As we walk closer and closer to our destination, the odd feeling of being watched from a distance doesn't change at all.
The air feels rather dense with mana, almost like a dungeon break... but not quite.
The peculiar dark floating particles become much more visible in the air.
I hear Abby's high-pitched voice call out from the front of our formation while watching her green ponytails bob up and down as she jumps in the air.
"Look! It's right there! We made it!"
My eyes perk up as I see the faint glow of a boss room portal twisting and fluctuating on the horizon. There's only one hunter beside it, the exam monitor.
Maria replies to her in an optimistic tone.
"Exciting!"
Then scrounges her nose and clicks her tongue lightly.
"But... are we ready for this..?"
I smirk.
"I am. I've been itching for a fight."
Arie chuckles.
"You just had a pretty intense battle."
I roll my eyes and look back at him with a scowl, then a playful smile.
"Yeah, but it was cut short! Somebody had to jump in and save the day."
He sighs.
Maria laughs.
"I'm sure we'll get a good fight, and win! I'm confident in my abilities."
She looks over to Bruce, Nessa, and Abby with concern plastered across her face.
Abby's face goes red as she replies.
"Hey! What are you trying to say? I can handle whatever is thrown at me too, just watch!
Nessa tightens the grip on her sword nervously as Bruce smirks and replies while lifting his left wrist in the air.
"Don't worry about us, we'll fight until the end no matter what. Even if we face an opponent too tough, we've got-"
He looks Maria up and down, then locks eyes on her left arm.
"Where's your bracelet?!"
She hides her wrists behind her back.
"I-Uh The thing is-"
I cut her off.
"It's a long story... I'm surprised it took you this long to notice."
Everyone's eyes are focused on Maria, but she breaks the silence after a few seconds bringing her hands back to her front side.
"As I said, I'm confident in my abilities! You all just worry about yourselves."
She blushes a bit, and the group takes it as a sign not to push her any further.
We continue forward and I hear Arie whisper something under his breath.
"Very, very interesting..."
As the six of us approach, the monitor waves us down and calls out.
"Welcome, welcome! You all know the rules, line up."
Abby looks back and gives us all a firm nod.
"I'm going first."
I look over to Maria to see her sifting through her item box. She pulls out over half a dozen MP potions and splits them between Bruce, Abby, and Nessa.
"Just in case. I want them back once you all make it through! It's... Really, just in case."
They accept them hesitantly.
Then Abby replies with a grin while glowing bright green.
"Thanks. I appreciate you, Maria. I'll see all of you on the other side."
She jumps through without another word.
Bruce and Nessa stand up front. Maria is behind them, followed by me, and Arie patiently waits at the back of the line.
"Next!"
One by one my teammates jump through the swirling portal in front of me.
"Next!"
The monitor nods to me, then I jump through with my sword held tightly between my palms.
I step through the twisting wall of energy to find myself in a very similar environment on the other side. The ground is flat and stretches out in all directions. There's no end in sight.... The black particles floating off the ground are even bigger and more visible.
The eerie feeling of being watched becomes much more intense. I can feel the weight of ten times the eyes watching my every movement. There is malicious intent, but whatever is observing seems to be more curious, than eager for a brawl.
I grit my teeth and begin activating all my relevant skills. A dark red aura forms around my body as I scan the area with inspect, enemy detection, and appraisal in all directions.
I feel a shift in the energy as the gaze upon me blinks momentarily.
"So you don't like it when I look back at you?"
I grin as its stats show up in my mind's eye.
[150m]
[Lv. 310]
Active Items:
[Amulet of Protection] +50% Defense
[Medallion of Mental Fortitude] +50% Mental Strength
Active Skills:
All-Seeing Eye
Telekinesis
The moment I lock onto my target, I turn my head to look in its direction. To my surprise, the moment I do, an eruption of rock takes place 100m or so in front of me obstructing my vision.
I smirk and ignite my sword into a dull flicker of flames while darting off in the direction of the flying rock.
Within a few seconds, I close the gap between us to under 50m. Another explosion blows chunks of stone up to 3m wide up in the air. They seem to float for longer than normal, letting whatever beast is behind the barrier of rubble slip away unnoticed.
"Come on out! Let me get a good look at ya!"
I burst into flames while cutting through the flying rocks making my way closer and closer to the elusive monster.
The piles of large black rocks begin reforming as I cut them down slowing me as I draw nearer and nearer.
"Telekinesis huh? Two can play that game!"
I stop in my tracks while focusing on the floating debris all around me. The force of a monster with incredible mental strength is controlling these slabs of stone. The rocks shift and begin closing in toward me from all directions.
The aura around me darkens and I release a wave of telekinesis to sense all the mounds of earth hurdling my way.
An invisible force of artificial unwavering gravity pushes these stones at me while watching from a distance. The monster feels my mind attempting to push back but doesn't give me much attention at first. It's focused on a singular task. It must eliminate the threat without being seen. That threat is me....
I let out a loud yell while straining my brain to gain control of the walls of massive incoming rocks. With a violent release of my intimidation skill, a wave of energy is sent out into our battlefield's mental ether. The invisible wave of energy travels through layers of stone for over 50m before hitting its target.
Then, I feel the monster experience a moment of shock and awe...
The creature's mental grip loosens for a fraction of a second, so I jump in for the kill.
*THUDDDDD*
All of the mounds of projectiles fall to the ground with the deafening thud of stone on stone. I strain my telekinesis ability to its limits while clearing a path toward my new prey.
This unknown monster is less than 30m away now and the suspense is killing me. What kind of beast has powers like this?
I continue ripping through fallen rock with a fiery sword while battling the startled monster in a duel of wills.
Its mental strength has fully returned and it's attempting to lift the rocks again. The monster stays in the same place while doing so. Its multitasking skills must be limited while expending this much mana.
I smirk as I come within 10m blasting away the final walls of debris with wind magic and slashes of dark crimson fire energy.
As the dust settles I take in the view of my opponent and let out a declaration of war.
"IT IS TIME FOR THE GREAT REVEA- What... the..."
An enormous floating eye blinks at me two times very slowly as we stare at each other in awe. The top of its body is nearly level with my own. It's... much smaller than I imagined it'd be...
The monster hovers about half a meter above the ground and has close to a dozen tentacles protruding from its dark green circular body. Its skin is coarse-looking, and the faint rotten smell of old sour bread lingers in the air. Each of the beast's slimy limbs is no more than a few centimeters thick but they flow outwards in all directions exceeding its actual body's length by two or three times.
A wide open mouth of razor-sharp jagged teeth directly below its eye growls at me as the creature takes advantage of the break in fighting.
I watch it fly upwards attempting to escape from its imminent demise.
"Not so fast!"
I begin forming dense pockets of air beneath my feet and follow the monster upwards. I step onto nothingness, but continuously use the force of my wind magic under each of my long strides to push me farther into the air.
I grin as I feel the air flow by my face and the rush of a difficult chase fills my blood with adrenaline.
My acceleration stays constant as the distance between me and the floating monstrosity decreases.
My blade begins to glow bright red and my aura burns darker and darker. I creep up to it within striking distance and launch an attack.
The two of us are flying over 20m in the air. I bring my sword down on the creature with a powerful swift motion. Half of its tentacles are under my blade, and it's surely a direct hit to the main body as well.
As my glowing weapon travels downwards, I feel the odd sensation of being watched again... It's like there's eyes on me from all directions. Any way I turn my head, I won't be able to see where it's coming from. No matter what I hide behind, these eyes will always see me.
*SHINGGGGG*
I follow through with my attack despite the odd violating sensation.
My eyes open wide as I watch each individual tentacle twist and turn to avoid my blade by mere millimeters and the large round body makes a 90-degree turn in mid-air to avoid my attack.
The movements look so natural and graceful.
I grit my teeth and kick off an invisible pocket of my wind magic to mimic its sudden turn and follow close behind.
The feeling of being watched from every single fathomable angle does not stop. This must be a result of its "All-Seeing Eye" ability.
It appears this monster is going to be a tougher opponent than I thought.