Rip CLANNNG Rip Every few seconds, my lance would slash across its body, but there was barely any effect despite my attacks going into its body compared to the scratches it had given me. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖 These are not normal attacks; while my attacks might not go too deep, they are filled with white-hot inheritance energy, which I have specially created to deal with these necrotic bastards. A single dose would have been enough to kill the bastard, but even after nineteen strikes, it is still standing and fighting. The energy is not completely useless, as I could see it faintly slowing down, but the result of still quite disappointing, considering I had considered the energy to be the bane of all the necrotic beings. It seemed like I would need to research it further, but before I did that, I would have to deal with the bastard in front of me, which is proving to be a far bigger challenge than I had imagined it to be. It had been more than an hour since I had started fighting against it, which made it one of the longest fights, I have fought in the year. Usually, even the strongest enemies get buried under my feet when I fight them for this long, and those who are truly strong would already force me to summon my shields within a few minutes of fights. I continued with my assault with every bit of strength and concentration I had; I did not dare to relax even the slightest since my attacks started to touch it. I only had a faint edge over it. If I relax even the slightest bit, then I will lose my edge, worse, it will gain an edge over me, and it will definitely happen, as it is still learning. Rip Rip Rip So, I kept fighting and striking it; at first, my attacks would only strike it only a few times a minute, but that time began to shrink slowly. By the time two hours are over, of four lances, at least one would always strike it, and it finally begins to show the result. Its defensive mechanisms were not able to destroy the energy fast enough as I was putting it inside, not to mention that it was not just slashing now but piercing; I had pierced so many times. If the Grimm had been in place, it would have fallen down by now. Puch Puch Puch It took me another twenty minutes before I was able to launch my final move; I had pierced all four of my lances inside it, which I had done many times, but this time difference in that the tip of the lances had blazing hot pearls, which burned through the zombie and its powerful necrotic defenses. ting ting ting The scimitars fell down as the zombie stopped before it began to melt under the radiant energy; I quickly collected the scimitars before I sat down, nearly falling. The battle was intense but extremly tiring; it had been a long while since I was such dead tired physically after the fight; it was such a great feeling. "I have nearly forgotten how similar you are with Sarah when it comes to fighting the enemies," "It is not just killing the enemy with you guys; no, you need to improve with each fight and even take idiotic handicaps when fighting," said Jim as he appeared beside me. "I am not as petty as her," It was my only answer, and it had brought a smile to his face but also made him sigh with a shake of his head, likely thinking about the relationship I had with his fiance. "My lord, you were really magnificent; you were so fast that I could not see your movements at all," said Lester, looking at me in a completely light of adoration, which had reached an uncomfortable level. "Work hard, and it won't take you long to achieve similar feat with your talent," I said and got up. Even though I was tired, I could not sit in this dangerous place. "If any danger appears ahead, don't take any risk; just use your strings to get rid of it," He said, and I nodded. I had enough fun for one day, and even though I am recovering fast, I will not take another risk; it is not just my life that I risk while doing that. "We should be directly reaching the reward room, right?" I asked Jim as we waited for the door to appear. For the last three times, one needed to complete three challenges before moving to reward. The first two challenges were cleared through fighting, while the third was formation breaking. It took about a few minutes before the door finally appeared; it was wooden like the previous two but felt metallic. "It was supposed to be a silver door," said Lestor looking at the golden door; "With the changes that had happened, I am not surprised," Jim said, and we walked toward the golden door. We appeared beside the door, and Jim pushed it open, revealing the scene, which was much different than the other two rooms we had to pass through. "Well, the garden looks the same as the descriptions," I said as we walked inside and stopped at the stone entrance, which had a golden energy layer, and on the energy layer was a complex formation. I only glanced at the formation before watching the garden behind, which is bathing in a radiant light. It is blurry, but one could still see how beautiful the garden behind it is, filled with extremly beautiful plants, and even more precious is the water in a goblet, which is above the stone coffin. That is the thing that Jim had brought me here for; the thing considered inside the goblet is truly precious, and I have already asked for it long ago. So, even if I did not have come here, I would have gotten it, but I am glad I have come. It gave me a much-needed break that I wasn't willing to take with the work I had. "I am going to solve it," said Jim looking at the formation on the golden screen; I nodded and sat down. He has a day to solve the formation, which is quite less compared to the difficulty of the formation. If it had been any other person of our age than Jim, I wouldn't have believed they have the ability, but Jim has it. I am totally confident that my friend will solve the formation before the time, and he needed to do it for his own pride, considering he barely lifted the blade in the past two challenges. While I sat with closed eyes, Jim focused his all on solving the formation. I am a little grateful for Jim here because if not for him, then I would have to solve the formation, which I usually enjoy but rather not do right now. I have made huge gains in the battle, and I wanted to think about them carefully, especially about the ideas I have. Some of those ideas have made me really excited.