Raphael cautiously navigated the icy tunnel with his flashlight beam dancing frantically from left to right, illuminating the glistening walls and the ominous shadows that lurked within. His right hand gripped the silver sword tightly.

“Damn that Tajmani! Why did she have to suggest splitting up? What if a beast jumps out and attacks me?” He complained to himself.

As if summoned by his anxious thoughts, his flashlight flickered, and a shadow seemed to rush past him. He didn’t see what it was, but he felt the wind as it swept by.

Panic seized him.

“I… I need to turn back. If I turn back now, I might be able to catch up with the others. How foolish of me! I should have never ventured into this hell pit alone!”

Raphael spun around and started running towards the tunnel entrance. But as he did, he bumped into something solid and fell to the ground with a yelp.

“Ouch!”

He scrambled to his feet, frantically searching for his fallen flashlight. His fingers brushed against the cold, metallic surface, and he quickly grabbed it and aimed the beam ahead to identify what he had collided with.

“There wasn’t a wall here a second ago, so how…?”

As it traveled upwards, the light revealed a grotesque creature. It was a slug, but unlike any he had ever seen before. It was the size of a large bear, with a gaping maw filled with razor-sharp teeth. Slimy trails of a viscous, iridescent substance dripped from its body, pooling on the ground in a puddle. A hard, chitinous shell covered its back which gave it a monstrous appearance.

Raphael’s blood ran cold. The creature was staring directly at him with its beady, black eyes, as if sizing him up for a meal.

“Oh no… Oh no, no, no…”

He spun around, desperate to flee further into the tunnel, but he bumped into another slug monster.

“There are two of them?!”

Terror gripped him like a vise. He had never been so scared in his life. His heart pounded in his chest so loudly that he could feel a subtle tremor in the cave.

Raphael began desperately searching for a way out of this predicament.

Suddenly, one of the slugs lunged at him and its gaping maw snapped shut just inches from his face. He dodged the attack, but the creature’s slime splattered against his large bag.

“HISS!”

To his horror, he realized the slime was acidic. The bag began to melt where it had been hit.

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“Tajmani’s stuff!”

The worry lasted only briefly as he took in his dire situation. He tore the heavy bag from his shoulders and tossed it aside. The sudden absence of weight was a welcome relief. He felt lighter, more agile.

“SCREEECH!”

Both Vampire Slugs attacked simultaneously. They curled up into balls and rolled towards him with surprising speed.

Raphael reacted instinctively. He jumped.

“Woah!”

He was surprised by the height of his jump. The absence of the heavy bag had significantly increased his agility. He had always been nimble, but the constant burden had weighed him down.

Mid-air, he watched as the two Vampire Slugs collided with each other. Sparks flew as their hard shells clashed.

He landed roughly on his feet and observed the dazed creatures. He forced himself to calm down and took deep breaths to steady his nerves.

“I need to remember what Butler Long taught me about swordsmanship.”

His mind drifted back to a time when he was thirteen years old…

A vast expanse of icy grass stretched out before him. The wind howled through the frozen landscape.

Raphael stood opposite Butler Long. Both of them were holding wooden swords.

“Remember, Raphael. Swordsmanship is not just about brute strength. It’s about balance, and control. It’s about understanding your opponent’s temperament and anticipating their moves.”

“I understand, Butler Long,” Raphael replied.

“Good. Now, show me what you’ve learned.”

With one hand behind his back, Butler Long lunged forward…

“Huh!”

Raphael’s eyes snapped open to the present. His breathing was now calm and measured. A fierce willpower hardened his gaze which mirrored the sharp edge of the silver sword he held. For a fleeting moment, an imposing aura emanated from him, as if his gaze alone could cut the Vampire Slugs to pieces.

But the facade was short-lived. As soon as the slugs began rolling towards him again, his badass demeanor shattered like a dropped vase.

“AHHH!”

He yelled and rolled out of the way just in time. The slugs crashed into the icy wall and tore off a large chunk of ice.

Despite his fear, Raphael took note of the slugs’ rough, chitinous shells.

“My sword skills won’t be able to penetrate that,” he realized. “Their only weak point is their underbelly.”

But that posed another problem. He remembered the acidic slime that coated their undersides.

Could he risk getting close enough to stab them?

Even a small splash of that slime could cause severe burns, and without awakened bloodline powers, healing from such injuries would be difficult, if not impossible.

“It’s too risky. I need to play it safe.”

But for how long could he dodge their attacks before his stamina ran out? And what if another Vampire Slug appeared? Dealing with three would be exponentially harder.

He dodged another attack while thinking.

His options were limited:

Continue dodging and hope for a miracle: This was the safest option, but also the most passive. He couldn’t dodge forever.

Try to lure them into another trap: Perhaps he could collapse a section of the tunnel on them or lead them into a crevice. But finding such a trap in the darkness and maneuvering the slugs into it would be incredibly difficult.

Risk a close-range attack: This was the most dangerous option, but also the most likely to succeed. If he could time his attack perfectly and avoid the acidic slime, he might be able to kill them.

He glanced down at the sword in his hand, analyzing its length and features.

“It’s a double-edged blade, forged from Alucrum steel, so it is durable enough. The reach is… fifty-seven inches. Not bad. However, the weight…”

The length and weight of the sword was both an advantage and a disadvantage. It gave him a greater reach, explosive power, but it also made it harder to maneuver in the confined space of the tunnel, especially while holding the flashlight.

“If I’m quick enough, I might be able to execute a strike without getting any slime on me. But can my body react fast enough?”

What he needed most was courage. He had to take a risk.

“Alright, screw it! Fortune favors the bold!”