It was definitely gibberish. There was no way it wasn’t. This was the first time they were meeting each other, and what, revenge? Rain scoffed inwardly. He would have done it outwardly, but he was aligned with his senses well enough to know that a person who was already in such a state of madness should not be angered further.
He’s obviously mistaken me for someone else. There has to be a way for me to reason with him.
The problem was: How the hell would he find that mysterious way?
With the madman’s current conduct, it was any moment now. The sort of rage seething out of his eyes made it quite clear that he was on the verge of attacking soon, and Rain’s bones, as well as his muscles, did not hesitate to relay that message to him in shivers. It was now or never, he had to do something.
Subdue… I should subdue him. Then I can find out what in the world he’s talking about.
Rain was barely a second in his thoughts when an idea bulb flicked to life atop his head.
Knockout! I have to knock him out. Tsk. He’s most definitely stronger than me, though, even if it might not be by a large margin. But Alice… She should be able to handle him comfortably. Where is she? Still scouting? Goddammit! Shouldn’t she have returned by now?
No. No. Relax. Breathe. You shouldn’t be relying on another for your own survival.
With that thought, Rain was able to slow down his racing heart.
He carefully looked around the corridor, seeking anything he could use to his advantage. His crossbody bag was in the parlor, and in it was the mildly rusted kitchen knife he had taken from the M&S mall as his new weapon. It was way better than his first, but now he couldn’t even put it to use as a tool to make himself seem more threatening.
At that moment, Rain recalled the existence of the kitchen slightly behind him.
Maybe he should rush in and grab a knife? No. That was too risky. Taking his eyes off the man wouldn’t be a good move.
Sure, J could keep the man occupied while he armed himself, but that was purely wishful thinking. Rain didn’t know how much Experience Points this person had allocated to their Attributes. If they had enough in Agility and Speed, being obese wouldn’t stop them from swiftly avoiding J and stabbing the stake they held into his back.
In other words, my Skill is useless at this point… Rain tsked in realization. But he didn’t give up.
While the madness stricken man kept shouting, he grit his teeth and kept on thinking. And finally… the only plausible ideas he could put into action sprung up.
The first was to summon the powers of his Mark, but he quickly shelved that idea.
He could not use that ghastly form here. And besides, there was the sacrifice thingy. What if he was asked to do something unreasonable, what then?
The powers of the Mark were good and all, but if possible, he wanted to refrain from having to use them. He didn’t want to have his life saved and then threatened by what had saved him.
That left him with the second idea, which he was more inclined to put into action.
Of course it was just as risky as every other of his plans, up to the point that he considered turning his back and bolting into the kitchen to arm himself instead. However… his thoughts from before remained. It would be unwise to show his back to his opponent.
His decision was made, and as such he called to the Plexus. His Interface appeared as a result.
[Plexus Interface]
Player: Rain Leclair.
Role: Side Character.
Class: Lightweight.
Division: Saint.
Active Skill: Blade Saint (Low Level).
Passive Skill: Aura. Photographic Memory. Navigator.
Mark: Caduceus
Epithet: [Shadow of Asklepios]
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Benefactor: None.
Privilege: None.
Golden Points: 00
[Entertainment Level] [Attributes]
Rain instantly focused on his ‘Attributes’ section, his mind pushing every other thing aside.
This was his aim.
He had five unassigned Experience Points from his battle with the Chimera Anaconda. Even though he felt he had been cheated, since three Coyotes that could not stand face to face with the Chimera Anaconda had given him seven Experience Points, he couldn’t really complain, could he?
The only explanation was that using his Mark had offset the quantity of Experience Points he would have received if he’d killed the Anaconda with his base strength alone.
This thought of his made him more inclined not to use the Mark. The reward was too low for what he would have to offer in return.
Rain glimpsed the madman finally inch forward heavily as though his feet were bound by large chains tied to a massive boulder. Needless to say J did the same, but if the madman was really as strong as Rain had thought, he could not let J get in harm’s way. She was his responsibility after all.
He shouted then, “Wait!” The madman halted, his face still a mess of anger and sweat, but Rain had nothing to say. He had only spoken to buy himself a quick second. And he used it.
[Attributes]
Strength: 006.
Speed: 014 (Boosted).
Agility: 007.
Perception: 005.
Durability: 014.
Stamina: 005.
Experience Points: 05.
Rain thought about what he wanted, and the Plexus did not disappoint.
[Assign 05 Experience Points to Speed?]...
Yes…
In an instant, Rain felt his legs lighten considerably as the usual soothing feeling significant to him assigning points to his Attributes came over his body. He looked at his Speed Attribute. As requested, it had increased.
[Attributes]
Strength: 006.
Speed: 019 (Boosted).
Agility: 007.
Perception: 005.
Durability: 014.
Stamina: 005.
Experience Points: 00.
This was the first time he’d put any Experience Points into his Speed, and, unlike his Durability Attribute, he could quantify how much he’d progressed.
It was ten steps now. Before it had been five. But now he could cover ten wide steps in a flash. It was more than enough—to stun his opponent and freeze their thoughts.
The Plexus vanished from his sight. Then, as if linked to him, J put an end to her growling and turned around to lock her amber eyes with Rain’s hazel; it only took a second, and she understood.
Rain smiled as his Companion leapt out of the way. He had been blessed with a smart one.
The madman seemed to notice that something was going on as well, since his anger smeared face took on an expression of obliviousness for a moment… But it was too late. The distance between them both was only seven wide steps, which meant Rain could cover it even faster.
And that he did.
Rain’s figure blurred and appeared before the madman’s in an instant, causing visible shock to appear on his face. Rain’s lips curled even wider.
With haste he took hold of the madman’s stake, and as he’d hoped…
[Active Skill, Blade Saint (Low Level), activated]...
…The Plexus regarded it as a blade-type weapon.
Rain’s pounding heart relaxed somewhat. He had risked the protection his distance offered him just for this; although, the ecstasy was worth it. The knowledge too. Now he was certain that anything that could be used in the same way as a blade was classified as a blade-type weapon by the Plexus. After all, blades, as known now, had not existed in the primal era, so obviously the Plexus would take that into consideration.
Rain was satisfied, and, with that, refocused on ending his battle swiftly.
He was unable to drag the stake out of the madman’s grip, seemingly because his Strength was so low and possibly incomparable to that of the madman’s, but that had not been his intention either way. His fighting style relied on his speed, it was not at this moment that it would change.
“You! You dare?!” Rain’s smile vanished and his brows fell down at the utterance of those words. Though quite different, the madman’s way of speech was uncannily similar to that of the Chimera Anaconda’s. What was this feeling? “I’ll kill you!”
Tsk. It’s not the time to be worrying about speech patterns, Rain, you fool!
Forcing himself to regain his senses, Rain glanced over all the red spots of varying intensity which had appeared on the madman’s body, seeking the best one to attack to knock him out. A second later, he made his choice.
Rain folded his fist as tightly as he could and tensed his arm’s muscle. Then, with as much force as possible, sent a blow to the side of the madman’s neck, an area just below the jawline and a little bit forward of the ear, where an intense circle of red lay. The strike snapped the madman’s neck slightly to the side, painting his face with a dazed expression as spit spattered across the room. Rain huffed and smiled at that.
It was any moment now. The man would fall to his knees. And since that was the case, Rain decided to release his own hold of the madman’s stake.
But just before he could do that, his own wrist was grabbed—that of the hand which he’d used to deliver his punch.
His eyes widened and his muscles turned rigid as he put his attention on the solid, clamp-like grip imprisoning his hand.
“I told you,” Wearing an incredulous expression, Rain turned his gaze towards the obese man who was just an inch taller than him. “I’ll kill you.” He was grinning—the corners of his lips pushed up to reveal a glimpse of the psychotic creature that seemed to exist beneath this facade of a human.
No effect? He had seemingly underestimated the madman’s Durability. Rain turned dizzy for a moment there. Then he smiled again, this time, though, it was one quite shaky. Damn it.