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n“…and to think that I had doubts of him succeeding earlier.” Watching the fight between Valyr and the Juvenile Shadow Serpent unfold, Noel let out a mocking chuckle directed at himself as he recalled the pessimistic thoughts he had around the beginning of the fight.

nThen again, if one were in his shoes and found out that Valyr had only landed one hit on the serpent so far, they would also feel a sense of despair, thinking that they would have to intervene the very moment the young man’s injuries turned severe.

nHowever, contrary to his earlier pessimistic thoughts, Valyr eventually found a way to deal damage to the serpent, taking advantage of the fact that the Shadow Serpent would become immobilized whenever it would use magic.

nDue to it being considered juvenile, the Shadow Serpent still had no control over the amount of Shadow Energy and mana it infused into every attack, something Noel realized by the time the Shadow Serpent had sent out its second magic attack during the fight.

nFortunately, the young man had also realized it during that time.

nWith that, Valyr flung a few magic attacks here and there whenever the serpent was immobile, slowly whittling down the Juvenile Shadow Serpent’s health as he gradually gained the confidence to unleash stronger and stronger attacks.

nBang!

n“He’s definitely shown more than enough through this fight that he’s worthy of inheriting the true subclass.” Muttering these words to himself, Noel took in a deep breath to remove the astonishment he felt from watching Valyr stand his ground with ease, showcasing a level of combat experience that would rarely be found in a teenager as young as him.

n“Hmm?” However, just as he thought that the fight would eventually without much fanfare due to the weakness the young man had found, the serpent had undergone through a massive change all of a sudden, siphoning a great portion of the ambient Shadow Energy within the area before using it to cover its entire body a few seconds later.

n“A berserk phase.” Realizing what was happening, Noel clicked his tongue as he activated his identification skill, only to click his tongue once more as he looked at the serpent’s empowered stats.

nDing!

n————

nJuvenile Shadow Serpent (Ancient Elite) (Level 55 | Boss)

nClass: Juvenile Shadow Serpent (Rare)

nHP: 18,955

/52,800𝗈𝓥𝐿xt.𝗰𝓞𝓜

nMP: 24,564

/107,712

nStats: 275 (385) VIT, 443 (620) STR, 487 (682) AGI, 762 (1,067) DEX, 748 (1,047) INT, 316 (442) WIS, 275 (385) PER, 151 LUK

nSkills: Shadow Energy Affinity, Shadow Energy Mark, Shadow Serpent Combat Style, Shadow Serpent Movement Style, Shadow Serpent Magic Style, 14 other skills

nRemarks: A catastrophe waiting to burst. Even those of a higher class rank should be wary of its strength.

n————

n‘Though Valyr has done a great job fighting against the serpent so far, he’s still just at the peak of Rank 2.’ Letting out a faint sigh as he thought that it was a waste that Valyr had to abandon a Shadow Serpent that was close to dying, Noel soon began to empower his body with a series of buffing skills… only to stop.

nWhoosh!

nFor a brief moment, Noel felt like an aura had passed through his body, giving him the odd feeling that every nook and cranny of his body was visible to this aura that had just passed. Looking around his surroundings to see where the aura had come from, the old man eventually found the origin of that aura.

nThe young man that he was planning to save.

n“What…” Briefly at a loss for words as he felt the aura surrounding Valyr undergo a drastic change, Noel wondered as to what kind of skill the young man had activated.

n“Hah.” However, just as he had come up with the question, he swiftly discarded it as well, a curious smile creeping up onto his lips as he deactivated all of the buffing skills he had just activated.

n“I guess it won’t be a waste, after all.”

n…

n“Huh.” As he activated Hunter’s Tracking Eyes, Valyr took a look at the status screen he had moved to the side all this time, feeling a wry smile creep up onto his lips as he noticed two of its stats break through the four digit barrier.

nHowever, the tension he felt from thinking about fighting what looked to be his most difficult opponent to date swiftly disappeared once his eyes worked in overdrive, gradually noticing various weak spots that hadn’t been visible to him before.

nWith that, Valyr thought to himself that if he were to have made use of these weak spots during the beginning of the fight, he was certain that he would have reached the berserk phase far earlier. Perhaps, the fight would have already been over if he were to use it at the beginning.

n“I should have really used this earlier,” muttered Valyr to himself as he found more and more weak spots around the serpent, continuing to run around the Shadow Plane in order to find its most vital spot.

nThough Valyr knew that utilizing Hunter’s Tracking Eyes during a fight would allow him to end it faster, there was a part of him that still wanted to find out his limits before having to rely on such a powerful skill as the eyes. In fact, it was the reason why he had not used the skill in the fight, instead relying on the combat style he had been used to.

nHowever, now that he had been left with no choice, he had finally experienced using the skill during an actual fight. With that, he now knew for sure that it would become a staple skill of his soon enough.

n“Found it!” Eventually, after a minute or so of running around the Shadow Plane, Valyr found the serpent’s most vital spot, its position demarcated by a pitch-black circle in the middle of his vision. Knowing what he had to do, the young man swiftly changed his running direction, charging towards the serpent instead of running away from it.

n“Hiss!” Taking it as a sign of provocation, the serpent doubled down on its efforts, slithering through the ground at a far faster speed than before as it aimed to land a strike that would end the human’s life once and for all.

n“Hyah!” Unfortunately, just as Valyr was within the serpent’s striking range, the former jumped into the air with all his might, even going so far as to activate all of the buffing skills he had yet to activate in order for him to reach a higher altitude.

n“Shadow Serpent Style…” With the serpent stopping in place as it knew that catching the human off guard as it fell would be the best way to kill it, Valyr took out his spear whilst in midair, only to position himself in a way that would allow the spear’s tip to arrive at the ground first.

nWhoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

nThen, once he had made sure that the spear tip lined up directly towards the pitch-black circle he could see in his field of vision, Valyr allowed the Shadow Plane’s gravity to do its thing as he began to fall at accelerated speeds, summoning Shadow Energy and mana in the process as the tip soon made contact with a specific portion of the serpent’s back.

n“Strike of the Venomous Night!”

nBang!

n‘-48,545!!!’

n…

n…

n…

nWith a 10 level disparity between the user and the opponent, the amount of experience obtained shall be increased by 200%.

nYou have slain a Level 55 Juvenile Shadow Serpent (Ancient Elite). You have gained 1,541,364 XP.

nYou have completed part of the requirements for the quest: Returning to One’s Roots.

nSlay a Shadow Serpent (1

/1).

nYou have completed the quest: Returning to One’s Roots.

nHead to Noel to receive your rewards.

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