The Second Lunar Eclipse - Surrealistic

The storm did not stop as the water's elevation was already halfway through the dissolving flattened body of the remainders of the dead Giganslik.

Renir deeply breathed in and out, trying not to lose consciousness. Now that he rested, he was immersed in the pain and fatigue his body was dealing with.

But he didn't even have the strength to grit his teeth.

The Giganslik's core was bigger than he had ever expected. He just ripped a bit in that final clash and there were more in the middle of the Giganslik's body.

Just that, Renir didn't have the strength to move yet as the bits of core he just ate was not enough to heal him.

Some of his wounds recovered and his right hand was already recovering its bone, so all that energy did not replenish his strength the slightest but just barely healed him.

The black slime's core didn't have that much energy to heal or replenish his strength. But it doesn't mean it was useless, it was just unknown to Renir what the Giganslik's core was giving him.

But still, Renir finally defeated the Giganslik, he smiled widely amidst the amassing anguish he felt. It was so unbelievable, too surreal.

Also, he didn't know what time of the night was it now, but even if he did, he couldn't do anything about it since he couldn't move.

'Is it even still the ninth night?', Renir did not have the slightest idea because of the clouded sky.

But he will eventually know if the second lunar eclipse occurred since the Water Sentinel will reveal itself in front of him when that happens.

And that was what Renir was afraid of. What if he still couldn't move when that happens?

The Water Sentinel wouldn't wait for him to recover. Just like any creature in Gantlet, he was sure it will come to ravage him as soon as he saw it.

But he thought about it, 'Isn't the Water Sentinel stronger than the Giganslik?'

Renir shuddered more even with his trembling body.

He was placed on the verge of death for so many times already while fighting this first harshest challenge and with a little span of time, the second one will come.

Renir didn't complain any longer. He was already inured to this harsh, brutal, and cruel world called Gantlet.

'Land of trials, my ass.'

But that was why he needed to hurry up and recover so that he could feast on the remaining majority of the Giganslik's core to gain his strength back.

Actually, he needed time to go into the cave and look into the rune to see if he has enough experience to upgrade himself.

While paralyzed with pain, Renir just blankly stared at the lightning-dragon-infested clouds and had his head working on his thoughts.

He didn't have any idea yet how this experience works since the rune didn't say anything about it.

So he needed to look at it first and learn how much experience he gained, and if that is sufficient for an upgrade to rank 7.

He learned that with every rank gave a higher upgrade, so if the fifth upgrade gave him improvement to both transcendent skills that he has no idea how to use, then what about the sixth upgrade?

Renir's lips slightly lifted as he thought what was the sixth upgrade would be. Still, he was anxious since he wasn't sure if he gained enough experience since he only accumulated 342 EXP since the first night that left 12 EXP, and what he needed was to reach 200 EXP.

'188 EXP? In just one night, could I gain so many?', that was the reason behind his anxiousness.

Renir sighed as he gained enough strength to sit up.

"Ahh...", like an old man with a harsh voice, he groaned while just sitting up.

Renir didn't want to look at his right hand since he thought he would puke at the sight of it, so he tried to hide it.

But how hard is it to do what you tell yourself not to do?

Like, don't think of a blue turtle, but immediately, an image would pop in one's head.

So Renir couldn't help to look at his mutilated arm.... it was disgusting, foul, abominable, nasty, horrible, pitiful.... and so many negative thoughts swirled in Renir's head that made him paler than ever and made him wanted to puke.

But he held it in since he already expected it. It was just awful at sight and the pain throbbed miserably.

Renir's respiration hastened when the pain filled his entire body.

'Don't think about it, don't think about it!', he repeated in a litany, but the more he thought about that, the mire he felt anguished.

"Ahh...ahh!!", Renir started to groan as sweat and tears covered his face that helped the rain wash away the blood.

Renir wanted to shout but instead, used that strength to grab more of the Giganslik's core and desperately eat as much as he could using his left hand, like a hungry hobo finding food in a pile of garbage.

Relative to its size, the Giganslik's core was huge!

Even if it doesn't have enough energy to heal him much, but because of its mass, after a minute or so, Renir finally regained half of his strength which made him eat faster.

"Sii~~...", when Renir finally ate all the Giganslik's core, he rested and gained composure as he breathed deeply.

Renir's opened his eyes and saw that his right hand was healing faster than before.

That scene where his bones were slowly recovering, his newly produced muscle strands entangling and covering the bone, and then his skin coating them all was still new to Renir and he couldn't get accustomed to its surrealism.

Was he even human now?

But that was no time for philosophical bull when Renir didn't know when the Water Sentinel will come but he just knew that time was nearing.

Renir slightly stretched his body and jumped into the flood. With a splash, he entered the water and felt stings on all his wounds but soon, it was gone. The remaining blood that covered his whole body was left on the water surface.

Being underwater was better for his wounds and injury than being exposed to the ravaging rain.

But even with all those wounds and injuries, Renir effortlessly dived and entered the cave without much movement.

Eating all those water creatures made him like a man born in the sea itself.

If he wanted to, maybe he can race with the jetskis back on Earth.

When he confronted the rune, he noticed that there was still light there. Renir looked and saw it was coming from the stairs.

Currently, that whole cave was filled with water, what could that light come from, it shouldn't be the torches, right?

But when he looked at it, he saw that it was strangely so...

Renir's eyes widened, he didn't imagine that these torches were so mysterious. He could've used them to defend against the slime kind before!

He gravely regretted, but soon after thinking about it, he couldn't have improved so much if he used those torches, and eventually, he would face against those that the torches couldn't do anything about.

So it was fine, he guessed. And it was already late to use them. Maybe for lighting purposes so he kept in his mind that he may use it for later.

Renir turned back and saw the passage too. Inside it was another cave with its own torches and the demon marionette.

When he noticed it again, the demon marionette still stood strongly without blinking or moving any muscle. His red eyes just followed Renir's movement.

Another strange thing was, Renir also noticed that there was some kind of barrier that shielded the flood from entering the passage.

'Is it an illusion?', Renir was curious enough to overcome his fear of the demon marionette, 'He's chained, he's chained...', he wanted to breathe deeply but he was still underwater.

Renir then loomed near the passage and gained the courage from his curiosity.

There was still a distance between the two ends of the passage so in front of the demon marionette that stared at him, Renir put his hand forward and felt there was no water.

'So it wasn't an illusion?!', when Renir saw that the demon marionette still didn't do anything even if his scythe could reach Renir, he gained enough courage to get out of the water.

"Woah!", he was stumped to see that there was no water in there and that he could breathe normally!

He turned his back on the demon marionette that unblinkingly stared at him and looked at the water that was like a wall.

".... awesome...", he mumbled, but soon, he was hit with anxiousness again as he remembered he didn't have time to be immersed in something like that.

Renir jumped into it then swam towards the rune and touched it as soon as he could reach it.

While he was busy, the moon arrived at Gantlet the tenth time with its shadow slowly covering itself;

The second grand lunar eclipse began.

Oblivious to this, Renir thought, 'Experience', and the rune glowed along with his eyes.

[

Experience

Unit of what the Rune User underwent, learned, overcame, and their literal experience in surviving in Gantlet that can be converted into skills using the Rune's upgrades.

The Rune User currently has experience points of:

0275 EXP

]

Renir's eyes widened, 'What a surprise!', he elated!

'Upgrade'

[

Upgrade

The Rune User's most-used skills while surviving in Gantlet will be significantly improved using the Rune.

The Sixth Upgrade requires 0200 EXP

The Rune User must speak "Sixth Upgrade" to confirm the first upgrade.

]

"BLUBUB!", Renir smiled.