Sam wondered as he ran behind the rest of the group, barely keeping up with their pace. Currently, they were in the final stretch to reach another base that would provide them both protection from the constant horde attacking their base and a dungeon that was described as a Healer’s wet dream.

  ," Sam muttered out breathlessly as he felt the breath of countless creatures on his neck. Hearing Dakota’s shout ahead, he ducked his head for a moment, maintaining his pace. A whizzing noise and a chorus of yelps echoed behind him.

  Glancing back briefly, he saw a massive pile of giant rats, monkeys, panthers, and countless other creatures he hadn’t recognized tumble over one another, briefly halting the swarm before it quickly engulfed them again.

  Sam tucked his staff under his armpit, flooding his hands with mana before clapping them together to activate Barrier

  He barely cast the spell for a moment before countless bodies slammed into the barrier. The first few creatures crashed headfirst, their momentum killing them on impact. But the relief was short-lived—within seconds, Sam felt the barrier crack, then shatter under the sheer force of the swarm.

  His barrier bought his group’s mages and archers a couple of seconds they needed to release their own attacks at the swarm behind them. He saw various elemental arrows and spells whizz behind him before striking the swarm behind them.

  “We just have a couple more kilometers left before we reach it,” Emma, their group leader, shouted over the shrill shouts and screaming from the creatures behind them as they now ran up a steep hill.

  Looking at his Stamina and Mana reserves, he found them dangerously low. Reaching into the potion pouch at his side, he palmed around for a bit, fingers grazing over the various shaped bottles before pulling out a rectangular bottle filled with blue liquid and an oval bottle filled with green liquid.

  He had always been confused about why fantasy novels and RPGs followed the trend of using oddly shaped potion bottles. But after his first few battles with them—thanks to Michael’s insistence—they now made sense.

  Just as he finished the Mana Potion and knocked back the Stamina Potion, Sam’s foot caught on a root.

  He tore through it, but the sudden jolt threw off his momentum, his balance faltering as he stumbled forward—straight into a shallow puddle surrounded by wet mud.

  Time seemed to slow as the trees stretched taller and the ground rushed closer. His gaze lingered on the backs of his group as they ran ahead.

  Instead of cursing or calling for help, a single thought surfaced:

  . Afterall, he was the tie breaker for the decision to head towards the undead dungeon. Meaning it was also on him for why they got into this mess, so it seemed fitting that by getting caught in the swarm of creatures, they would live.

  Then, with a brutal impact, he slammed into the mud, the breath driven from his lungs. His hands hit the ground first, breaking his fall, but gravity ensured his head wasn’t far behind, making him see white before color returned, and he found himself back in the jungle.

  All he heard was white noise and muffled shouts as he pushed himself up, his vision swimming. His group was still running ahead—until they turned, their wide eyes locking onto him.

  His confusion vanished as he saw their shock; the muffled shouts came back in full as he turned to see the swarm of creatures just about to pounce on him. His eyes closed and arms raised in front of him as he braced for pain.

  Moments passed into seconds before Sam opened his eyes as the pain he expected never came.

  All surrounding him were his group members. Chris and John, their frontliners, stood stalwart in front of the horde of creatures, their large shields holding them back. Henry, Adam, and Mustafa sliced the creatures that went around Chris and John. Miguel, Emma, and Sandra stood behind them, casting as many spells as they could while Tony and Ashley fired their elemental arrows beside them.

  “Why?” Sam croaked out, staring at the backs of his team, eyes watery.

  “We’re a team,” John boisterously chuckled over the cacophony of creatures screaming and shouting. “No man left behind!”

  “Or woman,” Sandra shot out not a moment later, a smile wide on her lips.

  Tears fell down Sam’s face as he swallowed back a sob.

  Grabbing his staff with both hands, Sam pushed himself up, countless emotions rushed through him. He saw Chris and John get pushed back, and Henry throwing his second blade, spearing a giant ape that was about to grab Sandra.

  As he raised his staff into the air, he flooded both the staff and himself with as much Mana as he could before slamming it into the mud, creating numerous sigils to form underneath, his emotions bleeding into them.

  “Resplendent Nova

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  The horde of creatures that surrounded them- monkeys, apes, jaguars, giant praying mantises, and more were blasted back en mass, sending them tumbling off the hill and crashing into trees.

  And all members of Sam’s team, including himself, who stood within the giant glowing golden silver sigil felt all three of their reserves receive a substantial boost to their regeneration. They stared at the aftereffects of Sam’s skill before turning to Sam, who hunched over, leaning on his cracked staff, his mana reserves empty, barely able to keep his eyes open.

  They all stilled for a moment before looking at one another and nodding without another word.

  They quickly turned around before sprinting up the mountain, Chris clipping his giant shield on his back as he scooped up both Sam and his staff, rushing with him up the hill.

  Sam’s last thought before he blanked out were, …

  Archie scratched his right ear as he stored away his Mana Bike, finishing the last bite of his troll meat wrap while staring up at the massive serpent before him.

  It had to be at least 80 meters long—maybe even 100—more than quadruple the size of the Verdant Serpent. Its scales were a blend of green, black, and gray, a natural camouflage.

  [Five-Eyed Serpent Lv ???]

  Closing his eyes for just a moment, Archie activated Spirit Bond

  Then, he immediately activated Adrenaline RushThornscourge Expansion

  Reaching for his Mana Revolver—freshly emptied and reloaded—he took aim at the back of the serpent’s head and fired three rounds. The first shot splashed harmlessly against its thick scales. The second and third missed entirely as the serpent’s head swayed to the right—before twisting sharply, its gaze locking onto Archie.

  At that moment, he understood why it was called the Five-Eyed Serpent.

  On its upper face; five dull, fist-sized multicolored eyes—two on the right, two in the middle, and one on the left. Its rightmost eyes were red and black, the central pair yellow and purple, while the lone left eye gleamed a muted green. With each eye, surrounded by bulging veins that throbbed painfully.

  , Archie mused, his gaze lingering on the strange arrangement of its eyes.

  He had no time to ponder further as the massive serpent lunged, its enormous fangs bared as it charged straight for him, crossing the 500-meter distance between them with a speed that rivaled his own Mana Bike at full throttle.

  Sending his Mana revolver into his spatial storage, Archie activated Savage Charge

  However, instead of launching the serpent away, the serpent barely moved an inch from the force of his crash, instead, continuing to barrel toward where he had previously stood. His eyes widened as fire sparks singed the air and his right gauntlet grazed the serpent’s scales.

  Archie quickly covered his fingers with mana knives, as well as both sharpening and strengthening the thorns atop them before spearing his fists through its scales. Archie’s body gave a sharp jerk as he found himself dragged along with the serpent’s charge.

  He manipulated the mana knives to grow barbs and thorns on his left arm to expand, wrapping and attaching themselves to whatever they could within the serpent. While wrenching out his right arm, he quickly balanced himself up right, ignoring the occasional metallic scraping as his feet would graze atop a rock.

  Once properly balanced, he activated Relentless Flurry

  An ungodly shriek ripped through the air as Archie kept wailing into the side of the serpent as the serpent arced its upper body upwards, deafening all around it.

  Archie ignored the white noise that blared through his ears as the sound ripped through his eardrums. But just as quickly as the damage came, it vanished, leaving behind a faint lingering of white noise as his eardrums regenerated.

  Archie’s eyes widened as the serpent twisted itself in mid-air, turning to face him, standing on the base tip of its tail, with its lone left dull green eye shining a neon toxic green before it barred its fangs at him.

  Archie quickly deactivated Thornscourge Expansion

  Archie quickly flipped himself upside down, solidifying the ambient mana beneath his feet. The moment his foot made contact, he kicked off, propelling himself toward the ground. The platform melted almost instantly upon use, consumed by the serpent’s corrosive toxins.

  He gritted his teeth as giant splotches of toxins splashed across his back, through his armor, and burned into his skin. Clenching his teeth, he curled into a tight ball midair. Just before hitting the ground, his back barely skimmed the surface before he rolled fluidly onto his feet.

  , Archie groaned.

  With no time to waste, he kicked off the ground once more, launching himself out of the path of the serpent’s oncoming torrent of venom, all the while repairing the damage to the back of his chestpiece and regenerating the melted flesh on his back.

  Reactivating Thornscourge Expansion

  Archie’s right arm flung upward, releasing a burst of vines that lashed onto one of the serpent’s many coiled loops above. As the vines retracted, pulling him upwards, he surged stamina into his legs and exploded upward, accelerating his ascent.

  A mana platform materialized to his side before he twisted his lower body and kicked off it, twisting midair to extend his other arm toward another loop of the serpent’s shifting body. As a concentrated torrent of toxins surged toward him, he narrowly swung out of its path.

  Without hesitation, he conjured another mana platform, launching himself toward the serpent’s back. The moment he latched onto it, he dismissed the extended vines, replacing them with mana knives that flickered to life along his fingers.

  Digging the knives into the serpent’s thick scales, Archie’s momentum dragged him downward for a brief moment—gravity working against him. But with a sharp inhale, he propelled himself upward once more, soaring nearly ten meters before landing squarely on the serpent’s forehead.

  Archie saw its four dull eyes and singular glowing one focus on him, and before it could thrash him away, Archie pushed his Adrenaline Rush

  Its effects were immediate. Archie found himself flung off its head as it thrashed around, producing yet another ungodly shriek that rippled through the Emernigan Isle.

  Looking down at the isle below him, Archie released a shout of excitement as he created another mana platform beneath his feet and barreled towards the thrashing serpent, which destroyed the numerous trees that surrounded it.

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