[Phoenix Blade Storm]
Instead of ordinary flaming blades, a horde of fiery birds surrounded her, with her in the center like a beautiful queen commanding her subjects. Gone was her fear, replaced by stoic confidence as she pointed her wand forward. The green crystal on the wand was gone, swallowed by the brilliant orange light matching the color of fire.
"Go!"
With her command, the horde of birds all flew forward, like brilliant glowing arrows. As the birds struck, leaving scorching wounds on the kobold commander, the creature shrieked over and over, flames and pains racking all over its body.
At the same time, a notification appeared in front of Nora.
[You have force-casted an intermediate-level spell!]
[Your weapon is unable to handle the strain!]
Crack!
As the last of the birds were gone, the wand Nora held cracked, splintering into millions of pieces before dissolving into useless ashes. Flames started to engulf the training room, eating through the rotted wooden shelves and the straw dummies scattered all around, and sweltering heat started to engulf the room as the metal remains of broken sword were melted into puddles now sizzling on the ground.
Then, another notification appeared in front of her eyes, just below the previous one.
[The magical energy you channeled has exceeded the limits you are able to handle!]
[Recoil damage has been reflected on your body!]
"Urk! I knew this was dangerous, but—"
Nora knelt on the ground and spat out a glob of blood, coughing and wheezing all the while.
"Watch out!" Charles shouted.
Despite the wounds inflicted on the kobold commander, it still refused to yield, as it rushed towards the downed Nora. The eye socket Charles had dug onto earlier was still oozing blood, yet it was still able to almost hit her despite the reduced sight.
[Time remaining: 50 seconds]
It slammed down its club almost right on top of Nora, however, Charles was able to parry it with his bare hands. He took the brunt of the attack, the spikes digging onto his arms and hands, causing bruises and deep wounds to form as the club weighed down upon him.
"Dammit, you are persistent!"
With all his strength, Charles pushed the heavy club upwards, attempting to pin the kobold commander down. Henrietta, meanwhile, was running towards one of the walls, far away from the heat.
Charles pushed up the club, ignoring the pain from how the spikes dug against his skin. Spotting his chance, Dylan slammed his greatsword onto the kobold's still smoking burn wound on the leg, causing it to stumble backward under its own weight.
Then, using the wall as a stepping point, Henrietta lunged onto the kobold commander's neck, with her claws outstretched and her maw open, ready to strike.
SLAM!
Caught off-guard, the kobold commander was slammed onto the wall, landing right at the middle of the sea of flames. Henrietta took advantage of her opponent's disoriented state and slammed its head over and over onto the stone wall, not letting up the strangling hold she has over the creature. The eyes decorating her limbs all focused on the almost downed kobold, each one radiating an unmistakable glee.
Slam! Slam! Slam!
With each slam, the kobold's head deformed, and its struggles became weaker and weaker as blood started to ooze from its nose, ears, mouth, and eyes. The red battle aura it had sported has disappeared, like it was forcefully snuffed out from lack of energy.
"Heh, this one is better, I knew Q could—"
She lifted the kobold commander's weakened body a bit higher, and slammed it down as hard as she was able to.
BLAM!
"—make this fun if she really tried!"
Crash!
She leaped out of the flames and landed next to Charles as the ceiling and burning shelves around the wall caved in, burying the kobold commander under debris.
Then, time stood still. A flash of light engulfed the room, and when it subsided, the room has been cleared. Nothing remained, not even traces of the fire, weapons, or any kind of struggle. Instead, there was only an empty room with a golden key the length of a forearm floating at the center of it.
[Congratulations! You have defeated Dhaz Raakzal, the Great Commander of the Kobold Grunts]
[You have obtained the key to the second floor!]
[You have defeated the first floor boss in its enraged state! Points obtained +10%]
[660 points obtained, and points have been split amongst the team!]
[For completing the fight while the boss is enraged, all members have obtained Free Basic Skill Choice x1]
Separate notifications appeared in front of the three.
[220 points obtained!]
[Required points for quest: 351/1000]
[Current points: 246]
Charles decided to hold against checking his stats further and closed the page while he ran towards the downed Nora. She struggled to stand, as if her strength has been sapped from her own body.
"Get me… the energy and healing potions… from the shop…" Nora breathed out each word a struggle. Dylan and Charles looked at each other, nodded, and both opened the shop interface.
They were able to find the item they need right at the first screen of the shop. Each purchased one potion, with Dylan getting the former, and Charles getting the latter.
[Energy Potion - 25 points]
[Healing Potion – 25 points]
Charles glanced at the notification just as his points started to decrease.
[Current points: 221]
Soon after, their points were deducted, and the bottles appeared on their hands in a flash of light.
"Here, Nora, you should rest. That was quite the powerful attack," Dylan said as he uncorked the bottle he obtained and helped Nora to drink the potion. Charles did the same with his bottle as well.
Soon after, her wounds started to close up, and Nora drifted into a seemingly peaceful sleep. Charles gently placed her on the floor, and she was seemingly undisturbed, her breathing even like she has been sleeping the whole time.
"That was probably recoil from using attacks way above her class," Henrietta suddenly piped up, her maw had finally transformed back into a humanlike mouth. Her claws started to retract as she explained, "From the sounds of it, she pulled this stunt often, enough to need the potions often, at least."
"Hm?" Charles looked at her, prompting her to explain more.
"Basically, magic-based attacks are not locked in a linear progression, as long as the caster can supply enough energy and concentration, they are basically free to use whichever technique they want, even stronger ones. The catch is, if they use something way too strong, the energy has to come from somewhere, so she takes damage in place of the required energy. This is why anyone to do with casting usually has the best offense, but are also fragile," She explained. "Better let her rest, you two also need to rest to get the energy back, anyway."
Charles and Dylan took a quick glance at the timer. Deciding it was enough time, they decided to head out of the room, with Charles carrying the slumbering Nora in a bridal style.