"Put 10 points into agility and 15 points into strength," Carl commanded his system right then.
In an instant, Carl felt a rush of mana hit his veins, a wave of energy running through his body. Each of his scales was immediately reinforced by the purest mana.
"That is power!"
At this moment, Carl could catch Wilbur's speed in time, though it was still really hard to see him completely.
He only saw Wilbur's afterimage approaching, but it was already better than before, when he hadn't seen anything at all. Everything was still under his control.
"Fucking lizard!"
Without hesitation, Carl used his left hand, catching Wilbur's fist seemingly out of nowhere, and instinctively spun himself like an axis, driving his crimson mana-empowered elbow toward Wilbur's face.
In less than half a second, a pain shot across his elbow. He could feel a sharp ache along the top of his bones, but it was worth it as he struck Wilbur back, sending him rolling across the ground before finally smashing into the wall, making a violent shake the cave.
Carl gritted his teeth as the pain pulsed relentlessly in his elbow, yet he tried to maintain a firm stance of the dominant one. Because of that, Wilbur might give up bullying him.
"His scales are really tough, even though I've poured all my mana into them," Carl grimaced, then refocused on what was ahead.
Now, he could see Wilbur beginning to stand, stepping out of the cloud of dust.
"Do you want to pick a fight?! I'll follow you! You're just a piece of scrap!"
With his cheek split in places, Wilbur spat out some teeth. Seeing them on the ground and tasting iron in his mouth, every muscle and vein on his face began to tense and twist in fury.
He managed to control a rush of adrenaline through his blood vessels while looking at Carl with eyes filled with bloody anger.
He hadn't expected something like this to happen.
Even though Wilbur had only used 30% of his power, it was still hard for Wilbur to accept, as if Carl had suddenly exploded with power and boosted it for a few seconds.
"He's trying to hide his power?" Wilbur grimaced. He let out a deep breath, tightened the key in his palm, and stretched his wings, flying up somewhere.
He gave up the fight against Carl. He suspected Carl was still hiding his true strength, so he decided to deal with him after getting the treasure from the hidden boss of the dungeon.
Carl exhaled deeply and lowered himself to the ground. He slowly took the healing potion and used it immediately.
After a few minutes, the shivering and bleeding in his elbow began to stop.
"Lucky for me."
"It was smart not to use the stat points yet. Next time, I'll do it the same way."
His chest rose and fell for a while… Then, as it gradually settled, he quickly stood up and scanned around, searching for any trace of Wilbur left after running away.
"Tsk! So you're there…" Carl clicked his tongue. He wasn't too hasty, though; he would wait for Wilbur to open the gate of the final boss.
Carl smirked and stepped forward leisurely. He barely showed any worry about whether Wilbur could get through the gate, because he knew the only one capable of defeating the final boss was himself.
He moved past dried blood-veined skeletons wrapped in ghostly vines from underground, scattered everywhere, and crossed a few more leaks.
He continued exploring the cave like before and sometimes took short naps on the large leaves of ancient trees. Yeah, he wouldn't forget his evening meal. He lightly savored each bite of chicken leg while refreshing himself, preparing for the challenges ahead.
"I wish I had wings like him… that would be really useful," Carl sighed as he pushed through the sticky brush of the cave and finally stood on an outcropping of rock.
He surveyed the area with eyes enhanced by his dragon ability. As time passed, he saw what he was looking for.
"There…"
Carl spotted the location near the final wall of the cave. Soon, he was there. He glanced at the gate and stepped in without a second thought.
Again, he continued his tedious journey, moving through the complex network of walkways.
"Ahh! I'm tired of all this. I just want to finish this mess once and for all," Carl muttered, scratching his head as he looked ahead.
Then, he began to sense the pressure of the air around him, which meant his journey was finally coming to an end.
Carl let out a deep breath and walked—unbothered by the pressure in the air—toward the entrance of the dragon's lair.
Carl only felt a slight itch as a thin layer of mana covered him.
"You're here… Lizard…" Carl chuckled, leisurely closing the gap to the massive Stone Oval Pedestal where the dead corpse of a gigantic dragon lay.
He lifted his right foot onto the base of the massive Stone Oval Pedestal and immediately felt a massive pressure trying to push him down, but Carl just grimaced and scratched his foot for a moment.
"What a scrap!" Carl spat on the floor and looked up.
A gigantic dragon lay there, but at this moment, he could only see its bones through stinky layers of dried skin. Sometimes, the dragon filtered the air outside through its mana core and converted it into mana.
"Guess that's the source of the pressure on my skin," he shrugged. Then he noticed a shadowy human figure beside the dragon.
"What a pitiful sight, Lizard," Carl chuckled, performing a short taunting dance toward Wilbur.
Looking at Wilbur now, he appeared wretched. He struggled to push himself up from the floor, but it seemed almost impossible. He managed to keep his half-dragon form to withstand the pressure blanketing him.
However, for some reason, as he did that, the air around him suffocated him and tried to crush his adversary with its holy power.
And the worst thing in Wilbur's life was coming—Carl danced around Wilbur as if mocking him.
"W-WHY?" A single word escaped him, carrying all the unfairness and fury in his mind.