As quickly as he had walked out of the cave, Nero returned.
His first battle just after leaving his safety had been rather abrupt.
But it had also been brutal and eye-opening.
If the Mirehound had not been so severely wounded, he would have had no chance of defeating it at all.
He collapsed to the ground.
His hands were bleeding terribly, nearly torn to ribbons by the Abomination.
'I doubt I will be receiving another Divine Elixir any time soon.'
He pursed his lips but figured he might as well try.
He closed his eyes and drifted into his subconsciousness.
As always, the Divine Oracle was floating in the nothingness.
He sucked in a deep breath.
"Oracle," he asked, "Will it be possible for me to receive another Divine Elixir right now?"
{The boons granted by the Divine Will are arbitrary and are dictated only by the I'm intent of the Divine One}.
Nero sighed dejectedly.
"I see..."
{But...}
Nero's eyes brightened, "There's a but?!"
{The Heretic can request for specific items from the Oracle by trading with it, his questions}.
Nero paused for a moment and raised a brow,
"Hold on... So in essence, you are saying if I can give you my right to ask questions for the day, you can give me whatever I want?"
{That is correct. However, there are a few limitations. The Heretic cannot request for any Seals of Sin to be granted, neither can he wish for items that grant tremendous power beyond his quarter}.
Nero pursed his lips,
"I see. And I have just two more chances to use for the day."
{That is correct}.
Nero nodded,
"Then, I wish to trade one of them for a Divine Elixir!"
Although it was strange, Nero had a feeling this new feature of the Oracle he had just unlocked would be the beginning of countless surprises for the future.
He gulped hard as he stared at the vial filled with the sparkling, clear liquid.
He huffed out a sigh then exited his subconscious.
When he awoke, he noticed the vial of Divine Elixir right in front of him.
However, he wasn't going to drink it right away.
Dousing a piece of clothing with alcohol, he carefully cleaned his wounds be ripping even mlre of his clothes to create bandages he wrapped around his arms.
He glanced at the vial of Divine Elixir before wrapping it with a piece of cloth and stuffing it gently into his satchel. Then he picked the satchel up and secured it tight around his waist.
'That is my lifesaving trump card.'
Instead of using it now, he would only make use of it when his life was truly on the line.
Once he was done, he leaned back with a sigh.
The trap of the Soul Amalgam was truly ingenious the more he thought about it.
'I can choose to sit back and wait for the wounded Abominations to come to me. That way, I can safely accumulate the Seals of Sin. On the other hand, heading into the surrounding area right now is simply too dangerous at my current level.'
He only had to think for a while.
'I will explore only the immediate area surrounding the cave and will only head further once I have gathered a hundred Seals of Sin.'
Nero nodded.
The more he thought about it the more he thought this was the best course of action. He could feel that with every Seal of Sin he acquired, his body changed just a little bit.
The strength in his bones and muscles. The might of his vision. The swiftness of his feet...
Everything was slowly being improved.
Or perfected.
Nero frowned then shook his head.
He let out a sigh,
"The first one wasn't so bad."
He opened his eyes and glanced at the roof of the cave.
He realized there were many things he could have done to reduce the number of injuries he suffered during the battle with the Mirehound.
Just as he fell deeper into his thoughts, the sound of a terrible hiss wormed its way into his ears.
Nero's eyes widened,
"You've got to be kidding me!"
He slowly rose to his feet and rushed to the cave's entrance.
Crawling slowly into the cave, was the largest lizard Nero had ever seen.
It was, for some reason, even bigger than the Mirehound.
Its serpentine eyes were a vivid yellow, glowing ominously in the darkness of the cave.
When they sighted him, they narrowed dangerously.
The enormous reptile had six stocky legs, allowing its softer underbelly to scrape against the ground.
However, to appear more intimidating, its neck was unusually long.
On its back were rows of sharp plates, and its tail ended with a barbed sting that looked rather sharp with a clear liquid dripping out from it onto the ground.
The Abomjnaisized in up closely before rushing forward with its jaws wide open.
Nero gritted his teeth and leapt backwards, barely managing to avoid the first attack. So much so, he almost didn't see the second one.
The barbed sting was headed straight for his head.
With a powerful swing of the Silver Blade, he swatted it away with all his might.
His eyes dutifully scanned the creature. But he couldn't find any signs of injury.
He gritted his teeth,
'Crap. This isn't good.'
He quickly changed his stance and began darting around the creature.
He immediately noticed that while its running speed was quite impressive, that speed dropped tremendously if it was forced to make a turn or change the direction of the dash.
'Probably because of those short legs.' Nero thought to himself.
Rolling away from another stab, he tried to cut at the Abomination's side.
Almost instantly, he felt its chilling bloodlust lock onto his with terrifying precision.
His eyes widened as the barbed sting whizzed past his ear. He barely dodged it. Jumping backwards, he instantly could tell that this thing wanted him dead at all costs.
If it wasn't pursuing him seriously before, it definitely was now.