Ch12. Into the Nest - 2
It was a slaughter.
I knew I could do mostly anything if I had a clear head, so everything became way easier after I took my time.
Despite my injuries, even though they were not so serious, I moved among the Lizard men, as if I was going to pick their pockets.
But I soon discovered that a sword wasn't a good weapon for that kind of action, so I put it back in the inventory, and summoned [MIDNIGHT SISTERS] again.
"Sorry, pal. Today won't be the day I test you in the field." I told the sword, as if it could hear me, and kept moving.
I also activated [SHADOW WALK] a few times.
Just enough to catch the beasts by surprise as I stabbed them in the neck, head and torso.
[LEVEL UP]
[LEVEL UP]
[LEVEL UP]
As the system announced my leveling up, and I walked among the Lizard men, their numbers quickly went down, and the huge Lizard man who seemed to be their king, finally noticed me among the commotion.
He drew his battle axe, and roared loudly, as I tried to put the few Lizard men left between me and him.
But it seemed like he didn't care much about his minions, as he swung his enormous weapon towards me.
I dodged, but the other three Lizard man left weren't so lucky, getting smashed and cut by that humongous blade.
"Not so accurate, right, big guy?" I taunted him, as he looked furiously in my direction.
I hoped that it could be an effective technique to deal with such a huge beast, that had not just size, but strength, also.
[GORA'S PET: Tarhuk – LVL 10]
As I kept taunting it, while running around, making the beast go round and round, I saw the name above its head, and my jaw dropped.
"Just who the hell is strong and dumb enough to make a thing like you their pet?"
But the giant lizard man wouldn't answer, and I had a gut feeling that my daggers wouldn't be enough to penetrate his skin. Much less the leathers and furs that covered its body.
"Okay, time to dance to the [MIDNIGHT BALLAD]!"
And I summoned my new sword, gleaming of happiness as I could finally test it.
It had to be an all or nothing, for me, because if that metal thing hit me even once, I could imagine my HP dropping to minus one, so I checked my remaining MP, and activated [SHADOW WALK].
I still had five minutes, due to my moderated use of the skill earlier, so it should do.
I focused as I watched the beast, Tarhuk looking around, confused to where I should've gone to, and ran straight to its naked heels.
The blade cut through skin, bones and tendons as if it it was a hot knife through butter, and soon as I was done, Tarhuk let out a loud, almost deafening screech, falling to its knees.
But It wasn't time to rest, the battle wasn't over, and I still had to finish that son of a gun off.
So I took the opportunity, and jumped to Tarhuk's back.
He was huge, so I had to take two or three steps to get where I wanted.
And when I was right on the spot, I jumped as high as I could, using the fall as a boost to dig my blade into the beast's skull.
Then, one second passed.
Two.
Three.
And Tarhuk finally came down, falling like a massive statue to the ground.
[LEVEL UP]
[LEVEL UP]
[LEVEL UP]
[LEVEL UP]
"Whew. That was something..." I said to Tarhuk's corpse, as I laid on its back to rest for a while.
But the beast soon dissolved in ashes, giving me a free fall to the ground.
It wasn't a long fall, but it still hurt.
I scratched my back and head, groaning, and looked at the shiny thing that the beast had left behind.
I took it and checked it closely.
It was a beast core, and a slightly dark green one, at that. Which meant that Tarhuk might've been a D-rank beast.
According to the books, beasts were ranked not only from F to S, but also by their cores.
They went from the darkest green, all the way to tones of yellow, and then to red.
After that, there was only the black and silver cores.
I only heard about and saw the black core, on that matter. It belonged to the only S-ranked beast that ever set claws on Earth.
Right after the Calamity, and it was displayed in the national wielders museum.
About the silvery core, I only knew from what I read of [MIDNIGHT'S EMBRACE]'s description. Aside of that, I never even heard the slightest mention of a silver cored beast.
Nikolai once told me that D-rank beast cores aren't much valued in the market, but he knew some people who used them in experiments that he didn't ask about.
And these people paid well for them.
So I decided to keep it.
You never know when your friend might show up with those contacts, right?
But I needed to take a break.
I was exhausted, and my whole body ached like nothing else, so I checked my status window, to see where I was at, before I could pass out from exhaustion.
NAME: KURT BLAKE
LVL: 05
AGE: 16
CLASS: Rogue
STAMINA: 42/245
HP: 100/210
MP: 115/165
BASIC STATS
Undistributed stat points: 5
Strength: 23 (+10)
Dexterity: 34 (+20)
Agility: 34 (+20)
Perception: 27
Intelligence: 21
Vigor: 37
So I was in that state...
My HP was lower than half, and my stamina... Gosh, I was in shambles.
No wonder my body ached like that.
"Yeah... But I was damn good..."
Then, suddenly, everything became black.
***
I woke up in a jump, surrounded by a completely different place.
The night sky could be seen above me, full of stars, and below, a grass so soft, I could just lay there and sleep forever.
If it wasn't for the bonfire crackling a few steps from me.
I sat up, and looked at the bonfire, beside which was a man, sitting and drinking something from a smoking bowl.
I imagined it was a man, because the person didn't have breasts, neither any curves.
But that was all.
He wore a black cloak and a hood that covered his whole face in shadows, despite the light of the fire.
"You finally came." The man said, standing up and throwing the bowl, already empty, aside.
"Where am I?"
I was lost and confused.
Just a few seconds earlier, I was in Tarhuk's throne room, and now I was...
Where was I?
But I didn't have time to ask again, as the man, somehow, looked at me and said.
"You are in a realm different than yours, far from where you truly sleeps."
"So... I'm dreaming."