Without hesitation, Michael dashed to the side. The infinite darkness around him roiled as Veilthar's gaze easily kept up with his movement.

"Lightspeed," the Umbra said. "A powerful ability."

Michael could hear the thundering sound of his own heartbeat as his Dragonheart pushed itself to its very limits. There was no need to ask himself how Veilthar was aware of Lightspeed's nature, since the Umbra had also been blessed by Clyranth. In fact, it was possible that Veilthar himself also had the same ability, but Michael quickly curbed the thought before it could give rise to hopelessness.

I don't need to kill him. I don't even need to defeat him.

All he needed to do, above all, was survive. No matter what.

Michael could feel every single cell in his body rise to the occasion, entering fight-or-flight. All his senses were sharpened to their very limits, but that only made him more aware of what kind of situation he was in. Rationally, he knew it was unlikely that Veilthar would be willing to kill him.

No, I don't know that.

It was possible that the Umbra would simply choose to end his life here if he didn't measure up to his expectations. If his existence made such little difference that it wasn't worth hoping for anything, Veilthar could choose to finish everything right here. Was the difference between a 0% chance and a "infinitely close to 0%" chance to change everything significant enough to the Umbra? Michael didn't know the answer.

"Then, react as you will," Veilthar said, dragging Michael out of his thoughts.

The darkness above him changed. It fell like a guillotine. Michael didn't know how large the incoming attack's range was, or how strong it was. All he could do was try to deal with it. He pointed his staff at the falling 'ceiling.'

"Mana Field!" he shouted.

A storm of mana ripped its way out of his frame, superimposed with another. The blue-and-gold mana looked glaring in the middle of the infinite dark, like a single sunray breaking through the night sky. At the same time, it was why it felt utterly infinitesimal compared to its surroundings. Michael's Heart beat strongly as he kept pushing his stats to their limits.

In the next moment, the blades of darkness crashed against his mana storm. They tore through the outer layer as the Mana Fields allowed Michael to truly grasp the scale of the attack. The darkness falling upon him felt like an iceberg that was hundreds of cubic meters in size, but he didn't even blink. With Lightspeed, he dashed to the side, bringing his Fields with him. They attempted only to slow down the incoming darkness as much as possible.

"Mana Field is a simple Skill," he heard Veilthar's voice say. "Which can be used effectively by those with superior magical stats compared to their opponent. That is not the case. Without Dual Casting, its effectiveness is limited."

Michael gritted his teeth.

I know!

He waved his staff. The Mana Fields changed. Instead of continuously revolving around him, he spread them out as much as possible, sending them upward. It looked like a waterfall flowing backwards. The mana crashed against the blades of darkness in a desperate attempt to slow them down by even a little. Mchael only continued to run. Finally, after taking one last step, he 'felt' something go by behind him and melt into the 'ground.' Immediately, Michael pointed his staff at Veilthar as the last remainders of the Mana Fields disappeared under the weight of the darkness.

"Fireball!"

Twin Fireballs came into being as the mana in front of him ignited and shot toward the towering Umbra.

"When faced with an overwhelming opponent, you didn't only try to run. Commendable," Veilthar stated in the same monotone. "But not enough."

The darkness to Michael's sides gathered, making a chill go under his spine as he realized the full severity of the situation.

I'm in his home ground.

No, it went beyond that. He was at the very core of the Abyss, facing a being that could control shadows and the Curse of Darkness, which was literally part of it. The 'execute' effect of the Curse flashed by Michael's mind. There was no way to know how great the amplification of this ability had been. Was a serious enough injury still necessary? Or would be consumed and die the moment he got even a single scratch? The realization that he didn't know the answer was enough to make Michael shiver.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Just fight. Survive.

His heartbeat kept getting louder, but he paid it no heed. He focused only on continuing to run and looking at Veilthar to see the effects of his spells. As expected, the moment the Fireballs were about to hit Veilthar, the darkness under the Umbra's feet surged to create a wall, which unceremoniously sucked in the flames and drowned them completely. Michael gritted his teeth.

For one painfully long minute, Michael and Veilthar exchanged attacks. Michael desperately struggled to avoid getting injured even once, but it was much easier said than done. The attacking darkness was almost impossible to see, given their current environment, forcing him to rely on all of his senses to even begin to try and grasp where the attacks were coming from and their magnitude. Every time he cast twin Mana Shields, an attack hit them less than a second later and sent him reeling. Arrows of darkness aimed for his back, while veritable iceberg-sized dark masses attempted to crush him from above. Below, the dark tried to wrap itself around his legs, forcing him to keep Lightspeed active to even react.

Michael gritted his teeth as he abruptly leaned backward. An enormous arrow of pure darkness pierced through the spot where his head had just been, but he didn't have the luxury of trying to recover his balance, as another attack was already aiming for his shins. Without a choice, Michael leaped backward and pulled his legs up. The time in mid-air felt excruciating. He looked at the 'ground.'

Hurry!

The moment his feet reached a surface, he shot to the side to avoid another wave of darkness. He looked at Veilthar with frustration.

There's no pattern.

Michael felt like he was in the middle of the ocean, but the water was trying to kill him. Even with his current Intelligence and Wisdom, it was near-impossible to try and think about all possible attack methods that the Umbra could use, especially because he knew nothing about the entity in the first place. He could be attacked from any direction, at any point, with varying intensity.

The only reason why I'm not dead is because I have Lightspeed. No, he just doesn't want to kill me yet.

Michael clenched his jaw and continued to run as he desperately tried to manage Lightspeed's time limit.

It was them. Michael felt a change. It was very slight, to the point where he couldn't even tell what had happened. This minute sensation soon turned into dread an instant before he felt an enormous 'something' slam into his ribcage from the right. He was flung an unknown distance, his broken ribs piercing through his right lung to cause excruciating pain. The air that rushed out of his mouth was mixed with blood, which attempted to drown him.

"A lacking durability, but still much higher than that of other humans at your Level. As expected, you have received the Dragons' boon of Constitution," Veilthar's voice resounded.

Michael ignored the entity's comment and replaced Lightspeed with Cleansing.

"Heal," he coughed out, pieces of his right lung being vomited out. "Heal. Heal. Heal."

His voice was barely a gurgle. His blood and regenerating flesh pushed out the shards of bone inside his lung. Soon after, it was back to pristine condition. Michael raised his gaze and stared at his opponent with dread. Veilthar was carefully scanning him.

"Cleansing, as well. The Light Dragon must have truly believed in you."

Michael's gaze was shaking.

I… have never experienced this.

From the start of the Tutorial until now, there had been nothing that had made him feel so helpless. Even the battle that resulted in the awakening of his Dragon blood hadn't had this effect on him. The sight of the bear back then had been nothing compared to what he felt when he looked at the Umbra. There was no way to win or survive. He was completely at the whim of this Mythical Creature.

"But that doesn't mean I won't fucking try," he muttered under his breath as he rose to his feet.

Lightspeed was channeled once more. Michael completely stopped thinking about the time limit. If it was reached, he would only have to keep going and surpass it. There was no room for weakness. At the very least, this injury had allowed him to find out that the Curse of Darkness wouldn't consume him because of a wound at this level.

Veilthar tilted his head. Michael pointed the Elder Chief's Staff at him.

"Arcane Missile."

Twin blue longspears made of mana took shape in front of him and shot toward the Umbra. One aimed for his neck, and the other for his belly. Once more, the wall of darkness rose, but this time, Michael was prepared for it. He waved the staff. The Missiles went around the wall in circular trajectories before meeting their mark. However, Michael could tell that they had inflicted no damage at all. He didn't stop chanting, through gritted teeth. The wall of darkness came undone, but Veilthar was no longer behind it. Michael widened his eyes and leaped to the side less than a second before a fist went through the space where his head had been, attacking from behind.

Michael let out a breath and pointed his staff at his opponent's newly-revealed frame again.

He's faster and stronger than me. How do I do this?

Of course, there was one thing he needed to address before he even thought of formulating a plan, now that he had a brief window.

61 Points into each of my physical stats.

A 'Ding!' resounded in his mind. His decision had been a simple one. Even if he spent every single Free Point into Intelligence, there was no way he would be able to pierce through Veilthar's defenses, and increasing his mana capacity with Wisdom wouldn't have been helpful. As such, there was only one possible path for him to take, which was to increase the power of his body to try and outspeed the Umbra, as well as be able to take more damage. It was the only way he could even begin to attempt to get through this. Michael clutched his chest. His Dragonheart continued to beat ever louder, ever faster, to the point where he felt like his entire body was on fire, just like back when his Constitution couldn't deal with the Skill's burden. Trails of smoke were leaving his arms and legs.

Fine. Let's go all the fucking way. Roar, my heart!

Michael pointed his staff at Veilthar.

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