SSS-Rank Talent: Super Upgrade System-Chapter 75: The Umbral Lynx

Lia and Ayra reacted instantly to Daniel’s command, their earlier banter and rivalries forgotten in the face of a shared, deadly threat.

Lia, her face a mask of calm concentration despite the chaos, focused the full power of her A-Grade Staff of the World Ash on Ayra.

"[Sanctifying Light]! [Aegis of Life]!"

Emerald and gold energies intertwined, battling the corrosive ichor that sizzled on Ayra’s grievous wounds, while a shimmering barrier of pure life force flickered around the berserker, offering a fragile layer of protection.

The very air around them seemed to hum with healing power.

Ayra, gritting her teeth against the searing pain, stumbled back towards Lia, her great-axe held defensively with her one good arm.

The S-Grade Umbral Lynx was a blur of smoky violet as it stalked them, its movements impossibly fluid, its violet eyes burning with cold, murderous intent.

The wind shrieked around it as it circled, testing their defenses.

"We stick together!" Daniel reiterated, stepping forward to place himself between his teammates and the vengeful S-Grade predator.

His A-Grade Kinetic Void Gauntlets hummed with suppressed power.

"Ayra, focus on protecting Lia. If that thing gets close, make it regret it. Lia, keep Ayra alive and cleansed. I’ll be the primary damage dealer."

The Umbral Lynx, perhaps sensing Daniel’s resolve or simply tired of waiting, let out a chilling, high-pitched screech that was almost a [Vengeful Howl].

Then, it moved. It didn’t pounce. Instead, its form seemed to shimmer, and the air around it crackled.

Dark, violet lightning, condensed from its smoky aura, fused around its claws.

With a flick of its paws, a barrage of these lightning bolts lanced towards them!

"Incoming!" Daniel yelled.

"Boom! Zzzzzzzzzap! KRAKOW!"

The ground exploded where the lightning bolts struck, showering them with dirt, shattered rock, and the acrid smell of ozone.

Daniel, his Adaptability attribute now incredibly high after countless assimilations and the gifts from the Golden Fruits, felt the static charge in the air but little direct harm from the stray bolts.

He had also developed a natural resistance to elemental attacks due to assimilating various elemental creatures and skills.

Ayra, shielded by Lia’s [Aegis of Life] and her own S-Grade Berserker resilience, grunted as a few bolts slammed into the aegis, making it flicker dangerously but hold.

Lia quickly reinforced it, her mana draining rapidly.

"My turn, you overgrown housecat from hell!"

Daniel snarled. His B-Grade Reinforced Shard-Tip Bow, now a respectable weapon thanks to his Tier 2 [Soul Assimilation], appeared in his hand.

He nocked an arrow, its shard-tip glinting ominously.

He couldn’t afford to use his S-Grade Solar Flare Fist Art again so soon after the Dark Cloud Leopard; the stamina and mana cost was immense, and he needed to conserve energy for a prolonged fight.

But his archery was now a formidable weapon in its own right.

His first few shots, simple frost-imbued arrows from his [Soulfire Shroud]’s cold-fire aspect, were meant to test the Lynx’s speed.

Twang! Twang! freewebnσvel.cøm

The arrows flew with incredible velocity, trailing faint blue fire.

The Umbral Lynx dodged them with contemptuous ease, its form blurring, the arrows thudding harmlessly into the obsidian trees behind it.

The wind from its evasions was like a physical blow.

"Too fast for simple shots," Daniel muttered.

He needed something more... persuasive. He needed a statement. He still had those two Class Skill Points from reaching Level 5 and Level 6.

He’d been saving them, but this felt like the right time to invest. He quickly accessed his Hunter Class template. He needed something to reliably hit an extremely agile S-Grade target.

His eyes locked onto an advanced archery skill: [Trueflight Barrage - A-Grade]. It promised unerring accuracy against even the most evasive foes, splitting a single empowered arrow into multiple, independently seeking projectiles.

[Class Skill Point Spent: 2]

[New Skill Acquired (Hunter Class): Trueflight Barrage (A-Grade): Channel potent energy into a single arrow, which upon release splits into five Trueflight Missiles.

Each missile automatically tracks its target, ignoring most basic dodges. [Moderate mana cost. Cooldown: 30 seconds].

"Perfect," Daniel grinned.

He drew the Myriad Beast Bow’s string back to its absolute limit, his immense Strength making the B-Grade bow groan, but it held, a testament to its recent SSS-Talent upgrade.

The air around the arrow crackled as he poured his power into it.

He channeled the cold, spiritual energy of his [Soulfire Shroud], imbuing the arrow with its armor-piercing, soul-chilling properties.

He focused the potent poison of his B-Grade [Virulent Blight Edge] into the shard-tip, a cocktail of corrosive and necrotic toxins.

He activated his B-Grade [Savage Might], his muscles swelling, his strength doubling, allowing an even greater draw, pouring more raw kinetic force into the shot.

The passive [Eagle Eye] from his bow sharpened his vision, making the distant, flickering form of the Umbral Lynx appear almost stationary in his sights.

Finally, he activated [Trueflight Barrage]!

"This one’s for scaring my teammates!" Daniel roared, releasing the arrow.

"TWANG-WHOOOOSH-BOOM!"

The arrow didn’t just fly; it erupted from the bow, a screaming comet of condensed elemental fury and pure kinetic death!

The wind shrieked as it split into five smaller, but no less deadly, projectiles, each wreathed in cold blue Soulfire and trailing faint green toxic vapors.

They didn’t fly straight; they weaved, they curved, they danced through the air, their trajectories impossibly complex, unerringly homing in on the Umbral Lynx.

The S-Grade Lynx, sensing the terrifying power locked onto it, tried to [Shadowstep Ambush], to [Smoke Shroud], to dodge with its extreme agility. But the Trueflight Missiles were relentless.

One missile slammed into its foreleg, the Soulfire burning through its shadowy defenses, the toxins biting deep, making it stumble with a howl of pain and surprise.

"Boom!"

The others followed, hitting its flank, its shoulder, its whipping tail. Each impact was a small explosion of cold fire and kinetic force.

The ground trembled. The corrosive ichor of its own claws now had to contend with Daniel’s virulent poisons.

The Umbral Lynx, riddled with Trueflight Missiles, crashed to the forest floor, screeching in agony, its smoky form flickering erratically, its violet eyes wide with disbelief.

It tried to rise, to [Void Pounce] away, but the combined effects of the Soulfire, the virulent poisons, the kinetic impacts, and the sheer shock of the perfectly aimed barrage were too much.

With a final, shuddering gasp, its light faded, its S-Grade spirit extinguished.

Silence descended, broken only by Daniel’s heavy breathing and the faint, triumphant hum of his bow.

Lia and Ayra stared, utterly dumbfounded.

Ayra, who had been preparing for a last, desperate stand, slowly lowered her axe, her mouth agape.

"Vance," she finally managed, her voice a hoarse whisper. "What... what in the name of all the screaming Hells... was that arrow?"

Daniel just grinned, lowering his bow. "A-Grade Hunter skill. [Trueflight Barrage]. Just a little something I picked up for situations requiring... extreme prejudice."

He winked.

"Never underestimate the power of a well-placed, multi-homing, elementally-infused arrow of doom."

Ayra just shook her head, looking at Daniel as if he were some kind of terrifying demigod. Which, to be fair, wasn’t entirely inaccurate at this point.

The Taiji Basin, it seemed, was about to learn a whole new definition of "ranged threat."