Utopian System

Moments before...

Selene ran while approaching the intact section of the carbon tunnel, her feet barely touching the ground.

The metamorphosis potions knocked gently against her side with each step, a constant reminder of her mission.

At the beginning of the crusade, the line of soldiers behind her was dense and united.

Veterans and novices, all following their commander toward the deposit. But as Selene increased her speed, demanding more and more from her muscles, the line began to fragment.

The first to fall behind were those most exhausted from the previous battle. Their bodies, already pushed to the limit, simply couldn't maintain the brutal pace Selene imposed.

Then came the less experienced ones, those who hadn't yet learned to push their limits beyond reason.

Selene could hear the increasingly distant breathing behind her, the sound of footsteps becoming more dispersed with each second. Each soldier fought their own battle against exhaustion, against the limits of their will.

Some tried to maintain the pace through pure determination, forcing their muscles beyond pain. Others gradually yielded, their steps becoming heavier until the distance between them and the main group became insurmountable.

The line of soldiers became a fragmented chain, stretched like a broken string of beads.

Selene entered the carbon tunnel with few followers capable of keeping her pace...

She would later learn what happened to those who fell too far behind. Would know that Zynthor, on his way to the city, would find them outside the tunnel one by one.

Would know that these brave soldiers had been that artromus's last sad victims before Lucien stopped him.

The irony of fate, that only the 7 fastest had managed to enter the tunnel just before the artromus could block the passage, would only be revealed later.

For now, there was only the desperate race toward the deposit.

♢♢♢♢

The tremors that had been shaking the ground abruptly ceased. The sudden silence was unsettling, as if the world held its breath.

Selene gritted her teeth.

Despite her superhuman speed, she felt she was moving too slowly. Time seemed to mock her, each passing second was a second the young explorers could be dying in the deposit.

The end of the vibrations was like a signal for Selene. Her fingers brushed the two potions she carried while rapidly evaluating her situation. Stay connected via empire

Using one on herself wasn't the most conservative decision.

Her body was already at its limit after the previous battle, she barely had resistance points left and her mana was dangerously low.

Would it help?

Would the potion double what little she had left or would it provide the amount as extra?

The logical choice would be to save the potions for someone with more resistance on the battlefield, someone who could better utilize the transformation.

'But...'

She had no way of knowing how desperate the situation at the deposit was.

Each second lost could be the second that determined the difference between her comrades' life and death.

Besides, what good would the potions be if an artromus eliminated her before reaching them? The battle against the first one had taught her how lethal these creatures could be.

She decided she had to risk it…

"I'm going ahead!" she shouted to the last soldier still keeping her pace. "Follow the path to the deposit!"

Without further doubt, she uncapped one of the potions and drank its contents.

The transformation was instantaneous. Another 1,100 resistance points were completely restored while her body changed. Another 30 stamina points flowed through her renewed muscles, and her mana shot up to 400 points.

Every statistic doubled, and with them, her speed.

She had won the gamble.

The energy injection was intoxicating. For the next five minutes, she would feel better than new.

Her special speed summon responded to her call, and Selene propelled herself forward with a speed that would have been suicidal to attempt without the transformation.

The tunnel became a blur around her as she advanced, cracking slightly in her wake... Not exploding into pieces, not because Selene was slower than a transformed artromus, but because she had better control.

When she finally emerged from the tunnel, she wasted no time with detours.

She rose directly toward the deposit's peak, the sensation of flight completely different from normal impulses. It was smoother, more controlled, as if the air itself parted to let her pass.

The peak seemed deserted at first, but then she saw it, a glow emanating from the crater. Without hesitation, Selene adjusted her trajectory and launched herself downward like a living meteor.

The world slowed almost to a stop when Selene's eyes began to glow with an intense crystalline blue.

The transformation had taken her already formidable perception to completely new levels, every detail, every movement, every threat revealed to her with supernatural clarity.

In what would be a blink to others, Selene processed the complete scene:

Elio with arms extended in a final act of protection, the four-elemental sword spinning uselessly in the air, the explosion of magical energy being born from Zentros's transformed body, the surviving soldiers grouped in an increasingly reduced formation.

Her new reflexes allowed her to intercept the sword mid-spin, the movement so fluid it seemed the weapon had flown directly to her hand.

Without losing an instant, she channeled her power through the blade, cutting the accumulated magic before it could release.

She had canceled the explosion...

But when the sword met resistance against the artromus's body, Selene noticed something crucial, the edge wasn't penetrating deep enough.

Even with her strength increased by transformation, she wouldn't pierce the monster's enormous resistance with a single blow.

Her mind evaluated options at superhuman speed. She could use her new superior speed to execute a series of rapid attacks, gradually wearing down the artromus's resistance.

With enough precise impacts...

Then she remembered, the emblems.

Elio surely had led with a complete set, he must still have them, and with the transformation, his capabilities would double.

The combination of emblems and transformed power would make him a much more lethal force than her.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

There was no time for explanations. In a fluid movement, Selene wrenched the sword from the artromus's defense and threw it toward Elio.