For a second nothing happened. The Drake, covered in its super dark black scales, just stood across from me, watching and letting out a low guttural growl as it gazed upon me.

  I’m sure it saw me as nothing but prey, but I wondered if it knew that in my mind it was the same thing.

  Anyway, I readied my spear preparing to strike and as I did so, the long neck of the Drake slowly expanded. Black light then gathered from its shoulders and slowly rose up between the cracks of its scales and up to its maw.

  I didn’t move. I was waiting for what I assumed would be a beam of black fire shooting from its mouth and then I would dodge, but I was wrong. No beam shot toward me. Instead what came out of the mouth of the Drake were shadows akin to black flames.

  It was kind of hard to describe but essentially a lot of black smoke poured from the gaping maw of the Drake and it quickly filled the arena. The second I noticed that I didn’t just continue standing still. If it was going to sit there and give me a target to aim at then I would make good on that offer.

  Ocean’s Maw.

  The skill activated and once again the head of the roaring beast, described as the favorite of the ocean itself, formed in the air out of water with its mouth wide open. It aimed to crush whatever stood in its path and it lashed out at the Drake, which by now was almost fully covered in the black shadows it had released.

  Boom

  A massive collision sounded. I knew it did not kill the Drake not because I could see not that it was alive but because the notification for the next battle did not arrive. Instead I was now sitting in darkened smoke, not able to see a single thing around me.

  To make matters worse this darkness not only inhibited my vision but it was damn hot, boiling, and sweltering heat. The pool of sweat forming at my feet might as well have been its own lake.

  This is not good. I do not know the result of my attack since it disappeared into the shadows and even worse I do not know where the Drake is. I can’t sense anything. I can’t see anything and I have a feeling this is not going to be like that damn mirror deer.

  That creature had to make noise before it attacked me since it couldn’t stay invisible if it didn’t. This beast though, did not turn invisible. It only reduced visibility in the arena to zero.

  I’m sure in an environment where it could see me clearly while I could not, it would be patient.

  Be calm Freddy.

  A few seconds passed and the only thing that could be heard in the arena was the droplets of my sweat hitting the floor. There is nothing I can do to limit the sweat leaving my body which meant even if I moved as quietly as possible the sound of dripping water would always alert the beast to my position.

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  So I decided to do nothing but wait. I knew it would come. I could tell before the battle started it would not be like the crab that waited for me to fake my death before it approached. No, this was a predator, a hunter that would see the battle through to the end without a shadow of doubt.

  It would come for me.

  And I was right.

  When it appeared it was like a tiger hidden in deep foliage, bouncing on unsuspecting prey. It leapt from behind me with its mouth wide open, aiming to bite down on my head and crush my upper body where I stood. Thankfully I was ready.

  I used Surging Step to get out of the way only to turn around and realize I could no longer see it. In fact it wasn’t like I saw or heard it attack me from the rear.

  What I felt was the slightest shift of mana which meant all the work I’ve been putting in to sensing and better controlling the mana not only in my body but outside in the air was paying off. I am a long way from being able to wield it like another limb, but if I stood still as I had and focused on nothing but the movement of mana around me I was able to sense something.

  Not enough I think to really spot the Drake among all of this darkness but enough that when it was in close proximity to my body I could sense it shift. When I did I turned around slightly to see the gaping mouth of the creature aiming to bite down on me, which gave me just enough time to use Surging Step to get out of the way.

  Though…only using Surging Step to get out of the way without attacking back would serve me no purpose, not in this heat with sweat burning in my eyes. I had to take a risk. Regardless of whether it was the ebb or flow of the battle, whenever I sensed the shift again I could not use that moment to run. I would have to attack.

  So once again I remained still, sweat dripping to the floor and becoming the only noise to be heard as I waited.

  Then I felt the mana shift and the beast was upon me again. As if my body were laughing at me, this happened during the ebb state. But there was no time like the present.

  I pushed through the feeling of resistance on my mana and unleashed an Ocean’s Maw with what I had left at the Drake. The beast and the skill collided in the air and in that same moment I felt my mana levels plummet to beyond empty.

  It felt like I was drained of everything. A good way to describe it would be if a river instantly went dry and the riverbed cracked and split from the lack of moisture. That is how my body felt the second the skill rose to activation.

  But right on cue as the Drake was pushed back bloody and beaten from colliding head first with the Ocean’s Maw, my new Trait rolled into life. My heart beat in my chest even as I wobbled to my knees.

  Thump thump thump.

  For the first time in my life I could actively hear my heartbeat.

  Thump thump thump.

  I was not suddenly filled with mana and stamina once again. Neither the Ebb and Flow skill nor my Heart of Current Trait are miracle workers, but I could feel life and strength slowly coming back to me with each beat of my heart.

  I did not want to imagine where I would be without either one of them.

  In fact…It was only now that I realized just how much they helped in the previous battle against that damn crab. That crab fought for hours without showing the single bit of tiredness yet there I was drained. But I could recover.

  What if someone else fought that thing? Someone that did not have a skill or a Trait to boost recovery and keep them going? Would they simply die because they were too exhausted to continue fighting? Or perhaps they would go hungry if the dungeon allowed fights to continue for days on end and then simply die of hunger and the crab would feast on their body?

  Anway…while those morbid thoughts circled around my mind, some of the darkness around the arena slowly began to dissipate as the Drake before me, while not dead, was slowly dying.

  It was big and sturdy but it could not contend with an Unbound skill. After a couple minutes, strength filled my body enough that I could walk under my own power and I slowly approached the body of the Drake and drove my spear through its chest to end its misery.

  …I think a break here is needed.