Casting Level 2 [Solar Ascension] costs 20 mana points. However, since his unique ability and its skills ran on his Sunlight Reserves, enhancing his mana pool further, Elias could continue to cast [Light Boost Steps], which cost about 5 mana points per use, without worrying about the cost.
His mana regenerated 6 per cent per 10 seconds in his transformed state, keeping his enhanced stat at its maximum.
Elias engaged the monster head-on, all the while dodging the attacks of those around him. His movements were a blur as he landed each punch successfully.
Compared to when he faced the Stone Bear, which had been far weaker than the monster before him, Elias, armed with his equipment and acquired skills, was no less of a monster in his own right, even if he wasn't as high-level as the others.
As Elias began to wear down one of the Thorn Juagernauts, his knuckles peeled and bled from constantly smashing into its hard defences. Yet he didn't relent because he could see that his attacks were effective on the Thorrn Juagernaut before him.
The others seemed to notice Elias's transformation and turned to look at him, a mixture of shock and astonishment on their faces.
They hadn't expected that such a normal-looking young man would suddenly transform into a terrifying three-meter-tall muscular giant glowing with a radiant golden hue, engaging with a Thorn Juggernaut with bare flaming fists that set the monster ablaze with each punch.
It was like watching a body forged to be a weapon of mass destruction in action.
"I knew it! He's a monster just like the rest of them!" Lyrac said as he watched Elias weave through the battlefield in a blur, escaping an attack from one of the Thorn Juggernauts' elongated thorn swords, appearing behind it and reappearing behind the monster he had initially engaged with.
"Level 13! What a joke! He should at most be level 16 or 17 and should've awakened a Class also," Lyrac narrowed his eyes at Elias before scoffing in dismissal. He had suspected Elias had lied about his level, so he put the matter aside to deal with later.
Lyrac shifted his focus back to the battlefield as his beast dodged a fast-growing thorn vine thrust from a Thorn Juggernaut's chest and engaged it head-on. All the while, they dodged the attacks from the surrounding monsters, as their numbers were too many to engage all of them head-on.
Their first battle within a dungeon had already turned into a struggle that made them uncertain of their lives and whether they would be able to handle whatever situation they encountered next.
After a brutal confrontation, Elias's punches chipped away the final defences of the Thorn Juggernaut, piercing through its head.
[Cruel Flare]
A golden dome of sunlight erupted from Elias, spreading to a 10-meter radius, scorching everything in its vicinity. His attack didn't stop there. He rained down punches on the flaming Thorn Juggernaut within that split-second window, cracking its hard bark open.
Then he grabbed both sides of its insides and tore it apart.
[You've killed one Level 15 Thorn Juggernaut. +3,300 XP.]
[Obtained Thorn Resin]
A stream of light surged from the corpse of the fallen monster and entered Elias. And a white orb fell out of it.
Elias swiftly took it and crushed it.
It transformed into a small transparent bottle with a dense sticky resin within.
[Thorn Resin: A dense sticky resin that retains the Thorn Juggernaut's natural nature mana, making it valuable for crafting, or reinforcing armours, weapons or enhancing plant-based, or bleed-focused abilities. It hardens into an amber-like substance when exposed to air.]
Elias had been hoping to obtain a weapon or a skill. He hadn't expected to get a crafting item. He quickly stored it away in his bag.
The ground beneath Elias burst open as countless thorn vines erupted from below, trying to latch onto him.
[Light Step Boost]
Elias leapt backwards and turned into a blur, vanishing from being cornered by the Thorn Juggernauts. Regardless of how powerful he was, he was still Level 13. Eliminating a Level 15 Elite monster was already the limit of his current capabilities.
He couldn't help but feel the pressure mounting as several more focused their deadly attacks on him, attempting to corner him from all sides and eliminate him.
Most of all, he still hadn't fully replenished 60 per cent of his Sunlight Reserves, which he had used to eliminate the Stone Bear. He had two minutes left until his transformation was forcefully deactivated.
However, it wasn't only Elias facing such a dilemma. The other Awakeners on the battlefield, who were at a similar level, or at the level of the Thorn Juggernauts, were facing similar challenges.
Although some had managed to eliminate two of the Elite monsters, reducing their numbers, they were also being pushed into a corner, enduring their ferocious attacks.
"EVERYONE!! GET TOGETHER!!" Lyrac shouted.
He rode his horned wolf toward the centre of the room. The others realised that if they didn't cooperate, they would die in this forsaken dungeon. Without hesitation, they rushed in his direction.
The first was the assassin dressed in black from head to toe, who emerged from the shadow of the horned wolf and helped it confront a Thorn Juggernaut.
Elias quickly arrived, being the closest to that position. Then the knight and the muscular woman arrived at the same time. Each of them took a position beside the other. They fought back at the surrounding Level 15 Elite Thorn Juggernauts together.
"Get out of the way!" a woman's voice erupted behind Elias and the assassin, forcing them to jump aside as the muscular woman brought her weapon down onto a Thorn Juggernaut.
BANNGG!!
She smashed it into the ground, creating a wide crater. Then she leapt into the air with an athleticism that shouldn't even be possible for someone of her stature. With the hammer in her grip, she dragged it across the ground and slammed it into the fallen Thorn Juggernaut, sending it flying across the hall.