'What is this? Just how bad is my luck for me to wake up here?!'
I thought frantically as I began racing down the swampy, chaotic jungle, with Aika running as fast as she could beside me.
This horrific territory was called Aziz's Beautiful Garden and the Grade Two monsters who ruled these parts were the Goat-Headed Ghouls, otherwise chillingly known as The Cannibals of Hongolo.
Not only were they a nightmare to encounter as they usually hunted in groups, but once they spotted you, you could never escape them.
That was why, even though I was running as fast as my legs could carry me, I couldn't help but feel utterly engulfed by a terrible dread, knowing deep down I wouldn't be able to escape them.
It didn't take long for us to begin hearing their noises in the bushes around us. It sounded like a shrill, eerie laughter that sent chills down my spine. And the eerie laughter seemed to resound from every direction around us.
My eyes darted to the bushes, and that was when I saw shadows moving fast through the gaps between the trees and leaves in a blur.
My eyes instantly widened in a fresh wave of panic, and I poured every ounce of my energy into my legs in a desperate attempt to increase my speed.
'Shit!'
I quickly looked to the map to see how close the creatures were to me and how far away I was from leaving this territory, but just then, a shadow lunged out of the nearby bush, flying directly towards me.
I immediately threw myself forward on pure instinct and right at that moment, something heavy crashed down on where I had been, a heartbeat ago.
Scrambling to pull myself up, I turned around, and that was when I could see the creature that had almost ended my life.
It looked vaguely like a human being, only that it was twice bigger and slimmer than one, with the head of a goat. Its body was covered in long bushy gray hairs, and its long bony arms ended in long, jagged claws.
In one arm it held what looked like a large bone which it used as a weapon.
Looking at it, I swallowed and without wasting any time, I immediately stretched out my arms and called out. "Come, Aika!"
Instantly, Aika dissolved to smoke and two swords immediately shot out from my shadow, slamming into my open arms.
I braced myself, while my eyes kept darting between the creature and the surrounding bushes where its companions hid.
Then while I was still pondering my strategy, the creature's mouth suddenly opened wide, and a shrill yell, like a woman screaming in pure agony, came out, causing me to flinch violently. I instinctively took a step back, but in that same moment, the creature lunged at me with terrifying speed, bringing its bone sword down in a deadly arc. I barely managed to react on time, throwing myself to the side to dodge that massive blow.
But just as I landed and rolled on the floor, a second creature jumped out of the bushes, flying directly towards me.
'Shit!'
[Activating combat tutorials…]
[Raise swords to deflect strike!]
Following the instructions, I immediately raised my swords, and my blades met the bone sword of the creature who had lunged at me, sweeping its weapon in a horizontal, frantic arc.
"Ack!"
I yelped as the sheer force of the impact sent me flying back and crashing hard onto the floor. Pain rattled through my bones, and my breath was knocked loose for a moment.
The creature, seeing me on the floor, immediately lunged again, its bone sword raised high for a killing blow.
However, just as it was about to reach me, I raised my katana up and pointed it at its face, then simultaneously activated my exclusive skill.
[Flames of decay]
Instantly, a magic circle appeared on the tip of the blade, and a ball of vicious, black flames formed then shot toward the creature's head. The flames engulfed the monster's face, and since it was already committed to its rush, it couldn't slow down. Its weapon struck down at the ground where I had been.
Luckily, I barely managed to roll to the side, after which I immediately regained my feet. When I did, I saw the creature clutch its burning face in an attempt to stop the flames, but instead, the black fire immediately consumed its hands. The monstrous thing yelled in its eerie, female voice in pain as its form slowly began to disintegrate into wisps of green and black smoke and dust.
Just then, a notification popped up to my side.
[EXP: +200]
I didn't even have time to register the victory because right at that moment, the first creature let out a shrill yell and lunged at me.
But this time it was not the only one.
Simultaneously, three more of its companions erupted from the dense brush, flying towards me at breakneck speed. The four goat-headed monsters formed a desperate, converging wave of bone and claw.
'Crap!'
I immediately, instinctively, and urgently slammed both swords into the swampy ground. Activating my exclusive skill again, a wide magic circle instantly formed beneath me, after which a dense ring of black flames erupted, creating a protective barrier.
While the three creatures who had lunged out of the bushes halted in their tracks, the creature nearest to me couldn't stop its momentum and plunged directly into the ring of fire.
I wasn't fast enough to avoid its bone sword which was aimed at me, and so, even as I jumped out of the way, the wicked bone tore a searing path through my side.
"Aaahhh!" I screamed in agony as I crashed onto the floor, clutching the side of my ribs as blood pooled out.
For a moment, my vision went white with blinding pain, and I nearly succumbed to the crushing shock.
I forced my head up to see the creature who had plunged into the ring of flames that were surrounding me. It was screaming, its entire body writhing as it burned and swiftly disintegrated into dust and smoke.
Since I was so utterly engulfed by the searing pain in my side, I didn't even notice the notification that had popped up to the side.
[EXP: +200]
'Breathe, Cedric, breathe...'~~
Aika's panicked voice sounded in my head. But since my vision was growing hazy, and my grip on consciousness was failing, I couldn't focus on her voice.
Then, just as I felt myself slipping, the katana in my hand dissolved. Aika instantly materialized, and with frantic speed, she reached out to the side where the inventory screen automatically opened up. She pulled out a Health Elixir, swiftly uncorked it, and began forcing the liquid past my lips.
I weakly drank the potion, but while I was still struggling to swallow, a heavy, whistling object shot into the dense black flames surrounding us and buried itself violently in the swampy ground a few meters away.
Then I heard Aika curse. "Shit."