"Beginning risk assessment".
As soon as those words reached her ears, the mysterious man started walking towards the beast.
The monster, now missing its left arm, backs away from the approaching man. When the man was within its attack range, the monster hurled its trunk-sized tail sideways toward the man like it attacked Fei before.
"Hey, it's going to -!".
Reading its next move, Fei was about to warn him of the incoming attack when the man effortlessly blocked the sideswipe. It even used the momentum to propel itself sideward, gaining enough momentum to deliver yet another blow to the monster.
"RRRuuuarghhh!". A thunderous roar echoed.
On the ground is the bloodied tip of what used to be the monster's tail.
"PHYSICAL ATTACK, C-RANK", a monotonous voice seemingly coming from the book the man manifested earlier uttered the words.
"PHYSICAL DEFENSE, B-RANK."
The man swatted his sword sideways to clean off the grime from the monster's blood.
Amazing!
Fei was so fixated on the battle that she forgot that her legs were stuck beneath a boulder.
I have to get out of here first!
Having regained her senses, she cast Terra to create a pillar to push the boulder crushing her legs. After successfully freeing her leg, she quickly examined its condition.
Not good. The bones were broken.
[Ciura] is a minor healing spell that can close open wounds and other minor injuries. However, to fix broken bones, she would need to cast a higher-tier healing spell, [Dos Ciura].
But that's not what concerns her.
It would take at least five minutes for the bones to re-attach.
The enemy wouldn't miss such an opportune moment to strike in battle. Lucky for her, the monster is so preoccupied with the man that she can cast her spells at ease.
Whoever he is, I'll have to thank him later.
"[Dos Ciura]!".
A faint, glowing green light surrounded her broken leg. A warm, gentle breeze surrounds her, seemingly relieving all the pains she had before.
But she cannot cast it unconditionally. The mana consumption is several times larger than the minor heal. As she was busy healing her leg, the battle between the two continued still.
The monster, seemingly on the defensive after being cut twice, opened its remaining three eyes. Rays of lights came crashing down on the man.
"LIGHTNING MAGIC, D-RANKED", came the unconcerned announcement yet again.
As the downpour of spells threatened to swallow him, he simply stepped sideways to evade every strike. A move so basic, but the execution was made at incredible speeds that afterimages are left each time he moves.
Having struck its last bolt, the creature jumped a few meters backward. A faint, green glow surrounded it for a few seconds. Soon after, its severed legs and tail grew back.
"Self-regeneration". The man spoke those words as soon as he saw the monster quickly regrew its lost appendage.
"REGENERATION, C-RANKED".
Sometimes in the northern province, you'll come upon beasts that have monstrous self-healing factors, such as slimes. However, a beast this huge with the ability to regenerate lost limbs is a greater threat.
The man, holding his sword on his waist, lowered his center of gravity. His profile is now low enough to reach the ground. At a moment's notice, he burst forth, appearing in front of the beast.
His speed enabled him to cover the distance in but a moment.
One, two, three... Fei lost count as she witnessed the multitude of slashes the man unleashed on the beast. Each of his strikes packs strength that the air seems to vibrate in response.
Being at the mercy of the man's blade, the beast retaliated by striking the man with its powerful claws. However, its opponent was too fast, leaving it on the receiving end of a one-sided beating.
Then the man stopped. In front of him are the remains of what used to be the monster. Some of its parts are still moving, meaning the beast hasn't been defeated yet.
The man was just staring at the pieces.
What is he doing?
Fei is halfway through her healing, but she is bewildered by the man's strange behavior as she observes the battle.
Not until she saw a faint, glowing green light surround the pieces of the beast that she was sure of it.
This man... He can't be serious!
Soon after, the beast slowly but surely stitched itself back together. In just a few seconds, it was able to regain its stance, before suddenly lunging with mouth agape towards its opponent.
"Dantalian, note this down" the man spoke.
"YES".
The grimoire glinted with a golden hue for a brief moment.
The man easily dodged the impish attack, then unleashed once again a fury of slashes the same as before. Before long, a pile of monster flesh is what is left of the beast.
With the flesh still moving, a familiar green light coated it once again, before the parts started gluing itself back together.
"FULL REGEN, 4.5 SECONDS" the grimoire announced the time it took the monster to completely repair itself.
Unbelievable!
Fei was a monster scholar, but she never heard of a monster with such vitality to keep regenerating itself to its former state after being chopped into pieces. But perhaps what surprised her more was the man currently facing such a beast.
"STATUS CHANGE"
"CHANGE IN STAT - STR UP"
"CHANGE IN STAT - INT UP"
"CHANGE IN STAT - SPD UP"
"HEIGHT - DECREASED"
"MAGIC POWER - DECREASED"
The grimoire announced the changes it observed from the recent event.
The man repeated the previous process of hacking and slashing away at the beast. One thing is for sure, bladed weapons deal a great amount of damage to it.
Each time he was done, the green would once again surround the beast's parts before stitching itself back together.
Each time it regenerates, the man would repeat the process over and over again.
"FULL REGEN, 4.15 .. 4.0 .. 3.75 .. 3.0 ... 2.25 ... 1.5 .. 0.5 SECONDS"
Soon after, the grimoire announced.
"DETECTING EXTREME CHANGE IN THE TARGET"
"MANA CORE STABILIZED."
"EXTREME INCREASE IN STATS"
"RE-EVALUATING PREVIOUS ASSESSMENT"
"RE-ASSESSING THREAT LEVEL"
"CURRENT THREAT LEVEL"
"Pseudo B+ rank"
After hearing the grimoire, the man once again poised for another strike.
He looked in front of him, but no monster in sight.
From the corner of his eyes, he could only see a blur of something rushing towards him at incredible speeds.
"PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION, MASTER"
Far from over, the real battle has just begun.