As soon as the hunched ripper spotted us, it lunged forward, its blade-like arm slashing against the golden sand.
Amy moved first, assuming her role as the tank. Her eyes glowed bright red as crimson crystals ford around her.
Atom Formatting—that was the na of her talent. The concept was relatively simple; as the na implied, it allowed her to restructure atoms around her into various shapes. And yes, it was a talent I created on a fly.
But it was the very talent that propelled her to the top as the Fla Wall.
Amy dashed forward, sparks of light condensing into the blade clenched tightly in her hands.
The ripper slashed its arm, the edge of its arm tearing through the air itself.
Torrents of wind exploded as mana saturated the atmosphere. With a swift dodge to the left, Amy's already glowing eyes blazed brighter as red chains erupted from the sand, anchoring the drifter in place.
She raised her blade, feinted, and before the ripper could recognize the ruse, she slamd the greatsword into its spine.
The ripper's knee gave out as it released a guttural growl. Amy imdiately stepped back, feeling blood trickle from her ears.
Seeing her disoriented, I conjured four hexagonal ice cones in the air and launched them at the ripper. The chained drifter broke free of its shackles, evaded the attack, and in a blur of motion, closed the distance between us.
I executed a quick feint to the left, then summoned the hunting dagger. It was best to conceal my abilities, especially since I sensed a presence besides Amy and myself.
Driving the broken blade into the creature as clouds of dust erupted, Amy imdiately ford a massive hamr on her arm and, with all her strength, shattered the ripper into fragnts.
We both exhaled heavily—though I wasn't fatigued in the slightest, I still needed to maintain the act.
Beneath the hood, however, was a skeletal fra.
I sighed. "Nice work."
Amy bead with a wide smile. "Yeah, you too."
'How long are they planning on watching?' I frowned, uneasy at having soone mask their presence so close by.
As if responding to my thoughts, a group of ten grown n erged from behind one of the ruins.
"Hello there!" ca the greeting.
Amy let out a shriek upon seeing figures who clearly weren't among our classmates.
I couldn't bla her, if I hadn't transmigrated, I'd likely have reacted the sa way, considering special-grade dungeons weren't well-known.
"I saw your fight, my lady. It was truly splendid," said a man with black hair and brown eyes, clearly the group's leader.
The rest of the n nodded in unison, turning toward with evident disdain.
"So, are you heading to the East Temple, my lady?" he asked.
'East Temple.'
I knew that na far too well—it was a death zone in Nefertari and one of the few possible gate locations, but also ho to a colossal Sequence Six drifter.
'What are these n scheming.' I wondered.
Amy looked at . After noting my unbothered expression, she replied, "Why do you ask?"
For a mont, her tone caught off guard. But that was the other side of Amy—the not so bubbly side.
The man resud his flattery, now slightly agitated. "My lady, we rely wish to know if we may accompany you."
Activating Clairvoyance, I began analyzing the mana signatures in the air. Judging by the density present, it was safe to assu all of them were at least C-rank, one rank above mine. Still, I doubted any of them could defeat —except perhaps their leader.
"So, what do you say, my lady?" The man's eyes narrowed like a fox's as he extended his hand.
Amy glanced at for guidance, and I nodded.
"Okay, we can travel together."
The n grinned, their body language betraying their hidden intentions. But they weren't the only ones with sothing to gain from this alliance.
Since I already knew our destination, it was wise to devise a plan that extracted maximum benefit from the situation.
The first piece of intel I obtained from Amy's exchange with the leader was confirmation that the temple we sought existed.
I was also able to validate Amy's theory that the dungeon was incomplete.
Because of this, the n's dialogue glitched often tis, and I sensed sothing ominous about them—likely stemming from interference by demonic humans.
We continued heading north, with relegated to baggage duty as they viewed as a weakling.
Amy did her best to help, but I declined each ti. It wasn't that I couldn't display my strength during battles against drifters—but the timing wasn't right.
After repeatedly simulating my plan, I could now predict my victory with a high degree of certainty.
"This much should be enough." I muttered, zipping up the large brown bag.
My primary objective was to reach the temple and escape the dungeon with Amy. For that, we needed soone to lure the massive drifter if we couldn't defeat it—though I had no intention of letting so many stat points slip away.
My secondary goal was to access the temple's hidden chamber, assuming it existed. Inside was soone I had to obtain at any cost—my first Mage Saint.
And lastly, though less critical, I planned to advance to C-rank.
That night, I plucked a specific weed planted around the camp and entered my tent. It was obvious the group harbored immoral intentions toward Amy—and not just her. They had also hidden another girl in a dinsional bag.
Without Clairvoyance, I wouldn't have noticed. But the n had previously encountered one of our classmates and sealed them away, perhaps to force submission or for sothing even worse.
I lay on the floor of my tent, staring at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep.
Raising my hand and clutching at the air, I sighed. I wasn't entirely certain of what I was about to do, or whether doing it ant I was no longer human.
"Why is everything so complicated?" I whispered. "Since I can't sleep, I might as well do sothing."
I had delayed it far too long, but it was ti to begin testing the new abilities I had acquired—except for Acid Manipulation, which I had already practiced.
My primary focus now was Weaving and my Transcendent Vestige—Star of Ruin.
Taking a deep breath, I summoned the vestige. The light that appeared was blinding but quickly faded. I felt my mana being siphoned like a vacuum.
Gritting my teeth, I forced the vestige to materialize. As my vision recovered from the initial light, a white orb of light tinged with multicolored hues, ford in my once empty palm
[User's mana is diminishing rapidly.]
My body weakened steadily, but through sheer will, I shaped the white orb into a gun—albeit not fully ford.
Steading my shaking arms, I looked through my tent.
When I pulled the trigger, a regular-sized bullet discharged, piercing my tent completely.
But just before I collapsed from mana exhaustion, I saw it clearly—the bullet shot through the fog and struck a massive abomination moving within it.
[YOU HAVE CRITICALLY INJURED A SEQUENCE FOUR DRIFTER]
[DUE TO IMPOSSIBLE FEAT, USER HAS EARNED 9 STAT POINTS]
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