It seemed my attack plan had failed before it even began. Nevertheless, I suppressed my anxiety, gritted my teeth and vaulted over the walls to launch myself at it with [Leap].

The wasp didn't even bother to evade, as if taunting me to do my worst and this nonchalance made me more furious.

Since it willingly gave me a chance, I latched onto its body and tightened my grip around its thorax with my stingers raised, constricting it more and more to tighten its airway, but the wasp's shell was proving much tougher than I imagined.

Even as I was squeezing with all my strength, it was not even enough to cause a dent so I targeted his wounds inflicted by the queen. My stingers cut across them like a razor and the wasp finally reacted with a startled screech.

Hope that hurts! That was for underestimating me!

But before I could relish in my small victory, the wasp's clawed arm pulled me away from its body in one sweep.

I immediately attacked its body with [Bite] but once again I could not penetrate its shell, and before I could constrict around its arm, I was swiftly sent flying out of the cavern.

I slammed through a wall on the way out and my body hurt all over from the impact.

Several indents had formed where the wasps claws dug into my skin and a couple of my stingers had snapped in the process too.

Finding myself in a sad heap on the ground within mere seconds of my attack, was a shocking reality that begged belief.

I felt even more upset.

«He already knew you were coming, so what did you expect?» Sensei mocked, before mumbling quietly. «But why isn't he attacking? What exactly is he after?»

Again. I wanted to fight him again. Right now actually!

[Pain Resistance] seemed to be in good order as I wasn't hurting that much anymore, so I straightened myself and got back up.

«Aurelia, wait - »

I was in no mood to listen to Sensei's input so I completely tuned him out and got ready to attack again.

This time I attacked from below thinking it wouldn't spot me if I changed angles, but as soon as I came close, the wasp took off in the air, throwing off a series of wind blades towards me.

I frantically moved around in a bid to dodge them, yet, I was not fast enough and many of the blades brushed across me, damaging my scales in the process. I had to activate my [Heat Sphere] just to predict where the blades would come from, to get an advantage of a few seconds.

It worked at the beginning but as there were too many blades released in quick succession, I couldn't keep up and my MP soon drained to nothing.

I was fuming with helpless rage with nowhere to vent. Even though some of the attacks had been rebuffed by [Steel Skin] and [Dragon Scales], those that hit left deep injuries and I was once again forced to shrink away in defeat in order to preserve my pathetic life.

I was disappointed, angry and extremely upset. I seemed to be losing my rationale in a mad obsession to beat the wasp but I was already too far gone to care.

As soon as my MP bar filled halfway through, I was back attacking it once again desperately.

I continued to face it again and again, my attacks becoming more and more reckless with each attempt.

〚Skill Aptitude Increase: 『Dragon Scales』has levelled up 〛

〚Skill Aptitude Increase: 『Pain Resistance』has levelled up〛

〚Skill Aptitude Increase: 『Steel Skin』has levelled up〛

My skills were improving at an unprecedented rate and yet I couldn't land a proper hit since the first time and this was driving me crazy.

After several attempts, I only managed to get close enough to land a [Bite] imbued with [Pain Toxin], eliciting a screech from the wasp before I was knocked away and eventually tossed out like a limp snake.

«You will never defeat him like this.» Sensei's voice rang in my head like a gong, pulling me out of my stupor. «Your attacks are reckless, uncoordinated and all over the place. He's not any ordinary wasp you could subdue with a barrage of attacks.»

I scowled at the amusement in Sensei's voice.

I was battered and bruised, physically and mentally. The arrogant wasp kept pummelling me with ease, all the while maintaining that insufferable silence like I was unworthy to be spoken to!

In the quiet chamber, the sounds of impact of my body crashing through the walls was loud and overbearing as my mental fatigue kept inching closer to the breaking point.

«You have to be calm and calculated yet unpredictable. You have to erase your aura and disappear first if you want to get close enough deal a fatal strike »

"I already have [Stealth] active and it's not working." I complained in frustration.

The problem was that it could always see me coming, beating me swiftly before I could even launch a proper attack.

«Try hiding by withdrawing your mana presence.» Sensei advised calmly. «It's rare but some creatures have a detection so strong, they can sense individual mana traces, although they are unaware of what they are doing themselves. This wasp is one of them.»

"I don't know how to do that." I snapped grumpily.

«Use [Mana Sense] on yourself and find any trace of energy that has leaked past your body's outline. Then try to pull that energy back into the centre to contain it, this way you can reduce the chances of him sensing that energy and figuring out your position.»

I was frustrated but did as Sensei suggested and activated [Mana Sense].

The mana I had was barely enough to leak out and if my efforts to contain it were anything of note, there was no telling if it was working or not.

But I decided to give it a try and prepared to attack the wasp again. I approached the wasp from a blind angle and had it in my sights yet, it stayed still and I hoped I finally managed to hide from his senses.

I was ecstatic and was about to attack with [Rapid Strike], when it noticed my presence and jabbed out its blades in an attempt to cleave me in half. I was able to avoid it in the last second and only got away with a small, bleeding cut.

I turned around and attacked it again, this time I was able to leap onto its body, tightening over its arm in hopes of incapacitating its arms. Its bladed claws clanged together, under my grip and I squeezed them with all my strength until its joints snapped and cracks began to appear over its arm.

But at that moment I was hit by a blast of wind that pierced through my scales as if they were paper.

The excruciating pain made me loosen my grip, enough for the wasp to break through my hold and throw me away unceremoniously.

This attack was soon followed by the painful sensation of noise blaring in my head and the sound of an unimpressed voice.

[Not enough. Try harder.]

Even if its tone was as arrogant as ever, I felt the haze in my head clear away.

I finally managed to make it speak. I was making some progress!

With [Mana Sense] aiding me in hiding my presence, even if only for a while, I felt as though I was finally moving forward.

With a newfound energy and excitement, we continued to trade blows, but the result was more or less the same.

After suffering countless losses , it became painfully clear that the scary wasp was way stronger than me, and this feeling only amplified the moment I used [Appraisal] on him and saw the disparity in our stats. From then on, the anger I had was soon exhausted and replaced by the sinking feeling of dread.

I saw that the scary wasp was about to send a wind blade in my direction, so I immediately trained [Appraisal] at him, hoping to irritate its senses so that he would miss.

The scary wasp let out an irritated grunt but shot out its blades regardless. As they crossed the perimeter of Heat sphere, I quickly moved to avoid them but more attacks followed after, crushing the ground where I was a moment ago and pelting my scales with a barrage of sharp stings.

My body throbbed with pain but I ignored it and reached closer to attack with [Rapid Strike].

Unfortunately, he was swift and slipped away before my fangs could sink in, and then I had to scramble to dodge the multiple wind blades coming at me, that shattered the ground around like scraps of confetti.

Once his attacks got in range of my heat Sphere, I could predict where they would land, but I realized predicting was so much easier than successfully evading - especially when his blades sped through the air much faster than I could move.

I was destroyed so many times that I'd lost count the number of times [Rugged Scales] had levelled up. My body felt heavy from the soreness and all the bruises as I waited for my HP to recover.