"It's time." Harold looked up with anxiety stifling his heart. He had found the thickest wall that was relatively safe to hid himself in. His hope was that the wall would at least block a portion of the strike that would come at him.
'If it is a physical blow. I just pray that he doesn't use magic.' Right now, all he could do was pray to some unknown deity. And that pissed him off more than anything.
'Damn it, if only my level was higher.' Harold gritted his teeth so hard his MP went down but that didn't change anything.
"I have to be stronger. A lot stronger." From that moment, Harold decided to dedicate his everything to getting stronger.
Just then, before he could even react, he felt the earth rumble almost like the dungeon was on the move. Directing his senses outward, he saw that a gigantic claw was descending from outside Tuat.
'Wait, how can I see what is going on outside?' before he could come up with an answer, a system window appeared in front of his eyes.
[@#$#@*&^ has used the skill, Playing Field, granting you a slim chance at survival. He wishes you the best of luck.]
'That piece of shit!' Harold's personality gear shifted and he grounded his teeth in a savage manner and swore to get back at the monster.
'And the bastard freaking censored his name! Is he scared or what?'
"I AM NOT. THE MERE MENTION OF MY NAME HOLDS ENOUGH POWER TO KILL YOU. IT'D BE NO FUN TO KILL YOU IN SUCH A MANNER." A voice rang out in his head and Harold flinched.
'You can read my mind?' he thought
"ONLY WHILE USING PLAYING FIELD. THE THOUGHTS OF AN ANT ARE NOTHING MUCH UNTIL THE MOMENT OF THEIR DEATH. BUT REST ASSURED, I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TRICKS YOU HAVE UP YOUR SLEEVE SO DO YOUR BEST TO REMAIN ENTERTAINING." And with that, Harold felt the voice disappear and the connection ended and Harold scowled.
"That asshat." He muttered, tensed and was relieved when he didn't receive a response.
'Looks like he really left.' Harold nodded satisfied and raised a hand and grabbed his head.
After hesitating for a moment, he ripped out his head and ground it to pieces. Due to his unique nature as a ghost, the head was not necessary for thinking.
'But it slows down my thought process a lot.' Harold felt his mind become sluggish as his vision went from forward to all rounding.
Due to his actions, his MP dropped by a significant portion but it was all for the sake of the plan.
'Here it comes.' Three seconds after he detected the attack, it crashed into the wall he was hiding in and everything went blank.
….
"TO THINK THAT DIDN'T KILL HIM? WELL, I SAID I WOULD ONLY STRIKE ONCE SO ATTEMPTING AGAIN WOULD BE BENEATH ME." The dragon opened its eyes slightly in mild surprise but it soon felt sleepiness overcome him and he gave in to it.
'STILL, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN QUITE DELICIOUS. GHOSTS LIKE HIM ARE RARE.'
….
Darkness. That was all Harold felt after being crushed by the claw. No fear, anguish or pain. Just quick and utter destruction.
In front of absolute strength, despair wasn't even an option. That was what Harold learnt.
'Still, the fact that I'm able to think like this means I survived.' Harold thought as he continued floating in the never-ending darkness.
After an unknown amount of time, light finally appeared and illuminated the area. After a quick adjustment period, Harold was able to see again.
Water. Running water to be more precise. That was where Harold currently was and he was being dragged by the river's current in an unknown direction.
The only thing in his sight apart from the river was the black and craggy ceiling that was Tuat.
'It seems the river is quite large.' And not just that. The fact that the river was able to touch him meant that it carried a significant amount of energy.
"There we go." Harold placed his hands on the water surface and attempted pushing his body up but failed. He then remembered that the water was in motion and covered his face in embarrassment.
'Let's do this again.' Harold redirected his attention to the ceiling and activated his skill, [Ghostly Manipulation] at maximum power.
Upon seeing an extended piece of rock, he grabbed onto it and lifted himself out of the water in one swift motion.
BANG!
Unfortunately, he forgot to account for momentum and slammed into the wall and nearly killed himself again.
'Three's a lucky number. Let's not make it four.' Harold had no interest in living a fourth life and was quite content with his current one.
'… who am I kidding!?' Harold's expression changed as he gnashed his teeth and red appeared in his eyes.
Being forced to pray and leave everything up to luck was the thing that Harold hated the most. Putting your fate in someone else's hands and having to be grateful for surviving another day pissed him off like nothing else.
'I hate it. I hate it. I hate it.' Harold regulated his breathing in an attempt to calm his mind but the effects were lackluster.
Still, it was enough for him to realize that nothing would change from just his hatred. He remembered his presence and one day…
….
[Lizard's Tail] allowed the user to split up their MP making it an independent existence. His body was marked with whatever the mysterious existence used to track him so his only option was to destroy his body.
As he turned his head into the tiniest piece of energy possible, he felt something leave that portion of his body. It was probably the mark that was placed on him.
[Lizard's Tail] only allowed one to split the MP, the placement was up to the individual. Which was why he decided to use another one of his skills, [Spatial Magic].
Harold originally got [Spatial Magic] to create an inventory he could use to store items and for the greatest feat of magic, teleportation.
Sadly, his MP was not enough to use it. Unless he decided to sacrifice his life.
Just as he was crushed, he used the little control he had over the broken parts of his body and activated random teleportation to send the untainted parts of him somewhere even he knew not the location.
"It's nothing short of a miracle it worked." Harold looked at his palm and then at the rest of his body and sighed.
'But the sacrifice was too much.' Harold had lost ninety two percent of his body and his level had gone down drastically.
[Level: 2]