32 Pierce
The illuminated sword was enveloped in a bright and comforting warm energy, a skill that was the result of Hans' progress to reach his current stage during his intense training.
{Aura}
Once mastered, aura control could help people unleash immense strength or speed, depending on their inclination.
Auras varied in types and could be recognized by their colors; the well-known ones included red for power, green for speed, blue for sharpness, and white for holiness.
The intensity and the brightness of these colors also reflected the aura's latent power.
Taking Elijah as an example, the color of his aura was a blinding white before transforming into a regretful gray after his class change.
However, typically an individual's aura does not change, for that they would have to go through immense traumatic experiences or personality shifts for the color of their aura to modify.
Strangely enough, Hans' aura, unlike the regular, wasn't composed of a single plain color, rather, it looked more like a painting.
It resembled a beautiful, pure starry night painting that would intrigue anyone who gazed deeply into it.
Despite the aura bursting out of Hans' body as if it were entirely on fire, the golem remained unfazed, unable to sense any pressure or fear from the human.
But this didn't bother Hans either as he was solely focused on his strategy.
How to attack, counterattack, and breach through the opponent's defense, were the only thoughts that ran in Hans' mind.
Han's eyes turned serious as he launched yet another assault, aiming it toward the moving pile of titanium.
[The nameless sword has acknowledged your mana. The name you have granted to the sword is accepted.]
[{Frost Fang} has unlocked its secret attributes.
{Name: Frost Fang
Grade: Rare Top
Owner: Hans Richter
Description: A perfectly crafted and extremely sharp sword that has acknowledged its owner's mana and adapted to it.
Effect: Frost Fang's special ability is to adapt and amplify its owner's aura.
Current skills:
{Amplification of Hans Richter's Aura.}
(Aura Rank: Undetermined
Amplification: +100%)
+10% to strength and dexterity while holding the sword.}]
The sword's enhancement also boosted Hans' powers, making him stronger than what he already had become.
As the giant monster swung its enormous arm right beside Hans, trying to hit him, the young man narrowly missed it by leaping high while simultaneously trying to reach the small dent he had previously inflicted on the golem's abdomen.
Hans tried to hit it with all his strength once again, and this time, the strength from the attack was enough to disorient the monster's balance, making it almost fall to the ground.
However, right after regaining its footing, the golem raised both its arms high up before bringing them down, ready to smash Hans to death in retaliation.
The human was barely able to manage to evade the attack by throwing himself to the side.
After taking a moment to breathe, Hans gazed up to assess the damage he had dealt, but the next moment his face turned ugly.
"Tch."
The little scratch from before had widened slightly, but that was all, and in this manner, if he wanted to finish the monster, it would take a hundred more such attacks.
And between his not-so-high endurance and the constant risk of a meaningless death looming around, Hans couldn't afford to make the fight last for that long.
He needed to end it and fast, if not, it wouldn't end well for him.
Meanwhile, the golem continued attacking heavily, while Hans unable to block those hits, could only avoid and patiently wait for an opening during the golem's big movements.
He slowly continued to chip away at the golem's defense, constantly hitting the same spot over and over again.
What had started once as a small dent in the golem's body had now become a significant slash that dug into the thick titanium.
But Hans was really on a tightrope and almost near exhaustion, and even if he could sense that he wasn't far from reaching the monster's core, he knew that his body couldn't keep up with the rhythm of the ongoing fight like before.
He could not allow it to go on like this, he needed to close this with a single decisive strike that would pierce right through the golem's core.
He thought about it while fighting and realized that his only chance was to utilize both his sword and spells.
He cast {Lighten} on himself, before dodging one final attack, and leaped high up in the air. The golem that predictably followed him with its red emotionless eyes attacked while Hans was in the air, planning to get an easy hit while the human remained vulnerable.
However, contrary to its calculations, the human suddenly fell to the ground as if pulled by an unseen force.
{Load}
As stated in its description, the golem was "just a machine" meaning when faced with a circumstance it couldn't calculate, it would react in the wrong way.
Hoping to confuse the machine, Hans made use of the {Gravity Path}'s spells.
While the machine was momentarily confused with its arms still in the air, its torso was left wide open.
Realizing that this was his only chance, with determination Hans unleashed his strike, planning to go ALL OUT for this single move.
{Blizzard}
{Ice Spear}
{Earth Projectile}
{Wind Gust}
{Aura}
He pushed his battered body to its limits, using every ounce of strength he was left with.
The incredible blow derived by the clashing of all these spells and Hans's blade with the golem sent it hurtling through the air, landing several meters away.
Exhausted and barely able to stay upright, Hans knelt before the now-revealed core of the machine, his grip on the sword faltering as he tried to stand with its help.
"Cough… cough!"
Blood spilled from his mouth, covering his lips and staining his clothes.
[You have defeated the boss monster: Titanium Golem]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have….]
[Current level: 105]
The slight boost of endurance he gained by leveling up and the pain induced by his bleeding interiors managed to keep him conscious, albeit barely.
It took him a couple of minutes just to rise to his feet.
As he walked towards the gate, every single one of his muscles burst with pain, much less talk about the internal injuries he had received, it was painful, painful enough to just want to die because of it, but more than anything, Hans was grateful for having survived. Had that golem only been slightly faster or if it hadn't moved as Hans had thought, he wouldn't be in this world right now.
Half-dead, Hans made his way home.
Not to a hospital like most would, but home.
He was sick and tired of it, he had been to the hospital too many times in the past few months, and even before that, the hospital reminded him of nothing but his family, leaving him despondent.
He opened the door of his apartment and closed it right behind him before slowly passing through and making his way to the bed and completely lying down.
'I'll take a break from this.'
'Whether I'm strong or weak, it doesn't matter if I'm dead.'
'Because of my reckless actions, people died. I need time to reflect.'
His thoughts were unlike any he'd ever had before.
For the first time in years, a person who always thought about his family had finally thought about himself, especially when he was on the verge of dying.
Truly, the life he was living wasn't a normal one.
Despite having received no word from him, Emily was certain of his success since the gate had disappeared. But since Hans hadn't reached out, she decided to just leave him alone for a while.
