper body.

I covered myself, and this time for real I braced for the impact. The warmth sensation was quickly superseded by hot, which immediately right after became boiling liquid on my skin. And it kept on going, feeling as my skin came off by layers and immediately disintegrated in the air. Maybe it was just a few seconds, but it felt like years of excruciating punishment.

I opened my eyes, luckily still intact. I was alone. I had won.

[You have leveled up]