A chirping sound was heard as Ronny executed his Bitz Bolt to full potential. He approached his opponent again, intending to make his attack count this time.
Ronny was seen creating afterimages in his path again as he collided with Dom one more time. This time he didn't try to evade the long reach of the Odachi. Instead of stepping aside, Ronny was seen ducking under the swing that was aimed at him.
Dom was supposed to be a lot taller than Eren when he was alive. The apparition-Dom was no different either. But since Eren was in his Ronny avatar, the difference wasn't much.
That's why when Ronny ducked under the weapon's swing and got back into position, his weapon had almost found its spot inside his opponent's heart.
But this was the time when Ronny came to know about apparition-Dom's elemental status. A thick layer of wood covered the region on Dom's body that was going to get pierced by Ronny's lightning coated dagger.
The lightning lost its destructive power as soon as it came in contact with the mana-generated wood's surface. This spell-manifested wood was tougher than what wood is normally known for.
Soon, the growth of wood started covering Dom's entire body, creating an armour of wood in the process. Dom started looking weird as a result of the same.
But Ronny understood that the visual appeal of a ranker's spell wasn't everything. If the spell looked uncool but did its' job well, then Ronny wouldn't hesitate to use the spell either.
Ronny twitched his eye as he realized that the dungeon was again trying to test his limits. He was half sure by now that the real Dom wouldn't have wood element affinity. It was given to apparition-Dom by the dungeon to become his good counter.
'Thank the devil I took care of the previous guy as soon as I could.'
With his lightning element spells reducing in their effectiveness after Dom's elemental reveal, Ronny understood that a fast-paced battle style won't give him maximum benefits. With wood armour covering his opponent from all angles, he couldn't land a finishing blow in a short period.
When Ronny failed to land a blow at close range, he would be vulnerable to counterattacks half the time. Plus, Odachi's long reach made it risky for him to retreat safely.
Ronny needed to change his spell combo. Which he did:
'Fire snake
Fireball
Breath of Fire
Blitz Steps'
Ronny decided to work with the fire-element spells at his disposal because it was effective against the wood element. He cancelled his time element spells to conserve his already rapidly depleting mana storage.
'Sururururu'
As soon as the two rankers collided, Ronny's fire element snakes bit into his opponent's armour. Fire snakes' bites coated the wood armour in flames that produced a distinct sound when they started burning it up.
But it turned out Dom also had a second set of spells just like Ronny did. He swung his Odachi first before retreating backwards and snapping his fingers as he did so.
Dom used the mana within the environment and moisture to create floating masses of water. He raised his empty hand and guided some of the masses of water to land on him, bathing in the process.
Dom had taken care of Ronny's fire element spell. The latter had dark lines on his forehead after learning of the recent turn of events. The dungeon was hell-bent on testing his mettle as a ranker it seemed.
'My high rating is to be blamed for this.'
Ronny quickly concluded after he saw his opponent was slowly turning out to be a very effective counter to him. Plus, fighting with Dom and not gaining an advantage was irritating for him. To Ronny, it felt like he had made no progress at all during the months in LA.
But Dom wasn't done there. Ronny could swear that the apparition-Dom was beaming with pleasure on his face as he lodged his Odachi in the ground in front of him before raising his hands to call all the masses of water towards him.
Something weird happened at that time.
Something Ronny AKA hadn't seen in both his lives. He saw that Dom was making the element of wood and water merge as the masses of water collided against his wood armour. The wood started looking like it had turned into a dense plasma as a result of fusion with the water element.
The plasma of wood replaced Dom's wood armour and became more refined than before. If the wood armour looked like a weird juxtaposition of planks, the plasma wood armour took into account the contours of Dom's body, providing him with a customized fit.
Dom's plasma wood armour also made him more difficult to approach. First, it was not just planks of wood covering his body anymore. The contoured armour allowed him to fill the chinks in the armour he had before the fusion took place.
Second, the plasma wood was lighter and more durable than before.
Instead of breaking right on the spot under the influence of force overload, the plasma wood would get stretched and use that force as a source of energy to get displaced. It would resume its previous shape and position after the force inflicted on it by the external source is extinguished.
"What the fuck is this I'm seeing? Lady Zee, do you have any idea what just happened?"
Instead of approaching the opponent directly, Ronny thought to gather some information about the phenomenon he had just witnessed with his eyes. That's why he asked the Adept ranker to shed some light on the event.
Ronny was wary of the opponent as he asked that question. But thankfully, Dom just stood there and allowed him to finish his conversation.
"Boy Ronny, you are one unlucky fellow, aren't you? This has never happened to any of us so far. Because none of us is qualified to face something like this."
Lady Zee's face was also painted with shock when she saw Ronny's opponent.. Then she looked at Ronny in pity, as if he was a lost cause.