As the first motes of mana cycled within the rooster’s body, the densest and purest power that Charlemagne had ever experienced flooded through every portion of him. The effect was orders of magnitude greater than that of the transmutation of radiation within the Lippity Dungeon, causing the rooster’s size to increase in a forceful and rapid manner. In other words, Charlemagne blew himself up.

  The rooster found himself standing in the middle of the enormous clearing once again, not very far from the central building that allowed him to access the Combat Simulations. He immediately got in line again. Dying by accident due to mana overload was a stupid mistake: a mistake that the rooster didn’t plan on making again. But the gains to his various Skills were always welcome, especially those that didn’t seem to level all that often like Athletics and Dodge.

  None of his Party members bothered him during the short wait, and Charlemagne was soon back at the front of the line. The strange silver-colored creature greeted him like an old friend.

  “Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Proving Grounds. Looks like we have a repeat customer! And so soon after your first defeat. Well, I wish you all the best of luck in your next challenge. Perhaps you’d like to try something different this…”

  “BAWK!” the rooster yelled.

  Reappearing once again in the Individual Combat Simulation, Charlemagne wasted no time dispatching the first nineteen waves in the same way he had cleared them before. When he once again reached the second boss, the crab/balloon/scorpion hybrid, he switched up his strategy. Rather than exchange blows with the enormous stinger and thus risk being injected with another dose of venom, he charged up another low power mana attack. The Boss, which began the fight charging full tilt, was completely unable to dodge. It took the powered up shot right in its swollen abdomen and detonated in the most satisfying way. The chunks of scalded flesh that rained down smelled absolutely delicious, and Charlemagne managed to get a small piece into his mouth before it disappeared. He bawked in frustration at being denied such a tasty morsel.

  Waves twenty-one to twenty-nine were even easier than last time since he didn’t have to contend with the Boss’ potent venom, and, in no time at all, Charlemagne found himself back at wave thirty.

  The rooster avoided disrupting the flow of mana this time around, allowing the Boss to take form unmolested. This Boss was much smaller than the previous two had been and appeared to be a human’s head and shoulders shoved on top of a quadruped’s body. It wore heavy black armor with golden trim that covered its entire body, leaving only a small slit free just in front of its eyes. It held an enormous curved saber in one hand and a tower shield in the other.

  “Well met, challenger,” the strange being intoned as one of its forelimbs pawed at the white floor. “You are incredibly dapper for a being that radiates such incredible bloodlust. Would you care to dialogue for a moment before we begin?”

  “Bawk!” the rooster responded, creating a small angled mana shield behind his foot to help him accelerate as he burst into action.

  “Ah, a brave one,” the Boss half-chuckled as it brought up its shield to blunt Charlemagne’s first attack. Strange designs that reminded the rooster of the Squiggles flared to life around the rim of the shield as the rooster’s beak slammed into the metal with a resounding clang. The force of his attack left a small indentation in the otherwise pristine surface of the shield. The power behind the strike sent the Boss sliding backwards, its four thick legs digging furrows into the floor as it fought to remain upright.

  “Incredible power!” the Boss gasped as it lowered the shield and raised its razor-edged saber. “What manner of foul beast are you?”

  “Bawk!” Charlemagne answered, allowing more mana to flow from his Ember Core into his body and preparing to dodge the incoming attack.

  “I said foul beast, not fowl beast,” the Boss cried as he charged. As its powerful feet clattered on the floor, two different magical effects sprang into existence. First, mana concentrated right in front of him, matching exactly a similar mass of mana that had formed directly in front of the Boss. The two nodes somehow attracted each other; causing the distance between them to shrink and making the Boss’ rush seem far faster than it actually was. The second was that the edge of the Boss’ saber began to glow with a similar power, reducing the amount of space that the edge of the weapon took up. Despite having a robust defense Skill, it was clear that a hit from the Boss’ empowered weapon would slice right through his body. The incredible combo would be fatal for any member of Charlemagne’s Party. Well, for any other member than Charlemagne himself. The rooster still had some tricks up his sleeve.

  Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

  Realizing that holding back wasn’t going to get him anywhere with the Boss, Charlemagne unleashed the full power of his Ember Core, strengthening his body and giving him additional space to react. But it was clear that neither natural defenses nor quick reflexes were going to be enough to defeat wave thirty. Charlemagne needed to fight magic with magic. He just hoped that he’d be able to create what was needed in time…the Boss was closing the distance faster than he’d anticipated. In just two more steps, it would attack. The rooster slammed his intent into the mana surging within his body, and it took form almost immediately. But the heavily-armored creature had already reached him, its right arm upraised.

  The force behind the Boss’ saber strike contained its entire weight, which was considerable, and its speed, which was downright ludicrous. A shockwave of displaced air formed at the tip of the blade as it sliced, threatening to eviscerate Charlemagne from shoulder to hip. The rooster closed his eyes, braced for the worst.

  The strike missed.

  “How!” the Boss screamed, whirling around and attempting to catch Charlemagne with the blade again. This time, a mana shield appeared just below the Boss’ shoulder, slowing its arm enough to spoil its aim once again. The rooster took advantage of the opening he had created. Using several mana shields as platforms, he sprang into the air. A moment later, he dodged to the left, narrowly avoiding the Boss’ shield as it came up to defend its face.

  “Ha!” cried the creature, believing that it had foiled the rooster’s counterattack. Then a well-placed peck from behind destroyed the joint of its back right knee.

  “Arrrgh!” the Boss cried out as it attempted to turn using its three good legs. Then its two good legs. Then its remaining good leg. Finally, it collapsed to the ground after Charlemagne destroyed its one remaining knee joint.

  “These are nothing but flesh wounds!” the creature yelled. “I can still fight!”

  Charlemagne, having lamed the half-human, half-animal creature, had expected the fight to end. After all, the Boss could no longer move. He clucked in annoyance as the Boss continued to hurl insults at him, demanding that he come within range of its weapon. Finally, the rooster had had enough. Being careful to stay out of melee range of the still-dangerous saber, Charlemagne moved around to the front of the Boss.

  “Bawk,” he said.

  “Surrender? Me? Never!” the creature cried out. It flailed its arms ineffectively from its position on the ground, its tower shield clanging against the ground as it vented its rage impotently. The rooster, realizing that attempting to save energy was pointless, began charging up a mana ball, planning to send it through the Boss’ visor and end the fight mercifully.

  Then the Boss threw its saber at him.

  Not having expected the sudden ranged attack, Charlemagne was taken off guard. The powerful weapon was still active: its edge honed to supernatural sharpness by an enchantment or Skill. It sliced through the rooster’s left wing without meeting any resistance. There was a thump a moment later as Charlemagne’s appendage plopped onto the ground.

  “Haha!” the creature yelled. “Now, retrieve my weapon and I’ll cut off something else, you fiend! You’ve still got a wing and two legs left!”

  The Boss stopped its boasting as a terrible weight began to press down on its very soul. It felt as if the Boss had fallen into a bottomless ocean and was plummeting into black depths filled with ancient monsters that could devour it in a single bite. And the biggest monster of all was right in front of it, missing a wing but no less dangerous for the loss.

  “All right, let’s call it a draw then,” the Boss offered. Its voice shook for the first time in its long and successful existence.

  The rooster said nothing as it advanced slowly toward its prey.

  “Ah, okay then, I give up!” blurted the other creature, throwing its shield to the side and holding up both its armored gauntlets in surrender. Charlemagne sprang toward the helpless creature, planning to cut open its armor like a tin can so he could devour the tender flesh inside. Then the Boss disappeared.

  “BAWK! BAWK BAWK BAWK!” the rooster cursed.

  Looking back at his severed wing, Charlemagne reluctantly accepted the Squiggles’ offer to take a break. After his success with healing Ndiogou, Phatagin and Sirius, he had considered the possibility of patching himself up should the need arise. After all, it would be much more efficient to simply reattach a severed limb than to regrow it.

  Using his mana to create a horizontal plane, the rooster gently picked up his left wing and placed it at shoulder level. When he was satisfied that everything was about as lined up as it could be, he touched the severed end of his wing against the tiny nub that was still intact. Reaching into his Ember Core, he allowed his Mana Surgery and Vertebrate Anatomy Skills to guide him as he slowly used strong threads of mana to stitch the detached portion of his wing back to where it belonged. It was a delicate process and he found himself having to constantly readjust. The nerves were the hardest part: the outer nerve sheath, or epineurium, for each major nerve needed to be properly aligned. Not only that, but the nerves themselves would not reconnect if the severed ends were frayed or crushed. Thankfully, the damage done to the nerve endings was minimal due to the saber’s special properties, but there were still a few cases where Charlemagne had to use his mana to trim away problematic spots and then promote regrowth.

  The rooster, understanding that he was under a time crunch, worked feverishly until his break was over. The Squiggles helpfully warned him that his time was up.

  Charlemagne turned his focus away from his wing and back to the arena. The damage done to the floor had somehow been repaired while he was busy, restoring the chamber to its original condition. In the center of the room, two enormous reptiles appeared, their skin mottled with enormous boils that seemed dangerous. The rooster turned to face them, confident that he could reach the next boss.

  Pushing off the ground into a sideways run to gauge his opponent’s reactions, Charlemagne felt proud of himself. He had defeated another boss without too much hassle, and these new opponents seemed to be much slower than it had been. Leaning into his Fowl Arts skill, the rooster bounced into the air and changed directions several times before leaping claw-first toward one of the creatures’ eyes.

  His left wing fell off just before he reached his target.