“I really hope the calculations I did in my head are at least mostly correct.” Taking in a deep breath, Valyr stared at the aberrations slowly coming to as he firmed his grip over his spear. “Then again, even if my stats were reduced to the lowest they could go due to the curse, I’d probably still have more firepower compared to when I was using magic.”

‘With how you’ve enhanced my offensive capabilities, Master, I am highly certain that you’d be able to accomplish what you’ve set out to do.’ Surprisingly, the spear responded to his words in his mind, emanating a confident yet cheerful vibe in every word it spoke. ‘Though, I still feel guilty over the fact that I’ve become a detriment to you than a boon, Master.’

“If there’s anyone we should blame, then that should be the Alltide,” said Valyr in response, his grip over the spear becoming even firmer with every passing second. “Also, I apologize for not using you more often in combat, Sana. I hope this trial will satiate your hunger for combat.”

‘As long as I’m with you, Master, then I’m more than satisfied.’ Hearing the words Sana said to him in response, Valyr let out a brief chuckle before letting out a long and drawn-out sigh. Then, with a determined expression, he began to activate all of the offensive boosts in his arsenal, gazing at the group of aberrations now madly dashing towards him with Hunter’s Tracking Eyes pushed to its very limits.

“Limit Break!”

“Rage of the True Wyvern!”

“Intermediate Fire Magic Style: Blazing Vigor!”

“Offense Aura !”

Whoosh! 𝑂𝗏𝒍xt.𝗇𝓔t

Seeing that the aura of their sole opponent had undergone a massive increase within a short amount of time, rather than hesitate and wait for their opponent to return to their normal state, the group of aberrations instead headed towards Valyr with far greater fervor, the yearning to slaughter the young man now greatly evident in their every movement.

“Shadow Serpent Combat Style…” Feeling the spear beginning to siphon his strength, the young man slowly pointed the spear downward before calling upon the Shadow Energy hidden near his heart. With a faint thump, great amounts of the dark energy started to flow throughout his body, all of which ended up on the spear tip, dying it a pure black.

Keeping his emotions tranquil, Valyr allowed the power within the spear to brew as he waited for the aberrations to get closer. At the very moment he felt like all of the aberrations would take the full force of his attack, the young man unhesitatingly swept the spear upward, causing a wave of dark energy to swiftly appear, the size of it far greater than any wave he had conjured in the past.

“Tide of the Dark Night!”

Whoosh!

“Grrrwwwaaaggghhh!!!” With great strength imbued into the attack, the wave of Shadow Energy commanded a greatly intimidating momentum as it made its way towards the aberrations, briefly dyeing the ground it passed a deathly gray. Seeing the wave of pure energy appear before them, the aberrations at the very front of the group summoned all of their strength in their bodies before slamming both arms to the ground, thinking that such a move was more than enough to dispel it.

However…

Bang!

Oblivious to the strength the aberrations wielded, the wave of dark energy soon made contact with the aberrations, gradually sending all of them flying as its momentum grew with every passing second. Watching the effects of his skill from afar with Hunter’s Tracking Eyes activated, Valyr could only stare at the sight before him with wide eyes as the wave continuously pummeled the aberrations before eventually rendering them lifeless.

“…” Being left at a loss for words as he was reminded of how much power there was left in him, the young man blinked for a few times before affixing the spear to his back, feeling the strength siphoned by the spear gradually returning to him. Inwardly glad at the fact that he would basically be able to attack every wave that came at him with his strongest move, Valyr could not stop his eyes from reddening.

Opening up the description of Shadow Serpent Combat Style as he waited for the aberrations to revive, Valyr looked at its contents with a renewed sense of hope as he wanted to familiarize himself with the skill once more after not using for quite a while.

Unsurprisingly, with how high his DEX had become after reaching the peak of Rank 3, the final move of the skill was finally unlocked, causing his eyes to widen with excitement as he read through the final move’s capabilities.

————

————

‘It won’t hurt to try it out, right?’ Closing the screen he had brought up, it went without saying that the young man was more than eager to use the move on the aberrations. However, after thinking about it for a bit, Valyr eventually decided to shelf the idea for now, saving it for a later time where he needed the firepower that the ultimate move supplied.

Nevertheless, with the setup of the waves allowing the weakening of his strength to reset every time he made a move, the young man had regained a bit of hope that he might able to see the trial all the way through. Of course, he reminded himself to not become too optimistic, knowing that there was the possibility that the Gates of Enlightenment might throw a curveball at him by the time he achieved his 1000th kill.

Fortunately, it did not take long for him to find out the answer to that thought.