By sheer luck, I managed to block Blackpearl’s direct punch. Unfortunately, even that wasn’t enough to block the damage from such a powerful blow.
I was literally thrown three ters away, and by the ti I realized what was happening, Blackpearl was already lifting up by the neck.
He was saying sothing, but the ringing in my ears and the blurring in my eyes prevented from understanding exactly what he was saying.
My heart was racing, my legs were weak, and my left arm was broken. I had no way to escape him. This was probably the end for .
Blackpearl was Rank B, and I was Rank D—maybe Rank C if I was being very optimistic about my own level progression over the last few days.
I was close to surrendering to the inevitable path to death when, amid all the visual and emotional chaos, a system notification cald down.
[You have received a new mission!]
[Mission details!]
Mission Na: Survival of the Fittest
Description: You are cornered and about to fall off a cliff, pushed by an avalanche that has a na and a reputation—Blackpearl. But isn’t it too early for you to die? Find a way to survive and get out of this situation, regardless of the consequences.
Type: Survive.
Difficulty Level: S
Success: You will survive.
Failure: You will die.
Rewards: Unknown.
Seeing this mission window didn’t give any purpose. After all, I wanted to survive and didn’t need any extra incentive with future rewards that I didn’t even know what they were yet. However, I confess that for a few seconds, I had forgotten that there was a system. My thoughts were jumbled, and everything was very confusing, but when I saw the system window, I rembered that I could use it to try to get out of this situation.
In the last two days, at least since I entered the Sun Temple Dungeon, I killed many monsters. This allowed to accumulate many more Soul Fragnts than I had before. A portion of these Soul Fragnts had been used in the fight against Laufus, but the rest had never even been touched.
After killing twelve Hollow Knights, six Ghost Wizards, and one Laufus, and factoring in the balance I hadn’t spent, I had a total of 3,000 Soul Fragnts to spend as I wished.
If I invested those 3,000 Soul Fragnts in myself, would I beco strong enough to take down Blackpearl? The chances of that were slim. So what could I do?
It was difficult to think with Blackpearl’s hand squeezing my neck tighter and tighter.
"What’s the matter, boy? Cat got your tongue? GHAHAHA!" Blackpearl said. "You seed so confident back there. Where did that courage go?"
I felt like my head was going to explode as Blackpearl continued to squeeze.
Ti was running out, but I also knew I couldn’t make a rash decision.
Level up myself or my Summons? It seed like an eternal dilemma, but despite my great pride, I chose the option that gave the best chance of survival.
[2000 Soul Fragnts were consud by Summoning.]
[Congratulations! Your "Summoning" skill has risen to Silver Level.]
[A large increase in attributes can be checked.]
[A change in the appearance of your Summons can be noticed.]
All these windows flashed before my eyes, even as everything around disappeared. The supply of oxygen being sent from my lungs to my brain was being cut off by Blackpearl’s fierce grip.
"Ah, damn it, kid. I thought you’d be more fun." Blackpearl’s voice sounded distant as it echoed in my mind.
Fooooshh!
Suddenly, I heard sothing that made open my eyes as wide as I could.
I saw a huge glow, and to my left, a ghostly figure was standing with his staff raised—Morgath.
The flas from a fireball lit up my face, but they didn’t burn when they hit Blackpearl’s right shoulder.
This made realize sothing. What the hell was I doing?! Relying on my Summons to fight? To survive?
I couldn’t put everything on their shoulders like this! I had to fight too!
Wasn’t that why I chose to be a Summoner instead of a regular Mage?
[1000 Soul Fragnts were invested in Player Attributes.]
[Control: 16 -> 20]
[Intelligence: 18 -> 22]
[Speed: 12 -> 20]
[Constitution: 12 -> 22]
[Wisdom: 5 -> 7]
[Dexterity: 11 -> 16]
[Perception: 4 -> 9]
There was no point in focusing on Strength, because I still wouldn’t be able to match Blackpearl physically even if all my Soul Fragnts were spent on it.
However, ntal attributes were just as important as physical attributes, if not more so.
This significant increase made my consciousness, even in pain, awaken.
At that mont, thanks to Morgath’s help, I saw a way out of Blackpearl’s hands as he staggered back a little.
I used my hands to grab only the thumb of the hand he was using to crush my neck and lifted it up.
Not satisfied, I used all my strength to twist that finger back like a lever.
My strength might not have been enough to break Blackpearl’s neck or a hold like he had on , but his finger was.
"ARGHHH! You bastard!" Blackpearl shouted, letting go of imdiately when he felt his bone break in two.
I landed on the ground and imdiately shouted, "Morgath, again!"
The Ghost Wizard didn’t think twice and quickly conjured a second fireball.
The incandescent magic flashed and instantly cut the distance between the wizard and Blackpearl.
The fireball hit Blackpearl squarely, who unfortunately managed to protect his face a little with one of his arms.
"Ouch, that burns as much as the sun burns my skin," he said, smiling through the smoke from the magic.
"Of course, that’s nothing for a man with beautiful skin like mine!"
Blackpearl’s sinister smile vanished when he opened his eyes and didn’t see near him.
In the blink of an eye, I was already several ters away.
"It’s no use running!" Blackpearl exclaid as he destroyed Morgath with a single punch.
"I can still get you!"
He jumped and beca a blur, just like when he surprised with that powerful punch.
However, this ti he didn’t catch so easily.
I looked back over my shoulder and saw him frowning, probably confused by my sudden increase in speed.
It was no wonder he was surprised, because I was too.
Investing my attribute points in speed changed everything!
I felt my body much lighter, even with a lot of pain from my broken arm.
Everything around seed like a complete blur, and that made my vision a little tunneled and limited, but the increase in Perception and Wisdom didn’t make things confusing.
I knew exactly when I needed to dodge a tree or jump over a thorny bush.
The increase in each attribute, ntal or physical, changed the way I saw and interacted with the world!
In addition, my much improved constitution gave even more energy to escape Blackpearl.
"I can escape! I can get away from him!" I thought as I looked back and saw that Blackpearl was unable to keep up with .
However, in that mont of satisfaction and fulfillnt, an image ca to my mind. I couldn’t tell if it was a vision or just a sudden pessimistic thought, but I saw my entire family dead, and Blackpearl was smiling over their corpses, which were slumped over and lined up in my living room.
That re thought—or vision—made stop imdiately.
My feet dragged along the ground, and I turned back.
"There’s no point in running now. He said he read my file; he knows my first and last na. With that information and the contacts he has, it won’t be difficult to find and my family later. He’ll definitely co after ... I have to end this now."
"My mana was low, and I had no more slots for other Summons, but increasing Intelligence raised my mana reserve a little, and I also increased Control. My Summons also went up a Rank, and Blackpearl is alone now. I can beat him... No, I have to beat him at any cost."
The fire spread further and further through the Forest of Thorns, and in the light of that fire, I saw Blackpearl’s shadow approaching.
The distance between us was less than a hundred ters when I stretched out my right hand and whispered:
"I won’t have much mana left to even stand after this, but I’m counting on you."
I felt my vision darken for a mont, and my body staggered as the mana that left my body created three huge magic circles in front of .
Three whirlwinds appeared in the middle of the magic circles, and tall, black shapes with bright red pupils erged.
However, these new summonings were completely different from the others in every other way.
The three were not bare-boned, but covered in dull black armor. Each piece of armor was composed of several plates to make their movents more flexible. Despite this, the three carried completely different weapons.
The first carried a large two-handed axe.
The second carried a pair of dark daggers.
The third, the one in the center, was carrying a large two-handed sword, but when he turned the sword’s hilt, the sword turned into two one-handed swords.
They were Odran, Selrik, and Laufus, respectively, the Golden Knights who had beco Black Knights.
[Unique Summoning Set Skill activated!]
[Skill Details!]
Skill Na: Golden Blood Formation.
Description: When Odran, Selrik, and Laufus are the user’s only summons on the battlefield, they activate a synergy effect that increases their strength, defense, and speed by 15%. In addition, they can perform a special joint technique.
Type: Boost.
Active Skill: Triple Golden Execution – A simultaneous attack with high accuracy and massive damage. Requires: 200 MP.
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