While Elio's group practiced, in the challenge's outer tunnel, Milo, Nessa, Kai, and Arnaud prepared for their own ascension to level 8.
With Elio's group now at level 8, a new group could advance without affecting the tunnel's construction speed too much.
Progress was unstoppable; each new day brought them closer to being ready.
Humanity's general strength increased day by day.
'But will it be enough?' Elio wondered, watching his companions prepare for another attempt.
The Artromus was still out there, and each passing day was another day closer to an inevitable encounter or barrier failure.
Although fortunately, Lucien's ssages indicated that the barrier would remain stable for quite a while longer, 0 failures.
But they couldn't be complacent... Elio returned his attention to the group facing the Locus today.
"A clean cut," i observed as the Locus's head fell. "But the thorax..."
"Is the hardest part," Elio completed. "Try it."
Kriz was the first to move, his blade describing an arc toward the monster's center. The blade's tal, that alloy that Elio had perfected at level 10, found imdiate resistance and got stuck halfway.
"It won't yield!" Kriz grunted, pushing with more force.
A sharp crack resonated through the chamber. The blade, subjected to too much pressure, began to crack.
"Back off!" Elio warned, but it was too late.
The alloy fragnted, pieces of tal falling to the ground like tallic rain.
"Damn it," Brok muttered, studying his own blade. "I thought since it was your alloy..."
"They're not indestructible like the god exchange weapons," i was already analyzing the fragnts. "These have a resistance limit, no matter how powerful the alloy."
"Chemical magic has its limits," Elio nodded.
The realization was important: no weapon created by them would be truly indestructible.
Brok tried the next attack, choosing a different angle. His blade resisted longer, but the result was the sa: broken tal and the Locus's torso, though with a large cut, was still in one piece.
"We need more power," Kriz suggested.
"Or a different strategy," i corrected, her eyes shining with a nascent idea.
The Locus, still headless, remained standing, as if mocking their failed attempts.
"My turn," Zara stepped forward, her 58 points of magical damage backed by the level 8 summon and level 9 power.
The blade in her hands glowed as magnetism flowed through the tal.
The attack flew at high speed.
Her cut was precise, finding the center of the Locus's torso. For a mont, it seed it would et the sa resistance as her companions, but then...
The tal went through the flesh, barely, as if cutting through flesh instead of butter.
"You did it," Kriz murmured, observing the deep wound.
"But it was different from the neck," i observed, squinting to examine the cut. "The thorax's chitinous armor... resists differently."
"The damage is the sa," Brok comnted, "but it's as if..."
"Like our armor," i snapped her fingers, understanding illuminating her eyes. "The system equalizes damage absorption, doesn't it? When we're hit, it doesn't matter if it's on a plate or black fabric, the resistance reduction is the sa."
Elio nodded, rembering his own observations. "But the ease of cutting..."
"...It's like when Fathoran cut Selene's arm..." Elio stopped, his hand unconsciously touching where his armor's fabric covered his arm. "Or the Artromus. They always aim for areas covered by fabric, not the plates."
"Exactly," i beca animated, her analytical mind working at full speed. "The system's damage is distributed equally, but the physical resistance to cutting is different. It's like... as if the resistance stopped belonging to the system and beca more realistic."
"Then," Kriz smiled, a dangerous gleam in his eyes, "we just need to find the weak points."
"The joints," suggested Brok.
"The articulations," Zara nodded.
"The spaces between plates," i completed.
Each discovery, each small victory, brought them closer to understanding not only their opponents but also their own capabilities and limitations.
♢♢♢♢
In the days following the discovery of the Locus's weak points, Elio continued with his own experints.
After several attempts, he finally felt he had found that precise balance.
As had beco routine, Elio brought the Locus to the frenzy threshold. The monster roared, its body emanating that characteristic glow that marked the start of the critical three minutes.
The first jump ca, explosive, lethal. But this ti, Elio didn't activate any impulse. Instead, he allowed that strange ability marked as "A" to flow through him.
The Locus cut through the air where Elio had been a fraction of a second before.
No impulses, no blood in his eyes, just a fluid and precise movent.
"He did it," i whispered, her analytical eyes catching every detail. "And without forcing his limits."
"How should we call it then?" Kriz smiled as Elio dodged another impossible attack. "'Active Mode' cuz of the 'A'?"
"'Overboost'," i corrected, her mind already cataloging the patterns she had observed for days. "Like forcing a body beyond its normal limits."
Elio moved like water between the Locus's attacks, his body operating at that precise limit he had discovered. "The equivalent of 3.9 perception," he murmured to himself, keeping his enhanced perception just below the critical threshold.
If he didn't exceed the threshold, he could use his increase as much as he wanted.
The effort was minimal, barely a buzz in his brain, nothing compared to the bleeding he experienced when exceeding 4 points. It was like walking on a razor's edge, but now he understood exactly where that edge was.
"It seems that 'A' allows us to exceed our limits," i explained as they watched. "But the cost..."
"Is proportional to the excess," Zara completed.
Elio jumped backward dodging another attack. His speed, normally limited to 10 points, brushed 19.9 without causing damage to his muscles.
The Locus launched its final attack before the frenzy exhausted. Elio dodged it with precision that seed to defy physics, his body operating in that perfect space between limit and excess.
"It's like muscles before the system," Brok reflected as the monster collapsed, exhausted. "You can force it beyond its normal capacity, but..."
"But there's a point where the damage exceeds the benefit," i completed.
Kriz whistled low. "So, 19.9 speed without using mana? That's..."
"Almost double," Zara nodded. "But the Artromus..."
She didn't need to finish the sentence. Everyone knew that the creature watching from above could reach 40 points of speed with no apparent effort.
"At least now we better understand our limits," i frantically wrote in her book. "We can operate at maximum without hurting ourselves."
It was progress, yes, but as he looked toward the chamber's ceiling, Elio couldn't help but wonder if it would be enough when the ti ca to face the real enemy.
Tomorrow the builders will reach the second deposit.
Reviews
All reviews (0)