The Death Stinger was large, about as big as the adult Sand Beetles—as big as a bus.
But more than that, it had hard-looking armor, along with its flexible, dangerous stinger that lood right above his head. One simple mistake could spell his doom, for sure.
"Pepe, move to a safer distance..." Xu Tao warned as he slowly drew his sword. "I don’t know if I can protect you while fighting."
The enemy was level 160, way higher than his current level of 100. Just from level alone, he could tell that he was at a disadvantage... but after facing off against a level 350 boss monster, such a minor difference didn’t seem as intimidating.
Xu Tao had a simple baseline, after all.
"My attacks should work against you!"
That’s it.
As long as he could ensure that damage was getting in, he wouldn’t back away from a fight. Even if the other party could kill him ten tis over with a single strike.
SCREECH!
The Death Stinger raised a loud screech before rushing forward, aiming both pincers to catch Xu Tao.
"P-PUI...!"
Pepe did the sa, running away. Thankfully, it wasn’t being targeted by the enemy, as it was focused solely on Xu Tao, its target.
"Hmph!"
But of course, Xu Tao wouldn’t get caught by such slow pincers. He easily jumped up into the air, dodging the sweeping snappers. But this wasn’t a good idea—he had no way to dodge the incoming stinger mid-air!
"Too slow!" Or at least, that should be the case.
Using Cloud Steps, he managed to "step" mid-air, and jump the other way. The stinger, with its green liquid splashing around, barely touched his clothes—but to his surprise, sothing weird happened.
"...!"
The edge of his robe, splashed by the green poison-like liquid, started to sizzle and lt away. When the sound faded, a fist-sized hole was left on his robe—what ca from a single drop of the green liquid.
The enemy’s "poison" actually worked as an acid too!
Although this was a big thing to discover, Xu Tao remained unperturbed... mostly, at least. "Damn insect! You dare damage my only robe?! You’re seeking death!"
Of course, the enemy wasn’t an "insect," but an arachnid, and neither did it intentionally damage his robe. But that didn’t matter to Xu Tao at all right now.
Even if he was one strike from death, it didn’t change whether the liquid was poison or acid. All that mattered to him was that, due to the acid, his robe now had a hole in it—the best robe he had, which didn’t have a replacent.
And that fact alone ticked him off.
"Prepare to die!"
Xu Tao ditched his passive strategy, hitting the higher gear. He raised his sword up, before kicking the air, shooting straight down toward the monster’s head. He tried to aim toward the most obvious weakness it had—the eyes.
He swung his sword, sharp and fast, but—
TING!
His blade got deflected easily. The mont his sword was about to hit the eyes, the monster shifted ever so slightly, causing the attack to miss, hitting the hard, purple carapace instead.
The only damage he managed to inflict was a long scratch under the row of eyes, which wouldn’t even fall under the "injury" category.
SCREECH!
As if irritated by his attack, the scorpion launched its stinger once more. This ti, much faster... much more precise.
"Kuh...!"
Xu Tao couldn’t dodge in ti, and instead, had to parry the attack with his sword. He made doubly sure to be careful not to touch the green liquid, or the mist-like trace it left behind. He wouldn’t want to lose his sword just from this, after all.
After parrying the stinger aside, he then moved fast, running on the back of the monster, and hit the pesky tail. The carapace was hard, true, but the gaps between each were still a viable weakness.
He slid under another stinger attack, before finally arriving at its base. With his sword, infused with a decent amount of Qi, he slashed the lowest gap he could find.
"HAAP!"
It was a powerful strike, one that left a deep cut through the monster’s tail—but it wasn’t enough to cut it off completely.
SCREECH!
"Ugh!"
From the pain of being injured, the large scorpion began to flail around. Xu Tao fell from its back, rolling on the sand, before staring at the enemy now so distance away. But Xu Tao didn’t miss its aim. The injured monster was... slowly increasing the distance between them, escaping.
"Oh, you’re not getting away!"
Xu Tao was pissed about his damaged robe, but more than that, he didn’t want to miss out on a chance to gain more levels.
Using Ground Shrink, he closed the distance between them, and slashed his sword once more. He aid at the sa spot, but from the other side—opposite angle.
SLASH!
And with it being damaged already, the second slash "finished" the cut, sending its stinger rolling on the sand.
The Death Stinger suddenly toppled over as soon as this happened. It was shocked by the sudden loss of balance, as it lost its long, heavy stinger without warning.
"Vengeance is mine!"
And Xu Tao didn’t miss his chances.
The mont the enemy revealed its vulnerable underside, where most of the gaps were visibly accessible, he slashed once... twice... ten tis... a hundred! It was a flurry of strikes, taking advantage of the enemy’s weakened state.
In just a span of five seconds, the Death Stinger finally lost its life under a torrent of slashes.
[Detecting a Monster Kill.]
[Giving Reward: 1 Large Loot Box]
[Opening Large Loot Box... You receive 1x Celestial Night Robe]
[Calculating Level Difference... 60 levels. Granting Experience Points.]
[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]
[Congratulations! You...]
...
[...You have leveled up!]
[You are now level 116!]
[You have gained 48 free status points to distribute!]
"Whew..." Xu Tao released a sigh, sitting right where he was.
The enemy was tougher, and more troubleso than he expected. It was quite a close call, truly.
After a bit of rest, just as Pepe began to approach, Xu Tao popped open his Character panel.
He eyed his remaining free stats, all 165 points he had, and pondered. "Should I...?"
🔷🔷🔷
"Uugh...!"
Back in the settlent, Jehanne jumped toward her bed, face-down. She could still feel her cheeks burning even though Xu Tao had already left for a few minutes.
"That whisper... Unfair...!" She grumbled lightly.
Earlier, when Xu Tao told her about his plans in a whisper, the things they did the night before flashed before her eyes. The kiss that she experienced for the first ti, his warm breaths, and finally, the gentle touch over her chest.
"..."
Jehanne gently hugged herself, frowning.
Her eyes flickered with hints of tears as she vividly recalled the sensations.
"Sir Tao..." She whispered gently, to nobody in particular. "What... was it that you were gonna do to , last night...?" She posed the question out loud, as if to question herself.
As innocent as she was, she had no idea what it ans for a man and a woman of age to share a bed. The act of making a new life... the process... the pleasure... she was clueless about all of them.
"Right...!"
But then, a figure flashed in her mind, making her jump up from her bed. "I could ask those girls about it!" She said, recalling the ones currently staying in Arthur’s ho.
The seven sexy, "adult," Dark Elves!
Jehanne, of course, didn’t anticipate the complications of her decision back then. She simply wanted to pursue knowledge, in order to do "better" for her husband the next ti.
"Right... Next ti, I...!"
A next ti that, without realizing, Jehanne herself was looking forward to.
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