Chapter 273 - Battle with the beast (Part 1)

In my situation, anyone else would probably either panic or just burned through his entire strength in a single attack, hoping to change his fate by going all in.

But that wouldn't yield any results.

This beast was simply too strong for me to overcome even the sheer resilience of its body with random attacks, not to speak about any other defences that it was bound to possess with such level of strength.

Only by keeping my calm, playing it tactically and perfectly managing my mana and spells would I stand any chance of winning this battle!

But before I would even start preparing my spells so that at least at the beginning I would have an edge, I raised my eyes to look right in the beast's snout.

"Would you mind giving me one more moment?"

My main problem right now lay in my lack of means to support Eve, for as long as I was confined to the space of the arena.

When it came to the shield that protected its boundaries, I was sure that by recreating sun flare that broke through its weaker cousin in the practice rooms, I would be able to break through this one as well, but I guess this beast would allow me to do so.

"Sure thing, take your time."

After everything that I went through with Pengu, I might be a little resistant to the terror caused by the overwhelming strength of the bestial opponent. I'm sure that if my enemy were to be human at this level of strength, I would already be fighting with my life on the line!

I knew that if it were to assault me with all its might at once, no matter what I would do, my chances would be slim. With that said, I could only hope that it would keep its word.

Turning around, I approached the barrier in a place where Eve was the closest to. Somehow, despite the enemy already trying their best to the point where their bodies were oozing sweat and their veins bulging under their skin, but Eve was still able to somehow hold her ground.

But that didn't mean that this didn't come at a price.

Inspecting my cultivation state, I realised that our energy pool was already on the verge of exhausting itself!

Cursing my own stupidity, I didn't hesitate to redirect a generous dose of power from my mana pool. As I already switched my gears to magician path, I stopped using my cultivation altogether, leaving Eve with more than double energy than someone on her level would usually have thanks to our dual spirituality.

Watching the scene, I saw the complexity of my beloved of improving, as if she just drank a tonic of life. Wrinkles on her face disappeared, replaced by a relaxed skin and calmness in the eyes. She even managed to send me a look filled with gratitude!

That's right!

I'm not going to fight because of how much hate them. My years as a victim of bullying taught me that all those mighty sounding phrases that hatred gives you strength… were utter bullshit. They can induce the production of adrenaline in your body, but if you are not a purely physical fighter, then it can only do more harm for you.

And there was no way I would be able to deal with this beast with the strength of my muscles - even if enhanced by the system - alone.

That's why instead of focusing on the overflooding pool of hate towards everyone in this world, I placed all my attention to this small, light and warm feeling of love towards Eve.

In an instant, my thoughts that turned cloudy despite predator's mindset being active at all times finally cleared completely up.

I didn't hesitate anymore, nor did I worry about the path that I had to choose.

I had to defeat that kind beast in order to help my significant other? Then there is no point mulling over small details!

"You ready?"

With the feeling of love warming my entire soul and lifting my mood, I was actually smiling while asking for what others would take to be a swift death!

"You really are a strange one… Come at me, I will let you have first move!"

Oh boy, what a kind and lovely puppy! I wonder how it feels to pet it? But albeit I would love to try it, I think I fancy something roasted to eat right now.

Swapping the weapons between my hands, I made sure that my mage's stick took its rightful position at my leading hand. Before I even managed to catch the sword with my left one, I already started casting three weak fireballs and two weak shockwaves in two rows.

Before even a single spark or fluctuation of the energy could appear because of my cast, I already placed several layers of firewalls and burials between me and the beast.

No, I never expected for it to deal any sort of damage. There was no way that such simple and weak spells would pose a threat to it. They were there only for the sake of giving me more time and covering my moves!

With the casting time of one second, one might think that I required entire five seconds to complete all the casting, but in truth, with the small use of my auxiliary system tools like continuous or repetitive casting, I learned how to effectively multicast.

Even if I was still limited to about two thousand mana output per one release of the spell, it was already nearing the level of sunflare mana cost!

CRACKABOM!

Even if I could add momentum to the fireballs for the sake of aiming them at distant targets,  it was nothing compared with making them ride on top of the shockwave!

If one were to ask, why did I put three fireballs to the front instead of three shockwaves to the back, I would need to applaud his observation skills, while ironically raising my eyebrow when it came to his tactical skill.

Reverting the arrangement of the spells would make the fire both more concentrated and more likely to hit with all its might directly into the beast… But only in the case where it wouldn't move at all!

Sacrificing concentration of the potential damage for the sake of covering greater distance was a trade I would love to take, unless against the stationary enemy. And it wasn't like the shockwaves didn't deal any damage!

Blink.

Instantly casting two barriers and shockwaves to my right, I raised my legs above the ground and allowed the force brought by my instant spell to carry me away.

This action was me purely following my instincts, or rather, giving up control to the predator's mindset.

"How and what did you do?!"

Bonger, unlock my vector ability!

"Blop!"

"Unlocking pre-created vector spell!"

"Deducting 10 spell points!

As the silhouette of the beast started emerging from the smoke that appeared when my previous fireballs crashed against either the ground or my opponent.

From the looks of it, while he got burned a bit, it was nothing serious to talk about. Just like a small kid accidentally touching the car lighter by accident!

I guess that's what I should expect from spreading out my damage!

"Do you really think I would tell you my secrets?"

Using those words to catch the beast attention, I cast a stationary fireball. As soon as it formed, I invoked the vector and placed it right in the middle of the ball of a raging fire.

What happened next, closely reminded the tunnelling that happened in sci-fi movies, when ships entered the warp speed.

At first, a small tongue of fire extended over from its general mass in the direction of the beast. Before either of us could react to it, the entire fireball was sucked inside the vector and furiously pushed forward!

BANG!

As if hit with a damn railgun, the best was sent flying despite how massive it was.

I guess this so-called control mage path has its own uses!

The vector spell was useless by itself.

It consisted of a single mark of force placed at the very front of the grid, with the rest filled with the forward momentum. In reality, it could only push something at the very front, but with insane strength!

But when one knows some basic laws of physic, it could be used to funnel the strength of a big spell into a small corridor!

It didn't matter if the weak fireball was in general too… weak to cause any real damage to this beast. As long as I would be able to focus all its power in an infinitely small point, there was nothing that could stand against it!