Spirit Taming

Chapter 64: Maria's Limit

"Lit, it's just us now. We can do this." Maria found herself alone in a vast field of swaying grass. She knew that Clark was sure to set some academy record. He was the person she wanted to chase. The person she had decided that she wanted to be just as strong as in her lifetime.

Without any hesitation, she raised her bow and took aim at a bouncing shape in the distance. "Fly." Her arrow let loose at a furious pace. Not only had she been training with dual daggers to be ready for a close combat fight, but she had added stronger twine to her bow. It caused the arrow to move faster with less sound. Perfect for when she would be in the wild.

"Lit, we should be able to get through this." The next arrow she released shattered another wind slime core from a distance. This resulted in the slimes merging together much faster. They sensed an unseen danger. It was the only downside to using archery at such a distance.

Without any hesitation, Maria pushed herself to move crouched through the high crass. It was perfect to hide from the giant wind slime forming in front of her. "cote my arrow with poison." Maria was not sure if Lit's poison would work on a slime, but it was worth a shot.

The giant slime was too thick for an arrow to pierce its core, however, Maria's theory was simple. Ruin the stability of its slime body. This way of thinking was why she was different than Clark. She knew that she lacked strength and would need to use her mind to battle through the dungeon.

In a flurry, Maria used her best ability to fire five arrows that Lit had coated in poison. The result was not instantaneous. Maria had to jump to narrowly avoid a massive wind blade which exposed her position. Yet, as she watched, the slime body began to warp.

The addition of poison was slowing the flow of energy within the slime body. The slime species overall were not weak to poison, however, they were weak to their energy being disrupted. Since Lit had a spiritual typing the poison produced easily opposed energy control.

"Now!" The next arrow that flew from Maria's bow went right toward the warped space on the giant wind slime's body. It was just enough for the arrowhead to pierce the slime core and cause it to shatter. "We aren't staying here, move on!" Lit was busy healing Maria from the slight strain of her skills while they moved in to the stairs.

The wind crystals picked up in a hurry while avoiding other slimes.

Just as they entered the stairway, Maria looked up to check her surroundings. She had noticed that Clark did this often when in battle so she had copied it over the last week of constant sparring. Unlike Clark, she had not won every single match she had. But she had learned a lot about real battle.

Seeing the rounded shapes stuck to the dripping ceiling made her put the bow on her back. There was no way she would be able to efficiently use it while moving down the stairs. That meant she was left with only her daggers to use. "I can see that they are feeding on water, your poison will spread in their bodies even faster. Cover my daggers." List followed the order while staying close to Maria.

There was no way Lit would allow Maria to be hurt in close combat.

The first water slime dropped from the ceiling and attempted to whip out with a slime tentacle. It slashed a cut across Maria's shoulder but was a huge miss. This cost the water slime any chance at deafening the quick stab of her dagger through its core.

"You aren't as fast as Clark." Maria growled out the words while pushing down the stairs. She had multiple cuts that Lit was healing while she slashed apart the water slimes. They were nothing like the opponents with purely offensive beasts that she had fought. The scratches barely even hurt.

By the time she had reached the foot of the stairs, she found that she had no choice but to stop moving. Her body had taken too much damage and she could only allow Lit to heal her. "Stop worrying. You are already healing me and it doesn't even hurt. Do you think Clark would be stopped here like this?"

The more that Maria spoke to Lit, the more she realized how much she had started to look up to Clark. It was so much so that she could feel her chest tightening. She had hidden herself from him to a degree while pushing closer to him. She had learned so much just by following alongside him, Yet she had not even shown him who she really was. "Lit, when we get out of here…I will tell Clark everything."

The promise made List stop for just a moment. The feeling of determination and strength that was coming through their bond was more than enough to show that she meant it. It was more than Lit had felt since Maria had pledged to become stronger and stand above the actions of her family. The feeling rang within Lit as the healing increased. How could Maria give her all if Lit was not?

"No more waiting, that's enough. We are aiming to run through those earth slimes. They can't catch us." Avoiding the earth slimes all together was the best choice for Maria. She didn't have the strength to pierce their bodies so she started to sprint. There was a small reaction from some that she passed, but they could not gather their attacks fast enough to fire earth spikes accurately at her.

It was the perfect way for her to reach the obvious stairs ahead.

"Down we go again." Lit had barely managed to keep up before Maria went down the stairs again, but the heat was building. They both felt that the next floor was more than they expected. The orange glow that came in to view proved this point.

What opened before them was a cave full of flowing lava and flames. The entire floor was a singular pathway that felt out of place. Yet, as the two moved along it, bright orange slimes crawled from the lava. There were over twenty along the path.

"Run!" Maria pushed herself to sprint again but the speed of the fire slime's attacks was the fastest yet. They enlarged to take in air before spewing flames all around them. Maria could not escape unharmed and was burned across her arm and leg. It completely stopped her momentum in a sudden fall.

Lit did the best that she could do to heal Maria, but the fire slimes threatened her even more.

'This participant has reached the limit of their ability. The score has been processed. Passing grade of eighty four due to critical battle strategy. Defeated multiple slimes above the current level of strength. Proceeded wisely through enemies that they could not defeat. Reward is a single monster material only acquired within the examination dungeon, beast taming space material; spirit clover'

The beast in control of the dungeon used its powers to send Maria out to the nurses outside the dungeon while sending a grade and the rewarded material. Maria had passed.