Tepo had apprehension in his heart, but his mind was calm. He looked to the side, where flames were burning on the guardian's body.
But the woman didn't let out a single sound, the flames helplessly trying to penetrate her scales without any success.
Immediately Tepo changed his spell. Bangs rang out as he fired his pistol, bullets aided by [Subtle Strike] threatening to hit the guardian.
The woman's face didn't change, only portraying the same innocence as she swayed her body.
Two out of three bullets directly missed their target. But [Subtle Strike] made their trajectories hard to admit, even for the guardian. The last one graced her waist, cracking a few of the sturdy scales.
Tepo felt reminded of his fight against the Green Giant. He didn't hesitate to dash forward, his knife aiming for the damaged scales.
The guardian moved lazily. A hint of doubt was in her mind. Normally those coming to challenge here were well prepared. They had superior equipment to get through her scales.
Why was this current student different?
Since she didn't know about the workings in this branch, the guardian naturally didn't understand that this place had long become the exclusive zone for the aristocratic families.
They usually did their best not to allow others into this storage for rare and powerful spells.
And Tepo had no way to get information about the rules here beforehand, which led to his current disadvantageous position.
However, the warrior didn't consider these things right now. His entire focus was on the difficult battle.
As soon as he closed the distance, Tepo felt the air stir. A claw was aiming for his shoulder again.
He hastily used his core's ability to slow it down. Simultaneously his knife slashed out aided by [Rapid Pierce].
The guardian was caught off guard. A few drops of blue blood ran down her side as the knife cut into her flesh.
When her attack arrived, Tepo had already jumped back.
The guardian breathed angrily. A white mist came out of her small nose. She immediately dashed at Tepo.
Eyes on his opponent, Tepo used the same method again. [Time Dilation: Target] evened their speed, allowing Tepo to dodge calmly. The guardian found it difficult to adjust.
Tepo stuck close. His knife stabbed towards his opponent's back.
"AH!"
Suddenly a high-pitched scream sounded out. Tepo was surprised as his knife rather easily entered the space between the guardian's wings.
A weak spot!
The guardian gritted her teeth in anger as she turned her body. But Tepo now had a strategy. He immediately used [Chaotic Evasion]. With a quick dash he arrived diagonally behind his opponent.
Bang!
A bullet shot through the air. The guardian trembled as it dug into her flesh.
Flames seared the woman's muscles.
She let out a guttural groan, feeling the wind behind her, knowing that the student approached her again.
Tepo's knife stabbed forward. But suddenly he had to throw his body to the ground. The guardian did a fast spin, her claws wildly slashing behind her.
Although the young man was able to dodge the sharp edges, he was still hit by a wing.
Stars danced before Tepo's eyes as he rolled on the ground. His head spun, his already injured shoulder dislocated and bloody.
But despite all this he kept up his [Infectious Flames]. The guardian felt her back burning, her steps turning sluggish.
Tepo suppressed the pain he was feeling as he pulled his body up.
Two pairs of eyes met. Sparks spewed in the air.
Tepo noticed the guardian's exhaustion. He grinned, activating another ability.
The projection of a golden circle appeared in the air. It immediately gathered a large amount of force as it shot hundreds of invisible knives at the guardian.
"What's this?"
The woman let out a surprised exclamation. She tried to use her strong scales but even they began to crack under the huge number of attacks.
With no choice she hastily shielded her body with her wings, while doing her best to approach Tepo.
The student knew that this was his chance. He waited for the perfect moment.
Suddenly he used [Chaotic Evasion]. His whole mind concentrated on the spell, forcing his will upon it. He controlled the direction, using the speed to dive close to his opponent and reaching her back.
Giving the guardian no time to react, his knife stabbed at her weak spot again.
But just before the sharp weapon could slice apart the flesh, a greenish barrier blocked it.
The guardian let out a sigh as she opened her wings. All the invisible knives shattered on the barrier.
"You won."
Hearing these words, Tepo cancelled all his spells and abilities.
As soon as the tension left him, the young man swayed in place. His breathing was shallow and his mind tired from the use of [Time Dilation: Target].
The win didn't make him happy. He knew that if his opponent was able to use spells, he would stand no chance.
"I'm sorry."
The guardian was surprised. She wanted to say something more but suddenly the shackle pulled on her neck.
The rattling chain returned to the storage, dragging the guardian with her.
Tepo looked in the woman's defeated and hopeless eyes, feeling pity and guilt. He couldn't imagine the life she was leading as a prisoner here.
With those mixed feelings the young man turned towards Hoinar:
"Hey, how much time do I have to choose a spell?"
The worker stayed at the side during the fight, observing the entire process.
Now that Tepo asked him, he answered subconsciously:
"No limit."
Tepo nodded his head. He sat cross-legged in the grass, calmly taking one of Anvil's healing pills.
An hour later Tepo's body had recovered a lot, but his mind was still tired.
However, he decided that this was enough for now as he stood up and approached the storage.
After a few steps Tepo glanced over his shoulder. He saw Hoinar seated on the grass, not showing any signs of following him.
Thus, Tepo was entering the storage alone.
From the inside the building appeared even smaller. It only served to store a few precious materials.
Special compartments on the wall held various metals, minerals, or materials won from beasts. A few pedestals stood scattered on the white stone floor, presenting lively plants.
Tepo scanned the room, but he could not find any signs of the guardian.
Putting this matter at the back of his head, the young man approached a thick book next to the entrance.
Its cover showed the symbol Tepo didn't recognize, artfully designed, the black cover of highest quality. The book itself emitted an almost sacred air as Tepo opened it carefully.
On its first chapters the book thanked the Lord of a thousand Mirage, a mighty world lord, patron and founder of this storage pavilion.
She was the one providing the first spells and obviously hasn't stopped doing so up to this day.
Tepo inwardly thanked her for the opportunity, but still skipped her introduction. This wasn't what he was here for.
Reading further, the storage's rules were described until finally the currently stored spells were introduced.
Only at this point did Tepo read carefully.
Finally, those are the precious spells I expected from the forum.
Telekinesis, soul defense, illusions, even mind reading and controlling others, feeding on souls…
Tepo shivered as he realized what some spells were capable of.
A short while later, the young man had finally found something which attracted his attention. It was the description of a spell called [God's Soul].
It was a special passive spell. When this spell was engraved, a kind of second soul would form, orbiting the original. It could ward of attacks and nourish the soul. On top of that it was able to observe the user's surroundings, granting them special vision and hearing.
But it also had its downsides, as it was rather weak early on while its effects somewhat overlapped with the abilities of domain lords and world lords.
However, for Tepo it was perfect, able to offset the side effects of his forbidden spell and even strengthen his mind, which would allow him to use more abilities.
Now he was only left with one problem. From the description the spell belonged to an intelligent race. Contrary to the spells of beasts, spells from intelligent lifeforms were difficult to engrave.
The best solution was to kill them, after which their core would still stabilize their spellcircle for a short time. But this time was really not much, at most enough for a single try.
If the engraving failed, this was it. Thus, even killing others for their forbidden spells was not worth it most of the time, as you potentially made powerful enemies without gaining anything.
Tepo wasn't too concerned about making enemies, since everything in this storage was prepared for the students and definitely screened beforehand.
Rather, the warrior didn't know if he was ready to kill someone for their spell.
Not able to make up his mind, Tepo decided to first contemplate the problem and recover his mental strength in the meantime. If he wanted to engrave a spell, he had to be at his peak.