NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 66: Labyrinth (1)
[You have made progress towards acquiring a new Skill.]
His Dragonheart came to life with a roar.
Lightspeed!
At the fastest speed he could attain, he sidestepped. A fraction of a second later, two arrows pierced through the space where his head and heart had been. The light power within him died down as he turned around and locked eyes with two strange creatures. They looked like a mix of a lizard and a human, possessing green skin, powerful muscles, and sharp teeth and claws. A loincloth covered their groin, while a quiver full of arrows rested on their backs.
Lizardmen, huh?
[Analyze has failed. Target is too high Level.]
He clicked his tongue. They appeared to be the enemies of this Dungeon. The two lizardmen each held a bow and were in the process of nocking another arrow. Michael drew a line in the air.
“Mana Wave.”
He widened its area-of-effect, making it sear right through the just-released arrows, burning them to cinders. Once the Wave hit the lizardmen, he fully expected them to be bisected and killed in a single move. However, his expectations were thwarted. Michael narrowed his eyes. One of the lizardmen ducked beneath the Wave, while the other jumped over it. Fast as lightning, they nocked other arrows. This time, however, the arrows were bathed in an orange light. Michael felt the same chill as before. Light coursed through his veins as he activated Lightspeed.
The arrows covered in orange energy cut through the air like bullets. In the slow-motion world, he could barely see their path. He sidestepped again, letting the attacks pass him by. There was no reason to gamble and try to block them with Mana Shield.
They have definitely gone through the first evolution.
The arrows had been even more powerful than the Great Mushroom’s hyphae in terms of firepower alone. It meant that he was dealing with two monsters over Level 25. He cursed Sullivan in his mind. The lizardmen shot two more arrows, but they were ordinary and easily avoided.
Still under the effects of Lightspeed, he quickly cast another Mana Wave. Because of the improvement to his speed, the Skill was cast much quicker than the last. The half-moon made of blue mana coalesced in front of Michael; it was long enough to cover the entire tunnel horizontally. As the enemies moved to avoid it, Michael hurriedly cast another Wave. He managed to catch one of them mid-air. The Skill tore through the lizardman, bisecting it. Its death throes were lost as orange energy gathered at the tip of the survivor’s arrow. At the same time, the realization that he could kill them so long as he hit them dawned upon Michael. His stats meant he wasn’t lacking in offensive power.
He crouched as the arrow pierced through the air above him like a railgun.
Three more seconds.
He had come up with a ten-second limit for Lightspeed. He had done so to avoid injuring himself. He had three seconds left. There was no margin for error or time for another missed spell. Since the enemy was also a long-ranged combatant, there was one thing that could be done to easily overwhelm it. However, it also put Michael at greater risk.
Steeling his mind, he shot forward. The lizardman nocked another arrow. This was the moment of truth. The distance between them had been greatly reduced; Michael wasn’t fast enough to dodge an arrow coming from so close to him. That did not mean, however, that he had no options. He drew a line in the air.
“Mana Wave!”
The Wave destroyed the incoming arrow, but was avoided by the lizardman. At that point, they were almost in melee range. Michael ground to a halt and drew a circle.
“Mana Sphere.”
Before the enemy could grab another arrow, the Sphere went through its skull, killing it instantly. The moment the notification reached his ears, he deactivated Lightspeed and let out a breath. The monster’s corpse fell to the ground. He gritted his teeth as pain coursed through him.
Cleansing.
A halo of light appeared above his head. The pain was lessened.
This was harder than I thought.
Even though the enemies had perished to a single spell each, they were much faster than even the Mushroom Warriors. If it weren’t for Lightspeed, this battle would have been far more dangerous. As his thoughts reached this point, Michael smiled.
As I expected, the Heritage Skills can be used at the same time as ordinary Skills.
He hadn’t needed a dual casting Skill to use both Lightspeed and Mana Wave. The Blessing of Light was special; its three Skills greatly raised his personal power, even though he could only use Lightspeed safely for ten seconds at a time, and Illumination’s power was situational. The fact that he could use Cleansing and other Skills at the same time, however, made it all worth it.
Michael checked the System notifications.
[You have slain a Lizardman Archer, Level 36.]
[You have Slain a Lizardman Archer, Level 37.]
Damn.
So this was why Sullivan had said this would be a worthwhile Dungeon. Their Levels were considerably higher than anything else Michael had faced. He had no confidence in fighting them without Lightspeed. He wasn’t sure if his defensive abilities could withstand their attacks, nor if he was fast enough to cast and hit them without Lightspeed.
This meant that he needed to pace himself and always fight only when he had recovered enough from the previous use of the Heritage Skill. However, Lohann was still out there. He needed to increase his power quickly.
To succeed in this Dungeon, I’ll need to find a way to fight the lizardmen without Lightspeed.
With a heavy expression, he placed his hand on the wall once more and continued on his way. He walked for twenty minutes before he stopped and frowned. He could hear the lizardmen’s growling. Hiding himself and casting Shroud, he peeked into the turn. Three lizardmen stood idly in the middle of the corridor. One of them was sitting down; it held a bow and arrow, as did another one. The last lizardman, however, was obviously different. It was larger and more muscular than the other two and held no weapons. Its claws, however, shone in the dim lighting of the labyrinth’s torches. They were longer and seemed to be sharper than those of its kin.
Just my luck.
It was obvious that the bigger lizardman was a warrior of sorts or at least a melee combatant. Since it had the support of the two bow-wielding enemies, this would be a hard fight. The only saving grace was that they hadn’t noticed him yet. It was an absolutely advantageous position.
I can’t fuck this up.
He hid his entire body behind the wall with his back against it and dismissed Shroud. At that moment, he heard the lizardmen sniffing the air and growling. He completed his chanting and shot out from behind the wall. His two hands drew lines in the air as his Dragonheart thumped within his chest.
“Mana Wave!”
Twin Mana Waves flew horizontally through the air. The burly lizardman merely crossed its arms in front of its torso, while the bow-wielding ones tried to avoid the Skill, but one of them was in the worst possible position. As the sitting lizardman tried to stand up, one of the Waves cut off its head, searing through its neck. Simultaneously, the Wave severed the legs of the other bow-wielder, who had tried to jump over the Skills. It had been a clear misjudgement. With a pained scream, the upper half of its body fell to the ground.
At that moment, a roar shook the tunnel itself. Michael looked at the muscular lizardman. There were severe injuries on both of its arms, but it was still alive. No, more than that, the two bloody, burnt lines on its body didn’t seem to hinder it one bit. As it roared, a red hue surrounded its figure. A red light shone within its eyes. Michael kept his guard up, ready to use Lightspeed at a moment’s notice.
The lizardman warrior shot forward. Michael blinked. The golden halo above his head revolved. Before his eyes opened, he felt a chill.
[You have made progress towards acquiring a new Skill.]
As he opened his eyes, he beheld five claws less than thirty centimeters in front of him, aiming straight for his throat. His body moved automatically, empowered by his stats and experience. He stepped back, making the claws hit nothing but air. The creature roared again, making Michael wince. The roar was loud enough to rattle his eardrums, but Cleansing kept him from losing his balance.
It's fucking fast.
It had crossed the distance between them in a heartbeat. He needed to retreat to use his Skills. He leaped backward, raising both of his hands. Twin Mana Spheres coalesced above them, then shot towards the enemy’s torso. He had determined that Mana Wave wasn’t concentrated enough to pierce its defenses. The lizardman avoided one of the Spheres, but because of their trajectory, couldn’t dodge the other one completely. It burned through its left side just above its thigh, making it roar once again. It charged at Michael at blinding speed, but as its left leg stepped forward, it stumbled.