"I'll give it a try."
Atticus had considered various scenarios before stepping into the sea of acid. From the outset, it was clear that for beasts to survive in such an environment, their bodies must have adapted to it. He expected them to be incredibly durable.
With his elemental powers, Atticus wouldn't have worried about such beasts. But now, the only weapon at his disposal was his storm-like mana, which could shred enemies and track them relentlessly. It had been enough for the first and second trials, but the third? The katana wouldn't make it so simple.
So, he devised a solution.
He based his idea on the concept of domain fusion. Back during the battle with the branch heads of the Obsidian Order, Atticus had compressed his domain onto himself to concentrate its power. Domains spread energy too thinly, wasting vast amounts to cover a large space, just like his mana storm now.
The solution was obvious: compress the storm.
Before the thought even finished, his body reacted.
He moved like a phantom, weaving through the air as the harpoon-like beasts shot toward him from all sides.
The sharp whoosh of their piercing charges cut through the air, each miss coming dangerously close. His feet flickered across the stones, never stopping, never hesitating.
His mana churned.
A massive ring of swirling energy materialized in front of him, glowing fiercely. It blazed like a halo, a weapon forged from pure power.
His cold gaze flickered, calculating.
The ring compressed.
It shrank rapidly, growing smaller and denser, brimming with concentrated energy. Atticus blurred again, evading another beast's deadly charge.
As he turned, another appeared, hurtling toward him at supersonic speed.
But this time, he didn't dodge.
His body tensed, mana surging, and he released the compressed ring. It tore through the air like a cannonball, faster than the eye could follow.
Impact.
The ring sliced through the beast's pointed head, splitting it cleanly in two.
Green blood sprayed into the air as the beast's body fell apart, the ring continuing its destructive path, cutting through several others in its wake.
For a moment, Atticus allowed himself a flicker of satisfaction, a small smile appearing on his face.
Then his gaze sharpened as he focused on the split pieces.
The beast's body rippled, as though it were made of thick liquid. Before it even touched the acid again, its pieces melded back together seamlessly.
By the time it dove back into the green sea, it was whole. Perfectly healed.
Atticus's eyes tracked it as it swam beneath the surface, then burst upward with unrelenting force.
"What…?"
Shock flickered across his face, but his body never stopped moving. He blurred again, evading yet another swarm of piercing attacks.
The beasts came faster. His mind raced.
'Was that not it?'
Atticus had managed to penetrate their incredibly thick skin. That alone had been an accomplishment, but the fact that the beast hadn't died was alarming. If they could heal even from such damage, it meant this wasn't the solution the katana was driving him toward.
Which meant there was another way.
'But what?'
Atticus's body flickered faster as he moved further through the green sea of acid. The attacks grew worse, the beasts multiplying, coming from every direction at once.
He pushed himself harder, his mana roaring within him as he left multiple afterimages in his wake.
His thoughts raced through different scenarios until he settled on one route he should have followed from the outset.
He turned to the spirit, questions bursting.
"How do I kill these beasts?"
He didn't waste time asking for their general information. Atticus suspected that the clue to passing the third challenge lay in the specific way to kill the beasts.
The spirit, slightly shocked, answered quickly. "By destroying their core."
"Where's this core?"
"It is not in a set place. It moves randomly through their bodies," the spirit explained.
"Is there a particular way to locate their core?"
The spirit shook his head. "No, there's no set way to locate their core. It's camouflaged within their bodies and impossible to distinguish from the rest of them."
The information streamed into Atticus's mind at lightning speed.
The core moved randomly through their bodies, which meant he would either have to luckily hit it or intentionally destroy it. However, locating it within their bodies was impossible, which made the latter option seem almost unattainable.
'I doubt the katana wants me to cut them into pieces,' he thought.
Atticus's gaze flickered, focusing on the uncountable beasts swarming beneath him. Cutting every single one of them multiple times was a waste of mana. He would run out before he could even make a dent in their numbers.
That wasn't the solution.
'Then how…?'
By now, Atticus had turned into an azure streak, cutting through the air and evading attacks from all directions. His sharp gaze fixed on the beasts, hoping to find a clue that would help him piece everything together.
And then, Atticus saw it.
The small explosion of thick acid.
Every time a beast burst from the green sea, it sent droplets of acid spraying in every direction. Each explosion revealed the harpoon-like body hurtling toward him at intense speed.
It was chaotic and random, something most would have overlooked. But to Atticus, it was everything.
Everything clicked into place like the pieces of a puzzle.
'I just need to make them burst,' he realized.
There was another saying:
Stored energy is destruction waiting for release.
Mana was raw, unfiltered energy. The more it was compressed, the more unstable it became, like a coiled spring, tightening, trembling, desperate to break free.
And when it finally released?
It would be violent. Explosive. Unstoppable.
Atticus's gaze firmed. He just needed to compress his swirling mana.
As soon as he came to that conclusion, his mana shifted, his aura changing.
The beasts attacked relentlessly, harpoons piercing the air around him. But Atticus didn't flinch. His movements became sharper, more deliberate.
The swirling mana around him began to tighten, condense, compress.
The air trembled. The pressure rose.
His cold, blue eyes glowed brighter.