One moment, the creature was at the far end of the field. The next second, it was right before Len, two of its scythe-like legs raised high to the sky before swinging down.
Len was barely able to block one of the scythe legs with his blade before the other pierced through his shoulder, causing a shooting pain to flare across his body.
Shit!
With his life in danger and the throbbing pain from his shoulders that somewhat kick-started his frozen mind, Len finally swung into action.
He parried the first leg and then fixed his attention on the pointed tip of the creature's leg still embedded in his shoulder.
"Dammit!" He cursed as more legs soon shot towards his position.
Gritting his teeth, he swung his sword down, striking the leg stuck in his shoulder before leaping backwards.
SCREECH!!
The creature stumbled backwards, shrieking in pain as dark purplish blood spewed from the mangled leg as it was bent to a weird angle.
Urghhhh.
Len quickly used the brief respite to steady his mind before staring ahead.
"Alright. I can do this." Exhaling softly, he gripped his sword tightly.
The creature's bloodshot eyes were fixed at Len, foam dripping off its mouth incessantly as it charged forward.
Its posture was awkward, Len noticed as he swung his sword down, blocking another set of legs. His feet slid backwards just from the sheer force.
Strong!
The creature didn't let up as it charged forward, swinging more of its legs.
In the next few seconds, Len struggled madly in blocking the creature's razor-sharp legs.
At one point, the creature snapped forward, its Maw stretched widely in a bid to chomp off Len's head.
Len managed to evade by kicking the side of the creature, causing its Maw to snap shut, chomping on nothing but the cold air.
At the same time, Len swung his sword down at the creature's carapace only for it to harmlessly bounce off leaving just a white mark.
"Fuck! How the hell do I kill it!" Len thought, leaping backwards again.
Meanwhile, the creature finally regained its bearings before charging right at Len.
"Dammit! Can't you just give me a moment to think you slimy bug!"
Swinging his sword in anger, he struck one of the legs away only for more to strike him from multiple points.
"Shit! It's fast. Fucking fast." Len barely evaded another of the scythe-like legs that skimmed past his face, leaving a slight cut on his neck while pushing his sword skills to the max in blocking the others.
"Arghhh!"
Adjusting the grip of his sword, he slammed the flat side at the creature head, causing it to stumble backwards.
Len felt his arms beginning to grow numb and failed to react quickly to the creature's desperate retaliation.
Its leg tore through his armour, piercing his side.
"Urghhh," a pained groan, escaped his lips.
He allowed the force to hit him, causing his body to fly backwards, landing roughly on the uneven ground.
Cough~ Cough~
"How... the hell... is this thing so strong!" He muttered between coughs, quickly forcing his body up, hand clenching his bloodied side.
Right from the start of the battle, Len had been unable to do anything but defend. The attacks he managed to land were unable to harm the creature.
But after a series of clashes, his stance finally changed.
'I'll be able to defeat it,' he thought, letting out a deep breath mixed with a slight grimace.
For the first time since the bloody fight began, Len was the one to charge forward this time around.
Twisting his body, he evaded the creature's rapid thrusts. He was beginning to see the pattern of the creature's attack.
At the same time, he was able to strike the creature quite a number of times before jumping backwards.
"Dammit! The sword is unable to cut through its thick carapace. I need a solution."
Both clashed once more, the creature getting infuriated each moment as Len began to land hit after hit on its body.
"I need a way through that exoskeleton." He thought, parrying two of the creature's legs easily.
His eyes landed on the slimy mouth of the beast as a plan began to form in his head.
"Will it work? Fuck it... I don't have any other choice!"
Leaping backwards, Len tensed his muscles before exploding forward, his eyes emitting a deadly glint.
"Is swinging those damn legs of yours the only thing you can do! He taunted mid charge.
He evaded and deflected get another couple of strikes before sliding underneath its massive frame.
"Let's end this!"
He thrust his sword forward, piercing through the soft fleshy bottom of the creature's mouth.
A piercing wail echoed within the area rattling Len's bones.
Len quickly rolled away as the creature staggered forward, purplish blood pouring from the deep cut in its mouth, before collapsing on the ground with the sword further piercing through its head.
Breathing softly, Len held his aching shoulder.
"Those slimy stuff aren't for show, huh?" He muttered with a slight grimace.
The clothing around his left shoulder had melted along with parts of his skin all due to the slimy juice from the creature's mouth that dropped on him.
Finally, the creature breathed its last.
"Pheeew. That was close. Way too close." He groaned, gently sitting on the ground. His body was sore from the creature's crazy attacks.
He also noticed the injury on his shoulder and side had stopped bleeding. Though, moving constantly was sure to get them bleeding again.
"How the hell am I going to survive if another creature shows up? My sword has most likely been destroyed by that creature's acid slime.
My body is too sore to even move. I'm fu-"
He suddenly stopped mid speech, distracted by the panel that flashed before him, whispering his 'feat'.
[You've slayed an F-rank creature... Crimson Maw Fiend...]
[Your soul force has increased...]
[You've received a relic...]
Len stared at the panel for a moment, unsure of what he had just heard.
"An F-rank creature. All these from an F-rank creature? Dammit!" His gaze soon landed on the last notification.
'A Relic! This is good.'
A light slowly glowed before him for a few seconds before fading away. In its place was a long curved dagger with a crimson blade. The hilt was made from a dark, old-looking leather wrapped around it.
The panel flashed once again along with the ancient whispers of the Tower.
[Relic: Crimson Fang Dagger]
Grade: [F]
Type: [Weapon]
Description: [A crude yet sinister blade forged from the hardened fang of a Crimson Maw Fiend]
Skill: [Paralysis]
Description: [Each successful cut injects a trace of corrosive venom into the target's bloodstream causing paralysis.
Repeated strikes can be stacked and accelerate paralysis spread]
Len stared at the description before staring down at the dagger in his palms. A rare smile bloomed on his face as he spun the dagger effortlessly over his fingers.
"Long time, huh."
Closing his eyes, he felt the dagger slowly break into particles before finally vanishing from his sight.
With the same calm look, he stretched forth his hand, and seconds later, the dagger appeared in his palms.
"Good."
Due to his assimilated memories, Len possessed a fair understanding of the Tower and the status panel granted to ranked humans. After all, he hailed from one of humanity's elite families.
Those accepted by the Tower were granted quite a variety of unusual powers.
What he just did was store the weapon within his soul space and call it forth when needed.
"The time range is a bit lacking," he muttered, storing the dagger back in his soul space.
As one brought up in blood, he knew how precious a few seconds were in a battle.
Len spent an hour regaining his lost strength. Fortunately, the second reward he received had replenished most of his strength, his body already working furiously in doing the remaining work.
After an hour, Len finally continued his journey, carefully using the forest trees and shrubs as a cover while traversing the area.
After a couple of hours, he finally stopped in his tracks. Not because he was tired but because of what he saw before him.
Just ahead of the trees and shrubs was a path which led to an opening filled with tents and quite a number of people. It appeared to be some sort of camp.
Thinking for a moment, he finally prepared himself in case things turned crazy. After all, he hadn't forgotten the warnings of Von.
Letting out a deep breath, he continued through the windy path and finally arrived at the opening…