"Time to level up."
[You are facing more than ten opponents.]
[The effect of the title 'Solo Hunter' has been activated.]
[All your physical attributes will temporarily increase by 10%.]
Damian held the [Monster Slayer] in both hands and sprinted forward.
As soon as he appeared before one of the [Plague Silk Spiders], he slid under its belly, moving swiftly between its eight legs.
With a precise strike, he stabbed directly into its underside, tearing apart the soft flesh.
Green blood spurted out in all directions, yet the Plague Silk spider didn't die, even though he had attacked its weakest point.
These spider monsters had a strong exoskeleton with armor-like scales covering most of their bodies, except for their vulnerable underbellies.
As long as Damian moved quickly and dodged their poisonous spit and thick, rope-like webs, he could defeat them with relative ease.
However, there was a problem.
These spiders always attacked in groups.
Like a horde, they coordinated to overwhelm their prey, making it impossible to focus on them all at once.
Damian, however, wasn't the type to enter a fight without some form of preparation.
Without pausing, Damian slashed a dozen more times at the spider's exposed belly until it finally succumbed.
[Experience gained]
Damian had no time to catch his breath as another group of Plague Silk Spiders appeared.
He leaped into the air, landing on top of one spider before propelling himself higher with another jump.
While airborne, he summoned a fireball the size of a football in his hand and hurled it toward the clustering spiders below.
BOOM!
The fireball exploded on impact, engulfing the group of spiders in flames.
The intense blast incinerated everything within a one-meter radius, instantly killing six of them.
[Experience gained x 6]
Damian landed on the body of another spider, but before he could react, a second spider spat a ball of poisonous venom toward him.
He immediately sprang away, evading the attack, and dashed toward the highest point of the Colosseum.
As he ran, dozens of spiders pursued him.
With his high-level swordsmanship, Damian managed to fend off the attacking spiders, slashing at them and inflicting deep wounds.
However, he couldn't kill them outright, only injure them severely.
Suddenly, the blade of his [Monster Slayer] began to radiate heat, growing hotter and hotter until it was fully engulfed in roaring flames.
Damian had channeled a surplus of his mana into the sword, igniting it with a fiery blaze.
Spotting a spider preparing to spit poison at him, Damian slashed his sword through the air.
A searing ray of flames shot forth, colliding with the poisonous projectile.
The venom ignited on contact, burning away like dry kindling.
With the burning sword in hand, Damian sprinted forward and drove the blade into the spider's eye.
The flames consumed the creature from within, incinerating its insides and killing it instantly.
[Experience gained]
Without stopping his momentum, Damian continued his assault, killing the spiders left and right.
He killed them by either attacking their underbellies or using his sword, enhanced with flame elemental magic, to stab and burn the insides of their heads.
Damian had fortunately discovered that not only was their spit highly flammable, but their entire bodies, especially their blood, were also extremely combustible.
Stabbing them with his burning sword ignited the core in their heads, killing them instantly.
[Experience gained x 4]
[Experience limit reached]
[You have reached level 27]
Damian was already much stronger than the spiders, which ranged mostly between levels 25 and 38.
Despite being only a level 27 Awakener, his stats were comparable to a level 45, if not higher, and his mana stat had even crossed the threshold of 100.
Not to mention, the effects of his title [Solo Hunter] were active, increasing his physical attributes by 10%.
With his current strength, he could even take on monsters above level 50.
The only problem was stamina.
Even though his stamina stat had reached 50, it was still far from enough to kill every single Plague Silk spider in this Red Gate.
Initially, Damian had only planned to test some of his skills and create one or two spells.
However, as he fought, he changed his mind.
Now, he was determined to clear this gate on his own, kill every monster, and level up as much as possible.
"I have to reach the top if I'm going to execute my plan," Damian thought with annoyance as he stabbed a spider in its abdomen, burning its insides before tearing his sword through its flesh from its underbelly to its thorax while flames consumed it.
The battlefield was already filling with smoke and the pungent smell of burning organic matter, making Damian feel increasingly uncomfortable.
[Experience gained]
[Experience gained x 7]
Damian pushed forward, sprinting with all his strength to break through a group of spider monsters.
He reached the highest point of the colosseum and looked down to see hundreds of spiders crawling toward him.
"Time to wrap this up," he muttered.
Raising his hand, Damian conjured a fireball the size of a football.
Pouring his surplus mana into it, he threw the fireball toward the nearest cluster of spiders.
BOOM!
As the fireball struck its target, it exploded, killing a group of spiders.
Burning chunks of flesh flew in all directions, some landing on other spiders still crawling upward, spreading the flames further.
[Experience gained x 6]
If mages were to be assigned levels, a 1st Circle mage's power would be comparable to that of a level 35 Awakener.
A 2nd Circle mage's power, in turn, would rival that of level 75, and so on.
Without pausing, Damian conjured another ball of intense flame and hurled it toward another group of spiders.
Another explosion erupted, killing the cluster instantly.
BOOM!
[Experience gained x 7]
[Experience limit reached]
[You have reached level 28]
Damian continued to use his flame magic relentlessly, creating explosions of fire that killed dozens of spiders with each blast.
His experience and levels climbed rapidly.
Thanks to his large mana pool, he was able to sustain the continuous use of flame magic, but even that had its limits.
His mana core was nearly empty.
As Damian felt his mana depleting, he narrowed his eyes and pointed his palm at the hundreds of spider corpses littering the battlefield below.
He activated his unique innate ability.
[Extraction: Unique Ability activated]
A rapidly spinning vortex of bluish energy extended from the top of the colosseum, where Damian stood, to the ground below.
The source cores inside the spider corpses released their stored energy, which flowed into the vortex and directly replenished Damian's mana core.
[Your mana core is replenishing]
[Your mana core is replenishing]
[Your mana core is replenishing]
[Your mana core is completely replenished]
[Your proficiency in your unique ability, Extraction, has increased]
Fully replenished, Damian resumed his assault, raining fireballs from above and killing spiders rapidly.
The more he used flame magic, the more proficient he became, and his understanding of the flame element deepened.
[Your understanding of Flame magic has increased]
[You have formed the Outline(1st Stage) of the Second Flame Elemental Ring]
As Damian's mastery grew, the size, power, and casting speed of his fireballs increased.
Like a madman in a dodgeball match, he continued throwing fireballs, creating explosions that annihilated dozens of spiders at a time.
"If I keep using large explosive fireballs, the entire colosseum will collapse... Let's try something new," Damian muttered.
His mind worked rapidly as his talent [Rumination Clarity] activated, allowing him to process vast amounts of information about magic.
He took a deep breath and retrieved knowledge buried in the depths of his mind.
Above his hand, a fireball began to compress, losing its chaotic energy as it transformed into a condensed, spear-like form.
[You have created the spell 'Flame Spear (1st Circle)']
Damian gripped the spear and threw it at a spider monster.
The spear struck its target, piercing its body before exploding.
While not as powerful as a fireball, it was enough to completely obliterate the spider and spread flames to nearby monsters.
"It's not as efficient as the fireball spell for killing groups of spiders," Damian grumbled.
Another idea quickly formed in his mind.
Taking another breath, Damian's thoughts accelerated.
He analyzed every movement of his mana and every detail of his spellcasting process, piecing everything together.
Above his hand, a flame spear appeared.
A few seconds later, a second spear materialized, followed by a third.
[You have learned the skill, Multicasting]
Damian pointed his hand downward.
The three flame spears launched simultaneously, each hitting a spider monster.
He continued to conjure flame spears, killing monsters left and right.
With the speed of his attacks, his proficiency in [Multicasting] rapidly increased, allowing him to create more flame spears at once.