~Level 37 clear. Level 38, starting in 60 seconds~
~Level 38 clear. Level 39, starting in 60 seconds~
~Level 39 clear. Level 40, starting in 60 seconds~
~Level 40 clear. Level 41, starting in 60 seconds~
~Level 41 clear. Level 42, starting in 60 seconds~
~Level 42 clear. Level 43, starting in 60 seconds~
With an increasingly natural teamwork ability, and having thought of a plan to fight against the trolls and forest elves, Yasuo and Nari managed to clear the six levels without getting hurt in the slightest.
But even though they didn't get hurt, a lot of mana was used to fight against the trolls and forest elves, who were a tough opponent to defeat.
Against the troll's regenerative powers, there wasn't really a strategy where Yasuo and Nari could defeat them without the use of skills, so they both ended up using strong piercing skills that cost a lot of mana with Nari using the most mana.
And against the forest elves, who were rather intelligent and had good teamwork and snuck attack from the forest, the only viable strategy that they had come up with was to constantly use Yasuo's mana barrier to shield both Yasuo and Nari, while Nari sniped the elves from within the barrier. Even though Nari tried her best to end it as quickly as possible to conserve Yasuo's mana usage, it still cost a lot of mana.
With each three levels having roughly fifteen monsters in them to defeat, Yasuo and Nari both only had around one fifth of their mana left.
And now the time had come where they had to fight against an enemy which they couldn't come up with a viable strategy for.
~Level 43, starting~
With a new level starting, they environment changed once again and Yasuo and Nari found themselves in a sort of yellowy stone desert.
"Step back Yasuo!" Nari quickly said.
Yasuo immediately jumped backward, creating a good distance from the point they spawned into.
Taking a defensive stance, which they had discussed in their strategy, Yasuo was waiting for the golems to spawn in. But more than thirty seconds had gone by, and still no golems could be seen.
'Huh? Normally the monsters spawn after only three seconds or so.' Yasuo thought to himself confused.
With Nari having already experienced a level against golems in the evaluation test, Yasuo decides to ask her: "Nari, when do the golems spawn?"
Nari didn't say anything, in response she slowly picked up a rock from on the ground and threw it in the direction Yasuo and Nari had spawned in just a minute ago.
As soon as it hit the ground, two massive stone golems came out from underneath the stone surface, sending huge ruptures in the way Nari and Yasuo were standing.
"What?! That is crazy!" Yasuo screamed out instinctively. 'I wouldn't even have known what killed me if Nari hadn't told me to back up. How did Nari even manage to avoid the golem in the evaluation test?'
Yasuo was full of questions, but decided that it would be best to ask them later as he was too focused on the threat in front of him, the two golems standing at over four meters tall.
"Nari! What plan do we have against the golems?!" Asked Yasuo frantically as the golems were beginning their stride towards them.
Nari had a sour look on her face, and answered: "We don't have a plan against the golems, we couldn't come up with anything viable against them!"
Yasuo already knew that they didn't have a strategy against the golems, but he was secretly hoping that Nari had come up with something. But hearing Nari confirm that she also didn't know a good strategy to defeat them, Yasuo clenched his teeth.
"I will attract their attention and try to keep them away from you. While I do that, try to hit them where it hurts with your strongest attack." Yasuo said calmly as that was the best course of action in this seemingly losing battle.
"Okay, I will try… but no promises." Said Nari, doubting if her strongest skill would even be able to defeat it.
With Yasuo already having ran towards the golems, Nari had no chance to hesitate. Knowing that Yasuo had put his fate in her, she couldn't let him down. Taking a deep breath in, she drew her bow back, keeping a heavy tension and started waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack.
With Yasuo having made contact with the golems, he could now really see what they were capable of. At first glance the golems reminded him of the trolls, but now that he was amidst them, he immediately knew he couldn't have been more wrong.
Unlike the trolls who had a very slow attack speed, which Yasuo could easily dodge, the golems were attacking relentlessly, making it hard for Yasuo to dodge even one, let alone two golems.
Yasuo's plan, and his only role in this plan, was to dodge the golems' attack and keep them away from Nari until she could find a chance to take her shot. But even if Yasuo wanted to do more than dodging, he couldn't. The golems weren't giving him any chance to attack any part of their body.
Not taking any risks, Yasuo had put up a small mana barrier around him. 'I just need to dodge the golems for as long as I can.' Thought Yasuo, trying to calm himself down.
With immense focus, Yasuo kept dodging the golems for over a minute, but Nari still hadn't taken her shot.
Yasuo knew how difficult of a situation Nari was in, so he couldn't be mad at her. But having dodged for over a minute, Yasuo was starting to get tired and the golems' attack were starting to look faster by the minute. And unlike at other times, Yasuo wasn't able to find even the slightest pattern in their attacks.
Another thirty seconds had passed, but Nari still hadn't attempted to attack even once. With Yasuo not being sure how long he could keep dodging the golems for, he looked in the direction of Nari for a split second and saw her panting from exhaustion, with her arms trembling from having kept the bow drawn back for so long.
'I thought I was the one who had it the hardest in this plan...' Yasuo thought for a split second.
Right in that split second of being distracted, Yasuo heard his mana barrier shatter, snapping him back into focus and instantly getting back into the rhythm of dodging. 'Okay, he just grazed the barrier. Calm down Yasuo.'
Putting another mana barrier up, Yasuo was back to dodging again. Strangely in this moment, Yasuo got a sense of clarity and decided to deactivate his mana barrier.
"Nari! Take a break for a minute to relax! I am fine dodging them for a good while, so just take your time for a bit and just observe them for now, and then take your shot!"
Nari couldn't believe that Yasuo was telling him to take a break in this kind of situation, right after his mana barrier was broken, but as Nari was so tired, she just listened to him, loosening the tension on her bow and sitting down.
While sitting down Nari tried to catch her breath as quickly as possible. However, that wasn't the only thing she was doing, she was also observing the golems to find the perfect chance to attack them.
But after a minute had passed, she still hadn't managed to find even a single opening to take a shot. Nari began to doubt herself, thinking that she wasn't going to be able to do anything at all. Strangely at that moment, Nari's eyes, which were intensely focused on observing the golems' movement, were drawn to Yasuo.
"…You are smiling right now?... How can you be smiling in this situation?" Nari mumbled to herself.
With Yasuo now having dodged the golems' attacks for over five minutes straight, Nari's only thought was that Yasuo must be tired and that she should recover as fast as possible. But seeing Yasuo smile in the midst of such a dangerous situation like he was enjoying it, oddly put Nari at rest, and began observing Yasuo instead of the golems.
Yasuo also didn't know why he was smiling at this moment. After he had deactivated his shield, he became more confident in himself, and it had become easier for him to dodge the golems. It wasn't like the golems' attack had become slower or even that Yasuo had figured out their attack patter, he was just able to dodge them for some reason now.
In a state where he wasn't using any mana and where he was maintaining his stamina, the situation started to look in the favour of them. 'Maybe that is why I am smiling.' Yasuo thought to himself, now being able to even have useless thoughts in this kind of situation, which harshly punished him before.
While Nari was looking at Yasuo, she was put in a sort of trance, just sitting on the ground observing Yasuo's movements, and the minutes began feeling like seconds, until she suddenly snapped out of the trance and hastily stood up.
'Yes, that's it!' Nari suddenly thought to herself in a moment of realisation. 'Yasuo is deciding the tempo of the battle right now. If I can't follow the golems' unpredictable movements, I just have to follow Yasuo's tempo.'
As she got a newfound confidence in being able to land a shot on the golem's core, Nari stood up, took a deep breath once again, and drew her bow back with all her might.
Yasuo noticed that Nari had stood up again, and looked at her. 'That's more like it!' Yasuo excitedly thought in his head, seeing a wide smile on Nari's face, who looked like she was confidently enjoying the fight in the moment.
Nari kept following the tempo Yasuo had created, and not even after ten seconds, she had found an opening, and quickly activated "[Night's Sun]!". With the arrow immediately transforming into a black fiery shadow, she released her grip, and the arrow shot out at an incredible speed.
The arrow narrowly passed the first golem, leaving black burn marks on his lats without even touching it, before continuing its path. The arrow was so fast that Yasuo could barely follow it, but he could kind of see the trajectory of the arrow, which was aimed at nothingness… But at that exact moment, the second golem took a wide step to the right, and the arrow's course was now perfectly headed towards the golem's core.
Before the golem could even react, the fiery black arrow had hit its core. Both Nari and Yasuo stood still in surprise of the arrow having hit the target perfectly.
The golem also looked like it had stopped moving. With the black fiery arrow pierced in the golem's core, the once sandy coloured core started to turn pitch black as a crack started to form.
"Yes we did it!" Yasuo excitedly yelled out to Nari, who also looked joyful.
But while looking at Nari, Yasuo saw her expression quickly changing, as she yelled: "The golem is no-"