337 Growing Too Fast
Due to the fighting that had been going on so far, including the beasts he had fought against, Raze's stats had risen quite a bit.
The Dark Magic attribute increased with every kill that Raze had made, and with the high-stage Pagna warriors, that number seemed to increase quite a bit.
[Dark Magic 58 >>> 73]
Now being a four-star Mage, the cap was quite high as well. If anything, his affinity with magic was lacking in terms of what Star level he was at now.
In terms of going against another 4-star mage, Raze would actually be weak. He could produce 4-star spells and control the same amount of mana as another 4-star mage, but if he and another mage produced the same type of spell, his spell would lose out in terms of power.
This was because, in a way, he had raised through the stages too fast compared to his affinity with magic. In most cases, one's affinity with magic would hit its cap before they reached the next stage.
[Wind Attribute 32 >>> 35] [Ice Attribute: 21] [Lightning Attribute: 18 >>> 20]
Raze was running straight ahead towards the beasts, and he saw this as a chance to increase his affinity with different attributes in more ways than one.
"Can we open our eyes yet?" Claire shouted as she felt a stinging sensation on her arm.
The teeth of the beasts had ripped through her skin. She had managed to slash the beast off, but she hadn't been able to kill it.
"Just keep them shut for a little bit longer; I will deal with this," Raze said.
*As long as I finish each one of them off using my Dark Magic, then I will get enough Mana back to use the spell to finish off the other ones, and this is a chance for me to increase my other affinities as well.*
Before reaching the others, Raze swung his sword using the second Devil's formation. While doing this, he activated a Wind spell and his demonic energy.
The ghost blade had changed color to a dark orange as his demonic energy was added to it, then the Wind Magic came out slightly crimson in color.
It was like the Crimson Strike, but due to not using the Descending Steps, it wasn't as powerful.
Swinging his sword one after the other, Raze let out countless slashes of Wind Magic attacks that looked like projectile Qi.
It hit the dogs, not finishing them off, but hurting them and pushing them back.
Raze skidded across the floor, sliding on the ground going right past Plon and his group. While doing this, his hand was then covered in Lightning Magic.
He slammed his hand on the ground once more. "Volt Shockwave."
Just like before, lightning spread right across the ground. It had hit the beasts that were in the area and had hit Plon and his group. They fell to their knees once more as they felt the small shocks going through their bodies and muscles.
"Not again!" Claire complained.
Not all of the beasts had been shocked with the lightning bolt. As if on instinct, some of them had jumped up in the air.
[Lightning Attribute 20 >>> 22]
'It looks like the affinity is increasing; this is great.'
Raze then pointed his hand out at two of the dogs in the air.
"Lightning Shock!"
From his hands, several strands of blue lightning came out and hit one of the dogs. Its body couldn't stop shaking, and then, the lightning attack seemed to move from one, shocking the one right next to it.
[Lightning Attribute 22 >>> 23]
Raze could feel his attribute with lightning getting stronger, and he could see its effects starting to work.
Like with all magic from Alterian, its affinity increased through certain ways. One way was using power stones from beasts that already had a certain attribute.
Another way was through conditions. For Dark Magic, it was through killing, which was one of the major reasons why it was a taboo magic.
For Wind Magic, it was the number of times wind spells were used. For Lightning Magic, the attribute increased based on the area of effect a spell had.
The more people a single spell would affect, the more the affinity with it increased.
It was a hard attribute to increase because of this, as Mages tend to only battle a single opponent at a time. However, the good thing with the Lightning Attribute, although it was hard to increase its affinity at the earlier stages, it was easier the higher one's affinity was.
This was because the higher the affinity, the more chance a spell had to affect those next to it.
Lightning Shock was a spell that was directed at a single target, but due to Raze's affinity, it had a chance to affect those nearby.
The higher the affinity, the more the spell could affect, and the greater the range as well, and he was seeing it in action.
"Dark Pulse, Dark Pulse!" Raze called out, firing it twice towards the beasts that were close to him, finishing them off.
[Dark Attribute 74 >>> 75]
Raze then used the Descending Steps to push himself forward, as he slashed the beasts next to him. He held out his hand to the side, using Dark Pulse again, killing another beast.
Raze didn't stop as he used a number of different spells and his sword skills to take on the thirty beasts that were around him.
It was quite the sight, it was amazing and beautiful to watch.
The Crimson Crane members who were watching from above were mesmerized by everything they were seeing.
"An initial stage warrior could never defeat 30 beasts like this, not on their own," Alba commented. "With the use of his special powers, he is able to perform feats that only a middle stage warrior in this type of place can perform."
"This Dark Magus, he seems to be a lot more than just an Alchemist," Froma commented.
"You're right, he is a lot more." Alba didn't know whether she should be over the moon that they had managed to get such a great ally or worried about the future of the Crimson Crane.
As they watched, Raze had managed to defeat all thirty of the beasts. His Qi seemed to be nearly depleted; he was tired, huffing, and panting.
'Thanks to the extraction technique, I was able to get most of my Qi back from those others as well. I just managed to do everything that I needed to do.'
[Dark Attribute: 78] [Wind Attribute: 39] [Ice Attribute: 21] [Lightning Attribute: 25]
'And all my attributes managed to increase as well, apart from Ice, but that's fine for now,' Raze thought.
"You're safe for now; you can open your eyes again," Raze ordered.
Fearing for their lives a moment ago, Plon and the girls collapsed, sitting on the ground, taking a breather. They had no idea what was going on.
All they could hear was noises, feel the energy of Qi flowing through the air, among other things. It was tense and tiring for them, even more so than if they were fighting.
When they opened their eyes, though, none of them could believe the sight in front of them. The beasts littered all over on the ground, and not just that, but all of those that had threatened them, nearly all of them were dead on the ground.
"Plon," Claire commented. "Did… that guy really do all of this? Who is he?"
