HUEY'S POV
Seeing Bennet lying in the crater as he did made my heart sink.
The man was a pillar that stood for the hope of Camp White. The man who had taken us in. The man who had been willing to do whatever it took to keep the people of Camp White safe from harm. The man who led the evolvers into battle and gave them hope that this was a battle they could win.
Such a man had fallen. Crushed beneath the might of the Lurker. Too much had been lost in this battle. First it was the evolvers who fought for humanity, in fact some of those who had fought in this battle would no doubt come out with scars in their minds and others may very well be crippled for life.
Then there were the more personal losses. The death of Mordecai and Dulton. Their death had hit so hard that I almost lost all rationality and went on a rampage with no regard for saving some of my strength to be used for the very battle that would be inevitable against the lurker.
And now the mayor was down too.
I couldnt help but clench my fist in frustration. Was this really going to be the norm from now on?
Was this how cruel the world would be now? Always taking and not caring about the feeling of the people?
The world had always been cruel but it had never been to the point that you would just suddenly lose your life. But now it felt as if just blinking at the wrong time could lead to your death.
From the pit of my stomach something burned. A deep seeded hatred that felt stifling but I didnt know who to direct it at.
'All of this is because of the Spirit Record. I dont know who created it or why but it swear there will come a day when I'll either destroy this thing or find out the reason why such a thing was created and if the reason isnt satisfying to my ears I'll find the creator and beat him to death with my bare hands!'
"UNCLE BENNET!!!" a desperate cry tore through the air as a figure shot forward before anyone could even react.
"Conrad no!" Thorne yelled out.
But his words fell on deaf ears.
Conrad was already rushing towards the crater that Bennet laid in. His mind was clearly clouded as he didnt even take into account one very important factor.
The Lurker stood directly in his way.
Maybe Conrad wasn't in the state of mind to think of this or he simply didn't care. Regardless of the reason Conrad was currently in more danger than he could possilbly hope for.
"Tch" I grit my teeth and tightened my grip on [Black Salamander]. "He's gonna get himself killed. Jordan on me!"
I shouted as I rushed forward pumping strength into my legs. The ground beneath my feet sank leaving two deep footprints. Jordan was directly behind me, his body shrouded with a purple aura as he used [Power Boost] to strengthen himself.
We were running as fast as we could but Conrad who had a small head start was actually faster than expected. He was already getting closer to the Lurker, a mere three meters away.
By now the Lurker had already noticed his presence turning its attention towards him. How could it allow Conrad to get past it so easily when it was so enraged?
It lifted a single front leg in preparation for the strike that had brought down Bennet.
"We're not gonna make it!" I shouted in frustration. Were we going to lose another one right before my eyes? I felt my gaze burn with rage and determination. 'No fucking way!'
I stretched out a hand.
'[Metal control]' the words echoed in my head as my mana churned.
The [Stonecrusher] lying beside Bennet suddenly trembled and rose from the ground before it spun forward at a rapid pace.
Shu! Shu! Shu!
The blade whistled as it cut through the air. Heading right for the back of the lurker's leg. The Lurker had been too focused on Conrad before it noticed that something was odd...
Pchu!
It found its raised leg flying into the air. Cut off at a joint and sending green blood scattering in the air.
The Lurker froze for a moment before it finally registered what had happened. And then it released a cry of agony. That pause was more than enough to buy Conrad the time he needed to get past it as well as give me and Jordan enough tiem to catch up.
I appeared before it swinging my blalde at the beast and aiming right for its eyes while Jordan appeared just beneath what would have been its jaw. He jumped upwards slightly, his fist flying forward like a hurricane.
Bang! Pchu!
Jordan's fist landed just as [Black Salamander] cut through one of the Lurker's eyes.
Due to the force of the blow as well as the fact that it had lost its balance due to losing a single leg, the Lurker was pushed to the side. The ground trembling beneath.
SKREE!
The lurker managed to shake off the shock. Its killing intent exploding forward. It was so intense that I felt shivers down my spine and felt my mind freeze for a moment. However I bit my tongue my gaze glowing with determination as I called upon my mana.
[Charged Mind]
My mana dropped by a small amount. It was such an insignificant drop but with my perception increased by 40% it wasn't something that could go unnoticed. Still, everything slowed down in that moment. My thoughts working faster than ever before.
The twitch in the Lurker's fangs, the subtle trembling on the lurkers body due to the pain from having its leg cut off as well as the rise of power within me as [Against all odds] finally took action.
The rush of power that swept through my body left me breathless. It was a feeling I had experienced several times in the past few days but no matter how matter how many times I felt it, I could never get used to it...not completely.
I took a quick peek at my stats
...
[Name: Huey Coleman
Race: Human
Level: 17 (First Star Order)
Special trait: Anti-magic
Job class: None (Required to reach level 20)
Stats:
Strength: 174>> 244(+20)(30)
Stamina: 109 >> 153 (30)
Agility: 184 >> 258 (30)
Mana: 185>>259 (30)
Magic: 154 >> 385 (30)
Health: 188 >> 263 (30)
Shadow Art{UNIQUE}: 25 >> 35(30)
]
...
The results gave me some confidence but i knew that this wasn't enough. Still it was better than nothing. Currently the Shadow Art stat looked glaringly pitiful as compared to the rest of my stats but there was nothing i could do about it, at least not right now.
Jordan beside me went through a similar change as his [War State:First Layer] passive skill kicked in.
In the short amount of time that I had been paying attention to my stats as well the changes that Jordan was going through The Lurker managed to regain its bearings.
It opened its mouth and released a resounding roar. The follicles across its chitin began to sway as though dancing in the wind. They swayed back and forth repeatedly. Their movements so small that the only reason I was able to even notice them was due to the speed of my mind and even then it was just barely.
However what was most noticeable though was the sickly green gas that seeped out of the Lurker's body. The moment the Lurker released this cloud of gas, my senses went into overdrive. Something was coming.
"Be careful of the gas!" I said as I tried to leap backwards but the gas had already covered the entire area, about 10 meters around me.
The moment I inhaled the gas, notifications flashed in my retina.
[Poison resistance has managed to resist the poison]
[Poison resistance has managed to resist the poison]
[Poison resistance has managed to resist the poison]
"Jordan its poison be careful not to breath it in"
Jordan nodded as we both retreated as far as we could however the Lurker wasn't going to let that happen. Through the cloud of poison, the Lurker moved with reckless abandon.
It appeared before Jordan like a dark shadow and swung down with its other front leg.
"Jordan!" I cried out as I shot in his direction but the Lukrer had already struck.
Jordan grit his teeth and rolled to the side the Lurker's strike just barely missing his torso and striking the ground.
There was a sound akin to an explosion. The impact sending fragments of rock and debris in all directions. The ground shook under the weight of an explosive force and the shockwave pushed Jordan further in an uncontrolled roll that sent him tumbling.
Pain jolted through Jordan's side and a groan escaped his lips. Air was knocked out of his lungs and as he rose to a knee he inhaled.
He realized his mistake too late. The poison seeped through his treache and filled his lungs. It burned as though hot coal had been dumped directly inside him. His breathing became labored and his skin felt uncomfortable.
He coughed, a mouth full of blood dropping to the ground.
'Dammit' I cursed seeing. Unlike me he didn't have any poison resistance skills. In fact none of them did, I was the only one lucky enough to even have it and as such was the only one equiped to deal with poison related stuff...but it was Jordan's strength that would be key to finishing this fight.
How was he supposed to do that if the area was surrounded by poison!? The poison was likely to kill him before he could even get close!
It felt like the world was playing a cruel joke on us.
Lashing out with my sword I released two [Shadow slashes]. Two arcs of darkness tore through the air, separating the poison gas whereever they went. The moment I saw this an idea formed at the back of my head. The Lurker sensed the attack and reacted in kind. Its leg whipping out twice.
Bang! Bang!
Like glass my attacks were shattered under its might. However that had never been my goal to begin with. While the Lurker was dealing with the attack, I sunk into my shadow and using [Shadow veil] I moved to Jordan's side before cancelling the skill.
Before I could even feel the ground beneath my feet I already acted. Reaching down with a single hand and grabbed the back of his collar (armor). With my other hand I unhooked the [Spiritual earring] and pinned it to his ear.
"Tell Lydia to release the strongest gust of wind she can managed on this poison cloud!"
My muscles tensed as a took a strong step forward, pivoted my hips and then with all my strength I threw Jordan up and over and into the distance where he would hopefully land outside the range of this poison cloud.
Then I focused all my attention on the Lurker which seemed to be looking in the direction I just threw Jordan.
"Eyes on me you ugly bastard!" I lunged forward with an outstreched arm, curtain of flames shooting forward.
The temperature rose as the flames headed for the Lurker.
It dodged to the side with an open mouth. A sharp acidic smell rose into the air as what i can only describe as a ball of poison shot forward in my direction.
My eyes widened slightly, the ball was fast as though it had been launched from a canon.
I rolled to the side avoiding the attack. The lurker wasn't done though.
I barely managed to land on the balls of my feet before another pattack was already coming my way..
"Tch!"
[Shadow step]
I sunk in the shadows and emerged a short distance away. Then with a strong step I shot forward. Pushing my focus to the very limits.