If there's one thing an Orc never forgets, it's an overwhelmingly humiliating butt-kicking.
And if there's one thing this Orc never forgets, it's that damn Void-Stag sending me all the way to a humie camp with my tail tucked between my legs, asking for help.
I've stepped back into the horrid chasm; past the trees and the weird animals and plants, to finally meet my foe.
The atmosphere still felt tense, but at least this time, my instinct wasn't alerting me of death threats everywhere—it was more like, mediocre nuisances now for me.
This implies two things:
1) I can deal with this area now; and
2) Survivalist's Instinct activates based on what's dangerous to me at my current power.
I don't know about all the goodies I can find or if I can sense dangers for others as well, but the danger level is based on my current self.
It's food for thought later, but for now…
It's hunting season.
After trekking through the once-scary area, I had finally found him.
He was right where I left him: still guarding the entrance to the ruins.
The Void-Stag.
I squinted a bit, looking at him and the ruins.
Yep.
Even from this distance, I could see the work I did last time was still there.
The stone that I got thrown at was barely holding on.
That white antler of his was still snapped off.
The socket where a ghostly white eye of it was gone; extinguished, leaving a black void that meshed well with its surrounding body.
"Guess whose back, buddy?"
Hefting Natasha, I pointed at the Stag.
"This time, you're going down. You git."
The Stag didn't bother making an entrance for itself, it simply walked forward, looking at me with its remaining eye with a subtle, cold malice.
I didn't charge.
That was an 'Old Grul' move—what the idiot from a month ago would have done, right after shouting 'LEEROY JENKINS!'
I'd still do that, but smarter this time.
I was Level 23 now, and Kael's training wasn't just about making me stronger; it was about fixing the big, dumb lump of meat that made its home inside my skull.
And the first step I got taught by that old mas was getting information first.
Instead of charging at it face-to-face, I kept my distance.
First things first, I grabbed a nearby rock and threw it at the Stag, trying to test the waters to see if I could just stay back for the rest of the fight and throw stuff at it.
I had hoped that it'd do a critical like last time, but unfortunately, the Stag had formed a dark wall that completely blocked the rock through threads that came out from its body.
Clever boy, aren't you?
It learned to block what I threw at it.
Well, let's see how you deal with this…
Shuffling around the bag I had, I grabbed a potion of poison, lobbing it at the Stag.
Just like last time, it formed a dark wall in front of it.
Just as the poison was going to hit it, just as I was hoping it'd start to take poison damage, the wall swallowed the poison, then immediately threw it back at me.
Of course, I dodged, but this left me with a grim conclusion.
Ranged attacks won't work against it.
It could form a black wall with its body, absorb projectiles and throw it back, and act fast enough to avoid what I threw.
Trying to create and finish any more hypotheses was dangerous; potentially alerting other monsters to this place and complicating things.
I guess we're doing this the hard way—melee combat.
I activated Brutal Intuition, which immediately made me have an intuition that the place where its non-existent antler was supposed to be was its weakness point.
The Stag had a hole in its defense where that antler used to be.
The perfect opening.
Instead of rushing him, I planted my feet in the Pflug stance Kael had drilled into me.
Then, I moved my free hand in a beckoning motion.
"Come, show me your moves!"
The Stag, sensing the challenge, charged, its hooves crunching the strange gravel beneath it.
This time, I didn't try to stop it head-on.
I channeled the lesson taught to me: parry the force; redirect the energy.
The Stag's antlers hit my axe, but I didn't block it—I let it travel along a curve, transforming its forward momentum sideways.
Because of its speed and momentum, the Stag couldn't stop itself, leaving itself helpless to an attack.
I used this opportunity to stab the point tip of my axe through its side.
As I did so, a burst of dark mass exploded from the wound, forcing me to back off without doing any more damage.
Still, I almost cheered.
I had parried it perfectly.
See what I'm doing, Kael?
I am winning!
I am winning so hard right now!
As the Stag heaved its body back around, I didn't pause and wait for it to charge once more or do something else, I pressed the offensive.
Using the same tactic I used against Kael, I feinted high, which made it create a wall upwards, and then shifted my entire body to deliver a brutal kick to its foreleg.
The hit landed.
Shadow material ruptured once again, with the Stag this time actually recoiling.
Battle Trance started kicking in, and I got a nice speed and strength boost.
Sure, before this, I was at a disadvantage, with the Stag being both strong and fast, but now, after so long, I was strong, smart and fast.
Suddenly, the Stag's body started going wild, like, rippling wild.
Cautious about what was happening to it, I backed off again.
But that was a mistake, as it started firing some sort of balls of dark energy at me.
I ran sideways, my mind racking up a way to deal with this new threat.
I knew I had to get closer to it somehow, but how exactly?
…Maybe a bit of stealth and distraction would do.
Glancing at the bushes, I slammed my axe on the ground, then swung it upwards with all my might, causing all the dust and gravel and dirt to be thrown towards the Stag.
As it busied itself with shooting its spherical-shaped dark energy at the debris, I took to the bushes; my familiar way of fighting.
Once I was in the bushes, Shadow Hunter activated, allowing me to start gathering stacks without getting caught.
The Stag was lost, looking around for me.
It didn't take long for it to start blasting around everywhere, hoping that one of them hit me, but so far, none were even close.
I circled around the area, lurking and stalking, getting those stacks up for the crit hit.
Eventually, the Stag stopped shooting; either because it tired itself out, or it was waiting for me to make a move.
And make a move I did.
*Rustling!*
*Wa-boom!*
As soon as it heard the unnatural rustling of the bushes, the Stag fired its last shot of dark energy.
Unfortunately for it, the one it hit was not me—but a mere decoy I made to lure it in.
Yes, this was the distraction I was talking about—not that mere rubble!
Wahahahaha!
As it was busy observing the area it just shot, I lept out from my bushes.
The Stag swerved its head to meet me, but it was too late.
I drove the pommel of Natasha into its jaw, causing the beast to stagger.
Then, I drove the axe head straight to its neck, hearing a sloshing sound as it went deep.
But, I had gotten a bit too greedy with that last hit, and the Stag had just enough time to thrust its remaining antler through my armor.
Knowing the world of pain I was in, I activated Juggernaut.
I took the hit.
I was thrown from a distance.
It hurt.
But, it wasn't that bad.
'Tis but a flesh wound!
Getting up again and feeling the pain, I didn't feel despair or desperation—I felt ecstatic.
"Luuk avhaav usk? (Is that all?)"
Orcish words came out of my mouth.
A feeling of bloodlust, of excitement, of pure joy coursed through me.
It almost took hold of me.
Fortunately, I held it in.
Focus, Grul.
The end is near.
I couldn't afford to let my stamina drop into the danger zone, or let the Darkness Inflicted status creep up.
I knew I needed one perfect, decisive strike to settle everything once and for all.
The antler stump.
My eyes wander to that hole in its head.
I remembered that my intuition from the beginning told me that that's its weakness.
Settling on where I'm going to strike, I switched to an Ox Stance, once again inviting the Stag to engage.
This move was risky—literally inviting an opponent that's seen the trick once already—but if I pulled it off, the end will be close.
Gambler's Luck activated! +6 Luck!
It took the bait, lowering its head for one final, desperate charge, the shadow mass around it coiling for a massive strike.
For a moment, the world stood still.
Then, as quick as it changed, it moved once more.
The Stag's hooves leapt off from the dirt, its entire body wriggling and supporting its charge.
I met its charge with a roar—a roar of pure, unbridled rage that felt incomparable to the roars I made in the past.
Intimidating Aura + Roar
+====================================+
// ALERT! // → Some skills have been merged!
|- Intimidating Aura
|- Roar
+====================================+
It wasn't enough to stop the attack, but it bought me enough time to get the upper hand.
I performed the technique Kael taught me on our last day—a movement designed to convert a high block into a low thrust.
I spun my body, letting the Stag fly past me, but not before driving the razor-sharp tip of Natascha into the unstable, shattered base of the missing antler.
I put everything into that thrust: my Strength, Dexterity, and a month's worth of effort all into ending it.
The shadow material that made up the Stag shrieked, not in pain, but in sheer, structural collapse.
The Stag came to a dead stop, its body a shimmering, unstable mess of darkness.
I watched it dissolve in real time, starting from the wound up to the surrounding area, until there was nothing left but a fine, shimmering dust on the ground.
Bowing my head, I uttered a short phrase in honor of the fight it put up:
"Gug'ye. (Farewell.)"
Finally, it was done.
I was the victor.
After everything I've went through, all I can say is…
Ez GG no re.
And then came my well-earned rewards.
DING!
+====================================+
// STATUS ALERT! //
+====================================+
|- 'Darkness Inflicted' status removed!
+====================================+
+====================================+
// STATUS ALERT! //
+====================================+
|- Level reached 25!
+====================================+
-Quest Completed-
▣The Next Step▣
Instructions: Reach Level 25. The surrounding region is dangerous but rich in experience. Survival is mandatory. Progress will be tracked.
Rewards: Class Selection, New Feature Unlocked, Activation of Certain Mods
Finally.
The quest was complete—
Wait, the OPTIONAL QUEST—
Dashing with desperation, I quickly entered the ruins, unsure of whether or not I'll be able to make it in time to complete the optional quest or if it ended by now.
But right now, that's not what matters—I just need to get to that ruin RIGHT NOW!
GOTTA GO FAST!!11!1!1