Seeing the Hobgoblin that was closing in on him, Damian was reminded of the ti he had t the stray Hobgoblin.
The possibility of ending it all with a single strike tempted Damian to use the Goblin Bat once again, but his clear head completely threw that idea out of the window.
Lets give it a proper go.
Fate wasnt sothing that a human could manipulate. It wasnt always going to work just because it did once. Rather than relying on chance, Damian wanted a proper fight with his ultimate enemy.
If even that ended in failure, Damian would gladly accept the result, but he wasnt a gambler who would waste all of his effort on one single bet.
Most importantly, he was no longer the sa Damian who had to struggle to stand up to his opponent. His body might still be lacking, but he was now an official knight!
Greee!
Although he only had a shortsword in his hand, Damian felt extrely confident for so reason. He didnt wait for the Hobgoblin to reach him before lunging forward.
Swish!
Learning from his past experiences, Damians first Aura Slash went for the Hobgoblins stomach. The beast quickly reacted by constricting its stomach muscles.
However, while the shortsword wasnt able to reach the Hobgoblins organs, enough window was opened to insert a proper injection.
Grrrrrr!
The Hobgoblin swung its club horizontally, but Damian was already prepared to duck. He knew well enough not to be greedy for hits. The poison shot only ca after.
Argh!
Having delivered the poison into the Hobgoblin's bloodstream, Damian no longer planned to take out any more daggers. He wanted to focus on the battle instead.
An intravenous injection would have been more reassuring, but Damian didnt have the leisure to choose the mode of application. Besides, this magical poison took no ti to work as long as it was sohow inside the targets body.
Grrr!
Grrr!
The Hobgoblin continued swinging left and right while it still had most of its stamina. Unfortunately, it only t empty air.
His exchange with the first Hobgoblin was truly educational. Though it was rely part of the reason why he found this battle to be a lot easier.
The effect isnt that apparent when it cos to running, but things are much smoother now.
The effect of increased Agility wasnt limited to walking or running speed, it affected every single movent that the body could make.
An increase of 2 points barely affected sothing like running where the whole body contributed to the action. However, when it ca to ducking, leaning to the side, or even slashing, Damian could recognize his new advantage.
It might not have felt that great if he was fighting a buff Goblin, but this Hobgoblin was just as slow as the first one.
Swish!
With stronger Aura, Damian only needed one successful slash to cripple the Hobgoblins dominant arm.
It quickly changed hands once it found itself in such a precarious situation. However, its clumsy movent with it made it easier for Damian to cripple the other arm.
At this point, the battle felt incredibly repetitive, but that was just how predictable Hobgoblins were, especially when Damian applied the very sa tactics.
It might no longer be necessary.
Although the poison started to take effect by then, Damian no longer found it to be crucial. The Hobgoblins flailing arms werent exactly that threatening.
Before the Hobgoblin got too dizzy to walk, Damian delivered two Aura Slashes to its neck and sent its head flying with the third.
[ You have defeated a Hobgoblin. FP 2 ]
After running for so long and dealing with a whole Den, Damian had to be out of breath even with an additional 2 points in Constitution. That being said, he wasnt going to wait to check the Hobgoblins body.
Great.
The first loot box ended up being full, so Damian didnt stop there, he turned to the close Goblin and opened it up to find another Life Stone.
He didnt run towards the next Goblin, but Damian took fast steps forward. If his harvest was big enough
Its raining.
Despite the recent shortage of drops, this Den wasnt the least bit inferior to the first one that he encountered. Including the Hobgoblins, Damian pocketed 5 Life Stones!
Coupled with the ones that he already collected, 10 Life Stones felt like a perfect number to attempt another absorption session. Attacking the next tier might be even possible!
Iris, pay attention. I might need your help.
Damian was just guessing at the next threshold, but Iris was the one who had practical information. Just in case sothing went wrong, he needed to be able to ask her about it.
After all, just because he could always retry it, struggling to succeed the first ti was still better than imdiately surrendering to the fate of death.
{I will try my best!}
Iris had been watching Damian as he excitedly collected the last Life Stones, and she couldnt help sharing that excitent. All she felt before were foreboding emotions, but she was just starting to learn about looking forward to things!
Now!
Trying his best to pass his Aura hooks into the 10 Life Stones at the sa ti, Damian felt a rush of energy going through his body.
These Life Stones werent that much bigger compared to the ones he used in the last absorption session, but the volu that they produced was stronger.
Absorbing more resources at once was definitely more beneficial for Iris!
[ Aura 1 ]
This ti, Damian didnt feel his body becoming bloated as the hungry ring kept feeding on everything that it saw.
[ Aura 1 ]
[ Aura 1 ]
It kept growing thicker and wider as the energy supply kept going strong!
[ Aura 1 ]
[ Aura 1 ]
However, at one point, Damian suddenly felt a painful tightness in his heart. Did the ring grow too big? Damian could barely focus on anything as the pain assaulted all of his senses.
Iris!
{What happened?!}
Seeing Damians expression, Iris rushed forward, floating as close as she could. Unfortunately, as ghostly as she appeared to be, Iris couldnt actually see through Damian to figure out the problem.
The ring Is too Heavy
It was painful, but Damian managed to collect his thoughts sohow, mouthing out what he felt.
{Try splitting it!}
Although Iris was quite shaken, she still gave the first proper answer that ca to her mind. She didnt know the proper process of advancent, but she was at least aware that the number of rings should increase.
On the other hand, Damian had also reached the sa conclusion. At first, he thought that the ring would change automatically on its own like the first ti it was ford. Yet, the pain didnt seem to be going anywhere.
No matter how he looked at it, it appeared like he had to get involved in so way or another.
As lost as Damian was, he quickly ca up with a plan of action. While couldnt use physical force to affect what was happening within his body, he just had to do the sa thing he did to the Life Stones.
With the little concentration he had left, Damian drew so Aura out of the wrong before attempting to form two hooks.
The process was still quite a struggle. The shape and form of whatever he created felt strange, but Damian didnt care about it. As long as it could act as his hands, anything would do.
Break open!
Without further ado, Damian used his Aura Tools to hold the sides of the ring, trying to pry it open into two. However, even when he gave it his all, it still didnt seem to work.
Just as Damian was starting to think that this pain was a necessary process, the ring suddenly clicked!
[ Aura 1 ]
With the addition of the last deposit of energy, the stubborn ring split open with the slightest touch!
[ The Second Aura Ring has been condensed. ]
The split happened from both sides as if Damians actions were unnecessary, forming an acute angle between the new double rings.
[ Platinum Aura Nurturing has reached Tier-2. ]
The System ssages appeared as soon as the pain in Damians heart started to disappear. Even when he had achieved his target, Damian was still perplexed.
So I just had to wait?
Did everyone who advanced have to endure so much pain? Did what he did have any aning at all?
This was yet another disadvantage that soone like Iris had. Lack of basic information.
{Is it over? Is everything alright?}
As Damians face eased a little, Iris stared at him, hoping that nothing bad had happened. She didnt even care to ask if the advancent really worked.
Its alright. The advancent was a success.
{Eh?}
Having expected the complications to result in failure, Iris was surprised to hear that everything worked out in the end.
What do you think? You should be the fastest one to jump two tiers in a matter of days, right?
Looking at Damians smile, the surprised Iris wasnt sure what to feel.
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