"You want to fight Amber?" Sol raised an eyebrow, not understanding why the Shadow Crawler specifically wanted to fight her.
"If that's her name, sure!" the Shadow Crawler said with an impish smile. Switching to a more serious tone, it explained, "Look, from what I've seen and heard, you have too many skills, some kind of shadow transformation and light magic, even though those two are conflicting elements. With those two skills alone, if we fought, it's a no brainer who would win. But against her, I stand a chance."
Sol considered it and realized it made sense. When they first entered, he had been able to completely suppress the Shadow Crawler's abilities by spamming light magic. The only reason it had resisted at all was thanks to its incomplete law technique. If it couldn't even use that against him, the outcome was clear.
While Amber was strong in her own right, she didn't have that elemental advantage over the Shadow Crawler. It believed it had a decent chance against her.
"So? Is the bet still on?" the Shadow Crawler asked, waiting expectantly.
Sol hesitated, seriously considering it.
'If it were me, I could confidently accept the risk. But in a one on one fight, I can't help her if things get dicey...'
He was reluctant to put her in danger for what he considered an unnecessary bet. Just as he was about to decline, he noticed Amber staring right at him with her bright red eyes.
She asked, "Do you trust me?"
"Of course I do, but—"
Before he could finish, Amber stepped forward and brandished her daggers.
"I'll win."
"But... never mind. Show him what you're made of."
He was about to tell her that it would be disadvantageous for her, as she specialized in unleashing a combo of skills in a quick burst, to be limited to only three. But seeing the determination in her eyes, he could only put his faith in her and cheer her on.
"Alright, she'll fight you. What three skills are you using?" Sol asked the Shadow Crawler.
"[Shadow Manipulation], [Shadow Elementalization], and [Shadow Caller]," it replied, obviously choosing its best skills that worked well together.
Amber stated her chosen skills as well. "[Sand Manipulation], [Sand Incarnate], and [Sand Army]."
Sol wasn't surprised by their choices, though he found it interesting nonetheless.
'Their skills are very similar, the only real difference being the element. I'm also not surprised she picked only her sand skills. If his [Shadow Elementalization] is anything like my [Shadow Body], then he'd be immune to physical damage.'
"Before you two fight, give me a minute," Sol said before they could begin.
They both nodded and waited patiently, though the boss was curious about what he was doing. In under a minute, Sol was finished and smiled, pleased with how fast he had become.
"Okay, I've disabled all your skills except for your passives and the three you picked."
Sol still didn't fully trust the Shadow Crawler, so through its tethers, he disabled one skill after another until only the passives and the three chosen skills remained.
"That quickly?!" The boss was shocked at how fast its other abilities had been sealed. It tried to use a few but found that it couldn't remember or get its body to move when it attempted to. It chuckled. "Haha… This is ludicrous… Never have I met someone like you. Still, it's no matter. I never intended to use them anyway. But if it gives you peace of mind, then by all means. Can we start now?"
Sol nodded and manipulated the stone beneath him, creating a small platform that lifted him off the ground. With the skills the two had chosen, the fight would require a lot of room, and he didn't want to get in the way.
Feeling a sense of déjà vu, he took out his Lipon and waved it around like a wand, but he didn't activate it. Putting on an exaggerated face, he shouted, "In one corner, we have the Shadow Crawler, the feared master of shadows! He can manipulate and control them however he pleases, making him a fearsome foe!"
The Shadow Crawler looked confused and turned to Amber. "What's he doing?"
She shrugged, not bothering to explain that he was mimicking Oeser, the announcer from the knight selection tournament.
The two let him continue. "Opposing him is Amber, the queen of sand! With full dominion over sand, there is nothing she can't do with it! Who will come out on top? Are both fighters ready?"
"We've been ready for a while…" the Shadow Crawler muttered, while Amber simply nodded, allowing Sol to enjoy himself.
"Then, without further ado, fight!" Sol multicast three [Fire Bolt] from his Lipon, signaling the start of the duel.
Amber immediately unleashed multiple blasts of sand towards the Shadow Crawler, not giving it a chance to react. As the sand rushed at it, the boss dove into the ground, merging with the shadows. The sand hit where it had once stood, scattering everywhere and leaving a crater, but the Shadow Crawler reemerged a short distance away, unharmed.
"Let's see how you handle the same attack!"
Shadows around the boss solidified into massive pillars, thick as tree trunks, that launched toward Amber. Shadows, being a faster element, gave her little time to react. She barely managed to slide to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack—at least, that's what she thought. Just before the attack landed, the shadows suddenly turned trajectory and chased after her.
With no time to spare, she exploded in a burst of sand, scattering herself everywhere. From the dispersed sand, soldiers began to rise, though Amber herself was nowhere to be seen. The sand soldiers, armed with scimitars, charged at the boss.
Seeing that Amber intended to fight with numbers, the Shadow Crawler responded in kind. "Two can play at this game!"
The shadow beneath the boss expanded, covering a large area as shadowy figures of all shapes and sizes rose from the ground. There were humanoids, beasts, and monsters. Some carried weapons, while others relied on their bodies. Unlike Amber's uniform sand soldiers, which all wielded scimitars, there was no rhyme or reason to the shadow army.
The boss hopped onto a hulking shadow creature, reminiscent of a Tomb Hulk, and yelled, "CHAAAAARGE!"