SWNOVELXO Chapter 46: Complication
Skullius stood up and started getting a better feel for his body. There wasn't that much of a unique sensation within his flesh, except perhaps, the mana within.
That was only natural. He wasn't really human.
Even Eobald had called out his strange face.
Now that he had the time, Skullius grabbed Eobald's sword that had a reflective surface and looked at himself. The image he saw was quite standard. He compared it to Eobald's face and somewhat understood what the man had been talking about.
"Flesh me..."
Thinking about how he now had flesh himself, he began to consider changing the phrase 'Flesh you' to something else. After all, the irony in it didn't sit well with him now.
Skullius scrutinised the sword in his hand, taking in all its detail: the cracks on its surface which was branded with unique runes; the steel and rubber hilt which had the beautiful design of diamond patterns.
It was beautiful.
Skullius looked at its stats from the guidance field and his brows shot up.
~~~
[Baleful Gale Reaper]
<Rare>
A dangerous blade that produces gusts of malevolent wind attacks to shred apart its enemies.
-Damage-
200-250
-Durability-
64/120
-Special Effects-
• Increase movement and attack speed by 10%
---
[Skill: Gale Call]
Any amount of mana inserted into the sword causes bursts of concentrated wind attacks to wrap around the sword with the upper limit being determined by how much mana the runes on the sword can take.
~~~
"Oh... now this is a weapon!" Skullius exclaimed. This sword reminded him of the weapons that he often saw on the waists or backs of Somanda's Death Knights.
The damage it could do alone was incredible.
When taking damage, several factors applied. For instance, if one had 40 Health and received an attack from a sword that deals 100 damage, that did not necessarily mean that death was guaranteed.
Physical constitution in the form of endurance, supplements and body armour played a role into how much damage an opponent would actually receive.
Speaking of body armour, Skullius looked at his shabby clothes; the robe plus several layers of leather armour.
"I can't count on these anymore. I never did anyway..."
He took them off while thanking his negative lucky stars that somehow he wasn't missing an arm like his original body.
To be fair, his entire structure had been altered. He was sure that his internal skeletal structure wasn't the same as his lustrous foggy grey one.
He promptly stripped the corpse of Eobald of almost all the clothing and appraised it first.
There was a dark robe with green patterns that trailed along the edges. The robe covered the front and back but not the sides, it's material being thicker than the leather armour that Skullius had been wearing.
There was steel armour underneath that complemented the robes as a set; they were attached together.
Even though it was cracked, bloodied and dented, it still felt tough. It was only now that Skullius realised that the only reason he had been able to overcome the armour and kill Eobald, was because he had used a Rare grade sword.
He went on to check the stats of the armour.
~~~
[Firm Regalia]
<Rare>
An elite set of defensive attire.
-Defence-
220
-Durability-
43/100
-Special Effects-
• Increase movement and attack speed by 8%
• Reflects 10% elemental damage received by wearer
• Blocks 8% physical damage
~~~
Skullius immediately wore the Firm Regalia. He immediately safe under its cover.
It looked a bit too big for him as he was shorter and less bulkier than Eobald, but he wasn't picky nor concerned about fit.
After Skullius was done fitting himself into the armour, he sheathed the Baleful Gale Reaper and took out the three objects he had been given.
The Key, the scroll and the crest.
After appraising, the Key didn't show anything apart from the [???], and the crest also bore no information.
Curious.
The scroll however..
~~~
[Arcane Teleportation Scroll: Scorch]
<Rare>
An offensive and supportive item used to cross vast distances through <Stagnant Space> in a matter of seconds while simultaneously dealing fire damage to opponents.
Multiple coordinates are etched into the enchantment, allowing for one to transport themselves to any of the locations or near them depending on the amount of mana used.
Enchantments may become inactive if the user is too far away from the etched locations.
[Eofel – 300 Mana Points]
[Dihjhal – 500 Mana Points]
[Benegogue – 450 Mana Points]
~~~
"I see. I can't use it at the moment. Enough wasting time. This guy said that some people were looking for this Key thing. If they can track it, then I'll be in trouble. Where can I run off to?
I even have a Doom Factor to deal with too!"
Skullius hadn't even thought about the purpose of this Key that he had been told. What he was more concerned about was that if these enemies were as strong as Eobald...
The Discount Human sighed as he felt how hopeless his situation was. However, he didn't have the luxury to dally.
He just had be extra cautious. A miracle that granted him three levels had happened once. Maybe it would happen again.
Besides, he had strong equipment now. He still had the crooked magic staff by him as even though it didn't have the skill [Mana Bolt] anymore, he could still use it to extend his range for [Null Extraction].
Thinking of his original plan to raid the orcs after this... he decided to quit that thread and focus on what was ahead. It was the better option.
The image of the Dead End Apocalypse Boar did not give him much confidence. He was still weak and no amount of equipment could change that when he was facing against something truly strong.
Skullius took one last look at the grave he had dug for Red Rage and darted forward at full speed.
He keenly watched his surroundings as he went ahead, running parallel to the ravine that made several turns and narrowed down.
After a few minutes of running, Skullius felt a heavy sensation burden him and he began to pant!
"What's... going... on?" Skullius asked himself.
He pulled up his status panel and saw the problem. He didn't have infinite endurance anymore!
He gnashed his teeth and frowned.
"No wonder we have a phrase for this!"
He slowed down and began jogging at a moderate pace. This somewhat alleviated the exhaustion.
He descended down some steep slopes and hid behind trees anytime he could to reduce his visibility while anticipating the worst.
The cautious movements he had to do all this time became boring as he never encountered any beasts after 45 minutes of travel.
This either spelled that there was a settlement of monsters nearby or that there were just no monsters here. Unfortunately, neither was a good sign.
"Red bro go and.... Oh... right," Skullius face palmed and sighed.
He was alone.
All alone.
If he wanted to do reconnaissance, he would have to do it on his own. And so he did.
His main priority right now was to deal with the Doom Factor. He had to reach Tier 1 somehow, otherwise pursuing enemies or not, he would be screwed.
Perhaps if he levelled up his human form, he would be able to deal with the Doom Factor!
VOW bro had said it was a matter of sustaining himself with mana right?
Twenty more minutes passed with Skullius moving quietly among the trees which become more spaced, with less traces of bushes and grasses ahead.
Then...
He finally saw something.
A pack of wolves were running by. There were six of them with black fur, all eerily tall (1.7 meters on average) and with burly frames. They had blood red eyes and as they passed, coming from the right and going in the same direction that Skullius had been going, the Discount Human noticed that they had blood on their paws and mouths.
They were coming from a hunt.
The wolf at the forefront was particularly intimidating, being slight taller than the others while the red in its eyes emitted a faint light.
'That's probably a fight that I don't want to start,' Skullius thought as his imaginary heart began to pound while sweat dripped from his fake face.
Unfortunately for him, he had missed an important detail that was very essential post his transformation into a Discount Human.
The wolf that led the pack suddenly stopped and raised its snout. It started sniffing, taking in deep whiffs of the air as its head turned, eventually stopping in Skullius' direction.
...!
It's eyes glared at where Skullius was hiding!
It found prey.
Skullius was a presence-less Boneman no more.