My Skills Can Evolve Infinitely in a Game-Like World

Chapter 24: Radiant Lance & Meeting

The sun was just starting to vanish into the horizon.

Most of Blood Sun City’s residents were returning to their homes, while even those who didn’t mostly stayed within the city’s boundaries.

However, there was a single person who didn’t seem to mind the danger of the night.

Near the outskirts of the Dryad Forest, two figures could be seen engaged in a staring contest.

One was a man.

With blonde hair and blue eyes, he looked like an elegant noble one would frequently encounter in the Dawn Kingdom’s Imperial Capital.

On the opposite side was neither another human nor a rabbit.

Instead, it was a towering bear.

With thick black fur and standing more than seven feet tall, it looked truly menacing as it continuously waved its giant paws around, threatening to maim anything that dared approach it.

As Aurelius’ eyes locked on its enormous figure, the opponent’s threat level became apparent.

[Level 12 Black Bear]

Its Level was higher than the Rabbit King Aurelius had killed before.

At the same time, although it wasn’t a King of its race, a bear monster was significantly stronger than a Red Hare Rabbit—even if that rabbit happened to be relatively special.

The Black Bear that Aurelius faced would be able to tear apart the Rabbit King with absolute ease.

Yet, he didn’t display any panic.

He watched the bear monster observe him for several seconds before growling threateningly.

With a flex of its muscles, it shoved its legs off the ground and lunged at him.

Aurelius’ reaction was quick.

He took several steps to the side, barely escaping its claws’ attack range.

Despite this, as the bear’s claws twisted unexpectedly through the air, they reached his left shoulder and slashed down at it.

Ding!

There was no sound of flesh being torn. Only a loud clang, as though two pieces of metal had met each other.

A crimson armor appeared out of nowhere and enveloped Aurelius’ torso. At the same time, an armor made of light materialized.

The latter quickly shattered into specks of light, though it served to negate part of the damage. By the time the claws reached the crimson armor, most of the impact had disappeared.

Not only did Aurelius not suffer, but he didn’t even lose his balance.

Glancing at the bear that was attempting to regain its momentum, Aurelius acted decisively.

With a wave of his hands, a large fireball gathered on top of his palm before shooting out like a bullet.

Within a split second, it had arrived before the bear and landed on its body.

If it had been the Rabbit King, the Level 2 Fireball would have been more than enough to kill it, especially following Aurelius’ Level Ups.

But when it came to the Black Bear, it was only momentarily stunned.

Only the skin along the collision was affected, as its black fur worked to isolate the rest of the impact and prevented the flames from spreading.

"Roar!"

The pain was still enough for the Black Bear to go berserk.

Disregarding the distance between the two, it waved its two claws erratically.

This time, it directly targeted Aurelius’ weak spot—his head.

More importantly, the bear committed fully to the attack, leaving itself no chance to stop or retreat.

It had truly gone mad!

It had vowed to kill the enemy even if that resulted in being fatally injured.

Aurelius felt a chill run down his spine. This bloodlust and fierceness were something that humans lacked and could only be found in monsters.

Fortunately, this was also the opportunity Aurelius had been waiting for.

Facing the incoming bear, he didn’t choose to evade or defend, but instead activated his latest skill.

The Spirit lurking within his body gathered into his hand.

Seeping out of his pores and skin, it turned into brilliant light that squirmed before finally settling into a four-meter golden lance.

Aurelius had never wielded such a long weapon before.

However, there was not really a need.

Under the control of his mind, the lance suddenly left his hand and fired toward the enemy.

One moment, it was still within his grasp. The next, it was embedded in the Black Bear’s head.

A sickening crack echoed as the lance drove through its skull.

Blood and brain matter splattered everywhere.

Even so, the bear did not die immediately.

The monster continued walking forward for several feet before the lance finally burst apart into countless specks of light. Each speck carried the power of the initial attack.

The next instant, the bear’s body exploded.

"Killed a Level 12 Black Bear. EXP +300"

As soon as Aurelius read this notification, his tense body relaxed.

He wiped the faint sweat that had formed on his forehead while admiring the aftermath of his previous attack.

The Synthesized skill’s description subconsciously surfaced in his mind.

...

[Radiant Lance: The Player can transform illusory light into a material golden lance. The lance inherits the effects of the three synthesized skills. It combines the range of Spirit Bullet, the weapon manifestation of Alchemist’s Gun, and the destructive piercing force of Lethal Strike.]

[Radiant Lance’s damage scales directly with the Player’s Level and their Intelligence.]

...

Transforming from a gun and a bullet to a lance seemed to come out of nowhere.

But as shown by its previous performance against the bear, Radiant Lance could also serve as a "bullet".

Not only could it act as both a ranged and close-quarters attack, but the damage it caused was higher than the three synthesized skills combined.

A Level 2 Fireball had been unable to defeat the Black Bear.

Yet, the Radiant Lance had succeeded in a single blow.

Although the Spirit consumption was significant, enough to cast several Fireballs, the results spoke for themselves.

Aurelius stopped for several minutes, working to recover from the earlier consumption. Once done, he picked up whatever remained from the Black Bear and made his way to the next monster habitat.

Secretly, he summoned his Player Panel.

As he focused on the Alchemist Sub-Class, several prompts flashed.

[You’ve Leveled Up. Your Sub-Class has reached Level 6.]

[You’ve gained: INT +2, AGI +1]

[Your Sub-Class has reached Level 7.]

[Level 8...]

--

It was only several hours later that Aurelius left the Dryad Forest.

By the time he did, his Alchemist Sub-Class had been upgraded to Level 9, while his Experience had increased, albeit slightly.

Upon going through the gates on the walls, he didn’t rush to return to the Sol mansion.

He wandered first through the city and entered a dark alleyway before stopping in front of a mottled wall.

The wall was covered in dense marks, traces that humans had left over the years it had stood.

But as Aurelius’ eyes landed on one of them, which looked like the painting of a sun with a red ’X’ mark painted on top of it, his eyes lit up.

With a gentle wave of his hand, he erased the painting.

Then, turning around, he maintained his disguise and rushed toward the other side of the city.

A quarter of an hour later, he stopped in front of an abandoned building. He gently knocked on the door.

There was no response for several seconds.

However, as he knocked a second and then a third time, following a peculiar rhythm, faint footsteps rang out from within.

A moment later, the door swung open. A hooded but familiar face was revealed behind it.