The new Skills Talia had acquired - Bloodbath, Bloody Tracks, and Blood Fortress - weren’t particularly impressive on their own.

However, a plan had begun to form in her mind the moment she had seen them.

Fiora, too, was trying to decide what to do with her two Free Talent Points.

Fiora took a deep breath, closing her eyes to focus on her Akashic Record.

As the information flowed into her mind, she examined her available Talent Trees.

[Talent Trees:

* Sunforged Champion

* Plasma Surfer

* Solar Fortitude

* Rā Mage (1)

* Solarian Sage

* Sun Herald

]

[Rā Mage:

1. Solar Flare

2. Sunbeam Strike

3. Corona Shield

]

Fiora had been undecided up to this moment on what to choose.

Solar Flare would create a burst of intense light that blinded enemies, including some light damage that would be more of a nuisance than a mortal attack.

Sunbeam Strike was a vertical-casting Skill that would rain an empowered strike against an enemy from above.

Corona Shield would create a protective barrier of solar energy around Fiora, absorbing incoming attacks.

Fiora weighed her options carefully since it would cost her two Talent Tree Points to get one of those Skills.

Talia, who had been listening to Fiora ponder her options out loud, decided to offer her input.

“You know,” Talia began cautiously, “you might want to consider spreading your points across different trees. Maybe put one in Solarian Sage and one in Sun Herald instead of focusing solely on Rā Mage. Something like [Sunbeam Strike] will not make a big difference either way against the Boss.”

Fiora’s head snapped up, her eyes narrowing slightly.

“And why would I do that?” she asked with a hint of defensiveness. “I think [Sunbeam Strike] is an excellent choice.”

“You want more options to survive rather than just another attack,” Talia shrugged. “I know you’re leaning for [Sunbeam Strike], but it’s not going to be useful right now.”

“What do you even know about casting,” Fiora harrumphed. “What if we need to deliver damage from afar? [Sunbeam Strike] can help me out rain projectiles from above.”

Talia shrugged again, trying to keep her tone neutral. “It’s just a suggestion. Diversifying your skills could give you more versatility in different situations. That’s all.”

Fiora felt a familiar surge of frustration. There it was again - Talia acting like she knew best like her way was always the right way.

She took a deep breath, reminding herself that Talia was trying to help, even if it grated on her nerves.

“I appreciate the advice,” Fiora said, her voice tight, “but I think I know what’s best for my own abilities. I’m going to pick from the Rā Mage Talent Tree.”

Talia opened her mouth as if to argue, then thought better of it and simply nodded. “Alright, it’s your choice. What are you thinking of picking, then?”

Fiora turned her attention back to the Rā Mage skills, determined to prove that her decision was the right one.

“I’m going with [Sunbeam Strike],” she announced. “It’s the most offensive option, and that’s what we need right now if we’re going up against a Boss monster.”

Talia nodded, keeping the rest of her reservations to herself.

“You know,” Talia said, trying to sound encouraging, “it would be very cool if you could make multiple strikes rain at once at some point.”

“Sure.”

* * *

Talia had brought Fiora close to where the Boss stood, and now they both stared from afar at the giant Slashing Cruster.

“Fiora,” Talia said, breaking the tense silence, “so, here’s my idea.”

The blonde girl turned to her, eyebrow raised, looking back at her friend and the giant Boss.

“I’m all ears. Anything’s better than walking into certain death.”

Talia took a deep breath before explaining.

“My new Skills increase my Strength, Agility, and Constitution based on how much damage I deal to monsters. If we can gather enough Slashing Crusters and I take them down quickly, I might be able to boost my abilities enough to stand a chance against the Boss.”

Fiora considered the plan.

“That’s... actually not terrible. But how are we going to gather enough Crusters without getting overwhelmed?”

Talia half-smiled.

Keanu would have been much more effective at this, but she needed him on Boro, making sure he could obtain the key by the time Talia and Fiora would be back.

“That’s where you come in,” Talia said, a hint of a smile playing at her lips. “I need you to herd them for me.”

“What?! Bait?! Am I supposed to be damn bait?!”

“Shh,” Talia pulled both of them close to the sand, praying the Boss hadn’t heard them.

“Lower your voice,” Talia hissed. “Yes, I need you to be bait.”

Fiora nodded slowly, her brow furrowed in concentration.

“Damn you. It’s risky, but it could work. How many do you think you’ll need?”

“I need you to find a position that lets you pull at least seven or eight Slashing Crusters—I get the feeling that that’s the current limit on the Skills anyway. But I can’t disengage from the battle. So, I’ll need to transition from fighting them to fighting the Boss if I want to keep the bonuses from the Skills.”

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“Alright,” Fiora frowned.

“We just need to be careful not to alert the Boss before we’re ready.”

“Right,” Fiora muttered. “Just another day with you. Risking our lives against monsters way above our level.”

Talia placed a reassuring hand on Fiora’s shoulder.

“We can do this. Just keep your distance and stay alert.”

Fiora nodded, taking a deep breath to steady herself.

“Alright. Let’s get this over with.”

The two girls separated, with Fiora moving to circle around the area where smaller Slashing Crusters were scattered.

Talia remained hidden, her eyes never leaving the imposing Boss as she waited for Fiora’s signal.

Fiora stalked away from the area, trying to locate clusters of the monsters.

She could see several Slashing Crusters nearby and soon started counting them up.

Once she found enough, she focused on her Sunwater, building up the Mana needed to conjure a few Sunwater orbs.

She would have liked to test out [Sunbeam Strike], but she wanted to save as much Mana as possible since they were about to face a Boss.

With a quick gesture, Fiora sent a small orb of Sunwater hurtling towards the nearest Slashing Cruster.

The projectile struck the creature’s carapace, leaving a scorched mark but not causing any significant damage—Fiora had done that on purpose to avoid killing the monsters that were meant to be fodder for Talia’s Skills.

The strike had the desired effect - the Cruster’s attention snapped towards Fiora.

The malicious eyes of the creature turned toward her, and it immediately started running at her.

“Here goes nothing,” Fiora muttered nervously, sending more Sunwater orbs towards the other nearby Crusters.

Each hit drew the monsters’ attention, their chitinous bodies turning towards the source of the attacks.

As the Slashing Crusters began to move towards her, Fiora started to retreat, running toward where Talia had told her to bring them.

She had to give it to Talia; this plan was not too bad.

The Boss was several Levels above theirs, which meant that normally it would have been impossible for them to face it.

But Talia’s Skills could have made it possible if she had managed to empower herself, even just temporarily, enough to deal significant damage.

In fact, Talia might be able to deliver a mortal wound on the Boss in the first moments of the fight.

It pained Fiora to admit it, but Talia’s blood magic and mana control were scarier than her own Sunwater.

The feeling of the Slashing Crusters breathing down her neck, especially considering that she was a caster so her physical attributes were risible, made Fiora extremely nervous.

However, Fiora was a woman on a mission, and she pumped her feet over the sandy ground as she threw more orbs left and right, accumulating more slashing crusters with each passing second.

Meanwhile, Talia watched as Fiora’s work unfolded she could see the growing group of slashing crusters following her friend their numbers slowly increasing.

Five... six... Seven...

The count grew, with Fiora attracting a few more than necessary for good measure in case she lost anyone on the way over.

When Fiora had gathered a sizeable group - at least a dozen Slashing Crusters - she gave the signal.

A bright orb of Sunwater shot vertically in the air.

Talia didn’t hesitate.

She burst from her hiding spot, her glaive held ready as she charged towards the group of monsters while Fiora finally rejoined with her, with the Boss turning its creepy, mantis-like head toward them.

As she ran, she covered her glaive’s blade with Mana Crystallization and activated [Blood Confluence].

She could feel the latent power within her, waiting to be unleashed.

The first Slashing Cruster barely had time to react before Talia’s glaive sliced through its carapace.

As the creature fell, Talia felt a surge of strength course through her body - Bloodbath taking effect.

She spun, her movements becoming faster and more fluid as Bloody Tracks activated, enhancing her Agility.

Talia moved through the group of Crusters like a whirlwind, her glaive flashing in the sunlight as she struck down monster after monster.

With each kill, she could feel her power growing.

Her muscles felt stronger, her reflexes sharper, and even the few glancing blows she received seemed to hurt less as Blood Fortress bolstered her Constitution.

Fiora watched in awe as Talia tore through the Slashing Crusters.

The blue-eyed girl moved with a grace and power that seemed almost inhuman.

“NOW!” Talia screamed.

Fiora gritted her teeth and summoned a Sunwater orb while activating the Speed Glyph.

The extremely fast projectile hit the body of the Boss, not doing any damage.

However, as the last of the gathered Crusters fell, the terrifying Boss sprinted toward them.

Talia turned her attention to the Boss.

The massive creature was barreling down toward them.

“Fiora!” Talia called out, her voice carrying across the battlefield. “Stay back and provide support. I’m going in!”

Before Fiora could respond, Talia was already charging towards the Boss.

The Slashing Cruster Boss, easily three times the size of its smaller counterparts, raised its blade-like appendages in anticipation of the attack.

Talia’s first strike felt like she had gained ten levels over the course of the previous engagement since her muscles were empowered by the accumulated strength from Bloodbath.

The blade struck the Boss’s scythe with tremendous force, carving a deep gash into its armored hide.

The creature let out a piercing shriek.

It was only thanks to bloody tracks and all the Agility that it had dumped into Talia’s body that she could dodge the next strike.

Despite its massive size, the Slashing Cruster Boss moved with supernatural dexterity.

She parried a strike, feeling her bones shake and her teeth clattering.

Nonetheless, she was more than willing to trade.

In fact, Talia even tried drawing from her wrist marks, a move that she had planned for without informing Fiora about it.

For some reason, however, she only found a very small amount of power in them.

She did manage to draw upon it and carve up the monster’s abdomen enough to bathe the ground in the Boss’s blood, but soon the power dissipated.

Why is it so shallow? She wondered.

It made no sense.

The first time she had used it, atop Professor Iakopo’s galleon, it had doubled, if not tripled, her power.

Now, instead, it barely made any dent in her already empowered body.

Is it because of the Skills? Maybe they interfere with it?

But something told her that that wasn’t it.

The power in her wrists simply felt drained, as if something in Placid City had taken away its edge.

Still, Talia couldn’t get distracted since she was finally making her way through the Boss’s defenses.

Plus, Fiora had managed to land several [Sunbeam Strikes] that had softened the hardy carapace of the Abyssal Creature.

They had certainly not been enough to deliver any real damage given their level difference, but they had indeed been capable of giving Talia more openings.

And so, Fiora, maintaining her distance as instructed, kept providing support from afar.

Her orbs of Sunwater, unlike the [Sunbeam Strike], didn’t cause any damage whatsoever.

But, the blonde was still able to distract the creature—or annoy it, at least.

Talia felt her confidence growing.

For now, the battle appeared to be in their favor, something almost unthinkable given the difference in Levels.

“We’re doing it!” Talia called out to Fiora. “Just a little more!”

But as those words left her lips, something changed.

The Boss, which had been purely defensive up to this point, suddenly stilled.

Its many eyes seemed to focus intently on Talia, and there was an almost palpable shift in the air around it.

Before Talia could react, the Boss moved.

But it wasn’t the same speed she had come to expect from the massive creature.

Instead, it seemed to blur, its form becoming almost indistinct as it shot towards her with incredible speed as an immaterial substance coated its body.

Talia’s eyes widened in shock as she realized what was happening.

“Wind Water?” she gasped, barely managing to bring her glaive up in a defensive position.

The impact was tremendous.

Despite her enhanced Constitution from Blood Fortress, which had been further empowered by the attacks she had landed on the Boss, Talia felt as if she had been struck by a runaway carriage.

The force of the blow sent her flying backward, her body skidding across the sandy ground before coming to a painful stop several yards away.

Dazed and winded, Talia struggled to regain her footing.

As her vision cleared, she saw with horror that the Boss had changed targets.

Its Wind Water-empowered form was now hurtling towards Fiora, who stood frozen in shock at the sudden turn of events.

“Fiora!” Talia screamed, her voice hoarse with desperation. “Move!”

Fiora snapped out of her stupor at Talia’s cry, but it was almost too late.

The Boss was upon her, its blade-like limbs raised for a killing blow.

Acting on pure instinct, Fiora raised her hands, channeling every ounce of her Sunwater Affinity into a desperate defense.

She didn’t have a defensive Skill, but she could still try to cushion the blow somehow.

A barrier of golden light sprang into existence in front of her.

The impact, however, was too much for the unstructured Sunwater.

Fiora’s barrier held for a split second before shattering like glass.

The momentary delay gave her just enough time to throw herself to the side, the Boss’s bladed limb missing her by a hair’s breadth.