Meera expected her skill to be less devastating, given her small Mana reserve. But she was so wrong. By the time the white spots cleared from her vision and she could properly see again, she was standing in a massive, charred crater. Trees had been blown away into nothing or were ripped from the ground, root and all, and thrown several feet away. Small fires burned here and there. If Meera didn’t know any better, she would have thought a meteor had crashed here.
She swayed on the spot as she tried to find the Umbraclaw Soldier. She also couldn’t find Vath’s body anywhere. Did I blow it to smithereens, too, like poor Niryn’s body?
Then someone coughed behind her. Meera snapped her head in its direction. It was Haez lying on the ground, spitting out blood. To say he did not look good was like saying the sun was a massive, burning ball of gas.
His back was charred black, and he was missing his left arm. At first, what she thought was his hair was his skull, but it, too, had been burned black. She took a few steps towards him and gasped. His face was an even more horrid sight. Half his face had melted, and the other looked no better.
I did this…
Meera could only stare at her handiwork and be disgusted with herself.
Haez coughed and spat on the ground. “You going to keep staring…” he took a deep breath, making a wheezing-like sound. “Or put me out of my misery.”
“I-I…” She was about to say sorry, but if she hadn’t done that, he would have killed and eaten her.
“You going to apologize for killing me.” He laughed, which devolved into a coughing fit.
“Why did you do that? Kill all those people?”
He glared. “They did it to us first. You humans came into our home and hunted us down, all because we were different. You labeled us monsters and put prices on our heads. If you want to know why we killed all those adventurers, well, we had no option but to fight back, and as it turned out, you lot are delicious.” He laughed. “Once we got a taste, it was hard to resist. I told my foolish brothers not to go after the people of that new settlement, but they wouldn’t listen. The hunger for man flesh drove them mad. I knew sooner or later, an adventurer would come who would do us in. Didn’t expect it to be one of us.”
“I’m not one of you,” she left it at that.
Haez frowned slightly. “Could’ve fooled me. Whatever you are, kill me and free me from this pain.”
Meera’s hands shook. She had never killed someone like this before. She did what she had to survive but never killed a person. She looked at her chakram and knew she had to pull it off, but her hands wouldn’t move.
Haez snorted. “Not easy killing someone when they are facing you, huh? It’s simple, take your blade and run it across my neck.”
Meera pulled off her chakram with a shaky hand and got on her haunches. With a deep breath, she brought her chakram to his neck but couldn’t do it. She couldn’t willingly take a sentient life.
Haez laughed. “They sent me someone who would rather watch me suffer than end her task.”
He spat bloody phlegm in her face, making her jump. She was about to get up to clean herself, but he gripped her wrist with his remaining hand and drove her chakram across his neck. She tried pulling back, but he was much stronger than her.
A red line opened up on his burnt throat, which opened a rivulet of blood, and he gurgled a couple of times, and then he was gone.
A tear leaked from Meera’s eye, not for him but for what she had done. She might have very effectively ended a race of people. After a few moments, when she could no longer stare at her handiwork, she walked away from Haez’s body.
Her right arm was still bleeding from when Vath had clawed her, trying to free himself. She used Vitalize, and the wounds began to close, but the healing stopped midway. Instead of bleeding slashes, she had long streaks of red going up and down her arm.
It will have to do for now.
She walked back toward the Umbraclaws’ cave. She had enough stamina remaining to run but no Mana, meaning she couldn’t use Shadow Step. Wolf Speed helped her out enough as she ran like the wind. Despite each step flaring the pain in her arm but she could bear it.
It didn’t take her long to find the cave again, and Eagle Eye helped. The brothers had moved away the stones she had dropped on them, but not enough that she could walk through. They cleared enough so they could Shadow Step through it. She didn’t have that luxury, so she punched her way through with Monkey Fist and Primal Power. It only took two punches for the rocks to be blown to bits. Before long, she had enough room to walk through. Thanks to her, the room was a mess, but the tunnel beyond was just like she had left it.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
She went to the treasure room and stood before the massive pile of coins. She sighed deeply. Now, how do I store you in my belt?
She gingerly touched the top of the pile, not wanting to cause a spill that would ruin the pile, and then she would have to collect each coin separately.
Go into the belt…
It worked. There was a whoop, and all the coins disappeared. Meera checked her belt, and a screen showed up in her vision. In the top right, it showed her how many coins she had.
[519 Gold] [1671 Silver] [3804 Copper]
Meera’s eyes pooped open. Guess I’m rich again.
Then she went around the room putting everything in her belt, starting with the jewelry, then moving to the weapons, none of which she ever planned on using, but she could always sell them. She paused at the armors. One piece of armor must’ve belonged to a female assassin or a hunter. She used Identify on it.
[Light Assassin Armor – Rare Quality]
The armor was all black, with a firm leather armor covering all the essential parts. Meera smiled and put it into her belt, deciding to wear it later once she cleaned up. The other armors took up quite a bit of weight, but she took them all, regardless. Then she took the various assortments of belts and pouches. They all had some unique properties but nothing that stood out to her. Then next came a bunch of health and Mana potions, ranging from regular health potions that recovered a moderate amount of health to enhanced health potions that she assumed were better quality. The same with Mana potions. By the time she was done, she only had 30 Units remaining in her belt.
Once she was sure the room was empty, she put her back to the wall, slid into a comfortable position, and pulled up her notifications, hoping she got something good from the two Umbraclaws.
*ding!*
[You have killed an Umbraclaw Warrior – Level 59. For killing an enemy twenty levels higher than your own, you have gained bonus experience.]
[You have killed an Umbraclaw Soldier – Level 70. For killing an enemy thirty levels higher than your own, you have gained bonus experience.]
*ding!*
[Congratulation. Image Stealer has reached Level 33. You have been awarded 3 stat points]
[Congratulation. Image Stealer has reached Level 34. You have been awarded 3 stat points]
.
.
[Congratulation. Image Stealer has reached Level 38. You have been awarded 3 stat points]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Mirror Affinity has reached Level 22. All of your mirror-based attacks will get a 24% boost]
[Congratulations. Mirror Affinity has reached Level 23. All of your mirror-based attacks will get a 25% boost]
.
[Congratulations. Mirror Affinity has reached Level 25. All of your mirror-based attacks will get a 27% boost]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Shadow Step has reached Level 3]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Nimble Ears has reached Level 8]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Primal Power has reached Level 11]
[Congratulations. Primal Power has reached Level 12]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Ambush Tactics has reached Level 12]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Fireplosion has reached Level 3]
[Congratulations. Fireplosion has reached Level 4]
.
.
[Congratulations. Fireplosion has reached Level 7]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Wild Instincts has reached Level 3]
Meera raised an eyebrow at that. When had she used this skill and not even realized it? The only instance she could think of was when she barely escaped up the tree before Haez arrived. But regardless, she was happy to have leveled it up.
*ding!*
[Class Ability Activated. You have stolen the skill Shadowmeld. Shadowmeld – Type: Active. You can meld seamlessly with shadows, blending into your surroundings and becoming nearly invisible, granting you superior stealth and the element of surprise. Would you like to acquire this skill?]
Even though Meera was unfamiliar with the Stealth skill, she figured it couldn’t have been too different from this one. She definitely wanted this one. But as soon as she accepted, came the familiar message telling her to forgo one of her skills. This time it was tough as she liked all her skills. In the end, she decided to let go of Wolf Speed. Seeing as she already had Shadow Step, she could use that for evasion.
*ding!*
[You have acquired the skill Shadowmeld – Level 1]
*ding!*
[Class Ability Activated. You have stolen the general skill Shadow Affinity. This determines how close you are to the shadow element. All of your shadow-based attacks will get a 3% boost. Would you like to acquire the skill?]
*ding!*
[You have acquired the general skill Shadow Affinity – Level 1]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Reflection has reached Level 12]
Even though she didn’t have any shadow attacks, that could change in the future, and since it was a general skill, there was no reason not to accept it. Meera was happy with all these skills and levels. Her body was tired to the point that she wanted to curl up and take a nap right here, but she had to return to the loggers’ settlement and make sure Sirala made it back okay, and to collect her reward. She didn’t need the money anymore, but her father would be disappointed if she didn’t exhaust every avenue of profit.