Stepping through the teleportation array, I heaved a sigh of relief upon discovering that there were no monsters nearby. I swiftly activated {Subskill: Spatial Corridor}, and moved towards the exit of the chamber that held the teleportation array. However, it was at this time...
~Gugugugugu~
A rumbling sound entered my ears. I instinctively looked around, then up. A huge, scorpion like monster entered my eyes.It was clinging to the ceiling of the chamber, moving around and searching for the source of disturbance. Clearly, it had noticed the teleportation array activating. That...certainly looked like a B-rank monster, at the very least.
[HP: 15964/16000]
[MP: 1435/1500]
[PWR: 580]
[DEF: 450]
[MAG: 320]
[RES: 390]
[AGI: 170]
[WIS: 30]
[Voracious (B)] [Murderous (B)] [Reckless (C)]
[Gluttony] [Assault & Battery Lv.6] [No Guard Lv.3]
[Iron Body Lv.1] [Zone Interference Lv.1]
[Detection Lv.2] [Appraisal Lv.1] [Poison Manipulation Lv.1] [Body Press Lv.1]
[Thought Acceleration Lv.4] [Acceleration Lv.2] [Stealth Lv.5] [Body Strengthening Lv.7] [Crush Lv.4]
[Surface Traction Lv.Max] [HP Super-Regneration Lv.4] [MP Super-Regeneration Lv.4] [Deadly Stinger Lv.MAX]
Hmm, hmm. I held my chin, nodding my head like a researcher staring at a specimen. As I had expected, this monster had outrageous stats. However, most of its skills were nothing much to be afraid of. Most of its offensive skills weren't too difficult to dodge. However, there were three skills that would pose me some threat.
{Skill Description (Passive): Gains strength in a battle to the death.
Skill Prerequisites:
Skill Effects: +1 [PWR] and [MAG] for every 100 damage inflicted or received.}
{Skill Description: Strikes the foe with no guard up, increasing damage dealt and taken.
Skill Prerequisites:
Skill Stats: +50% damage taken and dealt, MP consumption 45.}
{Skill Description: Nullifies minor damage, greatly reduces incoming damage.
Skill Prerequisites:
Skill Stats: Nullify all incoming damage < 2[DEF]; For all incoming damage > 2[DEF], reduce damage by 2[DEF].}
Especially [Iron Body] was troubling. It greatly reduced the amount of damage I could do. In fact, it made trying to hurt it with [Citrosian Edge] almost completely useless. In other words, my strongest damaging ability would be [Spatial Lash]. I loathed to reduce the durability of my weapons, but it seemed that this was a situation that called for it.
From my vantage point, I cast [Dimension Strike] six times, once for each [Spatial Lash] I cast with each of my silk wires. Instantly, huge cracks opened up on the body of the [Hyperiosa].
[HP: 5484/16000]
I deactivated [Spatial Corridor], readying a number of [Spatial Severances] and preparing to use {Subskill: Short-Rage Teleport} at any moment. However, the moment I left the [Spatial Corridor], its head swung, its twelve eyes meeting mine. In that moment, however, a wave of dizziness hit me, making me lose control of my spells. Cursing under my breath, I checked my status.
[HP: 1250/1300 -50/s]
I see...it had already covered this area in poison mist the moment it realised something was up. Also, what the hell is up with this poison? It seems to also have paralytic effects, along with probably a bunch of other effects that I don't know about.
I gritted my teeth and snarled, my vision blurring for a second due to the apparently neurotoxic poison spreading through my bloodstream. While it hadn't completely incapacitated me due to my possession of [Dark Magic] making me slightly less susceptible to status conditions, the poison was definitely doing a number on me. In the next moment, a huge dark shadow filled my vision and slammed into my torso, causing me to fly backwards into the wall due to the impact.
"Kufuh!"
I coughed up a mouthful of blood, feeling like the inside of my body was filled with sharp blades, causing a stabbing pain whenever I took a breath.
[HP: 427/1300 -50/s]
"You...what are you so cocky for, huh? When you're just my EXP delivery service??"
-Conditions have been met. Basic Skill [Bloodlust Lv.1] has been acquired.-
-Conditions have been met.
I spat out a line like a gangster, gritting my teeth and narrowing my eyes. Then, I vanished from its view. In the next instant, a barrage of [Spatial Lash] converged on the head of the [Hyperiosa]. While it could dodge some of them, it had no way of dodging all of them. Of the six slashes that I had unleashed, two of them hit their mark, dealing just enough damage to bring the monster down to below 20% HP. Seizing the opportunity, I cast [Execute]. Instantly, the poison mist around me evaporated, the [Hyperiosa] no longer moving.
-[Hyperiosa] has been eliminated. 28433 EXP gained.-
"Huff...huff...haaaa"
I panted, falling weakly to the ground, my consciousness barely intact.
"Must...remove...poison damage."
I concentrated on circulating my mana through my body, using it to wash away and sublimate the poison mana wreaking havoc in my system. As I continued, my breathing eased and the pain in my body subsided.
-Conditions have been met. {Subskill: Heal} has been acquired. {Subskill: Status Cure} has been acquired. Subskills will be incorporated.
Having nullified the poison effects on my body, I was no longer in danger of death. Come to think of it, I acquired some interesting rewards during this battle, didn't I?
{Title Description: Awarded to one who would even prey on the powerful.
Title Prerequisites: Designate a higher-ranked opponent as "prey".
Title Rewards: +10% EXP gain when slaying "prey",
{Skill Description (Passive): Gain increased damage against "prey".
Skill Prerequisites:
Skill Stats: +15% damage against "prey", damage scales with skill level; +5% missing health damage to execute-type skills.]
{Skill Description (Passive): Debuffs surrounding enemies with the fear of death.
Skill Prerequisites: Desire to kill despite a dire situation.
Skill stats: -5% to all enemy stats except for HP and MP. Debuff scales with skill level, inversely with enemy [WPR]; [WPR] to completely nullify: 175.}
In other words, [Execute] could now instantly wipe out an enemy at 23.8% HP. While it didn't seem like a big difference, the fact that I had to deal 3.8% less damage would become a huge deal for enemies with massive HP pools and defensive stats. As of right now, it would be at best a small and almost unnoticeable boost, but in the future, I was certain that it would make a massive difference. Furthermore, having the complementary [Bloodlust] meant that I would always be fighting against slightly weaker enemies, which also helped a lot.
I mused over these thoughts as I headed over to the fallen [Hyperiosa], harvested its [Mana Core], its stinger, its claws, and some of its armour. I decided that by this point, I really needed some amount of armour to protect myself. With my max HP as low as it was, I wasn't even matching tanky C rank enemies. In the past month, I had fought many enemies with much higher HP than mine, and this single B-ranked monster already had over ten times my HP total. If I wanted to keep going, I needed some kind of armour to boost my less-than-optimal defenses.
Putting together a pile of carapaces that I had gotten from the multiple arthropods that I had killed in the last month, I took out a number of [Mana Cores]. I then arranged the different pieces together to form a suit-like shape, then placed a [Mana] core on each section. Channeling my mana, I sought to forge each piece of carapace into a suitable piece of armour.
-Conditions have been met.
What was left was a dark, mottled suit of armour that would easily fit on me. However, I was not done.
"[Exoskeleton]!"
The suit of armour glowed purple, then faded to the velvet colour of the moments past dusk.
[DEF: 120]
[RES: 100]
[DUR: 450]
[Body Strengthening Lv.1] [Nullity Lv.1] [Slime Body Lv.1]
{Skill Description: Strengthens the user's body.
Skill Prerequisites: None.
Skill Stats: +10% to all stats, additionally +10% to [DEF] and [RES]; MP consumption 100/s, MP consumption scales with skill level.}
{Skill Description (Passive): Reduces incoming damage.
Skill Prerequisites: [Armour]
Skill Stats: Reduces incoming damage by 15%. Damage reduction scales with skill level.}
{Skill Description: Can transition between slime and hardened states. Can recover [DUR] with mana.
Skill Prerequisites: [Living Armour]
Skill Effects: Automatically matches the user's body. MP consumption 20/1[DUR].}
I had gotten another not insignificant boost to my combat capabilities. And yes, it was a [Living Armour]. In making this piece of equipment, I decided to forego higher stats and more skills in favour of the possibility of this armour growing alongside me. I figured that it might be possible to keep growing its strength. As an added bonus, I did not need to spend time putting it on. With a thought, it could mould itself to my body. I suspected that with increased levels in [Slime Body], I might be able to mould it into any shape I wanted. Furthermore, I would love to get the [Slime Body] skill for myself...
Shaking off errant thoughts, I left the chamber to continue hunting down B-ranked monsters