The Second Floor (4)

'I can't just carelessly close the distance between the two of us. Just getting in contact with its flames burns me.'

Although Nox's fire resistance was high, the flame armour of the mutated giant Arkouda had burned for decades, making it hotter with time. If Nox wished to inflict an attack on the beast, then he needed to get into attacking proximity for just an instant.

Any more than an instant would burn Nox beyond anything that could be fixed by normal healing.

"Magician!" shouted Nox.

The shadow magician at the back of the room understood what he meant and began chanting a spell.

[Your agility has increased by 40% for one minute!]

'Anatomical Liberation!'

'Dash!'

[Anatomical Liberation has been activated!]

[Dash has been activated!]

'Good. With this, my agility should be increased by almost two hundred percent.'

His speed had exponentially increased to the point that he could easily outrun the fastest race cars on earth.

Nox sprinted towards the beast, not holding his speed back.

Unable to keep up with Nox's extreme speed, the monster wasn't able to react as Nox instantaneously appeared in front of it. Using his legs as springs, Nox launched his body into the air.

Gripping the axe tightly with both his hands, he swung it at the monster's back. As if hitting a soft sponge, the axe's momentum was mostly reduced on contacting the monster's flame armour. Still, it was able to leave a shallow cut on the beast's back.

Nox jumped back, not spending a second more near the flame armour.

'Even with my inhuman momentum and strength, a shallow slash was all that I was able to inflict. Just what am I missing?'

Within the span of a few seconds, Nox had found his answer.

He accumulated all the arcane in his body and directed it towards the axe. It wasn't as easy as imbuing arcane into a small dagger, but he still managed to do it. Although arcane needlessly flowed out of the axe, it had become a better weapon due to Nox's low proficiency.

'I still have a few stat points left!'

[Strength: 38—>50]

[Arcane: 26—>35]

After allotting the stat points into his strength and arcane, Nox sprinted again towards the monster.

The huge bear, too, charged at Nox. But, before the monster could realize it, Nox had already appeared behind it.

'I don't know if this'll work but, its the only choice I have!'

Launching himself toward the bear's neck, Nox raised his axe up into the air, preparing to attack. But, he had to do something before he attacked.

The mutated arkouda's flame armour wasn't something that Nox could break through strength alone. Even if Nox poured all his arcane and strength into a single attack, it was unlikely he could defeat the mutated creature while it still had its flame armour.

However, if its flame armour were to disperse, even for the tenth of a second, things would be different.

Nox concentrated on the flame covering wrapped around the bear's neck region. He tried to feel the flame, be one with it, as he had done back in the inn.

"There it is!" whispered Nox. He could feel the flames of the armour, just like he could feel the fire of the candle and the fireplace back in the inn.

'Disperse!' he ordered, concentrating his utmost on the flames.

Reluctantly, the flame armour dispersed from a thin region on the back of the neck for not even a second.

But Nox had obtained the time that he needed to swing his axe.

Using all the strength he had left, he slashed the axe downwards at the armour-less nape of the mutated arkouda.

.

.

.

"I guess it's time to reap the rewards," said Nox, sitting on a boulder.

When Nox finished his fight, he was too exhausted to even walk. Although the bears tried to attack Nox, the shadow soldiers were enough to take care of them.

'Come out,' he ordered.

From his shadow emerged his shadow slaves, who knelt down and bowed their heads in front of him.

[The levels of the shadow slaves have increased!]

[The shadow magician has reached the max limit for its rank!]

**********

Type: Magician

Rank: Normal Soldier

Level: 10

**********

[The shadow assassin has reached the max limit for its rank!]

**********

Type: Infantry

Rank: Normal Soldier

Level: 10

**********

[The shadow knight has reached the max limit for its rank!]

**********

Type: Infantry

Rank: Normal Soldier

Level: 10

**********

"You guys leveled up quite a bit from the rat dungeon and this fight. Nice work!" Nox congratulated his shadow slaves.

[The shadow knight requests permission to ascend to the next rank]

[The shadow magician requests permission to ascend to the next rank]

[The shadow assassin requests permission to ascend to the next rank]

[Do you accept their request?]

"Yes, of course," replied Nox.

'What kind of person wouldn't want his own thralls to become more powerful.'

[Three shadow slaves have risen to the rank of 'Elite Soldier'!]

[These shadow slaves shall obtain new abilities!]

An extremely powerful wave of arcane blasted from the bodies of the shadow slaves who had ascended to the next rank. The energy they gave off couldn't be compared to before.

But the most interesting thing was that the shadow slaves acquired new abilities.

"Show me your new skills," commanded Nox, leaning forward.

The three elite soldiers bowed and began displaying their skills one after another.

The shadow assassin's speed had significantly increased. It had also gained the ability to create a single clone of itself. Although the clone was only an illusion, it would prove an excellent battle skill.

The shadow knight's defence had significantly increased. It had gained the skill of 'taunting cry', which would attract the monsters in its vicinity. It was a great skill considering its high defence.

Lastly, the shadow magician had now obtained attack magic. Even though it could only perform basic attack magic and elemental magic now, it would undoubtedly prove to be one of the strongest beings among Nox's shadow slaves.

"Nice work," Nox said, getting up from the boulder and dusting his clothes. Bowing down, the shadow slaves went back into Nox's shadow.

'The number of summonable creatures increased this time as well.'

[Shadow Slaves: 5/7]

Nox walked towards the mutated giant arkouda. Even though he had doubts about whether he could summon its shadow, there was no harm in trying to do so.

"Arise," ordered Nox, placing a hand on the mutated arkouda's body, which didn't have a head.

[Summon has been cancelled!]

Well, it was nothing surprising. Nox had already expected this. After all, he had only tried to summon the monster to test his luck.

[Tries left: 2]

'Might as well use the other tries as well,' he thought, placing his hand on the beast's corpse again.

"Arise, and follow me," he commanded.

[Summon has been cancelled!]

[Tries left: 1]

"Just arise already," Nox said, in an irritated tone, removing his hand from the beast's corpse. He turned his back to it and started walking towards the other bears to summon them. It was better to get something rather than nothing.

Suddenly, Nox felt intense energy behind him.

[The summon has succeeded!]