"BOOM!!!"
The deafening sound of an explosion echoed throughout the main hall.
The fire serpent exploded amidst a group of monsters, with damage numbers flashing up instantly.
"-4379!" "-4261!" "-4337!" …
Just like that, four or five bone worshipers evaporated instantly, while the remaining ones in the midst of casting were blown away by the blast, their half-cast skills completely interrupted, and they also suffered from the aftershock of the explosion.
John didn't stop there.
With a light tap of his staff, a blue glow flashed, and a water orb about seven to eight meters in diameter quickly condensed in the air before crashing down on the monsters that had yet to rise.
"Bang!"
The water orb exploded violently in the midst of the group, turning into high-pressure water jets that shot out in all directions, with a series of damage numbers rising again!
"-4267!" "-2355!" "-2170!" …
Although the damage from the water jets of Aquakinesis wasn't very high individually, it was highly effective against groups of magi with low health and defense, like these.
After being battered by Pyrokinesis and then washed over by the water jets, seven or eight bone worshipers turned into stardust and slowly dissipated.
In just the blink of an eye, John had decimated more than half of the twenty-some bone worshipers.
Seraphina also experienced the glow of leveling up, advancing to lv6.
But at this moment, she was merely watching John's performance, not paying much attention to her own level.
Leveling up might be significant for the average person, but for someone like Seraphina, a wealthy heiress, advancing in levels could be easily achieved if she so desired.
Her reluctance was more about choice, and currently, her intent was to understand John better.
In the church, John quickly dispatched the first wave of monsters, and the second wave followed swiftly, comprising another twenty-some bone worshipers, with a few skeleton guards added to the mix.
John was enveloped in a cyan shield, casting Wind Flow Spell and Zephyr Shield simultaneously.
Eerie blue flames were continuously unleashed by the bone worshipers, but often before their nether flames could cover half the distance, John had already moved elsewhere.
His speed was remarkable, leaving trails of cyan light throughout the main hall, rendering the nether flames harmless against him.
As all the robed skeletons in the main hall fell, John had reached lv9, while Seraphina had advanced to lv7, their leveling speed akin to riding on a rocket.
Moreover, these monsters provided not only a wealth of experience but also dropped three to four iron-tier items and one bronze-tier item, even producing a skill scroll.
John picked up all the equipment, tossing them into his storage ring without a glance.
His main focus, however, was on the skill scroll that radiated a pearly white glow.
Previously, John had also acquired two skill scrolls, but to his disappointment, they were either for assassin or knight classes, completely unusable for him, which was quite frustrating.
After all, he could only learn magic-related skills, leaving scrolls for other classes to be sold for money.
John silently prayed, "Please let it be a magus skill this time!"
Whether it was the effect of John's prayer or simply his good luck for the day, his wish was granted.
[Item]: Skill Scroll
[Skill]: Thunder Arrow
[Tier]: Basic Skill
[Class]: Thunder Magus, Lightning Envoy, Thunder Priest…
...
John was delighted; the timing of this skill couldn't have been better.
Without hesitation, he unfurled the skill scroll.
Instantly, the scroll transformed into a stream of light that entered John's body.
John opened his character panel to check his attributes.
[Thunder Arrow lv10 (MAX)]
[Type]: Basic Skill (Active)
[Description]: Upon using this skill, summon 5 thunder arrows to attack, each dealing 1200 points of magic damage to the target and having a 50% chance to paralyze the target for 1 second. Cooldown: 60 seconds, Mana cost: 100 MP.
...
The damage from a single thunder arrow wasn't exceptionally high, but the chance to trigger a paralysis effect was surprisingly significant, reaching an astonishing 50%.
This was due to the nature of the skill; Thunder Arrow leaned more towards control.
Even so, the overall damage of the Thunder Arrow skill remained the highest among all of John's current skills.
Thunder-based skills are notoriously powerful among all magic disciplines, and John was eager to test the effects of this new skill.
At that moment, the monstrous statues on the church's pillars began to vibrate violently.
Dust cascaded down in torrents.
John sensed that the second wave of monsters might be emerging and heightened his alertness.
Sure enough, before long, two giant creatures with bat-like wings rose from the stone pillars, and John also caught sight of their attributes.
[Name: Gargoyle (Elite)]
[Level: lv10]
[HP: 23000]
[Strength: 216]
[Spirit: 175]
[Defense: 87]
[Speed: 63]
[Skills: Howl, Pounce, Nether Flame…]
...
These two elite monsters were clearly enhanced, with their HP and other attributes significantly higher than those of a standard elite monster, showing hardly any weaknesses.
However, John was unfazed, as mere gargoyles posed little threat to him.
Upon awakening, the two massive gargoyles immediately flapped their bat-like wings and soared into the mid-air of the main hall.
Looking down upon John and his companion, their blood-red eyes glinted menacingly.
With their grotesque features and bared fangs, they emitted sharp cries akin to a baby's wail as they opened their mouths.
"Yeeow!"
The sound was piercing to the ears and seemed to carry an attacking effect.
Seraphina winced, clutching her forehead with a pale face, in apparent pain. John, likely due to his high mental fortitude, seemed unaffected.
"Enough noise!" John grunted coldly, his staff glowing with a purple light.
Behind him, five arrows formed from condensed lightning took shape rapidly, crackling with energy, their appearance alone formidable.
With a thought from John, two of the thunder arrows transformed into purple streaks of light, shooting swiftly towards the two gargoyles.
The gargoyles flapped their wings, attempting to dodge, but the thunder arrows were too fast, reaching them in the blink of an eye.
"Zap!" "Zap!"
"-1055!" "-1139!"
The gargoyles were struck by the thunder arrows, their bodies instantly covered in purple sparks, becoming rigid and falling from the sky, crashing into several benches and raising clouds of dust.
Seraphina, observing from the side, wasn't too surprised.
She had speculated that John might have awakened a very rare hidden class [Element Magus].
Such a class could manipulate several elements for combat, making it quite powerful, so she had been mentally prepared.
In the center of the main hall, the two gargoyles quickly recovered from the paralysis, but John didn't give them a chance to retaliate.
Waving his staff, a blue light shone brightly.
"Aquakinesis!"
A massive water orb flew rapidly towards the two gargoyles.
Before they could stand, they were once again struck down by the exploding water orb.
Simultaneously, another thunder arrow shot their way.
A flash of lightning burst forth!
"-1117!" "-1096!"
The two drenched gargoyles once again fell into a state of paralysis; the probability of the thunder arrow's paralyzing effect clearly increased significantly after contact with water.
The two gargoyles sadly realized that they seemed to be doomed to be controlled to death by John just upon awakening.
At this moment, John's focus wasn't solely on them.
As he waved his staff to release Vine Thorn and Ice Spear, he fell into deep thought.
The scene just now had inspired him.
The combination of different elements could produce various effects; this was basic knowledge for any class, but very few awakeners could achieve it on their own.
Dual-element awakeners were rare enough, let alone those who could combine their elements effectively.
But John didn't have this problem.
As an All-Class Magus, he could learn any class's skills, easily assembling two complementary elemental skills.
Even three or four elements weren't much of a challenge for him.
John's eyes sparkled with ideas.
Logically, he could even merge several different elemental skills to create his own fusion techniques.
What kind of effects would that yield?
John didn't know, but he felt it was worth a try.