Awakened Talent: 10,000 Exp Converter!

The serpent's head exploded into a shower of droplets, its power dissipating before it could strike.

Dougie's eyes widened in surprise. In that short amount of time, he caught a glimpse of the small dragon-like figure made of fire that Ara had shot earlier.

He was certain that he had dodged it, but little did he know that the moment Ara had released it, the attack had already locked onto him.

Despite that, Dougie didn't lose his momentum. He rolled downward and thrust his Bone Spear Armament forward.

"Die!"

At that same moment, Ara summoned a transparent crimson barrier with a wave of her hand, blocking Dougie's attack.

Bang!

A loud sound echoed as the transparent barrier vibrated upon impact. However, Ara's barrier didn't budge at all.

Dougie's frown deepened, but he didn't lose confidence and thrust his Bone Spear Armament in quick succession.

"Die! Die! Die!"

Slash! Slash!

Bang! Bang!

Despite his relentless assault, Ara's fiery barrier blocked all of Dougie's attacks.

Needless to say, Dougie realized this.

After a brief moment of contemplation, he fell back, putting some distance between them.

Once he was several feet away from Ara, he stomped his Bone Spear Armament into the ground.

Without a word, he suddenly let out a loud roar that reverberated through the Veilwood Forest.

Roar!

In the next moment, an earthly aura surrounded him, forming into thick bronze armor with dog-headed pauldrons.

"Let me see how long you can keep hiding behind your turtle shell!" Dougie roared.

"Who said I am hiding?" Ara curtly retorted.

Before Dougie could understand what she meant, Ara waved her arm, and a crimson rapier appeared in her right hand.

The guard of this crimson rapier bore the design of a fiery rose.

That's why it was named the Crimson Rose Rapier.

As soon as she grasped its hilt, the rapier's blade flared with a short blaze as she waved it to her side.

Dougie was momentarily stunned before he snickered and chuckled. "Haha, do you think that thin weapon of yours can hold up against my rare-grade Bone Spear Armament?!"

"You must be dreaming!" Dougie sneered as he lunged forward with a huge grin on his face.

"Die!" he exclaimed, imagining Ara getting impaled by his Bone Spear Armament.

However, just as his weapon was only a few centimeters away from Ara's mask, she suddenly lifted her Crimson Rose Rapier, blocking his spear. The rapier's blade flared, releasing sparks upon impact.

Dougie's eyes widened in shock.

All the momentum he had built up was easily stopped by Ara… No, to be precise, it was stopped by the Crimson Rose Rapier in her hands.

Seeing the change in Dougie's expression, Ara grinned behind her mask and said, "Is that all your rare-grade Bone Spear Armament can do?"

She then scoffed. Before Dougie could further process his predicament, a strong fiery aura erupted from Ara's rapier. With a subtle movement—as if time had slowed down—she took a single step, closing the distance between them, and stabbed her crimson rapier toward Dougie's neck.

Bang!

A loud impact rang out, snapping Dougie back to his senses.

Crack!

A cracking sound followed as he looked at the sharp tip of Ara's rapier, halted in front of him. The Light Protector had blocked it, but Dougie felt his heart leap in fright.

The cracking sounds grew louder, and Dougie realized that his Light Protector was about to break.

Without hesitation, his expression darkened as he hurriedly retreated, putting distance between them just as the Light Protector's invisible shield finally shattered into pieces.

Watching this, Ara spoke softly, "Your shell is finally gone. You have nowhere to hide anymore."

Without hesitation, she lunged forward, stabbing her rapier in rapid succession, forcing Dougie into a frantic dodge.

Surprisingly, despite her continuous assault, Dougie managed to evade the critical strikes, sustaining only a few light injuries.

Ara couldn't help but comment, "Aren't you more of a snake than a dog? You're so slippery."

"Shut your mouth, bitch!" Dougie retorted in frustration as he continued dodging and retreating.

As much as he wanted to deny it, Ara was too fast. He couldn't find an opening to counterattack.

Whenever he thought he had an opportunity, he would find the tip of her rapier coming straight for his head.

And as he continued blocking her strikes, he started to realize something—her armament was not ordinary. It might be the same grade as his… or perhaps even higher.

But he refused to believe it. He couldn't accept it.

He had paid a huge price just to acquire his rare-grade Bone Spear Armament, yet this bitch had a better one?!

He wouldn't accept it!

Blinded by his obsession with armament quality, he kept parrying Ara's strikes.

However, it didn't take long before he heard a cracking sound.

"??"

Dougie frowned in confusion. But he didn't have the luxury to investigate as Ara's next strike came straight for his neck, cutting through the air with a sharp whoosh.

Clang!

Once again, sparks flew as he parried Ara's rapier, pushing him several feet away before he managed to halt his momentum.

"Stop running, puppy." Ara's voice was cold.

Just as Dougie was about to retort in frustration, he heard the cracking sound again. This time, he finally found its source.

His eyes widened in shock, disbelief, and… fear? No one knew but him as he stared at his Bone Spear Armament, now riddled with visible cracks on its spearhead.

"N-No… No! This isn't real… There's no way you can destroy my rare-grade armament just like that! I just bought this goddamn spear!"

Dougie's eyes turned red.

No one knew whether it was from sadness or rage.

He snapped, glaring at Ara with pure hatred.

"This is all your fault, you goddamn bitch! If you had just died like you were supposed to, my armament wouldn't have suffered! Do you have any idea how much I paid for this?! You're dead! I'll make sure you die!" Dougie bellowed furiously, his eyes burning crimson with anger.

Despite his outburst, Ara remained unfazed.

"So, what are you going to do about it?" she taunted. "Bite me and give me rabies?"

She chuckled, clearly mocking him.

Her words further enraged Dougie.

"Yeah! I'm going to tear you to pieces with my fangs and bathe in your filthy blood!" he roared, overflowing with killing intent.

As soon as he said that, he flicked his hand and popped something into his mouth.

"You left me no choice. I had no intention of using this…"