21 attack doubled was 42. Still under his defense threshold of 31 , but only barely. If the charge connected he'd feel it, but it would be negligible.
The boar lowered its head readying it's charge as it huffed a puff of air while digging it's feet through the ground pushing and dirt and dead leaves into the air with each kick.
Victor held his ground as he gazed at the boar waiting for it to commit to the charge. He didn't have to wait too long as the boar erupted forward with a loud bang as it's feet left behind a deep impression on the ground.
Victor sidestepped at the last possible moment as the boar missed him by an inch and he gazed at it as it thundered past him towards the shallow pool.
But it quickly skidded to a halt and came to a stop and turned around with surprising agility.
Victor decided to train his dodging skills with the boar for a few minutes since it wasn't of any threat to him and it wouldn't hurt to hone his instincts even if a little bit.
He was just too strong for the animal to pose any threat to him...
.....
You have defeated a Level 1: Rotfang Boar. ]
[ XP Gained: 20 ]
[ EP Gained: 1 ]
[ Current EP: 10 ]
Victor looked at his enhancement points and he had enough for the next enhancement, he could either enhance his sword or enhance his robe.
Victor felt the robe was the better choice since he would feel safer and he already had good offensive capabilities with the rusted sword.
Victor found a dry patch of grass at the foot of one of the trees and took his seat as he decided to check the chat to see what was up only to pause as he saw a few familiar names among the death notification.
[ System Log: Player 'Lily_Pads' has been killed by a Level 1 Rotfang Boar. ]
[ System Log: Player 'Simp_Lord69' has been killed by a Level 1 Rotfang Boar. ]
Victor didn't think too much as he closed the feed and brought up his enhancement interface.
'Enhance the Cotton Robe.'
[ System: Infinite Enhancement activated. ]
[ Cost: 10 EP ]
[ Calculating... ]
The robe shimmered with a glow as a silvery light traced complex patterns through the dark fabric before fading away completely. The robe still looked the same but it wasn't the same anymore.
[ Cotton Robe +2 ]
[ Grade: Ordinary ]
[ Type: Light Armor ]
[ Attributes: Defense +50 | HP +200 ]
[ Special Trait I: Intermediate HP Recovery Restores 200 HP per second. ]
[ Special Trait II: Beginner Evasion — 10% chance to dodge incoming attacks. ]
[ Description: It looks like nothing but it is not nothing. ]
Victor blinked a bit in surprise his fingertips trembling a bit as he read the stats a few times to make sure he was seeing the right thing.
'200 HP over second'
Victor did the math and he was at 350 HP currently and with 200 HP regen per second it meant that he was basically invincible to any attack that couldn't burst his HP bar to zero.
He could just stand there in place and let the previous monsters just attack him as they pleased and it wouldn't even put a dent on his HP.
He could even fight a hoard of Monsters now , as long as he was careful. Victor had been avoiding groups of monsters due to his caution but now he has leeway to take some risks , if that could even be called risky.
In the chat logs Victor had heard the players discuss about a wolf pack and how unfortunate it would be for a party to encounter them, but now Victor had the confidence to solo the pack and walk out without any scratches...
.....
The clearing arrived without warning.
One moment Victor was navigating the fog-strangled treeline, boots sinking into waterlogged earth, and the next moment the mist simply thinned, like a curtain being pulled back.
The ground here was drier, the soil cracked and pale compared to the bog behind him. Sparse grass grew in uneven patches and the trees stood further apart, their canopies thin enough that actual grey sky was visible above.
It was almost peaceful.
Then he heard voices.
Victor stopped dead as his hand found the hilt of his sword on instinct , he stilled as he pressed himself against the tree while trying to listen.
"—not asking twice."
He knew that voice.
'Brad.'
Victor crept forward in a low crouch, using the treeline as cover until he had a clean sightline into the clearing and what he saw made him go completely still.
There were fourteen of them. Brad stood at the centre, flanked by his two cronies, the same nodding dogs from the gate and he managed to find like minded individuals to form a party and currently they were surrounding two other people.
The first one was a girl with long violet hair that fell past her shoulders.Her eyes were rose-coloured and they were currently fixed on Brad with an expression that sat somewhere between contempt and disgust.
One hand rested in her lap while the other gripped the armrest of her wheelchair.
The other was girl with long snow white hair and ice blue eyes and a cold expression on her face as she was standing between Brad and the Violet haired girl.
And the moment his eyes landed on them Victor's breath hitched as his chest tightened. It was an uncomfortable feeling he didn't like.
He recognised her immediately...Of course he did. You don't spend the better part of two years sitting next to someone, walking beside someone, learning the specific way someone's expression changes when they react to certain stuff and then forget what they look like...It just doesn't work that way regardless of how much you want it to.
'Himuro Yuki...'
She looked the same but at the same time she looked different. Both things were true and neither of them helped him at the moment.
He pressed his back against the oak and let out a tired exhale, and then he kept watching.
No matter who it was Victor would have tried to help if he saw injustice especially since he was strong enough to help out.
But now things had gotten a bit more personal. Victor didn't have a mirror to see what kind of expression he was making but it certainly wasn't a calm one...
...
"—the sword," Brad was saying, his gaze sliding from Yuki to the crippled girl and then back again in a way that didn't try to hide his intentions. "Hand it over and I'll consider being a bit lenient in the arrangement. We have got dead weight to look after, after all..." Brad pointed at the girl like Yuki had already decided to join his party not even thinking if the girls even wanted to be in a group with him.
Yuki didn't say anything as she just stared at Brad coldly while gripping the hilt of her sword tightly , and it could be clearly seen that this was a proper sword unlike the rusted trash they handed out to everyone.
Victor understood why Brad wanted Yuki's sword but at the same time he felt that Yuki was too calm which only happened when she was super pissed, and in this case this guy had called her sister Sakura a dead weight.
"Your sister can't fight," Brad continued, and now the smile he was wearing shifted into something he thought was charming. "But she doesn't have to. There are other ways to be useful. And if you're willing to be a little cooperative —" he left the word hanging in the air thinking like he made a really good point, "— I can make sure you both get taken care of."
Sakura's knuckles went white on the armrest.
Her face didn't change as her expression remained flat and she gazed coldly at Brad. But her hands were gripping the armrest tightly like she was going to deform it and Victor who saw it clenched his jaw unconciously.
During all of this Yuki hadn't spoken a single words , she just gazed at Brad with same expression one would have when facing something tedious and were just waiting for it to be over.
" You've been taking for a while , but all I've understood is that you want me to hand over my weapon and want my sister and I to join your party. You make it seem like you are doing us a big favour but I would rather jump of a cliff than ever consider partying with you clowns..." ...
.....