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Orange light reflected from shiny scales, its long winding body crept out, taking its time.
Its tongue flicked out of its mouth before retracting. Glowing crimson eyes stared down at him from above.
You after my meat, huh, Mr. snake!?
Wait… that came out wrong…
Anyway, I'm not letting you have it!
Without thinking, Hiroshi's feet burst into action.
A terrifying screech escaped the slithering creature’s mouth as it gaped wide open.
Purple liquid shot out like a hose spraying water.
It's attacking!
Coming to a quick stop, he leaped back a couple of paces, the unknown liquid landing on the floor. The liquid bubbled, making a slight hissing sound as it burned into the rock floor.
That… that's POISON!! I knew it; everything here is damned poison!!
Vampire Claws!
Claws shot out of his nails.
I need to get close.
Over the puddle, he jumped, dashing in close to the creature. A movement caught his eye from the side.
What's th—
The creature’s tail came in at speed and connected with his body. A crunch was caught by Hiroshi's ear, and a sharp pulsing pain from his ribs.
Before he could blink, Hiroshi's body was plastered against the cave wall. Rocks and pebbles fell to the ground, dust lifting into the air.
Hiroshi coughed out blood.
Shit… this is bad. It's fast.
The edges of his vision blurred and faded.
"Status,” he coughed out.
HP: 110/150
Damn, that took quite a bit off my HP. I need to keep trying.
Leaving the crater in the wall behind, he rose once more.
Dashing in the same direction once more, the tail came at great speed again.
Not this time!
Lunging into the air, the tail crashed into the wall instead. The beast let out a screech as rocks flew into its head and face. Then, with a swift kick, Hiroshi launched himself off the wall straight towards it, readying his strike.
It's distracted!
Just as the snake turned its head to face Hiroshi, it was too late for it. Razor-sharp claws pierced deeply into its eye. Feeling the strike, it screeched once more, beginning to thrash around.
Wooooooaaaahhh!!
His whole body was flung around as his hand was buried inside one of its eyes.
This is bad this is bad!
I know.
With a single thought the nails retracted, disengaging his body from its head. Flying through the air, Hiroshi was smiling.
I'm getting the hang of this.
He stuck the landing.
"Once I'm done with you, you're going to be dinner," he stated boldly, pointing at it.
Now…
He leaned forward.
BECOME FOOD!
Dust was left where he stood. Another swipe of the tail came from the same direction it had always been striking from.
I've seen this already!
With the press of his legs, he cleared the strike. It came back from the other side, with the same speed.
Shit, I didn't expect that…
He kicked off the ceiling, crashing into the ground in a kneeling position as the tail whooshed past his head inches away.
Still a bit sloppy. At least I still have my head.
Changing his plans, he dashed along the wall, hopping over and ducking under each tail hit, rocks shooting out, dust hovering in the air.
I'm close!
With the final strike of its tail, a boulder came loose and crushed its tail, locking it in place. Taking the opportunity, he leapt atop the body and ran up.
I don't know if this will work… BUT TAKE IT!
Once close enough, he leaped towards its head and gouged out its other eye, then kicked off its body to create distance.
It worked. It can't see anymore.
The beast began to thrash around, blind, furious. The entire cave began to shake.
Shit… it's coming down.
He took a few jumps back to near the cave entrance, watching the beast wriggle and shake, hitting the ceiling and walls.
Large chunks of rocks dislodged from the ceiling; its utter weight crushed the snake. Only dust particles remained in the air.
The system announced.
"Giant Venom-fang Snake, defeated."
"Level up. Please choose two skills."
Hiroshi fell onto his butt, a sigh of relief left his mouth.
I took some damage in that fight, but it was a bit… easier.
He looked at his hands.
It's… getting easier?
His eyes squinted for a while.
Well, that's done and dusted. While I slowly regenerate the damage I took, I should take a look at the skills.
After a short while, Hiroshi was sitting on his log again, scratching his head. The snake was behind him; its mouth open with two giant fangs peeking out.
Hmmm there's a bunch of useful skills here.
Anyhow, let's take the inspect status skill I saw earlier, that should be really handy.
"Choose Inspect Status," his deep feminine voice ordered.
It then appeared in his list of skills.
Maybe I should take one more combat skill and utility skill.
Lesser sneak? What's this?
The voice came on.
"Lesser Sneak. Allows the user to suppress his presence in the world, making it harder for humanoids and creatures to detect you. Evolves into, Greater Sneak."
Oh, that sounds like… something a vampire would have.
"Choose Lesser Sneak?"
It confirmed, then appeared in his skill list.
Whilst browsing other skills, his eyes widened. He tapped with his finger on the skill.
"Vampire Drain. Allows the user to drain blood from a target. Restores user's HP."
"Choose Vampire Drain?"
It asked again, indifferent as before.
Wait, this restores HP! This is super huge!!
"Yes." He said, in a confident tone.
I think I'll choose one more offensive skill. I could use advantage in combat right now; I can't use the claws forever.
After a while of looking through, some stood out.
Poison Claws. Shadowstep. Paralysis Claws. Zero Distance.
He scratched his head harder, letting out a frustrated sigh.
Ughhhh, these would all be so useful right now…
What's Zero Distance? Oi system buddy, explain it to me!
"Zero Distance."
"Closes all distance to the target in an instant, placing the user within immediate striking range, at the cost of health points."
"Choose Zero Dist—"
"YES!" He shouted out.
"Choose it now!"
The skill appeared in the list.
What the heck, that's like… super powerful!! But there's a catch huh. It will cost some health points. I should find out how much once I'm rested.
Since I'm not really hungry anymore, I should do some exploring of this cave.
He turned his head to where the cave entrance, which was partly blocked by the snake’s thick body.
Let's do this.
His face hardened, a more serious look.
After climbing through the small hole on the snake’s body, the cave opened up again.
He cautiously threaded further inside. The cave's walls slowly turned a deeper, darker shade. Oddly shaped footprints were on the cave's floor, they looked almost human, but were missing a toe or two.
Footprints… Is someone here? Wait… that doesn't look human. Maybe I should go in stealth mode just in case…
"Lesser Sneak," he whispered.
His body glowed a faint purple tone for a second before returning to normal. He looked at his hands and feet in surprise.
So that's lesser sneak. Huh, I feel a little bit… lighter?
The walls began to twist and turn; it wasn't a straight tunnel anymore.
After walking for what felt like hours, Hiroshi came to a stop.
The tunnel split.
Ah great. Just what I needed. Well, it doesn't look like it matters which way, it's not like there's going to be a big pile of treasure at the end of one of them anyway right? Hahaha.
He turned left and kept marching forward, looking around. A leg, half-munched and chewed, or perhaps ripped from someone, was behind a stone at the split. He hadn't noticed.
After another while of walking, some strange noises caught his ear once again. He crouched down.
I hear something… it's… laughing?
High-pitched snickers could be heard deeper in the rocky tunnel.
He peeked from behind the wall.
What the HECK is that!?
Two small creatures stood facing each other. Long pointy ears, and jagged teeth. They seemed to be talking in some sort of language to each other. They were skinny, yet their bellies were fat. They held a small wooden club.
Looks like… they're talking?
Status Inspect.
A window appeared.
Goblin. Level 4. HP: 60/60. Resistances: None. Skills: Brutal Swing. Flee. Rallying Cry.
Flee? Isn't that just running away?
He would come to find out the hard way.
Hmm, they're a level higher than me but have lower health. Could I take them on?
Their weapons don’t look particularly intimidating either, they’re just clubs.
I'll test out this new skill. Let's see how much it costs.
He crept out behind the wall, the goblins still talking to each other and laughing weirdly.
With a thought, his nails expanded.
Let's try this…
He pulled back his arm, ready to strike.
Pulling himself together, his eyes shot open. He began to throw out his hand.
Zero Distance!
The goblin blinked, looking at his companion laughing, the next moment, long claws were sinking into its head. The little guy slowly turned his head, in front of him a woman with her mouth open. Two long fangs stuck out. A booming sound and dust were left in the place where Hiroshi had stood a second ago.
"Lesser Goblin Defeated." The system announced.
A one-shot huh? Let's finish the other o—
It wasn't there anymore. He looked up.
The creature was squirming as it retreated after witnessing its friend being slaughtered in an instant. It was not sticking around.
"Come back, coward!" He roared out and burst into a chase.
The cave's walls twisted and turned as he went after it.
How's it so fast!? Oh… might be the flee ability.
With each turn of the cave’s walls, he saw the goblin less and less. It was getting away.
I can't let it go! There might be others nearby.
With a sudden twist of the cave one more time, it was there, standing at the edge of a cliff. The cave's walls ended there.
A vast open space filled Hiroshi's vision, as if it was a whole other world down there. Who knew it could open so much inside of a cave. It seemed as though he stumbled upon a gigantic open room, except instead of walls, there was rock.
His eyes locked onto the goblin who stood at the edge of the cave's cliff.
"Status, open." He ordered.
HP: 125/150
So, it costs 25 Hp. I could do it once more comfortably. Let's end it.
He bent forward, readying a strike.
Taking one step forward, his foot stumbled upon a rock, throwing his body slightly off balance.
Zero Distance.
Woaah—
The goblin saw Hiroshi stumble off balance.
Its eyes closed.
Then opened.
Hiroshi's body crashed into goblin, and both fell off the cliff.
As they both tumbled mid-air, hitting rock on the way down, he thrust his arm once more towards the goblin, piercing its chest with his claws.
If I'm going down, you're going down with me!
The goblin let out a wheeze as it died, Hiroshi pulled the goblin's corpse closer.
"Lesser Goblin Defeated." The system spoke.
That's great and all, but I have a problem here!
He was in free fall, hitting the cliff's walls a few more times.
I could try use the body as a cush—
A rock struck the back of his head.
Then darkness.
Hiroshi groaned as his eyes opened slowly.
Shit, I must've blacked out…
"Status." He croaked out.
HP: 43/150
Less than ideal, but that's a start, I guess…
He pushed off the goblin beneath him and got up, then looked up from where he fell.
I fell quite a distance.
He looked down, noticing the squashed goblin below him, blood spurted across the walls and floor at the area of impact.
He must've taken the hit…
Rest in peace, little guy.
He put his hands together for a moment.
There's another clearing there.
Limping, he got to the edge.
So, he did have friends huh…
Beneath the ledge was the bottom of the open space.
Large swathes of green moved around. Some danced around a large bonfire at the center of their camp.
Small wooden huts dotted the rocky landscape. Near a wall there was a small staircase which led to a large iron door.
That's a lot of them.
He grinned as his eyes had a faint sparkle to them.
And that's a lot of levels down there.
Let's pay them a visit, shall we?
He took a step forward and jumped down.