The Fight Of An Ant

A heap of monster corpses lay piled on the ground. With a horizontal swing, two fresh bodies joined the collection, one collapsing onto the floor, another's head resting on the knife.

Dora sprinted tirelessly, swiftly striking any approaching monster with enough force to impale it on his knife and keep it close to him, making the energy stones materialize within reach.

Without hesitation, he absorbed them, regardless of their properties, he had no time to ponder anyway.

(Three behind... five to the left... fourteen... no, twenty at the rear...)

His heart raced, and his eyes scanned the area instinctively, piercing through the darkness.

As the battle prolonged, his movements became more fluid, but simultaneously, the number of monsters continued to rise, leaving little room for coherent thoughts.

(... ten... five... left... thirteen.... one... top...)

His strikes merged in all directions, the soul and elemental stones casting a radiant glow, illuminating the cavern like lamps.

Soon, Dora ceased thinking altogether, transforming into a killing machine driven solely by instinct. The knife became his vessel, and he the weapon.

This gruesome dance persisted for about ten minutes, until, with one final slash, the boy came to a halt.

Covered in bloodstains, his body trembling, his eyes shimmered like precious gems.

He was prepared for another round, but nothing else came...

"..."

He finally lowered his arm and allowed his mind to come back to life, and as his eyes stopped shining, his breath became heavier.

"... ah... hol.... holy... cow... it lasted forever..."

He tumbled onto the ground, landing on a pile of corpses that cushioned his fall. The knife he held was in a sorry state, and his clothes were stained with blood, but not a single drop belonged to him. 

"Damn... I really need to work on my stamina... Oh, speaking of which... How strong am I?" he muttered to himself, staring at his hands with a slight frown. "How do I check my stats? In my past life, I had a system to do that... How do I do it now?" 

He waited for a moment, hoping for some kind of response, but nothing happened.

"... Maybe I'm too weak? Maybe Sloth's blessing doesn't show stats? Ah... I just want to know what I've got..." he grumbled, feeling a bit frustrated. 

However, one thing was certain. He stood up and wielded the knife in the air with ease.

"I feel lighter than before... much stronger. I can sense that they were getting easier to cut too. My power has definitely increased," 

A sense of satisfaction creeping in him, he picked up the pendant and examined the jewel once more.

"With the blessing of sloth, I can create rifts and become even stronger. But this is just the beginning of my abilities."

The jewel glowed white, matching the color of his eyes. Turning his attention to the part of the cavern where the walls seemed to be expanding, he reflected on his past.

"I lost everything once, the people I loved, my family, even myself. I won't blame anyone for that. I have power now, I am not weak, I understand who I am now, and I will take responsibility for whatever comes my way." 

He started his walk towards the larger section of the cave, firmly grasping the dagger in his hand.

"I will mold this world into something I desire, and my mission commences with your demise."

Moving forward, the earth trembled, and a mound of dirt rose like a small hill. Dora's senses heightened, having absorbed a significant amount of energy stones from his previous battle with monsters in the dark cave, causing a noticeable transformation in his body.

(...I sense it... with each step, I can feel the ground's contours... This must be the effect of sonar, yet there's something more... A tower of mud looms ahead... The scent of blood on every footprint I leave... the thing beneath me.)

The ground lifted, and a drill emerged from below. Dora swiftly leaped towards a wall, already anticipating the danger, although he couldn't see, his knowledge guided him.

"...A mole."

The creature, with a drill in place of its nose, scanned the area left and right, searching for its prey. Dora charged towards it, letting out a shout to activate sonar and gain a clearer view of the monster.

(It's slightly larger than what I'm familiar with...)

He reached the creature and attempted to stab it with his knife. "Hm?!"

However, the blade failed to pierce its skin. Another drill shot up from the ground, narrowly missing Dora's body as he dodged just in time.

"... Why didn't it penetrate?"

Dora's feet landed firmly on the ground as he quickly shifted his focus. He reminded himself to stay calm and focused on the monster's movements. The boy leaped to avoid the monster's drill, showing off his agility.

As he landed, Dora found himself on the monster's left side. He made a precise cut with his knife, but it wasn't enough to penetrate the tough skin. The monster tried to impale him, but he dodged and struck again, still struggling to find a weak spot. The monster retreated underground, and the battle continued.

Despite his agility, Dora realized he lacked the power to defeat the mole. His mind went blank as he focused on finding a way to break through the monster's defenses. The beast emerged again, and the boy struck its neck, causing the knife to break.

A white aura surrounded him, enhancing his vision in the darkness. He saw a glimmer of hope as this time, there was a piece stuck in the mole.

Upon this, he grabbed the metal and took a deep breath before screaming right at this place while infusing the metal with energy.

The beast reacted by another strike to the side with its paws armed with drills as fingers and then, struck the origin of his pain, the living being who was currently biting him and screaming: the metal struck in his neck.

Dora landed behind, and a shower of blood greeted him.

"It worked! I've got... oh shit!"

He narrowly avoided the drills coming from the left hand. The creature emitted a muffled sound resembling a grunt and flailed its arms wildly around him. Witnessing the sheer power of nature effortlessly returning to the earth, Dora swallowed hard, but the result was now evident. He calmly regained his composure and took a step back.

"... Sorry... This is the best I can do, I wish I could grant you a quicker death, but I must return home with no injury. I can't have my family worrying about me once more."

He sat down heavily and caught his breath deep within the cavern, watching the creature drain blood while battling an unseen foe. After eight minutes had passed, Dora finally rose to his feet.

He moved forward, responding to the call of release, a soul stone, and several elemental stones hovering above the creature.

"Thank you, and rest in peace."

He nodded in a gesture of respect and examined the stones.

|Soul stone - drill strike: a powerful strike|

|Elemental stone: defense|

|Elemental stone: stamina|

Dora raised an eyebrow.

"This is strange... this doesn't look like the appraisal I had before... What's going on here? This is not the same sin but it's the same world, I should be able to see the number."

He grimaced and began the absorption of the stones he got, but his concern was now bigger than in the beginning.

"I'm weak, very weak. I'm nothing compared to when I had Greed, and I still don't see the system... This could be bad."

A grimace formed on his face as he began absorbing the stones he had acquired. However, his concern grew even greater than before. He realized how weak he had become without the power of Greed.

The absence of the system only added to his worries. This was not a good beginning. After pondering for a moment, his attention shifted to the body of the mole. He approached it and carefully examined the formidable drill.

"Let's see…"

His fist emitted a gray light as he unleashed a powerful blow that reverberated throughout the entire cave.

"...Yep...as I thought."

He directed his gaze back to his injured hand, wiping away the blood.

"Hm... well at least now I'll have something better than a knife in my next dungeon... oh! Yeah... I need to buy another knife now..."

He ran his fingers through his hair and made his way towards the entrance, contemplating the ideal time of day to practice in his rifts. As he walked, the aftermath of his first battle was fading away, marked by the sight of a mole's corpse with a shattered drill. This was the conclusion of Dora's initial raid in the weakest rift ever recorded.