An Unexpected Crisis

-Ryu's Pov

"O undine the spirit of water in your name I summon!! Water cannon" I chanted and 4 stunt lizards that were rushing towards me fall limp attacked by the water cannon.

The strength of the water cannon sure has increased.

I rushed forward with my dagger and hit straight in the middle of their head with [Step thrust]. After killing all 4 of them, I thought,

'Man, this shitty skill still won't budge' as I used [pouring] to wash the violet blood of monsters off my hand,

Strange how I used to think that [Pouring] is useless but it at least helping clean my hand, today I was visiting Zerah forest from the path Grandpa chief takes me since the incident with Jack he started leaving me alone in this part of the jungle for practicing,

I still remember him saying,

"If you can pin down a B-ranked adventurer with that ease, you can deal with this" according to him practicing alone will bring me closer to myself and the skill I am struggling with will show signs of working but this skill still won't work,

"Work for once at least!!" I complained, thinking if I focus on complaining hard enough, the skill will comply as if that's ever going to happen.

As I was lost in thought, I felt it again, as if someone was watching me. It is weird because my [Instantaneous Detection] detected nothing and there shouldn't be anything in this forest with hiding skill over my [Instantaneous Detection].

"Ahh, here they come," I noticed 3 more stunt lizards paired with 2 venomous snakes. This kind of behavior makes me wonder just how intelligent they are.

While stunt lizards focus on stunting while protecting venomous snakes, snakes bite adventurers injecting as much poison as they could, making them a dangerous pair.

'Sure are a dangerous pair!!' I thought as I started rushing toward them carrying my dagger only.

A few years back, it would've been impossible to be this confident in front of 5 monsters alone, but now things are different. I smiled rushing forward with my eyes shining crimson red, happy at my status improvement.

(Level-15

Title- [A Foreign Darkness], [The one believed by Light Goddess], [Revenger],

Blessing- [Blessing of Demon God-SS]

Skills- [Slash], [Step thrust], [Mana channelling III], [Quickening], [Dagger Swipe], [Dark Reinforcement IV], [Power napping], [Camouflage], [Silent stepping III], [Quick slash], [Dagger shot], [Pouring], [Cold hand], [Dark Swipe], [water ball], [Impact thrust]

Bestowed Skill- [Hide and Seek]

Salvaged Skill- [Instantaneous Detection])

I ran towards them smoothly using [Quick slash] along with [Quickening] stabbing through two of the lizards and snakes started running back. It is a common scene: the snakes are more sensitive to the strength difference between themselves and the enemy.

'Why come when you going to run?' I wondered as I stabbed the last left stunt lizard in the eye pushing it at the last point with [Impact thrust] to make it come out of its head,

"Aii"

A voice came from somewhere as I finished killing the last lizard,

"Who is there!?" I shouted for once. The whole jungle was quiet and I decided it was my imagination all along.

The [Impact thrust] is a skill I accidentally learned while I tried to copy what Felicia big sister did a year back during my magic practice for killing mist croc,

I tried my best to thrust the dagger into my eyes in a way that come out of my head but my strength wasn't enough no matter how hard I push but I kept trying and earned the skill [Impact thrust] by fulfilling its conditions unknowingly,

I can just imagine how much physical strength Felicia big sister must have to do what I still wouldn't be unable to do even with a skill to a Mist croc, well either way time for [Power napping] I thought and lay down in on soft grass of this garden-like area of forest,

If anything came too near my [Instantaneous Detection] will warn me,

'I still cannot shake off the feeling someone is watching… I shouldn't have read all those scary stories in my last life' I regretted my past life decision,

To divert my mind to fall napping, I focused my thoughts on the skill am practicing to grasp.

[Dark Reinforcement IV] I thought if I tried activating as a killing monster or in anger during a fight it will activate finally as it happens in anime. Even though it never activated, I feel it helped me decrease my crisis reaction time,

Like crisis is bound to happen when you rush head on a monster while shouting waaaaaa!!! Like a monkey alien from a certain anime who change form by shouting very loud, because of that my quick thinking in dire moments seemed to have increased now I can change my dagger position in mere seconds if the snake twists his head at an unexpected moment,

I fall into a small sleep as expected,

[Power napping- A skill that recovers a high amount of stamina in 20 mins of sleeping the skill requires higher food consumption]

This one skill is a big part of my growth. It helps me give more than my best every day, and this skill is one I gain just by sleeping late as a child.

As I was lost in the afterglow of the nap, I suddenly felt it,

A mana pressure more than what I ever felt from any monster in the jungle and for sure it wasn't any human mana. It was wild and chaotic.

'I should run,' I thought and stood up, planning to run out of the jungle, whatever it was. It was way beyond current me to imagine winning against. Just as I began running out of the jungle, it appeared

'A huge black snake!!' I could only think that it was as big as an elephant,

My legs were cold. I can't stop right now.

I resolved in my head and started running without thinking, only aiming forward while wondering if this huge ass snake was following me or not.

Then I heard a shout

"Save me!!!!"

And I looked back in disbelief,

'How is he here!?[Instantaneous detection]!!?' I wondered as I looked back to see Jue just minutes away from approaching the snake,

'Why is he here? What should I do?' I wondered as my heart began aching somehow seeing him so near death unable to move due to fear of the huge snake I can't defeat.

'Should I run, should I leave him behind?' I thought for a second remembering how in my last life my top priority in school was self-preservation from incidents but I don't know why but I couldn't move to run,

In my head noise won't stop.

'You won't leave family behind right, after all, you can't change like that,' a female voice said.

It was like each minute was stretched into five, but the voice was so affectionate it doesn't matter.

'I know you won't ever abandon his family even if the whole continent wage a war'

'Big brother, you would save me right in any bad happening… what if I was a bratty boy instead of this cute sister what will you do?' the last line was not the voice it was a memory with his little sister in the last life,

"Save me!! I don't want to die" Jue shouted louder than before, making the snake speed up, and before I knew it, I was rushing towards him myself, my feet won't stop, it was unlike me to rush towards danger as if welcoming it but I couldn't stop,

'Hina sister, give her everything back then while saving me,' I thought,

'You are, after all, you' the voice in my head resounds, but I noticed it isn't my head. It is coming from deeper within me this feminine voice.

'I can't abandon my family when it was them who saved me!!' I thought,

Soon I was in front of Jue by using [Quickening] multiple times,

"Save me, I am sorry!!" Jue said with snot covered crying face,

'Why the hell are you here you brat!!?' it is already too late to run, escape is not an option, or is it if I can hold this snake would Jue bring help for me, can I believe him all thoughts going in my head as I saw the status of approaching snake with shining crimson eyes

(Level-40

Title- [The Death Viper], [Poison mancer], [Naga]

Blessing- [Zerah's Unique monster]

Skills- [poison fang], [Tail swipe], [Consumption], [Intimidation], [Constrict], [Fang resize]+ 30 skills)

The monster was a nightmare there was nothing like this in Zerah forest before that is why I can't make head and tail of it but I remembered Grandpa Chief teaching about the unique monsters, each of them even at a lower level is not to be underestimated and their appearing can be random,

'I can't back off,' I thought the voices in me motivating me, the memories and most of all imaging crying faces of Hina sister and others,

"Jue, run away, I will hold him, bring help," I said to Jue as Naga's fang approached me, pushing him back,

I did it! I am fighting it!

I jumped on him and used water cannon on his eyes but it doesn't help,

'That brat fell on the ground!!' I thought my heart cold in fear of death and that brat Jue was laying on the ground crying looking up,

"Might of slow coming darkness decreased speed" I cast on Naga, the only dark spell I learned to chant recently,

using all my skills, feeling my mana depleting, the snake moving ever so slowly as if playing with me,

I slashed its head but it won't work, his scales were super hard, nothing of mine is working on it.

I pushed my sword on his head using [Impact Thrust] but it was no use. It barely even grazed the skin, but looking pissed, the snake slammed me away in a single hit.

Falling on the ground near the tree, I realized my head was bleeding heavily now, cold it feels cold.

Is this all? will I die like this?

I looked up at the snake,

'What was I even trying?' I wonder as I saw the snake who wasn't even bothered, even though more than half of my mana was used.

'That brat is still on the ground, at least he should've escaped'

The crying face of everyone filling my head, the voice I was hearing in my head louder now, the snake approaching Jue, my body filled with pain beyond belief from the impact of the fall,

'I don't want to end like this, I can't let him die too' I feared as I felt my consciousness slip for a second, blood still pouring out of my head,

'I can't end like this, father's sacrifice, everyone sacrifices will be wasted, they will cry,' I thought as I cry being unable to move the voices in my head saying

'You cannot give up… you won't die ag…' but I can't even hear them properly now,

'I feel it he must be laughing at me,' I thought as I feel near death, remembering the target of my revenge,

'After all, I can't accept death now' I thought but I still can't move my body the anger that was raging in my body was getting cold but not dying a cold kind of anger my head becoming calmer the snake was looking at me as he moved near Jue as if mocking me,

'I won't let him die, for the sake of Hina sister, I won't die myself!!' I thought the voice in me saying,

'You can do it… if someone who could, it is you'

More blood slipped out as if it was mocking me too, my own blood, the darkness in me, my unique darkness was coming in front of my eyes.

'As if death was embracing me.'

-to be continued