Chapter 28: Ultimate class spell
‘Well, maybe not exactly like the trial of courage...’
Things were much different back then.
The calibre of enemy in comparison to himself was roughly the same as when facing those orcs, however, unlike the trial of courage, Ari had way more options available now.
A body of water materialised beneath his feet then flowed in a zigzag pattern ahead of him, rising and falling in waves as it took shape to form a giant serpent.
The Tenahu growled menacingly as the Water Serpent bared it’s fangs at the beast.
‘Go!’
The water serpent charged ferociously, it’s jaws open at full extension.
The Tenahu made its move, closing the distance between it and the serpent with one leap.
Boom!
The Tenahu swung it’s massive paw downwards, swatting the water serpent’s face with a fierce strike.
The serpent staggered from the heavy impact, allowing the Tenahu to reach its head unimpeded.
The boss opened its enormous maw then clamped down, crushing the serpent's head instantly.
‘Tough bastard.’
The Tenahu displayed its dominance in two moves, forcing Ari to retreat.
He knew the water serpent wouldn’t be the beast’s match offensively, however, he did not expect such a one-sided beatdown from their initial clash.
Ari quickly reformed the serpent, using more mana to reinforce its body, making it sturdier than before.
It was fortunate that the Water Serpent spell was native to Ambrose Academy, thus requiring significantly less mana than his Transcender Origins spells.
However, despite the more favourable mana requirements, Ari couldn’t spend the entire battle reforming the serpent. After all, the spell could only do so much against this boss.
The Tenahu returned it’s attention to Ari, stepping over, and ignoring the reforming water serpent.
Ari grinned. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
The reinforced serpent lunged at the Tenahu, coiling itself around the beast’s body to immobilise it.
The Tenahu roared in anger, but the serpent did not relent.
‘That should keep it busy for a moment.’
With a little bit of breathing room, Ari put his plan into action.
He used Actualisation for the first time since entering the Lumus Tower to create a spell capable of truly damaging the Tenahu.
A trump card.
Ari held the tip of his sword on the ground and began chanting while channelling mana, requiring twenty uninterrupted seconds to activate the location.
Following a flash of light that lasted for a fraction of a second, he moved South East and charged the location for twenty seconds before heading further East from his initial position.
The Tenahu managed to loosen the serpent’s grip around it’s legs, allowing it to lunge at the wall, slamming its body into it with a thunderous impact.
Boom!
Rumble!
The boss chamber shook.
The serpent's form lost shape momentarily, freeing the Tenahu from its grip entirely.
The Tenahu noticed Ari standing a few meters away, resting the tip of his sword on the ground with mana gathering around it.
It growled menacingly.
Ari’s heart raced; he needed more time to complete the activation, ten seconds to be exact.
ROAR!
The Tenahu unleashed a devastating shockwave.
Ari watched helplessly as the shockwave tore through the ground ahead of him.
He couldn’t move.
The spell originated from a high fantasy manga Ari was fond of.
It is an ultimate class offensive spell that required uninterrupted chanting and channelling of all activation points.
If even one point is interrupted mid-activation, he would need to restart the entire process.
The effects of Enhanced Recovery allowed him to maintain the Water Serpent spell, and charge his trump card simultaneously, however, it had a time limit.
With a quarter of the time limit remaining, restarting the spell wasn’t an option.
He continued chanting then raised his left arm across his chest, planning to tank the shockwave for as long as he could.
Bang!
Moments before impact, the serpent reformed and slammed into the Tenahu’s face, shifting the shockwave off centre.
Ari shifted his body to avoid the residual effects of the attack, allowing him to complete the chant and activation.
Boom!
Bang!
The reinforced serpent and Tenahu resumed their battle, their attacks more ferocious than before.
Ari moved North, then North West, activating multiple locations along the way.
When he activated the final spot, pure white light gathered in the palm of his hand as he extended the chant.
Ari activated Boost to its maximum 4x-multiplier.
An intense pressure radiated off him as the light condensed into a large orb.
The orb pulsed rapidly, disrupting the air around it.
The orb attracted the attention of the Tenahu.
It sensed that the orb was dangerous and tried to stop the spell’s completion, but the serpent coiled around its limbs, preventing it from moving beyond the centre of the chamber.
Ari sent the orb of highly compressed light energy towards the centre of the chamber, it ascended to the height of ten meters.
The next moment, multiple slender rods shot out of the orb, impaling the locations Ari previously activated in a hexagonal pattern.
The five meter rods generated a pulse that resonated with the orb above, however the pulses were somewhat out of sync.
Surrounded on all sides, the Tenahu became desperate. It unleashed a directional shockwave towards Ari who stood on the outside of the hexagon, however, the moment it reached the boundary of the spell, the shockwave dissipated.
A smaller rod descended from the orb and landed in the centre of the hexagon. The larger rods resonated with it, pulsating rapidly.
Laser like beams fired from the top of each rod, connecting them to the one in the centre, forming a concave web of light.
Multiple beams landed on the Tenahu’s body, further restricting it’s movement.
The orb descended towards the centre of the hexagon, landing on the tip of the rod. The instant it made contact, the beams from the other rods ceased.
Ari ended his chant and whispered.
<Annihilation>
The next moment, the boss chamber trembled violently as a blinding white light enveloped the entire hexagonal boundary.
Ari dropped to his knees panting heavily, his mana reserves nearly dry.
The effects of Enhanced Recovery ended as he completed the Annihilation spell, allowing him to recover a sliver of mana, barely enough to keep him conscious.
The bright light faded, revealing the obsidian beast slumped on the ground, smoke surrounding it’s seared body.
The Tenahu staggered to its feet with a low growl.
‘Dammit, my level is still too low...'
Ari’s mind raced. He barely had any energy left to swing his sword, much less cast an offensive spell.
The Tenahu appeared disoriented, it stood off to the side, swaying back and forth.
When Ari zoomed in on its unguarded neck, an idea came to mind.
‘Looks like I’ll have to end it the same way as I did that time...’
He had to act before the Tenahu recovered or else...
Ari got to his feet. Holding the sword with both hands, he flexed his elbows, pulling the sword to his side.
He initiated a thrust with all the strength he could muster, then performed a triple dash to build momentum before casting Blink.
Ari arrived at the Tenahu’s side the next instant, his arms at full extension.
Purple blood sprayed on his arms and chest, then a loud thud echoed throughout the boss chamber.
The Tenahu collapsed onto its side with half of Ari’s sword sticking out of if its neck.
[You have gained 50 AP]
[Notice!]
[AP Doubled Due To Floor Boss Status]
[You have gained an additional 50 AP]
[Lumus Tower First Floor: Hell Difficulty]
[Status: Clear]
[Congratulations]