As the instructors continued to watch, Athena murmured to herself, "This is shaping up to be a real boss battle."
----------------------------------------
Inside the training hall,
Darell's heart rate began to quicken at the sight of the Scorched Raven General.
Despite his nerves, he couldn't help but feel a rush of adrenaline as if his body was eagerly anticipating the challenge ahead.
Without hesitation, he activated his Inspect ability to inspect the Raven General's stats.
Beast Scorched Raven General Rank 06 STR 768 AGI 895 VIT 632 DEF 801 Ability Fire
'What the fuck?', he thought when he looked at it's stats which were off the charts.
'How can I defeat a beast that is three times more powerful than me? It's impossible.', he thought.
However, before he could fully process the situation, the system's notifications interrupted his thoughts.
Quest Defeat the Scorched Ravens Reward 1000 XP
Special Quest Kill the Scorched Raven General Reward SuperNova [Skill]
Darell's eyes widened in disbelief when he read the notifications and he thought, 'What? Special Quest? SuperNova?'
He took a deep breath to calm himself and thought, 'I-I am not surprised by the quest since I have become somewhat accustomed to them. But...', his eyes glanced at the reward for the special quest and he thought, 'This! This is awesome! The last time I was granted a skill by the system was when I entered the Forest Of Fyn. I have realized how useful Inspect is and when I tried to find it in the system shop to check its rank, I couldn't find it.'
He glanced at his friends and saw them fiercely fighting the Raven horde and he thought, 'I have to get this skill..', he clenched his fists, '..no matter what.'
He cracked his neck and exhaled slowly as he closed his eyes.
Then, he opened his eyes and murmured excitedly, "Time to go all out!"
"Burst!"
"Death's Touch!"
"Star Strike!"
The space around him began to distort which caught the eyes of some of the Ravens and they immediately turned their attention towards him.
Even Emma, Lilith, Eric and Ariel looked at him and felt his power.
The Scorched Raven General at the top of tree trembled at the sight of Darell, sensing the danger he posed.
The General knew it had to eliminate him quickly before he became a threat.
It issued orders to its army of Ravens to attack Darell, hoping to wear him down with their numbers.
The Ravens were attacking Emma, Lilith, Eric, and Ariel with ferocity, their beaks and claws lashing out in a flurry of attacks.
But then, as if on cue, the majority of the flock suddenly veered towards Darell, honing in on his location like a pack of hungry predators.
Despite the overwhelming number of enemies closing in on him, Darell remained cool and composed.
A devious smirk played across his lips, and his eyes glinted with determination as he quickly hatched a plan to take down the Scorched Raven General.
He knew that he couldn't do it alone - he needed his friends' help to succeed.
Darell drew his sword and began slicing the Ravens as if they were butter.
* SLASH *
* SLASH *
* SPLURT *
* SPLAT *
His strikes killed Raven after Raven as they closed in on him.
He knew that this was only the first step in his plan, but he also knew that he had to make it count.
His muscles ached from the intense exertion he had put into his attacks after a few minutes.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Though he had managed to take down a significant number of the attacking Ravens, their numbers seemed endless.
He knew that his strength had reached its limit after using [Burst] and [Star Strike].
He felt his mana rapidly depleting, and the cost of his attacks had become too great.
* SLASH *
* BANG *
* SPLURT *
* BOOM *
As the onslaught continued, he was increasingly annoyed.
No matter how many Ravens he took down, they would be quickly replaced.
He knew that he needed to end this battle quickly before he ran out of energy.
The Raven General snarled as it summoned two towering fire golems.
"ROOOAAAAR!"
* BANG *
* BANG *
The golems charged towards Darell with their fiery swords, but he stood unfazed.
* SLASH *
He used his sword combat technique, Earth-Shattering Slash, and cleaved through the golems in one fell swoop.
Unwilling to give up, the Raven General created more fire golems, but Darell killed them with ease as he continued to take down the swarming horde of Ravens.
Seeing his minions' futility, the Raven General conjured a massive fireball, dark and menacing in color, and launched it at Darell.
* BOOOOM *
Darell quickly activated [Teleport] and disappeared.
* WHOOSH *
He reappeared a hundred meters away from his previous position.
* KA-BOOOM *
The fireball crashed into the ground, creating a deep crater that spanned five meters.
Darell smirked at the Raven General and taunted him as he beckoned him to come forward.
"KAWWW!!!"
The Raven General was infuriated by Darell's impudence, and in his rage, he unleashed a barrage of fireballs at him.
* BANG *
* BANG *
* BANG *
Darell's smile widened at the sight of the red bird shooting fireballs at him.
* WHOOSH *
* WHOOSH *
He nimbly dodged the incoming fireballs, using his [Teleport] skill.
In the midst of his dodging, he locked eyes with Lilith, sharing a silent message with her through their gaze.
He winked at her and raised his hands in the air as he activated his skill.
"Space Tear!"
The space around him distorted and he dodged another fireball before he quickly teleported away.
Lilith caught on to Darell's plan and smiled to herself as she whispered.
Meanwhile, Ariel was locked in battle with the Ravens on the other side of the battlefield when she heard Lilith's whispers.
She could hear her whispers due to her Sound ability and she smiled.
Using a hypnosis skill she had acquired previously, she managed to commandeer a flock of Ravens to attack the Raven General from behind.
As Emma, Lilith, and Eric continued to fight off the endless horde of Ravens, they silently coordinated with each other, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
With the Raven General fully engaged in his battle with Darell, the trio launched a surprise attack on the distracted bird with all their skills.
The Raven General felt a strange sensation as he noticed that his connection with the Ravens had been severed.
But he was too focused on fighting Darell to dwell on it and continued his assault.
* BOOOM *
Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his back and quickly turned his head, only to find all of the Ravens that were previously attacking him now hurling fireballs his way, with Emma, Lilith, Eric, and Ariel now joining the fray.
When he turned to face them, he made a crucial mistake.
Darell saw the opening and used his [Teleport] skill to appear right behind the Raven General.
He aimed his punch at the red bird.
His fist connected with the Raven General's body, unleashing a thunderous boom that echoed across the battlefield.
* BOOM *
The Raven General was caught off guard by the sudden attack and was hurled to the ground, skidding across the dirt.
* BANG *
* THUD *
Darell landed one ground and observed the Raven General's reaction.
The Raven General's eyes blazed with fury as he rose to his feet.
Dark red flames ignited across his body, engulfing him in a fiery aura.
Darell realized that the Raven General was finally taking him seriously and he readied himself for the upcoming fight.
With a mighty flap of his wings, the Raven General sent a barrage of red-hot feathers flying towards Darell.
* WHIRR *
* WHIRR *
* WHIRR *
But Darell had anticipated this move and activated his skill.
"Nihility!"
The feathers passed harmlessly through his body.
Without missing a beat, Darell charged at the Raven General and unleashed a flurry of punches, kicks, and slashes.
* SLASH *
* WHAM *
* BANG *
* BOOM *
The two engaged in a fierce battle that lasted for several minutes.
Darell struggled to keep himself upright as he leaned against a tree, gasping for air.
His sword lay shattered on the ground and his right arm hung broken and useless at his side.
The pain was excruciating, but he gritted his teeth and refused to give up.
Through blurred vision, he surveyed the scene before him.
The Raven General was in even worse shape; its beak was broken, one wing hung limp, and the other was stripped of its once-dark red feathers.
Darell knew that he was close to victory, but he couldn't let his guard down just yet.
WARNING!
WARNING!
WARNING!
WARNING!
YOUR MP IS EXTREMELY LOW!!!
STOP USING YOUR SKILLS!!!
WARNING!
WARNING!
WARNING!
Darell ignored the system as he was determined to complete the quests and receive the rewards, despite it's warning.
The system had purposely offered the skill as a reward to test HIS capabilities.
The Raven General took a desperate risk and created another fireball, hoping to finally defeat Darell.
Aware that he did not have enough MP to dodge the incoming attack, Darell gritted his teeth and charged towards the Raven General.
"Die!" he shouted, as he threw a powerful punch towards the fireball.
* KA-BOOOOM *
There was a huge explosion that echoed through the battlefield.
Emma, Lilith, Eric and Ariel were thrown away immediately and the rest of the Ravens were instantly killed by the explosion.
A few minutes later, the smoke and dust cleared and Emma, Lilith, Eric, and Ariel slowly picked themselves up from the ground.
They winced at the pain and bruises from the impact of the explosion.
They looked over to see Darell, standing alone in the middle of the battlefield.
Despite the devastation surrounding him, he was still standing, albeit barely and saw his eyes staring blankly ahead.
CONGRA---
YOU HAV----
Darell heard a barrage of notifications from the system, but his mind was hazy, and his vision was blurred.
He looked down at his hands, only to find them unrecognizable, charred beyond belief.
He could see the bones of his fingers, and his arms, and the pain was excruciating.
"Oh...Shit..." Darell muttered weakly before his body gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground, losing consciousness.
"DARELL!"