[Alert!] You have slain a Cursed-rank, Cimrian Sandworm
[Reward] Starred Lantern
(Information: A lantern forged from the fragnt of a dead star. It burns with an unstable white fla visible only to its holder, revealing creatures of the Ruin that lurk in the shadows)
Congratulations on your remarkable achievent, [Clueless]
[Your needs have been fulfilled]
***
Kyle’s grip tightened around the jagged bone as he regarded the Cimrian Sandworm’s tendrils surging towards him with scorn. To him, they seed almost slow, because Na-Ri’s fists and kicks had been far quicker, like the wind.
Besides, the little combat training she had given him in those brief hours was proving effective here.
All he needed to do was evade and strike back as fast as his body would allow.
In fact, throughout the fight, despite all the strikes that should have landed on him, not one had.
He was countering every assault thrown his way, growing sharper and more efficient with each exchange.
But that had not happened during his training sessions with Na-Ri; back then he had never managed to adapt to her strikes.
The tendrils lashed forward, cutting through the air with sharp whips of sand.
He darted sideways, narrowly evading one and twisting upward like a bullet, his movents becoming sharper and more precise against the relentless assault.
Another tendril struck him in the ribs and lifted him clean off the ground, narrowly missing the chance to sting him and drive its poison into his body.
Instead, it hurled him across the sand, flinging him nearly nine tres back.
He struck the ground hard and rolled, a spray of grit clawing at his eyes and mouth.
Despite the long throw, which had torn a flesh wound into his left arm, he dragged himself upright and refused to stay down.
The mutant reared back, its imnse body surging beneath the sand like a tide as it swam towards him in rage, preparing another strike.
"Oh, yes. Co forth to avenge your best friend...!" Kyle shouted, sprinting forward like a mad dog ready to bite.
...It was survival or nothing.
***
The creature surged to et him, its bulk tearing through the sand like a tide, closing the gap with brutal speed.
They clashed head-on, man and beast fixed on a single line.
Kyle dropped beneath a sweeping tendril, the rush of air and grit brushing past his face as it missed him by inches.
He drove forward, closing the last few steps in a leap, and ramd the serrated bone down with every ounce of strength. The crude weapon punched into the top of the worm’s head, sinking deep into the softer hide.
The monster convulsed at once, its vast body thrashing in violent spasms that shook the ground.
Kyle was hurled backwards, crashing flat into the sand, but this ti the worm’s fury ebbed.
Its enormous mass sagged, half-swallowed by the dunes, until only a long, shuddering groan escaped before it finally went still.
***
[Alert!] You have slain a Cursed-rank, Cimrian Sandworm
[Reward Granted] Vigour Pill ×1
(Information: Fully restores vitality and stamina)
Congratulations on your remarkable achievent, [Clueless]
[Your needs have been fulfilled]
***
After the manual’s familiar voice faded, silence fell across the endless desert, the air free at last from battle’s clamour.
Kyle lay still, drawing steady breaths as though the fight hadn’t been enough to leave him broken on the sand.
His eyes lingered on the carcasses of the two slain mutants, weary and unblinking, before he rolled them aside and forced himself upright.
***
Vitality: 146%
Stamina: 125%
Spirit Energy: 135/1000%
***
"Oh, wow..." Kyle muttered bitterly, realising his Vitality had plumted alongside his Spiritual energy.
The manual had seen fit to toss him a pill to restore both stamina and vigour, neatly ticking off his so-called ’need’.
His Spiritual energy, however, had drained because of the technique he had used against the two creatures of the ruin.
Without it, those tendrils would have been too fast to dodge.
The sting he barely avoided was another matter. He still could not pin down whether it had been his Na attribute at work or the technique again.
As for the second reward, it seed far more useful to him now than the lantern ever had.
Still, he reasoned against consuming the pill imdiately.
His vitality and stamina remained well over a hundred, already beyond human limits.
To waste the item now would be nothing short of stupidity.
Besides, he was still perfectly fine despite the throw and the few hits he had taken, so it made more sense to keep the pill in reserve until he was actually forced into a fight with sothing that could drive those two stats below eighty.
For the mont, his priority was to replenish his Spiritual energy and push it higher.
The real advantage was that, since the creature had been Cursed rank, the essence he could draw from it would likely be enough to push him into the Second Layer and even place him on the path towards the Third.
***
After so ti, he had carved out the two essence cores, each one resembling a rough diamond that glowed faintly red.
His eyes lit with satisfaction as he mused to himself:
"This will be my first ti consuming Cursed rank essence cores... At least it makes up for the ones I lost back in the settlent."
He tightened his grip, and both cores shattered into a spray of shimring particles that hung in the air for a mont before streaming into him through every ridian point.
A surge of energy swept across his body at once, and for the first ti he felt no backlash.
***
[You have consud a Cursed-rank Essence Core!]
[You have consud a Cursed-rank Essence Core!]
120 Spiritual Energy
Spiritual Energy: 225 / 1000
Congratulations on your remarkable achievent, [Clueless]
[You have ascended to Layer Two of Tier Two]
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