'Is this part of the test? Is there some special meaning in fighting my mother?'
Sol couldn't understand why the final enemy was his own mother. It didn't help that she stood not far away, patiently waiting with a neutral expression for him to initiate the fight.
'Maybe it's a test in fighting against someone you would never dare to fight?'
He ran through a few possibilities, but each made less sense than the last. Was this drawn from his own memories, or did the royal knights already know his background and put it here to send a message? Nothing made sense, but at the very least, there was one undeniable truth.
'For me to pass, she must die.'
Name: Sylvia
Race: Human
Talents: [Final Guardian], [Innate Power], [Clear Mind]
Level: 102
HP: 2200
MP: 600
Str: 150 (+80)
Vit: 150 (+70)
Agi: 100 (+30)
Int: 50
Wis: 60
Talent Skills:
[Protection Domain] Lv MAX, [Limit Break] Lv 8, [Clear Mind] Lv 5
Passive Skills:
[Advanced Swordsmanship] Lv 1, [Advanced Shield Mastery] Lv 1, [Perfect Counter] Lv 1, [Gargantuan Strength] Lv 3, [Unending Vitality] Lv 2, [Agility Up] Lv 6, [Precise Coordination] Lv 4, [Physical Resistance] Lv 4, [Magic Resistance] Lv 4, [Defiance] Lv MAX, [Mental Shield] Lv 5
Active Skills:
[Grand Cross] Lv 1, [Shatter Step] Lv 1, [Shield Bash] Lv MAX, [Counteract] Lv 1, [Shock Absorption] Lv MAX, [Orbital Shield] Lv 1, [Blurring Speed] Lv 2, [Mana Shield] Lv 9, [Mana Slash] Lv 9, [Last Bastion] Lv 2, [Avenge The Fallen] Lv 3, [Decimate] Lv 9, [Hallowed Ground] Lv 7
Sol knew she wasn't real, but she was definitely going to be the hardest fight yet. Not only was she 20 entire levels above him, she had access to advanced skills Sol had never seen before. There was an additional level of difficulty added on top of fighting the illusion of his own mother.
'It's fine. It will be fine. C'mon, Sol, just fight it out. It's not real.'
Sol activated his Lipon, releasing a sword of solid stone. The illusion understood that as a sign to begin the battle and took a stance with her shield raised.
"[Water Cannon]!"
A blast of concentrated water was released towards Sylvia as she used her shield to receive the brunt of it. Sol expected her to do that and used [Ground Shrink], appearing behind her in an instant. With his rock sword, Sol used [Cross Slash], creating a two-pronged attack.
Before his sword could reach her, it collided against a solid surface. Sparks flew, and out of nowhere appeared a magical white shield floating between them.
'Not yet!'
Not done with his attack, mana was sent beneath Sylvia, and a sharp earth spike erupted beneath her. No other shield blocked the attack as it collided against her and launched her into the air. Because Sol opted for speed on the earth spike over power, it was unable to even penetrate her armor as she was launched upward.
While midair, the illusion responded calmly as she pointed her shield towards the roof of the floor and bashed her shield towards it.
BOOM!
The roof shattered as debris fell down while simultaneously launching her back towards Sol at frightening speeds. She repositioned her shield, making it face the direction she was falling directly on him.
In the brief moment before impact, Sol knew that he couldn't afford to get hit by that. Her pure strength trampled over his without any additional skills.
Sol sank underground, hoping to avoid the brunt of the attack. Her shield hit the ground, and another loud boom resounded, sending shockwaves into the air and underground.
[Health: 1370/1450]
Even though he was underground and dodged the biggest impact of the attack, the shockwave itself hurt him. Ignoring the pain, Sol launched out of the ground and released a [Mana Slash] at her exposed back.
The magical white shield appeared once more and received the sharp wave of mana. The shield shook from the impact, but besides that, not even a scratch appeared. The shield began to glow as that very sharp wave of mana it received was sent back towards Sol. With his sword, he slashed the attack in half as the residual wave cut into the wall behind him.
Sol was flabbergasted. 'This is absurd. How strong is her defense?! She can even return attacks back towards me?!'
Even knowing all her skills, there were many he didn't recognize, and he could only go off their names to figure out their effects. Sol opened her status page again, but before he could revise it, Sylvia came charging towards him once more.
With her strength much higher than Sol's, he couldn't receive any of her attacks directly. On the bright side, their agility was even, which meant he could at least react to her attacks on time and dodge. But he needed to figure out a way to win, or this would never end.
Tens of earth spikes fell from the roof towards the knight who raised her shield above her head in response. As if blocking the rain with an umbrella, the spikes smashed against it, but they didn't even make her buckle. Earth spikes then rose from all directions as they tried to clamp down on her.
The orbiting shield was unable to block all the spikes, and eventually, a few broke through the first line of defense.
"Finally! [Tsunami]!"
Not wanting to give her any chance to recover, Sol cast one of his biggest water spells to break her balance.
With attacks from all sides, the illusion gave a wicked smile that raised alarm bells in Sol's head. Suddenly, a surge of powerful energy erupted from within her. With her sword in the other hand, she swung it downwards into the ground, releasing a shockwave that violently decimated her surroundings. The earth spikes shattered, the roof completely collapsed, and the large mass of water exploded and splattered in all directions.
Upon seeing this scene of destruction, Sol only had one thought.
'WHY IS MY MOM SO STRONG?!?!'