A long exhale left Calix's mouth as he watched the Sliteren surge toward him, its massive body gliding over the rocky terrain with a frightening, almost feline-like velocity.
Stone scraped against stone as it moved, each motion heavy yet somehow unnaturally smooth, as if the ground itself bent to its will.
The conditions were brutal.
Jagged rocks and sands limited his footing, the air was razor sharp, dry and thin, and every mistake here would be fatal. But the ten days he had spent in this place hadn't been wasted.
He knew them by now.
Sliterens, some rock-skinned serpents whose bodies were harder than steel—had only one real weakness.
"Well," Calix muttered, tightening his grip on the sword, "no holding back, I guess."
Mana surged through his body.
His muscles tensed as his physical limits were forcibly raised by overloading his mana circuit, veins glowing faintly beneath his skin.
