As I closed in on the black dragon, the mist increased to its maximum of ten tendrils, attacking in various forms.
I somehow slipped through the mist attacks—slashing with my sword when close, and when it pulled away, pouring mana into some of the spell formulas I'd planted earlier to activate magics and keep up the pressure without letting my offense slack.
With the battlefield now in the air, the drawback of [Amplification Chain: Raise Repeat] became painfully clear.
It could indeed fire spells with several levels higher power.
But the direction those spells fired was the same as the original passing magic—no way to change it.
Plus, the activation timing was preset, so hitting a highly mobile black dragon in the air was extremely difficult.
In that case—
"[Reflective Wall]!"
The double-amplified magic was easily dodged, but by reflecting it with [Reflective Wall], I forcibly altered its trajectory.
Since [Reflective Wall] wasn't an instant-activation magic, landing even one hit was all I could manage.
However, with [Instant Capability Super Rise: Impact] added, this attack dealt considerable damage to the black dragon.
The spot it hit on its back was gouged out, even if only partially.
After that, I dispelled the [Mana Convergence] foothold, letting my body free-fall under gravity.
Once I'd gained enough distance from the black dragon, I created another foothold and landed on it.
I extended my left hand toward where the black dragon was.
"[Thunder Shock]!"
I activated a massive number of [Thunder Shock] spells, filling the entire ceiling.
A sharp pain shot through my head.
Overuse of magic.
But I couldn't afford to care about that now!
In this enclosed space, the black dragon had nowhere to escape.
[Thunder Shock] struck the black dragon directly.
But as a beginner magic, it dealt no damage—without [Amplification Chain: Raise Repeat].
With time, the power rose two stages, inflicting heavy damage on the black dragon.
As its movements dulled, I closed in on it right after activating the magic—my blade wrapped in the pitch-black aura I'd been converging since then.
(I can take it now!)
Getting as close as possible, I unleashed a pitch-black slash at its abdomen.
This time, nothing blocked it, and I layered on [Instant Capability Super Rise: Impact].
The aftershock of Heaven Flash hit me too since I'd gotten too close, blowing me away.
While regaining balance in midair, I somehow managed to land safely on a new [Mana Convergence] foothold.
I immediately turned my gaze to the black dragon—its abdomen was gouged out.
It didn't vanish as easily as the wings or tail would have, but that strike was a big one.
◇◇◇
"Is this... Orun's true strength? ...So everything he's shown us until now was just the tip of the iceberg?"
In my field of vision was a boy fighting the black dragon—the one our entire first unit of "Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky" couldn't defeat—on equal or even superior terms.
The sight filled me with awe.
His physical abilities, the number of magics activated through parallel construction, that pitch-black slash—everything happening right now was beyond anything my common sense could accept.
If even I felt that way, what must the other leaders—and especially the rookies—be thinking as they watched this scene?
Inviting Orun to this instructional dive was the right decision.
Without him, we would all be dead by now.
But at the same time, I think this sight shouldn't have been shown to the rookies.
It brutally highlights the gap between us and Orun.
How many of these rookies will quit being explorers after seeing this?
As if mocking the efforts of us "Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky" explorers, Orun was overwhelming the black dragon.
"He doesn't need my support magic, huh."
I knew it already.
Orun and I see the world differently.
Even so, after seeing him last month, I set him as my goal and trained hard this past month.
Yet now, I'm being shown an even greater gap.
To the point where my support magic isn't even necessary.
I wanted to become an explorer who could one day stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him.
But will that day ever come?
I ran away from home like a runaway—my only path forward is to succeed as an explorer.
My goal feels too far away.