CHAPTER 5: Challenge

I rushed into the village, scouring the burning buildings for any remaining survivors.

I heard a child scream.

"Mister! Mister! Please, anyone! Help us!"

I pushed my way through the fallen rubble and found a pair of kids hidden under the staircase of a house.

I looked for something I could use to shield them from the flames.

"Uh… Open inventory?"

I looked through the list of items.

"This should do the job. I just hope it's not too gross."

"Take out… Kobold Hide."

A pile of furs appeared along the ground as I picked them up to wrap around the children.

Luckily, they seemed to be in good condition. No dirt or trace of guts. They looked like they were professionally skinned and cleaned.

"How did you do that, mister?" The older girl asked.

"Mister just has some tricks up his sleeve," I replied.

I guided them outside of the building and told them to head to somewhere safe.

"Open inventory."

I scrolled through the list again and pulled some items out that I thought would be useful.

"Take out Shortsword, Dagger and Studded Leather."

A set of armour immediately appeared on my body and all the weapons appeared along my waist inside sheaths.

[System Alert: AC +2]

"AC? That one's new. Maybe it has something to do with the armour?"

I pulled the sword out and inspected the blade.

It was nice and shiny, I could tell it hasn't been used yet.

The blade itself was still sharp as if it were made by an experienced blacksmith.

If I were to sell it on the market, it would sell for at least 50 gold.

I suddenly I heard a scream from the center of the village followed by a demonic roar.

I remembered the quest for the demon camp and assumed the worst.

I ran in the direction of the noises and found a gang of demons inching towards a group of civilians.

Even if I had grown stronger, fighting a bunch of demons still was far from my reach.

"Activate Silent Walk"

[System Alert: Silent Walk has been activated.]

[SP: 9/20]

"I'm gonna need to conserve my SP. I only have enough to use Assassinate one more time."

I inched my way behind one of the [lesser demons] and jumped into its back.

It immediately realized my presence.

The demon roared and swung its arm back to scratch at me.

I ducked just in time to dodge its claws.

I stabbed my blade into its neck, but it wasn't enough.

The demon swung its body around as I was thrown off of it, into the nearest wall.

The civilians took this chance to flee the scene leaving my and four demons to battle it out.

My strenghth wasn't enough to cut through the demons yet.

"Activate Stealth Blade."

[System Alert: Stealth Blade has been activated.]

[SP: 5/20]

I hoped it would give me some new sword. One that was even stronger that the blade I already had.

Instead, I began seeing these shadowy lines across the ground. They seemed to be like paths that were meant to lead me.

"Here goes nothing."

I followed the nearest path as it led me through the legs of the nearest the demon.

The same demon ducked down as the path got me to leap into the air.

At that same moment, another demon swung at me. But seeing as I had preemptively dodged, its fist landed straight into the first demon's face instead.

Continuing on the thread I ran up on the demon's arm straight to the top of its head.

There, I saw a big cross on the demon's horns. It's as if I was being told to strike them.

I swung my blade and chopped both horns off in one fell swoop.

The demon screamed and I watched as it began to collapse and the energy drained from its body.

Their horns must've been their weak point.

At the same time, the paths had disappeared. It seems Stealth Blade had ended.

Though the Skill was gone, it gave me some good information.

"All I need to do is aim for the horns."

"With that being said… how am I gonna do that three more times!?"

Without thinking, my body leaped over the arm of a demon that came swinging towards me.

I took the chance to jump on it again, followign the same pattern as last time.

However, this time they seemed prepared.

The demon swung the same arm and flung me backwards towards the building behind it.

It gave me just the boost I needed to quickly grab onto its horns and cut one of them off.

The demon fell to one knee and screamed in pain.

"Just one horn isn't enough to take it out."

I leapt off of the wall and back flipped above the demon.

With my other hand, I took one of my two daggers out and threw it at the remaining horn. It lodged itself deep within its target.

As I continued to fall, I took the remaining dagger and threw that one as well, hitting the other dagger and prying the horn off of the demons head.

The dagger bounced back and landed in my hand as I put it back in its sheath.

"Two down, two more to go."

One of the demons was still in daze from being slapped in the face by his ally.

As it was getting back up, I ran towards it and lodged my sword into one of its eyes.

The demon howled and raised its head.

I gripped tightly onto my sword and was flung upwards.

As I was falling, the demon reached up to grab my whole body.

Reacting quickly, I swung my blade and chopped three of the demon's fingers off. Just enough to stop of from being able to get a hold of me.

Using gravity to my advantage, I pointed by blade downwards and landed on the demon's head, stabbing straight through its skull and taking it out.

As the demon collapsed toward the ground, the last one stared straight at me.

I bent my knees and ran towards it.

Jumping at the last moment, I swung my sword back in preparation.

Similarily, the demon brought its arm up to swipe me out of the sky.

"Activate Assassination."

[System Alert: Assassination has been activated.]

[SP: 0/20]

My sword was covered in this shadow aura and the smell of demonic blood grew stronger.

I thrusted my sword forward, colliding with the demon's palm.

"I'm not strong enough. Come on! More power!"

With every inch of strenght I had left, I pushed ahead.

Piercing through the demon's palm, I stabbed my sword, leaving a gaping hole through the demon's chest.

[System Alert: You have killed x4 Lesser Demons]

[System Alert: You will now receive rewards...]

[System Alert: Items received.]

[System Alert: XP received.]

[You are now Level 7.]

I stumbled onto the ground, tired. I could hear more noises coming closer to me.

My vision was slowly fading in and out.

"Is it more demons? No, it's more people. Are they in danger?"

I passed out from the exhaustion.