Leo's anger surged like a fire, burning away the frustration he'd been holding back. The vine spitter's constant harassment had pushed him beyond his limit. For the first time, he felt something within him snap, a deep well of raw power that had been building ever since he'd first encountered the Saviour system.
He didn't fully understand what was happening or how it worked, but instinct drove him. His right hand shot up into the air, fingers flexing, while his left hand gripped the Sword of Energy tightly. He could feel the energy humming in the air, vibrating with intensity as his heart raced. His breath came in shallow gasps, the pulse of adrenaline surging through his veins.
The system's voice echoed in his mind:
[Skill Active: Arcane Slash!]
The words were familiar now, and he realized he had never used this skill before. Panic clawed at the edges of his thoughts, but Leo pushed it down. He focused, not on the fear of the unknown, but on the sheer power he could feel stirring inside him. His hand shot forward, and the sword followed the motion, held tightly in his grip.
A dark purple energy swirled around his hand, gathering like a storm cloud. It felt…wrong, in a way he couldn't describe, but at the same time, exhilarating. The energy intensified, crackling like lightning as it surged through his arm. Leo didn't know what to expect. Would it explode in his face? Would it do anything at all?
But when the energy erupted, it did so with such ferocity that he couldn't even comprehend what had happened in the split second. The blast shot out from his palm, a wave of dark purple light trailing the sword. The force was so powerful that it carved through the air like a force of nature, a destructive pulse that shot straight at the vine spitter who had been taunting them.
The instant the blast made contact with the vine spitter, there was a terrible screeching noise—a deafening, blood-curdling sound that filled the air. But what shocked Leo, and everyone else, was what happened next.
The Arcane Slash didn't just take the vine spitter. It obliterated everything in its path. The blast of energy seemed to carve through the forest itself, slicing through hundreds of trees and bushes in an instant. It was as if the world itself had been torn apart. The vine spitter, caught in the middle of it, was vaporized before it could even react. The surrounding trees were ripped from their roots, shattered into pieces that scattered in every direction.
The destruction left a wide, gaping scar through the forest, as though a massive storm had swept through, ripping everything in its path. The line of destruction stretched for dozens of meters, the air thick with the smell of burned wood and ozone.
For a moment, there was complete silence.
Leo stood there, his hand still raised, eyes wide in shock as the dark purple energy dissipated into the air. The Sword of Energy hummed softly in his grip, but Leo barely noticed. His mind was reeling, still processing what had just happened.
Everyone else stood frozen as well.
Mia was the first to recover, her eyes locked on the path of devastation Leo had left in his wake. "Did… did you just do that?" she asked, her voice trembling.
Caleb was still staring in disbelief, his staff slack in his hands. He had seen magic before, but never like this…never something so raw, so wild. His usual calm demeanor was nowhere to be found, replaced by something between awe and pure fear. "That wasn't supposed to happen" he muttered, as if trying to convince himself that he had imagined the whole thing.
Jerry blinked, his chest heaving as he tried to process the event. His enhanced reflexes and quick thinking had saved him from harm, but what he had just witnessed was far beyond anything he had expected. A simple attack had just leveled the landscape. "What the hell…?" he muttered under his breath, still clutching his shield, unsure of what to make of the situation.
Leo glanced at his companions, all of them staring at him as if he had suddenly transformed into something entirely different. He swallowed hard, trying to steady his breath. His heart was still racing, adrenaline pumping through him, but now the initial shock was giving way to a strange feeling of dread. What had he just done?
He had no idea how much power he had just unleashed. The Arcane Slash was supposed to be a basic, Level 1 spell, yet the damage was catastrophic. He had only intended to stop the vine spitter, but instead, he had wiped out a large portion of the forest.
His mind raced. What did this mean for him? Was this the true power of the Saviour system?
"Leo?" Mia's voice was soft, laced with disbelief.
Leo shook his head, lowering his hand, his chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. He didn't know how to answer. He had never felt such power before. For a brief moment, he felt completely out of control, like he had tapped into something much larger than himself.
Then, as if to add insult to injury, the remaining vine spitters—who had been hiding in the trees, waiting for their chance to attack—panicked. They let out high-pitched screeches, their bodies trembling in fear. Their dark, spindly limbs scrambled in a frenzied retreat. They turned tail and fled into the trees, their powerful limbs swinging them from branch to branch as fast as they could. The sight of their retreat was enough to make Leo realize just how terrifying the display had been.
Even the creatures of this world recognized the threat he had just unleashed.
The group stood in stunned silence for several moments, processing the aftermath. The forest around them was eerily quiet now, the once-vibrant foliage reduced to shattered remnants. The vines and trees that had surrounded them were now nothing more than splinters in the wind.
Leo finally spoke, his voice quiet, almost uncertain. "I didn't… I didn't mean to do that."
Caleb exhaled sharply. "I think it's safe to say that's not a spell we should be using lightly."
Jerry, still recovering from the shock, shot Leo an incredulous look. "You don't even know how to control that kind of power, do you?"
Leo couldn't answer. He didn't know what he had just done, and that realization hit him harder than anything else. What if it happened again? What if his anger or fear triggered that power uncontrollably?
He clenched his fist around the sword's hilt. He didn't have answers.
The group moved cautiously forward, their pace slower now, still shaken by the events. The vine spitters had scattered, but the uneasy tension in the air remained. Whatever this power was, it had its consequences, and Leo wasn't sure he was ready for them yet.
One thing was certain: they wouldn't forget this moment any time soon.