「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
The beast did not waste a second and immediately fired one of it's dangerous water jets.
I duck below, then rushed to the side, hiding behind a stalagmite.
The dark world filled with outlines of my surroundings came into focus.
I poked my head out, trying to catch a peek of the reptilian beast.
The beast was gone.
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
Silently and without wasting a second, I move to another stalagmite.
Like my 「Instinct」 predicted, a vicious stream of compressed water pierced the stone outcropping.
A small hole bore through the earth.
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
I move to another stalagmite once more, and right as I did, the same thing happens.
I continue this game of cat and mouse a couple of times, trying to get a read on the beast's location.
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
Before I could even leave my hiding place, a water jet pierces the stalagmite, scraping my shoulder.
A shallow wound draws blood on my right side.
I quickly pull a vial from my pocket, one near empty.
The red liquid fizzles on my skin.
The process was — while still painful — not as bad as the lodged tooth.
With the vial in my offhand, I dash for safety, reaching and settling on another stone outcropping.
Should I have charged forward instead? No… that would have only lead to my death. If anyone of those jets hit my vitals, it would be devastating, especially my heart and brain
With the vial in my hand, I reel my arm backwards.
Lowering 「Reinforcement」 so as not to overshoot, I throw the glass cylinder.
*smash*
The vial shatters upon impact, and without delay, a stream of compressed water shoots where it landed immediately.
I hurriedly check for the source, my eyes tracing the near-invisible jet's trajectory.
Behind one of the smaller stalagmites, I could see the head of a reptilian beast, hunkered to the ground.
The beast lay it's belly on the ground, small balls of blue floating around it.
Immediately after I spot it, another sphere of water forms around it.
Blue mana particles gathered and formed into water, defying physics.
I take in a deep breath and focus even more.
「Skill 'Quick Step' is activating」
I burst forward immediately, not letting another moment pass.
Streams of compressed water follow, always just a little late.
I look forward, focusing ahead instead of behind.
Using the many stalagmites as brief covers and relay points, I make my way to the reptilian beast in haste.
Passing the final relay point, I find myself once again within reach of the beast.
This was the hard part.
Unlike before, where I could have used the stalagmites as a cover, I was basically within the beast's kill zone.
Getting hit even once here could spell my doom. The distance between us meant that I would not have the leeway to stop and heal.
「You have obtained the skill 'Quick Step' Lv. 3」
「Skill 'Quick Step' is activating」
With a step slightly more powerful than before, I approach the beast.
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
The beast conjures up multiple water spheres in quick succession, defying my calculations.
Shit…!!
「Skill 'Quick Step' is activating」
I quickly and begrudgingly stop and change trajectory.
Kh…!!
Four out of the five shot water bullets hit me, puncturing my right leg and right arm.
I burst to the beast's left side, brandishing my sword.
Using 「Quick Step」 once more, I dash straight into the beast.
Now normally, the beast would have scurried off and hid behind the numerous stalagmites like I did, the beast did not do that.
Instead, even when I was a mere few feet to the beast, it did not flee. It was not of bravery or foolishness that the beast did this, instead, the beast made a calculated decision.
Hunkered down and without any mana flowing through it's body to reinforce itself, it focused on sheer offense and precision.
That's why the beast stayed idle. Instead of rushing in like it's other members, it used critical thinking to overcome an unknown obstacle, me.
That's why, I knew, without a shadow of a doubt. The beast will not move.
The beast moved.
…
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
It opened it's maw so suddenly in an attempt to bite me that I found myself dazed and confused from the sudden realization.
「Skill 'Instinct' is activating」
…Huh?
There it was again, this skill of mine.
Without my own input, my body moved on it's own. Muscles contracted and relaxed as my body moved just an inch away from the beast's strike.
The beast's angry, hate-filled eyes pass by me as it soared for a brief second.
Like the boy who flew too close to the sun, the beast landed unceremoniously by my feet.
I did not miss this chance.
Pushing mana into my arm and blade, I swing my sword in a wide arc.
…?!
At the same time as I did so, a single jet of compressed water hits my blade, sending it flying.
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
「Skill 'Quick Step' is activating」
I quickly back away, dodging the beast's tail swing.
Gears spun in my head with dread-filled haste.
Had the beast been bluffing? Possible… yes, I'm certain of it. However, it was not an entire fib. It can wield those spheres with terrifying mastery, sure, but it couldn't do so with that many at once… that's why it needed to settle down! It was to lighten the load, just like I theorized.
Water spheres began to form around the crawling beast once more.
Two… three… that seems to be limit. Okay, so the beast can use about three spheres while moving, maybe even four at best. Also…
I give the sword a sideways glance, judging the distance.
…It's power is lower than normal, more specifically, it's speed. I can get my sword with one 「Quick Step」… but the beast would have already predicted that. The moment I touch that thing, I'm dead. So…
I focus on the beast, then to it's water spheres. The beast had more mastery in 「Conjuration」, I realized.
At first, I thought that the beast's and it's companions were more compatible with 「Reinforcement」 just from the sheer amount of physical power it had, but it seemed I was mistaken.
An eternity passed, then the first move was made.
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
「Skill 'Quick Step' is activating」
I dodge the water bullet, then the beast's jaws as it jumped to bite my head.
When I tried to use the brief moment where the beast was just behind me, out of it's watchful eyes, an unexpected attack came.
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
I stop in place, a water bullet hitting the ground where I was about to step on.
The beast had calculated this
「Skill 'Quick Step' is activating」
「Skill 'Instinct' is warning you」
I dash once more, finally reaching my blade. Then, not letting another second pass, I pivot and bring my sword up to my chest.
A water bullet hits the sword's fuller.
Supporting the sword's blade with my other hand, I take the bullet upfront.
"…?!"
The water bullet bounces off the blade, reflected.
「Skill 'Quick Step' is activating」
I quickly approach the beast, using the opportunity that I had while it was confused.
"!?!"
The beast snaps out of it's daze, albeit a little too late.
The water spheres began compressing, and I swing my sword with the same sense of urgency.
「You have leveled up」