Leila's gaze glowered after she saw her attack fail to put down Astartes.
"You are not bad for a newbie. You have clever tricks. But I will still defeat you with overwhelming power. It is only a matter of time before you run out of power."
She notched another arrow and was about to release her Light Arrow skill.
But Astartes did not even bother to stop her. His gaze was bright with excitement right now when he observed his status panel.
NAME: ASTARTES (HUMAN)
OCCUPATION: RANKER (CLASS E)
STRENGTH: 60
AGILITY: 60
VITALITY: 60
SPIRIT: 60
SKILLS:
Icicle Blast (F)(100) Complete
Darkness Hand (F)(76) Master
Magic Shield (E)(51) Expert
Greater Heal (E)(40) Great
INHERENT SKILL: INFINITE CASTER (Two Slots Available)
Infinite Cast Slot 1: Icicle Blast *(0/1)
Infinite Cast Slot 2: Darkness Hand *(0/1)
Infinite Cast Slot 3: Magic Shield *(0/1)
Infinite Cast Slot 4: Greater Heal *(0/1)
*Occupied slots have a single replacement chance."
After several catacomb raids yesterday, he had finally managed to bring his skill proficiency of the Icicle Blast to the brink of complete proficiency. His Darkness Hand had also nearly reached the brink of master proficiency. The same went for his Magic Shield, which he had used very frequently now and was also on the verge of a breakthrough.
It was another hidden reason behind his acceptance to fight this battle. It was because he wanted to improve his skills! In his eyes, Light Archer Leila was nothing but his whetstone!
Just now, he was able to block the powerful Light Arrow skill from Leila because his [Darkness Hand] skill had finally reached the master proficiency!
Magic Shield had also reached Expert proficiency!
Icicle Blast had also reached Complete proficiency!
He had undergone a complete transformation in the last few seconds.
Therefore, when he faced another Light Arrow attack from Light Archer Leila, he smiled and stepped forward with confidence.
"I must thank you, Leila, for fighting with your full strength. This was a good battle."
As the Light Arrow was about to pierce his body, a one-meter pale blue barrier of mana appeared before him. It was not only one layer but a triple-stacked layer of mana barriers that shimmered with dazzling light and exuded with an overbearing force that stiffled air flow!
[Magic Shield]
BOOM!!!
The Light Arrow collided against the newly improved Magic Shield, but this time, after destroying a single layer of defence, it could not penetrate the second and third layers of defence, which seemed twice and thrice as robust as the first and got deflected away, exploding in the process!
Leila's glorious attack that just threatened Astartes' life earlier had become useless!
Everyone's expression was that of stupefaction and disbelief at the sudden turn of events!
"Monster... he's a monster..." the lead tank muttered.
"I see why he was able to clear the catacombs by himself..." the healer also said hoarsely.
Blaze Beam smiled. "As I said, he is a prodigy. Unlike the rest of us. But the battle is not over yet."
In the arena, Leila had an expression of fear on her face for the first time. "You...you have an ability that can increase the proficiency of your skills?!"
Astartes did not answer.
"So what if you are a genius? You are just a ranker like all of us! I don't believe your constant use of skills has not tired you out by now!"
Leila's gaze became sharp, and her heart blazed with fury. How could she be surpassed by a newbie? She was the second strongest Ranker in this city. How can she let some inexperienced brat get ahead of her! Even if she had to injure herself just to defeat Infinity Mage, she would not hesitate!
She hastily brandished two Spirit Recovery Potions from her spatial belt and chugged them down immediately. Her mana recovered rapidly, and she felt that she had restored about 80% of her mana reserves.
She still had one last skill in store! Her ultimate skill! She was going to win this battle at all costs!
A large, long spear made out of light mana formed in her hand. Leila could feel all the mana that she had recovered immediately get drained into this one skill instantly! Even her vitality was getting drained alongside it!
It was a rare Class E Skill used by a Catacomb Lord, the SkyLight Spear! Any skill that was used by Catacomb Lord was several notches stronger than an average skill!
"DIE!!" Leila shouted as she threw her Skylight Spear skill at Astartes with every remaining ounce of strength she had in her!
The party that watched the battle were shocked by the fact that Leila had managed to obtain such a powerful skill they had no clue about! Blaze Beam's gaze became very serious, and he prepared to intervene to stop the battle, but it was at this time that Astartes also moved.
"If you had used this skill earlier, then I might have lost," Astartes said calmly as he stood in place, looking straight at the massive spear that was coming at him. With the speed and power of this attack, dodging would result in severe casualties. Therefore, he chose to face it head-on!
"But you are no longer my opponent."
As he said this, he had already cast his skill.
[Icicle Blast]
A bright blue pillar of light shone throughout the arena.
What should have been twenty ice longswords now became a single massive five-meter blade of ice!
A gigantic ice sword!
Its sight was magnificent, and the power it exuded was not inferior to that of the skylight spear!
It was glorious!!
BOOM!!!
A grand rumbling sound and shockwave erupted in the arena as the two massive attacks collided and shook the entire place! It was a destructive clash that destroyed the arena utterly!
The Skylight Spear unleashed an incredible force that could kill outright any Class E monster and any Class F Catacomb Lord in one shot, and even heavily injure a Class E Catacomb Lord. However, compared to the Ice Sword that seemed to have been made out of a glacial ice millenniums old, it lasted no more than three seconds before it was obliterated into light particles.
The massive ice sword paused when it was inches away from piercing through Leila's head. Her eyes trembled with fear, seeing death so close. But even just by being so close, Leila's forehead had received a slight cut from the energy of the sword alone, and blood streaked down her forehead.
She fell to her knees in resignation and collapsed in defeat.
The outcome of this great battle had come to an end!
Light Archer Leila, Vice Branch Chief of the RA and the second strongest ranker in Yosemite City, was defeated!
She was defeated by the newbie ranker, the prodigious ranker, the Infinity Mage.
Throughout the battle, this monstrous genius was not harmed or injured. He did not even seem to have broken a sweat. And there was no sign that he had run out of mana. It was simply unbelievable in everyone's eyes!
Such a powerful ranker!
A new star was born. One that would change the face of Yosemite City!
Astartes deactivated his skills and walked towards Leila. He immediately cast his [Greater Heal] skill on her multiple times until she recovered her vitality and woke up. She looked at him with a mixed expression and could not bring herself to speak, but Astartes did not pay attention to that. After he healed her completely, walked away.
"If there are no more obstructions, then I will be leaving now, Branch Chief Blaze Beam," Astartes glanced at him and said.
"There are none, Infinity Mage." Blaze Beam shook his head and smiled. He did not know when, but he started to view Astartes as his near peer already and addressed him more formally. "You may proceed. We shall storm the Orc Ruins Catacomb in the next three days. We will make our individual preparations before then. Then will annihilate the Orc Chief together."
"Very well then," Astartes replied and left.
Leila stood up slowly and stared long in the direction that Astartes had left, and could not bring herself to say anything for a long time, only clenching her fists tightly and vowing to herself not to suffer such a humiliating defeat again.
Unfortunately, she may have made Astartes her greatest rival, even greater than Blaze Beam, but it was clear that the latter did not see her in the same way.
She had to reach D Rank at all costs! If she really wanted to challenge him again!
Blaze Beam was delighted. He not only gained a powerful ally, but he was able to spur on his teammates to improve more quickly, seeing that even a newbie like Infinity Mage was so much more powerful than they were.
He had a feeling of hope in his heart that, slowly but surely, the winds of change were blowing within this city. Perhaps, this bleak fate ahead of them still had a very small but possible chance of changing.
He had to improve, too! Leila was not the only one who felt pressured by the glorious power of the Infinity Mage!