With only a few hundred MP remaining, I rush at my opponent with two wind daggers in my grasp. The remaining raw energy inside the monster I run toward is just over a third of what it started with.
If I continue using my mana at the same rate, with the same strategies, I'll surely lose. I need to get up close and try a more powerful technique. One that can finish it off in a single shot.
With this in mind, the next time I narrowly avoid the Minotaur's axe and air step away, I continue my upward trajectory to position myself dangerously close to the beast.
I haven't let my usual shot of energy off yet. I'm still charging everything I have into both my blades. This lack of attack notifies the monster that I'm doing something different, it instantly catches on.
I hear a grunt as it quickly turns my way with an upward swing of its axe.
With every last drop of MP going into my daggers, I swing down, pointing at the side of the demonic creature's neck while the sharp side of its axe slices me clean in two.
The final thing I see is an explosion of sparks, and the head of the beast topple off its neck.
[You Have Died]
---
The memories all come back to me as I finish up farming another quest in one of the level 100-150 dungeons. I chuckle to myself while making another body double.
"That's one way to do it."
At the same time, I reach into my inventory and take out about 30k MP worth of crystals to give to my double before it teleports back to Ember in the Minotaur dungeon. That's over 10 full recharges. If lack of MP is the issue, this should be enough for my next opponent
Then, I get back to farming. Only a third of the quests remain, and I already completed the hardest and highest paying ones. At this rate, I'll finish every one of them before the sun comes up.
---
I carefully separate the real mana crystals in my item storage, not mixing them up with the duplicate copies. To the naked eye, the duplicates look exactly the same, but under any amount of mana control or perception skills, it's clear they're fakes.
After reporting the events of my last fight to Ember, I jump back into the rift to see what exactly happened after the fight.
Less than half an hour passes before I find the second glowing purple key on the ground. It glows even brighter, and right next to it on a path of crimson-colored shrubbery is another Demonic Stone the size of my entire palm.
It glows the same purple color and gives off a similar invisible pressure.
With a grin across my face, I walk over to the stone tablet and place my winnings from the second battle next to the other one on the ground below before twisting the next key into the middle hole.
I have to hover about a meter off the ground to place the key inside, as it's fairly high up in the air.
Once I do, the purple pulse repeats just like before, then the entire tablet goes dull.
A rumble immediately shakes the ground, and a herd of bulls comes charging my way. From here, it looks and feels like nearly a hundred of them this time around.
I run at them and start the third wave.
No more than 5 minutes pass before every last mob is dead on the floor. Every one of them was between 40 and 50 units. I decide to use my wind daggers to make things quicker. I don't need to use much MP at all, and one wind slash can take out multiple.
The small black stones that drop to the floor without even a hint of purple glow after they all dissolve are disappointing, but at least I'm warmed up for the main event with over 90% of my MP stores remaining.
As I turn around while catching my breath, the presence of a single beast fills my senses.
"It's here."
With 75 units of raw demonic energy swirling through its body, the outline of a shadowy Minotaur appears on the horizon of the realm.
Before I can even grip my blades and prepare myself to fight, its outline disappears from sight.
I immediately turn on my mana senses and full buffs to jump in the air with my air-steps, then the overwhelming presence and pressure of a powerful being surges beneath me. It seemed to be using a teleport skill at first, but once I use all my senses to perceive it, the monster just ran at me too fast for my unaided eyes to see.
It stands over 10 times my height and wields two long black swords that reflect its glowing red eyes in their glossy shine. The final purple key rests around its neck.
Two enormous twisting horns come off its head, and the entirety of its body is pouring out refined energy. The monster before me came in aggressive from the start, using demonic speed buffs and swinging its swords in an elegant display.
If I didn't instinctively jump in the air with magic once the Minotaur left my vision, I'd undoubtedly be defeated already.
Gritting my teeth, I still let off two high-powered mana blades in its direction, but before they even make it halfway to its neck, the beast turns and makes eye contact with me before dodging and pointing its two blades in my direction.
To my surprise, the swords in its hands begin to glow purple, the same color as the key around its neck.
The next thing I witness is it swinging both blades across its body in synchronicity, and a purple crescent of light shrouded in darkness with black energy trailing behind it erupts from the Minotaur's weapons.
"An energy attack...?"
It looks just like my mana blades, but is clearly made of Demonic Energy. It's charged to glow bright purple, unlike when I release dark black refined energy straight from my hands. I've seen a similar effect take place in my dagger, but have never been able to send it flying from the blade like this before.
All I can think to do is send my own attack back and move out of the way.
With a large amount of my remaining MP, I air step away from the blast and send a white crescent of my air magic back at it to further propels me out of the way as I watch an eruption of sparks destroy my full-powered attack.
In less than a second, my energy blade is completely destroyed, and over half of the demonic energy blade's size still remains as it rockets further into the sky.
My gaze locks onto the Minotaur again, and I see it powering up another attack.
I'm nowhere near its speed on the ground, and I'm a sitting duck in the sky.
Taking a quick glance at my MP bar, it's already below half. I try to air-step further away to catch my breath and come up with a strategy to take on this new opponent, but there's no time to think.
The murderous roar of the final Demonic Boss echoes all throughout the realm and another full-powered slash comes flying my way.
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Author's Note:
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