Evolution

The unrecoverable loss of mana left Lu Cang no choice but to make a sacrifice.

If he wanted to stay alive, he couldn't afford to drag this out any longer.

He had to kill the Lord right in front of him first!

Ice Spikes poured out without pause!

Lu Cang had no idea how many more Ice Spikes it would take to kill it.

So the best choice was to use all his remaining mana to attack!

Boom!

The spinning Ice Spike bored into the giant serpent's lower jaw, drawing blood before exploding!

An ice blast erupted!

The moment the previous Ice Spike exploded, another spinning, piercing Ice Spike stabbed into the freshly opened wound!

More and more pierced through!

Was this the vitality of a Lord-class monster?

It was unbelievably tenacious...

It was on a completely different level from the monsters before.

At least a thousand times stronger?

The little monsters outside took seven Fireballs to kill, but two were enough to take one down instantly.

How many of his full-power spells had this BOSS taken already?

If he counted only its health, it had to have at least ten thousand times as much as the little monsters outside...

And then there was the strength of its attacks.

With his constitution, even a glancing blow would probably kill him.

His mana...

Was gradually running out.

But the giant serpent's body was still writhing.

Its entire head was frozen, and yet it still wasn't dead?

Ever since it entered its second phase, Ice Spikes had hit it thirty times in a row.

With every cast, Lu Cang had carefully calculated how to use his mana.

He tried to make every Ice Spike as powerful as possible while minimizing mana loss.

And with such careful control,

each Ice Spike he cast had earned him 150,000 proficiency EXP.

You really didn't know your limits until you pushed yourself.

But to ensure the Ice Spikes were powerful enough to hurt it,

he still had to use 2% of his mana to cast Ice Cone Technique, no matter how much he cut down on mana loss.

The Ice Cone Technique cast with 2% of his mana was already more powerful than it had been at the start, when he used 3%.

He had the talent "Divine Proficiency Evolution."

He could keep honing his skills, keep evolving!

But was he really going to die here, just after getting started? Die in the first dungeon he had ever ventured into?

A surge of resentment welled up inside him.

The mana in his body was being squeezed dry.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Bang!

But then, another unexpected turn of events occurred!

The giant serpent, already almost frozen solid like a zombie, shattered countless chunks of ice once again!

Its rotten, shattered head turned toward Lu Cang...

"Die..."

"Just die!"

"Why won't you die!"

The resentment in Lu Cang's heart turned to fury. He didn't know why things had turned out this way, or why he was suddenly going to die...

Why?

He gathered every last bit of mana!

"Ice Cone Technique Proficiency EXP+100,000"

"Ice Cone Technique Proficiency EXP+100,000"

"Ice Cone Technique Proficiency EXP+100,000"

"Ice Cone Technique Proficiency EXP+100,000"

...

Compression.

He compressed the Ice Spike until it was even denser, making it spin faster and faster!

It didn't need to be very big. It needed to be longer and thinner!

Mana poured out without pause.

And in Lu Cang's mind, notifications of rising proficiency kept ringing out.

This time, his proficiency was surging at an incredible rate.

An Ice Spike as thin as a long needle took shape beside Lu Cang.

It spun at high speed, filling the entire cavern with a bone-chilling cold.

His mana was gone.

But it still wasn't enough.

He could keep casting beyond his limit! Squeeze out every last bit of my strength. If I can't kill it, I'm going to die anyway.

The tide had ebbed, leaving not a drop.

In its place was a vast emptiness within him.

The place where every last drop of mana had run dry.

It was exhaustion...

It was nothingness...

A powerful wave of dizziness washed over him!

Bang!

And at that very instant!

The Ice Needle beside Lu Cang vanished!

Pfft!

A long spray of blood and ice shards burst outward! A tall column of blood shot toward the ceiling of the cavern!

The giant serpent's head was completely pierced through. The Ice Needle had gone straight through the hole in its head and deep into its body!

In a flash, the entire long body of the serpent froze solid like an ice sculpture.

Lu Cang saw only that last scene.

His vision had already gone dark, but before he lost consciousness, he could still faintly hear a few sounds echoing in his mind.

"Magic Enhancement Technique: Magic Tide has evolved"

"You have learned: Void Magic (Tier 2) (Forbidden Art)"

"Void Magic Proficiency EXP+100,000"

"Magic Enhancement Technique: Void Magic (LV:10) -- Automatically operating, gaining more mana from the void"

...

Iz pushed open the stone door and came in, catching Lu Cang just as he was about to fall to the ground.

He let out a soft sigh.

"Sorry. If I hadn't put pressure on you this way, you might never have found yourself in a crisis. Your talent is too strong."

Iz snapped his fingers softly.

The elements in the space grew rich once again.

Iz looked at the giant serpent before him.

"Your task is done, too."

Click--

"Demonic Beast Frenzy (Tier 4) (LV:100)"

The spell was undone.

Boom!

The giant serpent, frozen into an ice sculpture, crumbled into tiny shards and powder, crashing to the ground.

The giant serpent itself hadn't actually been all that strong.

Iz had simply used the Demonic Beast Frenzy spell to make it much stronger.

His body felt so light...

But he could still feel it.

So warm.

Not the slightest bit cold.

Had he won?

Had he died again and been reborn in another world?

Lu Cang slowly opened his eyes.

But all he saw was a cascade of smooth, emerald-green hair.

A familiar face.

Kumiloni.

Lu Cang abruptly sat up!

He instinctively went on guard!

He stood on the sofa.

But Kumiloni simply looked at him with a gentle smile.

"You're awake."

"Um, I might need to clear up a few misunderstandings between you and Iz."

Lu Cang kept his right hand aimed at Kumiloni, his guard still up.

His voice lowered as he asked, "Misunderstandings?"

Kumiloni twirled a strand of hair around her finger. She looked a little helpless and sighed. "Little Lu Cang, Iz didn't leave you there because he wanted to kill you."

"He did it to help you break through your mana limit."

Lu Cang remained on high alert.

At the same time, he took stock of his physical condition.

Magic Tide was gone.

The mana inside him no longer ebbed and flowed like a tide. In its place was a tiny hollow, a void like a black hole.

His mana was contained within that hollow.

Lu Cang couldn't sense its limits. He only knew he could draw upon its mana whenever he wanted.

And the total amount of mana he had...

Was nearly fifty times what he'd had before.

That was more than five thousand times the amount he'd had when he first awakened...

"See? If Iz hadn't shown you hostility, you wouldn't have thought you were in a life-or-death crisis, would you?"

"Only when you feel desperate will you give everything you've got to bring out all your potential."

Lu Cang gradually relaxed a little.

"Besides, if he really wanted to kill you, he wouldn't have brought you back here for me to treat..."

"Who would bring back someone who hated them to the bone?"

Kumiloni did make a good point.

Only then did Lu Cang notice that his right hand had completely recovered. All discomfort was gone.

In fact,

he felt even sturdier than before. His formerly somewhat scrawny frame had gradually gained some muscle.

His body was in much better shape than it had been before entering the dungeon.

As for his spells...

"Void Magic (LV:92)"

"Ice Cone Technique (LV:100) (Ready to evolve)"

"Fireball Technique (LV:91)"

"Wind Blade Technique (LV:86)"

"Illumination Technique (LV:55)"

"Lightning Strike Technique (LV:43)"

"Light Cross (LV:39)"

Magic Tide had been replaced by Void Magic, and Ice Cone Technique had reached Level 100. A "Ready to evolve" prompt had appeared, too.

Knock, knock, knock--

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

Kumiloni softly said, "Come in."

Izpalut opened the door and came in.