Landing on the ground behind the massive centipede, I looked at the one and only pathway out of here, which was now blocked by rubble because of the monster slamming into the wall, and I sighed, knowing that now, if I wished to get Talis and I safely out of here, I'll more than likely need to kills this monster, or at least mortally wound it to the point where it can't fight.
"Got anything to say now, Talis?" Asked Alexander sarcastically while looking down at Talis, who he was protectively embracing against his chest.
"Umm, y-you win; t-this place is more dangerous." Replied Talis bashfully while avoiding eye contact with Alexander as she quietly chirped.
"Haa, thanks, though that doesn't mean much right now; because of your little shenanigans and my lack of foresight, we're stuck in this terrible mess." Stated Alexander with a sigh while Talis looked away in guilt and shame.
Looking at the monster, who seemingly got stuck in the side of the wall, which doesn't make much sense considering every other centipede I've come across is capable of digging through the walls of the dungeon easily; however, I didn't have time to dwell on it too long, using this chance, I used [Heroes Gaze] and viewed its status, though what I saw was very worrying.
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Species: Stone-Centipede(Common)
Age: 32
Tier: 1
Level: 65
Experience: [46%]
Class: Elite-Monster
Lifeforce: [100%]
Mana: 450/450
Vigor: 492
Endurance: 435
Agility: 160
Dexterity: 72
Intelligence: 45
Perception: 75
Traits: Soul Sense(Common), Hardened Stone Skin(Uncommon), Screech(Uncommon), Acid Spray(Uncommon), Acid Shot(Uncommon)
Condition:
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'Its stats completely surpass an alpha centipede's, and it's not even close, not to mention while it may have lost its ability to dig, it got three Uncommon traits to replace it in its stead; I have to defeat this while also protecting Talis? This is going to be rough.' Mused Alexander with an intense frown as he viewed the monster's stats before glancing at his status panel.
Just an average centipede's physical stats are similar to mine, let alone this behemoth, who utterly outclasses me in both vigor and endurance, which I deem the two most essential stats since they directly govern your life force. However, all hope wasn't lost; I was currently level forty-two with roughly two-thousand-sixteen status points that I could freely allocate to any of the six stats I so wished, and just when I was about to do so, I remembered what Master said.
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"Also, Alexander, something I should mention before you allocate your status points depending on your desired profession; don't allocate too many at once in the same stat. Doing so will cause you to feel nothing but immense pain, and depending on how much you use, it may just leave you immobile; so if you have status points saved up, don't think you can use them to get yourself out of a troublesome situation." Stated Lavender seriously as she walked beside Alexander while the two strolled through the forest.
"I understand, Master; I'll make sure to slowly use my status points once I decide on my profession." Replied Alexander in equal seriousness as he nodded his head.
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'Dammit! I told Master I would allocate them, yet I forgot to do so; it had always slipped my mind!' Thought Alexander in self-blame while tightly gripping Trina as he looked at the massive centipede that had just escaped from the wall it was embedded into before turning around.
"T-The giant monster is looking at us, Alex!" Yelled Talis nervously while deep in Alexander's embrace.
As much as I would like to allocate my status points, now wasn't the appropriate time since the monster was charging toward me; frowning, I tightly clutched both Talis and Trina as I used [Wind Steps] while also filling my body to the brim with mana, which not only enhanced my physical capabilities greatly, it massively increased my agility, allowing me to dodge out of the way from the speedy monster.
However, while this allowed me to keep up with the monster speed-wise, its strength still vastly outshined mine; even with my strength being enhanced by mana, and while it's possible to use more of my mana, at that point, I would be trading in efficiency for power, which isn't something I can afford to do right now, especially when I can't fight at full potential since I have a little bird to keep safe.
While still in the air from dodging the monster charging attack, the centipede swung its tail, or I should say back section, at me, specifically my head; from the danger I was sensing, if that attack landed, I might not die, I'd be out of commission for a while. With how fast the attack was approaching, I wouldn't be able to evade it, so I did the next best thing I could think of, using the skill [Shrink] on myself; my body swiftly shrunk to about forty percent its original size, which allowed me to dodge the attack with ease as I landed back on the ground.
'Luckily, I didn't need to use it on Talis; I've never tried using that skill on anyone else other than me, so I don't know how it would go.' Mused Alexander with a slight relief as he stretched his arm that held Trina and pointed it toward the monster.
While pointing Trina toward the monster, a sizeable ball of flames appeared, hovering just before the tip of the sword, and although the flame's size didn't increase much as I injected my mana into it, its heat and density surely did. Eying the one trick pony who was once again charging toward me with its saliva-laced pincers, I launched the ball of raging flames toward the monster, hitting it dead in its face as it speedily neared me.
Though my actions seemed to cause minimal damage to the massive monster as it continued charging toward me, clicking my tongue, I once again evaded the attack, yet this time, I made sure not to leave the ground, lest I get caught up in the same predicament as last time.
'Ugh, I can't properly fight it like this while protecting Talis; if I continue dodging its attacks, I'll eventually run out of mana, and at that point, we will both be killed shortly.' Thought Alexander with a frown while glancing at the nervous Talis in his embrace, who was holding tightly onto his armor with her small wings.
As I dodged the monster's numerous attacks, I counter-attacked with various spells, such as [Fire Ball], [Fire Breath], [Fire Blast], [Fire Shot], [Wind Blade], and [Wind Shot], while using also thinking of a way to fight the monster without having to worry about protecting Talis; however, such a thing wasn't easy. While I could have Talis fly at the top of the ceiling, as the room is quite tall, the monster wouldn't be able to get to her even if it wanted to, but it had that trait, [Acid Shot], and if that trait is anything like the ones I have, the monster would still be able to hit her; I had no intention of putting Talis in such risk, although it's not like nows situation is much better.
Evading another charging attack from the monster, which was practically choreographed at this point, just as I was about to counterattack like usual, I suddenly saw a slight disturbance in the atmospheric mana that surrounded the monster, causing me to realize it must be attempting to use one of it's the traits.
Just as I predicted, when the beast turned around, directly in between the ends of its pincers, there was a green viscous liquid in the shape of a ball; it didn't take a genius for me to figure out it was using one of its two acid-related traits. Bringing Trina in front of me, I prepared for the attack, yet to my utter disbelief, when the monster shot the attack like a pressurized water jet, it moved at such quick speeds that it was difficult to follow, even while using [Heroes Gaze].
As I looked at the incoming jet stream of acid, I realized it was aiming right for Talis, who just so happened to be right where my heart was; thankfully, Trina was already in a good position for me to defend the attack since otherwise, even with my quick reflexes, there was a good chance the attack would've hit Talis. Slightly tilting Trina to the left, the moment the acidic jet stream hit Trina, the sudden impact nearly caused her to get sent flying out of my hands, though I quickly responded by morphing the golden hilt to cover my entire hand.
While blocking the attack, the acid was split into two different streams as my great sword practically sliced it in two, but while the stream that went to my left missed me, the same couldn't be said for the right side as the acid splashed onto my shoulder guards, quickly melting through it along with my clothes underneath before touching my bare skin.
"Ugh!" Said Alexander as he grunted in pain while his skin and muscles were getting dissolved by the potent acid.
Thankfully, the attack didn't last long, and the moment the monster stopped shooting me with acid, I retracted Trina back into my body while holding Talis with my injured right arm as I summoned forth my other greatsword, tightly clutching it with my left hand.
"A-Alex, you got hit! Are you okay!?" Exclaimed Talis worriedly as she spotted Alexander's shoulder, which was sizzling from the acid that was dissolving his muscles.
"Ugh, It's incredibly painful, but other than that, I'm fine; it may look bad, but it'll heal up rather quickly." Replied Alexander while slightly sweating as he eyed the monster in the distance that loudly screeched.