After her initial battle experience, Yvette became somewhat addicted to it. For the following months, she would conduct “fish bombing” missions on the water platform two to three times each month.
Although each encounter was brief—striking a few times before running away—it significantly helped her adapt to the sensations of combat. She was no longer as frantic as in her early days, when she often shot Frost Bolts at absurd angles.
She even discovered a hidden ruler of this domain: a monstrous aberration, over thirty meters long, with rotting scales and a single eye on its forehead.
The emergence of this “One-Eyed Serpent King” greatly disrupted Yvette’s escape plans. Its presence meant that if she intended to leave someday using a “Flying Board,” she would need sufficient strength to confront attacks from a giant lake beast.
This pressure weighed heavily on her.
Before she knew it, another twenty years had passed.
Now, a full 73 years had elapsed since Yvette’s journey began.
Due to the threat posed by the One-Eyed Serpent King, she reduced her visits to the water platform, avoiding the risk of being instantly killed by the terrifying giant maw emerging from the lake.
According to the theory of “Rune Siphoning Effect,” a high-density magic core would naturally attract surrounding magical elements. Indeed, her training efficiency improved significantly, allowing her to gain 2.5 magic points every year. At this rate, in just a mere hundred years, she could potentially increase her magic power by 250 points—perhaps by then she would be strong enough to challenge that Serpent King.
Just a mere hundred years…
Beyond her breakthrough in magic power, in the past twenty years, Yvette had also iterated the final forms of her spells: Frost Bolt, Flame Dance, and Wind Walk.
Among them, the magic cost of Frost Bolt had now dropped to the terrifying number “1,” truly achieving a one-to-one relationship between magic points and projectile count. She had also adjusted the attack method, allowing her to create multiple virtual launch points if necessary, unleashing Frost Bolts like a Gatling gun and producing a chilling storm.
Flame Dance had improved not only its operational feel and magic cost but also allowed her to specify launch positions. Utilizing “Dual-Use Rune Group” technology, each additional fire pillar could be cast with just 10 extra magic points, and she could unleash up to four fire pillars simultaneously, creating a “Full Power Mode” equivalent to 50 points of magical energy.
As for Wind Walk, it had been renamed “Wind Mastery.” It consumed 8 points of magic per second, capable of generating strong winds—whether for accelerating herself, briefly floating, or blowing enemies away, it was fully functional.
Unfortunately, Yvette had yet to master more advanced theoretical concepts or acquire high-end tools.
Otherwise, she might have created magic better suited for flight, allowing her to bypass the threat of the Serpent King and escape with ease.
For over a century following, apart from a singular attack spell called “Thunder Fury,” Yvette had not attempted to design any new spells.
After all, instantaneous casting magic required two conditions: proficient memorization and intensive practice.
Given her current memory capacity, adding 500 runes for “Thunder Fury” was already her limit. Forcing herself to memorize a fifth or sixth magic spell would lead to confusion, jeopardizing her grasp of previously memorized spells.
Thus, she continued to repeat tasks like “meditation,” “magic practice,” “collecting resources from the water platform,” “observing aberrations fight,” and “peering at the Serpent King.” Her life was calm and rhythmic, to the point she lost track of the passage of time.
Only during the coldest winter months would she become painfully aware that another year had passed in the blink of an eye, so swiftly that she could hardly create any memorable anchor points.
At this moment, her magic power was nearing 400 points.
Sitting at the facility’s entrance that morning, watching the snow fall once more for the year, she mused that she might finally be capable of challenging that giant serpent in the lake.
Through long observation, Yvette had gained considerable understanding of the One-Eyed Serpent King. She discovered that it exhibited no diurnal habits; it seemed to never sleep, capable of surfacing at any time.
Thus, she boldly walked to the edge of the water platform and tossed some stems of Magic Glow Vines into the water, hoping to lure it out.
The teasing took quite a while, but Yvette was undeterred. She knew that the giant serpent must be beneath the surface; otherwise, the other aberrant creatures wouldn’t remain so distant.
Finally, as dusk approached, the pale, pupil-less, nightmare-inducing giant serpent eye suddenly surfaced from the depths. Though only a glimpse was visible, it was enough to instill dread.
Without waiting for the right moment or hesitating, the giant serpent burst from the water, sending sprays of water dozens of meters into the air!
Yvette was already prepared; quickly using Wind Mastery, she pulled herself back a few dozen meters behind the platform to evade the attack.
Looking ahead, the humongous serpent loomed over the lake, peering at her like a deity looking down at ants.
Then, the serpent’s maw opened as its lower jaw split apart, revealing several red, slithering tentacles twisted together. Upon closer inspection, they were not tongues but a mass of slippery tendrils.
As they separated, darting toward Yvette with lightning speed, it seemed they aimed to snatch her up like a dainty morsel.
Yvette felt her nerves tighten. As it was her first confrontation with this ruler of the lake, coupled with her deep-water phobia and fear of large creatures, she could not afford to be careless. After dodging the tendrils, she immediately unleashed her half-controlled, half-output magic.
Frost Bolt—in Gatling mode!
Blue projectiles sprayed out from multiple angles, shooting out four to five dozen bolts in just a few seconds, freezing the serpent’s head and tentacles into a solid ice sculpture. The off-balance head of the serpent slammed down onto the platform, shaking the entire structure.
As she watched the struggling giant serpent, Yvette did not choose Flame Dance, fearing it might aid its escape. Instead, she activated another magic spell—the only new achievement from her years spent deciphering runes—Thunder Fury!
This magic diverged from her previous approaches, foregoing the pursuit of maximum efficiency. Rather, it aimed to elevate single-target damage to the peak within the constraints of 500 runes, achieving the highest damage possible at the cost of high magic consumption.
A full 240 points of magic!
Casting even once would deplete over half her magical reserves!
As the spell activated, a rune ring over ten meters in diameter appeared in the air, and a massive bolt of dazzling lightning descended upon the serpent’s thrashing ice-encased head, paralyzing its body and sending it into violent spasms, helpless even as its icy shell shattered.
Holding her breath, Yvette’s heartbeat raced. With less than 100 magic points remaining, casting Thunder Fury a second time was impossible, so she summoned the rune ring representing Flame Dance instead, ready to launch fire pillars.
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Before she could attack further, the serpent’s movements suddenly ceased. Its massive head hung limply over the platform’s metal grating, its eyes and tentacles had turned a dark hue as the acrid scent of burnt flesh filled the air.
Yvette was taken aback, but she didn’t pause her actions, quickly using Flame Dance to incinerate the remaining portion of its body sticking to the platform, scorching every inch of its skin with all her might.
Only after thoroughly burning the half of the serpent’s carcass did she toss it into the lake with the assistance of Wind Mastery, finally feeling confident that this creature was, indeed, dead.