Chapter 82: ....Spell Has Reached Level 10
Without wasting the opportunity, Kevin rushed out from the other side of Tina’s shield while the monster focused on its injured paw and Robert.
He swung the iron rebar with all his strength while desperately trying to activate Body Reinforcement Spell again.
He failed, but he did not let that stop him. The rebar slammed into the monster’s skull with a loud clang, and the recoil shot through Kevin’s arms so violently that it felt as though his wrist had broken.
The iron bar slipped from his numb fingers, and pain spread through his hand.
The hyena barely looked injured. It turned toward Kevin with another angry growl and prepared to pounce.
Before it could move, Tina suddenly dashed forward and slammed the edge of her shield into its snout. The heavy impact stunned the monster for a brief moment before she unexpectedly raised the shield high above her head.
Her body was completely exposed, and the hyena instinctively lunged toward her abdomen. Just before its jaws reached her, Tina brought the shield crashing down while likely pouring Aura into her arms.
The heavy shield smashed into the monster’s neck, pinning it against the ground before a sharp crack echoed through the alley. The hyena twitched once before becoming completely still.
...
"Good job. It was a nice idea to use the shield’s weight to increase the force of the attack," Alex said as he walked over.
The three of his friends collapsed onto the ground almost at the same time after the fight ended, as though they had silently agreed to sit down together.
Robert’s eyes were still wide, and both of his arms trembled uncontrollably. Tina breathed heavily, but there was a faint excitement hidden beneath her exhaustion and fear. Kevin held his aching wrist while wearing an expression caught somewhere between shock, pain, relief, and accomplishment.
Then several familiar notifications appeared before Alex.
[Level 5 Grave Hyena killed.]
[Level 4 Grave Hyena killed.]
[Level 4 Grave Hyena killed.]
[Level 3 Grave Hyena killed.]
[Elastic Thread Spell has leveled up. Level 1 → Level 2]
[Mana Bullet Spell has leveled up. Level 2 → Level 3]
[Battle Instinct Spell has leveled up. Level 9 → Level 10]
[Battle Instinct Spell has reached Max Level.]
[Battle Instinct Spell can now be evolved. Choose an evolution...]
Alex smiled faintly as the notifications settled before him. The first thing that caught his attention was the level up for the Elastic Thread Spell.
It seemed to be one of those spells that required far more practice than the others, so seeing it finally gain a level left him genuinely pleased.
The Mana Bullet Spell leveling up surprised him at first. After replaying the fight in his mind, however, the reason quickly became clear.
The mana knife he had created and thrown wasn’t fundamentally different from a mana bullet. As far as he understood, Mana Bullet seemed to cover anything formed from mana and launched like a projectile.
He had shaped the knife using the same principles behind the spell before throwing it at the Grave Hyena.
Before its flight, he had even hardened its surface to improve its power before impact. Since the entire attack relied on the spell’s foundation, it made sense that his proficiency had increased enough for the spell to level up.
The notification that interested him the most, however, was Battle Instinct reaching Level 10. He had been close to the final level for quite some time. This battle finally provided the last bit of experience it needed.
He wanted to inspect the spell evolutions immediately, but that decision deserved proper thought. Rushing through something that could permanently affect his combat ability would be foolish, so he pushed the temptation aside for the moment and focused on everything else first.
Alex also noticed that he still hadn’t obtained the Mana Sword Spell. Instead of disappointing him, it gave him confidence that he was close. After using the mana knife during the fight, he could tell he only needed a little more practice before the system recognized it as a proper spell.
Looking back, he was glad he hadn’t selected Mana Sword as an evolution earlier since he could clearly earn it on his own.
"How are you feeling now?" Alex asked as he looked at Robert.
"Physically, I feel fine now. Mentally, though... maybe I should’ve chosen Warrior instead." Robert chuckled, as he stretched both arms.
"If you’re joking already, then I think you’ll be alright." Alex said, shaking his head.
Leveling up had healed everyone’s injuries and restored their stamina. It would’ve eased the mental strain as well, but it couldn’t erase the shock of fighting for their lives for the first time. Realizing just how close death had been left behind a different kind of exhaustion.
Alex looked around at the rest of the group before speaking. "Let’s take a short break. That spear almost blew us up, and this fight would’ve worn everyone out even if you leveled."
"I can keep going. The level up gave me all my stamina back," Tina said.
"No, you’re going to rest. This was your first fight. Your body recovered, but your mind hasn’t caught up yet. You’re still running on adrenaline, and if we get into another fight right away, there’s a good chance you’ll make a mistake and get seriously hurt," Alex replied, his voice a little firmer than before.
Nobody argued with him. Instead of being offended by his commanding tone, Robert grinned while Tina and Sophia exchanged amused smiles. Even Kevin smiled faintly, and Alex quickly realized they weren’t laughing at what he had said.
They were smiling because they could see how worried he was.
Alex ignored the teasing expressions.
"Let’s move," he said.
He reached into his inventory, took out the Energy Bar, and bit off a small piece before storing the rest again.
Warmth spread through his body almost immediately, washing away the last traces of fatigue. By the time he swallowed, the lingering exhaustion from the battle had completely disappeared.
..
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