FIRST BATTLE: SEMANTICORE

Pant…pant…

Alan panted for air as his butt hit the grassy soil. Behind him, there were a lot of scattered players that were letting out ragged breaths. Their torn expressions turned into dismay as they had lagged way too far behind the SSS-grade player. 

He was just too fast as he leaped from tree to tree. With his speed that seemed to leave a trace of silhouette and stride that were visibly exaggerated, the A-rank and below players could only give up the chase.

Alab was one of them. He was now recollecting himself as he took hold of the E-rank sword. He didn't know where to go now that he had lost track of the SSS-grade player. 

"They are truly monsters!", Alab uttered as he wondered just how high their stats in dexterity were. He felt his anxiety accumulating as he remembered how the other players ran like a cheetah, leaving them behind. Their stamina seemed to have no limit as they ran nonstop. 

Alab could only give up the chase like the others. 

He saw the other players that were left behind with him, dispersed into the gloomy wilderness. Before he knew it, the sun above had changed into a crescent moon. His surrounding started to turn dark as he clenched his sword tightly. 

From the distance, he could hear the howling of foreign monsters followed by horrifying shrieks from other players. The call for help would only last for a minute before it died out and an eerie silence resonated. 

It was the deafening silence that made the grim wilderness more dreadful at night. 

From this silence, It was clear that the players had died. 

However, this did not alarm the other players, after all, death in the Tutorial would only cost them the depressing experience of being tortured to death before their body would be transported to the first floor of the Tower and be revived. They would not receive any reward from the trial but that was far better than eternal death. 

Having thought this, Alab watched his movements to make as little noise as possible. He walked with his sword pointing upfront towards the deeper part of the wilderness. 

Now that he had lost his chance of stealing the SSS-grade item, he had to at least secure a powerful item. These items could only lie deeper in the wilderness. 

"I guess I should take a risk after all" 

He swore to climb to the top of the Tower and to do that, he had to be powerful. Powerful enough not to feel fear from players above his rank. 

From losing the chase earlier, he had realized his powerlessness. 

–

After walking for who knew how long, Alab stumbled upon a girl hiding in a large tree. Her body trembling from fear as uproars were happening at the different parts of the wilderness. 

As their eyes met, the girl flinched as she retracted her gaze immediately. Alab couldn't see her facial features with the darkness obstructing his vision. But he heaved a deep sigh of relief upon sight of a fellow player. 

He had been walking for a while now in search of refuge. It felt like an eternity since he had seen a fellow human. 

Relaxing his butt on the dense root close to the girl, Alab took a breather. 

It was a surprise that he had not encountered a monster these past hours. Not that he wishes to meet monsters anyway. He was still powerless and he doubt that he could perform a satisfying fight. 

Setting this thought aside, Alab looked at the girl closely. It was clear from her silhouette that she had short hair and a skeletal body. She constantly fidgeted with her dress as she shyly looked at Alab. 

It was obvious that the girl was very timid. Alab then felt the need to initiate the conversation. 

"Is it okay to sit here?", Alab asked as calmly as possible. 

The girl fidgeted more, "b--but you're already sitting", she murmured. 

Alab had an egg on his face after hearing that. Out of shame, he could only release a "hehe", before changing the topic. 

"I'm Alab by the way, may I know your name?", he introduced himself as he reached out his hand. 

The girl hesitated for a moment before she wiped her sweaty hands into her dress first. Feeling that it was now dry, she gradually reached out her hand. 

"A--Althea" 

"It's nice to meet you, Althea" 

The two had exchanged some more words when a rustling of leaves intercepted their talk. 

In a clover plant ahead of them, two bloodshot eyes were reflected in the darkness, staring at them. 

Shiver

Alab felt his body tense as no words needed, those eyes were from a monster! 

"Althea, in a count of 3, you should run, okay?", he whispered as he took the role of fighting that monster. 

He was the only one with an item among them and based on their little talk, Althea was also a powerless player who was yet to get an item. 

"Bu–" 

"Just run, 3"

Alab started his countdown. He knew that whatever monster rested in that darkness, would not give him an easy fight. 

"2" 

Alab grasped his sword tightly. No matter how rusty it was, he bet his life on this sword. 

He then opened his status window. At the moment, he only had a single skill at his disposal. 

[Stack (F)

Damage: tentative 

Description: As you have alerted the Tower with your unknown future feats, you will now possess the power to destroy everything that blocks your path. Your attack damage has no definite value, an increment based on your stacked damage will be applied to your single attack. 

Effect: When activated, stacks up all the next successive attacks. With the host's current rank, you can only stack up to one day. The stack damage can be dealt with in a single attack only within that day.

Mana usage: exhaust the remaining mana

Cooldown: None]

He placed his success on this single F-rank skill. 

'Please, be useful even just this once!', he hoped. 

"1. Run!" With that single shout, Alab dashed forward. The monster met his courage as it pounced on him. 

"Stack!"

He activated his skill as his sword clashed with the large fang of the monster. Both of them were sent back by a meter by their collision. 

The blinding darkness still made it impossible to discern the appearance of the monster, making it hard for Alab to look for its weakness. 

As the fang and sword collided, Alab heard a system notification ring in his mind. 

[You have dealt physical damage of 13 to Semanticore]

[Stacked Damage: 13]

(8 physical base damage + 5 from the sword)

He had dealt a damage of 13 and had similar stack damage! He had to continue stacking damage but he felt that with the low durability of his sword, it would only last five more hits if met with the sharp fang. 

Thus, he had to attack its body. 

'If I want to continue stacking damage, I have to successfully deliver my attack', he pondered as missing an attack would deem the past stack null and he would have to restart stacking again. 

With caution, Alab followed the fiery eyes of the monster. He knew that those were a clear soft spot… a weakness. 

As the monster pounced, Alab met it with his sword directed at its eyes, but it was easier said than done. The monster constantly evades its eyes, making Alab's attack miss. 

Alab fell in distress seeing his stacked damage being altered to zero. 

'Seems like it would take forever', Alab pondered as the monster pounced on him again. 

It was a good thing that the monster seemed to have no tactics aside from pouncing head-on. It also has a low intelligence as it attacked by pure instinct. 

With another clash, just as Alab thought that he parried the attack smoothly, the sword he was holding broke into two as the large fang came rushing to his head. 

He could only twist his body to redirect the attack to his shoulder. 

"Arghh!", Alab cried in pain. 

A piece of his flesh was now being devoured by the monster. Alab felt his strength escaping his body, he was too wasted than he thought. He had run all day nonstop and had walked at night and now he had fought a hard battle. 

'I should run', Alab had no choice but to escape at the sight of the monster once again pouncing on him. 

And it was at this moment that a timid voice of a girl pierced his ears. 

"Life drain!" 

Green lights evacuated the body of the monster that was suspended in mid-air. Before it could gnaw Alab, all its life force was drained out of its body. 

A lifeless body of a monster that was now reduced to all bones and dried skin dropped on the ground with a thud. 

A small voice of a girl then comforted Alab. 

"Ahmm, are you alright?", Althea uttered…