Victor watched as his enhancement points was consumed and his talent activated , he waited with bated breath wanting to see what miraculous change his skill would bring to this very trashy robe.
If it could make this Rusted sword into a genuine threat then he surely was excited about what effects would appear on the robe.
With the familiar chime in his head Victor quickly brought up the stat window of the Robe and he was pleased by what he saw.
[ Cotton Robe +1 ]
Grade: Ordinary (Upgraded from Trash)
Type: Light Armor
Attributes: Defense +26
Special Effect: [Beginner HP Recovery] — Restores 20 HP per second.
Description: Includes an auto-heal effect. Now you don't have to worry about your health bar as much.
"Holy shit!" Victor lost his composure as he gazed at the special effect. "It's too broken!"
In the future he could just be like Kirito and let enemies hit him as his hp bar never depleted.
Even the jump in stats was immense, from the earlier measly 2 the current defence of the robe was 26 and with his newly gained stats he was sitting at an amazing 31 defence, which was just mind-blowing at the beginner level.
Victor couldn't help but think back to the Iron Rock Chicken's 23 attack stat , and if he were to face it again it wouldn't even be able to hurt with his current defence.
But the real gain was the auto heal passive of the robe , that had just made him and unkillable entity for most players or monsters that had an attack below 20. Whatever damage they did he would just heal back up in a matter of seconds.
A smile of genuine excitement and relief appeared on his face as he put the robe on quickly, instantly feeling slightly energetic just by putting it on , maybe it was the subconscious feeling of safety of the healing function , but whatever it was Victor was excited about exploring Mistwood, feeling safer and calmer than he entered the woods in the beginning.
He still had 7 EP remaining and the EP required to enhance his sword and robe to the next level was 10 , Victor wondered what miraculous effect his skill would trigger next...
...
Victor navigated through the thick fog of Mistwood already getting used to the low visibility , moving very carefully using the treelines as cover and taking measured steps to avoid coming headfist into an enemy.
He moved deeper into the Mistwood, letting the fog swallow the clearing behind him.The further he pushed the more the environment changed. The ground softened underfoot, the dry earth giving way to dark waterlogged soil that sucked at his boots with every step. The trees grew wider apart here, their roots erupting from the ground in twisted knots above shallow pools of murky standing water. Moss carpeted everything and the air smelled like rain and rot and something older underneath both.
It felt like the forest was alive especially the way the towering trees disappeared into the fog, casting tall shadows that were eerie.
It wasn't long before Victor came across his first target.
A giant beetle was crouched at the base of a gnarled root cluster, motionless, its domed shell the exact same color and texture as the waterlogged bark surrounding it. If it hadn't shifted its weight slightly Victor would have stepped directly on it.
'Appraisal.'
[ Bogback Beetle ]
[ Grade: Common ]
[ Level: 1 ]
[ HP: 250 ]
[ Attack: 17 ]
[ Defense: 8 ]
[ Skill: None ]
[ Description: Passive unless disturbed. Its shell absorbs most physical damage. Target the underbelly for clean hits. ]
17 Attack. Completely harmless to him. But the defense stat was interesting 8 points of damage reduction meant his flat attack of 45 would only deal 37 damage per clean hit. Without Tetanus this thing would take seven or eight strikes to put down.
With Tetanus it would only take one, assuming it would proc.
Victor circled wide around the root cluster, keeping his footsteps light on the wet soil, making sure to not alert the beetle. Even if it wasn't a threat to him , Victor wouldn't give up on his caution. He would rather be over prepared than underprepared.
He came at it from the side, aiming for the narrow gap where the shell met the soft tissue of its underbelly, and dragged the rusted blade through in one clean pull.
[ -37 ]
To his dismay , Tetanus didn't trigger but Victor was already on it as he kicked the beetle causing to slightly stumble as it fall to the ground.
And before it could regain its balance, Victor was able to give it 3 clean hits , his body was moving on adrenaline and instinct and even after he triggered Tetanus after the 2nd strike he still delivered the other two strikes.
[ Tetanus Effect Triggered! ]
Victor stepped back immediately and watched how the creature's legs stiffened one by one, the convulsions rolling through its body in waves before it settled into stillness. It hadn't made a sound beyond the scrape of chitin against root bark.
The kill was efficient and clean with him taking zero risk.
[ You have defeated a Level 1: Bogback Beetle. ]
[ XP Gained: 20 ]
[ EP Gained: 1 ]
[ Current EP: 8 ]
Sadly it didn't drop any equipments but considering it was just an ordinary mob , but Victor wasn't too bothered, he just kept on moving.
....
Victor heard the next monster before it even revealed itself as a wet sliding sound echoed from the wide shallow body of water to his left , with the water being so murky that there was no visibility.
Victor gripped his sword tight as he stayed beside a tree gazing at the edge of the murky pool of water , and his senses didn't betray him as the surface of the water broke suddenly as a large snake like creature erupted from it.
Victor quickly took a cover behind the tree as the creature hit the rough bark of the tree with a loud bang , causing the wood to shake as the tremors were felt by Victor making him feel grateful for being cautious.
Victor quickly repositioned himself as he got a clear look of the thing he was going to battle.
'Appraisal'
[ Murk Eel ]
[ Grade: Common ]
[ Level: 1 ]
[ HP: 220 ]
[ Attack: 24 ]
[ Defense: 3 ]
[ Skill: Surge — Bursts from water or wet terrain for a rapid strike. 10% Chance to ignores initial target defense on first hit. 30sec CD ]
Victor gazed at the stats of the Eel and relaxed, it's skill had failed to connect leaving it without any meaningful method of attack and even if the skill did connect the damage would be too low to do something to him.
Victor calmly moved towards the Eel that had already repositioned itself and was rushing towards him , it's body slithering through the mud with a wet sound.
There Eel but his foot and Victor didn't feel any pain other than a slight prick on his foot and a the number '0'
[ 0 ]
[ 0 ]
[ 0 ]
While the Eel was busy trying to chew through his foot Victor didn't waste the opportunity smack it on it's body with his blade , triggering the Tetanus effect in a few hits and the rest of the Eel's hp depleted in a few seconds.
[ Tetanus Effect Triggered! ]
The eel convulsed violently, its coiling motion becoming an uncontrolled spasm as the true damage began ticking through its HP. Victor didn't need to wait too long as the Eel died in less than two seconds.
[ You have defeated a Level 1: Murk Eel. ]
[ XP Gained: 20 ]
[ EP Gained: 1 ]
[ Current EP: 9 ]
Just one more EP to enhance his robe so Victor didn't pause and continued moving in search of his new prey...
...
In the outer regions of Mistwood a new predator had arrived , and one prey had the misfortune of thinking this predator that looked kind of strange was just a weakling it could trample upon because it's pig headed brain was filled with no thoughts of caution.
Victor was picking his way along a narrow strip of relatively dry ground between two shallow bog pools when he heard it, a low guttural grunt from somewhere in the fog to his right, followed by the sound of undergrowth being shoved aside by what appeared to be multiple limbs.
Victor instantly turned towards the source of the noise as he made out what appeared to be boar , but it was small by Earth standards.
But despite the smaller stature it was built like a unit , it's while body rippling with compact ripples. It's tusk was stained dark red that definetly had nothing do with dirt and it's brash eyes were glaring at him with an irritable fury, a trait common with boars.
Appraisal.
[Rotfang Boar ]
[ Grade: Common ]
[ Level: 1 ]
[ HP: 280 ]
[ Attack: 21 ]
[ Defense: 5 ]
[ Skill: Feral Charge — Charges target in a straight line. Deals double damage on contact. ]
'Double damage...'
It was a good skill but still this boar offered no threat to the current Victor and he thanked it for delivering itself to his doorstep...
...