Who would fall first? Would it be the ragged swordsman, paralytic venom pumping through his veins, hand still clasped to his blade's hilt as he stared down the roaring lizard? Or would it be the Spinosaurus, blood still flowing freely from its amputated limb?
Leon could feel the powerful venom circulating through his body, encouraging his muscles to seize and lock up. His Constitution was unable to fight it off, his crude healing method of burning through calories to accelerate his natural regenerative processes wasn't having any effect.
If anything, it was making his condition worse, his body's attempts to stave off the venom simply giving it fresh ground to conquer. Fighting it off would take time and energy- both of which were limited at present.
Facing down the Spinosaurus, Leon briefly considered turning tail and fleeing. He could return to continue this fight once he'd dealt with his injuries. Nothing was keeping him inside this dungeon, nothing except himself.
"Which is exactly why I won't run. One of us has to die, here and now, my swordsman's pride demands it."
A protracted fight wouldn't work- he had to decisively end this. Leon charged the lizard first this time, the beast's own charge following moments later. Racing through the mud, Leon put all his power into his legs, leaping up and over the snapping jaws of the beast in a daring acrobatic stunt, hand still clasped to his blade, waiting for the right moment to strike.
Whilst Leon was still airborne the flickering blue steel flashed twice more, two horizontal slashes released as Leon flew over the creature's neck. The first sliced past scale and dug deep into flesh, the second penetrated bone, though failed to cut all the way through, eliciting another bellow of combined pain and rage from the dinosaur.
Leon's momentum was not halted by his attack, his trajectory sending him straight into the dinosaur's raised back sail. Fortunately, this biological quirk of the Spinosaurus was not designed to inflict major harm. Beyond some light bruising he would incur from the force of his impact, which he felt as his back bounced off the sail, sliding off the creature's flank and into the murky waters, blade sheathed once more.
Recognising an opportunity, the Spinosaurus lifted its foot, ignoring the pain from its newest wound and attempting to crush Leon beneath its bulk. A quick evasive roll through the muck left Leon caked in mud and ready for his next move. His execution of Low Tide had drained his stamina significantly, the swordsman doubting he could execute either Tide technique again without risking his arm's integrity in the process.
Luckily he'd noticed something about the Spinosaurus while cutting into its neck. The creature's scales were significantly less durable on top when compared to the ones on its underbelly. With an open wound up there he now had a weak point to target.
Rushing out from beside the Spinosaurus, Leon retrieved Bladeless, a plan forming as he took in the creature's state. It was gushing blood from two wounds now, rage giving way to desperation.
Running onto a particularly bulky reed bed, where the mud was thickest, Leon beckoned the Spinosaurus to him, trying to ignore the numb feeling in his left shoulder.
"Stings don't it? Don't worry Spiny, I'll put you out of your misery soon enough!"
The beast fell for the bait, first approaching slowly then charging once more. Leon planted Bladeless tip first in the mud, anchoring himself and the blade to guard the charge. It took everything he had to keep the Spinosaurus in place as it snarled and bounced against his blade.
"Take the hint, c'mon..."
The beast reared up after its failed charge, open mouth spread wide, plunging directly towards Leon in a bid to swallow him whole.
Instead it got a mouthful of dirt, Leon dodging backwards and using the the brief window of time the beast's head was stuck in the mud to mount the top of the creature's skull.
It pulled its head loose, Leon leaping from its skull as it did so, his Power and the momentum from the dino's movement boosting him a full metre above the now bewildered lizard, Bladeless drawn and ready for the final step of the plan.
Having just barely enough time to line up his blade, Leon plummeted towards the titanic creature's open wound, Bladeless' weight doing all the work in snapping through bone and crushing flesh. The creature's head was severed in the wake of Leon's blow, the swordsman hitting the ground first, the decapitated head following soon after, a thud and a wave of water followed as the Spinosaurus' body submerged beneath the water one final time.
As he hefted Bladeless over his shoulder, taking pleasure in besting this tricky opponent, a fountain of blood flowed forth staining the marsh waters crimson.
"Good fight. It was your honour to die to my new technique; Giant Slayer Style, Helm Breaker! I'm still totally taking your spine though."
The mana that poured into him was unlike anything he'd felt before, richer and thicker than ever. If every other kill had provided the equivalent of a drop of mana this felt like being given an entire cup.
"Level up! You are now a Level 9 Swordsman! +2 Power, +2 Speed, +2 Constitution"
"Level up! You are now a Level 10 Swordsman! +2 Power, +2 Speed, +2 Constitution +5 Intelligence, +5 Wisdom."
"Level up! You are now a Level 11 Swordsman! +2 Power, +2 Speed, +2 Constitution."
"Skill Developed! [Giant Slayer Style]"
"Dungeon Cleared- Blight Marsh!"
The sweet suffering of the level ups was ignored as Leon investigated his newest skill.
"[Giant Slayer Style]- An idea more than a comprehensive series of moves, the creation of a pathetically weak [H] Grade individual, this style's single technique is rough, unpolished and is reliant more on luck than skill to use reliably at the [H] Grade. Still, we all start somewhere."
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Leon's instincts rebelled against the System's judgement, his new style was perfect and amazing, the greatest in all the Myriad Worlds!
He ignored them this time, tamped them down and allowed his rational mind to chime in. This fight had shown him even he had his limits. A powerful sword, a style to pair it with and he'd still managed to only barely scrape by. The System was correct, his technique had been a gamble, if it had failed he would have had to replicate his Low Tide neck strike which Leon doubted the Spinosaurus would have fallen for twice.
This skill was a reminder and a warning- arrogance must be backed by skill. His skills were falling behind the curve of the dungeons, had he lacked any one piece of loot he would be dead right now.
"I've been a fool, constantly rushing from fight to fight. I swore to myself on the first day I arrived here I would learn the rules, not go off half-cocked and make a fool of myself. Instead, I've embraced my instincts, my bloodline's demands that I constantly seek out stronger and stronger foes. No longer. Without true strength I won't leave camp."
His bloodline heavily disliked that, the primal predatory side of his brain that had increasingly dominated his decision making of late rebelling against this resolution. Leon resisted its temptations, that surely one more dungeon couldn't possibly hurt right?
It could. The priority was preparing for the Woods Tyrant. The priority was mastering the Shifting Tides Style.
Not running off into the woods on another quest to prove himself. That could wait. There would be time for that.
The venom was still creeping through his body, though now Leon could devote his energy to purging it. Five minutes he sat there, focusing on removing all traces of venom, watching as his skin regrew, wounds closing before his eye. He was ravenous by the time he was healed, though there was still one task left.
The blood had slowed to a trickle by now, the Spinosaurus nearly depleted of all its lifegiving essence. From the open wound on its neck Leon could see the milky white of bone.
"A swordsman has to keep his word. At least its a fitting souvenir, since apparently I'm not getting a chest this time!"
Mike's party stumbled out of their second dungeon, a mood of suppressed anger dominating the group. Mike let out a bellow towards the treeline as they began recuperating from the fight.
"Selena you fucking whore! Get out here, I'll kill you myself!"
It had all been going well, Selena had led them to the next dungeon, they'd manged to avoid the worst of the raptor infestation through careful movements. They'd arrived at the dungeon with only a few raptor kills to their names, none of them even near acquiring a class, thanks to the split experience.
Selena had swam over to the portal last, the rest of the group entering one by one, only for her to murmur an apology before pushing Mike through on his own. They'd fought and bled for every wave of raptors they'd taken down, Mike fully embracing his pent up fury. He'd tried so hard to keep everything on track, to keep the group together and focused on survival.
Had he been more than a little manipulative? Yes, but it had been necessary to keep everyone moving.
Had he relied on fabricated emotions? Yes, but this what his people needed- a reliable leader to see them through this trial, one just flawed enough to be relatebale but competent enough to rely on.
He could play the role, but he couldn't do it alone.
Now, the anger he felt was all too real. First Leon, now Selena they were deliberately fucking everything up. Why couldn't they see that? If they all worked together nothing on this island was impossible to overcome. Instead Leon had abandoned them and now Selena had too.
It was as he'd shattered his sword on the ground beneath the sandy arena floor, the raptor he'd been pummelling long dead that his class choice had become available.
He'd chosen [Warrior], without hesitation.
They had lost another in the arena, Gillian failed to dodge the carnotaurus' bull rush. He'd seen her spine snap beneath a clawed foot, the beast ignoring the fireball that Francis had blasted into its side, shredding the poor woman into mincemeat between its jaws as they desperately fought to bring it down.
Mike had punched straight through the creature's skull to finally put it down, his anger having reached a boiling point.
Now with his rage as his strength, he would make that bitch pay. If she'd been there maybe Gillian wouldn't have died.
In the water behind him, Mike heard a splash. Rounding on the noise he was surprised to find Leon, floating upright in the lake a small distance away, seemingly without a care in the world, caked in dried blood and mud, a thick white segmented bone in his hand.
"Leon"
"Mike"
"You look like dogshit."
"Man, I feel like it too."
"There any reason you're not hunting raptors or doing another dungeon or some other crazy bullshit right now?"
"Was walking back from the crazy bullshit, got turned around, wound up at this lake, was trying to figure something out while cleaning this bad boy, you?"
He'd raised the bone in his hand while he's spoke, Mike surprised both by the sheer length of it and the ease with which Leon hefted it straight into the air.
"Selena fucked us over, played us like a damn fiddle- you seen her?"
"Can't say I have Mikey- nice job on getting a class by the way."
Mike was thrown for a loop by the man's attitude- Leon seemed weirdly calm, far less volatile than normal. He briefly considered whether or not they stood a chance at defeating him in a sudden ambush, before remembering to [Inspect] the swordsman, the resulting scan permanently shelving that idea.
"Thanks, nice job yourself- Level 11 can't have been easy to get to solo."
"It's been so-so Mikey, but don't let me keep you, I'm busy cleaning my trophy here. You've a traitor to hunt down right?"
"Yes...indeed I do."
Beckoning to the others they set off, swimming across the lake and passing by Leon's huge sword where it lay embedded in the dirt. Mike took the opportunity to [Inspect] it, getting some practice in with the skill.
"Bladeless- A blade for the strong. Not for the likes of you.
Restrictions- 25 Power."
Had he... edited the description of his blade? Was that even possible? Anger stoked anew, Mike and his three remaining companions continued on.
Leon was oblivious to the reaction Bladeless had provoked still floating his way across the lake, breathing in and out as he did so. He'd been trying to gain more insights into water, to little avail. The best he could think of was that water was wet, which hardly seemed profound enough to qualify as an insight.
He'd then turned back to the breathing exercises. Just focusing on his breath, breathing in and out. A faint warmth soon grew, then blossomed into a burning fire at the centre of his chest.
A familiar heat- mana.
Checking his MP confirmed it.
"MP- 1/170"
Paddling out of the water, Leon shook off the worst of the water. His cuirass had been salvaged despite the damage, he'd swapped the front and back so his chest was still protected until he found some replacement armour. Slinging Bladeless onto his back, Leon made for home, plundered spine trailing in the dirt behind him.
The fake sun was setting by the time he returned home, Zerasos had once again passed out on a beanbag, the tell-tale grease of drake steaks around his mouth giving away the reason for his incapacitation. Zerasos could sleep for now, mana usage was still first on the checklist.
Using Mana- For Dummies! A book that had officially redeemed itself. Relaxing into the hot tub, Leon read the next chapter.
"Once you have gained a point of mana continue to breathe, fill your mana to capacity before moving on to the next step- channelling your mana into a rudimentary circuit."
An hour later Leon had filled his mana up, his breathing technique growing increasingly proficient as he continued, the rate at which the fiery core in the centre of his chest grew was slowly increasing. Turning to the next page he saw a mana circuit, a simple one linking his arm, hand and shoulder together.
"Focus on the mana within your chest, draw out a single point, send it racing along the veins of your arm, into your hand then back into your shoulder. Close the circuit off once the mana has begun to flow. If done successfully you will feel your arm grow in power and receive a System notification to that effect."
That was easier said than done, as Leon discovered the difficulty inherent to proper mana manipulation.