Griffin realized that he had instinctively bit the tip of his tongue from the sheer pain that was burning at his left shin. The acrid, metallic tang of blood filled his mouth, telling him that he had bit too deeply into his tongue.
Once again mentally thanking Jun-Ra for teaching him the healing pill trick, he flicked the pill out from underneath his tongue, rolling it to one side before biting into it.
Sweet relief flooded both his mouth and shin as Griffin spat out a mouthful of blood, before turning his gaze to the surroundings.
“I understand now,” He whispered under his breath, as his expression darkened.
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Half an hour ago…
The Prism of Shifting Sands had been given the difficulty ‘Very Hard’ because he didn’t have a functioning class, had gone up against enemies that could ambush him from within the sand and the shifting element left a large portion of his survival to luck. If he had survived a shifting sands event just to find himself face to face with a Solcervi, Griffin was certain that he would have died a gruesome death.
The system had to be assessing his own capabilities before assigning his personal difficulty.
The Swamp of Misty Winds was a little worse. Fifteen minutes in, he had only faced aerial attacks. The second glimpse Griffin got of his unknown adversary brought him much needed clarity. It’s inky-black, leathery wings were held close to it’s diminutive chest as it dived down towards him. Three, arachnid-like eyes reflected his visage as it got closer, small hair follicles covering every inch of it’s body. The bat-like creature’s claws, though, were what filled Griffin with an instinctive fear.
Emerald tipped claws that shimmered with a terrible power. Qi, Mana or the essence of the Soul, the interpretation didn’t matter as much as the effect. His survival instinct told him that the flux of Qi contained within those claws was very dangerous and his body reacted by throwing itself headlong towards his left.
The three-eyed bat disappeared into the sea of gray fog before Griffin could so much so as trigger his own Analyze Skill, which differed greatly from the one the system had granted him ten uses of besides the obvious difference in potency— Griffin didn’t need to touch the object or creature he wished to Analyze, only make visual contact. Granted, most of the time, the skill offered him nothing of note besides the name and perhaps the level, if the target of his attention was low leveled enough.
Still, it would have been better than nothing.
Griffin braced himself for a second attack moments after scrambling to his feet, only to feel his heart drop as none followed.
Minutes ticked by him before Griffin concluded that the cowardly bat had made it’s attempt before taking refuge in the roiling mists, not interested in an immediate follow-up.
Having no option but to endure, he continued moving straight with as much caution as he could assign.
The second three-eyed bat that broke out into a dive at his chest, Griffin barely managed to dodge with a rough, near-stumbling backstep.
The third though, was when he decided to counter attack.
Griffin’s sword swept out in a wide, sweeping arc as he aimed to cover the greatest surface area he could manage with his blade.
SHIIING!
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He watched with bated breath as his sword’s edge clipped away a third of the three-eyed bat’s right wing. It was a strike that had required his concentration— stretched to the limits, reflexes and just a little sprinkle of luck.
He should have won.
Instead, the three-eyed bat refused to go down without a final act of resistance, as it swiped at his leg before crashing a little distance away, near the periphery of the hummock he was presently standing on.
Pain, Incredible Pain lanced through his leg as he turned his gaze downwards. Had he still been on earth, the small bat shouldn’t have managed to inflict more than a light scratch. What he saw though, left Griffin feeling queasy—- just that momentary contact had been enough to leave a frighteningly large gash, a pillar of white peeking out from behind the smattering of red.
The three-eyed bat had cut down to his bone in a fraction of a second it had made contact with him.
Griffin bit into the better quality healing pill Jun-Ra had splurged on for him, knowing even then that he would require more than a few minutes to heal.
Limping forward after spitting a mouthful of blood, Griffin plunged his sword into the three-eyed bat’s scrawny throat, finally getting a notification.
[You have slain a Level 6 Triwing]
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Griffin had rushed into the second floor of the Dungeon, but that did not mean that he had come unprepared.
Luck, or perhaps fate, ordained no further attacks to follow as he allowed his open wound to scab over at an accelerated rate. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that Griffin had stopped doggedly moving forward, content to stand at guard, rooted on the center of the hummock he had made his temporary home.
There were three cards Griffin had available to play.
The first was the new enchanted sword Griffin had selected after rejecting the two dozen the exasperated merchant had laid out before him earlier.
Sword of Enchanting Mists— Rejected.
Sword of Blooming Flame— Rejected.
Sword of Lancing Ice—- Rejected.
“No elements,” Griffin had said. “Give me something that can enhance the natural properties of the sword.”
Unlike the ostentatious names given to the others, the sword Griffin had ended up choosing was simply a sword with the ‘Rune of Sharpness’.
His second card was linked to the first, or the reason behind it.
Griffin wanted an element-less sword because he had used what time he had to experiment with his skill. The ‘Creation’ in Flame Creation was key to Griffin’s combat style.
The conversion process from Soul Essence to Flames that hugged his palm didn’t require much investment. Through an hour-long practice session, Griffin confirmed that one point would tick down every ten-ish minutes.
That was a huge difference from the point he lost per lobbed fireball.
The next thing he worked on was visualization. If he could visualize fire in the shape of a ball, he could do it in the shape of a sword.
The final card, naturally, was the enhanced healing pills Jun-Ra had splurged on. Besides the slightly increased efficacy, the key lay in the fact that there were no consequences for short-term abuse of the pill, albeit it would not be nearly as efficient.
Griffin’s lips curled upward as he whispered, “Rune of Sharpness—Open.”
A light halo flickered to life as it ensconced the edge of his blade with its radiance. Griffin didn’t hesitate to pop the five remaining pills he had in his mouth, doing his best to tuck them away in the sides of his cheeks and underneath his tongue.
Finally, he triggered his Flame Creation skill, and a torrent of flames spread from his right hand to his sword. The coating was far from perfect and there were splotches that his visualization were missing, but it would do for now.
The blazing flames pushed back the fog as he held it before him, as Griffin had hoped.
‘This will do,’ Griffin thought in the final thought he allowed himself, before breaking out into a breakneck, crazed charge.
Fuck the endurance test that he was doomed to fail from the beginning, it was time to gamble….
With his life.
All or nothing.