"...Let's do it," he said, nodding his head as he wiped the sweat from his chin.
[Answer recognized.]
[Processing…]
[--[Unique Ability]: [Sage Period] Activated.]
The moment the ability activated, his emerald eyes took a glow as his irises inhabited digital-like constructs encircling his gaze.
"Combine: Flame Lance. Force Stomp. Divine Presence."
As he gave the command while remaining still even while the Fallen Vanguard rapidly approached him, the system responded as magical constructs manifested before him and melded together.
[Combination Recognized. Combining: [Flame Lance] [Force Stomp] [Divine Presence]...]
[Combination Complete. New Spell Forged: [Cataclysmic Tremor]. Ready to be used.]
Just as he was given the go-ahead by the system, he stomped his foot down in front of him, yelling out, "Cast: Cataclysmic Tremor!"
[Spirit: -350. Remaining Spirit: 325/2000.]
With the newly woven spell conjured, his stomp unleashed a roaring shockwave that not only stunned the Fallen Vanguard, but rose his feet from the ground. Accompanying the shock wave, an onslaught of white, heavenly flames engulfed the black knight, propelling against him with the brutal force of the tremor.
"Sage Period", it's my unique ability that allows me to combine spells and create new, incredibly powerful ones that hit way above my own level. However, while I'm in "Sage Period" I receive double damage.
After unleashing the spell, his eyes returned to their normal, emerald state as he breathed heavily, sweating from each of his pores as he witnessed the flame-engulfed foe be sent flying back against the farthest wall.
Not only that, but I can't stay in "Sage Period" for very long. It's incredibly exhausting–both physically and mentally, he thought.
He was now low on spirit, and exhausted physically at that, so it was disheartening when he saw that the Fallen Vanguard wasn't vanquished from the powerful spell he unleashed.
"...Just my luck," he mumbled under his heavy breaths.
Though it was clear the tall, inhuman knight was heavily injured as its armor was caved in, cut, and spilling out black blood from the protrusions in its armor-like skin.
I can't use any more spells. Reaching zero spirit is absolutely not something I can do. I need at least some in reserve for any other enemies that might be in this dungeon, and when I go home. Not only that…but once you reach zero spirit, your body goes completely limp for an hour until you recover a decent portion, he thought.
Though there was another possibility that came to his mind as he pulled his hood over his head a bit more with a sigh.
The fact of the matter was, the enemy he was facing was not only three levels higher than himself, but a "Roaming Field Boss", which meant it was a difficult enemy even for those who were the proper level to face it.
…If I defeat that, I should level up. If I level up, all of my spirit will be restored…so it might be the right call to use my spirit now, he thought.
Sparse, white flames still clung to the armor of the Fallen Vanguard, but it walked forward with a clear limp and struggle to its step, dragging its triple-bladed sword against the steel in an ear-piercing whistle.
Seeing it in that state, he felt a bit more confident in his approach as he readied his sword, breathing in and out slowly as he tried to steady his rapidly-beating heart.
Let's end this, he thought with a tired breath.
As he reversed his grip on his sword, he dashed towards the half-dead foe of his, meeting him halfway before—[Blink Step].
"I am an assassin, after all."
He muttered as he reappeared behind the towering knight with his class-inherent skill, following up with another.
[Ripper]
A brutal, but effective skill built only as a finisher. The skill guided his arm as he used his inherent nimbleness as an assassin-class to traverse the Fallen Vanguard's body with his blade.
His dexterous movements made his scarf twirl in a dance while his hood obscured his face, though his emerald irises glowed subtly from behind his glasses.
After the series of swift, unseen strikes were launched, a dozen eviscerations showed themselves on the black knight's body before it slumped down, it's head rolling off of its shoulders.
[Spirit: -300. Remaining Spirit: 25/2000.]
"I did it…" he caught his breath in surprise, swiping his sword before sheathing.
What came next was the prompt he was waiting for. He fell to his rear to rest for a moment and catch his breath as he claimed victory over the enemy.
["Fallen Vanguard" defeated. EXP + 2500. [Angel Coin] x50 Acquired. Material [Stygian Ore] x1 Acquired.]
[Congratulations. You've reached [Level 9].]
[Congratulations. You've reached [Level 10]. Current EXP: 50/1750.]
[Resources [Health] and [Spirit] have been fully restored. Remaining Health Points: 2000/2000. Remaining Spirit: 2500/2500.]
"Huh?!" He let out in surprise.
It seemed almost like a dream to him, or a glitch in the system, but he leveled up twice in a row.
"Wait, what?! 2500 EXP? I knew I'd get a lot, but how?!" He asked in surprise.
[Question Recognized.]
[Answer: Due to defeating a much more powerful foe, the EXP acquired was multiplied.]
He sat there for a moment in disbelief, but was utterly elated as he clenched his fists together before letting out a celebratory yell.
"Hell yeah—!"
It was a surprisingly large boost in stats he found once reaching level ten.
[Attack: 1250. Constitution: 850. Dexterity: 1500.]
[Skill Points Available: 4.]
[New Skill(s) Acquired: [Conceal] [Flinch].]
Seeing that he now had skill points to work with, he used his finger to interact with the interface exclusive to his vision, swiping windows around until the the display of the "skill tree" appeared.
It was like an endless stretch of gilded branches, reaching out in every direction, manifesting itself in a pseudo-reality that only he could see as it took a three-dimensional form in front of his eyes.
There were different branches he could focus on working towards:
[Shadow Pursuit] which focused on the assassin-class abilities that specialized in remaining unseen. [Blink Step] was learned from this branch.
[Kill Pursuit] which focused on the assassin-class abilities that more-so focused on killing techniques. [Ripper] was learned from this branch.
[Balance] which was a branch that each class had that had general skills that each player could access, so they should choose.
He chose to continue pushing points into [Blink Step] and [Ripper] as it was his go-to finisher, and overall form of movement in battle.
One more point into "Blink Step" and I'll unlock the next skill on this path…well, I'll have my choice out of three new ones to choose right away. "Vanish" sounds useful, he thought.
However, what caught his eye in the bombardment of new updates from his level up was a blinking, red light in the corner of the interface he saw.
[New [Sub-Class] available.]
"Sub-class?" He quietly asked.