Chapter 16 Mini-Boss Fight

The moment the Scrapfang got within his range, Neraxis immediately used both of his skill effects on it. Two orbs appeared—one a faint black color from the Mark of Decay, while the other, pure silver, from Aura of Vulnerability. The two were orbiting the monster as it approached him at an incredible speed. He had gotten stronger during the course of his previous fights, but not enough to offset the balance of a whole rank. Therefore, Neraxis, with his best effort, attempted to evade to the side—and for just a moment, he thought he had succeeded. Suddenly, a sharp pain spread throughout his entire left arm, and upon glancing at it, he could see it had been cut open, the bone sticking right out. But before he could even process his own injury, he embedded the sword into the ground and flung himself to the side, providing a bit of distance between him and the monster. It was playing with him; if it weren't, then he would already be dead. He was unsure if he had imagined it, but it almost seemed like the Scrapfang was mockingly grinning at him. Neraxis proceeded to steady his breaths as he reassessed his arm once again, before coming to the conclusion: This is no good... It could not be healed normally—not unless he visited a healer, one who could mend bones together. Obviously, there was no such thing in his current situation. But due to the injury, the fight became much more difficult than before. He prepared himself for the second bout, but this time, he was prepared to counter. The Scrapfang started out slow before fastening its pace, lunging at him from a couple of meters away. It was a clear opening; however, due to the sheer speed, all he was able to do was redirect its fangs with the blade of his sword—only managing to put a scratch on its fur that barely drew any blood. Neraxis clicked his tongue as the Scrapfang seemed unhinged by the attack before it once again dashed toward him. This time, however, it was much faster—almost as if it had seen the threat he could potentially pose. Which, for certain, did not work in his favor. The arm was being a hindrance, and due to the stinging pain of his weak body, it was difficult to aim properly. Nonetheless, he waited for the Scrapfang to get closer, and as it did, he started slightly moving backward, trying to match its flow with his pitiful speed. As he did so, the Scrapfang seemed to momentarily slow down—as if confused by his attempt, almost equalizing their speed. Smarter than the rest, but still a stupid beast. Neraxis snickered to himself as he suddenly stopped and used the Scrapfang's surprise, as well as momentum, to land an attack. However, despite the surprise factor, it did not hit any vitals—but he did manage to pierce through its left hind leg. The monster whimpered for a moment before looking up at him, its eyes turning red from fury, while at the same time, the injury he had just inflicted began healing itself.@@@@ Before he could do that, however, a few red system windows appeared in front of his face—ones that he had never seen previously. [12x (F-Ranked Monster) Scrapfang Slain! Reward: Stigmata 0% -> 6%] [5x (F Ranked Monster) Scrapfang Slain! Reward: Stigmata 6% -> 11%] [1x (F+ Ranked Mini-Boss Monster) Scrapfang Sentry Slain! Reward: Stigmata 11% -> 21%] Evangeline...? Neraxis questioned while re-reading the pop-ups; There was a moment of silence before the sword suddenly lit up and traveled back into his arm as she spoke patiently, [You get stronger, I get stronger, remember? Once the bar reaches 100%, I'll unlock a new ability for you, and then the bar once again resets to 0—but this time, it will be harder to reach 100%.] Why is that? Some sort of inner balancing you like to do? he teased, to which he was met with a smack on his head from seemingly nowhere. [No, idiot. All the monsters you kill get converted into energy, which I use to unlock the seals of my former self. Through that, I can share my abilities with you. Understand now?] Neraxis processed the information and nodded before saying, Seems pretty straightforward. The seals get harder to unlock each time, so I would need to kill stronger monsters, right? [Yup. You will only be able to convert the energy of monsters no less than 1 rank below you, and as for those higher than you, there is no limit.] He nodded once again before standing up and inspecting himself. There were wounds riddling his entire body, the most prominent being his left arm—which by now had broken in several more places. Then there was his back—which was still dripping blood. It was a miracle he had not begun feeling weak from the blood loss. But as he finally relaxed, realization hit him as he turned to the sword tattoo on his arm and spoke, Evangeline? [Yes?] What's the time right now? Evangeline paused for a moment before replying, [9:56 AM—ah no wait, 9:57 AM now.] As he heard those words, the previous bliss of relaxation he felt disappeared—followed by a wave of panic. He did not have much time, and he was fatigued, but nonetheless, Neraxis began running straight to the academy. At the same time, he was leaving behind a trail of blood—which, without his knowledge, was vanishing and going straight into his tattoo. [Hehe...] What? [...It's nothing. 9:58, by the way. You should hurry up.] Fuck... Neraxis exclaimed and sped up his pace. At this rate, he might actually be late. The repercussions were something he would rather... not experience.