NOVEL NEXT Chapter 157 – Run
The flying Demonic Beast dove towards Damion. As it got closer he could begin to clearly make out its features. It was a bird, that much had been clear before, but now Damion could make out the curved beak and long talons on its legs. The Demonic Beast's feathers were all a reddish black and just as it came within range of True Sight and he identified it as a C Rank Demonic Beast, it spewed out a stream of fire.
Damion hid behind a quickly melting Ice Shield as the Demonic Beast swooped past. Even with continuously pumping mana into his Ice Shield, the Demonic Beast's fire was able to melt it faster than he could reinforce it.
"Damion!" Arica called from the safe area by the passageway back to the previous floor. "That is an Ash Eagle. The more ash in an area, the stronger it becomes!"
Arica's identification of the Demonic Beast was helpful, but it did not do much to aid Damion in his fight. Watching as the Ash Eagle turned in the distance to begin another strafing run, he carefully tracked it and raised his palm to cast Ice Shard.
Once the Demonic Beast was flying directly at him, Damion began casting Ice Shards as quickly as he could. The Ash Eagle was able dodge most of his Ice Shards and the few that it did not manage to dodge merely glanced off the Demonic Beast's shoulders. Damion could have sworn that he landed a clean hit at least once, but the Demonic Beast seemed unfazed as it started breathing fire again, forcing him to shelter behind his shield that was melting more quickly than before.
When the Ash Eagle veered away Damion tried to catch it with an Ice Shard from closer range, but the Demonic Beast was too swift. For a moment Damion was pondering how a C Rank Demonic Beast could possibly shrug off one of his attacks when he remembered what Arica had told him a few moments ago.
Ash Eagles grow stronger the more ash there was. Damion had put out most of the fires in the area before, but now, after two attack runs by the Ash Eagle, there were a half dozen small fires burning around him.
In the distance he could see the Ash Eagle circling around. Lining up for another try at cooking Damion. Instead of casting Ice Shard at the approaching Demonic Beast, he began casting Ice Breath on all the fires in the area around him. Each time he put out a fire the ash in the air dropped to the ground as if it lost its power.
Just as the Ash Eagle was approaching and about to spew another burst of flame at Damion, the young mage cast a barrage of Ice Shards. This time his spell was able to penetrate the Demonic Beast's defenses, turning it into an icy pin cushion.
The Ash Eagle crashed to the ground and the light faded from its eyes. In the sky above Damion heard a number of shrill screeches from the other flying Demonic Beasts. Looking up, he saw the other Demonic Beasts start circling and then start diving towards him.
Damion snatched up the corpse of the Ash Eagle and started running back towards his team. While he was able to kill one Ash Eagle, he did not think he would have a chance against the dozen that were now diving his way.
"Go back!" Damion shouted as he ran. It only took him a few seconds to cross the 50 or so meters back to the safe area, but now that the Demonic Beasts had targeted him, they were not about to let him go.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
As Damion approached, the others saw the Demonic Beasts preparing to attack and retreated into the passageway back to the ninth floor. Damion was able to make it into the passageway before the Demonic Beasts were able to attack him, but it was a very close escape.
Arica took the Ash Eagle from Damion's grip and stored it with the other spoils of their run in her personal spatial storage. He looked around as he channeled mana into his belt of purification. All the ash and soot was repelled off his body and armor. Looking around he saw that everyone appeared to be unharmed, which greatly relieved him.
"I guess this means I don't pass," Damion said turning to Mage Teft who had watched their entire Dungeon run in silence.
"As odd as this may sound, you did pass," Mage Teft told him.
"What?" the rest of the party said in unison.
"You passed. The Ash Eagle you killed was the floor guardian. The other Demonic Beasts went into a rage when you killed it because it was their matriarch. Until the labyrinth spawns a new guardian for this floor those other Ash Eagles will be quite difficult for people to handle. But most likely a high Rank team will be returning from a B or an A Rank floor soon and take care of them."
"That's good I guess."
"Yes. And while you did technically pass, there are quite a lot of areas in which you need to improve. Expect a full lecture on your performance tomorrow in class. For now, make your way back to the first floor and head back to the school."
Damion and his team did as Mage Teft suggested. They made their way quickly back the way they had come and since they now knew where the passageways between floors were; the journey was relatively quick. Only a few times did they have to slow down to fight Demonic Beasts.
Once outside the labyrinth they reported to the attendant and turned their spoils over for counting. While Arica was unloading her spatial storage and the attendant was calculating the team's share, Damion checked on the Magic System notifications.
*Ding*
[Spell Mana Absorption mastery increased to C Rank]
*Ding*
{Quest Completed}
[Quest: Increase a Magic Spell in Rank – Status: Complete – Reward: 100 Experience, 500 Store Credit]
*Ding*
[Spell True Sight mastery increased to C Rank]
*Ding*
{Quest Completed}
[Quest: Increase a Magic Spell in Rank – Status: Complete – Reward: 100 Experience, 500 Store Credit]
*Ding*
[Spell Concealed Aura mastery increased to E Rank]
*Ding*
{Quest Completed}
[Quest: Increase a Magic Spell in Rank – Status: Complete – Reward: 100 Experience, 500 Store Credit]
*Ding*
[Spell Ice Shard mastery increased to D Rank]
*Ding*
{Quest Completed}
[Quest: Increase a Magic Spell in Rank – Status: Complete – Reward: 100 Experience, 500 Store Credit]
*Ding*
[Spell Ice Breath mastery increased to D Rank]
*Ding*
{Quest Completed}
[Quest: Increase a Magic Spell in Rank – Status: Complete – Reward: 100 Experience, 500 Store Credit]
*Ding*
[Spell Ice Shield mastery increased to D Rank]
*Ding*
{Quest Completed}
[Quest: Increase a Magic Spell in Rank – Status: Complete – Reward: 100 Experience, 500 Store Credit]
*Ding*
[Spell Icy Grasp mastery increased to D Rank]
*Ding*
{Quest Completed}
[Quest: Increase a Magic Spell in Rank – Status: Complete – Reward: 100 Experience, 500 Store Credit]
As the quest completions rolled in it became harder and harder for Damion to contain his excitement. He had just gained 3,500 store credits, more than doubling his credits in one run. He now knew for sure that he might be able to increase his knowledge of his spells through practice, but increasing the Rank of his spells required practical application.
Damion hardly noticed when the attendant asked for his payment card to deposit more than 400 gold into it for their share of the dungeon run. All Damion could do as everyone, except Arica, journeyed back to Silver Spire, was imagine what he was going to buy with the credits he just earned.