Ascenders Rift

Chapter 72: The Clash in the Old Temple

Dreadtooth and Gragtaasz were annoyed at Evan's manner, they knitted their brows, wondering where his confidence came from, but before they said anything, the answer came in an instant. Evan started to exhale with a long breath as his body became shrouded with crimson-ish energy, unlike last time it was a bit richer in quality rather than obscure.

The hard stone beneath his feet cracked as terrifying power erupted from his body, Dreadtooth and Gragtaasz opened their eyes wide when they felt it, they looked at him sharply as they spoke.

'This human... he is far more powerful than I'd thought... we may need to take him down together.' Dreadtooth thought to himself as his eyes shifted towards Gragtaasz.

Gragtaasz also shared his idea; he was similarly looking at Dreadtooth as if they decided on something, both bosses prepared to make a move.

Gragtaasz's body flickered an appeared a few dozen meters in a flash, his sorcerer robe fluttering about as his eyes gleamed with coldness.

Rick's eyes flashed when he saw Gragtaasz's speed; he thought to himself, 'He's fast...'

Dreadtooth then took a few steps towards Evan and Rick as he slammed his hammer against his shield, causing it to make 'tang-tang' noises as he spoke, "Humans, come, show me the reason for your valor!"

Evan smiled as he saw this, his eyes flashed when he commanded inwardly, 'Inspect,'

[?Dreadtooth - The Reptile King - Level 3]

[Race - Crocoman (Superior) State Stage 1 Ascended Lifeform (Restricted)]

[Class - Hammer Warrior]

[Health - 500]

[Corrupt Energy: 10]

[strength - 42]

[Vitality - 36]

[Agility - 25]

[Defense - 34]

[Skills:]

[Smashing Blow - A crushing blow that destroys all foes in its path.]

[Revolving Breaker - A whirling smash that tosses all foes in disarray as it tears them to pieces.]

[?Gragtaasz - The Goblin Sorcerer - Level 3]

[Race - Goblin (Superior) | State Stage 1 Ascended Lifeform (Restricted)]

[Class - Dark Sorcerer]

[Health - 350]

[Dark Mana - 20]

[strength - 25]

[Vitality - 30]

[Agility - 40]

[Defense - 30]

[Skills:]

[Dark Ray - A ray of dark mana that can destroy anything it touches based on the difference in strength.]

[Dark Cage - A prison of dark mana energies.]

After inspecting the stats of the two bosses, Evan thought to himself, 'Well, their strength is slightly lower than Aperehs, but that's understandable. They've been upgraded due to our arrival, and Aperehs stats were severely weakened. I didn't even think they'd be allowed to use their battle energies; this has pretty much made them a threat above him; it would seem that those from the Heaven Eyes must have been equipped with some pretty powerful equipment and weapons to beat this space.'

As Evan thought here, he did the same for Rick, who was standing by his side, causing his details to show before him.

[Rick Rayfield - True Name - Ivan Erickson]

[Race - Human | State - Stage 1 Ascender]

[Class - Holy Spearman | Superior Tier Class - 1st Blessing (Total of +4 stats per level)]

[Level - 3]

[Next Level - 6000 EXP]

[Total EXP - 2]

[Health - 300]

[Battle Energy - 15]

[Strength - 28(18+6+3+1)]

[Vitality - 23 (19+2+2)]

[Agility - 40 (33+3+4)]

[Defense - 25 | (15+3+2+2+2+1)]

[Stat Comparison:]

[Previous: S - 24 | V - 19 | A - 32 | D - 21]

[Current: S - 28| V - 23 | A - 40| D - 25]

[Talent:]

[Divine Speed (+4 Agility per level)]

Upon seeing Rick stats, Evan nodded as he pondered, 'If it's him, he should be able to buy some time from that speedy Gragtaasz. I'll show him his custom technique...'

After fully wrapping up his thoughts, Evan made a sly smirk while thinking that he's about to teach Rick his trademark style. He then stared at the menacing Dreadtooth and smiled when he replied to his prior words, "As you wish,"

After saying this, the battle energy on Evan's body began to gather towards his feet as the ground shattered into more spiderweb-like cracks.

Evan's body then began to separate as if he was turning elusive when he glanced at Rick and spoke, "Rick, though Battle Energy can be used to boost your body's entire stats. Its overall effects shall be reduced; the best way to make use of most of it at a disadvantage is to assign it to key areas of your body. Watch closely; this technique is called the Shadows Movement; It is a method that can use our Battle Energy to boost your speed," As Evan said this, he pressed his foot against the ground and charged towards Dreadtooth like a blurry shade.

If one could perceive his movements, they would notice that each of his steps was more like sliding motions as if he was skating on ice. His body now had a vague coating of energy around his feet, allowing him to make quicker motions.

Evan's figure became even more indistinct as he shifted his legs from side to side, transforming into multiple shadows, so much that the eyes of Dreadtooth found it somewhat hard to follow him.

Rick, who had been watching, felt surprised, but as he was now faster than Evan, he could see things more precise, he was already itching to give it a try.

"Such intricate movements, I never thought our energy could perform such feats," He muttered with an excited look in his eyes.

Dreadtooth's eyes flashed when he saw the multiple blurry Evan's around him; his body glowed in a greenish aura as he struck his hammer towards the ground while shouting, "Human, you're fast, but speed isn't without its limits! Smashing Blow!"

The moment he said this, his hammer erupted with the brilliant green lights before it smashed towards the ground. Evan smiled as he saw this, not seeming to care, the earth soon exploded from Dreadtooth's position, sending chunks of rocks into the air as everything with a ten-meter range was now out of proportion.

Now, a cloud of rubble and dust had enshrouded everything within that range, as both Evan and Dreadtooth's figure was shrouded.

Rick seemed to have sensed the danger; he had retreated in a flash appearing a few dozen meters away as he thought to himself, 'Such power if anyone were to get a hit from that they'd be smashed into bits.'

Not long after, the dust had begun to fade, revealing the towering figure of Dreadtooth who stood proudly with his hammer raised above his shoulder. He stared at the crater with a smile as he spoke, "Haha, who would have thought that you'd die in one blow, how disappointing."

Dreadtooth was feeling pleased, but both Rick and Gragtaasz were staring in the same direction. There, on one of the upraised rock surfaces that formed by the previous attack, Evan calmly stood as he gazed down at Dreadtooth with mockery on his face as he spoke, "Hey, big guy, that wasn't everything was it?"

As he heard Evan's words, Dreadtooth was shocked, he looked up and saw Evan before he gritted his teeth while in thought, 'Darn, how could this human be so quick, it seems that I really can't handle him on my own.'

As he quickly wrapped up his thoughts, Dreadtooth then shouted, "Gragtaasz! Seal his movements!"

'Tsk! I was already on it you know,' Gragtaasz said to himself while he waved his staff towards Evan's direction, and point it at him, it glowed in a blackish light when he shouted, "Dark Ray!"

Following his shout, a beam of black light bolted towards Evan's shadows at crazy speeds, seeming almost unavoidable.

Although Evan seemed too quick, Gragtaasz could easily pick up on his movements due to his superior speed. When Evan sensed this, the rays soon arrived at his position, reflecting from the surface of his pupils.

'He's a lot more troublesome than I'd imagine, then again he's still a boss after all,' Evan thought as his eyes flashed sharply.

In moments, the energies around his feet shifted towards his entire body in a flash, allowing his flexibility to increase. With an elegant turn, Evan then managed to narrowly avoid the black beam, which continued towards a distant corner of the old temple before it collided with the wall.

Boom! Following a loud noise, an explosion had formed at that location, sending rubble about the area.

Gragtaasz looked at Evan in shock as he spoke out loud, "How could he so easily dodge my ray attack? Che! That slippery little shit, let's see you do it again!"

Though Gragtaasz was shocked, his movements weren't hindered, he waved his staff once more in preparation for another attack. However, it was at this time, Rick, who had been on standby, acted.

'You've made a big mistake paying attention to only one of us,' Rick though as his eyes shone coldly when he appeared from behind Gragtaasz. Following this, the sound of something sharp speedily piercing through the wind resounded as if at any moment it would strike Gragtaasz's back.

Gragtaasz was a bit surprised, but he quickly regained his composure. With a whooshing sound, his figure vanished, causing Rick's sneak attack to fail as his spear created a large crack into the ground. 

"Tsk! He's too fast," Rick silently cursed as he shifted his eyes, he soon found Gragtaasz at a few dozen meters distance away from him.

Gragtaasz looked at Rick and sneered, "Oh, such low damage, it looks like I didn't even need to dodge that attack just now. Hmm, human, I must say speed is the only thing you've got going for you, but even so, I am still much too fast for the likes of you."

Rick felt his pride hurt; he glared at Gragtaasz and shouted, "Humph! We'll see about that!"

As Rick said this, he exhaled a long breath as his holy looking white energy began to erupt from his body. It quickly condensed around his feet as he took a running posture, Rick's mouth curved in a smile when he spoke, "Heh, let's give this a try now shall we,"

The instant Rick said this; his body began to separate as he turned into multiple remnant shades. Each of these blurry figures was moving similarly to Evan, though some steps were a bit jerky; his style was in some ways more complete.

Gragtaasz's eyes shrunk when he saw this, but he didn't panic and coldly spoke, "Foolish human, your speed may be greater than I'd thought, but it's not enough for you to face me!"

As Gragtaasz said this, he twirled the staff in his hands like a spinning pole before he grasped it and tapped its base onto the stone-paved ground.

Tack! With a sound of wood knocking concrete, a series of complex magic diagrams had appeared from the staff quickly spreading towards the entirety of the old temple.

Gragtaasz smirked as his eyes sinisterly shone when he yelled, "Dark Cage!"

A wave of darkness had begun to spread from the staff quickly enveloping the area; Rick was a bit surprised by this, he shifted his movements appearing nearby Evan as he spoke, "This... what's going on,"

"I suppose he's using a technique that can trap us," Evan said as he watched the scene from a top of the raised stone surface with curious eyes.

Rick shook his head upon noticing Evan's look; he then tried to make sense of what was going on. Moments after, the entire temple was sealed off by a ball of darkness, turning their sights into a scene of pitch black.

As this happened, both Gragtaasz and Dreadtooth stood silently in this dark scene; their sinister-looking eyes glowed when they spoke.

"Kekeke, humans, let's see how you face us this time," The voice of Gragtaasz said.

"Grah-grah-grah! The night is a world of all creatures, without your eyes I want to see how you'll both fares against us." Dreatooth said with confidence.

Soon after their words, their glowing eyes faded in the dark scene, as now only a few strange sounds could be heard. Occasionally, one could see a few flashing objects that were growing from the ground, seeming no different from wriggling tentacles.

Rick's eyes glowed in a greenlight before returning to normal; his face turned dark as he spoke out loud, "So, Evan, what do we do now? This power is even capable of even hindering the night vision lens."

Evan smiled as he replied, "That's simple; we do what all humans do best; we adapt."

Evan's words angered Rick, but as he turned towards his location, his eyes went wide when he saw a vague amount of crimson light around Evan's body.

Evan glanced at Rick with glowing red eyes as he spoke with confidence, "Battle Energy has another use... you'll have to learn it during this crisis, I hope for your sake, you can learn it in a flash this time."

As Evan spoke, the scene before them became even more sinister, and the shuffling noises of strange objects grew more intense as if the battle was about to enter a new act.