I take in a long, deep breath.
I can do this
I recede my mana inside of me, concealing it.
At the same time, a group of Earth Wyrms pass by, hissing to themselves.
I erase my presence as well, making sure not to make any sound.
The glowing crystals growing out of the walls shone on the stalagmite that I was currently using as cover, casting a looming shadow over the beasts.
「Skill 'Quick Step' is activating」
I push mana to my legs, feeling the fatigue within it resisting my order.
I push through it, letting my skill drive me forward.
I sweep my blade over the two nearby beasts, cutting the head of one and injuring the other.
*thump*
Then, the beasts finally reacted.
*hissssss*
The green dome appeared once again, shielding us from the outside world.
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
I pivot to the side, dodging a brown-scaled Earth Wyrm's open maw.
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
I dodge again, this time making more distance between me and another Earth Wyrm.
The beast's tail sweeps the ground as it was swung, drawing an arc on the ground.
I swing my sword, cutting the burly tail off.
Blood sprayed from the bisected appendage.
The beast hurriedly backed away, hiding behind one of the many stalagmites.
Drops of blood showed a trail back to the beast.
I'll deal with that one later
With a cold thought in my head, I move on to my next target.
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
The earth beneath me let out a low rumble, and the ground immediately tried to swallow me whole.
I focus 「Reinforcement」 on my legs and jump, sending dust everywhere.
The beast hissed, trying to find my location, but it was too late.
Pointing my sword downwards, I land roughly on the ground, piercing the beast's skull.
*thump*
The beast went limp in an instant, slamming onto the ground.
Reversing my grip on the sword's hilt, I pull the blade out of the beast's head.
Blood flowed freely from the wound.
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
A vicious hiss reverberated from my side, making me shift my attention.
It was one of the blue-scaled beasts—the other being the one I had just killed.
Mana converged in it's open mouth, forming into blue particles.
The bright particles combined with each other, forming a small bubble of water.
Then the water started converging, too.
I stood there, curious as to what the beast was trying to achieve.
Pressure built up in the small bubble. Until, suddenly…
What the…?!
The beast fired the water's accumulated pressure, tearing a small hole on my shoulder.
Damn it…!!
I quickly cover the wound with my free hand, refusing the blood spill any father.
「Skill 'Instinct' is urgently warning you」
Pushing heat and mana to my legs, I dash for a nearby stalagmite, trying to take cover.
A couple more shots fired my way, grazing my cheek and arm, but I was fine, otherwise.
*pant pant*
I put my back to the giant spike, breathing heavily.
Almost instinctually, I grab a vial from my pockets, pulling the corkscrew with my mouth and pouring it on my wound—starting with my punctured shoulder to my other less-urgent wounds.
The red liquid sears my wound, healing it.
Just like before, my muscles seemingly knit themselves in my command, closing my wound after a few seconds.
I take on deep, long breath.
I can do this
Entering that familiar state of deep concentration, I dive within myself.
The world disappears—albeit not entirely.
The cavern's outline was present.
It was like somebody had traced the shapes of everything within the dome.
This is...
At first, I thought that I had failed.
However, on deeper inspection, I could tell how advantageous this was to me.
My opponent was not just one person or a bunch of annoying bats, but two intelligent monsters capable of using elemental magic with decent mastery.
I'm gonna need everything I could
Free of unnecessary details, I weave through the stone outcroppings with ease.
The beast shot pressurized water at me, but with my focus sharpened and 「Instinct」 informing me of any incoming attacks, I managed to stay safe without a single spell hitting me.
Soon enough, I reach my target.
An injured Earth Wyrm was sprawled before me, it's bisected tail still bleeding—though not as much as before.
Other than the terrain's outline, another peculiar detail stood out to me.
Blood
The injured beast's blood was present despite the disappearance of everything else.
It was a curious detail to be sure, but not one that I should focus on right now.
The beast hissed, it's forked tongue vibrating in a low hum.
*thump thump thump*
Loud steps soon followed, a presence looming behind me.
The beast immediately gets up to it's feet, it's former facade of weakness gone… not that I believed it much in the first place.
Mana flows into the sword's blade, first engulfing the edges, then moving to the middle of the blade.
A brief moment later and the former steel color of the blade was replaced with an ebony-black.
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
The beast scurried back, casting and firing spells as it went.
Shards of earth flew towards me.
I dodge them all easily, using the giant stalagmites to my advantage.
I weave my way to the beast, dodging, blocking, and sometimes parrying shards of earth.
Though, I was mostly using the stalagmites as a natural shield.
It was not long until I caught up with the beast.
"…?!"
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
The beast tried to get one last shot in, the earth around us turning into spikes, ready to be fired any second.
However, it was too late.
With a single swing of my sword, the beast's cheeks were torn apart.
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
The beast then tried to tackle me, using it's enormous body to topple me over.
I pivot to the side, appearing behind it and finally finishing the job.
*thump*
The beast lay lifeless on the floor, it's flame slowly disappearing, a large wound draining the life out of it.
There was no time to mourn the beast's cruel death as another enemy, it's aura somehow more intense than before.
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
I tilt my head, letting the beast's spell miss me by a hair's breadth.
And then there were two.