'Oh shit!'
I cursed internally when my Titanite Steel bullet didn't severely injure the male Sentinel Strider's head, only grazing it.
'A long-range shot with my current Arkium quality and quantity was indeed a bad idea.'
Before the Sentinel Strider turned towards me, I immediately used Mach Momentum Dash and leaped away from its direction. I used a significant amount of my Arkium to boost my speed, considering I was dealing with a Sentinel Strider—a monster known for its defense and speed.
'Even so, it seems to have worked as a distraction.'
Sure enough, as I jumped away, the male Sentinel Strider quickly identified the direction of the shot and ran to my previous shooting position. Meanwhile, the female Sentinel Strider emerged from the tree crevice, searching for the source of the gunshot. She didn't follow the male but stayed to guard the tree crevice, probably to protect their egg.
I leaped between the tall branches, running around the area to get closer to the temple. Although the temple was near the large tree, and there was a chance the Sentinel Strider wouldn't see me approaching, being detected by their horns would be troublesome.
I was now far from my previous shooting position. Using the binoculars attached to my helmet, I saw the male Sentinel Strider rummaging through my previous spot, roaring a strange Territorial Roar and meticulously searching.
'Sooner or later, it will come here,' I thought.
Thinking quickly, I focused more deeply than usual. I saw the female Sentinel Strider with her back turned to me. Since I was behind her, I wasn't within her line of sight.
Unlike the male Sentinel Strider I had shot earlier, the bullet had been within his field of vision. Coupled with the detection sensors in their horns, the Sentinel Strider could see my bullet.
'Should I shoot again?' I thought.
The answer was no. Long-range shooting was too energy-draining, and its power wasn't as strong as the combination of my physical strength and Arkium. The first shot could be considered just a distraction.
In that case, I needed to move as fast as a bullet over a long distance and then attack the female Sentinel Strider from behind. This method was challenging for me, as my Arkium hadn't yet fully adapted to my body. But there was another way I was familiar with. I had become well-acquainted with my own abilities.
'No need to complicate things. Just try,' I thought with a smile.
I dissolved the rifle in my right hand. Without hesitation, I positioned myself sideways using the Gallean Stance. I had already used 30 percent of my Arkium for speed, and its effect was still present. This was enough for me to dash quickly toward the female Sentinel Strider. However, 30 percent Arkium speed wasn't enough to avoid detection sensors. I needed more speed and strength.
Both my hands hung low. Then, the gauntlet on my right hand transformed. This time, there was a hole at the bottom of the gauntlet. A short iron rod connected to a chain emerged from the hole, made of pure Titanite steel. I gripped it, and the rod extended, allowing me to hold it with both hands at a considerable distance apart.
I then formed the rod into something resembling a great sword with a single blade about 1.5 meters long and a hand guard connecting the blade to the long hilt. However, I made the great sword blunt, with a flat tip and a blade thickness of about 20 cm. It was like a combination of a club and a great sword.
'Should I call it a Bat Slash Sword? Hammer Sword? Sword Hammer? Swordbat? Swordhammerbat? Whatever.'
To strike a monster with high defense, I needed to hit it with a blunt weapon combined with high speed and power.
Why didn't I just form a war hammer? The answer was, a great sword shaped like a club was easier since I could hit any part of the blade. If I used a war hammer, I would need to hit specifically with the hammer.
'Anetta? Can you form a rocket thruster on the back of the blade?'
(Formation is possible. However, once again, your Arkium cannot support Quantumorph Artisan to form such a complex device for long.)
Of course, I knew I couldn't form complex equipment yet. But I could at least create something for a short period. That was enough, but...
'Okay, that's enough. But can it be activated just once?'
(Once is possible, Master.)
I grinned.
'Help me form it as I dash towards the female Sentinel Strider and activate it, okay?'
(Understood.)
'You're the best, Anetta.'
(...)
(Understood.)
There was a pause before Anetta answered, but I ignored it for now.
I immediately focused on maximizing the flow of Arkium through my body for speed and strength. The speed with 30 percent earlier wasn't enough, but there was another way to increase my speed.
I stood still for a moment as if gathering energy. The ground around me shook, and some pebbles floated. I took a deep breath and held it. Then, I jumped about 5 cm off the ground. And as my feet touched the ground...
*BAM!
I launched myself quickly towards the female Sentinel Strider with my upper body rotating to the right. In the blink of an eye, I was already near the Sentinel Strider. Thanks to Short-Range Telekinesis pulling my own body, I achieved the speed needed without being detected. Three rocket thrusters had also formed on the back of the blade.
Now for the power.
'Hammerbolt Hit! And, Weapon Series, Rift Edge Slash!'
The combination of an electric field strike creating lightning and a 'space-splitting' slash would certainly add to my striking power. Rift Edge Slash was normally a sharp sword technique, not a blunt one. So I expected my attack not to cut through the Sentinel Strider but to add strength. After all, I couldn't yet cut through an A-rank monster.
'I kicked your ass!' I cursed behind my helmet with a crazy smile, umm, I guess.
The rocket thruster activated with an orange glow behind the Swordhammerbat. With the help of the rocket thruster, I could spin my body to the left faster, adding power to my strike. Additionally, I used Short-Range Telekinesis to momentarily halt the Sentinel Strider's movement in case it turned around. After all, Sentinel Striders, besides their defense, were speedy monsters with crazy reflexes.
Then, the Swordhammerbat struck the female Sentinel Strider's back with high power and speed. I also hit with a specific angle, aiming to hit from below so that...
*BAM!!
The female Sentinel Strider was sent flying into the air, followed by a blue lightning bolt. This way, the Sentinel Strider wouldn't quickly regain its footing and rush towards me if I struck in a straight line.
Another reason was to buy time to block or evade the male Sentinel Strider's attack coming at me quickly, having noticed the loud noise from my strike.
"Home run!!!" I shouted in a casual tone.
As I predicted, the male Sentinel Strider, who had been searching for me at my shooting position, ran quickly towards me, roaring a Territorial Roar. Its speed was close to mine earlier.
'With a body larger than the D-rank, this creature truly has insane speed.'
As the male Sentinel Strider charged at me, I spun my body to the right, exerting a bit more Arkium and Short-Range Telekinesis. This was to match the speed of the male Sentinel Strider.
I spun my body to the right while quickly shifting position, successfully dodging. But that wasn't enough. I released my left hand from the Swordhammerbat's handle and, with the momentum of my body spin, struck the Sentinel Strider. Of course, using the same Hammerbolt Hit and Rift Edge Slash as before.
The male Sentinel Strider couldn't dodge in time and was sent flying into the air, though not as far as the female.
'They will come at me quickly. I must immediately transfer my memory to activate the teleportation array to send me to the temple's secret room.'
I ran while dissolving the Swordhammerbat, heading towards the back of the temple nearby.
I wasn't sure if this method would work. I read about it on a forum post by another player. I only read the beginning, 'You can use memory transfer if you already know the sequence of ancient letters engraved at the back of the temple.'
After that, I got an urgent mercenary job call. So I didn't know the full content of what the person wrote. What I do know is, as someone who completed the normal way of touching the ancient letters in sequence while dodging and fighting three Sentinel Striders, I already knew the sequence. So I just needed to use memory transfer.
'I don't know the details, but let's try touching the human engraving with the shield below the ancient letters,' I thought.
After reaching the back of the temple, I touched the human engraving with the shield, thinking of the sequence of ancient letters. Unfortunately, nothing happened. However, I felt something strange.
(Detecting energy-)
'Energy?'
Without warning, the male Sentinel Strider I hadn't thrown far enough was already close, using its three bladed tails to slash at me.
'Damn!'
Instinctively, my Arkium usage surged high, and I followed its flow. Arkium filled and flowed quickly through my body, enhancing my reflexes. The Quantumorph Artisan also automatically formed a tall, long shield.
*KLANG!!
The slashes from the three blades struck my Titanite Steel shield brutally and powerfully. I could even see one of the blades piercing through my shield before I was sent flying away.
'Great strength! And what's with those damned blades!' Mythril?'
I rolled and quickly positioned myself with Short-Range Telekinesis to face the next attack more rapidly. I immediately dissolved my shield.
At that moment, six blade projectiles shot towards me at high speed.
'Damn!'
I swiftly drew my Hazslicer sword from its sheath and deflected the six blade projectiles fired by the male Sentinel Strider. I wasn't too worried about my Hazslicer sword breaking, as it was made from Mythrilforge Titansteel. If I had used a blade formed by Quantumorph Artisan with the highest material being Titansteel, I feared my blade wouldn't withstand the Sentinel Strider's blades.
I dodged two of the blades and deflected the remaining four. However, before I finished deflecting them, I sensed something beside me. Sure enough, the female Sentinel Strider, which I had struck with a home run, had already leaped beside me without me detecting it.
'Are you kidding me, bastard?'