The monster was still far away, but Dhruv was sure it had noticed him as well. For some reason, he could even sense the excitement within the monster as it detected three Tier IV monsters at once. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

’It must have felt like a feast had been given to him.’ he thought as his smile only got creepier.

[You two go ahead, I will deal with it alone.] Through the connection, Dhruv conveyed his feelings to his guardians.

[But... Master, it’s a Tier V..]

Interrupting Azarex, Aurora asked, [Are you sure, Master?]

Hearing the question, Dhruv looked at her, the creepy smile got broader as he replied without hesitation, [More than anything,]

He wasn’t confident without reason. In the brief time frame, he had already assessed the core of the monster. It was certainly a Tier V monster, but its stats were nowhere near Dhruv’s.

[We will go then, Master.] Aurora made the decision for Azarex as well.

[B-But..]

Azarex wanted to protest against her decision, but Aurora quickly brought him to the ground. There, she told him about her fights with the Master. Only after listening did Azarex calm down.

"We should hurry up then..."

Azarex suggested, looking at the approaching Thunder. Nodding her head, Aurora flew in a different direction. Azarex showed her the direction of the portal and they began flying there without any worry.

Crack!

Meanwhile, Dhruv was still flying in the air. He stood tall, his eyes locked onto the literal thunder moving toward him.

It didn’t take him long to figure out that Thunder was an ethereal being of pure thunder and air, crackling with electricity. Except for the core, there wasn’t anything physical inside of it. Because of this, despite its lower strength, Dhruv knew this fight wouldn’t be easy.

The monster’s incorporeal nature made it an interesting opponent. An opponent he was sure to enjoy.

Crackkkkk!

The temperature around him dropped as the monster got closer to him. Not even a minute after locating it, the monster was already within a 100-meter range.

Sensing that it had reached its desired location, Dhruv took a deep breath and stabilized his flying. The illusive clothes around his body disappeared, as leather armor appeared.

Seeing the prey this close, the monster moved first, a bolt of lightning shooting towards Dhruv.

The thunder moved so fast that Dhruv was caught off guard. It hit him, the strike pushing him back a few feet. Stabilizing himself once again, he looked at it.

Instantly, the color of his pupils changed as he began to see every bit of mana the monster was manipulating.

Crackkk! Boom!

"So, you are completely made out of mana... not a cool build, I would say."

Dodging multiple attacks at the same time, Dhruv thought of trying something new.

His mana sense fired up as Dhruv tried to manipulate the mana the monster was made of. Instantly, he suffered a backlash as he felt the opposition from the monster’s mana.

’Shit... that wasn’t a great idea..’ He thought, dodging yet another attack.

Manipulating his own mana, Dhruv summoned an enhanced metal spear in an instant. Targeting the only physical thing it had, he threw the spear with great precision.

Wooossshhh!

The spear passed through the monster without doing anything.

’Tsk! It can move its core as well...’ Dhruv thought, manipulating his mana while continuing to dodge the attacks.

He had thought of multiple plans before the fight, but now that he was facing the monster, he couldn’t help but realize that fighting it was just...too easy.

Like how Dhruv couldn’t damage the monster, there wasn’t much the monster could do to harm him as well. The only reason it was a pain for Aurora was because of its ability to target multiple opponents at the same time.

Tens of thunders tried to surround him from all directions, but he slipped past them without any problem. Instead of using his sight, Dhruv was sensing his the disruption in mana to dodge all the attacks.

The last drop of mana filled the blueprint as the spell readied itself. An enhanced invisible molten spear appeared in his hand as Dhruv aimed for the core once again.

Boooooooommmmm!

Breaking the sound barrier, the spear moved through space... but once again, it did not manage to achieve anything. The monster managed to move its core at the last second again.

The spear just passed through the monster, its body flickering and reforming as if nothing had happened. It appeared as though nothing had happened, but Dhruv noticed otherwise.

In this recent attack, the monster lost some of its mana... the mana that was holding its body together. The only problem was that the amount was too little. Dhruv could defeat the monster like this, but it would take too much time.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!...

The thunder was not impressed by his ploy as it retaliated, summoning a whirlwind around Dhruv it tried to throw him to the ground.

’So, you can manipulate air as well...’ Dhruv thought, struggling to keep himself in the air because of the vortex. His control over the wings still wasn’t great.

Manipulating his mana, he summoned a metal plate beneath his feet and fused it with his boots to prevent himself from being blown away by the wind. The thunder cracked as the monster fired lightning his way again and again.

Dancing in the air, Dhruv decided to level up some illusions as well.

Manipulating his mana, he began creating duplicates of himself. In just a few seconds, the sky was covered with tens of five Dhruvs. All of them surrounded the monster from all directions grabbing its attention.

In response, the monster lashed out with bolts of lightning, hitting one illusion after another, causing them to dissipate. But none of the strikes managed to hit the real one.

Cloaked in invisibility, Dhruv moved toward the monster’s core. If magic was of no use, he would snatch the core from its body with his bare hand. Reaching its body he tried to enter it.

Shoooockkk!

’Shit... bad idea... bad idea..’

Dhruv’s whole body shuddered with shock as he realized that touching a live thunder with bare hands was never a good idea. Getting away from the monster’s body, he began ramping up his manipulation.

This continued until half of his core was empty... looking at himself with satisfaction, Dhruv glanced at Thunder and whispered,

"The playtime is over boy... survive this if you can.."