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Gobu shook Hiroshi awake, his eyes burst opened as he sat up quickly.
“Where am I!?” he demanded.
“Safe. Rest. Now.” Gobu’s eyes had a glimmer of sadness.
The vampire’s body was covered in scars from previous battles, fresh bruises and cuts littered her body from the fight with the gryphon.
Oh… I’m back at camp.
“What… happened, Gobu?” Hiroshi scratched his head, letting out a groan from the pain.
“Boss. Fight. Greater. Stone. Gryphon,” he responded.
“You. Win.”
Feodra barked excitedly at Hiroshi, standing on all fours.
Hiroshi’s memory was all jumbled up, but a flashback to him delivering the final blow lingered.
Ah, that’s it… I ran into a Greater Stone Gryphon… I used almost everything in my arsenal to beat it…
He turned his head to face Feodra.
She’s much bigger now… in such a short time.
He smiled at Feodra and with a blink, his eyes went back to Gobu.
“I see. What did you want to show me, Gobu?” his brow raised.
“Look. Look!” Gobu pointed at Feodra’s nose, his finger close to it.
Feodra let out another bark while a faint spark of lightning appeared, zapping Gobu’s finger and vanishing.
Gobu let out a small sound, “Ouch!”
Hiroshi laughed at Gobu.
“There’s. More,” he stated.
“Gobu. Find. Chimera. Trail,” his expression was serious.
Hiroshi’s eyes shot open.
“Is it nearby!?”
“Yes. Come. Back. To. Open. Field.”
It came back to where it clashed with Feodra’s mother?
“What was it doing? Wh—”
“Easy. Boss. Rest.”
Hiroshi sighed.
“You’re right Gobu.”
Gobu smiled at Hiroshi, offering him some cooked meat on a stick.
He turned back to the camp as Hiroshi laid back down, taking a bite of the meat.
Status, Open.
The window appeared out of thin air before him.
HP: 468/5100
LV: 41
Alright… I’m close to its level. I’ve still got health to spare.
His eyes landed on the “Choose Skills?” menu. “10 available” it stated next to it.
Oh, that’s right… I passed out before it finished the announcement.
Hiroshi tapped once on the window and began scrolling through skills, holding meat on a stick next to his mouth.
Gobu focused on cooking more meat on a stick as Feodra played with her tail. No one had noticed a tiny red spot emerging from her forehead. Sun was almost ready to go into hiding, the clouds underside a faint reddish color.
Hiroshi stood up, his entire body trembling for a second with his arms raised to the sky.
“Agh, that’s better,” he stated, clenching his fist a couple of times.
Gobu kicked the remains of the fire, ashes kicking up into the air slightly. Feodra was standing on the floor, barking excitedly. She couldn’t fit in Gobu’s hand anymore.
“Gobu,” he stated.
“Yes. Boss?”
“Lead the way. It is time.”
Gobu turned and nodded with a serious look.
“Let’s move, everyone.”
Gobu walked first, with Hiroshi and Feodra behind. A faint plume of smoke escaped the smoldered campfire, leaving behind the bark with scratches.
Hiroshi and Gobu stuck out their heads from a nearby bush. Dark pools of liquid was almost everywhere. Half eaten dire wolf carcasses laid scattered about.
“It. Sleeping.” Gobu pointed at it, curled up into a massive fur ball.
Hiroshi’s brow furrowed as he stared it down.
This time, I’m the hunter.
He turned to his companions.
“Stay here. Do not move no matter what, unless I am defeated.”
“Bu—”
“Unless I am defeated. Then you run.”
“Gob—”
“I need you to agree.” Hiroshi stated, coldly.
…
After a moment of silence, Gobu nodded his head.
“Good. I’ll finish this in a flash,” he smiled at him, placing a hand on his head.
Gobu’s eyes teared up.
“Be. Safe. Boss.”
Hiroshi nodded and turned to the sleeping chimera.
I can’t drag this out. I’m very low on health.
He let out a final sigh, slightly shaky.
Gobu blinked, and he was gone.
Hiroshi leaped into the air, flicking his fingers. Sharp claws extended, now a slightly dark red color.
Spine splitter!
His body rotated forward twice, leaving two long scratches on the beasts back. Hiroshi sticking the landing on its back.
The beast growled as it rose, the snake head awakening as well and coiled behind to face Hiroshi as the rest of the body stood up.
Venom drooled from its mouth as it began to gape open.
I’ve seen this before!
Health Up, Speed Up!
His body pulsed some colours as he vanished from the snake’s eyes as it began to spew venom forward, some landing on its back, making a hissing sound.
Hiroshi was already on the back of the snake’s neck, burying his dark red claws into it.
Paralysis Claws!
The bear’s body washed over with color and froze.
I’ve got it.
Holding onto its neck with his legs, he began to quickly jab the back of its neck in succession.
Rending Talons!
With each strike a new number appeared next to the bear’s condition.
<<Bleeding X 15 >>
Its HP began to drain slowly.
Alright, it’s working. Time fo—
The bear’s body began to twitch and finally moved after the paralysis wore off. The snakes head began to trash about violently, Hiroshi losing his grip.
Damn it…
He fell to the floor, then hopped back a few times to make some distance. The bear’s hulking body turned to face it and let out a terrifying roar.
Hiroshi took a step forward, his legs moving slowly as if rocks had been tied to them.
What the… did it just do something? My body feels heavy.
One of the bear’s massive paws began to dig the ground, readying.
Shit… It’s going to charge. Wait.
His eyes darted around the battlefield, most of the dire wolves’ bodies still had their heads.
A slight grin appeared on Hiroshi’s face.
Let’s see how you like this.
He closed his eyes, imagining the entire battlefield around him, blue lines pulsed out him. The wolves’ bodies clearly materializing in his head.
“Raise Dead.”
The corpses pulsed a dark green color as they began to get to their feet. Saliva drooled out from their mouths, their eyes glowing a dark green.
Hiroshi pointed toward the hulking monster which began to charge at him.
“Go.”
They all burst into a run, converging towards it. Some leaped into the air; some went for the legs and body.
“Raise Skeleton Knight. Phantom Image. Shadowstep!” He commanded.
An image of him stood still where he was a moment ago. His skeleton knight began to crawl out of the earth behind him, pulling out its massive great sword along with it.
The bear continued its charge, wolves lunging into the air and biting into its neck, some chomping into its legs. But to no avail, most of them were shaken off.
Hiroshi leaped atop the bear from behind.
Alright, once it’s close, I’ll paralyse it and the skeleton knight should do some huge damage.
The bear got closer as it charged forward, everything trembling from its weight. The large hunk of iron lifted into the air as the skeleton knight prepared.
Hiroshi’s phantom image flickered a little bit, standing still.
Paralysis claws!
He sank them into the bear’s back.
“Paralysis Claws, Resisted.” The system announced lifelessly.
WHAT!?
His eyes widened as the bear crashed through his phantom image, swiping its muscular arm into the skeleton knight, sending it flying through a tree.
Damn it… skeleton knight…
The bear let out a roar again as it stood up on its two legs, posturing itself. Hiroshi struggled to hold his grip, falling to the ground.
The bear came crashing down with its landing, swiping its claws through the ground as it rotated, sending Hiroshi rolling.
Hiroshi coughed up blood as he tumbled on the ground a few paces, coming to a stop.
Gobu gripped the bushes tighter, hope slipping away from his expression. Feodra barked at the bear.
Damn it… I need to move. And fast!
He looked up. The bear was in double vision, getting closer. His head dropped to the floor; neck muscles gave out.
The stars glimmered before his eyes, when the bears paw began to crush his body. The bears face got close to his and let out a roar, the snake coiled in next to it, hissing at him at the same time.
Its paw pressed down even harder as Hiroshi coughed up more blood, the ground around cracking as it caved in a little bit.
“Boss…” Gobu stared at Hiroshi pinned down.
Hiroshi stared back at the monster before him, who was in double vision. Ears rang as everything in his body pulsed with great pain.
“Damn… you.”
Is this it?
The snake’s head slithered back and away.
Status, open…
The window popped up before him.
HP: 103/5100
It was draining at a steady rate, from the pressure of the bear and maintaining his raise spells.
His head tilted to the side, barely staying awake.
Hiroshi cracked one last grin.
“There’s one thing you forgot…”
With the last of his strength, he faced the bears head one more.
It opened its mouth.
“I’m… not…”
The bear’s head lunged forward, going for the kill.
“Alone.”
A giant bolt of lightning hit the monster suddenly, its hair rising from the static shock. The bears mouth open centimeters away from Hiroshi’s head, it twitched and spasmed.
“Feodra!” Gobu shouted out, his hand stretched out towards her.
She stood there in a fighting stance ahead of Gobu, growling.
Hiroshi let out a half laugh as a loud “whoop” reached his ears.
Blood splashed down onto Hiroshi from above as the snake’s head landed nearby with a thud that shook the ground.
The Skeleton Knight twisted its body, leading the first strike into another as the blade swung around.
Croaking out in pain, the beast turned it’s last head towards the skeleton mid motion.
A loud squelching sound escaped the blade as it struck down into the monster’s body, cutting down deep.
Status, inspect.
Lesser Venomfang Chimera
LV: 44
Hp: 580/5500
MP: 50/700
Almost there…
The chimera took another swipe at the skeleton knight, cutting it clean in half, beginning to dissolve to a dark mist mid-air.
Pushing himself to his feet once more, he stumbled forward a few steps, spreading out his hands.
“Come, let’s finish this, you damned beast.” He roared out.
With a growl, it turned to face Hiroshi. He began walking at first, which slowly turned into a run towards the beast.
He glanced over at his HP, which was down to under a hundred.
“FEODRA. DO IT!”
Feodra barked at a distance, lightning crackling around her snout. A loud boom pierced the night as a large arc of lightning hit the chimera’s body once more, freezing it mid-roar.
Hiroshi pulled back his arm and swung forward.
Zero Distance!
His dark crimson claws sank deep into the bears neck, Hiroshi’s body catching the lightning as well.
“Just die already!” he shouted at it, his feet scraping through the dirt as he tried to walk forward, his hand sinking deeper into its neck, his hair tingling from the lightning.
Glancing over at his HP, it read less than fifty.
He pressed forward with everything he had.
HP: 30.
“DIE!”
HP: 20.
His body suddenly jerked forward, a loud crunch escaping from deep of the creature’s neck; something snapped.
“Challengers Curse. Lifted,” the system announced.
The bear’s body collapsed onto the ground. Gobu dashed out of the bushes, Feodra following him.
Hiroshi glanced over at his HP, which read ten.
He coughed up some blood, smiling as his body collapsed with his hand still deep in its neck.
Gobu dropped his body next to Hiroshi’s limp body.
“Boss! Boss!” he shook him repeatedly.
Feodra barked and whined at him.
The system came on once again.
“Lesser…”
“Greater B’:[}’$...”
“Venomf{‘@;{{“
“Voided—"
It shut down suddenly.