As Lassim erged from the shimring portal, the air around him shifted, becoming dense. It was filled with a tension only similar to the ti he competed in the arena battle all those years ago against #16, Marissa.
There was a colliseum-like vibe that clung to the air, and a sensation of being watched by a handful of spectators, though he could spot none.
The serene mossy forest of willow trees of the last trial was left behind, and in its place stretched an ancient looking arena with pathways atop stone pillars.
Each pathway led to a gate, each etched with intricate runes that pulsed with a different colored light each. Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow.
Lassim could even see how beyond each gate led to a different landscape through each of the corridors they led to.
The familiar androgynous voice echoed through the space, its tone calm and resonant.
"Congratulations, Lassim. You have done well to co this far," the voice said, its words carrying a subtle weight. "Your final trial lies ahead. Defeat the shades of the Four Guardians of the Celestial River, and gather the pearl fragnts they guard. Only then will you be granted your reward."
The voice paused briefly before adding, "Rember, even the most formidable foes have weaknesses. Find them, and you will prevail."
With that, the voice faded, leaving Lassim standing in the arena with a choice to make.
Ahead of him, the four pathways extended from the central platform, each one leading to a different guardian, presumably.
Without hesitation, he chose the pathway on the left, the air around it tinged with a deep, icy blue.
The temperature dropped as he ventured down the pathway, the chill seeping into his bones.
The walls of the corridor began to glisten with frost, and the sound of dripping water echoed through the narrow space.
As Lassim continued forward, the pathway opened into a vast, frozen underground cavern.
In the center of the icy cavern lay a massive underground lake, its waters dark and depths imperceptible.
The surface of the lake was eerily still, reflecting the jagged frozen stalactites that hung from the ceiling above.
There was an unnatural silence here, the kind that made the hairs on the back of Lassim’s neck stand on end.
He took a cautious step forward, his boots sliding slightly on the ground beneath him.
The cold intensified as he approached the edge of the lake. His breath turned into a foggy mist with each step forward.
Lassim summoned and tightly gripped his halberd as he scanned the lake, his spirit sense unable to probe into its depths. Yet, he could certainly feel a strong power resided within.
*Splash!*
The water rippled suddenly, the calm surface breaking as sothing massive broke free.
Lassim’s heart quickened, and he activated [Tempest Steps] to shoot backwards, dodging a beam of cold icy mana that shot towards his previous spot.
Where he had stood was not a dense pillar of ice that rose up from the ground where the ice beam struck. The temperature in the cave plumted even further, and the air grew dense with frost.
Then, Lassim looked towards his opponent as it erupted with a roar that shook the very walls of the cavern. A sapphire serpent had erupted from the depths of the lake.
The creature was colossal, its sinuous body shimring with scales as hard and as brilliant as polished sapphires. Its eyes glowed with a cold, icy blue light, fixed intently on Lassim.
The serpent’s mouth opened wide, revealing rows of needle-sharp teeth that glead like ice.
The serpent moved to coil in the air above the lake, its body twisting and turning with a fluidity that was like a twisting river’s path in a delta.
It hovered in the air with a sparkling glittery use of icy mana. The cold radiating from the creature was overwhelming, turning the very air around it into a frozen mist.
Lassim could feel the power of the creature, Approximately Spirit Ascension 5. Definitely sothing he could easily overpower with his full strength, but this would be a considerable or even sowhat impossible challenge for any other peak Spirit Transformation stage cultivator.
Without warning, the serpent struck with blinding speed, its jaws snapping shut re inches from where Lassim had been standing.
He leaped to the side with [Tempest Steps] once more, his halberd slicing through the air in a swift arc in reply as he dodged.
The blade t the serpent’s scales with a sharp clang, but instead of cutting through, it skidded off, sending a shower of sparks into the air.
Lassim’s eyes widened—his attack had done nothing at all. The serpent’s scales were too hard, its defenses too strong.
"[Hmm? That’s not right.]" He thought.
He attempted again, this ti using a wall of the cavern to push off, jumping towards the serpent in the air as he perford a series of rapid [Thrusts], 7 lightning bolts all charged and made their way to strike the scales of the sapphire serpent.
He gritted his teeth, barely dodging as the serpent lunged again, its massive tail whipping through the air with the force of a hurricane.
As he kept dodging the gales, he observed where he struck and saw that there was no observable damage whatsoever. This should be impossible considering even his regular blows should be at the first level of the Spirit Transcendent stage.
He needed a new approach. Brute force wasn’t going to work here.
Lassim’s mind raced as he evaded another strike, the serpent’s movents becoming more aggressive.
The creature was relentless, its icy breath turning into large beams freezing the very air and ground around where it landed.
Then, it hit him—weakness.
The voice earlier had spoken that even the most formidable foes have a weakness that can be exploited to overco them.
The earlier labyrinth trial had tried to give him a hint as well to the path of success.
The first trial showed him the runes before he even knew they were the key to the exit. The second trial, while not explicitly giving a hint, did show him the value once more in how water elental mana can be versatile and his reward was a way to heal and save those he hadn’t been able to in his vision.
What if this trial was a mixture of the two? Could there be a hint staring him in the face for how to defeat the serpent? One that is an obvious way to use water’s versatility?
"Is it ice?" He questioned out loud as his thoughts raced, dodging another ice beam that nearly clipped his right leg.
The serpent’s affinity for the cold was its strength, but could it also be its weakness?
His only ice skill currently was defensive, but is there a creative way to use ice even further that he could try?
He then spent the next several minutes, repeatedly trying to [Slash] and [Slice] and dive the behemoth serpent around the icy cavern. He observed the snake’s characteristics and behaviors but it wasn’t until he noticed that the snake was intentionally avoiding the icy pillars it spawned with its ice beam that he felt the tickling of an idea beginning to form.
His idea beca solid once the beast seed to need to reset itself by diving into the pond after nearly an hour into the battle. He noticed its scales sowhat shaking, only barely trembling, sothing he might have missed had he not been hawk-eyed staring for any hints or clues to defeating the beast.
He realized it wasn’t immune to the cold. He was feeling the effects two, but the clarity of his mind and the passing massaging and tempering of his body from the Tidal Rune seed to have done wonders at making him more resistant to the freezing temperatures.
He actually had no idea how cold it really was, but with how instantaneously his breath froze and shattered in the air, it was probably so far below anyone should even be capable of living in.
Since the beast wasn’t immune to cold, if he could lower the temperature even further, perhaps he could freeze the serpent’s scales. This might make them brittle and vulnerable to his attacks.
As the serpent lunged once more, Lassim leaped back, channeling his water mana into the surrounding air to summon his [Grand Aegis] technique.
What better way to make things colder than use an ice dragon?
As the ice dragon’s soul took form and spread its wings, his thoughts and intentions were already known and transmitted to the forr guardian.
With the ice dragon’s help, he focused on drawing the heat from the environnt, pushing the temperature lower and lower while dodging the increasingly panicked attacks from the sapphire serpent.
A thick layer of ice began to form on the surface of the lake, creeping up the walls of the cavern and spreading across the ground.
The serpent began to slow, its movents becoming more rigid as the air grew colder.
Frost began to cling to its sapphire scales, the once smooth surface becoming rough and uneven.
Lassim continued to channel his energy, this ti with more power as he could focus more on channeling the heat out of the cave since the attacks relented.
He focused on intensifying the cold until the very sparkling glittery water mana around the serpent that kept it in the air began to freeze as well.
The serpent gave one last roar in frustration, its breath coming out in visible clouds of vapor.
It then fell and crashed into the surface of the frozen pond, shattering the ice and thrashing around.
It splashed the water as it tried to escape the ice, but that only sped up the freezing process further.
Its once fluid movents beca sluggish as the cold sapped its strength.
Lassim watched closely, waiting for the right mont.
When he saw the frost spreading across the serpent’s entire body to eventually reach and cover its eyes in a layer of frost, he knew it was ti.
With a shout, Lassim charged forward, his halberd raised high.
Lassim’s blade descended with a powerful [Slam] with the power of a tsunami in weight of water mana behind the blade, striking the serpent’s scales with all the force he could muster.
This ti, the scales shattered.
The serpent howled in pain, recoiling as shards of sapphire flew into the air.
Lassim pressed his advantage, slamming again and again, each blow breaking through the brittle armor.
Dark blue ichor began to seep from the serpent’s wounds, staining the icy surface of the lake.
Reviews
All reviews (0)