Going on the offensive

Lumen didn't hesitate in his actions as he immediately activated his new most powerful skill.

[Fire bolt]

Just like his first time using it, the speed it flew was incomparable to that of the wolves' running speed, leaving them no time to react as it had already arrived right in front of them by the time they had even managed to turn around.

The scene with the remaining 5 level 10's was the same as his first time using the skill, the injured wolf being vaporised on the spot, helpless to defend while the other 4 were knocked back and killed instantly from the resulting blast and burns.

The level 12 Elite Rabid wolf was unlike the other wolves as it had only been blasted a few metres from it's original spot, and had only come out of the fiery explosion with a few cuts and burns.

Lumen took a quick look at his system notifications to make sure that the other 5 weaker wolves were in fact dead, and when he saw the 5 confirmed kills alongside a level up to level 11 he closed the interface in an instant, not reacting to the level up at all as he was focused solely on the surviving Elite wolf ahead of him.

The Elite still managed to stand tall with it's prideful look on it's face as it wore it's dashing black streaks of fur all over it's body. Unlike humans, it didn't have any protective equipment, no weapons and yet it had withstood the full power attack of Lumen and came out looking like it was already victorious.

The wolf began to growl and roar lowly as if it was talking to Lumen, but he doubted they were words spoken from intelligence as his Akashic Languages skill would have most likely translated it.

He had made the guess that higher level beasts could develop intelligence similar to humans through his observations of the wolves so far, as they had already showed signs of that rather than the normal mindless savage behaviour of the other beasts he had killed outside the dungeon.

Lumen's nerves remained tightened as he listened to the Elite wolf's growls, his senses honed to their limits as the threat of death still remained even after his surprise attack. The wolf also clearly knew where Lumen was hiding, so he didn't waste time couching behind his rock as he walked out into the open, keeping his eye on the wolf at all times.

Not wanting to let the wolf get the better of him, Lumen launched hoisted his spear into an offensive stance and approached the wolf with speed.

His spear scratched and screeched against the wolf's skin when it made contact, as if it was metal scraping against metal. It was just like the fight with the level 13 deer, but this wolf's skin seemed to be even more dense than the skin of that deer.

Cold sweat drenched Lumen's back as he backed off, sprinting aside as he kept his spear in an attack ready position at all times.

But it wasn't like there was no hope for Lumen, as although his spear failed to penetrate through the wolf's incredibly dense skin, he had still left a reasonable dent in it's skin, clearly thinning that particular layer where he had struck.

This would be an intense battle of attrition, and both parties knew it.

The wolf stayed on the defensive for the time being due to its injuries, particularly the injury dealt to it's hind leg by the level 10 wolf earlier.

Lumen once again dove forward, sliding his spear through the air at the wolf, attempting to strike the same spot he had before.

However this wolf was more intelligent than any other beast he had come across before as it saw through his attempts almost immediately and moved itself aside slightly, having his spear strike it's chest area instead of it's shoulder.

'Dammit, how can this wolf still be so strong even after withstanding my Fire bolt and even that injury hindering it's movements? Could this be the real strength of Elite beasts?'

It was at this moment that Lumen was beginning to rethink whether he would really be able to take on this dungeon, his expectations of defeating the boss quenched when he couldn't even deal with a level 12 Elite.

'What kind of stupid system is this, capping the entry requirements off at a lone level 10 challenger? Clearly one needs a group of people at the same level as me to bring down something like this Elite, let alone the boss of this dungeon...'

Lumen's resentment wasn't towards the wolf in front of him but the system that had mislead him into challenging this dungeon.

'Forget it! Focus, Lumen.'

His offensive continued, with his spear being blocked every time but dealing superficial damage and wounds each time. Over time, these wounds began to stack and it was becoming difficult for the wolf to block or deflect all of his attacks, until eventually after a gruelling 10 minute long stalemate, Lumen managed to break through it's skin for the first time.

He had finally dealt numbers of damage in the thousands rather than hundreds. But this was still not enough to take out the wolf's near two hundred thousand health.

If his Basic Identify skill was a higher level, he would be able to see the wolf's total health. But for his confidence and willpower it was probably best that he couldn't see how insignificant his attack had been.

Lumen made sure to back away from the wolf with a flip, keeping his centre of gravity in control as he landed on his feet, his spear still focused on his target.

'I can still win this fight! My mana has finally gone back above 75% capacity since using [Fire bolt], I guess it's time I amp up the power of my attacks again.'

Lumen maintained his strength and focus on the wolf, relieved that it was still defensive and hadn't chosen to attack back yet.

But it was a matter of time before it decided to once it's injuries healed to a sufficient enough point.

[Mana reinforcement]

Lumen finally decided to power up his attacks with his spear, the familiar blue glow surrounding his spear as he pushed his body to it's limits with his legs straining from the pressure of the speed he was exerting.

The Elite wolf wasn't expecting him to suddenly increase his speed so much, and the ominous blue glow on his spear that wasn't there before wasn't a good omen either.

Suddenly, it decided to go onto the offensive for the first time, meeting Lumen's attack in mid air.

A small shockwave of blue and black mana reverberated throughout the cavern, sending both parties flying.