Chapter 16 - Beasts of Carnage

Beasts of Carnage were big problems even for high-level players, because most of the very strong players' abilities were magical abilities. For them, fighting a creature immune to magic was a real pain.

It was the existence of monsters like the Beasts of Carnage that made the biggest guilds in Ether Online stop thinking about recruiting more mages and focus on players who belonged to other classes as well, such as warriors, swordsmen, and Tanks, who were responsible for absorbing most of the damage.

However, Aria Valenwood, at that moment in the forest, was at a complete disadvantage standing alone against a Beast of Carnage, and Willow could imagine how Petgeon's group ended up being destroyed.

Petgeon was a mage; Aria seemed to be something between a mage and an archer; Kevneth was an archer; and, well, the other two remaining members were physical classes, but Willow didn't know what those classes were, and even if they were legendary classes, at their level they wouldn't stand a chance against a Beast of Carnage whose level was surely higher than at least 70.

All this also meant that Willow couldn't act without thinking. Yes, Aria Valenwood was in serious trouble. Only if Willow dared to show up in the clearing and draw some attention to himself to help Aria would he end up dead in an instant because he was only a level 7 player.

It was then that Willow remembered that he still had Attribute Points to distribute and two Skill Points.

Willow sat down behind a bush while listening to the sounds of battle in the clearing, opened his status window, and quickly began to distribute the points.

'Practically all my attributes are at the basic level, because I only evolved my strength when I needed to against the Blackened Golem. It would be best to distribute my points with a build in mind, and frankly, I'd like to focus on magic. However, if I focus on magic and mana now, I won't be able to help Aria and return her favor. No, even if I put all 40 points I have into strength or agility, it wouldn't be enough to stop this Beast of Carnage...'

It would be complex for any player to draw up a plan of what to do against a creature 63 levels higher, but Willow had a certain amount of experience in this because he was always weaker than the monsters he tried to fight in order to keep leveling up quickly. Especially after he decided that he would find a way to change class before the Ether Online servers closed.

'Right, I've made up my mind. I'll put 20 in Agility and 20 in Wisdom. If I reach 32 points in Wisdom, I'll gain the passive resource of being able to see the enemy's lines of attack.'

Features were passive "abilities" that players gained by reaching a certain number of attribute points in certain Attributes, mainly non-physical attributes. For example, when evolving Intelligence, each point distributed in this Attribute increased mana a little, only when reaching 25 Intelligence Points, the ability to read some older languages was granted. This was a resource, and new ones were given for each relevant mark reached.

The first feature of the Wisdom Attribute was granted to any player who reached 30 points in Wisdom, and there were several lines, like nylon threads, that appeared in the player's field of view, showing the possible trajectories of each attack. Combining this with his increased agility, he had a minimal chance of being able to dodge the Beast of Carnage's attacks, and that was what he was counting on. 

However, this was actually Willow's plan B.

Plan A, the real one, involved distracting the Beast of Carnage long enough for Aria to escape. Willow knew that if he left her to fight alone, the likelihood of victory was almost non-existent. Without wasting any time, he moved silently around the edge of the clearing, keeping low and hidden by the shadows of the trees.

From his vantage point, he could observe Aria's struggle more closely. The elf was completely focused, looking tenacious and a little frightened. Her hands moved gracefully as a new arrow was magically formed and immediately fired at the Beast of Carnage. However, the monster absorbed the impact as if it were nothing. 

While Aria fought, Willow created a pile of dry branches that could serve the purpose. He quickly gathered them together to form a small mound and picked up two pieces of gravel he found on the ground as he made his way around the clearing. With the sounds of battle being the loudest for dozens of meters, he banged the stones against each other smoothly until a spark landed on the branches, starting a modest fire.

"Lucky, I was a boy scout..." He whispered.

As soon as the flames started to grow, Willow fed them, and it was only a matter of time before they took over some bushes. After a few moments, both Aria and the monster could no longer ignore the presence of that light. 

The Beast of Carnage's red eyes turned towards the fire, and the monster let out a guttural growl, stopping its attack on Aria. It was the perfect moment for her to step back and gain a chance to escape, and that's what she did.

Willow felt a pang of relief and a surge of hope, but it was short-lived. The creature turned towards the fire and then raised its snout, sniffing the air. Willow realized with horror that the monster was detecting his scent. He barely had time to react when the beast, with frightening speed, attacked the tree behind which he was hiding, tearing the trunk apart with a single swipe of its metal claws. 

In that instant, as he heard the wood splinter and roll to the side, narrowly escaping certain death, Willow wondered how on earth this monster had been so clever. It was detected even though it was more than ten meters away from the fire, so the creature obviously reasoned that because the focus had come out of nowhere, there must be a second person there and attacked.

Still on the ground, Willow looked up, a little dizzy, and found himself face-to-face with the Beast of Carnage. The sight was far more terrifying than anything he had faced in Ether Online. The red eyes burned like embers, and the steel-black plates reflected his frightened countenance. 

Willow wouldn't stand still in a situation like this, and he instinctively raised his spear to try to protect himself, but it was too late.

With a sudden movement, the Beast of Carnage struck the spear with one of its paws, which broke in half with a dry thud. Willow fell backwards, the impact taking his breath away. Before he could get up, the beast was already preparing for another attack. 

Willow was facing death. The Beast of Carnage was only a few centimeters away, and he could feel his heart hammering in his chest and a deafening echo in his ears. The creature's hot, putrid breath reached him, enveloping him in a cloud of despair. His body was paralyzed for a moment that seemed eternal. His heavy, irregular breathing showed the dread that was growing in his mind, each fraction of time dilated by the imminence of the end.

The Beast, with its red eyes like two burning coals, raised its head and opened its mouth slowly and menacingly, revealing rows of sharp, dirty teeth. Then the sound that escaped from the monster's throat was a low, guttural roar, reverberating in the clearing like the thunder of a distant storm. 

Willow closed his eyes, waiting for the final blow that would destroy his soul along with his frail body. But something happened. There was no violent blow. Instead, he felt a deep darkness envelop his mind. It wasn't just the absence of light, but a total, oppressive darkness that seemed to invade his thoughts and emotions. He was falling — not physically, but mentally — into a black abyss. Every vestige of fear, anguish, hope, and even the memories of his happy moments in life were being drained away, sucked into the mouth of the Beast of Carnage. The sensation was indescribable, as if his being was disintegrating into a void.

'What... what's happening?' thought Willow, panicked, as he tried unsuccessfully to hold on to some spark of consciousness. The sense of loss was overwhelming, as if his soul was being torn from his body by invisible claws. 'Is that how Petgeon died? Is that how he ended up sucked in like that?'

He could no longer distinguish where the Beast ended and the darkness within him began. It was an abyss of pure terror. His arms were too weak to fight, his body was inert and unable to move. Every second that passed, more of him disappeared into that darkness — his fear, his anger, even his desire to survive. Everything was being swallowed up.

"No...!" he tried to shout, but the words stuck in his throat, suffocated by that invisible force. He couldn't let it happen. He had to escape, but how?

It was then, in the midst of his growing despair, that a spark of instinct seized him. His fingers, still trembling, moved. Without thinking, he reached forward with his right hand, as if he could grasp reality itself and bring it back. In his mind, a single word rang out: skills.

Something inside him ignited, a strange and powerful energy, and in an unconscious act, he channeled its force into the air in front of him. Willow didn't know exactly what he was doing, but that feeling of emptiness pushed him to act somehow. When his hand reached out, he felt as if there was something connecting with him and suddenly the creature's jaw closed, ending the mental and spiritual torture.

Willow opened his eyes, stunned. The creature wasn't attacking him. It was motionless. With his arm extended forward, Willow didn't know what he had done until he saw the grimoire beside him open to the Magnetism Magic page.

He blinked in disbelief. "I-I did that?"