"Alright, guys, stand back. I'll handle this." said Nicolas as he started walking forward.
"Wait, we should all work together." Jill replied.
"I'm sorry but we really shouldn't. Spirits are hard to go against for lots of reasons. None of you guys have what it takes to go against creatures like this. Please stand back, I got this."
None of the other adventurers liked the idea that they had to rely on just1 teammate to fight a creature like this but they knew that he was right. Nobody else in the dungeon had the skill to take down a creature like that, if they attended to doing so, they would most likely be killed. Though, Jill planned to cast a spell at the spirit once she had a clear shot. Even if the creature turned invisible, she would still be able to sense its presence due to her [Sixth Sense] skill. Nicolas clenched his fist.
"Here it goes."
He swung a sats punch but hit nothing as the creature disappeared.
His eye scanned the area but couldn't figure out where it was going to strike from.
An invisible claw slashed across his back, tearing his clothing and sending him to his knees. Nicoloas let out an angry grunt then swiftly turned around and swung his arm, he had hit nothing.
Swoosh.
"Damn, I should've guessed I was going to be attacked from behind."
His best option was to randomly swing at the air and hope to hit something so, he thrusted his fists through the air, left, right, left, right. He was a pretty skilled fighter but this stunt made him look inexperienced.
Jill could still feel the creature's presence but she couldn't make out exactly where it was.
Once then twice, Nicolas was slashed in the chest. Even an A-rank such as himself was being schooled by a monster in a B-rank dungeon. It was embarrassing for him as he felt like his efforts to strike the creature were all in vain. Again, he rapidly and firmly swung his fist through the air. 1 hit, 2 hits, 5 hits, 10 hits missed. Once more, he hoped for the best and thrusted his fist forward.
Swoosh.
Smack.
His knuckles smashed against an invisible force in the air, the spirit.
A humanoid form appeared and was knocked across the floor but then regained it's balance by levitating.
"Looks like I did some damage," said Nicolas.
{Elite Spirit: Hp: 7,000/8,500}
In a single second, everything went wrong. The creature's empty eye socket began glowing red and a red mist started flowing out of the pores on its body. Jill sened exactly what the mist was. If that mist touched any of them, they would be poisoned and begging to quickly lose Hp.
Nicolas turned around with a look of stress on his face and he shouted.
"Don't let that mist touch you! Run the other way!"
Himself and the other turned the opposite way and moved their legs as fast as possible. If they would slow down for one second, the mist would touch them and drain their life, faster than they could recover it.
The C-ranker's legs began to get numb and his movements started to slow.
"Ahhh...I can't keep up...much longer!"
"Don't you dare give up!" Nicolas yelled.
"If you slow down even a little bit more, the mist will get you." shouted one of the B-rankers.
There was a devastating problem, the room where all the boulder was was thirty minutes away. They wouldn't be able to run that long and eventually, they would all get caught by the red and deadly mist. There seemed to only be one solution. If the spirit was somehow killed, the mist would disappear and they would be saved. Nicolas knew nobody in the team was capable of doing such a task. And even if somebody was, they would also be killed due to the mist. Though, it wouldn't kill you right away, it would most likely take a minute to drain 100% percent of someone's Hp. Right then and there, Nicolas knew exactly who was cut out for a task of speed, it was himself. The thought about dying was a scary one but, he found comfort knowing that he would be saving everyone else.
"Everyone, just keep running! I���m going to take care of this mist. No matter what, don't slow down."
Nicolas stopped and let the smooth red mist surround him; He covered his mouth and turned to face the way they had run from.
"I've been waiting for a time to use this."
In his hand, he held a red pill, one that enhanced your speed by 200% in exchange for 25% of your hp.
He tossed it into his mouth and gulped it down.
{Hp: 4,418/7,890}
"I better do this quick." As much as he thought about it, this situation couldn't have been avoided. If he had taken the pill sooner, he still wouldn't have been able to land a hit on the creature, and even if he did, it would've gotten back up and let out the red mist, the same way it did this time.
[You have activated 'Time Slow']
He sprinted with great speed, bak the way he came. HIs was racing against the effect of the mist as his Hp was increasing every ten seconds.
{Hp: 3,629/7,890}
It was hard to see through the red fogginess but he was able to make out the creature's glowing red eye socket in the distance.
"There it is. Time's running out, I better land this strike."
1,262
[You have activated 'Penetrate']
This was the perfect opportunity, the spirit's vision was blocked by the mist as Nicolas tightened his fist, dashing forward when he slammed it into it's face.
Swoosh.
Smack.
Crack.
The creature fell on it's back. The fight wasn't finished yet, the spirit still had some life left. Without wasting another second, Nicols stomped his heel onto its face, flattening it.
Stomp!
Smash!
Just like that, the red mist that covered the area vanished. Though, he was already poisoned by it, so it was just a matter of time until his Healt completely lower. His legs began to wobble, feeling like they weren't there anymore. They went completely numb and he fell forward, on his stomach.
Thump.
His breathing was getting weak and he was drenched in sweat.
{Hp: 473/7,890}
"...I guess this is where I die. I was able to help the others at least. I hope they make it out of this dungeo-"
His eyes shut and his body gave out, the muscles in his neck went numb and his head slammed against the hard rock floor.
___________________
The others all stopped in exhaustion as they saw the blood-red mist disappear into nothingness. Each one of the panted heavily, especially the C-rank as both his speed and endurance was low.
Jill gleaned behind herself where Nicolas had run off to. She squinted and grew afraid as she could not sense his presence. This could only have meant one thing, he was deceased.
"No…" Jill did know the risk he took by going into that mist. She also knew that he was most likely going to end up dead but Jill couldn't accept that fact.
Making their way back where Nicolas ran off to, the team discovered his lifeless body laying on the floor. A tear dropped down for Jill's eye as she kneeled down and placed her hand on his back. A friend of hers from middle school had lost his life. The other adventures were definitely shocked to see the lifeless body but did not cry as they didn't know him well enough to have an emotional connection. It wasn't the same for Jill though, she was tearing up.
"I swear….we'll do our best to make it out of this dungeon."