RD 3 Ch 32

Chapter 32

As if the garrotes and the lashers were not enough, I felt a new danger almost like a sixth sense.

Spinning out of the way and swinging my sword behind me, my strike barely bit into the new beast before it bounced off a hard-scaled serpent.

Its colors indeterminate, soul gaze only gave me outlines as I dodged back, slashing at the clearly serpent form to keep it at bay. It hissed and drew back, coiling for another strike.

[Obsidian Serpent

Level: 120

Status: Healthy

Strength: 4821

Agility: 5231

Vitality: 4319

Intelligence: 300

Spirit: 200

Skills:

Stealth A

Quick Strike S

Venom B]

I got the chance to inspect it in full just before it struck lightning quick.

My blade glanced off its fangs, and I shoved its head to the side as I came around again, slashing at its body with my sword. I only managed to leave a shallow wound, but that would have to be enough.

The serpent was quick, swinging back around for another attack. Its stats were high enough that I did not want to drag out the fight.

I threw a Blood Bolt at it before activating Sanguine Locking.

Mid-strike, the serpent froze from my ability. Its body shivered as it struggled in vain to break the hold. Unfortunately for it, while its other stats might be incredible, they were nothing compared to my Spirit.

I walked up to the shallow wound I'd made and dug my sword in deep, sawing to cut through its body. Its body was unreasonably sturdy. But with sanguine locking, I was able to make quick work, killing it and receiving the experience. 

Thus far in the Vault, I’d only gotten two levels and was perfectly happy to collect more. After all, there were plenty of high level monsters for me to kill.

Working my way through this vault was a way for me to grow that I wouldn't turn down, like the berries I was supposed to be collecting. I checked the bush to make sure I’d gotten them all before I headed off.

I quickly reassessed my next target for fruits, heading that direction. With my spirit, all of the locations of the fruits that we had found were essentially marked in my mind, and it was no trouble for me to rush through the forest as if I could hone in on each of their locations. 

More garrotes swept in from above, thinking I was unprepared. I fired Blood Bolts, picking them out of the sky with ease. Despite the danger they posed, they were fragile creatures.

The lashers that gave chase were incredibly short-lived obstacles. Most of them were unable to keep up with my speed for very long.

I collected what tendrils I could for future alchemical ingredients. Sadly, the masses of garrotes proved far more difficult in collecting. Before they touched the forest floor, the vault reabsorbed them, likely leaving behind loot that I had no time to collect.

I continued through the forest, quickly stocking up on fruits, aware of the inevitable friction that would come soon.

Another group spotted me during my frantic dash through the woods. Their light had given them away early, while I tried to avoid them.

I couldn't help but frown when a swarm of sparking fireflies chased after me, their shouts echoing through the trees like a bloodhound that had caught a scent.

The latest lasher snapped at my feet, but I couldn't afford to stop and entertain the vines trying to entangle me.

Instead, I launched myself against a tree and pushed off with all my might to escape from the oncoming group.

The enemy group was a classic combination: a big burly tank up front and two ranged dealers in the back.

I suspected at least one of them had the ability to heal. A quick use of Soul Gaze showed me that, stat-wise, each of them were as strong as me.

The two in the back were both mages, the woman was a lightning mage and the man an earth mage.

I could even see their spirit stat was hampered by a debuff when I pressed Soul Gaze further. While I might have abstained, it seemed others did not share the same restraint in holding back from the fruits. I had enough in my spatial ring for almost two thousand stats.

It seemed that my escape wasn’t going to work. The sparking fire flies that danced around me weren’t going away meanwhile the lightning mage was able to zip forward a hundred yards and harry me with attacks.

I planted my feet and spun around, charging them in turn.

The tank came at me hard and fast, both ranged dealers angling from the sides to prevent me from going anywhere but backwards. One lobbed bolts of lightning while the other stomped out spears of earth, trying to gore me and making my footing uneven.

Unlike their expectations, I went straight forward into the tank, activating Blood Boil and putting all my weight into the charge as I slammed into the heavily armored man. I used not just my strength, but my titan physique and the weight that came with it. 

The tank was surprised, but managed to lift his shield into place, with his sword arm wound up and ready to punish me for it.

I grabbed his shield, letting his sword slice into my shoulder, but it was already too late for him. I spun while holding his shield, using my weight to pull him off his feet before slamming him into the dirt with the kind of impact that jarred my own teeth. I just needed him down for a moment.

It seemed I’d get it by the way he wheezed.

Even as lightning and earth tried to come at me, I rushed past the tank, ignoring the singe of lightning and the burn of the wound on my should. Instead my full focus was on the earth wielding mage. 

I always hated earth mages. Creating a quagmire amid a battlefield had to be one of the most successful tactics I had seen in war.

They could reform wide swaths of land and completely restructure the tactics used on a battlefield to their advantage. Not to mention they were notoriously tough for mages.

I barreled into the earth mage, only for a platform of stone to come up at my feet and launch me into the air before I could successfully tackle him to the ground.

Lightning seared through my back, making me grit my teeth and locked up my muscles preventing me from holding onto the platform.

It was far from the first time and though I might have missed staying on the platform, I fought through the spasms and forced my legs into action.

Landing on the ground, my feet were already pedaling into a run as I rushed past the trio. I wasn't far from one of our hidden castles. I lobbed Blood Bolts behind me, only for the earth mage and the tank to take up position in the front and prevent most of my attacks from landing where I could use my blood.

The lightning mage used her mobility skill, zipping out in front, trying to chase me down.

A Crimson Barrier shot up around me, blocking the blast, but she was trying herd me away from the castle even if she couldn’t see it. 

"Get him!" the tank shouted, activating what looked like Charge to close the distance between us rapidly. 

I didn't much care for the three and the use of the classic rotating attacks. It was the same sequence I'd seen done a dozen times before when a group outnumbered an opponent. They were swapping in and out, trying to keep me on the defensive so I could never gather enough momentum to take out one of their members.

With the blood on the tank’s shield, I could perhaps throw a curse of Heavy. However, given his stats, it wouldn't be much more than a moment for him to readjust. That move felt most viable at a critical juncture. Instead, what I needed to do was break their pattern.

I continued to rush towards the little hidden castle at full speed, Regeneration was doing plenty of work keeping my body working amid the painful blasts of lightning.

The tank was a little slower than me, but managed to keep up using Charge on the lightning mage. The mage was able to decompose her body into raw lightning magic, zipping forward a hundred meters at a time. The Earth Mage was the slowest of the three though was far more consistent. He stepped forward on a surf of mud, keeping up with me and using his magical stats against my agility. 

The hidden castle was just ahead, and I knew I would only have one chance to utilize it properly.

I let the lightning mage catch up to me just before I reached the boundary, slashing at her with my sword as soon as she reappeared in human form rather than a bolt of lightning.

A dome of electricity formed over her, diverting my blade enough for her to dodge to the side. With only a scrape on her arm. The tank came barreling towards me like a pissed off lover a moment later.

I stepped backwards beyond the veil provided by the castle. 

"Where'd he go?" the tank shouted, his charge ending early as he lost sight of me. 

I slipped to the side, using the castle's cloak and jumped up to the second story. I kicked off high, throwing myself into the air as I pulled out the sword with Drop on it. I pointed my Blood Blade down on top of the Earth Mage and activated Drop.

The return to the ground, which was fueled by the ability and my not insignificant increase in density, made the plummet feel almost instantaneous. The Blood Blade pierced through him first, before I hammered the Drop sword into its pommel.

The earth mage barely began to look up as I crashed down on him with enough strength to make the ground tremble. But even with that hit, the earth mage was not dead. 

It didn’t matter, I had broken through their pattern. With stab the Sanguine Blade through his thigh and into the dirt he wasn’t getting up.

The other two rushed me while I waylaid the earth mage with a flurry of slashes, painting him with cuts and my blood as I activated Sanguine Locking and froze him in place. He was tough as a rock and I’d have to finish him later.

The earth mage choked out a whisper of help before I spun and clashed with the tank.

The ground beneath my feet gave way, causing me to slide back as I gripped my teeth. The lightning mage transformed into a giant bolt of lightning that raced down on me as the tank had me locked in place. I grabbed the tank, quickly wiping the blood off my shoulder and painting a talisman on his shield with a giant grin on my face.

They might have the numbers and the stats to go against me, but inscription could always level the playing field.

Happy New Year!