Four hours later, I finally heard the sound of moving water. My arms ache loudly from holding them in the same dinosaur-like pose for several hours, as did my legs from walking the distance. Yet, every second was worth it. Breaking my long trudging into an immediate sprint, I leapt forward, excited to bathe in fresh water. Just as it came into view, my foot slid too far on the rock, and I began half-rolling, half-somersaulting over the top of the water for a moment before I finally sank down.
The relief was immeasurable, as I simply let my body float up to the top of the water. The current dragged me slowly north, and eventually I began washing as much of the blood off as I could. It scraped off my skin fairly well, but the plain white shirt was permanently stained, and the brown pants as well.
At least it wasn't as bad with the pants.
With a long sigh, I put my clothes on a large rock to dry, as I gave one more scrubbing attempt to the Arm guards. They were a darker color, so the stains partially blended in, but it was still pretty noticeable. However, it would have to do. I was just glad I got to bathe at all.
About two hours later, I had rested enough to almost completely recover, but it seemed like my Health wasn't going to regenerate above 30. I slid my clothes back onto my body before tying the Arm guards firmly to my forearms. Pulling up my skills, I looked at the most problematic one with a squinty glare.
[Klum's Reincarnation (Unfound Autoskill)
Cooldown remaining: 8 hours, 12 minutes…)]
'The cooldown is almost over.'
My face scrunched up even more as I tried to think of a plan for 8 hours from now. "Even if I sit right here for the next 8 hours, I can't guarantee some monster or beast won't appear right as the cooldown reaches its end. No, knowing my luck, as soon as the skill is ready some insanely strong beast will probably jump right out at me."
As I pondered what I should do, I decided that first, I should become accustomed to my new weapons. if I was right about my hunch, they would be a lot better than the goblin's Crude Dagger.
Pulling out one of the Upper Canines, I looked it over. When it was in that brute's mouth, it had been stained and honestly, there looked to be a few cavities in it. But this sword gleamed in the moonlight as I tilted it to inspect it from different angles. It was a pure white; the edges looked extremely sharp. A plain wrap sat on the handle, and the tip split into four spikes just like the root of a tooth.
The strangest part of the sword was the fact it was almost entirely hollow, instead of a standard blade. The only part inside that wasn't hollow were two struts running diagonally across the blade. "Huh," I wondered, running my finger across the inside of the back edge. The insides were dull, so I had no fear of cutting myself. "Well, time for the important part."
"Analyze."
[Fang Ogre Upper Canine]
[Rank: Super Rare]
[Description: The long upper teeth of a Fanged Ogre were turned into a blade that were inspired by its unique skill, Skewer Bite.]
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[Unique Skill: Skewer (Rare)]
[ATK: +16]
[DEF: +1]
[SPE: +8]
[DUR: 24/24(2/2)]
I scoffed at the note before taking a closer look at the skill.
Ever since the tutorial had ended, Analyze had these little notes after the description. But I couldn't interact with Analyze either way besides calling it up to inform me of things.
Clearing out my train of thought, I mentally ordered the screen to enlarge Skewer so I could read about it.
[Skewer (Super Rare Sword Skill): A skill unique to the Fang Ogre Upper Canine sword. By infusing Mana into the blade, allows the blade to extend slightly and gain +2 Atk to any thrust-type attack. Upon hit landing, Mana formed around the weapon will spin, drawing the blade in further. Lasts for 1 thrust type attack or until duration expires.
Duration: 1 minute — Cost: 6 Mana, 2 Stamina— Cooldown: 45 seconds]
"Nice," I muttered to myself. That skill hadn't been used very well by the young Ogre, but it sure was powerful. I remembered the two holes it had drilled into the ground and shuddered. Brushing a few white strands of hair out of my face, I stood, holding the blade loosely at my side.
With a gust of air, my feet pushed me forward quickly, and I swung the blade up, testing the weight. I frowned; I didn't know much about blades, except what I had learned from swinging around the weapons I had. Yet, this one felt incredibly flimsy, as if it would break if I swung too hard.
"It's probably because of it being hollow… Hmm…"
I continued to practice, adjusting the style of fighting I had just begun cultivating in my fighting against the Ogre and adjusting it to where I could swing the blade where it felt most sturdy.
It only took me roughly thirty minutes to figure out exactly how I should use the sword.
"Huh, so the struts serve a purpose," I muttered to myself. The diagonal rods that held together the outer edge of the blade were doing one other thing; With every slashing attack, it proved to reinforce the white blade as long as I swung it correctly.
It was almost as if it was specially made to help me train.
I had also found that by inputting Mana in the blade for skills, it filled the empty space inside it before it covered the edges. It didn't seem to have any effect besides looking cool. Though, I wouldn't have a way of testing it without finding another enemy to fight.
With a nod, and as if to affirm my new style, I whipped my arm to test a few more slashes.
Ding!
[???: Progression increased.]
[Total Progression: 69%.]
"Huh," I noted as I looked at the messages. If this meant what I thought it did, it was something related to this new style I was forming.
"But, practicing with it for half an hour only increased the progress by 1%." I scratched my chin thoughtfully, staring at the Upper Canine. "Well, time to go find some food then, I guess!" A small grin grew on my face unconsciously at the thought of fighting something manageable.
- - -
"Eiiiii!"
[Obtained 6 EXP from the Grassland Hopper.]
[???: Progression increased]
[Total Progression: 83%]
"That makes 7," I said, the boredom evident in my voice. The locusts were too easy to beat now, with the stat increases I had gotten from the Ogre.
Still, taking on an entire hive of the things was something beyond my ability, so I turned to leave the remaining bugs staring warily at me, storing two of the dead bodies in my inventory as I ran off. I began increasing my speed to create more distance from the screeching insects, but—
BAM!
My foot snagged on an upended root, ruining my long strides. I watched helplessly as the ground grew closer incredibly fast until I landed face first in the dirt. "Oof."
A couple of locusts let out an ear-splitting cry as they leap at me laying on the ground defeatedly. A whining groan escapes my mouth as I sit back onto my knees, swiping the blade out in strange, unpredictable arcs.
[Obtained 6 EXP from the Grassland Hopper.]
[Obtained 6 EXP from the Grassland Hopper.]
[Obtained 6 EXP from the Grassland Hopper.]
[???: Progression increased.]
[Total Progression: 89%.]
I was extremely tempted to jump back in the fray and just finish it out, but my clothes were already covered in blood again, my right Arm guard had snapped and I didn't know where I had dropped it, and my Stamina was getting pretty low. Plus, the rest of the buggers were standing guard, waiting by the entrance of what I assumed was their nest so the rest of them could jump out and swarm me.
Instead, I turned, opening my Life Statscreen to check my new EXP level. I had Leveled Up earlier, and had only opened my Statscreen to clear out the Level Up animation. But, as I attempted to mentally scroll, the screen glitched out, before another screen opened over it.
[Move southwest.]
"What?"
* * *
[Name: Klum]
[Age: 17]
[Lv: 4]
[EXP: 54/200]
[Health: 32/40]
[Mana: 27/38]
[Stamina: 17/40]
STR: 7 MAG: 4
AGI: 9 DEX: 6
VIT: 6 INT: 9
Free Stats: 5
ACC: 7
DEF: 6 (+1)
POW: 6
[Skills: Klum's Reincarnation (Unfound), Underdog (Super Rare), Critical Eye (Rare), Slash (Common)]