A fresh surge of liquid passed through my throat, then my stomach, then my abdomen, then my lungs and heart, and then, the skin that was burnt off my fingers returned along with a surge of light. Soon, I regained the use of my legs, and my back, healed.
I didn’t have the time to relish the feeling as the lizard was about to rip another hole across my skull. Its figure lumbered about from its wounds, with each step of its legs unsteady, and it nearly stumbled on its own a few times.
And when I saw what happened to its face, I was struck with a tinge of pity. Most of its scales had fallen off, showing hints of burnt and rotting flesh under it. Its gaze was unfocused and its jaw hung open as if it was struggling with keeping its pain under control. Overall, it didn’t look as threatening as my mind pictured it to be, at least, not anymore.
But I’d received so much suffering at the hands of these monsters. The deaths, the despair… those were things that I’d never forget in my lifetime. I rose up from where I stood, surprised when I found myself losing my own balance, nearly tripping on my own feet. This isn’t good, is it?
My hands trembled as I channeled my mana into them. The lizard hunched over, attempting to make itself as small as possible — I was surprised to see it retaining its battle instincts — and then I launched another one, but not before it threw its spear right at my hand.
The collision of my magic and its spear blasted the air between us. I steadied myself with both of my feet, kneeling on the floor with my shield pointed in its direction. I had one or two more casts of my Bolt left, but as a silver lining, the spearman had lost its weapon.
Its figure broke past the smoke, charging toward where I stood. The grip of my shield couldn’t be any tighter at this point, yet, my hands pressed on it even further, creaking the leather grip as I braced for impact.
My head was behind the wall of metal, awaiting a strike, but it didn’t bother to smash against my hard shield, no, it resorted to another method, which was to yank my shield out of the way with its superior strength instead. Its crude strategy worked, which blared my fight or flight instincts to their maximum volume, and with my shield out of the way, it slammed my head hard with its fist.
I buckled under its sudden, immense force and was launched off the floor. While I was conscious — barely — I was under no delusion that I had the upper hand in this fight anymore. Desperation struck from every single one of my heartbeats, and with no other options left, I primed two more bolts on each one of my hands, depleting my Mana completely.
Both of my arms glowed with intense energy. The lizard didn’t cease its brutal assault and followed me with its shaky steps. As I fell on the floor with my vision filled with nothing but blood and tears, The shadow of its massive torso shrouded the light from above me. There were no thoughts running through my head at that moment. From all the chaos that was going on, my mind was… serene.
Both of its arms were wide apart and ready to pounce on me. I had two more bolts ready. At this distance, I would be hit by the ensuing collateral damage from my magic, but fuck that. As if I had any other choice.
The spell on my right hand exploded against its incoming left strike. Pools of blood splattered all over my peripheral as its left arm flung away from my magic. And yet, the lizard did not relent. Its other arm was well on its way to my chest to rip my heart apart, but it was stopped by another one of my bolts.
The next eruption shattered the air between us. I was crushed under the blast, nearly losing consciousness from the impact, but I gritted my will and remained conscious. The lizard lost both of its limbs, but again, it wasn’t quite dead yet.
The discharge of my magic had taken a toll on my chest, as drips of the melted residue from its lost limbs leaked all over my torso. I grimaced with my entire jaw flexing from the unreal pain, and ironically, losing my voice halfway as the figure of the lizard swayed to the side, dropping on the ground with a loud thump.
I heaved, yanking myself off its dying carcass, and watched the lizard draw its final breath.
I… won?
Mission Completed - Hunt Lizardman.
Rewards - 1 : 200 pts.
Rewards - 2 : Day 2 Survivor Pass.
“Ha… hahahahaha… ahahahahahah!”
A tsunami of indescribable happiness coursed through my bloodied, rotting veins. Sure, I was in pain and probably dying, but somehow, I’d never felt so alive before.
Shit, The soul!
Extending my arms towards the lizard, I attempted to absorb its soul. Yet, I deflated when a message stopped me from using this ability.
[Death’s Compendium failed to absorb Soul of Lvl. 5 lizard spearman.]
Oh, right… The level restriction… What level am I at, anyway?
STATUS
HEALTH
37/37
MANA
22/22
RANK
-
Level
4
POINTS
18
RACE
HUMAN - 1
ACTIVE CLASS
none
SUB CLASS
none
FREE ATTR. PTS
6
ATTRIBUTES - BODY
ATTRIBUTES
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Progress (%)
Total Attr.
STRENGTH
3 ( +1 )
94
4
SPEED
2
32
2
TOUGHNESS
3 (+3)
14
6
VITALITY
3 (+3)
97
6
RESISTANCE
1
2
1
ATTRIBUTES - MIND
ATTRIBUTES
Progress (%)
Total Attr.
ARCANE
2 (+5)
3
7
ARCANE. POWER
4 (+1)
47
5
ARCANE. DEFENSE
1
20
1
WILLPOWER
1
12
1
AFFINITIES
??? - unlocked after clearing the trial
1 level shy… Damn, that sucked.
I should be thankful for the fact that I was still alive, so it didn’t hurt that much when I failed to capture their souls. Relief washed over me when I was healed back to full health, teleported away from the mission, and reappeared in the Nexus.
Phillip was there, waiting with a wide smile on his lips. I could only muster a smirk in return before my legs lost their will to stand and I fell face flat on the floor.
“Rough mission, huh?” Phillip approached my panting body. Yes, I was back to full health, but my mind was still reeling from the dopamine coursing inside my veins. “But… I can see from your eyes that you’ve changed somewhat. It feels great, right? You’ve achieved something you never considered... possible.”
I turned my head down, facing the clear, white floor beneath me. He is right.
Frankly, I couldn’t describe what I felt. It wasn’t happiness, nor was it relief, it was… Well-
Wait… I think I got it.
Confidence. It was confidence. Such a rare emotion for me to have, in fact, I had never once felt it in this volume before. It was almost paralyzing, how elated it made me feel.
He patted himself on the shoulder, “Am I right? How do you feel?”
I couldn’t say anything but feign a half-smile. “Like shit. What else?”
His laugh broke the silent hall of the nexus, drawing attention from the others who were minding their own business. “Come on, you’ve earned your rest.”
Phillip’s arms extended to my crouched figure, offering help. I didn’t refuse, of course, and pulled myself up with his stoic arms. How strong is this guy?
The both of us walked to the portal. The constant glances from the others were annoying at first, but I got used to it after a few minutes.
Watching his giant back, I couldn’t help but feel inadequate in a lot of ways. He was, after all, the sole reason I managed to make it this far. “I still don’t know why you’re this kind to me. Won’t you do better by yourself? I feel like I’m pulling you down.”
He smiled, “I trust my instincts above others. They had never betrayed me.” Thumping his chest, he turned around, ”Learned the lesson the hard way.”
Instincts, huh? Was it his innate skill? Or was he born with it?
“Sounds nice… Where can I get a piece of that incredible instinct?” I asked, half-jokingly.
“Easy, just make sure that you’re born with it.”
Initially, I reacted to his answer like how I reacted to someone’s joke. But his gaze didn’t falter, nor did he smile. He is serious.
“Wait, Phillip. I need to return your points. I promised, didn’t I?”
His eyes strained open, appearing as if he’d forgotten about my loan. “Oh… Right. I forgot.”
[Trade request accepted. You lost 150 points.]
“You know, you could’ve just acted as if you’d forgotten and you’d be 150 points richer.” He said, smiling ear to ear.
“Totally, maybe I’ll do it next time.”
My response elicited another laugh from him, while it was true that our past remained a mystery to one another, I felt that we’d bonded regardless. Of course, I was curious about his supposed God-Given instincts, but with his sheer honesty, I’d guess that he simply didn’t know how to explain his talent rather than trying to hide it.
Were his so-called instincts similar to my Death’s compendium? Or was he just that good at sensing what was right or what was wrong? After all, those kinds of people existed on Earth too.
If I thought about it that way, what about me? I had gone through an unusual event as well. The death I experienced in the army could be considered as such, but I wasn’t certain if it was anything more than just a dream — albeit, it was one of the most realistic “dreams” I’d ever experienced — but did I ever think that such a premonition had never happened before in the history of humankind?
I hoped I could find the answer here.
[Enter the Living quarters?]
“Hmm?” The sudden message snapped me out of my thoughts. “Oh… We’re here.”
We glanced at each other before our bodies vanished, and found ourselves in another type of bright hall. There was no towering obelisk structure here, instead, I was in some kind of a lobby with a long, circular desk acting like a concierge of this luxurious place. The walls surrounding this hall appeared to have been made of clear, white marble, and the ceilings were ornamental, with the edges of each end of the wall layered with a line of gold.
It felt lavish, extravagant; like I was in a five-star hotel. No, it is beyond that.
“Wow… Look at all of this.” Phillip whistled, relaying the exact thoughts in my head. “I guess this place is not that bad after all…”
Our arrival drew the attention of the people that were seen chilling in this lobby. I didn’t know how much time had passed since I started the missions, but that doubt disappeared when I found a clock on the desk in the middle.
It was… 7 pm, I think?
Behind the long, massive desk, multiple humanoid figures were seen waiting, unmoving. They only started to move once someone interacted with them, which was disconcerting to see at first. There wasn’t much else that was worth my interest here, save for the one man who I’d talked to before.
Sidwell.
The person he was talking with — another woman I’d never seen — was visibly uninterested in the conversation. At a glance, he looked like a salesman who was failing to sell his product to an uninterested customer, and that image was strengthened when the lady ignored him and soon left.
Sidwell sighed and shrugged, but his eyes went ballistic when he saw us at the entrance of this lobby.
“Him again?” Phillip said, disdain obvious from his tone of voice.
They’d met before?
“Is that your instinct speaking, or do you just don’t like him in general?” I asked, interested in the reasoning behind his apparent hostility towards Sidwell.
“Both.” He turned his head away and grumbled. “Something about him ticked me off. I can’t tell for sure.”
I agreed with his views on him. Sidwell scratched that itch of a literal snake with the skin of a person; a smile that never reached the ends of his eyes, and the way he spoke and conducted himself seemed to be the manifestation of a persona, rather than his actual self.
“You’re back! I’m so happy to see you again, Phillip!”
Phillip scoffed.