After that, I went through the remaining three areas and did the same thing. But before proceeding to eliminate them, I made sure to check whether the other elemental spirits had consciousness or not.
Turns out they didn't, so I got rid of them pretty quickly. In each area, I only needed a day to learn the elemental magic skill. To be honest, once you get used to it, it really is quite easy.
Killing the remaining three mini-bosses gave me four more levels—not exactly what I wanted, but I guess I'll take it for now.
Skills like [Lightning Magic], [Water Magic], [Earth Magic], [Magic Talent], [Mana Sensing], [Mana Manipulation], [Dark Mana Vein], [Enhanced Tactile], and [Diamond Body] each leveled up once during my training or as I leveled up.
Notably, the skill [Elemental Magic Resistance] leveled up twice.
I was very pleased with these results because now I could finally use magic. Also, I had collected all five emblems needed to summon the final boss, but I decided to put that on hold since I still needed time to get used to these new spells.
I should check my status screen a bit.
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HP: 620/620
MP: 4065/4065 (+400)
SP: 660/660
Attack: 30749 (+387)
Defense: 30897 (+380)
Magic: 45433 (+379)
Speed: 46907 (+427)
Skills:
[Appraisal Lv7], [Poison Resistance Lv9], [Venomous Fangs Lv8], [Multi-form Silk Lv5], [Intimidation Lv7], [Sensing Lv8], [Stealth Lv7], [Endurance Lv7], [Fear Resistance Lv8], [Patience Lv5], [Holy Mana Lv6], [Holy Magic Lv7], [Vitality Lv7], [Invincible Shield Lv7], [Calm Mind Lv5], [Loyalty Lv6], [Faith Lv6], [Heaven's Net Lv8], [Plunder Lv7], [Wanderlust Lv5], [Enhanced Vision Lv7], [Enhanced Hearing Lv6], [Enhanced Smelling Lv7], [Enhanced Tactile Lv7], [Enhanced Tasting Lv7], [Paralyzing Evil Eye Lv7], [Poison Mist Lv8], [Prophesy Lv6], [Drill Leg Lv7], [Sleep Resistance Lv7], [Diamond Body Lv4], [Focus Lv8], [Soul Attack Immunity], [Auto HP Recovery Lv8], [Flash Lv9], [Evasion Lv8], [Auto SP Recovery Lv8], [Corrosion Resistance Lv8], [Heaven Eye Lv8], [Soul Magic Lv3], [Rapido Lv6], [Hyper Memory], [Parallel Will Lv6], [Scan Lv10], [Pain Resistance Lv8], [Gluttony Lv6], [Big Eater Lv6], [Ravenous Devour Lv6], [Support Evil Eye Lv0], [Soul Chain Lv6], [Accuracy Lv7], [Inference Lv5], [Insight Lv6], [Virtual World Lv5], [Spirit Magic Lv3], [Spirit's Protection Lv3], [Soul Repair Lv5], [Soul Link Lv5], [Blade Leg Lv7], [Mana Sensing Lv6], [Mana Manipulation Lv6], [Dark Mana Vein Lv6], [Magic Talent Lv4], [Child of the Darkness Lv5], [Malice Lv3], [Dark God Gaze Lv2], [Telepathy Lv3], [Flow of Fate Lv1], [Elemental Magic Resistance Lv6], [Fire Magic Lv2], [Ice Magic Lv2], [Lightning Magic Lv2], [Water Magic Lv2], [Earth Magic Lv2]
Skill Points: 620
Magic stat has undergone a huge transformation, nearly catching up to my speed stat now. But why can't the other two stats increase evenly too?
I want everything to develop evenly—that's the most balanced growth.
Let me recheck the skills that increase stats.
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Hmm, these are the most impactful skills.
Looks like [Magic Talent] and [Rapido] are the main reasons my two stats have skyrocketed. If only I could find similar skills for attack and defense stats, that would be amazing.
The HP, MP, and SP stats also have supporting skills, but HP and MP still feel a bit underwhelming.
Also, the [Plunder] skill is ridiculously broken... I guess I've been pretty lucky after all. After admiring my stats and skills for a while, I turned back to training magic.
I've gotten quite used to these elemental spells already, but I kept casting them to level them up faster.
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And when one leveled up, the others did too—nice and synchronized.
The feeling of casting magic was truly amazing.
I passed by the ice area again to check on the Ice Spirit and discovered that it had used surrounding ice to encase itself and fallen into slumber to recover.
Looks like it's fine, so I won't worry about it.
Can't delay any further.
Time to fight the final boss of this floor. Although… I still don't know what level that boss is.
"Pretty sure it's at Elite rank," Meradis said.
Ack!
That's three whole evolution stages above me…
Am I even capable of fighting something like that?
"Although it's really strong, it specializes only in magic, so it's relatively easy to counter."
Well, thankfully my resistance skills are at a decent level. I'll try to level them up more during the fight.
After that, I rushed toward the central area and saw a summoning pedestal there. It had five slots on it—must be for the five emblems.
I took them out and quickly inserted them. The entire floor suddenly trembled, and the pedestal began to descend slowly. From the five regions, beams of light shot out and converged at the center.
This seriously felt like a video game...
The five elements came together and the light became so blinding I couldn't see anything anymore. When the light vanished, a massive being appeared before me. It floated in midair, with distinct zones of all five elements covering its body, and a single eye sealed at the center.
This thing looked epic.
I'm really looking forward to this fight!
…
Appraisal!
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HP: 10400/10400
MP: 25000/25000
SP: 9800/9800
Attack: 13425
Defense: 12978
Magic: 29843
Speed: 20420
Skills: [Fire Magic Lv10], [Ice Magic Lv10], [Lightning Magic Lv10], [Water Magic Lv10], [Earth Magic Lv10], [Wind Magic Lv10], [Elemental Magic Resistance], [Advanced MP Recovery Lv10], [Advanced HP Recovery Lv10], [Advanced SP Recovery Lv10], [Mana Sensing Lv10], [Mana Manipulation Lv10], [Magic Talent Lv10], [Enhancement Lv10], [Recovery Lv10], [Mana Charging Lv10], [Abnormal Status Immunity]
Title: [Grand Spirit]
Naiwa!
All max-level skills, its stats aren't much lower than mine either, and its recovery ability is insanely high. Luckily, it specializes in magic, so the most effective strategy here is physical offense.
Also, I noticed it has [Wind Magic], which I don't have yet—so I need to lure it into using that skill so I can acquire it.
Its core weakness is probably that eye in the middle? It doesn't look entirely unreachable, so for now, I'll play it slow.
Alright, I'm ready.
Let's dive in and score this kill!
Facing the Elemental Grand Spirit, I could clearly feel the overwhelming pressure from the massive mana radiating through the air. The light from its body—a cluster of dazzling elemental crystals—seemed to make the very atmosphere tremble. The large eye in the center of its body kept moving restlessly, tracking my every step.
Thankfully, my [Fear Resistance] is at a fairly high level, so I was able to stay calm. With stats and skills like that, any moment of distraction could mean instant defeat.
Hmm... let me think...
It's weaker than that eel on the 20th floor in terms of stats, but it has self-awareness. I can take advantage of my speed and go for a fast-paced attack strategy. I outperform it in most stats, except the three core ones.
Why do all these bosses have such ridiculously high HP, MP, and SP...
This won't be easy...
I muttered to myself as I activated [Focus]. It felt like all my senses were amplified—every tiny movement in the space around me became crystal clear.
The Spirit started the battle by raising its arm, from which a massive lightning orb formed. That was [Lightning Magic Lv10], and it launched at such speed it practically ripped through the air.
Holy crap, that's fast!
I wonder if I'll be able to do something like that one day?
Now that's something to look forward to...
I immediately activated flash, and my tiny spider body teleported far to the left. In just an instant, the lightning orb slammed into the spot where I had just been, creating a massive explosion that shook the entire area.
But it didn't stop there—just as I landed from the Flash, dozens of fireballs came flying toward me, and behind me, a towering wall of stone erupted.
I didn't dodge. I used my [Diamond Body] to tank the attacks head-on.
The fireballs collided with my body and exploded, destroying everything around. I was thrown far away, but I didn't take too much damage.
Still hurts a bit though.
As soon as I stabilized, Prophesy showed me a terrifying vision of the future. I didn't have time to think—I dodged immediately.
A lightning bolt like a wild beast tore through and pierced a mountain behind me, leaving a giant hole. It was like a sword—no explosion or flash, just silent death.
Fast as hell, but still manageable. But seriously, that thing is terrifying!!!
It honestly felt like my neck had just been sliced open.
The Spirit didn't relent. It continued bombarding me with rapid, relentless magic attacks, while I either dodged instinctively or tanked the hits to gain skill proficiency.
But seriously, why isn't it using Wind Magic yet??!!
The mana in the air was already saturated with all the other elements, and yet Wind Magic was still missing.
I need to lure it into using Wind Magic!
Hmm, how…
Ah!
If I show that all its elemental magic attacks are useless, it'll naturally turn to Wind Magic!
So I stood completely still and gave it a taunting look. But standing still and letting an enemy attack you is pretty scary.
I made sure I was ready to run if I had to, but the Spirit just kept using its usual elemental magic attacks. And while I was getting hurt a bit, the damage wasn't significant.
My diamond body hadn't even cracked.
Now that's what I call a broken skill!!
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Nice, I even leveled it up!
Suddenly, fighting bosses doesn't feel that bad.
Eventually, the Spirit realized its attacks were becoming ineffective and switched to a different element.
Perfect!
This is what I was waiting for.
It summoned dozens of wind blades from [Wind Magic Lv10], sweeping across the entire area. They cut through the air at terrifying speeds, coming from every direction.
There it is!!
I used [Flash] to dodge temporarily—I wanted it to think Wind Magic was effective so it would keep using it. I had started to sense wind-elemental mana in the air, but it was still too faint.
I even deactivated all my defense skills just to let myself get hurt.
Ow!!
Man, without those skills, the attacks really are brutal. I was bleeding, and my HP started to drop.
Yeah... probably went a bit overboard there...
I stopped tanking and switched to dodging. My body weaved and twisted nimbly, avoiding the attacks by a hair's breadth. Still, a few wind blades grazed my legs, leaving shallow cuts.
Good thing I reactivated [Diamond Body] just in time. Otherwise, I'd have lost a leg.
This much should be enough, right…??
I began gathering the wind-elemental mana and did what I always did. A basic spell formed, generating nothing more than a gentle breeze—like a fan.
Felt kind of like a joke...
But first things first—I need to acquire the skill before anything else.
I activated all my defensive skills and shields, then focused entirely on magic casting. No matter what attacks came from outside, I remained still.
Since I'd done this five times already, I only needed half a day to succeed!
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Naiwa!!
What's going on??
Fusion!?
Fusion of what exactly??
Those elemental magic skills?
Hmm…
I had seen the system auto-merge skills a few times before, but this was the first time it tried something like this...
Anyway, I need to deal with this Spirit first.
I snapped out of my thoughts and returned to the fight. The Spirit was clearly pissed after failing to hurt me and now seemed to be charging up a massive attack.
Hmph!
Like I'd give you the chance!
While it was preparing, I fired a volley of silk from [Heaven's Net], aiming for its arms. The strands wrapped tightly around them, restricting its movements briefly.
Take this!
I dashed forward, aiming to smash into it using [Diamond Body], but the Spirit instantly responded by launching a fire pillar from [Fire Magic Lv10], incinerating all my threads.
Oof.
Even though my silk has magic and heat resistance, that wasn't enough.
Still, that brief moment was all I needed to soar upward and get close enough.
I released [Poison Mist], targeting the area around the Spirit, since I knew it didn't have [Poison Resistance]. But its body, composed of elemental crystals, didn't seem affected at all.
So... it's not a truly living being? No—at the very least, that eye is real.
As I suspected, the poison mist dispersed entirely without doing any damage.
Annoyed by my interference, the Spirit slammed both arms into the ground, activating [Earth Magic]. The ground shook violently as massive magma pillars erupted and shot toward me.
I immediately activated [Invincible Shield], surrounding myself with a thick layer of protection. The magma pillars struck with tremendous force, producing loud cracking sounds. The shield trembled violently but held strong.
Wasting no time, I activated [Flash] again to escape the encirclement and retreat to a safer distance.
From afar, I carefully studied the Spirit's body. That large eye in the center glowed every time it used a skill. That's definitely the command center of its whole body.
But clearly, getting close to that eye won't be easy. With its rapid-fire magic and wide-area attacks, I'll need to distract it first.
I launched strands of silk from multiple directions, forming a complex web around the Spirit. The thick threads forced it to switch to [Wind Magic] to cut them all down.
"Hey, stop messing around. Finish it quickly."
Seina's sudden reminder made me pause for a few seconds.
What's wrong?
"I detected the mana concentration in the surroundings increasing. You're still not fully immune to magic, so the longer this drags out, the more dangerous it gets."
So it's secretly setting something up…?
That thing's more dangerous than it looks.
Guess it's time to stop playing around!
Seeing the Spirit glowing brilliantly, I took a step back to maintain a safe distance. The warm-up phase was over.
Now it's time for the real battle.
Elemental Grand Spirit... the real game is just getting started!