Well, yeah, Mana Pulse is a move I discovered myself, so you can't blame me for having something of a soft spot for it.
Also, I didn't use it during my second and third raids because I wanted to keep it under wraps until I'd mastered it more, so I've gotta make up for lost time.
Plus, it's super practical in battle, it's my best option when I've got a clear opening at close-range.
Okay, yes, but...I've done those plenty of times, but this is the first time I'm using Mana Pulse in life or death battles, so I might as well try and get as much experience with using it while I have the chance.
...if you already knew that, then why even ask?
"Just one floor left to go, and then it's just the Boss Room. Of course, in all likelihood, we aren't going to fight the Dungeon Boss at all. Our primary goal is to scout out the Boss Room, get a look at the Monster that's inside to confirm and then leave.
On the off-chance that it is a Monster we can handle, we'll fight it. Otherwise, we simply leave and report it," Remarked Ariella, as the tunnel entrance leading up to the penultimate floor came into sight.
"Isn't it pretty much guaranteed to be a Cereberus?" Inquired the Wind Mage.
"Not necessarily, it could turn out to be a stronger Lycanthrope," Pointed out the Ice Mage.
True, but that's fairly rare.
Within any Monster species, some individuals are bound to be stronger and others weaker. That disparity isn't super wide, but it isn't insignificant either.
That said, you also have to factor in the evolution aspect of Monsters. If an individual is notably stronger than its peers, it's likely to soon evolve into its next form.
That's why the Dungeon Boss is more likely to be a Cereberus than a Lycanthrope. Interestingly, the evolved forms of Monsters are actually regarded as different species, though I'm not sure why.
Hellhounds, Lycanthropes and Cerberuses are all considered to be their own separate species, even though they directly evolve between each other.
However, if, for instance, two Cereberuses were to mate and reproduce, their offspring would be Cereberuses, not Hellhounds or Lycanthropes.
Maybe that's at least part of the reason why they're considered to be different species.
Curiously, evolved Monsters are stronger than naturally-born members of their species. In other words, a Cereberus that started out as a Hellhound, evolved to a Lycanthrope and then further evolved to its current form would be a lot more powerful than a Cereberus that was born through reproduction.
As for why that's the case, well...we don't know. But this was only recently discovered, so not a whole lot is known about this subject.
Well, at the end of the day, Monsters come from an entirely different world to ours, so it's not farfetched to think that the concept of and laws around biology is different in world they come from.
Hm?
Ariella keeps glancing at me...yeah, if I had to guess, she must have noticed that I was moving faster on this floor than I was during the previous floors.
I only took down one Lycanthrope on this floor, but I did it a lot more easily than I did with the two I killed in the preceding floor.
Ariella killed two, and the Lancer dealt with the last one, with a bit of assistance from the Attack Mages.
More than the boosts to Strength and Agility, it was the increase to Perception that I noticed the most.
I was able to delay using Devour till the timing was perfect, to the point where it was too late for that Lycanthrope to pull its arm away.
Plus, while it's only a slight increase, Devour has gotten a bit faster, and I'd imagine the same applies to Drain as well. With this, I can use Devour a lot more effectively in battle, I just need to practice and sharpen my timing with it.
Anyway, as we headed up to the next floor, the Detector soon informed us that he was sensing six presences, and not long after that, the Monsters came into sight.
As the Attack Mages unleashed their Spells, Ariella sprinted forward, intense flames swirling around her fists as she chanted, the Lycanthropes spreading out and spewing out their flames.
I zipped across to evade an incoming blast of flames, before I shot towards the Monster that had unleashed it, eliciting a threatening snarl from it as I closed in.
I swiftly reached out and grabbed its right forearm as it began to slash at my head with its claws, stopping the swing of its arm short, before driving my blade into its throat with a sharp, twisting thrust of my arm, piercing through its neck and ripping its throat open, the blade bursting out the back of its neck.
I then yanked the blade back out and chanted to manifest Drain as a fireball came roaring towards me from the left, swallowing it up before racing towards the Monster, getting low as it swiped its claws at my head as I closed in on it, before I whipped my arm across, its guts spilling out as I sliced its stomach open.
I quickly sprang back and raised my arm over my eyes as it kicked at the ground, sending a spray of sand shooting towards my face, before my eyes widened slightly as it fired out a blast of flames at its stomach, yelping in pain as it cauterized its wound shut.
"Well, now, that was pretty sick. But it's just delaying the inevitable," I smirked, before swinging my blade across as it leapt towards me with a snarl and slashed at my chest with its claws.
A clang rang out as I deflected the swing of its claws, one of the claws snapping off upon impact, before I flung my blade forward with a sharp flick of my wrist, launching it straight into the Lycanthrope's skull before it could react.
The blade pierced through the middle of its forehead and plunged into its brain, killing it instantly, the Monster collapsing onto its knees before falling over and slumping against the ground, sinking into the sand slightly.
Blood gushed out of its head as I pulled my blade back out, matting down the fur around the spot as it streamed down, seeping through the sand as I swung my blade across to get the blood off...