'Why? You always managed to somewhat replicate it.'
'Well, the thing is. Most elements have a stable form. You conjure wind, you get a gust of wind, you summon a stone, you can hold it. But light functions a lot like darkness.'
'I see, then can we try that out?'
'Nah, not here, that's going to take a lot of time and effort. We should focus on this first.'
'Fair enough.'
Lucas still had the information during one of his visions where a young boy managed to fuse his willpower with darkness. Lucas had attempted to recreate a couple of times with little to no success. Not that he had no clues on how to move forward, it just wasn't the right time.
'Okay, then we can't use the barrier. How good is that aura from Simon?'
'Terrible, it's just a waste of energy. Even after improving it further, it wouldn't stop our own Dark Beam let alone the genuine one.'
'In other words, counter or dodge it, got it.'
'No shit dumbass, didn't you create that thing to deal with that attack in the first place? Anyway, what do we do now?'
The sand tornado was now close enough to find the source of it. In the eye of the tornado a massive light brown snake was swerving along the winds.
'A snake? I thought it was going to be a beetle.'
'A beetle? You playing in the dirt when I'm not looking? Why not a lizard? That makes way more sense'
Lucas shook his head as he spectated the fight from afar. The massive alligator head turned around and opened its jaws wide open. The Griffon was starting to fly towards the tornado as well.
It was clear now that both the griffon and the alligator were going to subdue the newcomer first. Lucas clicked his tongue before moving, he wasn't planning on interfering, but necessity called for his action.
As the tornado got closer, the beasts realized how dangerous it actually was. A normal tornado was inherently troublesome, and this one even more so. It wasn't just made out of sand, but every speck of sand was carefully crafted to be as sharp as a knife.
Just by getting close to the forest, trees were being ripped apart on the spot before joining the constant vortex.
If the griffon flew into it, it would be lucky to escape alive, same for the alligator. The tornado was a great tool for offensive and defensive tactics, the only issue with it was its speed.
The alligator knew it was up to it to fix the situation, it had just experienced a strange rage that consumed its mind. Now freed, it knew that the snake was under the same circumstances. Seeing that the griffon was more focussed on the snake, it knew the flying beast was trying to stabilize the current fight.
Using a dark beam to break a hole into the tornado would work, but expensive. The alligator knew it had to act, turning the massive jaws towards the snake, it clamped down in the middle of the tornado, shredding the entire water construct while incapacitating the tornado.
Seeing a chance, the griffon swooped in and caught the snake in its claws, electrocuting it thoroughly. It wasn't enough to knock it out, but it did reduce the madness in its eyes.
The alligator had trouble maintaining the watery avatar when suddenly a Dark Beam blasted a hole in its front left leg. Tracing the origin of the dark beam, its eyes found the griffon high in the sky.
Then the alligator realized something, the bear was dead, the turtle wasn't active, the snake was about to be killed by the griffon, and it had just lost a leg. The only beast that was standing strong was the griffon.
Was it just playing along with it? Was it being used for the griffon's goals? From the depths of its heart a certain aura started to flicker up again. Staring at the griffon in the sky, its eyes slowly tinted red as it gained full control over the avatar again.
The griffon was focussed on keeping the snake under control when its instincts suddenly screamed, swiftly turning its head, the open jaws were closing down on it.
Caught in the attack, both the snake and the griffon suffered greatly. Plummeting down to the ground, the griffon was barely able to pull itself upwards before hitting the ground. Regrettably, it had to release the snake. After it had reached a certain height again, it stared daggers at the alligator, but then it froze.
The strange madness that possessed the snake was back in the alligator. It didn't know how and didn't have the time to figure it out.
The Black Griffon hovered in the sky, its heart pounding as it surveyed the chaos below. The situation had spiraled out of control, faster than it could have anticipated. It had to end this. Now.
The griffon spread its wings wide, feeling the powerful gusts of wind whip around it. It had fought countless battles in this accursed prison, but never one quite like this. This was different. This time, the beasts were fighting each other with a ferocity that made even the griffon question its own survival.
Still, it wasn't going to let these creatures tear it down.
With a sharp, screeching cry, the griffon stopped sparing its energy and summoned a storm of wind and lightning. Funneling its magic into a powerful attack, it released some of its feathers that served as daggers.
As the alligator's jaws surged towards it again, it angled its wings, releasing a devastating blast of energy and feathers, deforming the avatar. Lightning surged through the water avatar, tearing through the alligator's summoned form, disrupting the watery jaws and forcing the reptilian creature back.
But the alligator, consumed by rage, was undeterred. It roared, its body rising from the avatar in a towering display of fury, the water swirling violently around it. The madness in its eyes glinted like burning coals as it lashed out with another series of powerful water tendrils, slamming towards the griffon with crushing force.
The griffon dodged and weaved, its sleek, black feathers beaming with light as it expertly maneuvered through the sky. However, it couldn't avoid them all. One of the tendrils slammed into its side, knocking it off balance and sending it spiraling towards the ground. The impact jarred the griffon, pain shooting through its body as it fought to regain control.
But the alligator wasn't the only threat. The snake, though momentarily subdued, was regaining its strength. It hissed from within the swirling remnants of the sand tornado, its eyes glowing with renewed madness. The swirling storm was already reforming around it, sharp sand particles ripping through the air like thousands of tiny blades.
The ruler of the skies had to act quickly.
With a sharp intake of breath, it summoned its trump card, focusing on its most potent attack. A deep rumble echoed in its chest as it called upon the dark energy it had perfected over the centuries. If it could channel all its power into this one final strike, it could take out both the snake and the alligator in one blow.
The sky crackled with energy as the griffon's beak began to glow with a deep, dark aura. It dove toward the battlefield once more, aiming directly at the alligator, which was still focused on summoning more water to renew its attack.
But right as the alligator brought the water forth to protect itself did the griffon take a sharp turn towards the snake. Unleashing part of the gathered energy, it blasted the sand vortex apart as it grabbed the snake again.
This time though, it didn't bother electrocuting it. Using its claws, it pried the mouth of the snake open to unleash a Dark Beam straight down its throat. The life vanished from its eyes, the griffon had stopped trying to bring them back. It was time to finish this fight so it could focus on the human.
Sadly, to the alligator, this only confirmed its suspicions and the madness was so gracious as to provide it more energy. Even if that energy came in the form of its lifespan. Gathering its energy, it reformed the avatar, even if it was a bit smaller than last time.
The Black Griffon was tired of this dance. It tried to reason with its fellow beasts to fight the bigger threat, but they were sick and it couldn't create a cure. After shaking the alligator awake it turned back anyway. So the griffon decided to stop relying on them. Now it was better to remove any obstacle.
It swooped lower, slashing at the avatar with its razor-sharp talons, spreading electric currents through the water, further weakening the beast's control over it. As it was distracting the alligator with its hit-and-run tactics, it kept pouring lightning bolts into the avatar.
At a certain point, the alligator lost all control over it, making it collapse. Seeing a chance, the griffon swooped in and clawed at the alligator. Its target didn't let up though, fighting back with pure aggression in its swipes, even biting down on one of its wings.
While seemingly in a bad spot, this was exactly what the griffon was aiming for. Now the alligator was stuck in one place. Gathering the necessary energy it blasted a giant hole in the center of it body.
The griffon, bloodied but victorious, hovered above the still battlefield. The human still lurked in the shadows, but for now, it had won the fight. It had survived once again. It let out a triumphant screech, a sound that echoed through the mountains, a declaration of its dominance.
Lucas, who was watching from afar was somewhat happy with the results. He had hoped for more, but this was already better than nothing.
"How much time is left to complete this test?"
[Remaining time: 5:32:56]
'Huh, that was a lot better than I first thought. My plan worked, not perfectly, but good enough.'
'So? We still have that stupidly powerful bastard to deal with.'
'Perhaps, but it did use its trump card multiple times, its available mana has decreased to about a fifth of what it usually has.'
'Shit, it can still use it then.'
'Most likely, considering the state of the battlefield, we should start as soon as possible.'
'How are we doing it? Are you going to do it until it's too hard and push all the work on me again? Or do you think you can handle it?'
'You know, there's nothing wrong with encouraging each other. I'll take care of it, you focus on maintenance. While you focussed on our projects I used my spare time to focus purely on this specimen.'
'Fine, do what you want, just don't fuck up. I'm tired of cleaning up after you.'
'Have some faith.'
'Never have any faith in anyone.'
Lucas stared at the griffon in the sky as he grabbed the body of the snake. Draining the remaining energy from it, Lucas filled up his core.
He lamented the fact that he still couldn't fly, fighting a flying enemy was always a pain. So the first thing Lucas wanted was to get rid of its wings. Its left wing was bitten by the alligator, but it wasn't enough to bring it down.
Lucas snapped his fingers to cause an explosion somewhere around the mountains. He had set up a few traps that served mostly as a distraction. The griffon, surprised by the sound swiftly scanned the surroundings before its instincts screamed out.
A Dark Beam shot a hole through its right wing, causing it to stumble in the air. It could still fly, but after scanning the area where the Dark Beam came from, the griffon found no human lingering about.
Sparing the energy, it landed in the clearing of the middle of the area. With clear sight in every direction, nothing could sneak up on it. It had dealt with assassin like humans before, it wouldn't fall for it again.
Lucas appeared in the south of the clearing, his presence hidden. But the griffon instantly found him. Without knowing why he was found so easily, Lucas started to prepare a bunch of spells inside his body. The griffon tried to look imposing as it glared at Lucas.
The first thing Lucas conjured was a thick shield with a strange line in the middle and a strange spear. Instead of ending in a sharp tip, it was a flat surface with some lines scribbled into it. Compared to other spells and weapons the beast had seen in the past, this was pathetic. Pure mana was good to fight against lesser beings, but it had reached a level far above that of basic monsters. It had almost surpassed the border to Rank 3.
Lucas knew that any sword of his wouldn't get through its hide, its sharpness would also need to be on a higher plane.
The griffon wasn't worried about the weaponry, but it was worried about all the magic circulating in Lucas's body. A normal mage was able to keep a spell or two in their pathways, but it required a lot of work and concentration. Yet the man in front of him had a dozen or so spells at the ready.
It couldn't tell what kind of spells they were, only the amount of energy.
Staring each other down any longer would bore both parties, the griffon started with a basic approach. It sprinted towards Lucas while flapping its wings to send multiple wind blades. In theory wind blades aren't that strong, but coming from a beast that has conquered the air, their strength wasn't to be underestimated.
Still, it was just a wind blade, to Lucas, this was the perfect time to test something. Dodging all but the final wind blade, Lucas exposed his arm to the attack. The wind blade was sharp, yet all it did was push his arm a bit back.
There was no lasting damage. He had never really experimented on his own body, always dodging attacks or blocking them with his magic. He never really relied on his improved body with magical defenses. Seeing that a wind blade didn't really damage him, Lucas started to formulate a few ideas.
He grinned slightly, somewhat excited to see how effective his tools were going to be.