I jump back up onto my feet, anxiously looking around to see where the attack came from. All I can see are trees, bushes and a couple of rocks, I don't see anything that could have thrown the rock at me.
I start feeling nervous. Being attacked is bad enough, but not being able to find who attacked you is even worse. I'm still trying to find my attacker when I hear it again.
Swoosh!
I jump backward just as a stone comes flying past where I was just standing. I quickly look in the direction the rock came just to still find nothing there!
I'm starting to get increasingly anxious. Could my attacker be invisible? Or are they simply too fast for me to see? Either way it doesn't seem good to me. How can I fight something I can't see?
I decide to just run for it, the stone didn't really hurt but that's making me think that the enemy is merely toying with me.
I activate dash and get ready to make a run for it but before I can even take my fist step,
Swoosh!
Another stone passes right on front of my face but this time I think I see something.
I stare in the direction that the stone came from, there's nothing there apart from trees and a couple of rocks. The thing is, I could have sworn I see one of the rocks move!
I keep staring, but nothing seems to happen. I decide to shoot a shadow at it to see if anything happens. I know they can't cause any damage, but I, hoping to at least get a reaction.
Still nothing happens. I want to simply walk over there and attack it to see if anything happens, but that's just a stupid idea. Who walks right up to an enemy without knowing what they're capable of?
I start racking my brain , trying to figure out a way to get whatever it is to shows its self when a sudden realisation hit me.
I have appraisal!
How could I have forgotten? I was so hyped up when I got it yet I still forgot all about it!
Scolding my self mentally for my own stupidity, I activate appraisal.
[rock hermit]
So it is a monster! And the fact that appraisal worked on it means that its either the same level or weaker than me, which means I can fight it!
I'm still bit skeptical though, I don't know if it has other means of attacking other than throwing rocks, so I don't want to just attack it blindly.
After pondering for a few seconds I have an idea. I'm going to pretend to run straight at it to see what it does. It hasn't made a single move this whole time i've been looking at it so it should be bale to see me, even if I can't see its eyes.
I sprint straight towards it when I suddenly see an eye open right in the middle of it. Not even half a second after a stone materialises and shoots straight towards me. Stunned by its sudden appearance I don't doge in time and the stone makes me straight in the forehead.
"Ow!"
I get sent rolling backwards, with my head throbbing in pain. this one hurt a lot more than the first one , properly because I was a lot closer and was running towards it. It's not enough to draw blood but it still hurts nevertheless.
I get back to my feet and look back at the rock hermit, I see it scurrying to the side whilst summoning another stone to shoot at me. I manage to dodge this one, this time but I still can help but be bewildered by I bizarre appearance.
I looks exactly like a rock apart from the fact it has a single eye in it's centre and 3 crab like likes protruding from the bottom of either side. Even the way it scurries to the side reminds me of the way a crab moves.
I see it summon yet another stone and firing it in my direction, I manage to dodge it easily but honestly it's getting quite annoying. I'm pretty sure its using earth magic but its to weak to do any real damage.
I decide to blind it with my shadow magic, opting to use its own shadow to preserve my mp, I cover its one eye with its shadow but to my surprise it make no difference! it summons another stone firing it at me again with precise accuracy. It's still scurrying around almost as if it doesn't realise that its eye has been covered.
I dodge the stone whilst wondering why my magic isn't having any effect and that's when the realisation hits me.
It's must be using earth magic to find my location!
I remember reading a few web novel where some of the characters could do the same thing. it's the only explanation I can think of.
Since i'm unable to blind it I decide to move its shadow from its eye down to its feet, slowing its movements. I summon a shadow shield in front of me and run straight towards it. it again fires another stone at me, but unlike the first time when I was to close to dodge, this one hits my shadow shield and slows down significantly, giving be enough time to dodge.
As soon as I'm in range I use scratch, causing three deep grooves in its rock body. It rolls backwards and bounces off a tree. I chase after it and use scratch again this time aiming for its legs, severing two of them as a result.
It tries firing another rock at me but due to its missing legs its off balance and misses by a wide margin. I take this opportunity to use scratch one more time aiming for its eye. I feel my claws tearing through the soft tissue of its eye before I hear the sound of the system notification.
[ding!]
[you have killed a rock hermit and gained 50 xp]