Ceaseless Horizons [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy]

The truth of the matter was, Lev had no idea how even to scratch the being, let alone show whatever answers it wanted from him. Unfortunately, he couldn't refuse the order either, for that could be disastrous beyond measure.

Gripping Stargazer tightly, he wondered what he could possibly show the monster. Anything large-scale was a bad idea, especially so close to the city. Moreover, he doubted all of his and Stargazer's mana combined would amount to much.

So, with a heavy weight on his shoulders, Lev started creating another layer around his armor. The plating layer was extensive, covering all of his limbs as best as he could currently manage, and was primed to be enchanted and matched with the already existing formations on the armor below.

Kinetic Absorption was the sole formation present on the plating layer. It was designed to absorb a lot of the force from any attacks that landed on him, and then convert it equally into lightning mana and pure mana. The former was supposed to imbue his armor, and the latter was to keep its durability enchantments topped up after powering the plating's durability functions.

Time passed in a blink, except barely any of it did. Thirty seconds felt like an eternity as he modified his armor under the hound's gaze, one that watched him patiently, very far from concerned or intrigued.

Taking a deep breath, Lev landed back on the ground. The previous shards and walls from the hound were all gone, disintegrated as if they had never existed. Such was its degree of control over stone.

With a hollow chuckle containing his emotions about the whole situation, Lev charged. A torrent of lightning was imbued in his glaive and armor, affording him just enough speed to weave between the first defensive barrage from the hound.

Stone shards aimed to skewer him in a frontal assault. He dodged as best as he could, letting a few of them graze his armor just to see how it fared. The shards packed enough of a punch to send small cracks running through the plates despite being overloaded to maximum durability, but on the bright side, they also converted a lot of mana to fuel the enchantments.

His sprint lasted for all of ten seconds. Before he covered even half of the distance, a wall rose beneath his feet. Lev hadn't felt a single shred of mana or aura, and caught unprepared, was launched high in the air.

The stacks of shields and walls from his secondary bubbles flew in the open, blocking and deflecting the next barrage of stone shards at the cost of shattering. He quickly righted himself after the number of shards increased sharply, firing two lightning slashes from Stargazer.

As another wall of stone appeared to block them, he channeled fire into the glaive instead. It turned blue in a single burst and flew at the same wall that had negated his lightning slashes so easily.

The fire slash exploded with vengeance, shearing off a large portion of the wall. Lev didn't miss the weakness, immediately rushing forward with all of his constructs. Stone shards shattered his shields and walls left and right as more lightning slashes followed the first, finally felling the massive construct.

Behind it, the hound watched with its unnerving gaze, able to effortlessly peer into all of his secrets. He did his best to ignore that and swung Stargazer when a spike tore out of the ground, aimed to skewer his heart.

Stone and slash met in a deafening shockwave as the barrier blade cut deep, tearing off enough of the spike for Lev to fly underneath it. Another pair of spikes was right in front of him, and this time, he focused on condensing his slash as much as possible.

Lightning was better suited for the task. A rope-thin slash flew from his blade, extremely sharp yet delicate. It turned out to be just enough to cut through them and let him close some more of the distance between him and the hound.

All of that happened in mere seconds, and in just as long, the number of stone constructs he was dealing with doubled. A barrage of smaller spikes negated all of his progress, forcing him to desperately dodge and weave.

It wasn't enough, so he had to improvise. Stone shards were allowed to graze his armor, each projectile packing enough strength to stress his absorption enchantments from just that. The barrier armor cracked in several places, requiring precious instants to repair.

Lev's mind remained sharp. An opportunity presented itself, and both artillery cannons on his bubbles fired at once. Their sheer speed was enough to drown out all other sounds, and yet, before he could even blink, the shells were lodged in two walls that had appeared out of nowhere.

He was pretty sure of that. There had been no mana usage or anything to indicate otherwise.

What the hell? Lev backtracked, unable to understand what he was seeing. Now that he was a Master, his Perception wasn't low enough for things to move akin to teleportation. That didn't make sense. How?

There was no answer as the sky darkened. Sunlight was blocked effortlessly as thousands upon thousands of stone shards, each half his size, formed in moments. He could only watch with his mouth ajar when the first wave descended.

Lightning rushed into his armor in a torrent, and all of its enchantments were pushed to the absolute limit as he danced between them. Some of the landed still, gouging deep cuts into the armor while providing precious boost to the durability of the plating.

Things became slightly easier when all of his cannons fired rapidly above him. It was a blind effort, one that thankfully caught a few of the shards trying to impale him.

Think, think, think, his mind raced in panic and determination. The creature doesn't seem to be worried about whether I live or die.

There were depressingly few options. Both of his bubbles rushed forward as all of his shields and walls inside them moved. Willpower protested in a bout of searing pain, taxed beyond anything it was trained to do so far.

Lev was not having it. Too much was at stake, and the fact that his emotions were going out of control wasn't helping.

The hound was extremely strong. So much that he was having trouble believing that he was still alive. That thought evoked deep fear, one that threatened to freeze him every time he locked eyes with the being.

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On the other side of the coin, Lev was angry. So very angry that he had been called out in the open, right in front of humanity's strongest, and there was nothing they could do. Nothing he could do.

It irked him so unbelievably much. Who was this furry asshole to toss him around without even moving a single inch, as if Lev was nothing more than a temporary curiosity that wasn't going to live much longer anyway.

He didn't let the rage consume him. Instead, it was channeled into his mana and skills, improving the quality of the lightning mana infused into his armor. It wasn't quite like turning normal fire into blue fire, except the sheer willpower at his disposal was enough to make it evolve half a step, overwhelmed and forced to improve by raw desire as all of the stone shards close to him were blown away in a crackling wave.

The wave was focused upwards, buying him a precious few moments to bring all of his constructs close. Orbs stayed right next to him, housing all of the rapidly converted lightning for him to use later.

As if sensing the change, the hound's eyes narrowed slightly. Four long, thin spikes burst out of the ground near its paws, each aimed at a different limb on his body.

Focus.

Time seemed to slow down as Stargazer moved. The glaive mastery skill guided his efforts, letting Lev tap into its vast potential properly. It was severely underutilized, he knew. This was the first time he could really push its limits without simply needing bigger and stronger moves.

His glaive's haft was hit directly by the tip of the spike. Neither lost out in durability, and he chained the absorbed force to slash through the spike aiming for his leg. Twisting his body along with the move, the remaining two spikes were dodged as the shard barrage restarted in earnest.

Shields and walls, brimming with mana, hovered above him in layers. Dozens of them shattered in the first second, covering him for the first quarter of the distance. Stone walls rose, each exponentially more durable than his own constructs.

Fire wasn't going to cut it for this one. His improved lightning streamed into Stargazer, shaped into a thin slash that cut through the first and almost bisected the second. Shells capitalized on that and destroyed it in the same instant.

The hound was curious now, wondering what Lev's plan was. His dash so far had been beyond desperate, and the protection above him wasn't going to last till the end.

Lev was aware of that and commanded all the ropes around his bubbles to unfurl. Like dozens of limbs, they snaked forward to create a dense net over him, saving the last few heavily enchanted walls for later.

Only two dozen meters remained. The hound towered over him, looking down with eyes devoid of worry, only slightly amused. Lev pushed down his rage and indignation at being forced to dance to its tune and prepared himself for the final exertion.

Both of the bubbles were thrown directly at it, charged with lightning and powered by kinetic driving formations. As blurs, they crashed into the round stone shields that formed in a blink, the design copied from his own.

Ignoring that, Lev knew that creature was too prideful to suddenly raise its strength now. Stargazer, imbued with a ton of lightning, cut through the approaching spikes. The net above blocked the stone rain, and by the time the hound was within his glaive's range, all of his being was focused on simply drawing blood.

Focus, he repeated in his mind one last time, bringing back Stargazer for a wide slash. Blue fire was imbued into his armor's limbs and joints, and lightning in the rest for the best combination of speed and strength.

After fitting as much mana in Stargazer as possible, the primed slash could cut through weaker third-threshold beings. Lev was confident that it would at least hurt, and a significant portion of his mind was ensuring that nothing disrupted the attack.

The ground beneath him was covered by a barrier sheet, enchanted with durability. Shields and ropes protected him from above, and ahead of him, was a furry limb that he swung at with all his might.

All the power in the glaive was too much for his mind to handle, setting the air ablaze in its passing. The world became crackling and extremely hot in the first instant, and the proximity became even more lethal.

By the time it was about to connect, chunks of his armor were melting off, and the flesh beneath it wasn't faring much better. That was fine, though, as he was sure the attack would be quite painful.

Then the monster just casually teleported a dozen meters to the side.

Lev could only watch with eyes as wide as saucers as the compressed lightning slash parted empty air, vanishing out of sight in a blink. Somewhere far away, a thunderous explosion occurred in the Dreadwoods, but his mind didn't even register the sound.

He could only vacantly stare at where the monster had once stood.

Space.

It should've been obvious. Stone appeared out of thin air, and the monster also possessed an aura that exposed everything within its radius. What else could it be, if not the very reality he existed in?

Because of course it has space. A chuckle burst out of his lips, broken and disbelieving. That was also the element humanity was struggling to get its hands on. Except, the hound had casually sauntered up to Windkeep, made Hakim of all people acquiesce to its demands, and now showed an element that was notoriously difficult to observe, let alone potentially use.

All to toy with him.

It was infuriating. The anger brimming in his veins was no longer tame enough to be held back. Demanding and overwhelming, he let the rage guide his actions as much of the hound's aura was brushed off, no longer capable of pressuring him by merely existing.

All the lightning stored in his orbs was now channeled into three long, heavy lances. Runes were carved with unparalleled speed as Lev stared into the hound's eyes, losing all remaining reason when it looked back with undisguised smugness.

Stargazer's blade turned bright blue and was quickly swung in a slash. The crescent attack tore through the distance, eviscerating two risen walls in a giant explosion. That should've made the vicinity impossible to traverse, but Lev was beyond caring now.

The absorption formations absorbed as much of the kinetic energy as possible, increasing the armor's durability to the maximum possible. One of the lances moved, piercing through the group of spikes rushing him.

In another blue slash, they were all turned to dust, letting Lev finally reach the being. Stargazer's blade rushed towards its face, almost coming in contact with the fur on its cheek before the hound teleported again.

He was prepared this time. All of his bubble's ropes whirled to its new location, elongated and imbued with a torrent of lightning. Like miniature lightning bolts themselves, they flew like jagged spikes to tear it to shreds.

None of that happened. Each rope simply slid off, the imbued element unable to singe even the hair on its face. A set of round stone shields blocked another lance, the first blowing up in a shower of splinters and the other heavily cracked as a result.

Stargazer finally neared its front leg when the hound teleported again. Lev reacted faster this time, firing his newly formed three lances immediately at its new location. Holding more than a third of his and Stargazer's combined mana, the first powered through its new set of shields, the second destroyed the rising walls and spikes, and the third passed through empty air.

Lev was already flying quicker than he ever had. All of his remaining mana was used, going well below the dangerous threshold that mages weren't supposed to cross. A ton of imbued lightning was used in an instant as the armor rocketed towards the hound, breaking his bones and shearing off flesh from the instantaneous acceleration.

That was fine. Healing would eventually bring him back to health. All that mattered was landing a singular attack on the haughty creature, to prove that all he had learned and accomplished so far wasn't for nothing.

Once again, time slowed as Stargazer moved in a straight line, the thrust perfectly aligned to pierce the hound's eye.

Lev's hope had yet to rise when the world morphed. His heart sank, and willpower hadn't even begun to understand what was happening when his very being was squeezed.

The preparation, the speed, and thrust— all of it was rendered meaningless when he appeared two dozen meters behind the hound, very much against his will.