NOVEL WEB Chapter 65: Laser
Richard observed the coin known as the Ignis Volt Core.
When he held it, it felt as though it was trying to siphon his Aether, demanding that he convert it into fire and lightning.
'Time for a fight,' he thought.
Richard quickly left the shop, blending into the crowd, all of whom were also wearing Phantom Robes.
Others watching him would not find it easy to recognize him.
He even changed the robe's color to brown and shrank his body slightly.
In this city, there was a gate that connected directly to a vast forest.
Even the walls surrounding the gate were much taller.
The reason was obvious—the forest was filled with too many ferocious beasts. Many of them were even Primordial Beasts.
Even if they weren't of the King variety, they could still grow into higher Tiers.
The gate was heavily guarded by Sky Armor Knights, but they didn't forbid anyone from leaving through it.
Of course, only a few were brave enough.
Richard passed through the gate, entering the forest where the towering trees loomed above.
He immediately felt the forest's oppressive atmosphere, as though countless feral eyes were watching him with killing intent.
Most importantly, the forest was rather dark. The trees were so dense that sunlight barely filtered through.
Richard pressed forward, hoping something would appear soon, as he was eager to test how strong he had truly become.
"Mm…"
Before long, a beast appeared— a black wolf, even taller than a grown man.
It stood about 2.5 meters tall, with fur bristling like spikes.
Its red eyes locked onto Richard with bloodlust.
"This should be a Tier 5 Beast," he murmured.
Among Beasts, Tier 5 was the highest.
Only if they awakened their Primordial Bloodline to become a Primordial Beast could they advance further.
Whoosh!
The black wolf lunged at Richard without a sound.
Though the distance between them wasn't small, the wolf moved with incredible speed.
Richard didn't have enough time to use the Ignis Volt Core.
But he had another way.
Before him appeared a shadow wolf, even larger than the real one.
His 100 Shadow Monster ability allowed him to shape shadow beasts of his choice.
Since the enemy was a wolf, he conjured a wolf. One was enough.
More importantly, it wasn't just a simple shadow beast.
Whoosh!
The shadow wolf leaped toward the black wolf, clashing as the two beasts bit and grappled, rolling across the ground.
Richard didn't see his shadow wolf losing, but he couldn't afford to wait.
Snap!
He flicked his fingers.
Boom!
Suddenly, the shadow wolf erupted, unleashing an explosion of lightning and darkness that formed a sphere of crackling shadow, swallowing the black wolf whole.
Boom!
From within the blast came another, even stronger detonation, scattering bloody chunks in every direction.
Richard had fused the shadow wolf with his Lighting of Darkness Arcane Art.
That Arcane Art could be applied in many ways, but the simplest was to merge it with a shadow beast and detonate it once the beast restrained the enemy.
"Tier 5 is no match for me," Richard said before moving on.
He didn't only watch ahead, but also above, anticipating beasts that lurked in trees, like monkeys.
But instead of monkeys, he spotted a green serpent blending seamlessly with the leaves.
It was massive, as thick as a human body and of unknown length.
Its scales bore dark green stripes that seemed to glow faintly.
"This one is clearly a Primordial Beast."
Richard didn't hesitate. He could feel the aura unique to Primordial Beasts radiating from it.
Though the distance between them was great, the serpent sensed his presence the moment he looked at it.
It stared back coldly, flicking its black tongue.
Richard didn't wait for it to move. He aimed the Ignis Volt Core, pinching the golden coin between two fingers.
From each finger, fire and lightning surged into the coin.
The glow was so blinding that anyone who looked would surely be struck with searing pain in their eyes.
Richard released massive streams of fire and lightning, but they didn't scatter. The Ignis Volt Core absorbed them too quickly.
Once he felt it was enough, he stopped.
At the front of the coin, a tiny flame coated in lightning formed.
Whiz!
It shot forth, becoming a laser beam that stretched with unimaginable speed—so fast that even Richard's eyes couldn't follow.
In the blink of an eye, the beam pierced the serpent's head and continued through multiple trees, disappearing far in the distance.
More astonishingly, the space along its path seemed torn apart, releasing trails of scalding smoke.
And yet, the Ignis Volt Core itself showed no signs of heat or smoke.
"This feels like a bow attack—firing at a single distant point, but far more terrifying, fueled by fire and lightning."
Richard was very satisfied with the result. The amount of fire and lightning he used wasn't much, yet the Ignis Volt Core wielded it flawlessly, wasting nothing.
BANG!
The green serpent suddenly fell, clearly dead as its vital head was cleanly pierced.
Even though it was a Primordial Beast and its corpse could be sold, Richard wasn't interested.
The price was far too low for his standards.
He preferred to push deeper into the forest.
"Paul, are you sure about what you saw?"
"Yes, young master, I truly saw the Dark Black Rose. But unfortunately, it was guarded by many giant bats. I ran before they could notice me…"
Richard suddenly heard the voices of two men beyond a large tree ahead.
He quickly hid and peeked at the source of the voices, spotting four figures—a chubby young man, a skinny young man, and two towering Sky Armor Knights.
The chubby one was Jack Moonshadow, son of the clan leader.
Richard hadn't expected to see him here, but what he said piqued his interest.
The Dark Black Rose. He had heard of it before—something said to aid in mastering Codexes and Arcane Arts.
At the very least, for Codexes and Arcane Arts already mastered to 1%, using the Dark Black Rose could raise mastery by several more percent.
Naturally, it was something of immense value.