Darius Supreme

Darius waved his spear about a few times and focused on the monsters around him once more. He noted that, just like when dealing with the Master bugs in the underground of Pokterr, his high Speed special ability, Super Instinct, had automatically activated.

As such, he had naturally avoided all of their attacks while focusing on something else, his body moving somewhat optimally as it meandered through the sharp vines and bullet seeds.

Darius twirled his lance and suddenly blurred like he was undergoing bad static on a television. With a whoosh, he finally disappeared from his spot, much to the dismay of the various Wood element monsters.

When he re-appeared he was beside one of them, and with a smooth movement that could not be blocked, he pierced its body.

Darius drew out his lance and disappeared once more, reappearing beside another target. He smoothly stabbed this one too, its movements halted as if time had stopped because Darius was currently moving at maximum speed.

He continued like this, slowly and methodically killing every target that he faced with ease before stopping in the center of them.

Time seemed to finally resume as each Wood monster screeched with agony and thrashed on the ground, their essence being drawn out of their bodies towards the lance slowly.

Previously, when Darius had stabbed them, he had been moving so fast that the lance did not get enough time to suck them dry. That was part of his plan, though, as there were fewer monsters on this floor compared to those above.

He stood and waited, and it didn't take long for the 10 level 61 monsters to turn into desiccated husks. Darius communicated with his ever-growing lance and found that the essence of Dungeon monsters was far weaker than 'natural' beings.

I.e, the lance had benefitted far more from draining Master bugs than it did for doing the same to these Master stage Dungeon monsters, and it didn't have to do with level, but rather how they were made and how they grew.

As such, Darius had merely accumulated a total of around 1.2% exp towards the next level, yet each one of those monsters had given him a varied amount, instead of being flat.

Darius paused as he tilted his head with a frown. He felt like he had grasped something, but it was also kinda elusive. Like when you walk down to the fridge and open it, only to stand there in confusion and wondering what you wanted to grab in the first place.

It had to do with the movements he made just now. There was a flash of understanding in his mind as he felt his moves could be condensed further and turned into something more than just some random attacks.

'Is this the onset of creating a skill? Or a technique?' Darius asked himself with a soft smile.

He had often heard of epiphanies relating to combat, where a combat genius would develop skills from basic movements in order to create something unique for themselves.

Darius naturally felt himself to be more of a magical talent, but if he could easily create a spell, it went without saying that he should be able to create skills as well.

There simply had never been a need to put in the effort all this while.

At this time, 20 level 62 Wood element monsters were released, and they rushed at Darius. This made the fellow nod with satisfaction.

"To create this skill, I'll need to repeat what I did a few times until I grasp whatever it is that's tickling my mind. Having you lot here will make things smoother for me."

He once again channeled his speed to the limit and disappeared from where he stood, appearing beside each monster then stabbing out so fast that it looked like he stabbed each one of the 20 at the same time, not milliseconds from each other.

They might be Master stage Dungeon monsters, but Wood element beasts were not exactly known for speed. As such, Darius easily dominated them in this regard.

30 level 63 monsters, 40 level 64 and finally, 50 level 65 monsters were all cleared out the same way, each time, Darius felt like whatever he had 'forgotten' was coming back to him piece by piece.

His lance had also made progress, having accumulated a total of 60% experience towards the next level. It wasn't something that was written by the system, but something he estimated based on the feedback from the budding Spear Soul in the lance.

The more it grew, the more the consciousness residing within it grew as well. That was one of the reasons why Darius took this time to come and upgrade it anyway.

He had no idea what kind of effect the lance would display once the Spear Soul within was fully awoken. Darius was engaged by a miniboss which was a wolf that had tentacles growing out of its back.

Those tentacles were actually vines, and they lashed about like they were alive. Give it a pair of dark shades then ask it to read out the line: 'The power of the sun… in the palm of my hand' and it would look no different from a certain doctor.

Darius engaged the monster at normal speed, the two of them clashing greatly. He was surprised to note that this wolf was able to largely handle him as it had great intelligence on top of its fighting skill.

Its vines would intercept his lance and wrap around it, never trying to meet it head-on, but rather redirecting it elsewhere. It was as if the miniboss knew that getting pierced by that thing equated to death.

Darius smiled and suddenly spun his lance once it was wrapped by vines once more. This shocked the wolf, as it rolled it up as a consequence. Like hair that was turned by a rolling pin, its vines now involuntarily wrapped around the lance, tying it up like a present.

Darius brought it close to his face and grinned at the miniboss, chilling it heart greatly.

"You might be flesh and blood mostly, but let's see if you burn just as well as the others."

He then channeled the raw element of Fire through his staff, which lit it up in flames.. The miniboss connected to it howled with agony as it burned, the sizzling sound and burnt smell of flesh assailing Darius' senses.