A white light flashed and a black rapier appeared in Damien's hands. Tightening his grip on its hilt, he swung it sideways.
Clang!
Sparks flew as the mosquito monster's proboscis was struck with enough force to alter its trajectory.
Instead of sinking into his flesh, the creature's proboscis slammed against the wall made of reinforced concrete, opening a brief window where it was vulnerable to harm.
Seizing it, Damien drove his rapier into its head before he felt a mysterious power flowing into him from his sword. Instantly realizing what it was, he looked forward to seeing what would happen next.
The special effect of his weapon had triggered as he had used it to kill a monster. Not a moment passed before he received a notification, which mentioned his HP has been restored by two points.
It had jumped from 6/10 to 8/10.
Many wounds on his body instantly disappeared!
Besides that, he also received the following notifications.
[You have slain a Lower Rank 9 Blood Drinker. You have gained +2 EXP.]
[You have leveled up and reached level 1. You have gained 1 attribute point and 1 skill point.]
[You can invest attribute points to instantly increase your strength from your status screen.]
[You can use skill points to instantly learn skill books and initiate yourself in new techniques.]
"I was waiting for this."
Damien's eyes shone with excitement.
He accessed his status window, and a semi-transparent screen with dark blue edges appeared in front of his face.
In the screen, a plus sign had appeared in front of the numbers representing his stats.
The same sign was also displayed in front of the number showing his laughable potential.
The excitement in his eyes deepened as he understood what it meant.
If he hadn't interpreted it wrongly, which he doubted he had, he could use attribute points to increase the number of times he could level up. It wasn't much use to him now, but once he found a way to switch to a better class that provided more attribute points for leveling up, it would prove extremely handy.
He weighed his options before pressing the + sign in front of the number representing his agility.
His attribute point dropped to zero, and a strange energy flooded his body, improving his physical fitness on the spot.
[Your Agility has increased to 11]
Damien was amazed by how efficient and simple the process was.
Increasing his agility by one improved his movement speed, attack speed, reaction speed, and reflexes by 10%.
He was now better equipped to handle Blood Drinkers, three of whom appeared at the end of the corridor.
Seeing them come towards him, Damien felt slightly anxious as he had never fought three Blood Drinkers simultaneously, and he had seen what happened to people who were pierced by their blade-like proboscises.
A single hit was all it would take for the Blood Drinkers to end his life.
But he refused to let fear cloud his thoughts.
Panicking would only make things worse in a situation this lethal, so he steadied his breathing and calmed his racing heart, preparing to face the three Blood Drinkers with deliberate, controlled movements.
He already possessed the means to activate the Gate in his mind and escape to the Primordial Lands, but he didn't do so as he didn't know what he would find there, and the act would only delay his confrontation with the three Blood Drinkers, whom he might already possess the strength to kill.
In all honesty, he didn't want to rely on the Gate unless he had no other choice.
Whoosh!
One of the Blood Drinkers began flapping its wings faster than the others, speeding toward Damien.
He didn't look like he had much to offer. It wanted to be the only one to feed on him. Although it wasn't visible, Blood Drinkers grew stronger by eating humans.
As it accelerated, it left its two companions behind and came hurtling through the air toward Damien.
He exhaled, and at the right moment, turned his body halfway without moving away from the spot he stood upon. The creature's proboscis, which was glinting like the edge of a knife under the sunlight, missed him by a hair's breadth!
'It worked.'
Damien's eyes flashed with relief as he quickly brought his rapier down on the creature, which was now moving past him due to the momentum it had picked up to reach him before its companions could. The rapier put a hole in its ugly head, putting an end to its wretched existence.
[You have slain a Lower Rank 9 Blood Drinker. You have gained +2 EXP.]
A familiar sensation filled him as the weapon in his hand transmitted a mysterious power to him, restoring his HP to the maximum. Consequently, the injuries resulting from his battle with Lucien disappeared. Even his broken nose, which had been causing him extreme discomfort and pain, was fixed
Suddenly finding himself in peak form, Damien felt more confident about facing the remaining two blood drinkers.
One tried to hack his head open.
Damien jumped backwards to escape the range of its attack.
As a result, the creature's sword-like proboscis missed him entirely and sliced through the air where he had been standing.
In the very next moment, his rapier stabbed through its eyes and pierced into its brain. This time the mysterious power flowing into his body from his weapon restored his stamina by 3 points as his HP was full.
[You have slain a Lower Rank 9 Blood Drinker. You have gained +2 EXP.]
Damien ignored the notification that had popped up and used his eyes to track the movements of the last remaining Blood Drinker.
It was eyeing him with a mix of emotions from a short distance away. Having seen him kill its companions like they were nothing, it knew it would be risking its life if it attacked, but it really wanted to feast on him as it found his scent irresistible. Basically, it couldn't decide whether to retreat or strike. It was fighting a mental war in its head.
Damien could feel its apprehension, and he knew Blood Drinkers were smart. If he gave it time to think, who knew if it would decide to fall back and return with reinforcements? He couldn't allow that!
So he rushed toward it, not giving it a chance to think further.
Provoked into action, the creature lunged as well, stabbing its proboscis toward him.
Seeing it attack, Damien smiled.
It had played right into his hands!
He whipped his rapier in a horizontal arc, striking the creature's proboscis and snapping it aside. Then, he ended its life by impaling it through the head.
[You have slain a Lower Rank 9 Blood Drinker. You have gained +2 EXP.]
The effect of his weapon triggered for the fourth time as he had used it to end a life.
His stamina was restored to the maximum, and he no longer felt tired, but not a hint of relief or joy flashed in his eyes.
Because.
A black cloud had spawned directly in the corridor he was in.
Upon a closer look, it was actually a lot of Blood Drinkers densely packed together!