I stood next to a dozen other spirits, all of them holding weapons of varying shapes and sizes, as we watched Numoral fiddle with a device similar to the one Plot had worn on his sleeve the last time I was in Noxtheīa.
A gust of wind blew, causing some clothes to flutter.
"Alright! I've got a match!"
Numoral turned and pointed into the distance.
"That way! Let's get going!"
The next moment, I was flying through the air as one of them carried me on his shoulder as our entire group bounded over white sand with black streaks mixed in it.
We were in Noxtheīa because I was not able to absorb stage 2 or stage 3 Cors, so Numoral wanted to give a stage four a try.
Unfortunately, all of the captured stage 4's were far too valuable to use for this particular reason, so we were hunting one in their home grounds.
I looked at the sand below me as it whizzed by and sighed.
My shell had grown durable enough to be able to use Raftaar, but I wasn't given enough time to learn it, resulting in my current predicament.
But thinking again, it wouldn't really have mattered.
Even if I had managed to somehow learn that movement skill within a matter of days and managed to use it proficiently, that wouldn't change the fact that I could not use it for less than a minute of constant usage.
So really, I would still be in this position even if I learned it.
A jerk went through my body as the man carrying me came to an abrupt halt.
He put me down as Numoral waved to me.
"Come here."
I walked up to him and he pointed to a Cor on top of a dissipating body.
"Go." He said. "Show me what you have learned these last few days."
I nodded and sprinted across the sands towards my target.
It sensed my approach and turned towards me, letting out a screech as it did so.
A grey liquid emerged from my clothes and surrounded my person, before solidifying, making me look like a grey mannequin.
The Cor charged towards me, raising one of its arms and slamming it down on top of me.
I jumped up, meeting its arm midway into its swing, and completely destroying it.
The Cor fell on its back as I soared above it while my armor changed back into liquid.
The liquid formed into a very long spear, its length approximately 7 meters.
As I started descending, I aimed the tip of the spear toward the Cor's head as it jumped up, causing it to impale itself.
The liquid disappeared back under my clothes as the Cor started to dissipate, signifying its death.
Numoral appeared next to me, along with the rest of the group.
"Think you can take on a stage 3?" Numoral asked me.
"I feel like I could."
I knew how powerful a stage 3 was, but I was quite confident that I could deal with a single one of them without much difficulty.
"Let's find one then."
Numoral spoke and disappeared, and less than a second later, I was back on the shoulder as the wind rushed through my ears.
A few minutes later, we stopped again.
Numoral pointed to the stage 3 I was going to fight.
From a distance, it looked like it was a minimum of eighteen meters tall.
I nodded and sprinted towards it.
The creature looked at me and started to move closer to me.
When I was close enough, one of its four arms slammed towards me, only for a grey liquid to slam into it, cutting into its arm halfway through.
The Cor let out a roar as the other three arms started to attack.
I dodged all three of them as I jumped back and gained some distance while planning and preparing my next moves.
As it charged towards me, a few flashes of light flew towards it and stabbed into various points in its body, and it fell facefirst into the sand.
A blue light appeared above my palm and grew to the size of my head, which I threw, targeting the head of the Cor.
It hit and exploded with a bang, as a dust cloud hid it from my vision.
My Own flowed, encasing me, turning into the armor I had used before against the stage 2 I killed.
It turned out to be a good decision, as a large body flew through the air at me.
It slammed into me and threw me back dozens of meters.
I landed on my back and rolled backward before I regained control and my footing.
I looked at the Cor, part of its head had fractures.
My spell was not powerful enough, and I did not have enough time to cast another before it was upon me, so I didn't.
I used my armor to brace against its first attack, then used the momentum from that to gain some distance from it.
I slid back on the sand as my eyes darted from place to place on its body, calculating my attack routes.
Then I shot forward.
It swung at me, but I jumped over its arm as my Own wrapped around its neck, before pulling me in.
I swung onto its back as it tried to swat me while I did so, and a moment later, the Cor's head was detached clearly from the rest of its body.
The head fell to the ground as I jumped back, letting the rest of its body fall.
Numoral appeared next to me with his visor on his face.
He walked up to me and put his hand on my back.
I felt a rush of warm energy flood through me as my pain began to fade away.
"Your armor mitigated most of the damage, without it, you would have been in much worse shape."
Numoral spoke in a calm tone, and I nodded to show him that I understood.
"Let's keep going."
I sighed as my feet left the ground and my abdomen felt the familiar sensation of hand wrapping around it.