Lukas gripped his saber tightly, his heart pounding in his chest as he assessed the situation. Ten sand lions converging on his position was not something he had prepared for. He cursed under his breath, feeling the weight of the tower's challenge pressing down on him.
All of them located his spot and looked up, as if they had something installed in their minds to make them aware of where he was hiding.
All of them simultaneously rushed towards him and started climbing the pillar. Lukas was quick. He immediately cast a drill and a fire arrow simultaneously at the crowd at the base of the pillar.
Lukas breathed a sigh of relief as the drill and fire arrow found their marks, scattering the lions at the base of the pillar. However, he knew it was only a momentary reprieve. Two of the beasts had managed to avoid the attacks and were swiftly scaling the stone column towards him.
Gripping his saber tightly, Lukas prepared to meet them head on. As the first lion pulled itself over the edge, fangs bared in a ferocious snarl, Lukas swung his blade with all his might. There was a sickening crunch as steel met flesh and bone. He detached the beast's bearing paws. It fell down growling in pain.
But Lukas had no time to celebrate his victory. The second beast was nearly upon him. He spun just in time to block its claws with his saber in a shower of sparks. He quickly activated the defensive dome.
Its paws gazed at the burning dome. Despite being in pain from the heat, it didn't back down.
Fierce yellow eyes met his gaze with primal rage. Lukas knew one slip here would mean his end. With the slip of his hand, he started gathering fire essence.
And when the dome was just about to get broken from its raw strength, he quickly pointed his hand at the lion's neck.
The arrow launched off. From such close distance, it couldn't dodge, nor could he. Its sharp claws pierced through his shoulder, along with the fire arrow that poked a hole through its neck.
Lukas grimaced in pain as the lion's claws pierced his shoulder. But he took solace in the fact that his fire arrow had found its mark as well. The beast let out an agonized howl and collapsed lifeless beside him.
Pulling the claws from his flesh, Lukas leaned against the pillar to catch his breath. Below, the remaining lions paced like a swirling sandstorm, no doubt waiting for another opportunity to scale the stone heights. He knew he had to act quickly.
He took out a HP potion and rinsed the area where he got hurt, gritting through the pain. He approached the dead body of the lion and pushed it down.
As Lukas pushed the dead lion from the pillar, its body tumbled down towards the others below with a heavy thud, making two unfortunate lions fall down along with.
The remaining lions didn't act right away and gazed at him with their red eyes, but didn't dare to act. They had lost four of their companions. Seeing this as an opportunity, Lukas steadied his breathing and assessed his next move. Though injured, he knew he couldn't stand still. He pointed his saber at the crowd and used his earth essence as slowly the drill formed.
He again realized how useful an AOE spell is. But unfortunately, no matter how he thinks, creating one at first circle having earth element, he couldn't think of any.
The spell activated as soon as a lion tried leading the others climbing the pillar. It was right away met with the gentle touch of the drill, dropping dead lifelessly.
He didn't also start forming another one but didn't launch it. As launching this right away will stimulate the pack to attack him all at once. He can't afford that.
His mind raced trying to find the solution to get out of the situation. He can perform the third strike now, but it wasn't an AOE either. It was more like a finisher and single hit.
"Should I quit, for now?" Lukas' mind raced but not finding any situation, retreating was the only option he could see so far.
But he didn't want to. Here at least, he was a coward. He didn't want to become one in this life here too.
And thus, he will fight to death here. "Fuck with pain, I faced far worse," he spoke, gazing down at them.
Taking a deep breath, focusing his whole mind, he launched the drill at the most crowded area.
Lukas watched with bated breath as the drill spell launched towards the crowded lions below. There was a massive explosion of sand as it struck home, killing a lion in the process while throwing several beasts through the air. Cries of pain and fury rose up from the swirling cloud of dust.
It wasn't an ordinary drill as he activated the script twice through his soul gear. Yes, he can also do that, but the price was really high consumption of mana. And as he expected, after it launched, he had less than ten percent of mana.
The dust settled far more quickly. The lions that were unscathed from the attack rushed towards him, climbing the pillar, this time without the care for their lives.
Lukas, who already expected this, steadied himself as the lions began climbing once more. With his mana nearly depleted, it would be blade against claw from here.
[To be continued...