Buji still lay on the ground, his body motionless. His mind clouded with thoughts of his failure. At the verge of success, he had failed.
The Lycan's claws gleams ominously under the dim lit of the dungeon, poised to deliver its final attack. Whether the attack will co as a fatal one or not, it was surely going to end Buji's life. Each second felt like an eternity at the thought. Buji tried to brace himself for the inevitable.
But, Buji was taken by surprise by the sound.
The sound faded in his ears as he slid his eyes open.
"What? How?"
As the Lycan's claws began it's decent, Buji had heard a sharp, piercing sound. But he wasn't sure what it was. He just wanted to close his eyes until everything was over.
But, "shiiinnng!"
The sound was unmistakable. The sound of the blade, slicing through the air.
His eyes fluttered open. Confusing, mingled with disbelief could be seen clearly in his eyes. The Lycan groaned in pain, and staggered away from where Buji lay.
It twisted it's massive body awkwardly, trying to console the pain that keeps making it uncomfortable.
"HOW THE FUCK DID IT GET THERE?!"
Buji's Aetherfang protruded from its back, directed correctly into the creature's core. The blade of the Aetherfang shimred with a faint golden light.
"Still...what?" Buji whispered weakly, struggling to sit up.
He didn't know if he should be happy that he was saved. He is alive, really. But he still felt he should have died.
Soone, he thought that his death might bring him another luck. Or doom, either way, which he wasn't ready to face first. So, now he had the opportunity to still live, he was going to make use of it.
His vision was still hazy, his body still struggled and trembled with exhaustion as he tried to get up. He hadn't thrown the blade, so...so, how has it struck the Alpha?
"Slow to death, huh," Buji murmured while his stare was focused on any of them.
It thrashed wildly, trying to dislodge the blade. But, Aetherfang seed buried deep, with its pulsating energy drawing his attention. The once unstoppable beast had finally faltered, and it was making too sluggish moves.
Sohow, Buji's attention was drawn to the magic staff, still firmly planted in the ground. Its orb was flowing faintly. The realization dawned on him.
The realization that since the orb had glowed, it ant it acted autonomously. It must have sensed it wielder's desperation and guided the Aetherfang to strike the Lycan. And it really struck it at the correct place—its core.
"Woohoo!" Buji muttered, forcing a weak grin to appear, and pushing himself through the struggle to stand to his feet. His legs felt like jelly as he stood up.
It wasn't ti for any form of collapse, so, he had to get through the exhaustion and pain that washed over him Since he had succeeded in being alive, he needed to complete other tasks before the ti was over
He carried his legs to where the staff was planted, and pulled it out. "You are one hell of a tool," Buji said, caressing the top part of the staff before using it for his next action.
He aid the orb at the Lycan's body, and for the second ti, the staff controlled his sword. It pulled Aetherfang through, into Buji's hands and finally, flickered before going out.
As the sword flew out from the back of the Lycan, it let out a painful, guttural glow before collapsing to the ground.
[You have slain the Alpha Lycan: Thorax!]
[EXP: 600]
[Level Up!!]
[Level Up!!]
[Level Attained: 65]
'Congrats, Buji.'
.
.
.
.
.
[HP: 1,200/2,000]
Buji dropped to his knees, his chest heaving. The dungeon was silence once more, except for the sobs from the boy who knelt on the floor.
'Do you know what pain I could have felt if I started all over gaining?'
He glanced up at the system's screen hovering in his front to note his fonts.
"That... was intense,* he muttered, faking a tired smile to spread across his face. "But, I did it."
[New Skill Unlocked: Lycan's Fury]
Buji smiled weakly but still pushed the system's screen out. He was likely not in a good mood.
[>>>>>>>>!]
"Start going , no ti."
His tir notification just popped up monts later to warn him that he should try all he could to ensure completion of the quest.
He brought out a foot in a step forward manner, and sothing happened afterwards. Sothing overwhelming enough. The feeling that sothing even more dangerous was coming, creeped in imdiately.
The whole environt began to change.
"What now...?" Buji whispered, his voice trembling as he gripped Aetherfang tightly in one hand and his staff in the other.
His environnt, and the space around him solidified into a nightmarish domain, the kind that only sothing so powerful can be able to conjure.
"Is this a result of Thorax's death?" Buji thought. "Is it this powerful that even at its death, it can conjure such domain."
But the system had clearly inford him that he stained the Lycan. Which ant that, it wasn't the dead Lycan, it was sothing else. Sothing so powerful.
He glanced on the ground. The ground beneath his feet was no longer stone, but a fleshy, pulsating surface. The walls of the domain stretched endlessly, shining with the bright color of yellow-like fluid, plastered all over.
Above him, a swirling vortex of blood-red clouds churned, crackling with streaks of golden lightening that illuminated the dark open space in fleeting bursts.
Buji remained frozen. His eyes rapidly darting around the environnt of this nightmarish domain. He will just have to et his end. Limited ti, yet, fiery sothings to overco.
In the center of this hellish space stood a figure, or a statue—what Buji could only describe as a shadow given monstrous form. It produced a massive silhouette, that even dwarfed the Alpha Lycan he had just slain. In between the body of the monstrous figure, was a lock. A circular lock that was engraved right at the stomach position.
That was not all Buji could observe. The figure has eyes made of two burning orbs of violet fla. It just exudes a suffocating aura. An aura that threatened to crush Buji's will to continue.
Before he could make any more moves, the screen flickered to his sight.
[Retrieve the Emberheart Core!]
[00:09:15! Counting down!]
"Huh!" Buji gawped with eyes widened. For the system to appear at this mont, it ant the core should be sowhere located in this domain. But where?
His eyes searched the whole space. He didn't think there was a doorway for leaving, or any pathway. He was good as trapped in an enclosed container that has neither an entrance or exit.
But...
This figure standing right in front... The statue.
Buji's eyes flickered with hope. 'And, that circular engravent in its body must be the lock,' he thought.
Without thinking twice, he rushed to the figure and was about to touch the lock when he got pulled back by this air that ca with a strong force.
"What was that just now?"
[The Player has used the wrong approach!]
[Bing! One trial left...!]
Buji's breath quickened as he regained his balance, and managed to take a step forward. His knees were threatening—threatening to buckle under the imnse pressure.
He glanced at the system's screen, hoping to get more information. To get guidance. But, it flickered erratically, with its tezt distorting before going off.
He was either in fear at the mont, or in his dilemma to complete the quest within the shortest period of ti. He was almost there and shouldn't give a fuck. He shouldn't turn foolish at the last point of this crucial event.
He looked around him, the domain seed to be mocking his desperation as they shifter and changed around him. The walls closed in one mont, only to stretch outward the next, making any attempt to navigate almost impossible.
Buji was indeed desperate at the mont, but he seed to have realized what way he needed to approach the figure.
Concentration...
Judging from how the domain walls and its own environnt acted towards the emotions of a person, it only ant there were all factors geared at distracting the soul present. The fact was very simple, but would even be rare to find any intelligent being to understand this.
Just like while counter attacking where one uses the attack of the opponent against him, you need to use the atmosphere of this domain. If it was noisy, then you need concentration. In the sa vain, if it was calm, you had to be a bit noisy. That way, you have passed through.
And that was just that helpful fact.
Buji didn't know he has reached closer to the figure and has even placed his hands on the lock. He was only shocked when he noticed a glowing purple light orb.
"Purple!"
Then, the system's notification appeared with its ti limit screen.
[00:00:59! Remaining.]
Reviews
All reviews (0)