Talia stood facing the massive Abyssal Torpedo Drake, her body thrumming with power.

She stood at the edge of the rocky platform; the air around her crackled with energy, and dark tendrils of water swirled at her feet.

Soon, the scalding hot inferno of blue flames was upon her.

Instinctively, Talia thrust her hands forward, channeling her Dark Water into a shield.

The Dark Water came to her naturally in this form, much more smoothly than the clunky process she had to use before my expending her vitality.

This felt completely natural, and, more importantly, the Dark Water felt much stronger than before, perhaps empowered by the Raw Mana she was continuously absorbing from the environment through the runes on her body.

The flames crashed against the barrier with a sound like a thousand hissing snakes.

Steam filled the air, obscuring Talia’s vision.

For a moment, she feared her defense would crumble, but the Dark Water held, fueled by the power flowing through her wrist marks.

The tentacle-like marks were undulating and moving wildly in response to the power she was drawing from.

As the steam cleared, Talia saw her chance.

With a cry of effort, she sent a massive wave of Dark Water surging toward the Drake.

The inky liquid slammed into the creature’s side with tremendous force, eliciting a screech of pain and surprise from the beast.

Scales as tough as armor buckled under the impact, and for a brief moment, Talia allowed herself to think she might have actually wounded the monster despite the fact that it was a Boss almost twenty levels above hers.

However, the Boss shook off the attack like nothing and charged forward with startling speed for a creature its size.

Talia’s eyes widened in alarm, and she dove to the side, feeling the rush of air as the monster’s bulk passed mere inches from her.

The Drake crashed into the cave wall, sending tremors through the ground and causing rocks to rain down from the ceiling. Seizing the opportunity, Talia focused her power once more.

This time, she flung the Dark Water into razor-sharp blades through her glaive, lashing out at the Drake’s exposed flank.

The attacks once again failed to cut through the creatures’ scales.

Enraged by the attack, the Drake whipped around, its long tail sweeping across the platform.

Talia, still recovering from her last attack, couldn’t react in time.

The tail caught her squarely in the midsection, lifting her off her feet and sending her flying across the cavern.

She slammed into a jutting rock formation with bone-jarring force, the impact driving the air from her lungs.

Stars danced in Talia’s vision as she struggled to her feet, tasting blood in her mouth.

The Drake was already coming for her, its massive jaws opening wide.

Gritting her teeth against the pain, Talia rolled to the side.

She wasn’t quite fast enough – Drake’s teeth grazed her leg, tearing through flesh and muscle.

A cry of agony escaped Talia’s lips as she stumbled away, leaving a trail of blood in her wake. The wound was deep, and she could feel warm blood soaking through her torn pants. Each movement sent waves of pain shooting up her leg, threatening to overwhelm her.

However, as she turned her eyes to the gash, she saw her flesh knitting back in real-time, fixing itself with a hundred times the already enhanced speed she had seen before.

It’s the runes, she thought. This… form. Yes, this form is increasing my regeneration. It’s circulating more vitality through my body.

The beast seemed to pause, perhaps surprised by its prey’s resilience. It regarded Talia with what almost looked like curiosity in its alien eyes. Then, with a low growl that Talia felt in her bones, it began to circle her, looking for an opening.

The girl was such a puny thing to the monster that it couldn’t understand how it was still alive.

The Drake, perhaps sensing the buildup of the Dark Water in her veins and the Raw Mana on her skin, decided to strike.

It lunged forward, jaws snapping shut where Talia had been standing a split second before.

She had anticipated the attack this time, propelling herself to the side.

Talia used the brief respite to gather her power once more.

This time, she raised her glaive with both hands overhead and pumped as much Dark Water as she was capable of in it.

The result was amazing.

A large dragon-like projection appeared over the blade, made of the viscous ink-link Dark Water, and then, as Talia swung, flew at full speed toward the Boss.

This time, the torrent of blood-infused Dark Water erupted from her hands, engulfing the Drake’s head.

The creature thrashed wildly, its screeches of pain echoing through the cavern.

Where the mixture touched its scales, they began to bubble and dissolve, eaten away by the corrosive power of Talia’s combined magics.

As the Drake let out another ear-splitting roar, Talia felt something within her shift. It was as if a dam had broken, releasing a flood of power she had never known existed.

Talia reached up, touching a strand of her hair.

To her shock, it had turned pure white, glowing with the same ethereal light as the markings on her skin.

She could feel the change spreading, transforming her entire appearance.

[You have unlocked ‘Cursed Form.’]

What?

She had to ignore the change in her hair and the notification to look at the thrashing Drake. But as she tried to focus, a strange sensation crawled into her mind—a primal urge surged within her, wild and uncontrollable.

With a mighty shake of its head, the monster dispelled the caustic liquid, fixing its wounded gaze on Talia with pure hatred. The Abyssal Torpedo Drake struck.

Its massive body surged forward, ready to swallow Talia whole.

Time seemed to slow as Talia raised her hands.

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Dark Water erupted from her palms, meeting the Drake’s charge head-on with her Star Glaive.

But as the power coursed through her, she felt her grip on reality slipping.

A feral snarl escaped her lips unbidden.

The two forces collided with a thunderous crash, sending shockwaves through the cavern.

Talia gritted her teeth, pushing back against the Drake’s overwhelming strength.

She could feel the creature’s hot breath on her face, its razor-sharp teeth mere inches from her skin.

But the Cursed Form empowered her beyond her limits.

Yet, her thoughts grew hazy, blurred by a savage instinct that wasn’t her own.

With a grunt of effort, Talia forced more power into her defense.

She was pushed back, but this only helped her gain time.

The monster thrashed, its tail whipping through the air and smashing into nearby rock formations.

“That’s it,” Talia muttered to herself. “Focus on me. Give them time to escape.”

Even as she spoke, a part of her mind was slipping away, drowned by the overwhelming desire to destroy, to fight to the death and, most importantly, to consume the monster.

As if hearing her thoughts, the Drake disengaged and became more feral.

It circled Talia, looking for an opening in her defenses.

Its eyes gleamed with predatory intelligence.

Talia kept her stance low and glared out to intercept the monster’s attacks.

The Dark Water swirled around her skin in a protective cocoon, responding to her every thought.

But her thoughts were becoming erratic, consumed by a wild fury.

She could feel a terrifying power behind the Cursed Form, vast and terrifying.

Her white hair fluttered in the air as she dodged another lunge, pivoting, sending a wave of Dark Water to strike the monster.

The creature let out a bellow of rage.

“That’s right,” Talia growled through gritted teeth. “Come to me.”

The cave shook as they battled.

Rocks fell from the ceiling, making it even more dangerous.

Talia hoped her friends had gotten far enough away by now.

She didn’t want anyone else to get hurt because of her.

Above, in the black mist, bursts of Azure Lightning told her that Professor Iakopo was still engaged in a deathmatch with the Sword Demon.

“Just a little longer,” she told herself, breathing hard. Her arms felt heavy, and her legs burned from all the running and jumping. But she knew she couldn’t give up.

As she fought, Talia became increasingly aware that she was losing more than just the battle—she was losing herself.

The Cursed Form and the Dark Water were eroding her sanity, her humanity slipping through her fingers like sand.

The only reason the Drake hadn’t managed to kill her yet was that the monster seemed too large for the stone platform to fully use its size to its advantage.

Talia, facing a colossal beast, managed to sneak around its attacks, always saving her life by mere inches.

So far, she had only parried two attacks—the first flame attack and the one charge that she had miraculously stopped with her glaive.

But she could feel that even the Cursed Form had limits, and her powers would soon run out.

Worse, her mind was fracturing under the strain.

The Drake, realizing that direct attacks weren’t working, changed tactics.

It began to circle Talia more quickly, its long body coiling around her.

Surprising her, raising its massive tail, it smashed into the stone platform with a Mana empowered strike that destroyed their footing.

Surprising her, it raised its massive tail and smashed into the stone platform with a mana-empowered strike that destroyed their footing.

One moment, Talia had been on the stone platform facing the monster.

The next, they were plummeting toward the dark waters below, infested by all the mutated Torpedo Snappers that had survived.

Talia looked down and felt a spike of terror—but it was quickly replaced by a thrill, an exhilaration that wasn’t her own.

A disc of solid darkness materialized, lifting her above the churning waters.

Talia allowed herself a small smile.

Talia shouted at the monster, by now having completely forgotten about the students.

But now that the monster could open the sick wings that had been retracted over its back, it took flight.

And it circled Talia with such agility that even on her Mana Board, she found herself helpless.

The Boss managed to strike her twice, sending her sputtering against the wall, breaking bones and flesh, and spilling her blood in the waters.

She got up twice, but twice, she felt like she was closer to the realm of the dead than the living.

Not even the immense vitality in her body could save her from losing this fight.

And that’s when the monster finally caught up with her.

With Talia weakened and maddened by the constant use of the Cursed Form and the injuries she had received, the Boss managed to bite into her.

The teeth sunk into her collarbone, encasing part of her chest and her side.

Talia tried conjuring as much Dark Water as she could over her skin.

But she felt the teeth already sinking in, about to tear her apart.

She thought of her mother's words as the pain brought some clarity back to her mind.

Yelena had been right.

She couldn’t defeat the Boss.

It was simply too strong for her.

But she didn’t feel like she had done it, and she didn’t feel like she had chosen the wrong option.

She felt proud of herself.

She felt satisfied for how long she had held out against the Boss.

The monster was twenty levels above her.

She had never had any chance of winning.

But still, she had managed to survive this long to probably give all her friends a chance to live.

Life slowly left her.

She closed her eyes, smiling.

She had accomplished her task.

Now, it was time to rest.

But just as Talia was ready to slip into oblivion, a familiar voice brought her back.

Talia, use the dark water all over your body now.

Without hesitation, Talia did as commanded.

Then, a wave of energy passed over her, still powerful, it made her hair stand on end, but it couldn’t find purchase on her own body.

She looked up just in time to see the air around the tray begin to warp and twist.

Professor Iakopo stood by her, with a hand over the Drake’s snout.

“They’re all out,” he smiled.

His eyes glowed with an otherworldly light, power radiating from him in waves.

The black mist that had filled the cavern was being torn apart, dissipating like smoke in the wind.

“Space Water,” Talia breathed, remembering the Professor’s unique ability.

The Drake let out a screech of pain and let go of her mangled body as the space around it began to fracture.

Its body contorted in impossible ways, caught in the grip of Iakopo’s power.

With a final, earth-shattering roar, the creature was dismembered, torn apart by the very fabric of reality.

As the last echoes of the battle faded, Talia felt the energy that had been sustaining her begin to ebb.

The Dark Water receded, the glowing patterns on her skin fading.

She stumbled, suddenly feeling the full weight of exhaustion.

Strong arms caught her before she could fall. Talia looked up to see Professor Iakopo’s concerned face.

“Easy there,” he said gently. “You did well, Talia. Better than I could have hoped.”

Talia tried to speak, but her voice came out as a croak. Her throat felt raw as if she had been screaming for hours.

“The others?” she managed to ask.

“Safe,” Iakopo assured her. “Thanks to you.”

As the adrenaline of battle faded, Talia became acutely aware of the changes in her body.

Her hair, still snow-white, fell around her face in soft waves.

The skin where the Dark Water patterns had been felt sensitive, almost raw.

“What... what happened to me?” Talia asked, her voice trembling.

Iakopo’s expression grew serious.

“You’ve unlocked something dangerous,” he explained. “I’m not sure what it was, but I’ve never seen so much Mana being channeled from the outside inside a person’s body. Not even Abyssal Creatures can absorb so much Raw Mana as you just did.”

“I—”

“Cover yourself in Dark Water again, it should protect you from the ripple effects.”

Talia did as told, and Professor Iakopo, still holding her, flew high into the ceiling of the cavern, facing Awa, who had just stood there to watch him with gritted teeth.

From above, a vast wave of distorted reality cascaded downward—Iakopo’s Space Water unleashed its full might.

It swept across the cavern like a tidal wave, consuming everything in its path.

The remaining Torpedo Snappers were caught in the onslaught, their forms disintegrating instantly as the Space Water tore through them.

Talia hugged the Professor tightly, the Dark Water cocoon tightening around her.

She felt the immense pressure of the Space Water as it passed over, a force that threatened to unravel her very existence.

But the Dark Water held firm, resisting the annihilating power that surrounded her.

Time seemed to stretch interminably.

Then, gradually, the turbulence subsided.

The roaring faded into a distant echo, and the cavern settled into an unnatural calm.

Cautiously, Talia allowed the Dark Water to recede, dissipating into wisps that faded into nothingness.

She stood shakily, surveying the aftermath.

The platform was scarred and pitted but devoid of any monstrous presence.

The Torpedo Snappers were gone—eradicated by Iakopo’s devastating attack.

The Sword Demon was nowhere to be seen.

Professor Iakopo descended onto the platform, gently letting her down.

Her knees buckled, and she sank to the ground, the glaive clattering beside her.

Every part of her ached, the exhaustion deep in her bones.

Yet, amidst the fatigue, she felt triumphant.

She had done it.

The students were safe, and the threat had been neutralized.

“Well done,” Iakopo’s voice was softer now, tinged with a hint of pride. “Rest now. You’ve earned it.”