Chapter 36: Power Of The True Magic Swordsman

Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Power Of The True Magic SwordsmanDamian landed on another branch of a towering tree that stretched above the dense forest, its canopy blocking the sunlight from reaching the ground.

"About 54 vipers, and the Viper King is above level 80," Damian muttered as he looked down.

From where he stood, he could see a giant crater below that resembled the aftermath of a meteor crash.

The hole was teeming with vipers, around two dozen writhing inside.

"I'll keep spamming full-powered fireballs until every single one of them is dead," Damian declared.

Raising his hand, a dozen flame magic circles materialized above his head.

From each circle, a fireball began to form, each one compressed with a massive amount of mana.

Since Damian's cultivation in the Flame element had reached the middle stage of the 2nd ring, his flame spells now carried the strength of a middle-stage 2nd-circle mage.

Each fireball, approximately three feet in radius, resembled a miniature sun ablaze with intense flames.

Following Damian's hand gestures, the fiery orbs moved and launched themselves into the crater, directly targeting the vipers below.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

One explosion after another rocked the area.

Damian continued to unleash his [Fireball] spells relentlessly.

The shrieks and hisses of the vipers echoed through the crater, their cries of agony piercing through even the deafening sound of explosions.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The explosions reverberated across the small realm, which served as the site of the tower's first trial.

As time passed, the cacophony of destruction only grew louder and more intense.

Damian wasn't simply spamming [Fireball] spells.

With his talent, [Rumination Clarity], combined with the immense boost from his class, [True Magic Swordsman], and his ability, [Eye of Clarity], his comprehension and cognizance abilities had reached an entirely new level.

While his hands unleashed spells without pause, his neon blue, glowing eyes worked like a supercomputer.

He constantly analyzed his flame spells, identifying flaws and gaps in his current level of magic cultivation.

In real-time, he devised solutions, correcting imperfections and making rapid progress in both his spells and Flame magic cultivation.

Suddenly, behind his head, four elemental rings of different colors appeared each floating beside the other.

Each ring represented one of the four elements to which he had an affinity.

Above the reddish-orange ring representing the Flame element, the outline of another, slightly larger ring began to form.

The outline grew denser and more defined until it solidified, becoming identical in structure to the first Flame elemental ring.

[Your understanding of the Flame Element increased significantly]

[You have formed the Perfected 2nd Flame Elemental Ring.]

[You have become a Perfected 2nd Circle Mage.]

The explosion suddenly grew even more intense, the sound reverberating throughout the entire 1st trial realm.

Even the remaining vipers across the realm became alert to the presence of an intruder who had appeared to hunt down their entire race.

The Scaled Forest Viper King, resting inside a pond of blue water radiating thick energy, opened its reddish eyes.

It had sensed the distant explosion and the deaths of its kind, one after another.

Back with Damian, his fireball had already annihilated two dozen vipers inside the giant hole they had made into their nest.

Now, the nest was no more, reduced to a charred ruin filled with the smoldering remains of giant forest-scaled vipers.

In his relentless barrage of spells, Damian hadn't even noticed that his [Fireball] spell had sparked a forest fire.

The acrid smell of burnt flesh mingled with the smoke of the burning forest, painting the entire area dark with flames and ash.

Dust and particles floated in the air as Damian walked on the ashes of the woods and the charred remains of vipers.

[Experience gained]

[Experience limit reached]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

[You have leveled up]

Damian raised his hand, activating his unique innate ability, [Extraction].

[Extraction: Unique Innate Ability Activated]

Immense energy materialized from his palm, siphoning the stored energy from the vipers' source cores.

The energy flowed into Damian's constantly rotating mana core, instantly replenishing it.

Even in death, a monster's source core doesn't immediately lose the energy stored within it.

Instead, it takes a significant amount of time for the energy to naturally disperse.

Monsters do not discriminate when absorbing energy; their source cores collect all types of energy available in the environment.

The more energy they absorb, the stronger they become.

Among these energies, Mana and Qi are the most common.

Since Damian hadn't fully begun cultivating Qi, he chose not to absorb it from the vipers' source cores.

His ability allowed him to select the type of energy he wished to extract.

[Your mana core is being replenished]

[Your mana core is being replenished]

[Your mana core is completely replenished]

[Your mana increased: +5]

[Your mana increased: +5]

[Your mana increased: +5]

Damian turned his head, sensing movement.

All the vipers in the realm were converging, as though being summoned to the same location.

His focus sharpened as he sensed the strongest presence in the entire 1st trial realm.

"The Scaled Forest Viper King... it's summoning all the other vipers to its lair," Damian muttered, narrowing his eyes as his neon blue gaze gleamed with intensity.

Without hesitation, Damian sprinted at full speed.

Within fifteen minutes, he arrived at the location where the Viper King's presence was strongest.

Standing atop a ridge, he peered down and saw a massive cave below.

In front of the cave, about 25 forest vipers were coiled and swirling their bodies, their levels ranging from 50 to 65.

Each of them was as strong as the ones he had fought before.

Then Damian sensed another presence approaching.


Emerging from the forest was a viper far larger than any he had faced so far.

If the ones he had fought until now were akin to teenagers, this one was a full-grown adult.

"Oh, shit," Damian muttered as he saw all the vipers standing, their scaled Forest Viper King positioned at the center, glaring at him with a dangerously threatening gaze.

Its hiss was guttural and menacing, and every one of the vipers was focused solely on him.

[The Scaled Forest Viper King senses your presence.]

[The power of the Viper King increases the strength of the other vipers by 15%.]

Damian felt the intense killing intent emanating from all the monsters within this 1st trial realm.

It was suffocating, like a tidal wave about to swallow him whole.

"So, the Viper King has the ability to empower its underlings, huh?" Damian muttered, narrowing his eyes as a grin spread across his lips.

"Well, you're not the only one with the ability to enhance your power."

Damian leaped down from the tree branch, landing on the ground in a perfect superhero pose, his knees absorbing the impact with ease.

[You are facing more than 10 opponents. The effect of 'Solo Hunter' is activated. All your physical attributes will be increased by 10%.]

[You are facing monsters that are 15 levels higher than you. All your physical attributes will be increased by 20%.]

[You are fighting more than 20 opponents. All your physical attributes will be increased by 20%.]

[You are fighting non-humanoid beings. All your physical attributes will be increased by 20%.]

[Due to the overwhelming effects of your sudden increase in physical attributes, your adaptability to the environment has enhanced significantly.]

In the dense forest, a powerful aura exploded from Damian as he felt his strength surge at an alarming rate.

His light blue aura began to radiate outward, pushing back the oppressive killing intent of the monsters around him.

Damian tightened his fists and glared at the vipers with neon-blue eyes that weren't just glowing—they emanated an aura of their own.

His power was rising to levels he had never experienced before.

It wasn't just his physical strength.

Damian felt all his skills, techniques, and spells enhanced significantly.

The overwhelming surge made him feel so powerful that he believed he could take on and defeat all of Earth's top Awakeners on his own.

"So this is the power of a true Magic Swordsman," Damian murmured, his grin widening into an almost foolish smile as he gazed at the vipers.

Their hostile glares had shifted, now tinged with something unexpected—fear. Even the Scaled Forest Viper King seemed apprehensive.

His muscles bulged, and a searing heat radiated from him, making him feel as though he were standing under a scorching waterfall.

Damian unsheathed his weapon, [Monster Slayer], and as he did, the blade ignited with intense flames far more powerful than ever before.

The heat radiating from the sword scorched the nearby plants and trees, leaving them charred and smoldering.

"My sword hungers, and I'm going to let it feast," Damian said, his voice filled with unshakable confidence.

He drove his foot into the ground, launching himself forward with explosive force.

The ground beneath him cracked from the pressure, and his figure became a streak of blue lightning as he closed the distance between himself and the vipers in an instant.

The vipers saw nothing but a blur before Damian's sword slashed through the air.

Flames, empowered by his [Class], erupted from the blade in an intense, fiery arc, cutting through the scales of the first viper and incinerating it.

The blazing ray didn't stop there; it struck the vipers behind it, killing them instantly as well.