Chapter 248: Ambient Energy Control
The obstruction collapsed into countless pieces, revealing the area hidden behind it.
It was a giant cave lit by the faint glow of mushrooms growing across the walls and ceiling. However, that wasn’t the most surprising thing Alex saw, because at the center of the cave was a giant badger so large that it would fill nearly half of the tunnel by itself.
The monster was sitting beside a small campfire that seemed strangely out of place in the dungeon. It wasn’t looking toward the entrance or guarding the cave, but was instead staring at the fire, where an egg was slowly being boiled.
The egg itself was even stranger, as purple waves rolled across its surface in constantly changing patterns. Everyone became alert when they saw it, because there was a simple reason the Boss Monster hadn’t come out to help its subordinates.
It had been too occupied with cooking this egg.
Alex narrowed his eyes as he observed the scene. Monsters could probably evolve their species just like Ascendants could, which would explain why they went after the Gene Potentials of other monsters.
If that was true, then what kind of monster did this egg belong to that it had made a Boss Monster completely neglect its own subordinates? The answer could only mean that the creature inside the egg belonged to a species significantly stronger than a Mid-rank Species.
’Maybe the Boss Monster didn’t help its subordinate, and hurried to eat the egg because it’s afraid that the parent of the egg might come after it soon.’
The thought made Alex’s expression turn serious. They were probably in danger, and yet, despite knowing that, his heart began beating faster for an entirely different reason because that egg clearly belonged to a species above Mid rank.
Alex took a slow breath and calmed himself. Whatever the egg contained, they couldn’t afford to focus on it right now, because the Boss Monster was still standing directly in front of them.
"I want to deal with this one myself," Alex suddenly said.
"Will you be alright?" Yulia asked, her eyes remaining fixed on the giant badger.
Petra also looked toward the monster with concern and added, "That monster feels dangerous."
"Yes, it feels dangerous, and that’s exactly why I want to deal with it myself," Alex replied as he activated Mana Sphere Spell.
Several spherical fields of mana expanded through the cave, spreading in every direction and revealing the surroundings to him. Alex carefully searched the entire area, but he couldn’t detect any other badgers, even ones hiding inside the shadows, which meant only the Boss Monster was alive.
"Fine, but if it gets dangerous, retreat. We will help you fight it together if you can’t handle it alone," Yulia said after thinking for a moment.
Alex nodded before stepping forward. The giant badger finally turned its attention toward him after sensing the expanding Mana Spheres, although it still didn’t seem particularly concerned about his presence.
Alex continued using Mana Sphere as he approached. He couldn’t find any other monsters in the cave, but that didn’t mean he could afford to become careless when dealing with a Boss Monster whose strength he hadn’t even begun to understand.
He stopped several meters away and lowered his stance while watching the badger carefully. He wondered what kind of fighter it was, whether it relied on physical strength like Warrior Bagers or specialized in surprise attacks like Ninja Badgers.
The answer came almost immediately when the giant badger suddenly swung one of its claws. Muddy, orange-brown energy covering its claws shot forward at breakneck speed, forming several sharp slashes that flew through the air and tore into the ground as they approached Alex.
Alex was caught off guard by the speed. He immediately flooded his body with mana and pushed Superior Body Reinforcement beyond its normal output before moving to the side, but to his shock, the attack followed him.
His eyes widened as the flying slashes suddenly changed direction and struck his body. His clothes were ripped apart, and the strange Origin Energy dug into his flesh before spreading through his body and disrupting his mana flow.
Superior Body Reinforcement faltered, while Blood Vitalization and Advanced Battle Instinct were affected as well. The sudden disruption caused Alex’s speed and focus to drop sharply, and a wave of pain surged through his chest, making his heart feel as though it was about to burst.
Alex hurriedly forced his mana back under control by pouring an obscene amount of Will into his body. He managed to stabilize his spells, but before he could completely recover, several more slashes came flying toward him.
He immediately created five Mana Bullets and filled them with the disruption pattern he had recently learned. The bullets flew forward and collided with the incoming slashes, and although the projectiles were cleaved apart, they weakened the attacks enough for Alex to dodge them.
The slashes still attempted to change direction, but they no longer possessed enough energy to make a major adjustment. Alex used that brief opportunity to accelerate and began circling the chamber at high speed, not intending to give the Boss Monster enough time to aim properly.
’The monster can control its attacks even after they’ve traveled so far from its body. Is it a priest-type monster? Is that why its attacks have such a long range?’
Alex quickly rejected the thought because the Boss Monster didn’t feel like a priest-type monster such as the Wild Orc Shamans. He continued moving while studying its attacks, trying to understand how the monster could maintain control over its Origin Energy from such a distance.
Then he remembered the Wild Orc Leader.
Even that monster had been capable of controlling Origin Energy across a large area around itself. The Boss Monster seemed to possess a similar ability, although it was applying that control to its attacks instead of directly manipulating the environment.
’It seems Boss Monsters know how to control ambient Origin Energy in areas where Origin Energy is highly concentrated.’
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