Hard Mode Rematch

While the rest of the team were using the normal mode dungeon to bring their cores to the Experienced rank, Ezekiel was farming the mana of the hard mode dungeon.

He hadn't figured out if it was possible to leave early with your rewards but he didnt have to try since he would simply allow himself to be taken out by Diana.

He would only stop if his affinity stagnated again or if it reached the maximum.

Over the runs he noticed that his affinity and core were very unbalanced which annoyed him but he would have to continue anyway.

Upon reaching 90% affinity his power stagnated again but he did notice that his core was gaining power much faster now that he had his main affinity that high.

He wondered if affinity and core affinity were like a trickle down effect but it didn't matter much as he couldn't let himself lose track.

He pushed himself further and further just to reach the peak of his current abilities.

After finally reaching 90% in each of his affinities he felt a sense of satisfaction that he could have never expected.

Not only was his magic 180% stronger but his natural healing and stamina recovery seemed increased by his life affinity.

He noticed that the others had also begun to enter the normal mode solo like he used to and he assumed it was when they realized that sharing that much mana between three people was slow.

He let Shade know that they could meet him at the place they originally brought him to and he left as he felt it was finally time to train a skill he didn't think about for a long time.

~

With his natural regeneration increased by his new affinity he wished to try to use his own magic to increase his resistance skill as well as possibly gain shadow magic resistance.

The only reason he had hesitated was because he knew that his spell damage was so high that he might unintentionally kill himself in the process.

The unlikely savior was his practice with using life affinity on spells.

He had learned that using life mana in that strange aura that Diana would use actually gave him regeneration unlike her resistance to spell damage.

His mana would allow him to regenerate almost as fast as he took damage from his elemental effects he suspected.

So he began his process.

He would create orbs of fire and shadow separate from one another to inflict the elemental effects on himself.

The pain was excruciating and his healing aura was barely keeping him alive due to the significant damage output compared to his health.

He knew he had to endure it though as he would need shadow magic resistance to properly fight Diana.

~

Hours later he had gotten quite the achievement.

Not only had his fire resistance increased to the Experienced rank but he had achieved shadow resistance which also got to the Apprentice rank.

His body was in so much pain that he eventually just lay there to recover while waiting for the others.

The night had long since fallen and he was curious if the others would show up.

By the time he heard anyone it was so dark that it was practically impossible to see.

He created a ball of fire to light the area and saw the member of the team he least expected to show up, Hope.

"Oh hello, i was about to go find an inn since it had gotten so dark. Did your training go well Hope?"

She looked drained but had a giant smile.

"Yes! I got my core to the Apprentice rank and i want to see if i can get to the Experienced rank before the others catch up."

She was giggling and practically dancing around before she turned back.

"If you need an inn though i can show you to one, its where I decided to stay since they are not weird towards beastfolk."

"People are weird about the beastfolk?"

She nodded and sat down beside him.

"Apparently certain races don't like other certain races."

He just listened and waited for her to elaborate.

"It's mostly the humans and the dwarves that treat beastfolk poorly I've noticed, the humans treat us like we are dirty but the dwarves treat us like... i don't know. A dwarf once called me a vulgar beast when i walked in to their shop."

"Maybe the stereotype about bunny girls in skimpy outfits also exists here?"

When she heard this she just laughed.

"Well I would be lying if i said that my two final choices on races were between the infernal and beastfolk race. In the real world i don't have the guts to do things people would consider inappropriate so i suppose calling me a vulgar beast wasn't wrong."

He just shrugged before patting her on the shoulder when he sat up.

"Well the infernal girls are nice to look at, War God certainly proves that."

"Why would he prove that?"

She looked confused begore gasping.

"He's a woman?!"