After finishing the slaughter of the 11th wave, Leo reappeared, glancing at his Mana and Stamina bars with a faint click of his tongue.
His Mana bar had dropped to a mere 30%, and although it was rapidly refilling thanks to his newfound abilities as a master, he did not expect his mana bar to fall too steeply so fast.
[Vanish] was like a leech on mana, and although the version of the skill where he blended with the shadows did not consume as much mana, the one where he outright disappeared in light, consumed a lot.
However, while his mana was lower than he expected the real issue he was facing was his stamina.
While invisible, Leo's Stamina had plummeted from 60% to 35%, as despite being unseen by the opponent, the effort required for him to move swiftly and strike from random angles without detection had taken a toll on him.
The strain of constantly relocating for surprise attacks was far from negligible and left Leo in a vulnerable position.
'I can't use such an attack pattern again' Leo concluded internally, as while his [Vanish] skill was undeniably powerful against those beneath the master level, it wasn't sustainable for prolonged use in battle.
While blending into the shadows required minimal mana, full invisibility drained it at a much faster rate, and maintaining the illusion demanded even more. [Vanish] wasn't a battle tactic for endurance—it was a method of distraction, an escape mechanism for slipping out of danger unnoticed.
'Next time, I'll just toss a few smoke bombs…' Leo thought, realizing his limits with growing clarity.
Up until now, although he had ascended to the rank of master and refined his core abilities, he hadn't tested them in the heat of real battle.
This rankers' event was his first opportunity to gauge his true strength in live combat, and at present, Leo was still unsure of the most efficient way to utilize his abilities.
Although he felt confident in their overall power, he still recognized the need to fine-tune his strategy for optimal performance.
'No wonder Master Ben never relied on [Vanish] in a fight… He always preferred the smoke bombs,' Leo mused, recalling his mentor's tactical approach, as only today did he realize the reason behind it.
Unfortunately for him, this was all the time he got for reflection as with the 11th wave gone, the 12th one began immediately.
This time, rather than vanishing again, Leo tossed a dozen gas bombs into the room as soon the entire area was engulfed in a thick, dark gray fog.
"Aghh—"
"Oooo—"
"Gah—"
As the fog enveloped the chamber and visibility plummeted, Leo made swift work of his foes, blending into the shadows and executing them with precision.
This approach, too, was stamina-intensive, but it consumed far less mana, allowing Leo to prioritize restoring his mana reserves while still staying on the offensive.
Out of the 100 enemies in the 12th wave, Leo managed to defeat 50 before the smoke naturally thinned and dissipated.
However, once the fog cleared, the battle turned into a grueling dogfight, as for the first time, Leo sustained minor hits in a wave, unable to dodge them all.
The sheer intensity of constant movement was exhausting, even for him, as with no moment to catch his breath, he started to show signs of fatigue.
By the time he defeated the last of his enemies from the 12th wave, his stamina had dipped below 20%, nearing the critical threshold.
Now visibly panting, Leo's flashy, fast-paced fighting style that had earned him the infamous title of "Final Boss" was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, he looked like a grounded warrior, moving only when absolutely necessary, relying on long-range dagger throws rather than his usual up-close, lethal strikes to the throat.
'How many fucking more waves do I got to defeat? What the fuck did the rest of the guardians do? Clap their hands and dance?' Leo cursed internally, as when the 13th wave approached, he felt pissed that he had to face so many opponents non-stop.
Of-course he still had the confidence to defeat them, however, he was now approaching a point where he was hitting his limits.
Up-till now, he had defeated close to 1100 rankers already, as apart from a couple of waves where he faced less than 100 opponents, all the other waves had a full 100.
However, it wasn't just that he had defeated 1100 opponents alone, but also the duration that mattered.
He had defeated 1100 freshly rested rankers non-stop in a three hour marathon, as while they entered the central chamber fully rested and with a plan, he himself had no chance to rest at all.
He was constantly moving and constantly fighting, and even as a master he was finally approaching his mortal thresholds.
"TheBoss is tired! We can do this! We can beat him–"
"He's not at his best anymore…. Guys, we can take him down!"
"Having our chance so late is a boon! His HP is down to just over 70%, we can definitely defeat him"
Said the rankers in the 13th wave, as they surrounded Leo and began attacking him from all sides.
Had it been the fresh Leo, he would have easily escaped their encirclement, however, the tired Leo could not.
The tired Leo was forced to fight in the best defensive way he could, while picking his chances for counterattacks, as he lost a whopping 21% of his HP bar to the 13th wave, dropping to exactly 50% by the time the 14th wave arrived.
"Fuck me…. How many more?" Leo muttered under his breath, this time outloud, as he glanced at his restoring MP bar and grit his teeth hard.
This was getting really difficult now and for the first time ever he began doubting if he could really see this through.
Unbeknownst to him, he still had 4 more waves to beat, one from each path before he could take the victory home, however, it was undoubtedly going to be an uphill battle from here on out.