ăIce Spike Proficiency EXP +100,000ă
That counts as proficiency too?
So this kind of maneuver increases it as well...
Practice truly does make perfect.
There was no time to dwell on it.
The moment the giant serpent located Kanzaki Reiâs position, it immediately reared its head back!
Its cavernous jaws opened wide, and dark liquid sprayed from between its fangs!
At the sight of that substance, Rei forced his battered right arm to move. He gritted through the pain and formed a spellâ
Seven Fireballs hurled forward!
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!
The Fireballs collided midair with the dark liquid and detonated!
Boiling black mist surged through the air.
Poison?
Is this thing a venomous snake too?!
Whoosh!
Thud!
Another Ice Spike crashed down!
It smashed the serpentâs rising head back toward the ground!
Rei hung suspended in midair.
He partially melted the massive Ice Spike embedded in the ceiling, carving out a small foothold.
That relieved the strain on his arm, which had been bearing the full weight of his body.
If this continued, his left arm would break.
One arm was already broken.
He couldnât afford to lose the second.
Ice element was truly useful. Rei coated his right arm in frost. It couldnât heal the fractureâbut it could numb the pain, at least temporarily.
Boom!
Boom boom boom boom!
Four more massive Ice Spikes slammed down in succession!
They pinned the giant serpent to the ground once again.
But stillâ
It wasnât pierced through.
A Lord-tier creature was on an entirely different level from the monsters in the rest of the cavern.
After so many Ice Spikes crashing down, it still wasnât dead.
It was likely a dark-attribute creature.
Against dark-type monsters, light magic should be more effective.
But he had only recently learned ăCross of Lightă.
Its current level was only LV: 39.
Compared to his Ice Spike at LV: 91, the difference in power wasnât smallâit was enormous.
Even with attribute advantage, that gap probably couldnât be compensated.
Ice Spike was his highest-level offensive spell.
Aside from Mana Tide, which had already reached LV: 100, Ice Spike at LV: 91 was his strongest.
Thud!
After a total of ten massive Ice Spikes smashed into the serpentâs body, frost completely layered over it.
And under repeated penetration strikes, every time it tried to raise its headâ
It failed.
So long as he maintained suppression, it would lose its ability to attack.
If he could kill it before his mana ran out, he would succeed.
However...
There was a second problem.
How to deal with Izz Parulut outside the door.
Izz had suddenly revealed his true face and displayed naked malice toward him.
Rei couldnât understand it.
Why did he want to kill him?
Was he feeding him to the serpent?
That wasnât impossible...
Reiâs understanding of this world was still shallow. This was another worldâits logic might not follow Earthâs norms.
Any motive was possible.
Thudâ
Two more massive Ice Spikes fell.
The serpent was fully suppressed now, its body pressed against the ground, frozen together with the stone floor under a thick layer of frost.
A Lord-tier... perhaps it wasnât as strong as it first appeared.
The initial encounter had simply carried overwhelming pressure.
Rei had now fully seated himself within the hollow carved out of the Ice Spike.
Attacking from the cavern ceiling truly was an excellent invulnerable position.
But no matter how he thought about itâ
He couldnât figure out how to deal with Izz outside.
Poison...
If Izz opened the door and came in again, could poison work on him?
All of Reiâs spells had been taught by Izz.
And they were only Level 1 spells.
During their struggle earlier, Rei had already realizedâ
His spells likely had no effect on Izz at all.
Ice Spike and Fireball were his strongest offensive methods.
The remaining Wind Bladeâeven if usableâwould probably have negligible impact.
Better to start from this BOSS instead...
Just as Rei was calculating a countermeasure for Izzâ
The half-dead serpent suddenly changed.
Its eyes lit up.
From pitch blackâ
They turned blood red.
The serpentâs head, pinned beneath Ice Spikes, suddenly forced itself upward!
"Hissssssâ!"
Rei had never imagined a snakeâs hiss could reach such a volume!
The entire cavern vibrated at high frequency.
His eardrums felt on the verge of rupturing!
Rei instantly raised his left handâ
A massive Ice Spike formed!
He smashed it down toward the serpentâs head once more!
Boom!
But this timeâ
The serpentâs head shattered the Ice Spike!
"Enraged?"
"Second phase?"
He had no idea what had just happened!
The serpentâs tail suddenly blurredâ
Bang!
In the next instant, the Ice Spike Rei was perched upon exploded into fragments!
Even the cavern ceiling was crushed into a massive crater.
And Reiâ
Was already on the opposite wall, drenched in cold sweat.
In that split second, he had condensed a second massive Ice Spikeâ
And launched himself to the other side of the cavern.
ăIce Spike Proficiency EXP +100,000ă
Heh...
That counts too?
Does proficiency increase more the closer you are to death?
The giant serpent rose again, shaking off the layers of frost covering its body.
No more room for divided attention.
Whoosh!
Its tail swung again!
Such a massive bodyâ
Yet such terrifying speed!
Boom!
Rei pinned himself into the wall again with another Ice Spike.
The spot heâd occupied moments earlier was now a deep crater.
Frost residue lingered within itâ
The remains of a shattered Ice Spike.
If he had still needed to chant before castingâ
He would already be dead.
If his reaction speed had been even slightly slowerâ
Dead.
If he had chosen to attack instead of pausing to observeâ
Dead.
This was a trueâ
Death threat.
Rei swallowed.
His mana continued to drain.
He had assumed that after killing it, he would still have plenty remaining.
But now...
He assessed his reserves.
Roughly 52% mana left.
It might not be enough.
Whoosh!
Thud!
Another tail strikeâ
And once again, Rei nailed himself to the opposite wall using an Ice Spike.
Practice makes perfect.
This method of movement was becoming increasingly refined.
And this timeâ
As he pinned himself to the wallâ
Another Ice Spike descended from above!
Thud!
It slammed directly into the serpentâs headâ
The same head that had already suffered one piercing earlier.
A second penetration!
The rear half of the massive Ice Spike exploded backwardâ
While the front half, driven forward by the recoil force, burrowed even deeper!
Immediately afterâ
An intense chill surged from the tip of the spike!
Extreme cold pierced directly into the skull!
[Ice Spike â Second Penetration]
[Extreme Cold Diffusion]
The frost drove into its brainâ
Assuming its brain was located there...
But at the very leastâ
After that strikeâ
The tail did not immediately lash out again.
Its movements slowed once more.
Boom!
Boom boom boom boomâ
Rei was not the type to waste opportunity.
He had no intention of catching his breath while the enemy faltered.
Strike while itâs down!
Five more massive Ice Spikes crashed down!
Every single one targeted its jaw and skull!
This timeâ
He would smash its head into pulp.
Who knew whether it would unlock a third phaseâ
Or even a fourthâ