The Skystrider Beast uses a shockwave roar again, but this time I burrow the feet of the armor into the ground, and the attack mostly disperse on the mana surrounding me.

Like a strong wind, the shockwave tears off chunks of my mana, but I ignore it all. As I take a step toward the monster, I continue to radiate more of it, repairing the damage done.

The sword in my mana hands resonates and clashes against the monster's skin. Unlike the ranged attacks, the sword is surrounded with [Resonance], so it doesn't disperse, and I finally draw more blood, making the monster roar. A swing of its fists sends me flying, the armor crumpling. The Skystrider Beast is still three times as tall as me, vicious and quick, and while I'm restoring the damage, it uses a shockwave and pushes me even further.

And then another one.

One more after that.

Each attack is stronger than the previous, craters forming around me, pieces of stone as big as cars flying to the sides. The air itself vibrates and roars under the force of the monster's skill.

Bigger and bigger chunks of my armor get pulled away from me like a building getting torn apart by strong winds.

So, I reach into my reservoir, and within my domain, mana moves quickly, filling the gaps, the armor becoming denser, and the sword even longer.

I take another step and the ground under me cracks. The mana has weight to it, either by itself or because of the combination of my skills.

As I run towards the monster, each of my steps breaks the surface under my feet, and with each passing second of the fight, my control over the armor improves.

I dodge the shockwave. I duck under the swing of the monster's fist. While doing so, I lose balance and use my hand to push myself back up, taking a hit from another fist but swinging my sword and dealing more damage.

[Mana Domain] expands, and mana from the Reservoir flows into the air, filling it with a pale blue shimmer. In the air, I form projectiles that fly toward the beast's eyes, trying to blind it. A hand forms there as well, expanding and growing until it's as big as the monster's, but when it hits, it disperses, unable to endure the monster's disruptive field on its skin.

Unlike my armor around my body, my ranged attacks do not have [Resonance] fighting against its barrier.

I stop releasing mana and just focus it more on the armor. I use [Redistribution] and [Mana Infusion] to make it stronger and slimmer, and then I charge the beast again.

My movement is awkward, yet so much better than before. It's getting easier to keep balance, and I slash with the sword again, tearing the barrier on the monster's skin and burrowing the sword deep into its side.

The beast's fist hits the head of my armor, destroying it, but my body is lower, in the middle of the chest.

I duck under another swing and then again when the monster uses a shockwave to boost its body toward me.

A giant fist hits the ground, creating a crater, and it roars again. This time the shockwave hits me but slides on the armor that I move. The armor is more durable than before.

When the beast attacks again, I'm ready, already knowing what attack it will use.

I dodge to the side and swing the sword towards the fist, the blade humming audibly and for a moment shining brighter than before. It cuts through the monster's skin, flesh, and bone. Easily as if there is no resistance. The cut-off hand falls to the ground, it being as big as a car.

More mana radiates from me as I move again while the monster holds the stump.

Both the monster and I move quickly, but slower than I would be if I was smaller. The mass and weight of [Armament] not allowing me to move faster.

When I step close and am about to attack, the beast waves its hand at me. The moment blood makes contact with the mana surrounding me, it immediately disrupts it and consumes it like poison. It causes a burning sensation, and large sections of the armor begin to disappear. I disregard this, even as the blood reaches my real body.

Another swing destroys more of the armor, the disruptive circuits on the remaining beast´s arm still working. The monster then holds me and roars up close, and I feel my ears pop, blood leaking from them. My body vibrates, about to break apart.

I let go of the sword, and it dissipates even before it falls to the ground, I grab and hold the monster while changing my hands a bit to have sharper fingers that I burrow into its skin.

The beast doesn't mind and lowers its taller body, a mouth full of teeth biting and tearing off more and more of the blue mana armor.

I use Mana Regulator, and most of my mana rushes into my kinetic mana heart, generating an immense amount of kinetic energy.

The armor around me becomes even thinner as the beast roars again, a shockwave hitting me even more, and I feel blood in my mouth.

But I wait and watch it all happen while mana from the reservoir flows into my body and threatens to tear it apart, even with my Arcane resilience active.

When the monster finally bites off a bigger chunk of the chest of the [Armament], I restore my eyes and look into its red eyes, and then switch kinetic energy to thermal that fills the remaining half of the armor with all that energy.

The Skystrider Beast roars as the pieces of my armor get filled with immense heat in the same way I fill my mana orbs with thermal energy. Golden flames burn the black skin of the monster, and I squeeze and hold it stronger, even moving myself closer while the beast tries to push me away.

I fuel the flames, my heart beating and every throb sending even more thermal energy into what remains of the armor while I cling to the monster, burning it alive.

The best roars, a shockwave hitting my golden flames, making it look as if a strong wind tries to blow them off, yet they endure. The beast tries to use its blood again, but it sizzles and burns, turning into smoke. It roars, it cries, hands that move and try to push me away, try to squeeze me, yet I hold on, my body wounded but healing under the influence of the flames that activate Pyrokinetic resurgence.

It takes a few minutes, but the monster's movements slow down, a bone showing through the burned flesh and the attempts to push me away weaker.

I strengthen my armor with more mana and push the hand that tries to grab me away. I climb higher onto its body, and then towards the head. The beast bites at me, and I let it, losing a left arm of the armor that burns inside the mouth of the beast.

After climbing higher, I swing the remaining arm and burrow it as deep into one of the monster's eyes as, and then hold it as the beast thrashes against the ground in its last attempts to get me off. It continues to try to pull me off, only causing me to burrow my mana arm deeper. In an attempt to get me off, it also scratches its head terribly, not feeling the wounds because of all this pain and its burning body.

When the attempts weaken again, I redirect all the thermal energy and send it toward the arm that I hold stabbed into its eye socket. The parts of the armor stop glowing as all of the flames rush toward the wound, and the monster twitches a few more times, its blood sizzling and evaporating.

A weak groan escapes its burned mouth, and after twisting its body the last time, it finally dies.

[You have defeated Skystrider Beast - lvl 248]

[Lvl 177 > Lvl 181]

[Armament - lvl 39 > Armament - lvl 40]

[Mana Infusion - lvl 36 > Mana Infusion - lvl 37]

The monster falls to the ground, and I fall on it. As I do so, the armor around me dissipates, and I roll off its corpse, unable to stop it from happening. The air escapes my chest as I hit the ground.

I groan with pain, feeling a terrifying cold hitting my body, threatening to freeze it, and only then do I realize that I stopped generating thermal energy. With extreme difficulty, I calm my mind, and even through my complaining body, I start moving my mana again, transferring it to my heart and generating some heat that also slowly heals me, showing a limitation of the rare graded skill.

My body is pummeled from the inside, burned by the monster's blood, and even by some of my flames that I was unable to control fully.

I pull out the Ethercrystal sword and stab it deep into the monster's dead body. The blade immediately starts sucking the remaining mana from it and strengthening me. With relief, I sigh and lean against the monster.

A few scary minutes pass like that. My consciousness is kept only thanks to strengthening through the sword and flames that feed my passive. I watch as my hand shakes, and observing my body, I find out that I nearly depleted my body's mana. The Mana Reservoir also took a bit hit, with less than a third of its capacity remaining.

But as always, good things do not last.

The monsters start moving towards me from all sides, not scared anymore by the Skystrider Beast. There are dozens of them.

With a sigh, I pull the sword from the corpse and dodge to the side as a leech breaks the ground. I send a sharp pulse of mana through my body, strengthening it shortly at the top of the sword, and slash.

[You have defeated Mana Leech - lvl 170]

I move away from the corpse and my body staggers a bit as I feel weak in the legs. That makes an attack hit me, and I absorb only a bit of kinetic energy before I'm sent rolling on the ground.

Sensing another mana signature underground, I use the collected kinetic energy and send my body to the side, rolling even further before I stop.

When I get on my feet, I can barely stand, my body shaking and screaming in pain, and each use of mana sends sharp pain through my head.

Dozens of monsters start hungrily eating the giant corpse, disgusting noises sounding as they tear the skin and flesh from the body. Their devouring movements twitch the body, making it seem as if it's moving.

For a moment, I feel a hint of a weird emotion.

What a scary opponent the beast was, how far it pushed me. Yet now its lifeless body lies here, devoured by monsters that wouldn't even dare to come close to it while it was alive. And now they eat it, not even giving it enough time to cool down.

I feel the strengthening I'm getting from the sword weaken as the mana it was able to absorb starts to deplete and looking around, I detect a few dozen monsters moving toward me from all sides.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

[Focus]

More.

[Focus]

MORE!

[Focus]

My body stops shaking, all the emotions gone other than one. Sheer arrogance I show against all the odds.

How dare they try to attack me like hyenas, thinking I'm easy prey.

The pain is still here but pushed to the back of my mind, and I squeeze the sword I'm holding. My mana starts filling my body once again, as always, giving me all these powers and skills I got so used to.

My heart beats, and this time it's I who attacks first.