Odds against the boy (part 4)

Whatever amount of HP Zorey recovered was instantly depleted by the bloodthirsty monsters.

There was no escape if only there was a way to prevent one of them from continuing to att...

"!!!"

Zorey's eyes widened as he suddenly remembered about the lesser spark gem he had in his pocket!

His struggle wasn't pointless! There still was a chance!

"G-GAAAAARGHHH!"

*RIIIIIIP*

"Arf?!"

The boy howled and pulled his hand from the lock of the monster's jaws – ripping it apart into a gory mess but at least freeing it in a reckless action that caused that one beast to yelp in shock.

"MEND! *CRUNCH*

Zorey growled the activation command for his Skill while showing the messed-up hand in his pocket, so focused on the feel of the small gem that he almost didn't feel the pain.

"AHAAA!"

The black-haired boy roared triumphantly, taking the lesser spark gem out, about to crush and activate it when...

*crack*

[The item has expired]

*whoosh*

The yellow gem crumbled within Zorey's palm and disintegrated into nothingness while a casual notification popped up in the right corner of his vision.

"...wh-wha...?"

The boy uttered in disbelief as the light of hope in his eyes got extinguished by the cold and harsh reality.

*CHOMP*

"..."

The Stone fang dog seized Zorey's rained hand and brought it down, ripping into it, but the black-haired boy didn't even scream out in pain as if succumbing to his fate.

*clack* *clack* *clack*

The sound of claws against the rocks announced the arrival of the Iron Fang wolf, and it became clear why the Stone Fang dogs weren't trying all that hard to kill him.

They were waiting for their leader to deal the finishing blow so they could gain the experience points.

That must have been why they left the boy's throat alone...

At that moment, something inside the young priest of death broke.

Not in a big way; he didn't go insane or suddenly trigger some hidden potential he carried unnoticed throughout his entire life.

It was just...

"Oh... it's my turn to return to the System. It would suck if I became undead and Vernlily saw me like that... Prayer."

...acceptance...

Or maybe just indifference?

Honestly, it's quite hard to tell the difference sometimes.

*Haaa~*

Zorey's expression became peaceful, and he even smirked a bit while activating the Skill to clear out resentment and malice in himself to minimalize the chances of having his data corrupted.

"Grrrr...?"

The Skill had the side effect of making his body glow briefly, which did shock the dogs and the wolf, but it at most received a worried growl and nothing else.

The dogs realized that it wasn't a physical buff, so the tails they tucked under their legs perked up again.

"Graugh!"

"...arf...?"

But then, the wolf snarled, and the dogs yelped in confusion.

The severely wounded monster approached with its head menacingly low as if it was ready to pounce, and the weaker beats all backed off, releasing the human.

"GRRRRR....!"

The creature growled while circling around the confused Zorey, but without closing the distance completely, as if it was scared of the light, the black-haired boy was basking in.

"...!"

Zorey tensed up as the new ray of hope flickered at him from the darkness.

If the creature was afraid, then maybe...!

"GRAUGH!"

"RAAARGH!" *CHOMP*

"AURGHHH...!"

And yet, the next moment, the wolf snarled, and one of the dogs jumped at the black-haired boy from behind, sinking its teeth in his shoulder, ripping the human's flesh apart.

"Gemstone creatiooon!"

*ting*

Without even properly thinking things through, Zorey howled a Skill name, and a red gem appeared in his bloodied hand with a soft sound.

*thwack* *crack* *whooo*

"IYAUGH...?!"

"!!!"

Zorey had barely enough strength to smack the creature in the face, but it was enough to break the lesser fire gem and activate it, creating a blob of fire that charred the monster's nose, causing it to yelp back in shock...

...and more importantly, the action made the Iron Fang wolf back off while cowering with a tail neatly tucked between its legs and its ears folded down...

The young priest of death might have come to terms with his own life ending, but that didn't mean that he would just let himself be killed when there was another way!

"Gemstone creation. Gemstone creation."

*ting* x2

Going with his gut feeling, he hurriedly used the Skill two more times, ending up with red gems in both hands.

"GRAUGH!"

"A-arf...!"

The wolf growled furiously, baring its fangs at the dogs in the back that weren't too eager this time...

"GHRAUGH!"

"Raaargh!"

But with one more snarl, the fear the smaller monsters felt towards their leader was greater than the fear of the unknown Skill the human had, and the monster with the largest DEF stepped over its comrade, rolling in the dirt, trying to soothe the burns, and jumped at the blowing boy.

"...mend...!" *CRUNCH*

*CHOMP*

Zorey used his healing Skill in order to survive the oncoming attack and actually let the monster bite him.

And as the Stone Fang dog's teeth sunk into his flesh...

*crack* *whooo*

"FHUIIIHH...!"

The boy cracked the lesser fire gem against its white belly, unleashing the fire magic sealed within and burning the creature that yelped and fell to the ground shaking.

[You defeated Stone Fang dog]

[EXP points granted]

As the monster stopped contorting its body and became still, a notification popped up in Zorey's right side of the vision.

"!!!"

Bot, the black-haired boy, and the remaining monsters were shocked.

Well, in Zorey's case, at least, it was because he didn't expect the damage from the lesser fire gem would be enough to finish the Stone Fang dog, but for the creature's brethren, it looked as if the human used some sort of defense skill that repelled any incoming attack.

In the end, monsters up to rank D were beasts that mainly acted upon instinct with very little critical thinking involved – besides the few exceptions that were bound to make it until rank C. For those low-ranked creatures, linking or even just using two skills together was a foreign concept, so they assumed the light and bursts f fire had to be connected.

That was it! Zorey's way out of that peril!

Especially the reaction of the Iron Fang wolf!

Over half of the body of the largest creature in the tunnel was out of sight as the monster was backing off, and its eyes were filled with fear.

"... that's it...! Mend!" *CRUNCH*

Zorey gulped down his saliva and used his healing Skill to ensure that he would be able to get up and walk.

The pain from his bones, tendons, and muscles being forcibly returned to their rightful place and welded together with mana didn't even feel that bad.

Zorey grabbed his staff and supported himself on it as an improvised and oversized walking stick.

"...grrrr...!"

"...grrrrrrrr...!"

The Stoe fang dogs weren't stupid – if their leader was terrified of the human, the most they would do without being coerced is to growl at him from afar while his body released the warm light.

"...!"

The moment that the black-haired boy took a step towards the iron fang wolf, the creature fled to the depths of the cave with the sound of its claws frantically scratching the rocks on its way there.

"...haaa....!"

Zorey breathed out and clenched his teeth – his Mend skill wasn't perfect; it was around level four and could not properly heal the wounds that the boy had suffered – it could only temporarily make things better until a real healer could take a look at him.

That's why the young priest of death limped away as fast as he could, this time double-checking whether he chose the right path even though it should be obvious right away.

He could already feel the breeze of fresh air!

[Skill duration has ended]

"Grrrrr!"

"...!"

As things seemed to go well, the notification popping up in the boy's vision as well as his surroundings going back to the dim glow of the fluorescent moss, informed him that the time of Prayer was up – and the Stone fang dogs decided to follow him noticed it too and seemed eager to have their meaty chew toy back.

"P-prayer...!"

*Haaaa~*

*Bu-dum...*

[Skill failed]

[EXP points granted]

A buzzer and a series of notifications that Zorey hadn't seen in a couple of days showed up, reminding him that Prayer is the upgraded version of the lesser prayer, but it isn't without faults and can fail.

"GRRRRR!"

"GRAUGH!"

*CHOMP* *thunk*

The Stone Fang dogs rushed him – and Zorey managed to protect his throat and face by using the dark red staff to keep the monsters at bay...

*CHOMP* *CHOMP*

"AUGHHHHRGRRKH!" *THUMP*

...but soon enough, the rest of the creatures jumped him and got to his legs, tearing his calves apart and knocking him down...

"NO...! NOOOO!" *KHHHHRRRR*

Zorey howled while clawing at the rocky soil with his bare hands, breaking his fingernails and shredding the skin off of his fingertips.