'A Wooden wand, let's check it out.'
Taking the wooden wand from his inventory, Kai saw a new system notification.
{Equip 'Basic Wooden Wand'?}
Clicking yes and confirming it, another notification popped up.
{Equipped 'Basic Wooden Wand.' +20 Intelligence +5 Mind}
So much!
He never thought that he would gain such a boost from a basic wooden wand.
What if he equipped a boss-level wand or a high-tier item? How many benefits would he get?
'Sweet, now my mana and magic power has increased even more!' Smiling, Kai was delighted by this.
Walking past the five Skeletons, Kai saw a metal gate blocking his path.
The metal gate was 10 feet tall, with a latch that he had to push up to unlock. No lock was blocking his path. It was as easy as lifting the latch.
He knew his mana wasn't full from using spells just prior, so he decided to wait for a little while for it to recover.
Leveling up can restore a little health and mana only when you aren't in combat. For example, if you're fighting multiple enemies and level up, you won't recover any Hp or mana. If you level up after the combat, then you would recover a decent amount of Hp and mana.
In Kai's case, he leveled up after the fight, so he had already recovered a good portion.
Now that he had a little time to think, Kai began to think of ways to increase and level up his magic.
'Do I need a certain amount of Intelligence or Mind stat? No, that can't be it. I could have become a mage earlier, and my stats are far higher than what they were back then.'
Unless choosing {Mage} for his class gave him +100 in Intelligence, Kai was confident it wasn't about his stats.
'Maybe it's all about understanding? I just don't understand my magic; therefore, it's only tier: 0. My magic is also different from what I could've chosen if I had become a {Mage}. It also said I would only get tier:0 spells.'
Thinking about it, Kai knew it had something to do with his understanding of the magic he has. But he wasn't sure how he would gain insight into ice; or what he should do to gain insight.
Checking his mana, he saw it was full.
Sighing, he got up.
Heading to the metal gate, he pushed up the latch, unlocking the gate.
~Boom~
Falling to the side, the gate opened, revealing a big circle room. Just like before, the walls were covered with skulls with enough room for the blue-fire torches.
In the center of the room was a Skeleton 2 feet taller than the previous 5-foot Skeletons. Its white bones were shiner than the other Skeletons. The Skeleton held a bone bow with a thin black string.
'Another weapon made of bones. Though this one is weird, the bones are curved.'
The sight of curved bones weirded out Kai.
The bow itself was similar to a longbow, about the size of the giant Skeleton's upper body.
'No arrows?'
There wasn't a quiver anywhere in sight or arrows. How would the Skeleton be able to use the bow without any arrows? Maybe the bow was just for show, or it was actually a melee weapon.
"{Inspect}!"
{Salazar, The Magical Skeleton Archer-Floor Guardian}
{Level-20}
'No arrows in sight, huh? Why use arrows when you can conjure your own with magic, right? Haa, this could be troublesome.'
Although he said that, the thought of fighting something strong made his blood boil. A grin formed on his face. He was looking forward to what was to come.
Sensing Kai's presence, a deep blue fire ignited in Salazar's eye sockets. Like he was awaking from a deep slumber.
'Woah, that's badass.'
Salazar drew back his bow, aiming at Kai. A blue flame manifested on the bow string. Taking the form of an arrow, he let go of the string.
~Zoom~
The arrow flew through the air, heading directly at Kai's head.
He knew if he didn't dodge, he would take major damage. He wasn't even sure he could survive the arrow. The amount of power in the blue fire arrow was far greater than anything he had faced before.
At just the arrow's appearance, the room temperature rose by at least 10 degrees!
Quickly condensing ice mana to form a blockade. Layer after layer, ice was compacted into a solid, frim ice wall. The nature of ice was clearer to him now; Kai could feel the texture of it. Ice was slowly becoming an extension of himself.
Even after compacting ice mana and ice layers into an ice wall, he still wasn't confident it would be able to block the incoming fire arrow.
So he jumped out of the way, just in case the arrow was able to bypass his blockade.
{Learned, Tier:0 Ice Spell [Ice Wall]-Condensing layer upon layer of ice, the user condensing it, forming a blockade. Consumes 600 Mana.}
{- 600 Mana}
This [Ice Wall] was different from forming a wall of ice. The [Ice Wall] was far more compact and condensed when it became a spell. The ice was harder and thicker than when Kai controlled his ice.
Although Kai could control ice with his magic willingly, making spells gave the ice form and power. The difference between an ice spell wall and just creating a wall of ice was like night and day.
~Boom~
~Sizzle~
The flaming arrow pierced the ice wall. Stuck inside the ice wall, the flame arrow slowly started to die down while also melting the ice.
A perfect counter!
The ice could stop the fire and put it out, while the fire would slowly melt the ice. But this ice wall wasn't even a spell!
Salazar didn't seem fazed that his attack didn't work. Almost like he didn't care, or he was just testing the waters!
A Warning Shot!
"[Ice Spike]!"
Forming three ice spikes, Kai sent them out, seeking Salazar's skull.
{- 1200 Mana}
~Zoom~
The three ice spikes flew through the air, approaching Salazar. The cyan ice spikes were only a couple of feet away from piercing Salazar's skull when...
Blue fire erupted out of the ground!
The fire surrounded Salazar forming a fire circle, protecting him from any oncoming attacks, instantly melting away the ice spikes.
Kai's eyes widened, 'He was holding back!'
With the current fire circling Salazar, his {Ice Wall} wouldn't stand a chance. It would instantly melt away!
'It has to be.' After looking at the fire, Kai knew why the difference was so great between each other. It was simple because one magic was ice while the other was fire.
~Floo~
The fire circle disappeared.
Tier 1 Magic!
Salazar could use tier 1 magic, while Kai couldn't.
He was sure of it. And whatever spell Salazar used for the fire circle was certainly tier:1, while the flame arrow was most likely a tier: 0 spell.
'If we are competing in magic, he has me outdone. But I refuse to believe Salazar is physically stronger.'
Even with his new wand, the difference between tier:0 and tier:1 was far too big. If only Kai could find a way to get close. That way, he could finish the fight.
Looking over at his skills, Kai had a wild idea.
{Mutated Ability-[Death's Embrace](Activate)-Creating a link between user and target, all stats will equalize to the users. Won't work on those a tier + higher than the user. Once the connection is formed, the user and target will be bound for 1 hour. If no party is killed within the time limit, both parties will die. During this time, both parties will be forced to be within 5 miles of each other.}
'Could this restrict his use of tier:1 magic? Or would it make everything worse?'
This ability was a double edge sword. Making Salazar's stats copy his own could either help him or hurt him.
'Salazar most likely has more intelligence stat points. If he copied my stats, he would have less. That could make him run out of mana faster. While it would make him physically stronger, that wouldn't help if he's not used to close combat. My claws are more than enough to make myself bleed, so they shouldn't have a problem with Salazar. I would just need to get close.'
Kai decided. Using [Death's Embrace] was the best option he had. Not only would it make Salazar have less mana, but his attack should also be less powerful; this way, he wouldn't have to worry about the flame circle.
"[Death's Embrace]"
Kai could feel an invisible chain wrap around his soul, connecting himself to Salazar. And Salazar could feel it, too, as his blue flame eyes burned brighter and bigger. Like he was enraged by Kai's ability.
Testing it, Kai used [Ice Spike] and sent three ice spikes toward Salazar.
{- 1200}
As the ice spikes approached, Salazar summoned his flame circle once more.
~Zoom~
Flying through the air, the ice spikes clashed with the fire circle.
~Sizzle~
Although the hot blue fire was melting the ice spikes, they were still able to get through!
The power in the ice spikes had decreased to almost none, yet they were still able to get through, proving Salazar's magic decreased.
With what power they had left, the ice spikes hit Salazar, tickling him.
Smirking, Kai already knew what he had to do.
Although risky, he was confident he wouldn't be gravely injured. Against a mage, their greatest weakness was up close. Even with Kai's stats, Salazar wouldn't be able to keep up with Kai, as he wasn't used to it.
"[Ice Spike]!"
Summoning ten ice spikes, Kai sent them to Salazar. Closing following behind them.
{- 4,000 Mana}
Seeing the incoming attack, Salazar pulled back his bow, igniting it.
Three blue flame arrows appeared!
~Zoom~
Releasing the three arrows, the target was the oncoming ice spikes.
~Boom~
Three ice spikes met the flame arrow head-on!
With equal power, the attacks countered each other.
Kai knew Salazar wouldn't be idle; that's why he summoned so many ice spikes.
The fire circle again came alive, burning hotter than the previous one. Salazar put even more mana into it, making the fire circle stronger.
"[Freeze]!"
{- 500 Mana}
Kai froze a small portion of the circle, just enough for himself to get through without being burned.
The amount of mana used for [Freeze] depends on the target; this time, because Kai was freezing fire, the amount of mana was far greater than when he usually used [Freeze].
Running through the fire circle, Kai jumped high into the air, "[Shapeshift]."
Kai being up close caught Salazar off guard, but he quickly gathered himself. Pulling the bow back, Salazar was about to use another fire arrow spell. Igniting his bow, a bigger, deep blue fire came alive, taking the shape of an arrow.
Just as he was about to let go, sending his arrow, he felt it!
A coldness he had long forgotten about. His bone fingers could feel the cold, rough surface of ice!
Kai had frozen Salazar's hand!
With his hand frozen, Salazar was at the mercy of Kai. It would take at least a few seconds to melt the ice, but Kai was right in front of him now!
"Haha, you did your best." Giving Salazar a dark chuckle, his black claws glowed white.
"[Thrust]!"
~Crack!~
~Thud!~
Kai's claws passed through Salazar's skull, sending him off forever.
The blue fire in his eye sockets dimmed low before disappearing.
Although Kai managed to defeat the Floor Guardian, he now didn't have access to [Death's Embrace] for another 24 hours. He had first noticed the cooldown the first time he had used it.
{Earned 2,500 Experience Points}
{Level Up! x2}
{Obtained, Salazar's Bow}