While his magic was being absorbed throughout the day, Enrico trained and fought several Nartheis. After exhausting his mana, he deactivated the fire line so he could recover, then went back to training. Once his mana was fully restored, he created the fire line again, reconnecting it to the ice. Throughout the entire day, he repeated this training, and at night he completely turned off his magic lines to fully rest his body.
[You finally stopped that insane training]
'I don't think this training is that insane'
Enrico sat on the ground while his body was full of open wounds. That was because he only used his sixth-circle power during fights against the Ranvil-level Nartheis that kept appearing. Apparently, the Nartheis in this area had been controlled by those five, so when they disappeared, the rest headed straight toward him to fight.
[You don't think so? At least forty Ranvil showed up in just one day to fight you, and there's still another one waiting for you to let your guard down]
In a hidden area, a saber-toothed tiger Nartheis watched from the shadows, waiting for the exact moment to strike—perhaps waiting for him to fall asleep. After all, even though Enrico had been fighting all day, it was already night, and no matter how strong he was, he would eventually succumb to sleep. He was still human, and humans were easy to hunt when they closed their eyes.
'A smart strategy… too bad I'm not the type that needs rest'
[You do, your insane mind is just forcing your body to endure it]
'In my dictionary, that's a compliment'
Placing his hand over his knee, he looked up at the sky filled with stars and stayed there, staring without paying attention to the saber-toothed tiger. Something a Nartheis with an animal mind might interpret as an opening to approach—but this one wouldn't risk jumping at his neck. Its instincts told it to wait.
'In my life, my instincts have never failed'
The Nartheis sank deeper into the shadows while Enrico kept looking at the sky, his eyes focused only on the emptiness between the stars.
'Its instincts are good'
Enrico was doing everything possible to hide his true intent. The problem was that he hadn't expected his opponent to have such strong survival instincts. That wouldn't work if things continued like this, so he decided to wait until he recovered a bit more mana.
After a few hours, Enrico finally closed his eyes and emptied both his body and mind of any thoughts, using his deep water magic to sink even deeper into his own consciousness.
'It worked'
With a small smile appearing, he let himself fall to the left, dodging a claw covered in mana that came toward him. Locking both of his legs around the saber-toothed Nartheis's legs, he gripped them tightly. Rolling to the side with force, the Nartheis was dragged along and slammed its head hard against the ground.
'How… how did he deceive my instincts?'
Purple blood ran down its head. Using its magic to free itself, it leapt into the air, trying to create distance—but a fire arrow struck its shoulder with force, dragging its body across the frozen houses, destroying them completely.
"Enough of this hiding—come fight me head-on"
'Humans are always idiots'
The Nartheis kicked off the ice below, stopping with the help of its claws. With force, it launched itself toward Enrico. Now that it had been discovered, the only thing left was to fight for its life, since it was certain it would die even if it tried to flee.
'Now I can only live if he dies'
Even with his injuries, Enrico gave an excited smile, using his deep water magic to regenerate all his wounds. With a single step forward, he activated his burst and exploded in flames, appearing in front of the Nartheis in an instant—his fist already centimeters from its face.
"Zero Impact"
The impact was brutal and direct. Enrico's fist sank into the Nartheis's face, crushing its bones and launching its body into the frozen ground with absurd force as the ice shattered outward like a web of cracks. Even so, the Nartheis reacted at the last instant, twisting its body and driving its claws deep into Enrico's abdomen. Even injured, Enrico didn't retreat for a second. His eyes remained cold and focused as he grabbed the Nartheis's arm to lock its movement, twisting his own body with the attack to reduce the impact and pull the enemy closer at the exact moment intense flames erupted from his body, burning directly into the creature's flesh.
The Nartheis roared in pain, releasing its mana in a violent explosion to push him away. It managed to leap back and try to regain distance, but its body was already compromised—burned, bleeding, and clearly slower. That was enough for Enrico to advance immediately, giving no space. He stepped forward, cracking the ice beneath his feet, then moved even faster—vanishing completely from sight.
The next instant, he was already above the Nartheis, descending with maximum force. The impact slammed the creature's head into the ground with devastating power, further destroying the terrain. Before any reaction was possible, he raised his hand and concentrated fire and pressure into a single dense point, releasing all the energy at once in a precise explosion that completely consumed the enemy, leaving only destruction behind—confirming without a doubt the Nartheis's death.
[Fast and easy]
"Well… if it wasn't easy, it would mean I still haven't reached the level I want"
Enrico placed his hand behind his head, ignoring the destruction he had caused. The opponent wasn't very strong, but it was enough to continue his training. Looking back, he saw that a purple portal had appeared at the point in the ice. That portal was connected to the fire line he had reactivated when he attacked the Nartheis.
"It's time to enter… I hope the body I get is a good one"
[You know it won't be like that]
'Shut up, don't ruin my dreams'