[Ding. You have obtained a stalk of Ripe Root]
[Ding. You have obtained a stalk of Ripe Root]
…
…
Liam continued heading deeper into the demon's private forest, looting every single herb that entered his field of vision.
For the most part, he stuck to the 'safe' route but after a while, he purposefully did a detour.
"Time to start training." Liam stretched his hands and then picked up a stone to throw it into a nearby bush.
Almost instantly, something sprang out of the bush and dashed towards him.
Zala Zala Zala
It was a big green lizard that was almost invisible to the naked eye. Its green-colored skin merged with the grassy ground as its figure slithered amidst the tall grass.
[Demonic Venomous Chameleon] (Elite Boss)
Level 35
"Oh! A level 35 elite! This should be perfect for me." Liam grinned and didn't waste time as he enhanced his agility and movements by churning his mana.
The elite in front of him was too fast. It zigged and zagged cutting through the grass, its tail lashing at Liam. Not to mention it was highly poisonous.
Its venom was also not weak like Liam's [Venom Burst] skill.
A single hit from it would make him lose this fight and perhaps even send him straight to death's door.
But the beast had its own weakness and Liam was planning on exploiting exactly this. He had provoked this beast for this specific purpose.
[Lightning Bolt] Liam muttered as he jumped up and evaded the crawling lizard. More powerful magic spells required a certain amount of cast time, but this was a basic spell.
So he was able to cast it even when evading the attack but he took the system's help for it. If he had to cast it on his own, he was still not proficient enough to do it this casually while moving.
Zap!
The lizard that slithered on the tall grass yelped in pain as the attack hit its body. Liam meanwhile, landed on a small rock nearby and jumped once again.
[Lightning Bolt]
He spammed the skill one more time and again the lizard yelped in pain.
Surprisingly, even with its cries of pain, its health was still as solid as the rock that Liam used to push down and jump.
And every time it was the same.
The attack landed on the beast, it cried in pain, but the damage number was pathetic.
And yet Liam continued to do cast the attack.
This was because this particular beast was most susceptible to lightning-type attacks.
While the attack did not affect its health much, it soaked up its agility like a sponge.
After casting the basic [Lightning Bolt] spell a few times, its speed had already reduced considerably.
Now Liam no longer needed to run and jump around as if his life depended on it.
He slowed down and made more of a conscious effort in casting the spell.
[Lightning Bolt] He manipulated his mana and conjured a ball of lightning but he did not send it out immediately.
Instead, he again tried increasing it and compressing it just like he had done with the fireball. Only then he sent it out.
However, this time also he wasn't successful.
This attack's damage was in fact worse than the previous attacks when he simply used the system's help for the spell casting.
Tsk. Tsk. Liam clicked his tongue in disappointment. He did not give up and tried this a few more times.
Sure, by the time he was done practicing, the lizard was only barely moving and its tongue was pale and sticking out.
Its health had also dropped considerably, but Liam was not satisfied.
He knew that he was doing something wrong.
He conjured another ball of lightning and looked at it, his eyes carefully observing the crackling mass of energy.
The more he looked at it, the more he felt like he was missing something important.
"Hmmm." He tossed the lightning ball absent-mindedly at the lizard and then conjured a ball of fire. "Why am I able to do this but not this?"
He then started repeatedly tossing both balls of fire and lightning one after the other at the almost dead lizard which was now begging him with its eyes to just end the fight.
He wanted to understand this better and suddenly an idea struck him.
[Fire Ball] and [Lightning Bolt] were basically two different attacks that relied on two different elements.
While he was able to manipulate one, he was not successful in the other. Why?
This was precisely because these two were different!
Liam's eyes widened as he conjured another ball of lightning but this time, he didn't try to manipulate it by buffing it and compressing it.
He instead tried to send it out as fast as he could, aiming for the lizard. He put his full focus and concentration on the speed aspect of the attack.
ZAP!
There was an improvement! The sound and impact this time was louder and also the accompanying damage number.
"Not enough!" Liam paused for a moment and conjured another ball of lightning again, but this time he tried to change its shape.
He manipulated the ball of energy into a sharp, pointed arrow and sent it out, even doing the action of pulling his hand back and then releasing it.
ZOOM!
Bingo! Just like he had expected, the arrow shot forward with tremendous speed, and it struck the lizard right in the middle of its head.
Kuhak!
This was the limit of the beast. The lizard spat out blood, its head rolling lifelessly on the ground and Liam got all the notifications that he wanted.
He had finally managed to do the maximum damage.
[Ding. Congratulations. You have killed the Elite Demonic Venomous Chameleon. You have gained 20000 experience points]
[Ding. You have learned Basic Lightning Manipulation Skill]
[Ding. You have learned Lightning Arrow Skill]
[Ding. Your Lightning Manipulation Skill is upgraded to intermediate]
[Ding. Your Lightning element attacks are boosted by 5%]