"Tsk... so incredibly annoying."
Leon wouldn't let someone so simple-minded cause problems for him. Before Crik could attack him again, Leon created a massive fist made of earth, and again, when Crik hit his Mana Barrier, Leon hit him as well. Unfortunately, Crik's momentum alone had been enough to ignore the attack and destroy the massive projectile. However, Leon didn't stop there.
To make sure that Crik would think that Leon was trying several things instead of a single one, Leon attacked him with massive hammers, axes, and spears made of earth. Little by little, one of his oldest tricks of the book was taking shape while Leon also was obtaining status points.
Congratulations! The skill Hammer Mastery has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Ax Mastery has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Spearmanship has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
...
Leon imagined that having a body like that made Crik lose at least his sense of touch to some extent, and it turned out that he was right. His body was getting from light blue to brown thanks to small particles of earth, but he didn't notice. Once Leon confirmed that every single particle was connected, creating a single layer of earth, Leon made his move.
Instead of stopping Crik in the middle of a charge, Leon decided to use his Earth Manipulation and Geomancy to stop him just before he could land a blow. While Leon was spinning around like usual after being attacked, he felt that Crik's body was under his control to some extent. He used that chance to create as much earth as he possibly could and enveloped all his body, turning into a massive sphere of earth.
Congratulations! The skill Earth Creation has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Earth Creation has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
Congratulations! The skill Earth Creation has leveled up.
You obtained 01 status points.
...
Crik had used all the muscles of his body to free himself. Unfortunately, he couldn't move as much as he wanted after such effort, even though his health, mana, and stamina were still full. He moved his arms to block the magic projectile, but that hadn't been a good idea. Smoke started to be emitted by his body, and that was the sign that the plasma was consuming something... unfortunately, soon the smoke disappeared. Crik's mithril body was much more durable than Leon had imagined.
"Shit... it looks like even I drown the bastard into a pool of plasma, he can endure it for a few minutes. The heck is wrong with his body?"
"It looks like most of his body is made of mithril," Celsius said.
"Isn't that obvious?"
"I am saying that his body is actually made of mithril, it isn't just a layer of protection that the others used," Celsius added. "Since most of his skin and several organs are made of mithril, his new body can emulate his endurance added with the sturdiness of the mithril."
It was a bit complicated, but Leon understood Celsius' words eventually. It meant that mithril isn't just an armor. Crik's body was an armor. By turning his body like that, Crik became something like four times sturdier, unlike the ordinary soldiers that became only two times.
"That is very convenient."
"Don't be jealous," Undine said. "He obtained a great deal of power after sacrificing his body, but he also sacrificed is growth. Although mithril is sturdy, he can't make even sturdier just by applying more mana. So, even if he increases his endurance, his body won't become more resilient."
"That explains why his health and mana are stranger more impressive than his other status."
Before Leon could continue that conversation, Crik recovered from the small damage he received and smirked and then charged toward Leon. It has been a long time since he fought a formidable opponent like that, but it was annoying because that opponent enjoyed fights a little too much.
"It is time to change my plans a little bit..."
Leon had a lot of mithril to use and recover his mana, but it looked like that battle would last for quite a while, even considering that. So, he decided to use the few weapons he created using his prisoners' mana. Leon deactivated Mana Barrier for a second, and then he attacked Crik with several swords and spears.