SNARL GROWWAAHH
In the distance, the pack of 15 monsters furiously attacked the barrier without showing any signs of weakness. If it were anyone else standing in my place, they wouldn’t think twice about hunkering down and waiting for the storm to pass. However, if there were ever a moment where my insanity shone, it would be times like these.
Having stared down the jaws of absolutely colossal monsters 50 times my size unflinchingly in the Origin Timeline, these wolf-sized mongrels were nothing short of puppies in my eyes.
Walking slowly away from the corpses while casually spinning the stolen sword around my left shoulder, a twisted smirk spread across my face as I expanded my perception to the maximum to get a read on the strength of each of the monsters.
That was when I noticed two outliers lying in wait in the back of the mass of furry bodies.
’Low Beta-Rank, both of them; I knew the info from that bitch couldn’t be trusted; she only thought there was one, but instead, there are two Beta-Rank Ferretmoles, and it seems that they are far more intelligent than the rest of the pack.’
Even with the pace I was holding, it didn’t take me long to clear the distance between my hidey-hole and the edge of the safezone barrier, where I found myself standing toe to toe against 13 of the 15 beasts.
’8 High-Alpha, 3 Mid, and 2 Low; if I only had my dagger, maybe it would have been a little risky to jump into battle, but with this sword, my range has increased several times.’ Ceasing my twirling motion, I held up the silver weapon and examined it for any damage.
From pommel to tip, it was around two and a half feet long, nearly the same size as me albeit slightly shorter, and at a glance, I could tell it had been maintained relatively well, considering there was fresh oil coating the blade and it was free of any scratches or chips, indicating it barely saw any use.
The Guard and pommel were intricately carved and adorned with beautifully sculpted carvings, and just above the Guard rested multiple low-grade gemstones, each of the three giving the weapon its boosts as they were slotted into the typical sockets for enhancement stones found at the base of the blade.
’Figures, that guy was a chickenshit, to begin with; this weapon was wasted on him; honestly, it’s better suited in Brenden’s hands, not mine, but until I get a decent pair of claws to wield, it’ll have to do.’
Standing less than a foot away from a hungry pack of monsters, I took out two of the expensive Particle potions I had looted and downed both, bringing my PC up to 100 points, as they were Hand Crafted High-Alpha potions and gave me 50 points each.
Tossing the glass vials on the ground, I ignored the sound of shattering glass and reached up with my right hand, removed my mask, and stored it in my inventory before allowing the Particles in my body to move.
Unfortunately, although my Talent worked well against those with low Intellect stats, I knew from experience there was a small chance of it working on monsters, roughly only 25% even if they were dumber than a box of rocks.
The reason was they were beings fueled by instinct, not intelligence; thus, it was a shot in the dark if my Coercion or even Control worked on anything found within the confines of an Instance.
With that thought in mind, I split my PC between my arms and legs, readying myself to use both stages of my Augmentation before inhaling deeply through my nostrils and rushing forward.
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’Psy-Kinesis, Augmentation Stage One, Augmentation Stage Two!’
Instantly, my speed more than doubled as I raced toward the right, crossed through the barrier, and launched my head-on assault.
Just like the small scuffle with the four Rankers, I coated as much of my weapon with the hazy blue aura as possible, increasing its sharpness and durability before darting to the side and narrowly avoiding a leaping strike of not one but two of the Ferretmoles.
’Weak ones first,’ staying on the move, I slid side to side as if skating on ice, narrowly avoiding one precarious attack after another before arriving in front of a Low-Alpha Rank Ferretmole. With a flash of blue light, I instantly severed its head with my first strike.
Knowing I had a pack of ravenous monsters on my ass, I didn’t bother worrying about loot or XP increases and rushed on to my next target.
With each swing of my blade, I felt myself slipping back into my old flow, scratching at the itch that had been building for three years ever since I returned to the past.
Juke left SLASH, slide on one knee, then spin STAB, dive to the right SLASH SLASH.
Each of my movements was perfectly timed, and if anyone were watching, they would have been gifted with the sight of me flowing from one significantly stronger opponent to the next while moving with such practiced fluidity that I gave the appearance of a Pro-Ranker.
My blade never missed its mark either, as I was specifically targeting the weak points that I would spot in the heat of battle. As such, one after another, the pack began thinning at a frightening rate.
All the while, I was completely untouched, with the only grime coating on my body being my own sweat and dirt from rolling around on the ground to execute my attacks.
There wasn’t even a single drop of Ferretmole blood on my body either, as the instant I struck, I would move out of the way of the splatter, allowing only for my weapon to be coated in the gooey slick of visceral fluids.
By the time I dropped the final of the Alpha-Ranked Ferretmoles, I was already panting heavily, as although my Physical stats were high for a Non-Ranker, they were still far too low to consistently execute the maneuvers I had been doing for the last several minutes.
Knowing that my present state wasn’t the best and feeling the burn coming from my legs due to over-taxing them with my Augmentation skill, I did the logical thing and, with a small hop, returned to the gentle embrace of the Safezone, leaving the two Beta-Ranked Ferret moles fuming mad as they rushed forward and threw themselves against the barrier.