I jump onto the mossy path and rush at the boss. The lizard lets out a roar and charges back. It holds its axe in the air, preparing to strike.
Because Ezekiel in my last life killed the boss, I am not sure of the boss's strength. However, an F-rank dungeon's boss should be pretty easy.
As I approach the boss, I see the axe swinging. Even then, I can tell that the axe moves extremely slowly. Although the strike has power and could kill me if I get hit, it is easily dodgeable.
I run up to it. The lizard stands at almost 8 feet tall, so my height of 5'10 can barely match his chest. But that only makes things easier. The fact that it's standing on 2 legs allows me to outmaneuver the heavy beast. I run to its right side and dodge the axe.
Because of the momentum of the axe, the lizard loses its footing. I quickly wrap around behind him and climb onto its back, with my switch knife in hand.
The lizard abandons the axe together and tries to swing me off. As the struggle ensues, I manage to get a hold of its shoulders. With the knife, I wait until the lizard stops for a breather, and quickly stab the knife beneath the tail, right where excretion normally exits the body.
A green blood-like substance splurts out. The lizard screams in agony as it falls to its knees, clawing at its wounded ass. I pull out the knife and retreat into the distance, observing.
The lizard's body is as hard as an entire sheet of thick metal. Without sufficient strength or a proper weapon, it is impossible to pierce its skin. Its only weaknesses are the eyes and the rear. The eyes are way too small and it is still possible for the lizard to counterattack, as vision is not the lizard's strongest sense.
The bottom, however, is a vital part of the body. If the lizard cannot excrete properly, it will lose its ability to properly digest food and die in the end.
I run off the moss and jump back onto the logs. Then, I slowly waited. It is only a matter of time before the lizard falls. Currently, it is glaring at me, one hand on the axe and one hand on its ass.
After a few hours of waiting, the lizard finally showed signs of exhaustion. It is no longer holding the axe and instead, is clutching the abdomen, no doubt in some pain.
This is the perfect time to act. I hold the knife and once again charge at the lizard.
Although it put up a desperate fight, it could not muster the strength it originally had, nor move as fast. I quickly poke two more wounds in its eyes before managing to slash its neck.
||Quest Cleared
Reward: Random F-Rank Skill||
I look over the corpse and look for any drops. The axe is still there so I took it. With the system, I can now hold items in my inventory, a spatial utility that seemingly puts items into another dimension.
Inventory only works on items that are system-recognized. Usually, this means that the system has to identify it as a viable utility. When an item is too weak like the knife I am using or too powerful like Tyrfing, the system will be unable to recognize it, but you will still be able to use it. Except I had to carry Tyrfing by hand and put it in a sheath on my belt.
I turn to look at the lizard and smile, knife in my hand. He'll be turning in his grave. I slowly carve out the skin from the flesh. Although the meat is poisonous, I can cook most of it off and the rest can be used to increase my resistance.
As long as one has the capabilities, the system will reward you.
After cutting for some time, all the meat had been stored in my inventory. However, just as I begin to walk towards the new exit portal that spawned, I begin to feel tired and darkness enveloped me.
This was a common occurrence in my last life. I have no idea why it happens, but sometimes after an important event, I begin to dream.
Even now I have no clue about what my dreams were. Sometimes they were about Anastasia, sometimes they were about fellow comrades, sometimes they were about enemies, and sometimes they were about angels. In the end, in all of my dreams, there was one thing in common.
They were so different.
No matter who or what I see in those dreams, it was always something different. They also vary in time too. Sometimes it would last a minute, sometimes for days. This time the dream was about Anastasia.
It is a completely different scenario than my previous life. I run through the moss path like before, spitballs of acid coming from all directions. I can feel the fear as I run, an exact reiteration of last time, except when I arrive at the boss's location, instead of seeing Anastasia's cold corpse, I see her… alive?
Anastasia stands in front of the lizard's corpse. Her demeanour is somewhat calm, contradictory to the bloody mess in front of her. I don't know, it's been over 20 years since I've seen her, but I feel that she's become a different person, almost unrecognizable.
She turns to me, her eyes calm. And from my body, I feel... awe?
It was a bit understandable. I was young and naive so perhaps in this other reality, I could have felt some awe. But now I don't find it impressive at all. Instead, I feel suspicious.
How could she do this? Is this dream reality? If it is then why did this not happen? She wasn't supposed to die? Then what was supposed to happen?
As questions continue to pop up, I open my eyes back to reality. Things have changed now.