"You are done Quinn", a cold voice rang thorugh Quinn's head as she was bought back to the battle she was currently in.
But Quinn wasn't ready to give up. She channeled the last of her mana into a desperate attack. "Earth Dragon's Wrath!" she shouted, slamming her fists into the ground. The earth trembled, and a massive dragon made of rock and soil erupted from the ground, roaring as it lunged at Tessa.
Tessa's eyes widened, but she stood her ground. "Ice Wall!" she chanted, raising a towering barrier of ice between her and the dragon. The earth dragon crashed into the ice wall, shattering it into a million shards, but the impact slowed its momentum.
Tessa seized the opportunity. "Celestial Ray!" she cried, and a beam of pure, radiant energy shot from her staff, piercing through the dragon and striking Quinn. The beam of light burned with the intensity of a thousand suns, overwhelming Quinn and disintegrating the earth dragon.
Quinn's scream echoed through the battlefield as the beam consumed her, leaving nothing but a smoking crater in its wake. Tessa lowered her staff, her expression momentarily softening. She had genuinely considered Quinn a friend, and it hurt her to see what she had become.
Betrayal was a pain Tessa was used to, as she remembered the intrigues and power struggles that defined her past circle. It was a harsh reality she had learned to navigate, but it didn't make it any easier to face the loss of someone she once cared about.
She turned her gaze toward Cruzer, who was still engaged in a fierce battle with Abas. "Hang on, Cruzer. I'm coming," she murmured, ready to lend her strength to the fight against the traitor who had once been her comrade.
As Tessa was about to head towards Cruzer, another bandit attacked her preventing her from helping him. She could only grit her teeth as she had no other choice to continue her battle.
Meanwhile, Cruzer and Abas were locked in a fierce, intense fight. Abas, a towering figure clad in dark armor, wielded a massive greatsword that seemed to hum with dark, ominous energy. His eyes glowed with an eerie crimson light, and a sinister grin spread across his face as he swung his blade with ferocious power.
"Is that all you've got, boy? A weakling like you dares to fight against me!" Abas taunted, his voice dripping with contempt as he kept swinging his greatsword toward Cruzer. Each strike grew more intense, pushing Cruzer back toward a thick tree, attempting to pin him.
Cruzer, his black hair matted with sweat and dirt, gritted his teeth as he parried Abas's powerful strikes with his one-handed sword. Each clash of their blades sent shockwaves through the air. Cruzer knew he was outmatched in strength, and his mind raced with strategies to overcome the difference in their ranks.
"Fireball!" Cruzer shouted, launching a blazing orb of fire at Abas. The fireball sizzled through the air, but Abas merely swung his greatsword, cleaving through the fireball and dispersing it harmlessly.
"Is that all you've got?" Abas sneered, stepping forward with menacing confidence. "You're going to have to do better than that!"
Cruzer didn't let the taunt faze him. He quickly followed up with another spell. "Sparkle!" he cried, sending a burst of dazzling light toward Abas, hoping to blind him.
Abas closed his eyes briefly and raised a hand, summoning a barrier of dark energy that absorbed the blinding light. "Child's play," he growled, dismissing the attack with ease.
Cruzer's frustration mounted. He had to find a way to break through Abas's defenses. He decided to try a different approach. "Aerial Cutter!" he shouted, sending a series of razor-sharp wind blades toward Abas.
The wind blades struck Abas, but they barely left a scratch on his dark armor. Abas laughed, the sound echoing ominously through the battlefield. "Pathetic!" he roared, swinging his greatsword in a wide arc. "Dark Cleaver!"
A wave of dark energy surged from Abas's greatsword, racing toward Cruzer. Cruzer barely managed to leap to the side, avoiding the dark wave by a hair's breadth. The ground where he had been standing was obliterated, leaving a deep, smoking trench.
Cruzer landed and rolled, quickly getting back on his feet. His breath came in ragged gasps, and he could feel his energy waning. He needed to think fast. "Mudwall!" he shouted, slamming his palm into the ground. A wall of earth rose up between him and Abas, buying him a moment to regroup.
Abas laughed again, a chilling sound. "Do you really think a wall of dirt will stop me?" He swung his greatsword with a roar, and the Mudwall shattered under the impact, debris flying everywhere.
As Abas was swinging his greatsword, suddenly a mudwall appeared infront of Cruzer as he used Mudwall to buy time to upgrade his stats.
He mentally called upon his system to review his stats and allocate his points strategically.
"System, show me my stats," he commanded.
The system screen appeared before him, displaying his current status:
Name: Cruzer
Level: 21
Talent: ??
1 Star: Elemental Devouring (Passive)
4 Stars: Elemental Affinity
Basic Skills: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Aether Control
HP: 500
MP: 400
STR: 80
AGT: 74
INT: 70
WIL: 74
END: 76
Blank Attribute Points: 160
Skill Points: 30
Cultivation Manual: Elemental Fusion Manual
Skills:
Fury CutterSword BarrageSparkle Level 10Fireball Level 10Heal Level 8Mudwall Level 1Aerial Cutter Level 1, Thunder Strike Level 1
Cruzer knew that his current stats wouldn't be enough to overcome Abas. He needed to increase his attack power and the potency of his spells to turn the tide of the battle.
"System, allocate 80 points to STR and 80 points to INT," Cruzer instructed, feeling a surge of power as his muscles and magical prowess increased.
Next, he turned his attention to his skills. He needed to bolster his offensive and defensive capabilities.
"System, allocated skill points first to Aerial Cutter and remainig to Thunderstrike he commanded.
After addition of blank attribute points and skill points , his stas looked as follows:
HP: 500
MP: 400
STR: 160
AGT: 74
INT: 150
WIL: 74
END: 76
Blank Attribute Points: 0
Skill Points: 0
Fury Cutter, Sword Barrage, Sparkle Level 10, Fireball Level 10, Heal Level 8, Mudwall Level 1, Aerial Cutter Level 10, Thunder Strike Level 4
With his newfound strength and enhanced skills, Cruzer felt ready to face Abas once more.
As soon as Cruzer was done with his allocations of attributes and stats, Abas forcefully blased the Mudwall.
"Kid you got nowhere to hide now, be prepared to die.", shouted Abas as he swong his sword fiercely towards Cruzer.
As soon as Cruzer finished allocating his attribute and skill points, Abas forcefully blasted through the Mudwall with his greatsword, sending chunks of earth flying. His eyes glowed with an eerie crimson light, and his sinister grin widened as he swung his blade fiercely toward Cruzer.
"Kid, you have nowhere to hide now. Be prepared to die!" Abas shouted, his voice echoing with malice.
Cruzer stood his ground, his eyes blazing with determination. "Not yet. Let's see how you handle this!"
With his newfound strength, Cruzer leaped to the side, narrowly avoiding Abas's devastating strike. The ground where he had been standing shattered under the force of the blow. Cruzer countered with Aerial Cutter, sending a series of razor-sharp wind blades toward Abas.
"Aerial Cutter!" Cruzer shouted, focusing his newly leveled up Aerial Cutter, which had now turned very powerful due to being leveled up. With his increased Int, Cruzer now also had more control over his spell and number of wind blades that he could use also drastically increased.
The wind blades, now sharper, more powerful and greater in number, sliced through the air toward Abas. Abas raised his greatsword, blocking the first few blades, but the force of the attacks pushed him back. Cruzer manipulated wind blades with ease letting some of them attack the back of Abas, who couldn't block those in time.
A stream of blood gushed from his back where the wind blades from Aerial Cutter landed.