After a few moments, Leon turned back around and began to walk forward. It was as if he had come to a decision with Kai. They would not flee while Leon was busy. Kai nodded his head and turned to his party.
“We will wait for him to finish.” He told them.
“What? But what if he suddenly decides to kill us?! We can use this chance to run!” Joseph hissed in disbelief.
“If he wanted to kill us, then he could have done that already. He did not have to spare us earlier when he had beaten me. Also, do you really think he will not notice us trying to run?” Kai explained. He had felt that Leon was able to peer into the essence of a spell. He had felt it during their fight, so he knew that Leon would be able to track any kind of stealth spell that they tried using.
While Kai made all of these assumptions, most of them were wrong. While Leon might have been able to do so at a later time, he currently did not have the ability to do so. Perhaps if it were later, when he had gotten his <Spell Weaver> skill to the next level, then he would be able to do so effortlessly.
Unaware of this, Kai had chosen not to do anything fishy while Leon was focusing on the battle. If he had known that Leon could not do all the things that he had thought, then he would have definitely tried to escape.
Meanwhile, Leon was making his way around the edge of the battlefield. He glanced over to the fight between Kaladin and the lizardman with Wind magic, and after confirming that they were busy with each other, he lifted up into the air to gain an aerial view of the battlefield.
‘Or do the four lizardmen stand in place of the boss?’ Leon wondered to himself when he could not find anything of note. ‘I should ask Kai. They came here prepared.’
He quickly descended and approached the group.
“How do I find the boss?” Leon stared straight at Kai as he asked his question. He knew that the most straightforward way to get his answers would be to ask Kai instead of the others.
Kai bowed his head in thought for a moment before nodding. “The final boss is deep within the forest. It prefers a simple one on one fight instead of this mass fighting, so it waits to see who will come to find it, or who is still standing after the fighting here is done.” Kai explained.
“Thank you.” Leon nodded and was about to walk away when Kai suddenly spoke again.
“You may need help. We can come.” He offered.
“I may need help? What is that supposed to mean?” Leon paused and turned back.
“At certain times, the dungeon gives off strange fluctuations. In those times, the boss raises rank. Instead of a Low A rank monster, you will be facing a Mid B rank monster.” Kai explained with a strange light in his eyes.
“…I can handle it.” Leon said after thinking. The reason why he decided to handle it on his own was not because he had blind confidence, but because he was looking for a challenge. He had not lost a fight in a very long time, and while he was happy, that meant that he had not come across many challenges. The last major challenge that he had faced was the final boss of the Tower of Trials. He had gained a lot from that fight. Even now, he was not yet completely done with absorbing the core of that boss. For some reason, his progress with it was very slow.
After receiving the information he needed, Leon took off into the air, flying over the swampy forest with his eyes peeled. It did not take him long to find a very inconspicuous mana source that looked like a ball of fire in his sights.
Landing on the solid ground in a large area that was surrounded by water, Leon eyed the large lizardman that was sitting down cross legged in the middle of the body of land. Upon his arrival, the lizardman had opened its eyes that shone with a bright blue light. Its body was covered in crystal scales that held a hint of the colors that the four other colorful lizardmen had.
“Intruder, I see you have come to me. I can smell the blood of my kin on you.” The lizardman said calmly as it got up to its feet. “My name is Ugar. I preside over this swamp.”
“I don’t care much for your name. I will most likely change it when I turn you into my summon. Besides, it’s a terrible sounding name.” Leon said and held out his hand. A black sword manifested over his palm and he wrapped his fingers around it.
“I see you are a rash one. You will not last under my power.” Ugar nodded his head. As soon as he finished speaking, like a flower blooming, his aura spread out of his body in a soft, but powerful and pressurizing manner.
Leon grunted when the force of it slammed him in the face. For a moment, he felt as if he was facing Amelia Steelheart once again. The pressure that Ugar have off was on the same level as hers, albeit much more different.
‘A genuine Mid A rank monster!’ Leon thought to himself. At least he was not as surprised as he would have been if Kai had not told him what he needed to know in advance.
A multicolored Domain spread out of the lizardman, engulfing the entire piece of land that spread out for a mile in all directions. It’s Domain did not seem to directly impose anything on Leon, but was instead focused on the surrounding area.
To Leon, it was as if the ambient mana in the air around him was being guided by an invisible hand. It was then that he realized what the Domain of the lizardman was geared towards. It was meant to enhance its magical abilities!
Boom!𝞸𝑽𝗅xt.𝚘𝔪
As the battle had already begun from the moment Leon drew his sword, the lizardman did not hold back anything!
Spikes of earth jutted out from underneath Leon, while wind blades were conjured all around him to suppress him and contain his movement. The water contained in the earth turned into whips that lashed around, tearing through the air and leaving deep cleaves in the earth.
Leon bounced around, dodging all the attacks that were coming his way while retaliating with his own moves. His mind was at constant work as he cancelled out some of the spells being cast by the lizardman, but he soon came to realize that because of the disparity in skill grades and levels, he could not handle all of the spells. The skills of the lizardmen were all of Intermediate grade at the very least!
‘It’s Intelligence stat must also be very high for it to be able to use so many spells at once!’ Leon realized with a grim look making his already dark skull look even more menacing. ‘I need to gain some control over the surroundings.’ He realized.
With that thought, his own Domain spread over the area. Its total radius was much less than that of the lizardman, as their domains were geared toward different purposes.
Even still, Leon achieved the desired effect. He condensed his domain to a few meters around his body, which in turn had a reinforcing effect on his body and the space around him. The lizardman had lost all control over the mana in Leon’s immediate surroundings.
[Your Title, <Supreme>, has taken effect. +145 Intelligence!]
[Your Title, <Overcomer>, has taken effect. All stats +100%!]
Leon felt his power explode as his titles took effect. His intelligence was boosted by leaps and bounds, which gave him better grounds to stand against the lizardman.
The sudden change shocked Ugar, and the lizardman narrowed his eyes. His crystal scales glowed with a myriad of lights briefly, before shifting and turning into a deep, dark color. Its eyes changed color as well, turning into a swirl of red, blue, green, and silver.
‘Indeed, this is the boss of the dungeon.’ Leon thought to himself and prepared to take the battle to the next level.