In one of the many rooms located within the massive boss floor on the 30th floor, two figures appeared. The boss prepared to launch the first attack until it realized who they were.
"Huh? You're back already?"
The shadows that darkened the entire room retreated as a confused Shadow Crawler rose from the shadow on the ground.
"Did you forget to say something?" it asked.
Sol shook his head as Amber stood behind him silently. He put his hands together apologetically and said, "Yeah, sorry about this, but I have to kill you a few more times. Would that be alright?"
"Pff hahaha!" The boss found his actions hilarious and dived back into its shadow as it said, "Sure, of course! It's my job, after all! But I won't be going down without a fight!"
Shadows spread like wildfire, overtaking the entire room once more. From them, hundreds of shadow beings rose, and countless shadow weapons of all shapes and sizes appeared in the air, pointed at the duo.
Upon seeing this, Sol smiled and said, "I wouldn't have it any other way. [Revealing Light]!"
…
The fighting continued through different boss rooms, with the boss dying in various ways, but even after losing to the duo countless times, it never stopped fighting. When Sol and Amber once again appeared in the boss room after slaying it for the nth time, it still fought them with the same vigor as the first time.
The Shadow Crawler hurled shadowy orbs at the duo as Sol used seven magic hands to fight alongside him while Amber created and threw sand orbs that were very similar to the boss's. Both orbs collided, exploding with violent elemental energy and sending shockwaves throughout the area.
The hands protected Sol while he tried to disable the boss's skills. But as soon as the Shadow Crawler threw those shadow orbs, it disappeared instantly, forcing Sol to cancel his attempt to disable its skill.
The boss's voice reverberated through the area, "Haha! Better luck next time!"
As it was mid gloat, Amber flashed next to an inconspicuous shadow and swung her arms like whips. They turned to sand and lashed at the shadow.
"Yeowch!" yelped the Shadow Crawler as a shadow dome appeared between the ground and her whips, blocking the attacks.
Using the dome as cover, the shadow slipped away as the boss inside thought to himself, 'She is getting too good at detecting me… but leaving the shadows makes me vulnerable to my skills getting disabled.'
Just as Sol and Amber improved their skills and experience after each kill, the boss was also learning from its fallen clones. It eventually learned that Sol could only disable its skills if it could see him, while Amber could only use her sand skills against it, as her daggers and developing law technique were useless against it.
As the shadow slipped away, a foot stepped on it, immobilizing the boss. From within the shadow, the boss looked up to see Sol staring down at it.
"Found ya."
'Shit.'
BOOM!
…
After the fight, Sol didn't finish off the Shadow Crawler like the other dozens of times.
"[Life Drop]."
Letting the healing magic do its thing, the boss soon recovered.
"Hah… Oh, we're done fighting?"
Sol nodded. "Yeah, we got a few levels and also learned a lot, so I just wanted to say thank you."
The boss nodded. "No worries, just doing my job. Still, to think you have the same ability as the Handless Fiend and you took it to the next level. I'm gonna tell its main body so it can learn that as well, the big white beam."
"Full spectrum. Also, tell it that the orange chroma needs to be at the center. It will amplify the power of the other chromas through it," Sol corrected and gave a helpful tip. He didn't mind the Shadow Crawler telling the Handless Fiend about his ability. After all, he had originally siphoned it from the fiend, so this was his way of giving back.
"Full spectrum, huh. Last I spoke to it, it was taking the approach of creating a law technique from one chroma and ignoring the rest, so seeing that showed me it was taking the wrong path. If it goes down the combining path, it may be able to create a law technique soon."
The Shadow Crawler turned to Amber and gave her its opinion. "Your control of sand is superb, it's honestly better than my control over shadows. But you lack the creativity to make anything you desire with your incredible control. Don't just copy my moves. You need to let loose and let your creativity run wild. Sticking to rigidness when sand can be as fluid as you want it to be will only hold you back."
The boss spoke from experience, as after dying to her so many times, it knew exactly where she was lacking. He found it baffling that whenever he made something from shadows that she found useful, she would quickly be able to replicate it, sometimes improving it in the process.
Unfortunately for Amber, creativity and desire were something she still struggled with to this day. She had greatly improved since when she was still under Cane's control, but she was still unable to fully express herself, subconsciously holding herself back.
To the boss's advice, she only gave a nod in response, seeing that it was logical but unsure how one would be creative.
Already used to her personality, the boss sighed, knowing it was a shame someone as talented as her was limiting herself, though it was unaware this was out of her control.
"That's about it. Guess we won't see each other again for a while. It's been fun."
Sol nodded and extended his right hand. "Likewise, and I promise I'll return the void root when I'm in a position to do so."
The Shadow Crawler gave a friendly smile, but with the way its lips curved, it couldn't help but look slightly devious as it shook Sol's hand. Once their hands parted, the boss spread its arms wide open and said, "Alright, hit me with your strongest attack! I wanna go out with a bang."
Sol chuckled at its antics but obliged. Six magic hands rapidly rotated around the large orange magic hand as it sent out a pure white beam that split into countless smaller ones, forming a beautiful spiral pattern before merging once more and falling down onto the boss. The Shadow Crawler only gave a thumbs up in approval as its entire body was enveloped and obliterated by the scorching chromatic light.
[You have slain a Lv 130 Shadow Crawler! Gained 170,856,277 Exp (300%)]
[You have leveled up! +5 Attribute points]