Another Monster Core

With the new discovery, Arthur couldn't help but feel intrigued about the secrets that had been hiding for all this time.

'Never the less, I need to kill it and see.' Arthur thought to himself and got ready for a battle.

Having seen the strange behavior of the Mongoose earlier, Arthur had already guessed that the Ten pronged Deer would react in a similar way.

'If anything, the corpses stuck to its horns and the blood on its mouth speaks enough about it.' Arthur reckoned.

With that in mind, he first moved back and got into a suitable position. Right now the Deer was almost facing him, thus he needed to be on its blind side. But at the same time, he needed to be alert about the direction that the wind was blowing in.

If he stood in wind that was blowing towards the deer, he would definitely be detected.

Many newbie players would make this mistake and get caught by the beasts when they tried to hunt them. Those that were aware of this might be able to obtain the stealth skill that would allow them to do this indistinctly.

'Even if I don't have it, I still know how they work…' Arthur used his experience and circled around the deer.

He was now facing the left flank of the deer while the wind blew towards him, making sure that his scent did not come in contact with the deer keeping him hidden.

"Let's end this quick…" Arthur activated his skill.

[Swing Boost activated!]

With the skill active Arthur rushed towards the Ten pronged deer, the short sword pointing straight towards it.

SLICK!

The Short sword faced no resistance and slid smoothly into the flesh of the deer, penetrating its internal organs.

[CRITICAL HIT!]

[-45% HP!]

HEEEEEEEEEE!

The Ten Pronged Deer let out an angry cry with the pain that was inflicted on it. But at the same time, it wasn't as affected by the pain and was still able to move around without a delay.

"Damn! This is definitely not normal." Arthur grasped.

Due to the complexity of Morpheus Online, every character could respond in a realistic manner. Of course, there were exceptions to it, but they were usually understandable.

The foe in front of Arthur was one that he knew well enough about, but the way it responded was not normal at all.

"There's no doubt, it's inflicted with Madness." Arthur was sure now.

Madness was something that was true to its name. But it was not something that should be found this early.

SWISH!

Arthur stepped to the side while also swaying to dodge the horns of the Deer. It was not one to back down and was ready to skewer Arthur's guts.

KIIIIIIII!

The Deer let out another cry before charging towards Arthur but the man rolled away. The deer struck a tree nearby but wasn't injured. Instead, its horns left deep marks in the tree bark.

Taking that chance, Arthur slashed once more, hitting the deer in its neck.

[-20% HP!]

"Just a bit more!" Arthur took full advantage of his active skill and slashed as much as he could.

Thankfully with the madness status effect, it was still a bit dulled and did not react in the normal way.

[Fatal hit!]

>Ten Pronged Deer has been killed<

With the third and final strike, Arthur had slain the maddened beast.

>6% Experience has been obtained!<

"Haah…" Arthur took a deep breath, and looked at the corpse.

A few thoughts went through his mind before his eyes widened.

"It couldn't be like that, right?" Arthur muttered.

He approached the corpse and used the Butcher skill on it. Having obtained it from his first boss fight, it was now coming into use once more.

A quarter of Arthur's stamina was used up in skinning and butchering the beast. Arthur extracted the organs to prevent it from staining the hide. The hide was separated out before the flesh was removed from the bones.

>Player Arzhur has obtained a low quality Ten Pronged Deer Hide<

>Player Arzhur has obtained Low Quality Ten Pronged Deer Bones<

>Player has obtained Venison x20<

At the end only one thing was left that left Arthur with a pensive expression.

"Another one…" Arthur stared at the small red crystal that he had extracted out of the beast.

He used the Inspect skill on it, showing some information about it.

>inspect Successful!<

>Fragmented F Grade Monster Core!<

The crystal in Arthur's hand was none other than another monster core. He had gotten one from the boss before, but he had not thought he'd get it from a normal mob now.

'Things are certainly not good.'

Having found the monster crystal, Arthur was now sure things were going to get complicated.

"Let's just get to the ruins first."

Once he had a map, it wasn't that difficult for Arthur to get to the ruins. He passed through the forest while avoiding most of the mobs. He didn't wish to waste his stamina or get into a mishap before he found the ruins after all.

'Once I get to the ruins, I'll have a safe spot.' Arthur thought.

After a couple of hours of travel, Arthur reached a large clearing in the forest.

In the center of the clearing stood a crumbling temple, its once-mighty walls now reduced to piles of moss-covered stones.

Arthur approached cautiously, taking in the sight of the temple nestled in the heart of a large, circular courtyard, surrounded by towering trees and overgrown shrubs.

The temple itself was a marvel of ancient architecture, with towering pillars carved in the likeness of fantastical beasts and ornate archways etched with arcane symbols.

Vines and roots had wound their way through the cracks in the walls, and moss and lichen grew in thick, verdant patches along the length of the temple.

"This is certainly as expected." Arthur muttered.

Even if the ruins looked good, he kept a serious expression and was alert for any danger that might appear.