Unlimited Power - The Arcane Path

Despite knowing that the shadowy figure only forced himself to act when he felt that something made of mana that was around, Leon suddenly became weaker. Although that was the case, the shadowy figure finally could see Shadow when he evolved.

Congratulations! The skill Summon Shadow's Fragment evolved to Summon Great Shadow's Fragment.

Cost: 500 mana per second

You obtained 01 status points.

Leon couldn't help but frown while looking at the Shadow's new appearance. Although he had the behavior of a troublesome kid, now he looked devilish, just like Efreet. He had a single horn on his forehead, but he also had the wings of a fallen angel. His hair was long enough to pass even his waist, so it felt bizarre while looking at him since Shadow was a male.

"Master, thank you for…" Shadow said.

"Clothes," Leon interrupted Shadow.

It looked like Shadow really felt thankful for evolving. He even bent his knee and bowed his head while he was thanking Leon. However, Leon didn't want to be thanked by a male for anything while he was naked.

"If you want to thank me, keep working hard," Leon said. "I hope that you will absorb more darkness now in this form."

"Yes, Master." Shadow nodded.

Although his sudden behavior change was suspicious, Leon felt the damage his Mana Armor was receiving decreased considerably. Suddenly, Leon felt shivers, and he concluded that he wouldn't have much time to relax. That bastard finally noticed that even in his domain, he would have to face Leon directly.

"Shadow, can you see him?" Leon asked.

"Yes, but since his mana created this darkness, he doesn't have a physical body," Shadow replied. "This whole world is his physical body now; we won't be able to kill him unless we make him use all the mana at his disposal."

"Fantastic…" Leon said and then sighed. "Anyway, don't kill him. Even if he causes some problems, I still will have some uses for him. Just do your best to stop his attacks.���

"Yes," Shadow nodded.

Leon wondered if cutting the link between that guy and the darkness wouldn't be enough. Usually, in games, bosses would have a relic that needs to be safely guarded in order for them to be able to fight at their max power, but things were different in reality. Only a fool would create spells that would such obvious weaknesses.

Regardless, before Leon could think of a new way to deal with that bastard, he felt his body being pulled by a Black Hole. Amidst that darkness, he couldn't even feel mana properly, so Leon couldn't react in time. Fortunately, Shadow absorbed the mana used, and the effect disappeared.

The same thing happened a few more times, but with some variations. One time the shadowy figure would create two Black Holes around Leon, and some other times, he created some very close to Leon's body in order to destroy his Mana Armor, but Shadow prevented that from happening.

"I guess he is testing my defenses and how well Shadow can deal with his attacks…"

Leon couldn't help but wonder why that guy didn't try Darkness Execution again… that spell would cause a lot of damage, perhaps even more than Shadow could handle. If he could create a continuous version of it, the chances of Leon dying would increase quite a bit, but it looked like he was too scared to make such a bet… or perhaps he couldn't since the darkness was now his body. Either way, Leon had to keep himself focused on using Mana Magnetism.

Again, suddenly, Leon felt his body being pierced and pushed by something. It had the shape of a sword, but given that Leon felt his flesh disappearing just by keeping contact with it, he knew that it was a sword made of darkness.

Congratulations! The skill Darkness Absorption has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Darkness Absorption has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

Congratulations! The skill Darkness Absorption has leveled up.

You obtained 01 status points.

…

"… Damnit," Leon used Teleport to move and checked his wounds.

"He materialized a sword already touching your Mana Armor and body…" Shadow said, astonished. "Forgive me. I didn't react in time."

Leon checked his wounds, and he could only feel the blood flowing and a part of his belly missing. Fortunately, he reacted in time to use Teleport, and Leon recovered pretty fast using Full-Recover, but even if he could do that, Leon's body would pay the toll.

Once again, before he could think or feel anything happening, Leon felt another sword piercing his neck. Thanks to his reflexes, Leon managed to keep his head in the right place, but it was clear that it was just a matter of time.

"Shadow… just absorb all the darkness around us," Leon said. "I will deal with him myself."

"… Understood," Shadow nodded.

Even though Shadow could somewhat see the shadowy bastard, it looked like he didn't have to get that close to creating a magic projectile that could kill Leon. It made sense. Even those effects would decrease the higher the intelligence someone has. Every mage could show their true power even one hundred meters away from their target. In that case, the shadowy figure's true power was enough to grant him the chance to kill Leon before he could even notice.

It wouldn't be that efficient, but Leon activated Dark Aura and then increased its mana output. Thanks to it, he created another spell, one that would protect his body at the cost of his mana.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill: Darkness Armor.

Cost: 15000 mana per second.

You obtained 01 status points.

The next moment, Leon felt something touching his body, and a lot of his mana ended being consumed. However, his body didn't suffer any damage. Darkness Armor was working just the way Leon needed.