As much as three Amber Slimes tries to stop their opponent from his path to annihilating them, it is to no avail, as when there are five of them, they are already struggling to completely eliminate their opponent, and now that there are only three of them, it is more a matter of when they will be defeated rather than how they will deal with the unkillable creature in front of them.

A pity that such creatures, despite their clear aptitude for battle, fail to understand the concept of fleeing; each clash against their opponent for a moment that will either make or break their own body.

While the Amber Slimes are struggling to hold off and stand their ground against this grotesque, immortal creature, said creature sports a wide smile on his face, the battle exciting him to no end as he can clearly feel himself improving, no matter how minuscule said improvement is, this loop of fighting, growing stronger, finding stronger opponents and then growing even stronger becoming a loop that he is starting to appreciate more and more.

Spherical body tore through the air once again as one of his opponents managed to steal enough time to relax itself and explode towards him, blades of grass being split and torn apart as the fortified Amber Slime shot through like a cannonball if it is faster and more than triple the size.

And seeing that small window of opportunity where their opponent’s focus was entirely on the attacking Amber Slime, the remaining two seek their chance to charge into an attack as well, showing that same spring-loaded motion before exploding towards the young man as well.

’Should I try it?’ With his mind returning to that scene of quickly casting a fireball to increase his punch’s firepower, Novus thought of something different, but still related to it, using the pressure of having so little time to deal with the approaching opponent to squeeze out as much focus as he could.

Mana surged, creating a ball of fire in his palm.

’Smaller, smaller...’ he told himself as he grits his teeth, thinking that it is getting as hard as it can get, mana, imbued with the fire element, compressing as much as he can before he encases it into a fist.

He doesn’t stop there as he gathers mana even more, enforcing his entire arm with it at speed just barely enough for him to throw a punch against the three approaching Amber Slimes.

Explosion. An explosion loud enough to feel the shockwave in places near the center of the battle escaped from Novus’s attack, an attack violent enough that it not only took away the life of its target, but also severely damaged the user of it as well.

From one side of the explosion, a body seemingly charred to death was thrown, landing flat and lifeless on the Evolution Domain’s signature grasslands, breathless, motionless, but only for a moment before it started laughing.

"Ha... hahaha, I knew it, I should’ve reinforced my entire body with mana... It’s too difficult to do, though..." the charred body starts speaking in a hoarse voice as it starts standing up, almost like an undead rising from the ground, except for the fact that instead of being severely stiff, its motion is smooth and lifelike as it pats itself from the dust on the ground.

And almost like magic, this charred body starts recovering immediately, new muscles start forming around the charred mess, taking mere moments to completely create the man anew, ending it with his skin and hair returning as well.

[Immortal Energy: 10/100]

Had it been any other person, they would’ve dropped dead the moment they were caught in the explosion of a compressed mass of fire-element imbued mana, but for Novus, with his talent, it was nothing more than an extremely painful experience, and nothing that he won’t be able to walk away from.

Showing the efficiency of his previous attack, save for the extremely suicidal manner of using it, notifications start flooding his vision, revealing that he had dealt with every single one of the remaining Amber Slimes.

[Defeated: Amber Slime. Rewards: F-Tier Evolution Crystal (1), Slime Substrate (4)]

[Defeated: Amber Slime. Rewards: F-Tier Evolution Crystal (4), Slime Substrate (4)]

[Defeated: Amber Slime. Rewards: F-Tier Evolution Crystal (2), Slime Substrate (2), Malleable Amber (1)]

Finally done dealing with the Amber Slimes, Novus closes the notifications on the semi-transparent system screen, breathing a sigh of relief as he had never felt that much pressure fighting against a group of slimes before, neither inside nor outside the Evolution Domain.

’Still, I’ve gained a lot...’ he thought to himself as he recalled the fleeting moment of battle against those five Amber Slimes, his utilization of mana as a way to reinforce his body growing quickly with each battle he went through, and along with this growth in control, his combat prowess grew significantly as well.

What he assumes is that the greatest harvest during this intense battle is the method of casting magic without making a solid imagery of it, allowing him to take these opponents by surprise with speed instead of relying on a steady, solid magic that takes too long to cast.

"Thinking about it, I guess it does make sense, especially since I don’t really need to make sure it keeps its structure after it leaves my hand," he added in conclusion before nodding to his own thoughts, all while wondering what other ways he can apply magic to his new combat style to make it even more powerful.

Tired of the battle, both physically and mentally, the young man just continues sitting on the spot as he closes his eyes, controlling his breathing and feeling mana around him, hastening his recovery as mana also starts circulating around his body without any effort on his part, a process that he enjoys all too well as he felt more connected to his surroundings, to the nature embracing him, this way.

This deepened connection with nature also grants him a greater sense, the wind blowing over his skin, the rustling of grass due to this wind, the warmth of the sun in the sky, everything laid bare for him to feel, such a feeling, something that will invoke comfort in most, if not all, who experience it.

Perhaps it is because of this comfort that it takes a while for him to notice something around him, true peace and quiet, something that he rarely, if ever, experienced during his short time in the Evolution Domain.

Not a single Amber Slime near him.

Not even a sign of life nearby.

Not a single blade of grass.

’Not a single blade of grass... not a single blade of grass?’ as he thought of such, Novus snaps out of his relaxed state, only now noticing that he is holding his own breath, that deprivation of air causing him to rush for said air as he greedily breathes, short and heavy breaths filling his lungs with much needed oxygen once again as he wonders what happened all of a sudden.

As he regains his bearings, he notices his own hands lingering around his neck, both hands, no, even his arms, along with his entire body, shivering as he realizes that he is searching for a wound that never existed in the first place.

Still, the sensation of something cold piercing through his flesh and separating his head from his body once again surfaces in his mind, reminding him that it is real, as real as it can get.

And as if nailing this realization closer to home, he saw it all, the open area near the academy’s entrance where he was before entering the Evolution Domain, his experiences forced him to just stand still in there with a single thought in his mind.

He had died, without knowing what killed him, or how he was killed at that.