The Developer Reborn As Archmage

Sarka was a druid about seven feet tall. It was hard to tell what he used to look like when he was alive. In Shadow form, he was made of glossy black strips that looked more like a statue made of electrical tape. He was a re-creation of Dreagans, somehow preserved in the exact form he used to be prior to his death.

From the silhouette alone, he was an imposing man with two horns with three twisting, sharp branches each. The tape-like strips had welded his outfit to his body, making it all part of him. He was wearing what looked like a tattered fur coat. It flung in the winds as he stared at Darya with a pair of glowing purple eyes.

He extended his hand, growing a black branch from his forearm that flared in her direction. Purple arcs of lightning wound through it and burst out of three sharp ends of his transformed hand-branch.

Well, that's new. He made his own Manacer with his body.

The arcs of lightning quickly collected into a point between the claws.

Darya didn't need to find out what it was. She couldn't afford to get hit by a single spell or skill that Sarka could throw in her direction. At level 146, he would have had time to perfect even the worst spells. She had no intention of testing or probing with her second life on the line. This was about winning as fast as possible.

She waited for the moment of activation. The mana projectile between his claws hardened and flickered in a split second.

[Skill: Wind Step]

-20 SP • 8s Cooldown

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She managed to dodge the projectile by inches. It passed right through where she had been standing and cratered the ground. The shockwave that followed it would've sent her flying if she hadn't dashed against it with Wind Step.

It was a calculated move to evade and counter the pressure wave. It worked as well as it would have in the VRMMO, but it was disorienting in RLP. She felt the true power of whatever that spell was. She had leapt away from a tank shell, something she didn't have to do for thirty years of her past life. This really put her current situation in perspective.

One hit and I'm done for.

Sarka started moving; the bolt of lightning that suspended him mid-air lowered him to the ground. His hands were moving too fast, making it difficult to predict when his next attack would be.

Darya used the skill to sharpen her eyes and increase her reaction speed.

[Skill: Diamond Eyes]

-65 SP • 400s Cooldown

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She felt the effect take hold as a pulse behind her eyes. It hurt her retinas as if she were staring into a bright light, but nothing unbearable. Narrowing her eyes, she could see the world a bit slower than before. Sarka's hands were still blurred in the distance, but she could tell he wasn't preparing another spell just yet.

She needed a spell of her own before she started going at him.

[Spell: Sense Sphere]

-3 MP/s • Sphere • 90s Duration

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Mana burst from her skin like thin jet streams, creating a faint spherical mist around her that extended about twenty meters. It was just enough to detect mana-based attacks, and with her enhanced vision and reaction speed, she was confident she could do something within twenty meters.

She noticed something else that only she would've cared to notice as she observed Sarka. The spells and skills activations had changed after she entered combat. It was still the same Verse Gear thought trigger of thinking about the name of the action she wanted to take, but it was displaying more information along with it.

I could activate anything outside of combat without even knowing if they're spells or skills. It wouldn't show me details. So, Verse behaves differently based on what I'm doing.

She couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched, or more accurately, observed. Even in RLP, Verse had a way to gauge different states. This was simple enough in VRMMO, but with the sheer amount of complexity in a real-life scenario should've made it hard to distinguish between states. For example, she wondered if throwing a spell at a tree counted as in combat.

This wasn't the time to dissect it.

She had spent about 500 MP for preparations. It was time to deal damage to Sarka's health pool, which was about two and a half times as large as hers.

Darya started running to close the gap to ensure better targeting. Sarka's lightning-like mana was distorting everything. She was amazed at how fast she could run now. This body was the healthiest and strongest that she had ever felt. It seemed that the previous Darya hadn't sat around being a princess.

She got within a hundred meters of Sarka and saw his Manacer arm swing her way. In her slowed vision, she saw the five axes flash at the tips of his three claws. It was the same as before, if she wasn't mistaken.

This time, she saw the projectile form and split the air towards her. It was a sharp piece of crystallized mana. The projectile entered her Sense Sphere, and her eyes bounced between the entry point and Sarka.

She had to be careful to pick the direction she wanted to dash towards. Sarka was ahead of her, and getting too close was a mistake.

She chose a diagonal direction as the shockwave followed the mana shard.

[Skill: Wind Step]

-20 SP • 8s Cooldown

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The skill launched her another twenty meters closer to Sarka, but in a diagonal direction behind a pile of rocks. She caught a glimpse of Sarka changing his Manacer posture, getting ready for a different spell. Purple lightning sparked at his claws.

Darya took cover behind a pile of rocks as a bright purple glow blurred. The ground tremored beneath her feet as a bolt of lightning cracked the stones above her head.

She dashed out from the cover as the rocks fell. She realized she had almost forgotten to count her cooldowns. If eight seconds hadn't passed, she would've been a sitting duck.

[Skill: Wind Step]

-20 SP • 8s Cooldown

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Sarka changed targets swiftly as she emerged. A second bolt of lightning burst from his claws. Darya only had milliseconds.

[Vainfall: Terminate]

The world flipped monochrome, and the bright purple lightning bolts bursting from his hand became nearly frozen white branches. They were still slowly cracking their way towards her.

It was lightning. This wasn't something she could dodge by moving. It had spread across the entire pile of rock before shattering it. She suspected it was something similar that damaged the ship from this far away. Sarka’s lightning had incredible range. The ship had to have been attacked for a reason. Fominel was the one outside when it happened. It had to have targeted him somehow.

Can Sarka see that far somehow?

Regardless, he had used the same lightning attack without activating the spell for a second time. This meant it was either a timed or continuous spell with rolling cost and damage per second.

She wondered if she could take a hit. Her primary axis was Unezilo (Energy), and this was an Unezilo spell. She had a higher Resistance stat of 1,342. Getting hit by any Unezilo spell automatically negated at least that much before it could cut into her health pool.

Since dodging was useless, she decided to keep moving in Sarka's direction. The quickest way to deal the highest amount of damage was at close range. She dashed out of the direct path of the coming arcs of electricity, but at a slight angle towards Sarka's direction.

As she did, she cast another spell in the last second of the Terminate as the transition began, aiming her Warblade forward at an angle to the right.

[Spell: Mana Funnel]

-236 MP • Cone • Instant

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A glowing funnel of white mana emanated from the tip of her Warblade as the arcs of electricity branched towards her. She felt a couple of smaller arcs riddle her legs, momentarily numbing her knees. Most of it went directly into the glowing funnel.

Mana Gained

+334 MP

That told her nearly everything she needed to know about the spell. Mana Funnel absorbed fifty percent of the attack. A single lightning bolt was delivering somewhere close to seven hundred Unezilo damage.

Good that I got some Mana back at least. Even if it's so little.

Sarka was within about sixty meters now, and she saw him change his hand again.

Except he didn't change the posture of his claws. He changed the angle his arm pointed at, aiming directly at her. It was still the same spell.

"You got more?" Darya muttered, keeping her speed. She was a few leaps away from getting near him.

Purple light sparked at his claws.

[Vainfall: Terminate]

The world turned monochrome yet again. This time, Darya used a skill to leap faster now that she knew the damage output of the lightning bolt was going to be captured by her Resistance. It was still going to be divided among the other four axes, but since she had most of her mastery in Unezilo, she was sure about tanking 700 of it in exchange for getting closer.

[Skill: Wind Step]

-20 SP • 8s Cooldown

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She dashed at least forty meters forward in the gray void within the next two seconds as the half-second transition let the electricity pass over her. She felt numb all over as it riddled her skin. Ignoring it completely, she leapt forward.

Sarka seemed disoriented, seeing her appear far closer than he expected. His hand couldn't aim at her fast enough as another bolt formed at the tips of his claws.

A fourth? Just how long is this lightning spell?!

His glowing purple eyes darted to her right away as she leapt, preparing his other hand for a counter.

[Vainfall: Terminate]

Darya slid to the side, gripping her Warblade tightly with both hands as she counted the seconds. She got within range in the first second. Her body reacted to the Warblade as if by muscle memory. It was all one fluid movement.

At the end of the slide, she pivoted with her heels and drove forward with the Warblade, moving in an arc towards Sarka's torso. Two seconds.

The blade cut neatly into his flesh, starting from under the left side of the rib cage at a diagonal angle towards the right pectoral. The cut deepened as Darya straightened her legs, pushing the Warblade with all her strength.

It sank straight through the black tape-like material that Sarka was made from. She saw the consequences as prediction dots. Sparks flew from the opening wound as flames erupted from the blade, a big splash of blood bursting in the direction of the swing.

Keeping the Warblade in him as she counted the third second, she activated a spell that she had wanted to use all along.

[Spell: Pillars of Erisoth]

-6.6 MP/s • Circle• 124s Duration

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Mana burst from her arms, rippling through the staff of her Warblade, straight through Sarka's open wound. She caught a glimpse of the pillars materializing as the world caught up in the last half second.

Sarka's chest ripped open with her Warblade already lodged in his body. His glowing purple eyes widened, staring down at her as he brought both his hands from each side.

Pillars of Erisoth hadn't fully materialized yet to restrain him. He was reacting just as fast as she was.

"No, you don't," Darya muttered, continuing the slash arc as she leaned back to pull the Warblade away. She used a spell to keep him occupied until the emerging pillars could restrain him within the next second or two.

[Spell: Blast Weaver]

-293 MP • Touch • Instant

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The wound burst wide open, and Sarka's back straightened. His mouth opened wide as the explosions rippled through his body. His Manacer hand was still reaching for her from the left. It was as if his limbs had independent intelligence like an octopus. He had no reaction to pain. The man was a repurposed corpse.

He could still touch her from that side, as she was stuck continuing her movement with her Warblade.

[Vainfall: Terminate]

Darya finished the slashing arc in peace and used the momentum to pivot away from Sarka's reach as nine pillars fully materialized around him.