Light Execution x64

18 seconds.

That's the amount of time she still needed for her mana to stabilize.

Until then she was just a little girl, albeit one a little out of the ordinary. Yet, she dared to act so boldly.

"Look at you! You really are a brainless tree." she sneered, her voice dripping with mockery.

The Venomtree twitched. It did not understand the girl's language, but it did recognise the universal language of insults, and this little thing was definitely mocking it.

The tree could only feel contempt towards her. It was in perfect condition, while she had been on the verge of death just seconds earlier. Logically, it should be the one doing the mocking–not the other way around.

The Venomtree quickly recalled its roots and had them chase Seraphina. By the time the roots caught up to Seraphina, five seconds had already passed. The girl had rapidly closed in and was already at the base of its trunk.

The tree could not comprehend her intentions. To it, she had foolishly severed her own escape route. 

As a Peak C-rank magical plant, the Poisonous Venomtree possessed an exceptionally keen sense for detecting mana and life force. The girl before it had a significantly lower mana pool than it, and her life force was particularly weak. Without her durable stick, the girl would not pose much of a threat.

But Seraphina's goal had never been to escape, she came here for a job–a job she would make sure to complete. She had never once doubted her victory and considered it an already established fact.

Her current minor goal was to stall, wait until the backlash had passed before retaliating. And so far, her approach was working, it was shown by how the Venomtree had not yet succeeded in what it tried.

When Seraphina saw the roots about to catch her, she did the most rational decision she could think of. She had already entered the tiger's den trying to accomplish her minor goal, but what she was about to do was akin to directly leaping into the tiger's mouth.

Seraphina's body tightened and crouched low. Then, using her current momentum, she launched herself to the sky, jumping over three times her full height and effortlessly evading the approaching roots.

In the air, Seraphina gripped her khakkhara tightly, pointing the sharp tip of the pewter staff toward the tree's trunk. She lightly thrust it against the thick, plum-colored bark and embedded with ease.

She was now mid-air and dangling to the Venomtree using her khakkhara to hold her weight. Then, she quickly drove her gauntlet-covered hands into the wood and unsummoned her pewter staff.

'Just six more seconds...' thought Seraphina as she rapidly climbed the tree, piercing crevices into the bark each time she moved.

The Venomtree was momentarily surprised by Seraphina's stupid and reckless actions, but it quickly regained its composure as the feeling of being pierced was not quite comfortable. 

While climbing, Seraphina had no way to dodge and was completely vulnerable, the Venomtree took the opportunity and sent a swarm of roots at her. However, the roots abruptly stopped mid-way...Roots, even though were long enough, were never meant to reach the sky. They were incapable of bending in such unnatural ways.

Realising this, the Venomtree changed tactics and launched a batch of thorny poisonous vines. It was already too late though, as Seraphina had jumped once again-this time downward.

She had fallen intentionally because-her mana had finnally recovered. But even if her mana had recovered, she would normally still lose to the Venomtree. The difference between an early C-rank and a Peak one was simply too vast. 

But Serahpina's confidence did not come from her mana. It came from something else entirely.

As Seraphina neared the ground, she was met with a cluster of massive roots awaiting her descent. She resummoned her khakkhara, the gentle swing of its six rings producing a soft chime.

She then used the pewter staff as a pole to vault past the roots, her movements were just fast enough to avoid being hit. If she had done even one mistake, she would have likely been impaled.

By the time Seraphina finally landed, she had already put a significant distance between herself and the Venomtree. This frame was just enough for her. Then, she raised her khakkhara high. Its golden sheen caught the sunlight, shining like a brilliant gem. And without hesitation she poured all of her mana into it.

She took two deep breaths and held them.

Then, without a single pause or interruption, she began chanting the incantation. This method could somewhat reduce the time needed for her incantation by a few precious seconds .

Upon reaching the final word, her khakkhara glowed with radiant gold and silver light, confirming the successful activation of the spell. The six rings at its head began to light up one by one.

This was Seraphina's trump card, her khakkhara's unique ability. When casting a spell through it, its six rings would light up, and each could amplify the output of her magic by two. By the time the final ring ignited, her spell's power had grown over sixty-fourfold!

 It was enough to obliterate even a B-rank!

When her spell was fully charged, the staff trembled slightly and the ambient mana became unstable from the overpowering magical power. She raised her khakkhara, pointing its glowing head–not at the roots, but at its trunk. She had not forgotten why she came here, she had a quest to complete and would make sure to finish it.

With that, her lips parted one last time—finishing what she had not been able to the first time.

"Light Execution x64—