I sprint away, my agility speeding up the movements of my body, as the three warrior women use their strength to bound forwards in explosive strides. Even with the bonus from his boots, my speed falls behind the savages' and they slowly close the gap between us. I know I won't be able to outlast them as their constitution stat is likely to be higher than mine, so I look around for something that could help me. No creatures in sight and nowhere to hide... great.

It won't be long before they catch up so I do the logical thing and turn around, ready to fight. Why waste stamina running away when they're going to catch you anyways? I ready my spear and focus my all on the tip, willing the power to pierce into existence. My vision narrows to just my spear and the charging enemies, my thoughts dedicated to either waiting for the right moment to strike or funnelling my intent into my spear. It begins to glow with a dim light which seems very faint compared to the sunlight all around, but it's there.

Then, the first woman gets within range, leaping forwards and swinging her huge sword from over her head. I let loose a strike which carries all of my strength and a beastal roar rips forth from my throat. PIERCE! And pierce it does, right through her chest. The fatal strike from overhead loses its strength and the greatsword clatters to the ground next to me.

Elation fills me, which fades into exhaustion as all strength leaves my body. And then two strong arms wrap around my body and I look up to see the woman I thought was dead with a feral gleam in her eye. Pain wracks my body as they begin to squeeze, the other two women stopping and seeming to enjoy watching the life squeezed out of me. My HP begins to visibly drop, only slowed by my HP Regeneration which fights against the damage. Just over half my HP is gone when a welcome ding sounds inside my head, distracting me from my impending death.

HP Regeneration has become Lv 3/10

The pain doesn't subside at all, but the burden on my body gets easier as I effectively loose 1 less HP per second. I am still rendered unable to struggle by the woman's death hug but strength does seem to be leaving her arms. I flail, trying to accomplish something, but nothing comes of it. I attempt to stay calm, but the pain continues to assault my senses. Another ding rings out, accompanied by a slight relief from the pain, but I hastily blink this one away as my HP drains near its end.

HP 29/170... 25/170... 21/170

Pain Res-

I shut my eyes as a primal fear grips me. Am I going to die? I barely started my life and its already going to be over. There's so much more I want to see, to do, to experience. It can't end here. The pain gets less, is this what dying feels like? Wait, less pain? I check my HP once again and see it falling at a slower and slower rate as the strength in the woman's arms begins to slip. I look up and see her feral eyes have far less life in them and that blood flows down her torso where my spear is still embedded. I begin to see hope again as the damage from the crushing becomes equal to my regeneration, then lesser, and my injuries begin to slowly heal.

The woman seems to barely hang on to life through sheer willpower alone, her arms still attempting to crush me as if she's determined to drag me with her. Her expression is one of pure madness and rage and I can't bring myself to look at it. After a short while her arms slip away and light fades from her eyes. Her body slumps over mine and I struggle to keep myself upright until her body dissipates into motes if aether and a new strength surges into my body.

You have killed a Lv 9 Savage, +1140 exp

You have levelled up to Lv 5

For freeing a fellow warrior from the throes of madness and staying in their embrace until their death, you have earned the title [Merciful Killer]

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

[Merciful Killer] is a title granted to those who release their fellow warriors from their suffering. The more warriors you free from madness, the more stat bonuses this title gives.

Current stat bonuses: +2 strength

I breathe a sigh of relief and then almost laugh at the irony of it all. The slayer tried to kill me no matter what but ended up helping strengthen me.

Confusion clouds the faces of the two other savages but they both leap forwards to attack anyway. I snap out of my thoughts and jump to the side with the energy restored from my level up. With my increased stats, I grab the orb that dropped on the savage’s death and sprint away, using my strength in each stride to widen the distance between myself and my enemies.

I know I won’t be able to escape as my level up only restored 1 constitutions worth of stamina so I stop when I’m a decent distance away and take the Goblin Scavenger’s Leather Armour from my pouch and equip it. My stats soar once again and some more of my stamina and health recovers. I get ready to clash once again with the two warrior women. I once again check my HP.

HP 95/200

Yup, I'm feeling pretty confident about this.

The two savages get within range and leap forwards once again. Having seen this attack multiple times, I easily sidestep the attacks and lash out with my spear towards one of their vital spots. My strike slightly cuts my target’s throat, causing a trickle of blood to run down her neck but doing no serious damage. She retaliates with a sweeping strike which I backstep to avoid before ducking under the second woman’s attack. My spear lashes out once again, hitting the second savage’s knee and causing it to buckle. I withdraw my weapon and then thrust towards the downed woman’s neck, the spear tip glowing with intent.

My strike rips through the skin of her neck and damages the airway but I’m unable to withdraw my spear before a greatsword crashes into my armour and sends me flying. My HP, which had returned to about half, drops once again to dangerous levels. I turn in the air to land on my feet but I skid back a few meters and lose my balance. I get back up again and I'm met by another blow, this one from overhead. I manage to lean to the side so that the blade misses my head and instead cleaves half way into my shoulder through the armour there.

Pain Resistance has become Lv 10/20

The slight clarity brought by my pain tolerance rising allows me to think through my next actions. Am I really going to do this? I guess I am. I purposely fall backwards, keeping the greatsword embedded in my left shoulder. The weaponless savage leaps at my fallen figure, executing its signature downwards cleave with its bare hands this time. I raise my spear and angle it towards the falling woman, supporting it with my one functional arm.

She comes down hard onto my spear, it pierces through her stomach and keeps going until her body is stuck halfway down the spear shaft. Her hands slam down into the space next to my head as I tilt it as far to the side as I can. The warrior spasms for a few moments before falling still and the edges of her body begin to fade away. I curse at my earlier confidence as the savage completely fades away and I lie there exhausted.

I can't fall asleep here, so close to that crater, so I push myself up after I've stabilised and slide the greatsword out of my shoulder. Damn, that still hurts like hell, even with the pain resistance. I look around and notice the notifications in my vision that I don't remember appearing.

Piercing Intent has become Lv 3/10

You have killed a Lv 9 Savage, +1020 exp

Intermediate Spearmanship has become Lv 4/10

You have killed a Lv 9 Savage, +1020 exp

After dismissing the notifications, I collect the loot from the battle. I leave the greatswords where they are and end up with three identical orbs. Each of them has the same information when identified but when I held was holding them and they happened to touch, they fused into a slightly larger orb.

Orb of Madness (Unique)

An orb dropped when one of the fallen race of Savages are slain by a [Merciful Killer]. It contains an essence of madness and can be absorbed when enough orbs are fused.

Orbs Fused: 3/50

I stare at the information in front of me as my mind tries to process all the new things presented to it. First of all, what is a unique item? I've never seen one before and no one is around to help me and I'm sure none of the others from the dungeon will know either. Second, apparently races or members of a race, I'm not sure which, can fall and become something like these mindless savages. Third, what the hell is essence? And why can it be absorbed?

Urgh, I wish I could just train and work these thoughts out but my body is in no shape to do so despite most of my injuries healing. I glance around and pain shoots through my skull, reminding me that I can't afford to fight again so soon. I think I remember some shelter from on my way here, but my blurred vision prevents me from gettng my barings. I use the crater to orient myself and begin a lomg, trudging walk of putting one foot in front of the other whilst trying to ignore the agony of my wounds sealing themselves and bones cracking back into place. It takes all I have to stop myself from collapsing, weariness pressing down on my shoulders the whole way, but I eventually reach my destination.

I lay down, hidden from easy sight and look up at the now starry sky. Two moons hang in the sky tonight, a red one joining the silver, as has happened every night I've seen so far apart from when I exited the dungeon. Yet another mystery of this world that I'll probably never know the answer to.

I pat my pockets to make sure my pouch and orb are still there, and go to sleep smiling about the progress I made today whilst trying to forget the multiple near-death experiences I was faced with.