Unlimited Power - The Arcane Path

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Darkness Resistance.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Darkness Resistance has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Darkness Resistance has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Darkness Resistance has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

...

In mere seconds, Leon learned a new skill and also leveled up the same skill up to level thirty. Leon didn't know how, but he managed to block the attack. However, that had a price. Leon's arms were bent in the wrong direction, and both bracers had some scratches… Now Donan had the power to damage an extremely rare and powerful material… instead of thinking that, Leon used Heal to recover from his wounds, but then noticed he had almost zero mana. A single attack from Donan made him fall to the ground of the lower world and even consumed all his mana… despite that, how did Leon manage to block such an attack?

"Shit… that was dark magic… that was definitely teleportation. I didn't even see his body blurring…"

If it were teleportation, then it would explain how Leon managed to block the attack. If Donan had increased his speed, Leon wouldn't have the chance to react and block. Still, it was weird… if he now could teleport, why didn't he teleport to attack Leon again? Certainly, Donan knew that Leon was more resilient than that…

A few seconds later, Leon recovered enough of his mana to use Heal, and at the same time, he saw a shadow coming over from the city… It was Donan, but despite his speed, he was descending quite slowly.

"I see now… that kind of power-up came with a cost… Donan probably is suffering some serious drawbacks to maintaining that form. Not only that, since he obtained power far beyond his current body can handle, he probably can't fight like before, or for long."

As much as fun analyze his opponent's skills was, Leon didn't have time for this. Donan's attacks could make Leon spend all his mana just to keep himself alive, so he had no choice but to retreat a little and use Mana-Eater in one of his mithril spears in order to restore his mana.

That was very annoying considering that Leon started that fight, but it couldn't be helped. That was a strategic retreat. He wasn't running away… at least that was what he was telling himself, while Leon created a hole in the ground and hid in there… Then Leon had an idea. If that power upgrade, made Donan stronger but it was physically taxing, then, possibly…

Instead of covering the hole, Leon made the entrance much larger, in order to let Donan notice. While Leon was recovering his mana using Mana-Eater, he enlarged the hole and made it much more profound, to the point where even he couldn't see the end of it.

When Donan was close enough to see the hole Leon created, it already had the size of a baseball stadium. It was clear that Leon was there, but even Donan hesitated in entering the darkness of that place… even though he was covered in something similar.

"Clever little insect…" Donan murmured.

Still, Donan was tired of dealing with Leon. Not even the harvesters could endure the power of his attacks on that form, but unless he returns to the surface with Leon's corpse, he will lose the respect of many. And a leader who wasn't respected by all his subordinates was no leader… at least that was what Donan was thinking.

After descending for several seconds, Donan finally reached the bottom of the hole, and he couldn't see anything. He also couldn't sense anything either since that layer of mana covering his body had a single purpose, boost his power beyond the limits his current body can endure. Still, even if he couldn't see, Donan could react in time to counter-attack. It was clear that Leon wouldn't use magic to attack him directly, so that much was fine.

Just like Donan predicted, Leon attacked. Leon tried to punch Donan's left cheek two times, but only the first one landed and barely scratched Donan. Before Leon could attack again, Donan kicked his stomach but felt the hardness of mithril blocking his path.

Congratulations! The skill Mana Armor has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Mana Armor has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Mana Armor has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

A few moments later, the hole trembled when Leon's body hit against the walls of the hole. Leon imagined that Donan would attack again, but he didn't, probably because he knew Leon would transfer himself to another location.

"Ugh… He is saving his mana… it looks like every attack consumes a lot of his mana… Anyway, I guess I can't attack twice."

Donan's second attack didn't cause as much damage because he didn't see Leon, so he was more or less fine after that. Still, even though it was risky, Leon would have to deactivate Stone Skin. Recovering his mana with a single punch, he wouldn't be able to keep all those buffs active. Still, as long as Leon has Haste and Mana Dominion, he would be able to escape from Donan's attacks… even without seeing anything as well.

Leon was also tired of the fight, so he didn't waste time, transferred himself, punched Donan, and returned to his original point before he could get hit. Leon escaped the attack, but he felt the air vibrating just by the movement of Donan's right arm alone. The tension was exhausting, but even though Leon wanted to sigh to calm down his nerves, he couldn't. However, when Leon noticed a weird smell on his right hand, he understood that battle wouldn't last long…