He sprinted through the halls away from whatever dreadful beast had unleashed that roar. [Zombies] or [Skeletons] in his way were simply battered through, only slowing him moments now that he had gotten into the rhythm of slaying them. He needed to find and kill enough of the Lesser undead to gain a Level, one that would increase his current Lifeforce reserves enough to fight at his full power. He also needed to buy time for his arm, which hung limply at his side, to regain feeling and motion. His main hand wasn't just easier to fight with, but it would also unlock his axe's Tier II ability and give him an extra 10% damage against whatever that thing was. Something he was sure he would need.
Already, he could feel some sensation back in he shoulder and fingertips, the parts furthest away from where the venom had been injected, but it was taking a much longer time for the rest of his arm to recover.
There was another roar, closer this time but still a ways behind him. Whatever it was, it was slowly gaining on him. He kept an eye on his Stamina as he dashed through the passageways. He would need it during the upcoming battle, but as long as he had more than enough he could spend some in exchange for timez and time meant a few more points of HP and some progress towards his next Level as he slew whatever he came across.
He barreled around another corner and into another pack of [Lesser Skeletons]. He didn't even stop or slow down, instead lowering his shoulder and barging right through one. It was picked up by his momentum and carried with him as he ran, his arm striking out twice to scatter the low level undead. Then, he rammed the one he had picked up into the wall of the passageway instead of turning the corner, stepped back, and split it's skull with his axe. He glanced back quickly to make sure they were all dealt with before he took off once again.
Dealing with the small groups was easy, but as his Stamina lowered he felt his body start to lag behind his thoughts. He would go to relieve a zombie if one of its limbs but instead miss and hit centre mass, having to spend another moment to remove his axe head from the creature before he could swing again. He started to slow, and when another roar sounded down the passageway, it was much closer than before. He didn't have too much time left, and had no idea how close he was to the next Level.
There were two options in front of him, either turn and fight, being able to rest and recover some Stamina before hand, or push on and try to gain that Level at the cost of both Stamina and Stamina recovery time. Both options had their merits and he debated them in his head as he ran, only stopping to focus on dispatching the enemies that he came across.
In the end, the sunk cost of his actions won out. He had already made so much progress towards the next Level at the cost of his Stamina, so he might as well bet a bit more on being close to Leveling Up. That and the fact that he was regaining HP at a rate of just under 1 per 2 minutes. The difference those points could make when he had only survived his last serious encounter at 5 HP swayed him towards letting himself heal a bit more, and letting his bound shield recover a bit as well.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
It was when his hope was beginning to fade when a notification appeared at the corner of his vision, and he quickly dispatched the last [Lesser Ghoul] of this pack before opening it.
[Status Effect: Lesser Paralysis defeated]
At first he was disappointed that it wasn't a Level Up, but then he tried to move his right arm and realized that the venom had faded. He hadn't noticed before due to his increasing tiredness and the fact that it was still hard to move due to the clawed out gouges in it that still sent a sharp pain through his arm whenever it was jostled. Thinking about it, Liam decided to keep his axe in his left hand for now. The loss of maneuverability and likely loss of power behind strikes was not worth the 10% damage increase, especially not since the base damage the bonus was calculated off would be lower because of the injuries.
He pressed on, telling himself that he would stop if he didn't Level Up after the next three groups. It only ended up taking two.
[Level Up!
You have reached Level 7.
You have 5 Free Attributes to assign.]
He looked inside, to his Lifeforce Reservoir, and smiled. It had expanded, and with that expansion came an extra point that he could use to fuel his Spirit of Death. He held off on assigning his Free Attribute Points, resolving to spend them when he laid eyes on the creature hunting him. Still, he planned to split his points between Strength and Dexterity if he couldn't think of any better distribution in time. Strength to lean into the damage bonus he got from his Power, wanting to give it a larger base to multiply off, and Dexterity to increase his chances of dodging his opponent's attacks. He had been more nimble than everything he had fought so far and, because it had been a massive advantage, he planned on trying to keep that the case or even widen the gap between his flexibility and reaction time and theirs.
Vitality was still sorely tempting, but he recognized that most of his victories so far had been based off the back of discovering how to strike without being stuck himself. He had enough HP, at least he thought he did, to give him some leeway when figuring that out for the unknown thing hunting him, and if he thought he needed it he could always change his plan to include one or two points in the Attribute.
He stopped, turned, and leaned against the wall at the end of a long straight bit of the passageway. He kept his eyes forward and watchful, waiting for his foe. His shoulders rose and fall with his deep breaths as he attempted to recover from the strain he had just gone through. He got a good few minutes in before it caught up with him, but when it did he immediately knew he wasn't ready.
It was a tall, dreadful thing, full of teeth and claws. A fetid stench wafted from it as it barreled around the corner, its bear like limbs carrying it's rotting body forwards. Rememant tufts of grey fur spottily covered some of its hide, the rest of its exposed flesh a greyish-green colour. It dwarfed him in size, barely fitting between the two sides of the crevice they were in. Its eyes fixed on him and it let out another deafening roar. Being so close to the origin left him shaken to his core as the sound rattled every bone in his body.
Immediately, he assigned all 5 of his available points to Dexterity. By the looks of it, there was no way he would survive more than one or two hits from it, and an extra 50 HP might buy him at most 2 more. Meanwhile, Dexterity whispered promises to his subconscious, of helping him avoid the thing's natural weapons and damage all together and he listened to it. He just hoped it would be enough.