Congratulations! The skill Martial Art has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Iron Fists has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Strong Arms has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Stone skin has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

In the middle of the battle, Leon received those notifications. However, he didn't have time to think about them. In the end, insulting Donan had been a wrong move. Just like Leon, he could grow stronger the angrier he becomes… it was idiotic, and that skill was probably around the level two hundred, so, Donan had the potential to become three times stronger, faster, and resilient.

"The power of a shonen protagonist… what a fearsome thing."

Putting the jokes aside, Leon was in a bad spot. Even while using all his buffs, every single hit he received from Donan made his bones crack. Regeneration was solving that problem, but it was unpleasant nonetheless.

Congratulations! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Pain Resistance has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Now, Donan's attacks were powerful enough to cause massive shockwaves that could make the air around vibrate. Those attacks made the buildings nearby tremble and break every single thing that was frail nearby. Weirdly enough, the moment Leon suffered from Donan's attacks, it was also the moment he could feel some relief from Darya's Gravity and Telekinesis. To make matters worse, Donan and Darya should have run out of mana a long time ago, but they didn't. Leon didn't know the secret behind that, but he was aware that Donan's mana never was below the two thousand points. He was draining his mana, but Donan wasn't losing.

"I guess the shadowy figure also gave Donan the power to drain mana from the surroundings or perhaps from the barrier…"

Regardless, Leon didn't have time to think about those things, because Donan liked the battle even more. Now, Leon barely had the chance to punch, and he was only hitting to drain Donan's mana and keep his buffs active.

"What's wrong?" Donan smiled. "Getting tired?"

Donan faked a punch and tried to grab Leon by his neck, but Leon reacted on time, to Transfer himself to Donan's side and punch his ribcage instead of his face. Perhaps make him lose some air would make things easier for Leon, but it didn't.

Donan (Shadow)

Health: 7121/8000

Mana: 3214/8000

Stamina: 6521/8000

Active Skills: ????, ????, ????, ????

Passive Skills: ????, ????, ????, ????

"I didn't want to use this, but… it can't be helped."

Donan (Shadow)

Health: 5121/6000

Mana: 3214/6000

Stamina: 4521/6000

Active Skills: ????, ????, ????, ????

Passive Skills: ????, ????, ????, ????

"I guess it is hard to keep yourself angry when you just noticed that you almost died…"

That was a useful piece of information, but Leon would have to be more careful using such tricks. Otherwise, he would end up causing some casualties… Darya couldn't remember who Leon was, but since that would be the first time he would see her, Leon decided that he wouldn't show any deaths to her.

Doing nothing actually made Leon lose a lot of mana, so he transferred himself to Donan's left side and attacked using his one-two. Both attacks landed, and this time Leon didn't end there before Donan could recover from the shock, Leon transferred himself to Donan's right side and attacked again. Leon tried to do that for the third time, but he stopped when he heard a high pitching sound approaching. Flying away wasn't an option, so Leon used Transfer and moved to a safe position, and then he saw an Earth Arrow, but that one was spinning at a fearsome speed.

"I didn't teach her that… but I can certainly learn from that…"

That probably was one of the means of attack the soldiers who could use Geomancy developed, or perhaps some researchers did. It didn't matter either way. What it did matter was the fact that Leon discovered a new way to increase his powers… even though he already used spinning to increase the piercing power of his spears, but didn't apply to spells.

Regardless, Leon's Magma Spear made Donan warier of him. Leon wanted to challenge him to a fistfight, which was something that Donan was specialized, but he wouldn't sacrifice everything just for that.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance…" Donan glared at Leon.

"Yes, but you failed in killing me, even after directly attacking me two times when I was much weaker," Leon said. "But you failed, and I fooled you."

Donan's status increased again, and Leon clicked his tongue, fighting against a sentient opponent while keeping his mouth shut was difficult. The fact that Leon hated Donan for treating Darya like a tool wasn't helping either.

Regardless, thanks to Darya's sudden attack, Leon confirmed that the mana of the barrier was probably restoring her and Donan's supply of mana. She was holding back because she knew that… even if Darya has forgotten about the things she learned about, certain things can be memorized not only by the brain but also by the heart… in the deepest parts of her heart, Darya didn't want to use the mana of her people like that, because she knew that was wrong.