Shawn had only been riding Cactus for about 6 hours now and he was a good distance away from the desert. Checking out the mountainous terrain to his right, it brought back memories of simpler times. When Shawn was little he used to go visit his grandparents who lived on a mountain that looked just like this one. Though it had alot less plants that would try to grab you, it was still reminiscent of that time that felt like over a millennia ago.
Almost as if to interupted his wonderful mood a pair of large intertwined mana clusters could be felt barreling down the hill. With the speed of which they were approaching Shawn's locations either they were flying or rolling down the inclined slope.
"What the hell is that" thought Shawn as the presence approached him at even greater speeds, running was out of the question he could try hiding but if he could sense the creature then surely it would be able to do the same. Before Shawn could determine a course of action a large snake broke through the trees wrapped around what looked like a boulder. Actually no it was not a boulder, it had to be something else because this boulder had arms which it used to grab and throw the snake away from itself.
The snake hissed and charged at the rock ball swinging its tail and smashing away parts of the rock creature's body. But the rock creature was unphased, it grabbed a nearby tree with it's massive hand and swung it over the snakes head snapping the tree and angering the snake.
Not to be out done the snake hissed at the golem and wrapped its powerful body around the golem's arm and squeezed crushing it's arm and scattering pebbles everywhere. The golem almost like it could feel no pain just punched the snake in the face with it's other hand snapping it's silver fang as a result.
The creatures battled viciously until only the snake remained battered and bruised but still alive. The snake was on the verge of death, it's hunger and the damage it sustained were at critical levels but to it's delight there was something delicious smelling watching it from up ahead.
The thing that surprised Shawn the most was the size of both the snake and the golem. The golem had a diameter of atleast 8 meters and it's boulder sized arms were even larger. Then there was the snake, though the golem had much greater strength the snakes speed won it the battle. The snake was atleast the length 3 school busses and it's fangs looked quite poisonous.
Fortunately for the golem being a creature made of rock, it was not susceptible to poison attacks or the snake would have won the battle long ago. Shawn had a great idea as he watched the two creatures battle each other, eventually one would die and surely the other whole still reeling from battle would be unable to put up much of a fight. The perfect opportunity for him to get some essentially free experience.
Shawn instantly regretted wanting to stay as soon as he felt the snake's bloodlust pointed at him. Neither the Chilopoda or the Ursarang were strong enough to overpower Shawn with their weak bloodlust but the snake was on a completely different level from them both which Shawn discovered as he inspected the creature.
[Jungle Pythonidae : lvl 35 : B rank : health (35/15409) : 30,000 exp : material (fang) : harvestable (crystal)]
He was right to have been wary of the creature, it's level was many times his own. And the experience it would have given was monsterous. Shawn would have had no hope of defeating it but he could see his saving grace.
The snake's battle with the golem had injured it greatly bringing its health down to a measly 35. It's health was lower that the Ursa Bear all he had to do was deal 35 points of damage, surely he could handle that even against this powerful creature.
Shawn pulled out Razor and fired three shots at the creature. All of which bounced of the creature's scaly hide, the creature hissed almost as if to mock it's tiny opponent. The creature lunged at Shawn mouth agape with every intention to swallow it's foe. Shawn Flash Steped upwards dodging the snake, pulling Cro-Van out as he descended. Hoping that the downward momentum would help him penetrate the scales of the creature.
A whistling sound followed by a wicked crack of the serpent's tail hit Shawn directly in the chest, rocketing his body into the side of the mountain. Shawn dazily dislodged himself from the side of the mountain and somehow managed to stay on his feet. [-375hp], the attack was so powerful that it had formed a deep imprint into the mountain side.
Shit, I can't take another hit like that thought Shawn as his broken bones reformed themselves and his skin covered where the protruding bone once was. Shawn was thankful for that healing factor he had, even though it didn't allow him to regain his health it did return his body to fighting condition.
The creature lunged at Shawn with no intention of allowing him to rest. And with one quick motion it wrapped it's muscular body around it's dinner. With a look of satisfaction in it's eyes as it squeezed it's soon to be dinner. Shawn could feel his bones grinding against themselves, breaking and then reforming before breaking again.
Shawn's screams of pain would have caused anyone's blood to run ice cold, most men would have died within seconds but Shawn had managed to last a minute. But no matter how hard he struggled the gap in strength was too much for him to overcome and he couldn't break free.
After feeling it had sufficiently softened the meat, the snake swallowed Shawn whole. The meat was good, boney but good nonetheless thought the snake as it began slithering off to find something larger to eat.
While being swallowed Shawn started to develop a serious dislike for this world. He was promised adventure and power, not being eaten by a damn reptile or a centipede or a stupid bear or whatever other creature was waiting to eat him around every corner.
"Yes, you will die here" "weak, weak" whispered that voice from the back of his mind. "Give me control, since you are doomed as snake food", "give me control, control give it to me". "I will free us, you have doomed us both" whispered the voice from the very back of his psyche.
Damn it are those my only option lose control of my body or die, to be honest neither of those options really work for me. There must be a way out of here, the snake foolishly swallowed me and now I was inside it but it can't be as though on the inside can it reasoned Shawn as he summoned Cro-Van and began stabbing the creature.
The idea was good but the inside of the creature was covered by a thick slimy mucus membrane that prevented prey from escaping it's stomach. Even after putting all of his remaining points(6) into strength Shawn was unable to bypass the layer of mucus.
The mucus might have been impervious to sharp attacks but what about fire could it handle something of that caliber, there was only one way to find out Shawn thought as he brought out all the grenades he had and pulled the pins together. Shawn was immune to the heat but would the snake be able to withstand this much fire power from inside of its stomach.
The grenades exploded and incinerated the inside of the serpent, it was not enough to break through the hide of the creature but this was more than enough for Shawn, with his increased strength and that mucus no longer hindering his attacks he was able the cut through the charred flesh of the snake with ease. After Shawn had created a hole large enough to fit his hands through he began tearing apart the snake's flesh and ripping it in two allowing himself to escape.
The snake stopped as the explosion shook it's inside. Smoke rose from it's mouth as he writhed around in pain. It wanted to fight back but it was unable to fight fight enemy which was now inside it's body. It began thrashing even more as Cro-Van because cutting through it's now charred hide.
As Shawn breached the serpent's hide he released a triumphant roar into the night sky. He was wrong in his earlier assessment, he loved that every creature around every corner was trying to kill him. It was the thrill of being alive that drove him, facing death and managing to escape whether by luck or by skill.
The way his heart was pounding and his bloodshot eyes that scanned the surrounding looking for more danger, the adrenaline coursing through his veins, bypassing all the pain he was feeling and allowing him to fight on. It was a feeling he loved and wanted to pursue for the rest of his life however long it might be.
As Shawn was relishing his battle a notification woke him from his deadly trance. [Killed Jungle Pythonidae : experience gained : lvl up : bonus hidden objective achieved (faced an opponent much greater than your power/survived and killed opponent) : equivalent reward being given : + instant level up].
[+ 2 lvls : level 10 reached : beginning evolution : error species has no further evolution: error : error resolved : superficial species name change granted : all stats will be boosted to 500 / all stats exceeding 500 will not be affected : + 10 points for reaching level 10 : resetting experience]
[Superficial evolution completed : Greater Dark Elf : each level up will now increase stat values by 100 : each point will increase stats by 50 : crafting levels all increase by one point (forging, building, luck)]
Shawn was overwhelmed by all the information he had just received. It seemed he had reached his max level which caused him to evolve. The evolution had only increased his stats by a little but the process overall would make him stronger in the long run. What really interested Shawn was the system being unable to evolve him, he had never really looked into it before but he had no idea what it even meant to be a dark elf.
"Was it just a subspecies of the elves, did he have any dark elf kin, were there more of his kind who had no idea he existed, would they accept him into thier community". These questions burned on Shawn's mind but he had to push them to the back because he had slightly more pressing things to contend with besides whether he was the only dark elf or if he was one of many. He couldn't wait to get the fangs of a B rank monster and see what he could make from them though he already had a sneaking suspicion what it might be.
Shawn ripped the gigantic fang from the snake's mouth and he could feel the power just wafting of the fang. As Shawn held the fang a blueprint for the weapon appeared in his mind and a smile spread across his face. Cro-Van had been a staple of his arsenal but lately it had been under performing slightly, both fangs would be used to create a powerful blade and Shawn knew it's power would be many times greater than that of Cro-Van.
Shawn made the blade without hesitation and named it Fang.
[New weapon made : innate weapon skill : will poison living creature it touches : random skill : blades will split in two at users will slightly decrease it's strength]
The blades looked like a much smaller version of the Pythonidae's fang, it had the same silvery glow the fangs had with intricate carvings along the blade that showed of the it's beauty.
Shawn was glad he got attacked by the serpent creature, the snake came bearing many gifts. Shawn had gotten tons of experience, an evolution, a new blade, the B rank crystals which he harvested from the snake and he had a sneaking suspicion that if he found the corpse of that golem he would get another B rank crystal that would surely net him a large sum of money when he returned to Danafall.
With nod of contemp and a very valuable battle behind him Shawn whistled for his mount and a few minutes later Cactus came charging towards him, happy that it's master had slain the creature. And after finding the golem's crystal Shawn rode back to town fatigued but excited for the future.
[Status]
Name: Shawn
Title: War God
Level: 10 (0/100)
Class: Gun Slinger
Age: 18
Species: Greater Dark Elf
Current state: Fatigued
Points: 12
Passive: Stealth, Futile struggle, greater mana sense,
--Physical*
*mana 5000000
*speed 500
*vitality 500 (25)
*strength 650
*stamina 500
--Shooting*
*range lvl 3
*accuracy lvl 3
--Skills
One Will {all weapons made by your powers are bound to you and can be brought back to your hands at will}
Mana Onslaught
Intense Bloodlust
Mana Barrier lvl 2 {blocks mana attacks}
Flash Step lvl 2 {quick traverse 10m}
--Crafting*
*forging lvl 3 {making weapons}
*building lvl 3 {making everything else}
*luck lvl 3
*transmuting
--Weapons
Cro-Van. {skill : 2x throwing speed}
Fang. {skill : blade will split into two at will} {will poison target if hit}
Jack and Jill. {skill : Red dot: After emptying both clips, your next shot from each gun is a guaranteed hit and will deal one more damage}
Razor {skill : chance to shoot 2 bullets}
Razor Bullets. (59) {slash}
Alloy bullets. (0) {puncture}
Grenades. (0) {impact, heat}
--Mount
Cactus {Bicorn}