Dumrivil leaned in toward Ezra. “Do you happen to have a plan?”
“Yeah, kill the Chimera and don’t die,” Ezra said.
“Great plan,” Dumrivil said.
The chimera roared and blasted fire at Ezra and Dumrivil. Ezra jumped to the left and dodged the fire by a hair. He heard the stone crack as Dumrivil did the same thing. The chimera rushed forward, its goat hooves beating against the stone, and opened its jaw wide.
Ezra jumped into the air and launched his needle down at the Chimera. The needle flew down and plinked off the Chimera’s head. Ezra landed on his feet and recalled Filamenta back to his hand.
“Its durability is through the roof,” Filamenta said. “You’ll have to find a weak spot or an alternative means of hurting it.”
It was like that lion from Greek myth—the one that Hercules killed by suffocating? Unfortunately, Ezra didn’t fancy his chances. He’d practiced with Lv. 20 monsters, but he’d never tried using his grappling with anything more dangerous—after all, he was still first and foremost a Dexterity fighter. He was certain that the Chimera would win in a strength contest.
That left him with only one option: find that weak spot.
Dumrivil ran forward and spun around in a circle like what he’d done during their little duel. The blade slammed into the Chimera before it could dodge and it flew away from the force of the strike. It soared through the air and crashed into an old house. A cloud of dust kicked into the air.
Ezra jogged over to Dumrivil.
“Huh, that move’s way more effective than I remember,” Ezra said.
“Well, humans can respond to it easily enough, but animals generally don’t know how to deal with it.” Dumrivil frowned. “Only problem is that didn’t seem to do much. I don’t think I even scratched it.”
Ezra’s eyes scanned over the monster. His best shot was going to be an eye strike. But unlike his usual fights, he wasn’t sure if he had enough of a speed advantage to pull it off.
The chimera exploded out of the house and ran for Ezra.
He lowered Filamenta and tensed his legs.
“Dumrivil, slam it into the ground,” Ezra said.
Dumrivil raised his sword. “On it.”
The chimera rushed for them, its jaws open wide. Before Dumrivil could hit it, fire blasted out like a flamethrower toward Ezra.
Heat washed over him and he tumbled to the side. Dumrivil slammed his sword into the ground and ducked behind it.
801/1020
Ezra looked down to see that his arm was a bright angry red. He was no doctor, but it really, really hurt, so that wasn’t good. At least it hadn’t been his dominant hand.
The chimera growled and moved around them in a wide circle. Ezra’s eyes watched it as he thought of a plan. He crept over to Dumrivil.
“One more time, Dumrivil, but this time I’ll do something to help you out,” Ezra said.
Dumrivil pulled his weapon out of the ground and nodded. “If you’ve got a plan, then I’ll trust that you can do it.”
The chimera paced back and forth for a bit before it growled and lowered its front body, ready to pounce. Ezra cleared his mind of any distractions. He’d have to time it perfectly.
The chimera jumped forward.
“[Entangle]!”
Yellow string the size and thickness of steel cords shot out and wrapped around the Chimera.
Dumrivil took this as his cue and reared his sword back. He swung down and the weapon gave a deep whistle as it approached the monster’s head.
A massive boom echoed out when the sword slammed into the Chimera. The chimera embedded into the ground by a good foot and Dumrivil’s sword flew back from recoil.
3523/4000
The Chimera’s eyes went vacant—a concussion? Ezra dived forward, Filamenta expanded to the size of a dagger.
A flicker of awareness came to the Chimera’s face and it slammed its eyes shut. Ezra’s needle dug into the eyelid, scratching it, but failing to penetrate to the actual eye.
The chimera flexed and [Entangle] snapped. It reached out before Ezra could move and sank its jaws into his arm.
403/1020
Ezra tugged his arm away and backpedaled several steps. He looked at his arm. Blood poured from the wound and a flicker of panic started to crawl up Ezra’s spine. [Calm] kicked in and he looked at the wound carefully. A chunk of flesh was missing, but if he stemmed the bleeding, he was certain he’d make a full recovery thanks to his high [Constitution].
He just had to, you know, not die.
“[Stitch Wounds].”
Tiny gold threads wrapped around his injury. It tried to pull his arm together but failed to due to the size of the wound.
“Let me,” Filamenta said.
Control slipped away from him and the stitches changed. Dozens more appeared from the sides and created a makeshift string graft over the entire wound.
“That should tide you over for now,” Filamenta said. “Don’t ask me to do that often—it takes a lot out of me.”
Ezra paused, then nodded. “Thanks.”
He focused back on the Chimera. Its legs were quivering. Ezra’s mind analyzed its posture—the blunt force trauma from Dumrivil had probably done something to its brain.
“Ezra!” Dumrivil slid over to Ezra’s side, his eyes still focused on the Chimera. “You okay?”
“I’ll last to the end of the fight.”
Dumrivil nodded. “You saw that, right? My attack did damage.”
“We need to tie it down,” Ezra said. “Let you smack it around a few more times.”
The Chimera stood to its full height. It growled at them.
“Can you do that thing with the strings again?” Dumrivil said.
“No, there’s a cool down…”
He had all these abilities. [Restrain] wouldn’t do the trick, too weak. [Web Trap] wouldn’t work either.
Ezra spotted some mud that had built up in the cracks of the road. He looked at the stone pavement and an idea came to mind.
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He equipped [Improvised Weaponsmith]. Perhaps the bonus would come in handy for what he was planning. [Telekinesis] activated and Filamenta passed through the mud, then into the dozens of stones that made up the road.
The chimera pawed the ground and snorted.
Ezra focused his attention on the liquid property of mud and applied it to the stones. He could feel the enchantment fraying at the edges—this was nothing like the balls at the carnival game. Each of the stones were subtly different in composition, and the spell didn’t want to perceive them as the same object.
Ezra ground the spell into the rocks with a mental tug.
The chimera rushed forward. Dumrivil jumped clear.
[Bind] activated. The stone liquified and transformed into a loose pool right in front of the Chimera. The Chimera, unable to stop its momentum, fell head-first into the rock-mud hybrid.
Filamenta returned to Ezra’s hand. He focused his attention on maintaining the spell.
“Dumrivil, now!” he said.
The Chimera poked its head up and roared. It struggled from side to side, tossing rock-mud all over the surrounding area.
Dumrivil looked at what had happened in shock before pulling his sword up and swinging down.
His blade slammed into the chimera’s head, forcing it back under the mud. The ground shook and Ezra almost fell off his feet.
3019/4000
The sounds of struggling stopped.
2802/4000
2509/4000
2233/4000
“Why is it taking damage?” Dumrivil said, his hands gripped around his oversized sword.
“It’s drowning,” Ezra said. “You knocked it out, at least for a little bit, and its lungs are flooding with water… or, at least, something similar.”
2039/4000
1839/4000
1581/4000
“It almost feels too easy,” Dumrivil said.
The ground shuddered and the chimera leaped out of the hole, its eyes bloodshot and its maw dripping with stone. Its jaws opened as it moved through the air, getting closer and closer to Ezra.
Ezra snapped his fingers and [Bind] stopped.
The stone inside its lungs turned from a liquid into a solid, along with the stone on the ground. The Chimera’s body went limp and its jaw hung. It landed on the ground with a loud thud.
Blood dripped from its mouth.
1090/4000
543/4000
0/4000
It evaporated into ash, leaving three items on the ground. A serpent tail, three goat hooves, and… the head of a lion? Damn.
He reached out and picked one up. If only he knew a little bit more about what these things did—he wondered what Alanya was planning.
A blue box appeared in front of him.
Lion’s Head (C-Rank)
Item Type: Monster Part - Guaranteed Drop
Quality: B-Rank
The head of the chimera’s lion form, known for its fearsome roar and deadly bite. Despite being severed, it still emanates a faint, menacing aura. The mane is thick and durable, and its teeth are prized for crafting sharp, high-quality weapons. When properly refined, the head can be used in alchemy or crafting to create armor that enhance strength and vitality.
What?
Oh god, did… did he not know about this? He could’ve had information pop-ups at any point?
Ezra was such an idiot holy shit.
After freaking out internally for several minutes, he checked out the rest of the ingredients.
Chimera Hooves (C-Rank)
Item Type: Monster Part
Quality: C-Rank
The hooves of the chimera are unnaturally sturdy, blending the qualities of various animals into one. Their weight and resilience make them a perfect component for forging heavy-duty armor or reinforcing boots that grant stability and increased ground impact. The hooves are often used by blacksmiths looking to create gear that amplifies endurance and gives the user more power in their steps.
Huh, interesting. Armor that increases ground impact? He moved to the snake tail.
Snake Tail (B-Rank)
Item Type: Monster Part
Quality: B-Rank
The serpent tail of the chimera pulses with venom far more potent than typical poisons, holding an elusive and rare property. The venom not only damages the target over time but also corrupts the flow of mana within them, disrupting spellcasting and energy manipulation. This unique effect makes the tail highly sought after by alchemists and weapon smiths who specialize in crafting anti-magic tools or debilitating poisons.
An anti-magic venom. Looked like Ezra had found what the Ravenwing guild was looking for.
He wasn’t able to think for much longer due to a sequence of dings that rang out to his side.
[You’ve leveled up!]
[You’ve leveled up!]
[You’ve leveled up!]
[You’ve leveled up!]
[You’ve leveled up!]
[You’ve leveled up!]
[You’ve gained the title “Monster Slayer II”!]
[You’ve gained the title “Weaker from the Inside”!]
“What the hell did you do to that thing?” Dumrivil said.
“Turned the liquid in its lungs back into stone,” Ezra said. “It instantly gained a ton of weight and ripped the lungs open, is my guess.”
“Remind me not to drink anything you brew.”
Ezra rolled his eyes and popped open his new titles.
[Monster Slayer II]
Having felled more than one beast, you are no longer a novice. Your experience in combat against monsters has grown, and your name begins to be whispered in the taverns where hunters gather. You are no stranger to the fight, and your reputation builds with each kill.
Damage vs Monsters: +10%
Beast Tracker: Enhanced ability to sense monsters within a medium radius.
Intimidating Presence: Monsters slightly below your level hesitate more often, or flee if critically injured.
Trophy Hunter: Killing monsters yields 5% more rare materials.
Ezra whistled. That was pretty good. Being able to sense monsters? He had that to a limited ability thanks to his high Wisdom, but this seemed to imply he’d just flat out have a radar. He equipped the title.
As soon as he did so, he could feel a ping from his left. He looked there just in time to see a horned rat scurry from one building to another.
He checked the next title.
[Weaker from the Inside]
“A title granted to those who exploit the vulnerabilities deep within their enemies, delivering death where it hurts most. Through clever tactics and unconventional methods, the bearer knows how to turn the strongest foe’s own body against them.”
Internal Collapse: Attacks that target an enemy’s internal organs or weaknesses deal 10% extra damage and have a chance to cause a temporary debuff (such as poison, suffocation, or internal bleeding).
Critical Insight: The ability to more easily detect weak points or internal structures of enemies, increasing critical hit chance by 5%.
Debilitating Strikes: Abilities that bypass external armor or defenses are 10% more effective, causing additional status effects (e.g., stun, disorientation).
Vital Vulnerability: Attacks that affect internal systems (such as through suffocation or poisoning) have a 10% increased effectiveness, with a small chance to apply lingering damage over time.
Interesting. If Ezra ever needed to poison someone or bypass a hard defense for whatever reason, this would be the ticket. Of course, he needed a more viable method of getting poison into the internal system. Maybe he could tip his needle in poison and throw it at someone’s mouth?
…
Wait, he had a skill for that, it was called [Poisonous Prick]… Ezra had too many skills.
For now, Ezra left his title on [Monster Slayer II].
He moved to his stats.
Level: 48
Strength: 30
Dexterity: 50
Constitution: 36
Intelligence: 17
Wisdom: 56
Skill points: 59
Stat points: 24
Ability points: 37
Shit.
He could put 20 into strength or 20 into Constitution. Either would make a lot of sense. With Strength, his options for attack would increase majorly. He might’ve been able to deal with the Chimera just through brute force. On the other hand, he wouldn’t have even survived the Chimera without his high Constitution.
“Constitution,” Filamenta said. “As you said yourself, you wouldn’t have survived without your Constitution. You need the buffer.”
Ezra wrestled between the two choices before he sighed and raised his hand to upgrade. His health bar changed to reflect his higher Constitution.
503/1500
He pumped it into Constitution. A box popped up in front of him and four lootboxes appeared on the screen. Two C ranks and two A ranks. The four cracked open revealing his new potential skills.