Masteria Online: Shattering the Dark God's Grand Scheme-Chapter 176 - When you test the limits

Lena intercepted them with a smile on her face, her eyes flashing with anticipation. She was looking forward to another high stakes battle. She’d almost die again! Maybe she’d actually die this time!

She was genuinely looking forward to it. The thrill of pushing herself to the absolute limit, of testing exactly how far she could go before her body gave out entirely.

It was time to test more limits. To learn what worked and what didn’t while death was still temporary.

The battle began in earnest as the two factions clashed once more.

Lumi immediately started his spam. "Lance of Light! Lance of Light! Lance of Light!"

Experience notifications began rolling in almost immediately as his attacks contributed to kills across the battlefield.

[EXP +189]

[EXP +223]

[EXP +201]

Meanwhile, Lena engaged with the pixies trying to reach Lumi.

Two Second Rank pixies approached from different angles, clearly coordinating their attack. One from the left, one from the right, both casting curses as they closed in.

Lena teleported backward, creating distance. "Holy Arrows!"

The arrows shot toward the left pixie, forcing it to dodge. The right pixie took the opportunity to close in, claws extended.

Lena grinned and teleported again, this time appearing directly above the right pixie. She had already prepared several bombs in her hands.

The figures of the pixies and Lena flashed repeatedly across the battlefield as they traded positions through rapid teleportation. They exchanged spells and tactics in a deadly dance.

Explosions went off as Lena tried various experimental tactics, building on what she’d learned from yesterday’s fights. She was actively limit testing again, trying to optimize her approach.

An idea struck her mid combat.

Teleport transported you, sure. Obviously. That was the entire point of the spell.

But it also teleported your equipment and anything physically on your person. Your clothes, your weapons, items in your pockets or strapped to your body.

Then that meant it could also be used to teleport bombs.

Sure, teleporting while carrying bombs meant you teleported with the bombs, putting yourself in danger. But what if you could exploit the timing?

What if you teleported near enemies, quickly unclasped the bombs from your body, and then immediately teleported away before they detonated?

The bombs would be left behind, right in the middle of the enemy group.

Lena decided to try it on the spot. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

She teleported directly between the two pixies attacking her, appearing in the space separating them.

Both pixies immediately reacted, recognizing the threat. The left one stabbed with its claws while the right one cast a quick curse.

Lena took the hit. A claw pierced into her side which gouged deep.

[HP -178]

Still, she ignored the pain and focused on her hands. She had seven bombs strapped across her torso and arms in easy to release holsters she’d prepared specifically for this.

She grabbed at the clasps, trying to release them all at once.

It wasn’t as easy as she’d imagined it would be.

The stabbing claw threw off her coordination. She fumbled with several of the clasps, only managing to release six of the seven bombs before her second teleport finished, taking her out..

One bomb remained attached to her belt.

The bombs detonated a fraction of a second later.

BOOM!

The explosion consumed both pixies. They screamed as the blast tore through them, their bodies shredded by the combined force of six simultaneous detonations.

[EXP +534]

[EXP +509]

But Lena had her own problem.

The one bomb she’d failed to remove detonated as well.

BOOM!

The explosion went off directly against her body. "Aah!"

[HP -489]

She was thrown backward, crashing hard into a tree branch. The impact knocked the air from her lungs.

[HP -7]

She fell, tumbling through the air before landing hard on another branch below.

[HP -3]

"Ahhhh...." She lightly moaned in pain, entirely involuntary as the air escaped her lungs. Though she was too injured to check her health...

[HP: 14/631]

Her vision went dark at the edges. Her entire body was screaming in pain. On her left side where the bomb had detonated was a surge of endless pain from the burns, shredded flesh, and shrapnel. It was a miracle she was alive.

She had every intention of casting heal. But the problem was she couldn’t. There was no way she could focus on doing so. It wasn’t the pain, it was just the thoughts slipping away as she died.

Oh.

Was this it?

Would she finally die?

It had been pretty amazing to not die even a single time until now, right? She’d pushed herself so hard, taken so many risks, and somehow survived everything.

She didn’t regret a single limit test. When she revived, she’d do it again. She’d do it all again and figure out what she’d done wrong this time.

Ding!

[Level Up! 32 -> 33]

[HP: 54/639]

The level up provided a small burst of instant health restoration. Not much, but enough. Her vision cleared slightly. Her mind sharpened just enough to form coherent thoughts again.

She raised her trembling wand. "Heal."

The spell washed over her, soothing her and bringing control back to her body.

[HP +128]

She took a deep, shaky breath and pushed herself back to her feet. Her body still hurt like hell, but she was functional.

Not even close to dying! She’d survived again!

Meanwhile, the two elite pixies she’d been fighting were very much dead. The six bombs had been more than enough to obliterate them both.

Lena smiled through the pain. The tactic worked. It absolutely worked.

She just needed to practice the execution more. She had to get faster at releasing all the clasps simultaneously, or perhaps design a better quick release mechanism.

But the core concept was sound. Teleport bombing was viable.

She looked around the battlefield, searching for her next target. There were plenty more pixies to fight, plenty more limits to test.

And now she had a whole new level’s worth of stats to allocate.

She opened her skill panel while walking back toward Lumi’s position. She put in her four points in, and stood near him again, healing herself when she could.

She was being a great bodyguard, wasn’t she?