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Testros and Misgurd carefully approached the Yirg, and eventually, together with Dale, they circled it with a triangular formation.
/Grr!/
Seeing them approach, the Yirg started to make some noises, imitating the sound of a wolf growling, surprising Dale somewhat since even until the end, it would stick to its act…
Some people might even be fooled by how persistent it was with its act...
How frightening.
"Dale, do you still have one of the carcasses from the creatures we hunted?" Asked Testros without taking his eyes off the Yirg
"Yes!"
"Throw it near the Yirg, doing so will force it to reveal itself."
Dale nodded, understanding his plan.
He took out the large skinless carcass of Moss Rock.
After hunting for another time, Dale easily found out that he could indeed store the entire body of a Moss Rock in his inventory if he skinned the creature.
He quickly and easily threw it close to the Yirg, showing off his strength since he was over 7M away from the creature.
And the Moss Rock body, even though its skin had been removed, still weighed over 190Kgs!
/SPLURGE!/
"?!"
'Wow!'
In one fell motion, the wolf's torso suddenly split apart, revealing a gaping maw full of misshapen teeth!
The mouth moved forward with a sudden burst of speed, almost fully devouring the hog in a single bite.
Dale was incredibly surprised, it was faster and definitely stronger than he expected.
The speed in which its body split apart all the way till it devoured the boar was faster than the blink of an eye.
And the strength necessary to break apart the sturdy body of the boar was no joke either.
Dale was fast enough to react to it, but he knew very well that if it sunk its teeth on his arm he might as well say goodbye to it.
Once it was done devouring the hog, the wolf/Yirg stopped making noises, becoming almost static like a statue.
"I'm glad we checked." Said Testros with a frown
"It's a variant." Replied Misgurd with a nod, his eyes now fully cold
"..."
'So they know... In that case.'
"What is a variant? And how strong is it when compared to its normal counterparts?"
'The more I know, the easier it will for me to deal with a monster with this modifier next time I meet with one.'
"Besides, won't it react to us talking to each other?"
'We've been talking like this for quite a while...'
"No it won't, don't worry Dale, as long as it remains disguised, it will never break from its act. It definitely hears us, but that is all." Replied Misgurd
"As for your other question, a Variant is the term we give to Uniquely strong monsters."
"They can be both stronger and faster, but they normally have some sort of variant feature to make them different from their counterparts."
"I see…"
'That didn't help me much, but I can determine that its challenge Level is higher than what it's actually being shown…'
While Dale thought, Misgurd said:
"This one is definitely…"
And Testros cut him, finishing his statement:
"It's speed. Yirgs can't transform this fast and attack, they are similar to snakes as they first need to set their attack before attacking."
"Not the case with this one…"
"So what do we do?" Asked Dale
"Simple… Hup!"
/FWUSH!/
In one movement, Misgurd took a quick breath and stepped forward, covering the entire 7M distance between him and the monster faster than the eye could see,
/CUT!/
He cut with his sword diagonally, aiming at the wolf's body, but the Yirg did something unexpected!
"?!"
The moment his sword was about to connect, the Yirg's body split apart, revealing a large maw.
But because of this, the sword missed, and when it did, the Yirg's mouth snapped forward, trying to take a bite of Misgurd!
/SPLAT!/
"Humph."
However, this was barely enough to faze Misgurd who quickly sidestepped and spun in his place, delivering a horizontal cut and bifurcating a part of the Yirg's mouth.
/PIERCE!/
Taking this chance, Testros approached from behind and attacked!
"You're too hasty." He said as he pierced with his sword
With one in the front and one in the back, both of which were already overpowering the creature, it was simple to say that its destiny had been sealed…
"Now we…"
But Misgurd was interrupted, he didn't even have the time to raise his sword once more...
/SREEECH!/
"URG!" Exclaimed Dale
'My ears…'
[You've been affected by the Skill, Distortion]
[You were incapable of fully resisting its effects]
[You're briefly stunned 0.3s]
[You've fallen into confusion 5.1s]
[Your senses are distorted 3s]
The creature suddenly let out a loud scream, stunning Dale briefly, making him avert his attention from the fight.
It was as if he was hit with a flashbang, he could still see but things were just… Spinning.
"... LE!... OUT!" Exclaimed Misgurd
"Wha...?..."
He heard something, so he raised his head…
But Dale was still heavily disoriented, and when he raised his head, almost tripping to the side, he could barely distinguish a strange and disfigured red creature crawling on the ground, moving hastily towards him!
"?!"
'DAMMIT!'
'I fell for it! A fucking AOE Skill!'
'Everything is blurry and spinning… Shit! What is happening around me?!'
'Is it coming?! Fuck off!'
With the ringing still in his ears, Dale grasped his spear and took a step forward to meet the creature!
[Sta… Ac…eted]
[...Tial…ness…ed]
[Figh…acti…]
"D…LE!"
He faintly heard the sound of several notifications in his ears, they were the sounds of his Skills activating.
For a brief moment, he also heard his name.
How did the previously controlled situation turn out like this?
/PIERCE!/
The moment his spear made contact with the creature as it jumped from the ground towards his face, Dale felt his shoulder hurt immensely, but he stood his ground and continued to move his spear.
He could still feel his left hand, and he could somehow discern what was happening in front of him.
There was something red there, and it was being held by something... His spear!
So he simply aimed at whatever he thought to be its face and attacked…
And when he attacked, he did it again…
"..."
One second turned into 2, and 2 turned into 4…
"...!"
As clarity returned to his eyes he finally recovered his senses.
"DIE!" Exclaimed Misgurd in a fit of anger
/Splat!/
With a single downward slash, he cut the bizarre creature into 2 sections, sending it once and for all to Hell.
[+2323%*2=4646% XP]
[You have Leveled up]
[You have Leveled up]
[You have Leveled up]
[You have Leveled up]
[+8 to all Stats]
[DING]
[Hidden Quest, Devouring Menace has been completed]
[No extra drops shall be given since the last hit wasn't from you]
[You've gained, Hide of the Menace*2
You've gained, Bones of the Menace*2
You've gained, Flesh of the Menace*2
+535%*2=1070% XP]
[You have Leveled up]
[You have Leveled up]
[+4 to all Stats]
[Distortion status effect has ended]
[Your Skill, Spatial Awareness 0-Star has Leveled up to 0.5-Star!]
After blinking once, Dale opened his eyes wide and took a look at the current situation:
"That was…"
'Damn Skills…'
In front of him was the corpse of a very strange creature…
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Notes