Right in the shade of a small tree just beside the mansion, a lone figure stood motionlessly with a face full of disbelief and awe. In his hand, a small object akin to a syringe was visible.
"This..."
Looking at the flickering text above the Legacy Capsule, Neo shifted his attention to his other hand and slowly moved it, watching how the mist around it began to shift and swirl, becoming thicker with each passing second until it became so thick that it completely hid his arm from sight!
Now, if one looked at him from afar, they would think he had only one hand, losing his other in a fierce battle or through an accident in the past!
"While it's indeed a great ability, considering how abnormally thick the mist around your arm is compared to your surroundings, it can only fool those who are not close to you."
Upon hearing Zen's voice, Neo snapped out of his daze and realizing his body slowly was getting exhausted quickly stopped using his newly acquired ability.
'This... Legacy Capsule. Can it really grant me more Legacies without me losing my sanity?' Neo thought silently as information surged into his mind one by one.
[That's right, Master! With now your Legacy Hall finally available to you in its entirety, you can buy Legacy Capsules in exchange for System Points and use them with zero chance of becoming a Blighted or Fallen!]
Legacy Hall.
The section that Neo failed to inspect all this time because it had been locked. However, now that it was finally open, it seems Neo was able to buy all kinds of Legacies!
Of course, from what he understood thanks to Aurora, Legacy Capsules will only appear within the Legacy Hall if an infected, let it be a human or Monster, died in his very close proximity!
As for why he decided to buy and use this new ability which seemed to be the same Legacy as that Ice-Claw Panther used to ambush him in the past, was needless to say. He just simply wished to avoid this whole mess from as far away as possible! After all, he was still a weakling, someone who not only had limited vision which alone made him easy prey but was also still injured!
Also, let's not forget that except for knowing how to run and hide thanks to his past knowledge from his old world, he had zero experience in battle, especially in one as large as this one!
'That's right. I should get the hell out of here as soon as possible!' Neo nodded knowingly and was ready to walk away when his steps froze.
In his head, Zen hummed with confusion and asked;
"Hm? Now what?"
Standing still, Neo pondered in silence for several moments and then turned his head to the side. Although he couldn't see the chaos that was currently taking place, his hearing was still good enough for him to hear everything.
The sound of wood burning and slowly crumpling, the sorrowful and pained cries of those who either lost their loved ones, were terrified, or were heavily injured, and the sound of occasional explosions in the far distance as well as the rapid and sharp sound of clashing metals.
Thanks to his first Legacy, he could hear everything with crystal clarity, so much so that he had no problem at all imagining the nightmare taking place outside there in the swirling darkness!
'No... This isn't right.' Neo shook his head and turned around.
On the other hand, as if realizing what he was thinking, Zen groaned with annoyance.
"Urgh... Don't you dare to tell me you feel guilt for those losers!?"
Neo pondered silently then shook his head.
'...No, it's not about them.'
"Then about what!?"
Neo hummed and was ready to answer when suddenly an even greater explosion shook the ground below his feet before a loud voice filled with terror swept through the whole Shelter.
"THE GATE! THEY HAVE BREACHED THE GATE!"
And not even before those words fell, the screams and cries in the whole Shelter became even more vociferous, indicating the start of a greater horror.
Hearing that, Neo tensed a little before a slightly pale face said;
'It's about the favor I still owe her. The only reason why I... We are still alive today because of her. You know this too just as I do.'
Then, he quickly added;
'Also, have you already forgotten what Rose said? This Shelter only has one exit, so even if I wish to escape I have to go through that which I doubt I could succeed with.'
Even though he had his new ability to conceal himself in the fog around him, thus allowing him to avoid being spotted, Neo knew he couldn't keep his new Legacy active for a long time. In fact, just using it for a few minutes to hide from Rose and Sarah took a huge toll on his body for some reason, thus escape was out of the question.
It was just simply impossible to keep it active until he reached the gate at the other side of the Shelter while also stopping from time to time to avoid getting spotted by anyone!
Zen groaned, realizing that this time Neo was right;
"So then what? Will you really go and fight? In your current state?"
Neo pondered silently and soon sighed as he grabbed his Bone Cleaver attached to his waist.
Naturally, there was also the possibility of him hiding and waiting until all this mess did not settle down, but even then he would get in trouble and would need to face others, let it be Stella and the rest, other horrors, or the Specters. Thus, if he had to fight either way it was better to do it now... Right?
'Though, how should I do it?'
Neo pondered and was ready to think about a plan when suddenly the darkness in front of him began to swirl like crazy, causing him to raise his guard.
Seemed like someone was coming.
And indeed, just a second later a rather tall figure appeared in his line of sight, wearing heavy metal armor with a long and sharp mace in hand, both covered in crimson blood!
Without any shadow of a doubt, he was a Specter.
Having a firm posture and a fearsome aura, the man looked around before his gaze landed on Neo's figure, causing a rather hideous grin to form on his face.
"Keke! Look what I have found. Another lamb for slaughter!"
And right as that last word sounded, the Specter clenched his grasp around the hilt of his weapon and without any hesitation dashed toward Neo with a speed that shouldn't have belonged to someone who wore such heavy armor!
'Crap!'
Neo cursed silently and shifted his posture to the right, hoping to dodge the assault. Luckily, the Specter was not as fast as the Ice-Claw Panther so he was able to succeed just in the last second!
Clang!
Avoiding the mace and watching as it shattered the ground where he stood just a moment ago, Neo was ready to retreat to gain more space when suddenly Aurora's voice appeared in his head.
[Master, focus on your Artifact and attack him!]
Neo was confused, however, seeing as the man was ready to throw another attack at him, one that he knew he will definitely fail to dodge or deflect in time, he clenched his teeth and did as he was told!
With all the strength he could gather he swung the cleaver in his hand at the man, targeting his waist which was the closest to him at the moment! And the next moment, a sight he hardly expected to see, happened.
Normally, a simple cleaver would be unable to cut through metal armor, however, shockingly, this wasn't the case now. Like tofu in the face of a hot blade, the man's armor as well as his whole abdomen was easily sliced through by the Bone Cleaver, splitting him apart and causing his guts and blood to spill everywhere in a heavy gush!
Just like that, without any chance to scream or howl in pain, the fearsome Specter died...
[Notify! The durability of your Artifact {Bone Cleaver} fell from 100 to 98!]
[Congratulations! You have killed a Specter! 50 System Points acquired!]
[Notify! New Legacy Capsule is available within the Legacy Hall!]
[Congratulations! Your Artifact Mastery with {Cleavers} has increased by 1!]
"...W-What?"