บท 128: Python
The lava slime hopped into the air, getting closer to Emile. It bounced on the stone creating a 'plop' sound each time it splattered.
Emile brandished his sword and confidently stepped forward, unwavering in front of his first opponent. When he became arms length away from the slime, he performed a quick slash across the body of the beast and waited for it to dissipate.
Against his expectations, however, an arm shot out of the slime's body. The tentacle of slime caught his sword before contact and held it in the air.
Emile tried to pull his sword out, but it was in there considerably well, like it was glued to the slime. After a few seconds, distinct sizzling erupted into the air.
Emile's sword was melting, getting cooked by the slime's grasp.
He activated Nimbus and rocketed his sword out of the slime. With it finally free, Emile didn't wait for it to get caught again.
Utilizing his unrestrained strength, Emile raised his sword above him and performed an overhead strike effectively splitting the slime in two.
The two halves of the lava slime fell to the ground, their shape unfurled and they liquified on the ground becoming nothing more than a puddle of orange liquid.
[Chosen Blazed Slime Slain]
Immediately, Pyra appeared from the lava once more and congratulated Emile.
"Would you like to progress to Beginning Enlightened?" She asked.
Emile agreed and prepared for his next opponent. The lava boiled and a blackened salamander burst onto the stone platform.
The size of a dog with matte, stone-like scales accented with a bright orange glow between its cracks. The salamander scurried across the ground and charged towards Emile.
Emile readied himself and stood in a defensive stance, he wanted to see the creatures attack before swinging blindly.
The salamander's tongue flopped out of its mouth, originally dark gray, but it slowly began to radiate flames. When its tongue glowed white and flames dripped onto the floor, its tongue burst across the arena like a rubber band and snapped at Emile.
Emile kept his sword up and swung at the tongue, attempting to parry it to the side. The salamander's tongue wrapped around his sword and pulled it from his fingers, disarming him and tossing his scimitar across the stone.
Afraid his sword would melt completely, Emile returned his weapon to his soul core and danced around the salamander, bobbing and weaving out of its strikes until his sword could be summoned again.
Emile maneuvered behind the salamander. He pulled his sword out above his head and struck down, impaling the salamander's chest and lodging the tip of his sword in the stone.
[Enlightened Molten Salamander Slain]
Once more Pyra appeared and Emile readily progressed to the next stage.
The lava boiled and from its bubbles a stone monkey was born. Coming up to Emile's waist, the monkey was constructed of molten stone.
A mixture of dark gray and glowing red, the monkey had black, soulless eyes and a crack running across its chest.
The monkey pounded its chest and screeched, small bits of lava flew out of its mouth and sizzled on the ground. When it was done, the monkey slammed its fists into the ground and propelled itself into the air, soaring towards Emile.
Emile decided to be proactive and lunged forward himself, swinging his sword in the process like a baseball bat ready to obliterate the monkey.
His sword made contact, cutting through the monkey's forearms and reaching for its chest. But suddenly, the monkey's stone skin glowed brighter.
His sword hit the monkey's chest and its momentum was immediately halted. The monkey's body had turned to molten entirely and his sword was slowly sinking within, entrapped by the thick goop that was lava.
The second Emile noticed, he activated Nimbus and his speed amplified. With the additional velocity, his sword cleanly slid through the molten rock and separated the monkey's shoulders from the rest of its torso.
[Enlightened Magma Monkey Slain]
Emile advanced to Late Enlightened without receiving a blow himself. He got caught in a couple bad situations, but they were mostly due to lack of information regarding his opponent.
He was feeling confident and ready to proceed.
His next opponent, a ginormous rattlesnake, slithered out of the ocean of lava. Similar to the rest of the beasts here, it had darkened scales and a molten glow seeping through its cracks.
The snake coiled near the edge of the stone platform and hissed at Emile. It was the first creature that hadn't attacked first.
Emile slowly walked around, gauging the strength of the rattlesnake before he attacked. He took a step closer and the rattlesnake reacted.
It hissed more aggressively, lava spit searing the ground and then it raised its tail into the air. It quickly started swirling its tail around, but it didn't produce any noise like the rattlesnakes of Earth.
Instead, the tip of its tail burned like a torch, producing a blinding white light. From the light, an orb of condensed flames coalesced and hovered above it.
The snake flicked its tail and the orb of energy followed. It launched into the air and barreled towards Emile, forcing him to sidestep the blast.
Emile didn't know how often the snake could produce those blasts, but he assumed it wasn't instant. After dodging the snakes blast, Emile crouched down and charged ahead.
The snake began swirling its tail and another ball of flames began to manifest, but Emile was faster.
He arrived in front of the snake and cut horizontally, attempting to behead the beast, but his sword clashed against the creature's scales and sprung back, unable to cut through.
Now standing beneath the beast, defenseless, the fireball was released. Emile didn't panic, though, and activated Nimbus.
He launched backwards, skidding across the stone. He slammed his sword into the ground to stop himself before flying off the arena. The fireball hit the stone just before the snake and engulfed the beast, but it was clearly fire immune.
Emile didn't attack again. The snake's scales were tough and his sword couldn't pierce them. In addition, the creature maintained its distance and took advantage of its long-range capabilities.
The snake wasn't Emile's match, he knew that, but it was the first opponent that required a certain amount of finesse to overcome.
Emile continued to dodge the incoming fireballs while thinking of a strategy. If its scales are too thick then it must have a weak point, like a dragon's single flipped scale, every beast has its weakness.
Emile just needs to find it.
He didn't think it was as complicated as the dragon's single scale, although both were reptiles, their ranks were so ridiculously polarizing. The rattlesnake's weak point has to be much simpler and much larger.
Emile observed the snake. Which parts of it stood out? The tip of its tail?
The rattlesnake's rattle wasn't protected by scales, instead it looked more like a glow stick: a cylindrical rod that illuminated when it was preparing a fireball.
But even then, is cutting off the snake's tail going to kill it? Probably not. It would most likely disable its ability to produce the fireballs, which is helpful in its own right, but still not what Emile was looking for.
Worth it nonetheless, Emile charged forward after evading another fireball. The snake lunged forward, attempting to sink its fangs in Emile, but Emile caught its nose with his sword and redirected its momentum into the ground.
He leaped into the air above the snake and slashed its tail. His sword split the glow stick in half and its light died down.
But that was just the tip. Still in the air, Emile was out of position. The rest of the snake's tail swung around and crashed into Emile. He flew back and slammed into the ground, tumbling across the floor.
He stopped himself and stood up, he needed to keep his eyes on his opponent, that was a basic rule. Instead of the defensive, coiled snake he expected to see, however, he was met with a rage-induced blind charge from the snake.
Cutting off its tail made it go berserk, forcing it to fight with its body. The snake launched at Emile and he had no other choice but to meet its strike head on.
Its fangs clashed with Emile's sword and a stalemate ensued. Emile's scimitar was lodged between the snake's gums, pressed against its protruding fangs that were only a few inches away from his face.
Trapped in a battle of strength, Emile was bound to be on the losing end. He could feel it, the snake's pressure increasing, its fangs getting closer and closer to sinking into his throat.
Running out of time, Emile did the first thing he could think of. Simultaneously, he activated the Nimbus Charm and returned his sword to his soul.
As his sword dissipated into white sparks, Emile's necklace exploded with pure light. In the second his sword phased out of reality, Emile flashed across the arena and slid past the edge of the snake's fangs.
He activated Nimbus the moment it deactivated and charged back towards the snake. He ran up the snake's back and jumped into the air above the creature's head.
While in the air, he ripped his sword from his soul and plummeted down, plunging his sword into the socket of one of the beast's eyes.
At first it didn't penetrate very deep, but Emile raised his fist into the air and activated Nimbus. With the velocity from his charm and his natural strength combined, he slammed his fist against the hilt of his sword.
The sword sunk into the snake's skull hilt-deep, piercing its brain and killing it instantaneously.
[Enlightened Infernas Python Slain]
Pyra appeared and asked monotonically:
"Would you like to advance to Beginning Perfected?"
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