The monster quickly headed towards him, a black patch on its hide was the only sign it was attacked. The Blue Flame that Lucas relied on for most of his spells wasn't good enough. There was a spark of hatred inside his heart as he stopped taking it easy.
'I'm going to use our aura, focus on maintaining our sanity.'
'Fine.'
Lucas let go of the restraints of his personal rune and mixed it with his spells, the Blue Flame became a Dark Red Flame, his presence was boosted as the bear stopped in its tracks. The enemy had turned from prey to predator.
The instincts of the bear were strong enough to warn him to stay away. The bear shoved his instinct aside as confidence in itself surged up, hubris was growing, making the bear think it can handle Lucas without paying too hefty a price.
Summoning a spear he threw it towards the Terrabear again, this time though, the bear knew now to dodge it. The moment the spear flew towards it, the bear was capable of calculating where it would land, shifting its body to the side, the spear flew beside it.
BOOM
The spear exploded as it grazed its hide, while still focussed on the explosion, Lucas was already in front of it with his arm pulled back. Punching forward with all his strength, the bear was pushed back, but all of its hide stayed intact.
His main attack didn't have the impact he wished for, but the spear was capable of damaging the hide at least somewhat. The bear took a few steps back before closing its eyes for a second.
"Dammit!", Lucas rushed towards the bear and unleashed a barrage of punches, the pressure from them were already deadly to anything in Rank 1 or Tier 1, but the bear took them like they were nothing.
'Stop wasting energy, move on to the next phase.'
'You're right, this isn't working.'
The reason Lucas was starting to panic a little was because when the bear closed its eyes, Lucas could see Light magic being dispersed inside its body. It could heal itself, which would explain the toughness of the bear, even though it was already a lot stronger than anything he found outside the trial.
Following the bear's tactic, Lucas swiftly closed his eyes to gain a moment of clearness in his mind. Dealing with the rampaging emotions from his personal rune and trying to focus was a terrible combination.
Lucas started to release a lot of mana into his body, but didn't activate it. Simply by constantly letting it flow through his entire body could he keep it ready for activation without running the risk of conjuring a spell. Of course, this required him to constantly keep the mana in motion, one mistake and he could end his own life.
A normal mage would never try something so dangerous, since it meant that you could barely focus on anything else. Luckily, Lucas was a bit different in that aspect.
'Again'
Taking a deep breath, he ran towards the bear and released a standard punch. The blast caused by it could literally blow holes in weaker beings. But it wasn't enough, pushing his limits further, the blast was accompanied by a wave of Dark Red Fire.
Lucas had copied the fighting technique from the barbarian, instead of just pure mana, he added elements into the mix as well. Each attack was similar in strength if he shot off a fireball but without having to conjure it in the first place. All he had to do was redirect some of the mana in his body towards his fist and let his mind think of the element.
He didn't have to combine a bunch of runes to create a fireball with a certain velocity, just the element. This allowed him to never let down in his attacks.
Even if he increased his attack speed and versatility, the Terrabear had a formidable defense. It constantly generated electricity that would paralyze its victims and used Light magic to heal any wound that Lucas managed to inflict.
Its ferocious attacks were extremely deadly and the longer the battle, the swifter the bear got in its attacks. It was starting to learn how Lucas moved and was attacking places where he wasn't at to limit his movement.
Lucas was also learning more and more about the Terrabear and was confident these Great Beasts were nothing alike their normal counterparts. He got more and more liberal with his energy usage, mixing Dark magic in his blows to keep the bear on the edge.
Jumping back, Lucas quickly gathered all the energy in his body to fire off a Dark Beam, but the beast was onto his trick. There was a glint in its eyes before it roared loudly, a Light Shield was set up. The Light shield was made of hexagons connected to each other to form a small barrier around it.
Firing off the Dark Beam, the barrier of Light held strong.
'Why isn't it working?!'
'Hahaha, looks like you're panicking a bit, mind if we switch? Let me take care of this little bear, I've been holding back for too long.'
'Sure, I'll keep our rune under control, and I'll try to assist with healing. I can't promise much though since I'm not used to the constant flow of mana.'
Lucas's body relaxed as he let his partner take over. His eyes sharpened as he shifted with his other self. A chilling grin spread across his face, a stark contrast to the grim determination that had dominated it moments before.
"Alright, time for some fun," Lucas's voice echoed, with a sinister tone. His posture shifted, becoming looser and more fluid, like a predator preparing to pounce.
The Terrabear sensed the change immediately. Its instincts screamed danger, but its pride would not allow it to retreat. The beast roared again, a mix of defiance and fury, and its Light Shield flared brighter, casting a radiant glow across the battlefield.
Lucas's darkened gaze never left the bear. "Let's see how much you can really take," he taunted, his voice dripping with a newfound arrogance. Part of Lucas had been researching spells for a long time, having the freedom of control again made him a bit too excited.
Without warning, he surged forward, his speed nearly doubling. The ground beneath him cracked with each step as he closed the distance in an instant. He swung his fist, not aiming for the bear's body but instead the Light Shield itself.
The impact was explosive. A wave of dark energy collided with the radiant light, creating a shockwave that rippled through the air. The hexagonal shield held, but barely. Cracks spiderwebbed across its surface, the light dimming slightly. Using a combination of spells, Lucas amplified his power immensely, the only problem was that it costed a lot of energy.
The Terrabear reacted quickly, knowing it couldn't maintain the shield for long under this onslaught. It dropped the barrier and immediately summoned a surge of electricity, aiming to paralyze Lucas before he could strike again.
But Lucas was ready. As the bear's electricity crackled through the air, he sidestepped with inhuman speed, leaving a blur of afterimages in his wake. The lightning struck where he had been just moments before, scorching the earth. The bear had predicted his movements throughout the fight, now it was time for Lucas to surprise the bear.
"Too slow!" he mocked, launching himself at the bear with a spinning kick. This time, his leg was wreathed in a swirling mix of Dark Red Flames and strange tendrils. The attack connected with the bear's side, and for the first time, the Terrabear let out a genuine cry of pain.
But not only the bear was surprised, Lucas had never seen those creepy tendrils before. His heart skipped a beat thinking it came from something else than his own magic.
The dark flames clung to its fur, searing through its natural defenses, but with a simple healing spell it would be mostly solved. The reason the Terrabear felt genuine pain was from the large and growing dark red tendrils.
It dawned on him. This was the first attack that consisted of a spell that contained more than just his own rune. In his excitement he poured in more of his aura than usual. Just like pouring more mana into a spell made it grander, his aura had a similar effect.
His aura was one of destruction, sadness, rage, but most of all despair. When those emotions were shackled down into a rune and used correctly in a spell, it had the effect of latching onto whatever it could find and slowly tearing it apart. The tendrils were just his aura that was too overpowering, chaining the bear down as it tried to spread further.
The bear thrashed violently, using its sheer strength to gain some space and using Light magic to stop the continuing spread of the aggressive tendrils. Focussing on the madness contained within the spell, the bear had to let the flames continue to burn, leaving scorched patches across its hide.
"Huh, this is great!"
'You think?! I can't keep the rune under control, idiot! No more quick casting! Hurry and finish it!'
Lucas pressed the advantage. He knew he couldn't give the bear a moment to recover. With a swift motion, he conjured several orbs of Pure mana. He flung them at the bear in rapid succession. Each orb exploded on impact, sending shards of Dark magic tearing into the Terrabear's flesh.
This was one of the spells Lucas had invented during his so-called break. By forming a hollow sphere and putting Dark mana in the middle, he was able to restrict its evaporation. At the moment of impact, the pure mana would blow a way for the Dark mana to reach as deep as possible.
The beast roared in agony, its once-imposing figure now battered and bleeding. Holes were visible all over its body, making the bare pulsing flesh come into contact with the open air. But it was far from defeated. With a furious snarl, it unleashed a blast of blinding light, forcing Lucas to shield his eyes and step back momentarily.
Taking advantage of the brief respite, the Terrabear called upon its healing magic once more, closing some of its wounds and extinguishing the dark flames clinging to its fur. Its eyes locked onto Lucas with renewed hatred, recognizing him as the true threat.
Lucas chuckled darkly, lowering his hand from his eyes. "Oh, you're not done yet? Good."
The Terrabear charged forward, its massive claws glowing with a mixture of light and electricity. It swiped at Lucas with terrifying speed, each swing creating a shockwave that carved deep gouges into the earth.
'Two elements at once? I thought it could only use a single spell at a time?'
"Shut the fuck up and focus on maintaining our sanity."
'Then pay more attention to your attacks!'
Lucas ducked and weaved between the bear's strikes, his movements almost too fast to follow. He was using multiple spells at once. Muscle strengthening was absolutely needed, with each movement he added a surge of wind to speed his limbs up even further. Besides that he also added a few shields that absorbed some of the impact.
Suddenly, Lucas changed tactics. Instead of dodging, he caught one of the bear's claws with his bare hand, stopping it dead in its tracks. With his arm covered in thick dark stone the electricity couldn't reach Lucas.
The ground beneath him cracked from the force of the impact, but Lucas held firm, his muscles straining.
The Terrabear's eyes widened in shock. Its electricity had a single goal, to paralyze, yet it could tell that the person beneath its claw was fine. It tried to pull its claw free, but Lucas's grip was like iron. "Gotcha," he whispered, and with a violent twist, he shattered the bear's claw with a burst of dark energy. A Dark Beam shot straight through the claw and grazed the neck of the bear.
The bear howled in pain, staggering back, but Lucas didn't let up. He closed the distance in an instant, slamming his fist into the bear's chest with enough force to lift it off the ground. The impact sent a shockwave through the bear's body, firing off another Dark Beam in the center of its body, Lucas was showered in its blood and guts.
The Terrabear crashed to the ground, its body twitching as its organs spilled out. Lucas stood over it, his expression cold and merciless. He raised his hand, summoning a Dark Red Flame Sword.
"Don't bother," he declared, his voice echoing with finality. If it were a normal Terrabear, it would already be dead. Seeing the magic rush through its twitching body, Lucas knew it wasn't over yet.
The Terrabear struggled to rise, but its body was too damaged, its strength fading rapidly.
With a final roar of defiance, the bear tried to summon the last of its strength. But Lucas had already seen what it would do, stabbing the sword straight through its skull and jumping back. He snapped his fingers to let the sword explode.
The resulting explosion was deafening. A blinding flash of lightning and dark red energy engulfed the area, the shockwave flattening the surrounding grass. When the dust finally settled, Lucas stood alone with a tired look. The Terrabear lay motionless at his feet, its body charred and broken.
Lucas took a deep breath, feeling the adrenaline still coursing through his veins.
'You did better than I expected. I'll leave the other fights to you as well. Although you have to be careful using our aura. I don't mind if you use it, but once a fight is all I can give you.'
"..."
'What's wrong? The spells you tried were decent in their performance, and that's a special Terrabear. And while our energy reserves are low right now, we could meditate and get it all back in a good hour.'
"That's the issue. Hey, stupid ass voice, how much time do we have left?"
[Remaining time: 9:43:15]
'What? How did that much time pass?'
"It passed like normal, it's just that I'm used to keeping a check on time since I don't get control all that often. I have a bad feeling about this test."
'Hmmm. Okay, let's take a second to think about this. We have 4 more Great Beasts to fight, most likely on the same level if not stronger.', Lucas walked towards the bear and pressed his hand on the corpse.
"Life Drain.", the magic activated, his willpower flooding the body, overpowering the willpowerless mana within and guided it towards himself. It was a lot of energy, but not nearly enough to fill his entire core. The bear had lost a lot of energy from the fight, sitting down, Lucas tried to catch the abundance of energy in the air from the aftermath from the fight. It wasn't enough, but he didn't have the time to be sitting around.
'I've done my calculations, there's no way to succeed if we fight them one on one.'
"Then what're you proposing, a two on one fight? I'm drawing the line at one, no fucking way I'm fighting two at once. The spells are okay, but nowhere near that good."
'I know, that's a risk even I wouldn't want to take.'
"So what now? We just try to get as many as possible?"
'No, well, yes, for now. I'm still thinking of a plan. You get to keep control, I'll work on a feasible plan. Get rid of the turtle next.'
"Got it, just make sure to keep track of time."
'I'll try to do so, just hurry up and call me when you arrive.'
"Done.", Lucas started to rush towards the volcano. Using a few spells to boost his mobility, he didn't spare any energy in his movement.