Hazel jumped to the side, avoiding the charging Fractured Warrior as it rushed passed her and crashed into a table before stopping. It then spun around with a glare; its purple-glowing eyes directed right at her.
She quickly pointed her staff and fired a Mana Bolt, hoping to damage the Warrior. Only to watch as the monster blocked the attack with its sword. It charged at Hazel once more, bringing its blade down on her.
Instead of using Mana Shield, she simply leaped backward and watched the weapon carve into the floor she stood on mere seconds ago. With a bit of distance put between them, she launched another Mana Bolt but was met with a similar result as before, witnessing the Fractured Warrior shift to the side, easily evading her spell attack.
“Tch…!” Hazel clicked her tongue, realizing that this fight wasn’t going to be as easy as she thought.
It was clear that Class-related Fractured monsters were more difficult to handle than regular ones. It moved around like the goblins and Dire wolf she fought previously, making it difficult for Hazel to deal with it from a distance. She wondered why the Fractured Humans moved like zombies while the rest were like feral beasts.
Perhaps it was the type of species being fractured, but this Fractured Warrior was also a human; its name was just different compared to the rest. Could the warrior be some kind of evolved form or was it something else?
Despite being riddled with questions, Hazel couldn’t afford to get distracted when the Fractured Warrior swung its sword at her. She bent her legs to dodge its slash attack then swung her staff at its head. Sadly, she made no damage whatsoever, as her staff harmlessly struck its skull with a depressing thunk.
With the Fractured Humans, they were weak enough that a single swing knocked them to the ground, but this Warrior barely budged against her staff attack. Hazel couldn’t help but feel surprised by this while moving back to keep her distance.
However, she didn’t react in time as the Fractured Warrior slashed its sword, the tip of its blade cutting into her robe then flesh, drawing blood. A sharp pain radiated from her wound as her hand clutched onto it out of reflex. Pulling it away, she saw her palm stained with blood. Her blood.
The cut wasn’t deep, but the pain was a bit challenging to endure. Hazel has been cut before like that time she sliced her finger while cutting vegetables or her thumb with a hunting knife while crafting arrows because she thought it would be cool. But the pain she felt during those times was nothing like what she was feeling right now.
This was an almost lethal cut that could’ve killed her if she didn’t move away in time. If she was even off by another inch or two, she would’ve either slowly died from blood loss or had her guts spilled all over the floor.
At that moment, Hazel realized the severity of the situation. If she continued to remain careless while confronting this Fractured Warrior, she would die before surviving her first day in the Dungeon.
Taking this more seriously, Hazel stood her ground against the monster, grimacing as her wound flared up again. A part of her wished she had a healing spell, but there was no time to fret over what she didn’t have. Only to keep fighting and survive. Before things got worse, she needed to take the Warrior down and fast.
With only two spells at her disposal, one being an offensive spell while the other was Defensive, she was faced with a bit of a dilemma. Mana bolt didn’t appear to be strong enough to do enough damage to the warrior. Then again, she wasn’t sure since none of her bolts made contact with its body, since the Fractured Warrior either blocked or evaded it.
Which meant she needed to catch it off guard and fire her spell at a vital area. Easier said than done, though.
The Fractured Warrior rushed, slashing at Hazel from multiple angles. Horizontal, diagonal, vertical. She barely managed to avoid all of them, using her staff to deflect a couple of swings which chipped the gnarled wood with each impact.
The warrior raised its sword, attempting to perform a heavy attack on her, but Hazel used that chance and fired her mana bolt, aiming at its legs. She wanted to aim at the chest or head, but she couldn’t afford to have it dodge or block the bolt like before. By aiming at its leg, she gave herself a chance to cripple it before finishing it off.
The bolt made contact with its leg, carving a small chunk of its knee as a result. Despite its wound, the Fractured Warrior growled while bringing its sword down, forcing Hazel to move out of the way. The blade clashed against the floor and sent wooden shards and nails flying around them.
“Right…since they’re like zombies, they obviously feel no pain.”
Hazel forgot one of the most notable and important characteristics of a zombie; they were numb to pain. You could stab a zombie in the chest or cut off its limbs, and it wouldn’t be phased in the least. They’ll keep charging at you until they either finally get you or they die from getting their brain destroyed.
And these fractured were no different, which she didn’t account for. That would’ve been a fatal mistake if she hadn’t reacted in time.
Although she nearly died, she could tell that the Fractured Warrior was affected by her attack. It may not be in pain, but its movement looked a lot more sluggish than before.
Just as the Warrior pulled out its sword, it made its way over to Hazel, to which she noticed it slightly limp while rushing at her. That meant she managed to slow it down if only a little bit.
Once the warrior got close to her, bringing its blade close to her face. Hazel used her staff and deflected the sword, another chip of its wood carved out by doing that. She didn’t relent and stayed close to the Warrior, pointing the tip of her staff at the ground and firing.
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A large explosion erupted from the floor, to which the Fractured Warrior stumbled backward in surprise. Hazel smiled from ear to ear, seeing the perfect opportunity. She pointed her staff and flung another Mana Bolt at its leg, gouging even more of its body than before.
As soon as the Warrior placed pressure on that limb, it completely collapsed on itself, shattering to bits. The warrior then fell on its intact limb, but just before that happened, it retaliated against Hazel, veering its sword at her.
Hazel instinctively pulled her staff up to block, and the two weapons clashed for a brief moment. Due to the force of the Warrior’s swing, she was flung back and sent flying several feet away from her opponent. She crashed into a table with a loud thud, her back and wounded side in pain from the collision.
She groaned, rolling to her uninjured side, and looked over at the Fractured Warrior. Its leg that she shot was completely detached from the rest of its limb, and slowly cracked and faded away. She wanted to be happy about finally crippling the warrior, but after getting launched into the air and crashing into a table, she was in too much pain to do that.
Hazel was starting to regret not putting some points into her Endurance stat, or even Agility and Strength. This thing was a lot stronger than Hazel in terms of physique, and that was a big disadvantage for her due to her Class. Mage’s were more supportive and distant fighters, attacking from a certain range. That and they were physically weak, relying entirely on magic to support them in battle.
She knew this and yet didn’t take into account that she would come across an enemy that could get close to her in a fight. If she did, the situation might’ve ended a bit differently compared to right now.
As she slowly stood up, her eyes were trained on the warrior in case it did anything. Even if it was injured, she couldn’t take any chances after getting thrown several feet away from it.
But with that distance, came the opportunity to attack since the Warrior couldn’t get near her like before. With that in mind, her staff was directed at the enemy as a condensed rod of mana materialized at the tip before getting hurled at the warrior.
Once again, though, the Fractured monster defended the attack with its blade, shattering her mana bolt with ease. Despite that sword being worn down, it was surprisingly durable. Or maybe the Warrior was simply skilled enough to deflect her bolt without severely damaging the weapon.
“God, you’re stubborn…” Hazel grumbled, annoyed at the warrior’s skill, simply wanting to end the fight before she ran out of mana.
Her eyes shifted up to the ceiling, immediately noticing one of the intact chandeliers hanging up; right above the warrior. Hazel didn’t even hesitate, bringing her staff up and firing at the chain connecting the chandelier. Once the chain was destroyed, gravity did the rest and fell on top of the Fractured Warrior.
The warrior looked up with widened eyes, watching the ceiling light descend upon it. It could do nothing and was slightly crushed by the chandelier. More wooden shrapnel flew around from the impact, as Hazel raised her arms to shield herself from it. Despite getting crushed by the chandelier, it wasn’t dead yet, as Hazel saw it squirming under it.
“Oh, for the love of…” Even more annoyed, Hazel said to hell with her mana and shot multiple mana bolts at the warrior.
Thankfully, its body was pressed against the chandelier, allowing all of her mana projectiles to perfectly strike every part of its body from its face, chest, shoulder, and arms. By the time Hazel was done firing, the Fractured warrior was riddled with holes. The cracks spread further across its body until it couldn’t hold out anymore, shattering completely and disbursing in the air.
[Level 5 Fractured Warrior has been defeated!]
[You have leveled up! You are now Level 4!]
Hazel finally breathed a sigh of relief after winning the fight. Immediately after, her migraine returned with a vengeance, pounding away in her skull like someone was bashing a drum inside. Hazel clutched her head while using her staff to slowly position herself on the floor. Despite the throbbing pain her head was experiencing, Hazel was still elated that she reached level four.
However, a part of her wished that she didn't have to almost get killed to reach it. Hazel made a lot of mistakes during that fight. Mistakes that could've resulted in her death if she lost against the Fractured Warrior.
“I need to plan out my strategies more carefully from now on…”
This fight had shown Hazel that she needed to be more mindful of her enemies' strengths and abilities. Especially ones that were a couple of levels higher than her.
With the Fractured warrior defeated, Hazel sat down for a moment and continued to replay the fight in her head, wanting to see what she could’ve done differently and if that would’ve resulted in a different but better outcome.
Maybe she should’ve invested in her physical stats. She may have been a mage, but because of her circumstances, putting some points into Strength, Agility or Endurance could’ve saved her a lot of trouble.
No, if she wasted her precious points on something not suitable for her class, then that would only impede her growth. Mage’s specialty was magic. So Hazel needed to focus on that aspect of her class. Then again...instead of focusing on all three physical stats, maybe she could just focus on one.
As soon as the thought sank in, Hazel hastily pulled up her status window.
Status Window
Name: Hazel Thatcher
Level: 4
Class: Mage
Profession: None
Free Points: 3
Attributes:
Strength: 7
Agility: 8
Endurance: 8
Intelligence: 17
Wisdom: 13
Willpower: 12
Since there was a possibility that she could invest some of her points into one of her physical stats or maybe even two of them, she needed to know which one was the most necessary. The Strength Stat was the first one out since her main power was magic. Although being able to punch or kick her enemies to death sounded like a great idea, her firepower was her spells. There was no room for any arguments on that topic. So that left only the Endurance and Agility stat.
Both stats would greatly benefit Hazel since she would possess more durability to withstand certain attacks or become fast enough to evade them in the first place. But which one was more important at the moment? Defense or Speed?
Pondering over this, a sharp pain stabbed her side. She grimaced while clutching her wound from the Fractured Warrior. Her eyes then widened at her sudden realization, and she knew then which stat would benefit her greatly in the long run.
Making her decision, Hazel invested all three points into her Endurance stat. A wave of guilt and fear came over her a second later as she slowly began to think that this was a mistake. However, as soon as she increased her Endurance stat, the stabbing pain in her side lessened almost immediately. As the pain faded, Hazel let out a relieved sigh before laying her back on the tavern floor.
"That feels so much better."
She definitely made the right call in investing in her Endurance Stat since the pain from before had lessened. If Hazel continued this, her pain could potentially disappear altogether. Of course, she couldn't make it into a habit and only increased that stat. So, Hazel made a mental note to only increase her Endurance stat if she ever felt the need to
In the back of her mind, Hazel wondered if she was capable of surviving the first day in this dungeon. A part of her held some doubts.