The battle against the guardian raged on, each exchange of spells and attacks pushing Lennon to his limits. Unlike the mindless beasts he had fought before, this construct was precise and relentless. Its attacks were calculated, exploiting every opening in Lennon's defenses.
Lennon gritted his teeth, his body screaming in protest as he dodged another barrage of energy blasts. He retaliated with Graviton Collapse, aiming to crush the construct under its own weight. The spell
momentarily slowed the guardian, giving Lennon a brief respite.
But it wasn't enough. The construct adapted, switching its attack patterns. In a desperate move, Lennon summoned a series of defensive glyphs, layering them over his barrier.
The battle dragged on, and Lennon could feel his mana reserves dwindling. His movements slowed, and his spells lost their potency. "I can't keep this up," he realized.
In a final, desperate gambit, Lennon unleashed the remainder of his mana in a concentrated strike, aiming for the construct's core. The attack connected, and the construct collapsed, its runes flickering out.
Lennon staggered, barely able to stand. His vision blurred, and he felt the weight of exhaustion pressing down on him. "This was just the beginning," he muttered, sinking to his knees.
The labyrinth was a nightmare. Every step brought new challenges-traps that unleashed torrents of flame, pits filled with corrosive acid, and walls that threatened to crush him. Even with his enhanced reflexes and defensive spells, Lennon barely avoided death multiple times.
"Third-circle spell: Void Barrier
Fortress," he muttered, shielding himself from a volley of magical arrows. The barrier held, but the strain was immense.
The deeper he ventured, the more dangerous the guardians became.
Constructs imbued with Fourth - Circle magic roamed the corridors, their attacks precise and unrelenting. Unlike the mindless beasts Lennon had fought before, these guardians fought with strategy and coordination.
"Eclipse Barrage!" Lennon shouted, releasing a torrent of void energy.
The spell tore through one of the constructs, but the victory was short-lived. Another construct emerged from the shadows, striking him with a beam of concentrated mana.
Lennon screamed as the beam seared his side, narrowly avoiding a fatal blow. He stumbled back, his vision blurred from the pain. "I can't rely on brute force," he realized. "I need to outthink them."