Chapter 31: Unforeseen Change
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Just moments after the two duos traveled down their respective paths
"It seems like we were given this path of purpose," Ragna uttered in a deep voice. Simultaneously, peals of electricity snaked around his arms, which added to the overall robustness of his physique. Their faint blue arcs crackled with an energetic vibrance.
"I'm willing to bet that is the truth. This path seemed to have more movements than the other, but I have no issue with this. Not only will I acquire more points, but I'll even curry favor from Matthias. Ah, yes...that's exactly what I will do," Blair answered, cerulean winds overshadowing her flushed cheeks from swooning over Matthias's praise.
"Tch, just when will you learn? You two are from two completely different echelons. Just face it, you'll never reside on the same level as the with the divide in our abilities," Ragna sighed, shaking his head at his fawning friend.
"Shut up! Don't project your negativity onto me. For someone who deals with lightning and electricity, you're overly negative!" Blair scoffed while stomping her foot. When she did so, a burst of air spread out from her.
The disturbance seemed to alert some Knolls by the numerous ear-grating screeches sounding in the distance.
While others would have tensed up in this situation due to the number of screeches, Ragna merely raised his fists, awaiting the inevitable company.
Seconds later, the Knolls appeared while wielding their scimitars. Unlike the others who were empowered by the mysterious wave of mana, these Knolls were normal. In fact, they seemed to be lacking in terms of firepower. Thus, there were no unforeseen developments.
Ragna dashed forward, leaving a trail of scorched earth behind when his lightning whiplashed the ground. Judging by his output, although he was inferior to Elaine in mass destruction, he was nothing to scoff at.
Not only were his strikes extremely powerful, but due to the properties of his lightning, Ragna's movements were rapid and also exhilaratingly sharp as well. Every time he landed a punch, a searing imprint was left upon the point of contact.
On the other hand, Blair was like a blessed maiden of wind. While they weren't overly strong, the volume of her winds was simply astounding. In mere seconds, she overwhelmed one of the Knolls, slamming it into the wall.
The pressure of the winds was so strong, the wall started to give way. Numerous small pieces rolled down as the winds continued to erode the rock. Soon enough, the Knoll suffered a shocking number of bones fractures and lost consciousness. At that time, Blair ended her opponent swiftly, using a blade of wind to decapitate the Knoll.
By the time she killed that Knoll, Ragna had already dealt with 4 Knolls of his own, coming closer to the beginning of the restriction. In fact, he could even see it.
"It's up ahead Blair. It seems like this restriction is just a basic barrier. However, even if it seems simple, never lower your guard."
A few meters up ahead, there was a translucent barrier resembling the material of glass. However, restrictions were odd, to say the least. Although the barrier appeared like glass, the surface was reminiscent of water.
As long as the requirements were met, passing through a restriction was easy. But, if it was the opposite, then the consequence came in an assortment of flavorful variations. Except, Ragna and Blair weren't willing to test those enigmatic waters.
'Let the consequences remain hidden,' Ragna thought to himself before glancing over at Blair. Afterward, both of them shared a nod in tacit understanding.
With the restriction now located, Blair and Ragna moved forward, dealing with their enemies as they saw fit. To reduce the time spent here, when they gathered enough Enhancement Points, they used them to elevate their vessels in their lacking areas.
This wouldn't greatly impact their current Fractal Rating, but it did allow them to grow strong at a respectable pace. Thus, before they knew it, they were inside the restriction, subject to a sea of enemies.
"Oh wow, there's got to be at least 100 of them... Is this where they all gathered to? My god. This is going to be a headache," Ragna groaned. Nevertheless, he still clenched his fist when he thought of the number of points he could amass. The thought then led him to supercharge the lightning flowing around them.
"Should we do that then?" Blair asked, turning towards Ragna with an inquisitive look.
"It looks like that'll be the only way to deal with them all at once," Ragna agreed.
While the Knoll rushed towards them, both Blair and Ragna gathered their mana with signs of intense amounts coming together. A mini vortex formed around Blair, expelling anything that wasn't related to her mana.
Similarly, mighty arcs of lightning lashed from Ragna's body, resembling a lightning war deity. However, their actions were far from over. As their mana levels continued to escalate, they moved closer to one another, holding hands in the end.
After an exhale, Blair extended an open palm to create a sphere of spirited winds rotating rapidly before her hand. The larger it grew, the more strain she felt, which caused protruding veins to appear by her temples.
"Hold it," Ragna exclaimed. He then pointed his hand forward, injecting his own mana into the sphere. The action caused the sphere to electrify. Fortunately, his control was far more than enough to prevent any of the stray currents from damaging Blair.
Finally, Blair couldn't contain the sphere any longer and the Knolls were upon them. Without a choice, she released the sphere and took cover immediately after. Hiding behind one of the sharp rocks, Ragna look towards Blair and chuckled heartedly.
The stream of alert had elated both of them, completely extracting their mind from the exhaustion felt.
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Meanwhile, Lucian and Priscilla had yet to reach any excitement. In fact, Lucian was dreading his life at this very moment. Throughout their entire trek, Priscilla's mouth didn't stop once. She complained the entire time before moving to even more targeted words.
"So, how does it feel to be so weak?" Priscilla questioned derisively.
At first, Lucian tried to ignore her, but she was the type who continued to talk with or without a response. Hence, Lucian decided to just humor her to pass the time.
"The answer is simple. Why not ask your family what it felt like to be an old-fashioned human?" Lucian retorted, shrugging at the same time.
"W-what? Are you sassing me? Tch, you're lucky I respect Elaine! Else your experience would be much worse."
"But, did I say anything wrong? Being labeled an F Rank is the closest thing to an old-fashioned human. So, if you ask your family, there's bound to be some records of the comparison," Lucian replied, locating Priscilla's weakness.
'It seems you possess a shred of loyalty to even respect her words in the darkness. However, is it truly respect or is it fear? I've seen it, she isn't as strong as Elaine, but she holds a vital ability,' Lucian thought to himself.
"Whatever, I'm done talking to you about this. We've seen your attributes already, your future is dismal. What will you do when others fight a B Rank Beast? Your strength won't even penetrate it. Not to mention, higher tier weapons require a certain level of Mana to energize them. Otherwise, they're too heavy to wield."
After she said this, Lucian stopped. Truth be told, this had come across his mind more than once. If the difficulty of the floors grew exponentially and his current capabilities stayed the same, then his future was indeed dismal! How would he combat the stronger opponents?
"Then...do you think my fate is sealed? Of all those present in the party, you like me the least. So, be frank with me," Lucian said, looking towards Priscilla.
"Absolutely. With your current limitations, I think you'll be limited to the 2nd floor. Third, at most and that's if you're lucky. Of course, there have been a few odd cases, but that is unlikely."
"What cases?"
"Becoming an Evolver. But, those people can be counted on one hand. Even then, it all varies and it requires a catalyst. Nevertheless...we're here," Priscilla said, pointing forward.
A restriction identical to the one Ragna and Blair passed through appeared. However, unlike their room, when Lucian peered inside this one, the numbers weren't as revolting.
The number of enemies within the room amounted to no more than 40.
Yet, Lucian wasn't focused on the numbers, he was still focused on the term "Evolver". It was something he had never heard before. However, before he knew it, he felt an odd change followed by a mischievous remark.
"Oh, don't freeze up now. There's fun to be had right?" Immediately after, Lucian felt something amiss!