[Thunder Step]
Lightning exploded in three different points on the path. Glacial Reaper Claw moved.
The second one turned into a pillar of ice before wrapping around One’s leg.
The third tried to return underground, but the blue cold spread along its body.
Seris jumped down from One’s back.
King’s Edge appeared on her blade.
Three strikes, short, precise, and without extra movement, and all three were split almost simultaneously.
The roots fell on the ground.
The snake-like bodies inside the glass shells were revealed and trembled for a few moments, then remained motionless.
Liana was still holding her hand up for summoning and looked at the corpses.
"I didn’t even have time to summon it."
Seraphina said nothing, but took her hand off her sword’s hilt.
This was the first time both girls felt the real difference in power.
Liana had seen Lian’s speed before, but back then she could follow his movement.
Now Thunder Step had turned him into nothing but an explosion of light.
Seraphina also felt the remaining Mana density in the air.
Whatever Lian’s level was, his Mana and Skill quality did not match a normal awakened one at the same level.
In the late afternoon of the first day, they entered a denser part of the forest.
The treetops had covered almost the entire sky. Little light passed through the crystal leaves.
A deep buzzing sound was heard from above.
One stopped. A few hundred bright points separated from the branches.
At first, they looked like pieces of light, but as they got closer, their insect bodies became clear.
Wings made of transparent plates, armored bodies, multi-faceted eyes, and limbs ending in thin blades.
[Shardwing Drone]
[Level: 16]
[Rank: Normal]
Among the group, larger specimens were also moving.
[Shardwing Hunter]
[Level: 19]
[Rank: Normal]
Their number reached dozens of creatures.
Then the upper branches bent, and the group’s leader came down.
Thick, multi-layered armor was on its chest and head. Four larger wings came out from its back, and its two front arms resembled crystal spears.
[Shardwing Hive Knight]
[Level: 22]
[Rank: Normal]
The Hive Knight produced a sharp sound.
All the Shardwings turned their wings. Hundreds of small crystal blades rained down from the sky toward the group.
Seris drew her sword.
Lian prepared Cataclysm Pulse.
But the number of attacks was such that even with their defense, some blades passed by.
It could be said that this was the first time they were facing a flying race, but fortunately, the enemy was not very powerful, and apart from their wings, they had no other advantage.
This time, Seraphina and Liana also found a chance to enter.
Seraphina jumped down from One’s back and held her sword in front of her body.
Blue, red, and purple mana formed around her at the same time.
Lian glanced at her. His childhood friend’s class was one of the rarest. It wasn’t outside the norm of the six basic classes.
But it was a combination of two classes.
Dual Class
Warrior / Mage
Dual Class was one of the rarest awakening structures.
Most people only had one main path.
Their bodies were not built to support two classes simultaneously.
But Seraphina had both the physical ability of a swordsman and the Mana structure of a Mage.
Having such a class was a one-in-a-million phenomenon. A person could be both a healer and a swordsman, or any other combination.
Of course, there are only a few known examples of dual classes, and for this reason, they are not considered categories, and this is not a random or chance phenomenon.
It is mostly a form of intervention and manipulation. There is a specific Artifact that, if used, can create such a thing.
And Seraphina was lucky enough that her family used such an item, which they had kept for generations, for her.
Although Lian didn’t know why Seraphina. Was there a specific reason? Was there a secret behind it? Or was she just chosen by chance?
She raised her blade.
[Arcane Edge]
Mana gathered on the sword’s edge. Three Magic Circles formed behind her.
The first circle was blue, the second was red, and the third was purple.
Seraphina sent a horizontal strike. A line of fire moved with the blade through the air and burned a few Shardwing Drones.
The second strike went upward.
A wave of ice was released from the blue Magic Circle and froze the wings of several insects.
The frozen creatures fell from the sky. Seraphina took her sword toward another group.
Several Arcane Lances were shot from the purple circle. The Mana spears pierced the insects’ armor.
She didn’t need to distance herself from the battle to Cast. Her sword was both a weapon and a Magic Focus.
Every physical strike could release another Spell.
While fighting, Lian evaluated her for a moment. As always, nothing was perfect, and even Dual Classes had weaknesses.
The weakness of most Dual Classes was that the person wouldn’t reach the peak in either of the two paths.
But Seraphina had high talent in both areas. Her sword power was real, and her Spells were also not weak or incomplete.
Maybe this girl could make history.
Liana also raised her hand. A black circle formed under her feet.
"Go."
Shadow Wolf entered One’s shadow and disappeared.
A moment later, it jumped out from the shadow of a tree at a high altitude. Its body stretched through the air like black smoke, and its red eyes shone among the Shardwings.
Its claws moved, leaving dark lines in the air, and the wings of three insects were cut simultaneously.
Shadow Wolf disappeared into a shadow again.
It came out from another Shardwing’s shadow and closed its jaws around its neck.
Liana did not have high direct offensive power, but her control over her summon was precise.
Every finger movement changed Shadow Wolf’s path. With a wrist turn, she sent a retreat command.
By closing two fingers, she marked the next target. By changing her Mana, she controlled the exit time from the shadow.
Her playful and carefree appearance had completely changed at that moment. Her eyes were moving across the entire field.
She was monitoring every shadow and every enemy.
As long as Shadow Wolf was alive, Liana could attack from angles that most enemies didn’t expect.
But if she lost this summon too, she would be left almost defenseless.
’That wolf is much stronger than when I last saw it. It’s Level 19, and for its level, it has high power.’ Lian could see this girl’s progress with just one look.
’It’s a pity she lost her other summon. With two Level 19 summons, she could be a nightmare for her enemies.’
Seris looked at the sky, and her mana spread around her.
[Silver Requiem]
Dozens of sword lines formed among the Shardwing group. More than ten insects fell from the sky almost simultaneously.
Lian raised his palm. Cataclysm Pulse was sent toward the sky this time.
The Mana wave spread through the colony like an invisible explosion.
The insects’ flight formation was disrupted. Some collided with each other.
The Shardwing Hive Knight came down from among the group. Its four wings compressed Mana and increased its speed.
The multi-layered armor on its chest protected it against direct attacks, and Seraphina built three new Magic Circles behind her.
A lot of Mana was gathered for a larger Spell, but Seris moved sooner, and her body jumped from a broken branch.
[King’s Breaker]
The sword hit the center of the Hive Knight’s armor. A sound like several glass plates breaking was heard.
The creature’s defensive structure collapsed from the center. The cracks spread through the entire armor.
Lian activated Thunder Step and appeared on the Hive Knight’s back in an explosion of lightning.
He sank Glacial Reaper Claw into its body through the armor crack. The cold spread through the insect.
Its four wings froze in an instant, and the Hive Knight fell.
But Lian sank his claw deeper, and he closed his fingers, completely crushing and destroying the entire inside of the monster’s body.
[You have slain Shardwing Hive Knight Lv.22.]
[Bloodlust has absorbed 100% of the available Experience.]
[Due to group kill, the EXP received is halved.]
[Experience threshold reached.]
[Level increased.]
[You have reached Level 19.]
A wave of power spread through Lian’s body. His exhaustion completely disappeared, but since there were no wounds, his body was not healed either.
The invisible pressure around him increased. The remaining Shardwings scattered with the death of their leader.
Liana looked up at Lian from below.
The last time she had fought alongside him, his power was considerable, but still within a understandable range. Now everything had changed.
Speed, physical power, Mana volume, and the variety of Skills.
Lian had grown in this short time like someone who had been in continuous battles for months or even years.
A brief thought crossed Liana’s mind.
Was this really the same person as before?
Seraphina also felt the difference. She herself was Level 19, but after Lian reached the same level, the pressure of their power did not seem equal.
Fighting him would be unpredictable for any enemy.
Seris only cleaned her sword.
Seraphina and Liana’s reactions didn’t matter to her.
As long as they didn’t slow the group down, their presence didn’t cause any problem.
This time, the corpses were divided among all three of them, except for the silver-haired girl who again wanted nothing, and they immediately moved on.
With nightfall, they camped again beside a tree to rest both themselves and One.
"How much longer until we arrive?" Seraphina asked Lian, who was leaning against One.
"At this speed, only one more day."
They themselves didn’t know at that time... but only one day remained until they faced this world’s secret...