Ranger’s eyebrow twitched in irritation. In the same beat, the Orc burst through a door adjat to him, a measure of the aphrodisiac still clearly c through its veins. Log onto its new prey, the ravenous beast lurched at the man garbed in bck.
“Human! Accept dinkidoo!”
It took but an instant fer to uand what manner of fate had befallen his employer. Anger carved his fato unyielding lines of exasperation, but instead of sympathy for the hefty degee he had been issioo protect, he seemed more upset about the invenience his demise would cause.
With unwavering posure, he dreair of sickles, their bdes f ominous semicircles. He swiftly struck at the repulsive creature, aiming for its head. However, instead of its skull, only one of its tusks fell to the floor with a heavy thud.
“Oh?” Ranger muttered darkly, eyeing the awkward angle of the Orc’s body. “You’re quick… and flexible.”
At this point, the beast was sweating bullets, its dinkidoo shriveling like a raisin within its skimpy loincloth. With a panicked yelp, it clumsily rolled to the side, hurled itself through the window, and fled like an Olympic sprinter being chased by a swarm of bees.
DING!
[You have defeated a ?Juvenile Honey Orc?!]
[Juvenile Honey Orc’s Tusk has been acquired.]
[4 gold has been acquired.]
Daisuke frowned. Hah. So if a monster loses the will to fight and flees, it ts as a partial kill. Makes sense I didn’t get much loot since I barely damaged it. Still, I’m surprised the System even factored in the damage I dealt before st it in my iory.
DING!
[Casimir has beeed!]
[Agate Magic Bag has been acquired.]
[Reinfort Tablet x2 has been acquired.]
[Celestial Cube (White) x3 has been acquired.]
[Ruablet x2 has been acquired.]
[Brothel Blueprints has been acquired.]
[Mana crystal has been acquired.]
[Universal Prison Key has been acquired.]
[2867 gold has been acquired.]
Ranger regarded Daisuke like a wolf would a sheep, his body tilting forward in sheer battle-readiness, his ons poised to strike. “I don’t know who you are or who you work for, but I’ll show you what happens when vermin meddle in my affairs.”
Daisuke looked on unflingly, his body croug low as he brandished the Lipanthyer’s Fang.
WHOOSH!
Suddenly, his fidence shattered as Ranger shot past him like a gust of wind, leaving a deep gash beh his right eye.
Daisuke turo look at the shinobi, his golden eyes quivering in arm. If I had reacted just a microsed slower, he would have gouged out my eye.
“I won’t miss ime,” Ranger promised, already sensing that his adversary possessed a special ocur ability.
Daisuke’s eyes burned.
DING!
[Name: Ranger
Species: Human
Level: 54 | EXP: 14,568/455,625 (3.19%)
Css: Shinobi
Affiliation: Mhaledictus | Assassin’s Guild | Hidden
Title: Shadow Master | O Kill
HP: 30,507/30,507 | MP: 814/846
Strength: 200 (+8) | Stamina: 40 (+4) | Agility: 270 (+6) | Intelligence: 30 | Dexterity: 39 | Leadership: 24 | Charisma: 9
Stat Points: 0]
DING!
[Ranger activates the skill ?Shadow Step?!]
[Shadow Step]
[Rank: Rare
Lvl: 4
Proficy: 43%
Born from the shadows, this skill is the embodiment of stealth, agility, and ing.
Skill Effect:
?? Allows the user to meld with the darkness and move instantly to a designated shadow within a 20-meter radius.
?? Grants temporary invisibility for 5 seds upon arrival, perfebushes or quick escapes.
?? Ehe user to augment movement speed by 35% for 15 seds while moving in plete silence, rendering their footsteps uable by foes.
Mana Cost: 25
Skill Cooldown: 20 Seds]
As promised, Ranger set out to cim the Evil Eyes. Sparks flew from the Lipanthyer’s Fang as it narrowly deflected a sickle, the on’s lethal bde reflected in Daisuke’s eyes.
Dammit! Daisuke snarled, his 99 points in Strength failing miserably at peting with the man’s whopping 208. He’s freely able to jump from one shadow to the ? Talk about a cheat skill!
Daisuke stumbled forward when Ranger’s on disappeared. By the time he was able tain his bahe man appeared behind him, silently resurfag from his shadow.
SLASH!
The sickle traced a vertical arc, carving a long, bloody line along Daisuke’s back. He cried out in agony but quickly ched his teeth, sifting through the pain tain his focus.
WHOSH! SWISH! G! BOOM!
Activating the Dash skill, Daisuke and Ranger became blurs of motion, their forms flickering in and out of visibility. Each time they momentarily solidified, bright sparks erupted from their g ons, leaving a trail of destru in their wake—a deep crevi the wall, a vase shattering, fixtures and furnishings reduced to debris.
But Daisuke’s measly 186 points in Agility could hardly hold a dle ter’s 276. With a pained grunt, he raised his dagger defensively and crossed his forearms as the shinobi swept past him like a cye, inflig several deep gashes on his body.
Daisuke gnced up as the man made another pass, his golden pupils darting around with unnerving speed. While he could track the shinobi’s movements with the Eye of Verity and sense his presehanks to Sixth Sense, his body struggled to keep up.
Blood spttered in jagged arcs across the floor as Ranger methodically sliced away at the insignifit i who dared to meddle in his pns. Desperate, Daisuke activated the Dash skill again, praying for the 10% ce ering Haste, but luck wasn’t on his side.
Boung off the walls like a coiled spring, Daisuke finally caught the elusive shinobi in a free fall. He s the bastard as he unched himself from the ceiling, aiming to cleave the man in two. But before the Lipanthyer’s Fang could savor fresh blood, its prey suddenly vanished into thin air.
Daisuke’s eyes widened in dismay as the airborne shinobi, once vulnerable, resurfaced from the shadow being cast on the ground, his ons poised to strike.
Instantaneously, Daisuke raised his dagger with the iion of attempting Impeccable Parry, but the man hoisting his ons was merely a feint. Shifting his body, he delivered a crippling kick to Daisuke’s before following up with a roundhouse that sent him into a spiral and crashing into the wall.
Cough! Daisuke puked up a mouthful of blood as he scrambled to his feet, his breathing haggard, his dagger raised.
***
Amara and Mana awoke at the ic, grateful to find themselves miles away from the nightmare that was the goblin cave. They visited Gloria at the monastery and effusively thanked her for all she had done.
The woman shook her head with a smile. “Haxks and his little friend deserves all the credit,” Gloria admitted modestly. “If it weren’t for them, none of us would have been able to escape that pce.”
“He could’ve stuck around until we got the ce to properly thank him,” Mana murmured indignantly.
Amara cupped her hands ceremoniously, whispering a prayer to goddess Seraphina to anoint and protect their savior with her divine prowess. “…I hope he’s alright.”
***
BOOM!
Daisuke crashed through the wooden wall of the house, rolling until he came to an explosive stop outside. Through the gaping hole in the wooden paneling, Ranger could be seen slowly l his leg, his gaze harsh and unsympathetic.
Silently, he advanced along the path of destru towards his floundering prey. The man boasted a physique that blessed him with incredible speed and power to deal swift aating damage to his enemies. He didn’t care too much about stamina since his stealth skill allowed him to kill his enemies long before he ran out of energy.
Daisuke’s expression crumpled and a pained cry escaped his lips as he pulled a length of broken wood from his abdomen. Warm blood pooled in his palm from the wound, but he khe instaempted to e a potion, he would be mercilessly cut down.
His heartbeat pounded in his ears as his health that was well below 50% gradually begaing.
DING!
[Αφιν?τη’s Blessing partially alleviates your bleeding.]
Daisuke shifted his perturbed gaze from the notification window back to the approag shinobi. I guess… certain status afflis are… ditional, even for this passive.
As he struggled to gather his bearings, Daisuke knew he would need a miracle to walk away from this battle alive. Unlike before when he simply focused on achieving a siat advantage such as Agility and his desire was met—now, he needed a baween a particur pair of stats to win.
sidering the level and stat differeween him and Ranger, especially the night and day differen their equipment and battle experience, he knew he was stuck between a rod a very hard pce.
It felt like every siime he mao clear a very difficult hurdle and climb to a new pinnacle of power, he’s faced with hardship and reminded of how powerless he truly is. But he couldn’t accept that reality, not when there were so many people depending on him.
Daisuke’s eyebrows furrowed, his golden eyes burning as he braced for the end. There has to be some way I turn this around—”
DING!
[Goddess Seraphina’s gentle gaze falls upon you.]
DING!
[The posure stat restores your de and remedies your abnormal mental state.]
DING!
[Goddess Αφιν?τly sways her fingers.]
DING!
[The a ruirs at the silent and…]
[The divine seal weakens…]
[History begins weaving a new legend…]
DING!
[The hidden skill ?§??? @%&?? has been unsealed!]
[Stat Reset]
[Rank: Unknown
Cssification: Active Skill
Lvl: 1
Proficy: 33%
A sacred power that hinges on the edge of heresy. It rivals the power of the gods and has the potential to either shape or shatter the world.
Skill Effect:
?? Grants the ability to indefinitely reset aribute your Stat Points as desired.
Mana Cost: None
Skill Cooldown: 10 Minutes]
