"God damn this!" Lone shouted as he slashed two of the Bestials in half. His body was covered in wounds from claws, spikes, and even some bite marks. His body felt so heavy from the constant assault of these beasts. His eyes were unfocusing every so often, and his breath became more and more ragged.
Lone quickly slammed his spear downwards, cutting a Bestial that burst out of the ground in half. Red blood showered out of its body, but it was quickly crushed as more Bestials rushed forward. They did not care for the body of their comrade, and they did not care if it was even still alive. All they cared about was the small, weakened prey before them.
Lone took a deep breath in.
[Warring Howl]
A roar escaped his lungs as the Bestials all froze. This was his fifth time using this skill, and by the Gods did his throat hurt. But he had to ignore that pain as he quickly lifted his spear and cut several of these bugs down.
"!!!"
Lone quickly moved his head aside as a stinger flew past it. His gaze quickly locked onto the Bestial as he charged forward and cut at the head of the beast. The Bestial raised its exoskelition covered arm and blocked the strike, though its flesh was pierced. With one hand, it grasped the shaft of the spear and tore it out. While it used its other to strike at Lone's head.
Lone quickly backed off as he glared at the Bestial.
The Bestial froze for a second before it backed off and disappeared into the crowd. The Bestials nearby had finally broken free from their frozen state and begun surging towards Lone. Manibles clicking and their bodies taking heavy steps.
Seeing this, Lone just grabbed his spear and ran the opposite way. As he ran, his eyes glazed over the swarm and onto something else. Sure, he could fight these creatures and potentially die, but there was still a chance of winning. But the one lowering his chance of survival was that big leech.
Lone took a deep breath in as he pushed the muscles in his legs as far as they could. Taking a giant leap away. Seconds later, the dirt before him exploded as the maw of the giant leech revealed itself. Lone managed to get away from the giant leech, but the same couldn't be said for the swarm of Bestials behind him.
Well, the sounds of flesh crunching and fear gittering around were a good enough sign.
"Hey Slone, I need you right now," Lone muttered as he gazed at a spear implanted into the ground. During his fight with the Bestials, Slone would not allow itself to be raised against these beasts, no matter what. And sadly, it still wouldn't even if he were close to death.
Lone landed and skidded across the dirt floor, his hold of [Bane's Wish] loosening. Exhaustion was close to claiming him. Yet, he had to fight against his tired eyelids. Even though the leech had killed tons of Bestials, it did not kill them all.
"There is no way the game would drop me into a hell situation without a way to fight back," Lone thought as he watched the encroaching swarm. He did not stand idly as he gripped his spear tightly and ran towards the swarm. He may not truly die, but it would put a bad taste in his mouth if he died like a coward and ran away. Especially after getting used to Stewart, that old man managed to worm his way into his heart.
The two sides met as Lone spun his spear as though it was a storm and the Bestials before him were nothing but leafs who were in his path. Blood sprayed the air as limbs fell like ornaments. Many of them managed to land their own hits, but he returned their gifts tenfold.
[Warring Howl]
The swarm froze for only a second before charging back once again. They had gotten used to his skill, which wasn't good. If they got used to it, then it means it had weakened.
He quickly cut apart the closest Bestials before kicking their corpse back towards the swarm. Buying him some time to allow him to notice a Bestial sneaking behind him. He quickly spun around and crushed its head using the flat side of his spear.
The ground rumbled again as the giant leech appeared once again. Its massive body crushing any unfortunate Bestial in its path as it rushed towards him. Lone took deep breaths as he tried to run, but the swarm in front of him would not budge, even if death was on its way for them as well.
"Move!" Lone shouted at the top of his lungs as he slashed them in half and moved past their corpses. He cut and ran through the swarm, only stopping once he heard the giant leech move past him.
But he didn't even get a single second to rest as he was cut in the back by the claws of a Bestial with six arms. Butterfly wings grew from its back as a long spear tongue extended from its mouth and shot it at him. Lone moved his head aside as he quickly grabbed its tongue.
"Think! What can I do to beat this!" Lone shouted as he slashed a six-armed Bestial on its chest, its blood spraying over his face. As he watched the Bestial fall, his eyes landed on his blood-covered spear. He crouched down as he hovered his hand above the corpse. A cog in his head turned as a memory entered his mind.
"[To others, this skill may seem dumb or maybe useless, but I see it for what it truly means. But the question is, do you!!! After all, a person who cannot grasp their skill is a person who is not worthy of using them!!!]"
Lone stared at the dead Bestial as a thought entered his mind. After all, if what he was thinking was true, then it might be enough to turn his fate around. For all around him, claws and maws were descending on his crouched form.
"Well, I'll die even if I don't try," Lone muttered as he placed his hand onto the corpse.
[Man of Arms]
A bright white light flashed from the corpse, followed by a red light flowing across it like water flowing across like that of a river. The light blinded the nearby Bestials as they all howled in pain and backed away. Every one of them raising their hands up to cover their eyes from the bright light.
The light lasted for several seconds before it finally began to dim.
As the light slowly faded, the Bestials could finally see what had happened. Before them, the corpse of their comrade was gone, and instead, in the hands of the prey before them was a tool that they had never seen before.
It appeared as a spear with a two-pronged blade, as if the blade had been cut in half, with a hollow circle at its center. Its edges laced with a dark, earthy color, as several brown hairs flew like a banner on the spear's socket. Its shaft was also a dark, earthy color, with hollow holes carved into it. At the bottom of the spear, its pommel was replaced by a shorter blade that was exactly like that of the top.
Lone stared at the spear for a second before smiling, "Z, you're right. Those who can't grasp their skills' true ability are not worthy of wielding them."
[Inspection]
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[Sonorous Butterfly]- Once a living being that strived for greater power and a greater purpose. Now struck down and transformed to accompany a Wandering Knight, as they figure out the true limit of their power. Skill: [Butterfly's Encourage]- A skill that allows the user to change between three modes. First mode, [Flutter Mode], where the spear increases the damage of each strike the more it is slashed. Second Mode, [Harmony Mode], where the spear increases the speed of its strike the more it is stabbed. Third Mode, [Flowering Mode], where the spear generates a protective barrier around the user; the barrier's strength increases the closer the user is. Each mode can be indicated by the color of the butterfly that flies out of the hollow hole in the spear, Red indicating Flutter, Blue indicating Harmony, and Green indicating Flowering.
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Lone smiled as he dropped [Bane's Wish] onto the ground and held [Sonorous Butterfly] using both hands. He spun the spear around with one hand before piercing the space in front of him.
"It's light," Lone said as he gripped its shaft tightly before he swung it downwards. Upon hitting the floor, the spear did not snap, but instead made a crack against the hard dirt floor. Lone lifted the spear up and stared at the blade, "but its strong."
A Bestial, being impatient, charged towards Lone, who was inspecting the spear. Hearing the approaching Bestial, Lone spun his spear before turning around.
[Flutter Mode]
As the Bestial moved forward, a sound echoed in its ears. The sound of something flapping its wings. The sound was small, but so profound. As the Bestial looked for the source of the sound, it saw a small red butterfly fly past its head. The Bestial turned around to look at it, and as it did so, more and more butterflies flew past his head.
"They are beautiful," Lone said as he slashed the Bestial's neck. The blade cut cleanly through the beast's neck as it stood there for a couple of seconds before falling forward, its head tumbiling across the ground.
"I have [Spearhead] that increases the power of my strikes, [Warring Howl] that lowers their speed and power, and finally [Butterfly's Encourage]. I must say, I am feeling very grateful today," Lone said as he turned to the Bestials behind him.
They stared at his white eyes and the red scars across his face. Before, they appeared to be just eye-catching, but now it felt as though a great power was standing before them. Their instincts, which were once dormant, now awakened in full spirit. Whatever happened to this thing was not good for them.
Suddenly, an explosion happened a distance away as the leech came out of the dirt and looked down at them all. At the sight of the giant leech, many of the Bestials took several steps back. Before, they would not have run away. But now that their instincts returned, fear finally entered their hearts.
Several of them ran away while others stood frozen in fear.
Suddenly, a scorpion-looking Bestial felt pain in its chest. When it looked down, it saw a blade pierce through its chest. It coughed out red blood before it slowly went limp. Seeing it go limp, Lone clasped his free hand onto its shoulder.
[Man of Arms]
The Bestial was covered in a white light as red light flowed across its body. Soon, the light dimmed as a spear appeared in Lone's hand. Its black blade was as sleek as a needle, and its shaft was a dark purple color with black fur flowing from its pommel. Lone held it tight in his hands as he looked down at it.
[Inspection]
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[Blighted Needle]- Once a living being that strived for greater power and a greater purpose. Now struck down and transformed to accompany a Wandering Knight, as they figure out the true limit of their power. Skill: [Ravaging Venom]- A skill that covers the blade in a constant black venom. Just a single prick from its blade can send a grown man into a bleeding mess in a matter of minutes.
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Lone grabbed the spear tight in his hands as he slashed its blade against the back of a Bestial. The Bestial cried in pain as it turned around and raised its carapace-covered claw high into the air. Ready to strike down at Lone for attacking it. But before it could strike, it staggered for a moment before it began convulsing. White foam flowed out of its mouth as it grasped its throat. The Bestial collapsed onto the ground as black lines appeared on its carapace.
"Hopefully, this is enough to kill that thing," Lone said as he looked at the giant leech that was slowly crashing towards him. He spun the spear around as he prepared to throw it at the giant leech. His muscles tightened as he focused all his strength into his legs and arms. He breathed out before throwing it.
The spear glided through the air like an arrow being set loose. It flew past the heads of several Bestial. It flew above the ground like a black bird being set free. And soon it hit its mark.
Its blade stabbed into the flesh of the leech as black lines slowly appeared on its skin. But the leech didn't flinch, nor did it even slow down.
Seeing this, Lone sighed as he quickly ran away.
"It seems I need more than just that to kill that beast," Lone muttered as he looked at the swarm of Bestials that were all running away. He spotted another Bestial that showed promise. He dashed at it and slashed its neck, red butterflies scurrying from the hollow hole.
The body didn't have time to fall before Lone clasped a hand around its head.
[Man of Arms]
Its body showed a bright white light, followed by the same red glow as it transformed into another spear. This time, the spear was bright white with white feathers fluttering around the shaft like a serpent.
[Inspection]
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[Dancing White]- Once a living being that strived for greater power and a greater purpose. Now struck down and transformed to accompany a Wandering Knight, as they figure out the true limit of their power. Skill: [White Shock]- A skill that releases the white feathers from its body, the longer it tastes blood. These white feathers contain a poison harmful to all living beings, including their wielder.
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Lone quickly gripped the spear in hand before tossing it straight towards the leech. Its blade sank deeply into the beast's giant body as white feathers flew from the shaft and clung to its skin.
"I wonder how long this will take and what item I kind of spear you will make," Lone muttered out as he grinned at the giant leech.