TBATE - Lightseeker

After studying the book for a good half hour, I turned my attention to myself and studied the runes in my chest. Before leaving the Garden of Eden I noticed a second rune, different from the first. While the first rune was inside the flames, both illusory and physical, this second rune was carved into my heart directly. I wonder what they do... Master said to 'ignite' them when I wish to use them - whatever that means - but only when absolutely necessary.  

Guess I'll keep moving. The boss room should be up ahead. judging by the previous mana beasts in the dungeon, it will likely be a magma-type beast, a wolf of some sort, or perhaps both. There's also the less likely chance it is a sound mana beast, though considering the only sound beasts were weak and near the entrance, I don't think they are very important. 

I continued through the linear stone tunnel, slicing and burning through any insignificant creature that dared to attack me. After what felt like hours of mindless walking and beast slaying, I came upon two large doors that extended right to the top of the cave ceiling. The door had no engravings or carvings on it bar a few claw marks. This must be the boss room. I made it!  Taking a moment to collect myself, I extended my arms outward attempting to hug the air. "Praise the Sun." I spoke in a pious and confident tone, a ring of light swirling above my head down to my feet, before dissipating and filling me with courage, dispelling my fear and calming my nerves. I guided Mana to my palms and placed them on the door, pushing it with difficulty 'til it opened just wide enough for me to squeeze through. I scanned around the vast arena. It looked more like an old village than a cave. Aged stone houses lined the walls of the arena and continued toward the centre like a large town. Did the beasts create this? It looks like a more like a village than a boss arena...  I followed a craggy and mottled stone path down to the large clearing in the middle of the stone village. A single ginormous troll sat on its knees, chewing on another just like it. Cannibalism? The troll turned its head sideways to look at me, magma spewing from its large jaws like saliva. I got a good look at its face. One large eye in the middle of its forehead, a nose that looks as big as I am, and blunt, square teeth covered in the blood and guts of its kin. The troll easily sat at a height of 10+ meters tall, and that's just on its knees! I studied the rest of its body and it studied me. Its legs had been ripped off just below the kneecap. Thats good. At least he won't get any taller.  The troll turned to face me completely, and I took in the remainder of its figure. A second mouth located on its stomach also had another troll's arm stuck between its teeth. This stone clearing looks reminiscent of a duelling platform... Do these trolls duel for sport? The last man standing wins? Interesting. By that logic, this guy should be the strongest of this village. The troll let out a deep roar and ripped the spine from one of its dead kin, pointing it at me. A declaration of the fight? You're on. He reeled back the spinal sword and swung it my way as I rolled to my right. "You seem worthy of my blade!" 

I pulled the magnificent Claymore from the dimension ring and held it in both hands in front of me, taking a basic sword stance. I dashed forward and our blades clashed with a resounding clang. My sword cut through the first few vertebrae of the troll's spine and I attempted to jump onto the bone sword but the troll pulled back its free hand and punched the air toward me, a blazing fist-shaped magma ball was sent barreling toward me. I dashed backwards out of the fist's trajectory and readied my second attack. I held out my palms, connecting my thumb and index fingers, framing the troll's stomach mouth. I sent a beam of light at the beast, followed by a bombardment of white flaming spears straight for it. The troll's stomach head spewed large balls of fire at the rapidly approaching beam, but only managed to spit one before the beam hit it square in the mouth. The flaming spears lodged themselves within the troll's torso and set its abdomen ablaze. The troll let out another soul-shaking roar and fell to its hands and knees, vomiting magma onto the floor. The magma rose up again and formed various magma creatures. Hounds, small birds, large skeletons, and more.

The magma creations began their approach towards me as the troll recollected itself and dug its hands into the ground. Two large spikes of earth ruptured the stone and penetrated the ground. One behind me and one right in front. Oh sh*t... I moved to the side to meet a magma skeleton riding a magma hound just a meter away from me. I charged toward it and sliced the head off the skeleton before it could attack me. The hound jumped right for my face but I gripped its jaw in my free hand and set my hand on fire. The hound tried desperately to escape my grasp but nothing could save it from burning to ash. Three small magma birds closed in on my position. I shoved my sword back into my ring and slammed my fist into my palm, igniting them both with white-hot flames. The first bird dived straight down at me and I caught it between my palms, magma and fire colliding. The small bird was overwhelmed by the superior fire of the sun and crumbled to the floor, burning the stone pavement. My palms are slightly burned from the magma. Never mind, I'll heal it later.

The other two birds swooped down and attacked me from both sides. I felt the ground beneath me rumble and quake. More spikes?  The two birds flew straight for my left and right as a large spike erupted from the ground behind me. I dive forward, narrowly missing a sharp spike meant for my back, and the two birds changed their direction. Still on the floor, I pointed my finger at each of the closing birds, a small jewel of light forming before firing off at them. The bird to my right was hit and lost its form, but the second one rolled to its side and resumed charge. I formed a small dagger of white fire from my already flaming hand and sliced cleanly through the middle of the magma creation. Two more wolf-riding skeletons ran at me from behind. I whirled around to meet them, leaning out of the way of a skeleton's bone sword and cutting through its body and into the wolf's back, the flames burning the rest. The second stuck out its fist and rocked me in the gut, expelling all of the oxygen from my lungs. *cough* I grabbed its fist and set it on fire, the white flames burning up its arm and melting the magma bones. The wolf nipped at my feet and I swivelled out of the way, stabbing it with my flaming sword.

Huff, huff. I'm losing focus. I need to pay attention... Turning my attention back to the troll, I saw its two mouths both open and magma spewing out into its open palms. What the hell is it doing?  The troll morphed the magma in its palms into a huge greatsword and swung it horizontally at me. I ducked under the swing and magma droplets fell next to me. The swing continued into the rest of the village, slicing through a stone house. The troll brought the sword back above its head, slicing down at me. I conjured a sword of light in my left hand, bringing both swords overhead the stop the impending magma sword. My flaming sword melted some of the magma, magma droplets nearly falling straight on top of my head. I can't hold out like this. The magma will melt onto my head. I slipped away from under the sword and it slammed into the ground where I used to be standing. I made a mad dash for the troll's legs while it was struggling to get the sword out of the ground. I climbed up its leg and ran up its back. I stood just below its neck and dispelled my swords. I pulled my Claymore from the dimension ring and set its blade next to the troll's thick neck. "Hahp!" I brought the sword up and sliced it down cleanly from left to right, decapitating the troll. The large beast fell to the floor and I jumped off.

I lay on the ground panting. I did it... I actually killed that thing. Thank the Sun it didn't have legs, or I don't know how I would have killed it. I checked the flame around my heart. It was fading...  I'm very low on mana. I'll need to rest before I can heal the burns on my hands. Apart from my hands, I'm almost entirely unscathed. I did pretty well!

The difficulty of this fight has made my huge lack of experience and control apparent. I have a huge variety of spells in my arsenal, but I don't take full advantage of them. I tunnel vision and focus on a few spells instead of using as many as I can. I'm bad at reading the situation and knowing which spells would be most effective and when. My mana manipulation is worse than I'd like it to be. I should be able to conjure a massive sword, like that last one, quickly without thinking, and my use of flames is weak. The potential for spells and combinations between light and flame is huge, and I need to use that. As for experience, all I can do is fight more mana beasts and learn. Hmm... Birds! If that troll could form creatures from magma, then why couldn't I do the same with fire? I guess I'll try it when I have more mana. For now, I rest. 

As I rested I thought about all the possible spells and spell combinations I could use. I also thought about the strange runes on my Radiant Heart. I wonder what they do. Master Lumen said to 'ignite' them. I assume that means imbuing Sun mana into them... but what happens then? I wonder if I'll ever be able to transform into that Light Angel thing Master did...

"Guess I'll read some more." I pulled the book out of my dimension ring and continued reading.

"Magma Troll: B-Class mana beast, generally a low-class dungeon boss. Magma Trolls can vary in strength because they host battle royale tournaments in their villages. The Trolls consume each other and can grow stronger. A Troll Champion can often break into the A-class category if it has eaten enough of its kind. As the name suggests, magma trolls can manipulate magma and earth. Higher-level trolls can have such a refined manipulation over magma, that they can even create some small creatures to order. Caution is highly advised. Challenge in a full party with at least 3 B-Class adventurers." Huh, that's pretty neat. This guy was definitely a champion troll, but he was missing both of his legs. He would probably equate to a low A-class or high B-class mana beast. Good job, me!