The Alpha Deer's body was still twitching beneath me, though I knew it was only the nerves giving their last death spasms. Its chest had stopped rising, its eyes had gone glassy, and Gravefang was still wedged deep into its skull like a gravestone marker.
I didn't move. Couldn't move. My arms dangled uselessly at my sides, trembling from exhaustion. Blood pooled beneath me, hot and sticky—half of it the beast's, half of it mine. My lungs wheezed, each breath thin and ragged, like I was sucking air through a cracked reed.
I pulled up my stats to see what was left of my HP:
HP: 097/906
HP: 092/906
HP: 087/906
Damn, that was low.
My HP was sitting at fifty, and it was dropping by the second.
Then the familiar ding cut through the silence.
[Congratulations!]
[You have defeated Elite Boss: Alpha Deer!]
[You have leveled up]
[You have leveled up]
[You have leveled up]
[You have leveled up]
The words floated in my vision, bright and cheery.
Four times.
