Chapter 29- Lizard Knight (Part 2)
*BANG*
The punch connected violently with the sound of something popping following suit after it. The sound was audible enough, however, Akio couldn't bother with it at all as a strong pain assaulted his back.
The tongue that came back had hit him square in the back, cutting through his skin and spilling blood out. Luckily, the blow wasn't lethal and the reason for that is his high strength stat that boosted his body greatly and toughened his skin.
"UUUUGH!!" Groaning with pain, Akio fell down to the ground. Luckily, because he was still in a somehow decent position, he was able to land on his feet before rolling a few times on the hard ground to lessen the impact.
As for the monster, what followed after Akio's attack was simply horrifying. The monster grabbed its popped eye and screamed at the top of its lungs. The power of the yell seemingly shook the whole of Serenity Abyss.
Then, it started jumping and running everywhere, each stomp was hard and powerful. No one would be able to understand the hellish pain the creature was going through.
'Tsk, it's still alive and kicking! What should I do?' Akio thought as he tried to ignore the pain coming from his injured back.
For a giant creature of that caliber, a hit to the eyeball shouldn't kill it, not immediately at least. So, Akio decided to create distance between them and see what will happen. From what he can see, the blood that was spilling out of the destroyed eye was huge, concerningly huge. It was as if Akio had created a hole for a fountain of blood to spill out.
Soon enough, the whole area was colored in the crimson red of the Lizard's blood. Simultaneously, the monster's movements also started weakening. It didn't seem that its pain resistance was strong as during all of this, it didn't search for Akio even once.
"Hah… Hah… It's close to death." The young boy murmured, as he stayed quiet and watched the rampage of the creature.
Minutes passed before eventually…
*BANG*
The giant monster fell down to the ground, motionless. Its only left eye lost all light and quietly dimmed, sending the Lizard's soul to the other world.
[You have killed a level 14 Lizard Knight.]
[You have gained +5 strength.]
[You have gained +6 Health.]
[You have leveled up to level 6.]
[You have gained +2 points to allocate freely.]
[You have leveled up to level 7.]
[You have gained…]
[You have leveled…]
[You have gained…]
'Damn…' Staring at the string of notifications, Akio felt himself on cloud nine. The sheer excitement as he felt his body go through that same intoxicating feeling of getting more and more powerful filled his mind albeit with even stronger intensity this time.
'So it was a level 14 Lizard… Almost 10 level difference. I could've died if I wasn't lucky enough.' He shuddered at the thought of his attack missing its mark.
All of this was purely because of luck and Death Paths stigma that gave him a straightforward way of killing the monster as unorthodox as it was.
"I'm still far too weak."
Akio knew that even though he was now feeling as if he was an invincible monster, that was definitely far from the reality of things. There are most likely countless creatures out there that were far stronger than him and could even end his life with a snap of their fingers.
"Hm?" As he was like that, he noticed a shiny object that looked similar to the scroll that dropped from one of the Lizard that gave him Nocturnal Overseer Stigma.
Standing up, he approached it carefully and then picked it up. Surprisingly, it wasn't a scroll but instead a weird shiny, green rock with a smooth surface.
"Is this another type of drop? Oh, an item?" Realizing what it could possibly be, Akio started fidgeting with the rock excitedly.
But, no matter where he searched, he couldn't find a single button or trigger that can reveal what was inside.
'Hmm, is it just a simple rock?' He wondered.
But, as he was like that, his hand subconsciously squeezed a little bit too hard on the orb. Instantly, a cracking sound reached Akio's ears before the rock was crushed into pieces. The debris shined brightly as it floated in the air and vanished.
Then, out of nowhere, a big object manifested in his hand. The motion was quick and hard to catch especially when Akio didn't predict that this could happen.
The object was a sword, precisely a long, thin sword with a small grip and a very sharp edge. It was akin to a Japanese katana except that it was considerably longer and with an ominously red blade. It's scabbard was a dark brown, borderline black color with weird engravings on it.
[Blood Eye Odachi: A sword born from blood and submerged in blood. Its power is capable of slicing through the toughest of skins and piercing the most tenacious of defenses. Capable of killing any creature below level 40. When Equipped, +15 strength.
Stigma: Bloody Slash: A stigma that allows the user to create a long blood slash that can fly for up to 15 meters and deals strong damage to the target. Requires blood sacrifice from the host's body. Costs 6 HS (Holem Spirit) points to activate.]
Reading the sword's description, Akio felt the rush of excitement return to him. Not only did the sword look very ominous and cool but its abilities and the benefits it gave Akio were amazing if not outright impossible.
'+15 in strength?! This is absurd. That means my strength will jump from 17 to 32. That's three times the average strength of a human!' He thought as he traced the blade from the side.
Even in a dim place like this, the sword was still somehow able to shine like a red beacon of light.
'However, this bloody slash stigma… It doesn't feel quite right.'
Although the description does make it sound like an extremely powerful ability, the cost for it was very alerting.
Not only does one slash require 6 HS points, but Akio also needed to use his own blood to attack. Losing blood to deal a strong blow is a very risky move as that would put his body in danger.
Nevertheless, Akio wasn't completely concerned with that stigma as the bonus of strength the sword gave him was more than enough for the current situation. Besides, having a weapon in his hand gave Akio great relief.
*Slash* *Slash*
Positioning himself, Akio tried to use the sword a few times. Because of his very high strength stat, this seemingly powerful and heavy sword was like a feather in his hand.
The red hue of the sword created an afterimage as the sword slashed or pierced.
'Fuuh! I do suck at using a sword. This is harder than I thought.' He thought as he put the sword back and threw himself on the ground. At this point, he was sure that if he met another Lizard Knight, he can kill it easily.
"I'm exhausted." He murmured as he stared up.
Although his body was still aching and the injury on his back was hurting like hell, Akio's body wasn't technically tired as he had just leveled up. But, because of the stuff that happened today, his mind was completely dried out.
Merely yesterday, he was still working in the mines, collecting Olgase rocks and getting abused by each and every person he meets. However, now, he somehow ended up inside Holem and was already way stronger than any normal human could ever be.
How absurd was this?! Was he in a dream? Well, technically, yes. But, was this reality? Or will he open his eyes any time soon to realize that he just slept inside his rundown house?
Akio couldn't lie that the fear of all of this being fake weighed on his heart. Finally, after years and years of monotonous living, he could finally change his fate, he can't simply end up merely seeing hallucinations, right? Fate is cruel, but it wasn't that cruel, right?
(A//N: Thank you everyone for supporting the book with power stones, golden tickets, and comments. I'm deeply grateful. Let's all keep it up :) )