Nothing of note happened for hours. The suns rose to the zenith as they simply relaxed and adjusted their mind to carry out the mission again. Said mission being rousing the mountains, if they wished to do so.
Lev had grown far stronger in the meantime. Even if the changes were mainly increases in skill levels and attributes, both of these things were especially effective on him.
“Where did those two go?” Lev asked after a long period of silence.
“Probably hunting and getting to know each other,” Sherron said with a snort.
Lev approved, though he would rather keep that to himself.
“And what about us?”
“You’re free, of course. The stag is the real issue, and no one can predict how it will react.”
"So we’re not free.”
“If that’s what you want to think,” Sherron shrugged.
“Alright, I’ll set up the stage in the meantime,” Lev said and flew higher. He vividly remembered the dungeon entrance’s location, and the Night Hunter was likely going to come straight up.
When he found a spot directly above the entrance, by his estimates, he lowered and created a mental map.
To his left, a few hundred meters away, began the base of an unassuming mountain. That was the only portion of the natural structure that would be useful to him, for the rest towered high enough to not be visible from his location. To his right, the land was mostly flat, only rising slightly. Ahead and behind, there was nothing but flat grass, which was fortunate. It let him prepare easily.
Pillars were the primary constructs prepared for the duel. They existed to absorb lightning from his slashes, waves, arrows, lances, and everything else. He planned to distribute them in a five-hundred-meter radius from his location, which would cover even the larger explosions.
His armor was next, though he held off for now. Enchanting it to match the occasion would come later.
Before the Night Hunter emerged to the surface, Lev also couldn’t prepare anything underground, lest the creature be tipped off about the trap.
That left his bubble, and for that, he took inspiration from thornlings. They had strong tentacle-like appendages on their backs that also aided their Perception in some way, either due to general sensitivity or the thorny hair.
Lev was still far, far away from crafting something that intricate. Fortunately, he didn’t need to.
The bubble floated a hundred or so meters above ground. It would serve as a central point for his preparations, the node to which all of his barrier cables would connect.
Each cable was much larger than usual as well. Comparable to four of his arms held together, that was the minimum width necessary for carving several long mana absorption formations across its massive length.
Fifty different cables used the bubble as an anchor. All of them extended to some of the furthest pillars, shrouding the sky above him in a net. It wasn’t designed to absorb actual impacts, not even to stop the Night Hunter from leaving the zone.
No, it merely served as a barrier for lightning mana to clash against and be absorbed.
All of the preparations above ground took several hours. Lev worked in silence, trying different methods to enchant the cables and moving the pillars where he expected the battle to reach.
Many of them would shatter, no doubt, which was why he slowly created more and more. His reserves of sap dwindled, and he also made a mental note to look into better treatments, maybe even something more permanent like converters.
“This is rather suicidal,” Isabella commented, joining him. “I can only notice the closest pillars and the bubble. What do you plan to do with all of this?”
“Push my class and senses to their limits,” Lev answered, not offering more details. They would see it all live, anyway.
“There are better ways, in case they slipped your mind.”
“They did not. I am not doing this without reason, either,” Lev answered with a reassuring smile. “Trust me, I know better than to push where I shouldn’t. This whole plan has been in the making ever since I evolved and faced my first third-threshold monster by myself.”
“Which monster?” Isabella asked, interest evident.
“A Flamebreather Gecko,” Lev replied, smirking slightly. “It was so weak now that I think about it. Probably the weakest monster third-threshold monster I have ever faced. Just like Shade Prowlers, it became much less scary when ambush wasn’t a possibility.”
“Huh. And you decided to go look for one so soon after evolving?”
“Of course not,” Lev gave her a look. “I was just out on a patrol with my team, and well, you know how things are around me.”
“That must have been scary,” Isabella said softly, but Lev just smiled.
“Nah, Sherron was tailing me, already expecting something to go wrong. I just went along with the encounter and somehow won.”
“Somehow,” Isabella echoed, shaking her head. “Must have been a spectacle.”
“It was.”
Once Lev was certain that there weren’t any changes or improvements to be made, they returned to their spot near the stag. Sherron was lounging on his bed, idly gazing at the skies.
“Any changes?” he asked, sitting down next to her.
“The amount of blood mana circulation has increased slightly over the last hour,” she answered calmly, not looking at him. “The stag should wake up in a few hours or so.”
“I see,” Lev said and left it at that.
Time passed in peace. Some monsters came close to their camp, which turned out not to be enough to hide them completely. Still, only second-threshold creatures found them, which Elias’s team dealt with.
Aryan also vanished at one point, having spotted trolls. Those were easy pickings for him.
Once the suns were nearing the horizon, Drakys and the Hunter finally returned. The way they walked side by side revealed how their reunion had gone, which put a smile on Lev’s face.
The last thing he wanted was for the Hunter’s efforts not to be recognized.
“I see you’re preparing to finally push past some hurdles,” Drakys remarked once they were within earshot. “Did you know that the abhorrent has already left the dungeon?”
Lev perked up. “No, I didn’t. Did it flee?”
“Nope. It’s right below us.”
The meaning dawned on him over a few seconds. He blinked a few times, then straightened.
It seemed that the duel was nearer than he expected.
****
Day turned to night. The suns gradually vanished completely, leaving them with a crackling fireplace that was slowly illuminated by the bright light of three moons.
Lev gazed at the celestial bodies, trying and failing to decipher any of their secrets.
Is She watching? Or does tonight just randomly have three moons?
There was no answer, as usual. He turned to the waiting company, which included an unconscious stag, two Exalted humans, one Exalted being, and all the other Masters who had accompanied him into the dungeon.
He expected the stag to also wake up during the battle. By now, its wounds were healing at a pace visible to the naked eye. Blood mana battled the corrupted substance clinging to its body, slowly devouring it until it harmlessly scattered into ambient mana.
Lev gave them a grin and tipped an imaginary hat before summoning Stargazer from his ring. Her mana pool was already full, and with Kora’s help, so was his.
With a thought, his armor also appeared around him. Enchantments had already been carved, and by now, he looked considerably larger than his stature would suggest.
Around the armor, two more layers had been carved with painstaking effort. The first layer covered most of it in a thin coating, one meant to serve as a buffer between the enchantments on the armor and the outermost layer.
The second layer was thicker, focusing on protecting the vitals such as the chest, thighs, shoulders, arms, and calves. Each plating was adorned with absorption runes modified to absorb lightning. Those formations were further linked to the armor, where all of the reabsorbed mana would be used for imbuement or channeled into his offense.
Overall, it was excessively focused on a single element. The whole exercise would largely be a waste if not for the element itself.
Lightning was volatile and destructive. That didn’t change when he manipulated it, and by channeling it in huge amounts, Lev was bound to learn a thing or ten about both his armor and the element itself.
Reusing it over and over would also let him positively swim in a dome of the crackling mana, and hopefully, that would hurt the monster more than him.
Fingers crossed, Lev snorted.
The final measure he had taken was to weave a skinsuit out of barrier threads. It wasn’t enchanted and served only a single purpose of acting as a meatshield for his Epic suit, protecting it from the worst of the inevitable burns.
Minutes passed as Lev walked away from everyone else. Once he was close to the prepared stage, Drakys activated some concealment wards that removed the humans and the two non-humans from his senses entirely.
Left alone, he took a deep breath and passed by the first few pillars. They were hidden with a tiny stream of shadow mana, increasing the effectiveness of the concealment.
More constructs passed by him. The bubble was similarly concealed and floating above him at the previously chosen height, all of the cables wrapped around it for now.
Before he could reach the middle of the prepared stage, the ground rumbled slightly. Kicking the ground hard enough to crack it, he jumped. Claws passed through where his legs had been a moment before, oh-so-familiar in shape but much smaller.
The Night Hunter fully emerged once the ambush failed, looking at Lev with baleful eyes. Shoulders hunched, it remained ready to lunge at a moment’s notice, but stayed stationary when Lev just looked at it.
[Night Hunter - Level 443]
Another 23 levels since we last faced it, hmm?
Lev was quite satisfied with his own growth in the dungeon, but the Night Harvester outclassed even that. No doubt, it had faced many foes and triumphed over them, including even a third-threshold Veil Hunter.
Or, perhaps, it had left the dungeon through some other means. No matter how strong it was, Lev couldn’t imagine the abhorrent defeating the boss. Even the strength of its aura was far, far from strong enough to betray that level of power.
At least you’re letting me form barriers underground by stupidly staring at me.
The chances were negligible, but Lev still waited. If the being turned out to possess sapience, he would immediately reconsider his stance.
Their standoff continued for another few seconds, and he had to give up on that line of thought. Nothing but madness and bloodlust shone in its gaze, boiling in anticipation to tear into him.
A thrum went through the area, and only then did the Night Hunter recognize its mistake. Up above, all of the barrier nets were revealed, covering a large area around them.
Underneath, a barrier bowl had formed to block its path of escape. There were multiple layers to it, and all of them were enchanted with durability, ready to be enhanced the moment it tried to flee.
Or if it even did. He wasn’t sure yet.
Lev made use of that distraction, firing a lightning bolt through his right arm. The monster almost dodged it, getting clipped on the shoulder as it was sent spinning.
A pillar blocked its path, and a few others were also revealed as a decent bunch of the lightning was absorbed. Lev eagerly teleported it back into his armor and channeled it into his arm again.
To his pleasant surprise, the reabsorbed amount was more than half of the original, almost 60%. The loss wasn’t negligible by any means, but he was more than ready to pump every pillar full of lightning.
His musings were painfully cut short when a clawed fist blurred towards his chest, reminding him that the Night Hunter was a mighty foe, one that even Melvine had struggled against.
Stargazer’s pole tried and failed to deflect it, the force behind the punch too great. Lev shot backwards like a cannonball, smashing into an invisible shieldwall to arrest his momentum.
He ducked, dodging a kick heading for his forehead. It tore straight through the fully powered shieldwall, and he didn’t have any illusions about how that would’ve gone for his skull.
Before it could advance, a wave of lightning rushed out of his armor, slowing the hunter briefly. Stargazer landed on its side with the force of a landslide, and all that weight was not to be denied.
The Night Hunter broke through several invisible shields, and while Lev could’ve let it fly further and prepared an offense, the creature would’ve broken through one of his pillars.
Tricky…. They’re not built to withstand even a single hit.
He decided to go all out from the start. Already, motes of moonlight were starting to swirl in the air, morphing and gliding inside the creature’s body.
Rolling his shoulders, he gave his willpower just one order. It immediately set upon the task, converting a steady stream of mana from both his and Stargazer’s pool into lightning and channeling it into every single construct outside the bubble equally.
Holding the glaive with a slightly loose grip, he powered up a Fracturing Wave and advanced.