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Chapter 83 (Bk 2). Hell Hounds And Murderers
🕑 Added 2025-05-20 19:53:26 +0000 UTCHe did not have time to consider whether he should refuse the quest or not. Not that he would have refused it.
He heard the sounds of battle not too far away. The place his attempted straight path had taken him was a ragged terrain of grassy hills and hillocks and small valleys. The hill he ran towards looked like it was from another climatorial region all together. Sparse shrubs and grit populated most of it.
It was at the foot of the opposite end from which he mounted the hill that he saw them. He said saw them, but he was more focused on the creatures chasing after the girls.
There were two of them from what he could tell. They did not interest him. What did was the nearly peak F grade monsters that were chasing them.
Species: Mythrian hounds
Level: 67
Highest stat: Semi-metal skeleton constitution (common) (200)
Strongest skill: Giant's rage (rare, lvl. 66) The user grows bigger the angrier they get. Largest possible size increases with increase in skill level.
And get their large metallic teeth to chomp down on anyone unlucky enough to be in their vicinity, Rafe completed the prompt. The beast even attacked other beasts, though they were not all the same breed to be fair.
…
Strongest skill: Mineral skin (rare lvl. 52) The skin of the user will randomly turn into a mineral element. The defensive quality of this skill increases with increase in a constitution related stat. Chance of getting a defensively strong mineral increases with increase in skill level.
And that was the fourth and last creature Rafe could use his skill on at the time. He had been keeping an eye on his recently boosted mana levels, and the results were a little encouraging.
As for the scary beasts, Rafe looked at them like a starved beast deciding which deer to eat first.
It only took him a few moments to study the new breeds of dog-like monsters. He said firmly to himself that he would have never eaten the monsters he had if they looked like dogs. Probably. Besides, metallic skeletons sounded a little tricky to cook or roast. There was an argument to be made that the dungeon was a little metal themed, and yet the creatures Rafe had run into before then…
There were people in danger. And Rafe had a new quest objective to ensure the Damsels or whatever survived. He did find it distasteful, calling the women damsels, but everything the quest and tutorial systems did seemed distasteful to him these days.
The original form of his Earth Shattering technique was a move that allowed one to soar to the sky and fall like a comet. It was a move meant to shatter mountains perhaps at its peak. He had turned it into a movement technique, Rafe had, but on occasion, he liked to whip it out in its original form.
Besides, he needed to make an impression on whoever he was about to rescue. What better way than to crush a few beasts.
He landed among them like an avenging war god with his hammer held aloft, or so he hoped. He managed to take out about three of the hulking hounds, of which the largest was limited to the size of a large cow. He destroyed two more creatures besides those.
His first swing after landing was aimed at one of the skin changers, as he'd named them. Its skin, instead of turning into some kind of impenetrable metal, turned into a mushy liquid that sucked the shock of his blow and distributed it through the creature's body without any visible change to the creature's health.
A frown. He had forgotten about the level fifty cap without insights. He hoped, and believed, these monsters would not use concept abilities, unless they were rare monsters or so. Common and uncommon beasts below the E grade would probably not be able to use concept abilities.
His first attack had been augmented with his Dash skill and heavy blow, so those creatures had had no time to so much as get their veils up. Now veils were starting to come into play on top of better defensive skills and better stats and better numbers and insights.
It probably looked like Rafe was being overwhelmed to the people he was supposed to be rescuing.
He watched them through his extended racial ability. He had been watching them since he first landed. It was too bad he couldn't really make out their expressions clearly. They had hesitated at first, probably thinking Rafe could handle it.
When his second attack against the oily skin changer had failed, he had seen them attempting to get moving again. He wanted to snort. Typical. He'd come out of nowhere to save them, and instead of rendering a little aid so they could finish the beasts together, they wanted to escape.
It was better anyway. The quest system had told him to save them. It had said nothing about getting to know them.
Besides, Rafe missed getting injured quite a bit. He wondered what it'd feel like if that gigantic beast charging him clamped down on his outstretched arm with its gleaming metal teeth. He missed the Skyholm trial quite a bit. There, he could have let this horde of beasts run wild and devour him.
All he could do was let them land a few injuries now. So boring.
For some reason, one of the women stopped moving at some point. Rafe wanted to frown, but he was supposed to be struggling with the now less than five beasts. He wondered if maybe she thought Rafe could handle the beasts after all.
But no. He felt the ambient Essence and mana stir as the woman prepared a big spell.
“Damnit,” Rafe muttered. “My acting must have been too convincing.”
The ambient mana took on a water element aspect. The first aspect of mana he'd ever seen when his ability had mutated in an underwater dungeon challenge. Of course he'd know it anywhere.
Except, there was a stronger effect to it. Without anyone having to explain it, Rafe knew this was probably one way spells were categorized. Primary elemental spells were probably categorized lower than a secondary effect. For example ice.
And then Rafe had to get out of his head and dive out of the way as this very inconsiderate woman let rain a hail of ice spears.
“Helare! What are you doing?!” someone screamed as Rafe painstakingly got to his feet.
“Your job. That's what,” Rafe had the inconsiderate woman, apparently Helare, reply.
Then she started walking towards him. Rafe would have yelled at her to continue her argument with her friend, if that would get her to forget he existed. That was probably not likely.
“This stranger, even if he appears weaker, would make a better body guard than you,” the approaching woman continued to speak. “Do you wish to see me dead? Is that it? Do you hate me that much?”
Just then, Rafe felt something familiar. Something he'd felt back when he'd met Devila and the others in the trial. Someone was trying to use identify on him. No, two people were, in fact. It was curious.
Anyway, the last time someone had done that, Rafe had had no counter. Now he had his ancient version of both appraisal and identify mashed together. It was time to see if he could twick his identify information the way he wanted.
‘Ding' Your skill Shadow Monarch's Veil is reacting. Your skill Status display is reacting.
Available information:
[Human(warrior) lvl. 11]
Options: Hide totally? Show alternatives?
Of course he needed to show alternatives.
Suggested based on user's skills and stats.
[Human (mage) lvl. 11]
He was going to choose that as a matter of course. He needed his level to look a lot higher though, because a level eleven dominating peak F grade beasts was a little out there. He hadn't dominated them anyway. He didn't choose that option in the end. Because there was one below that had an internal grin spreading across his internal cat-like face. He knew he wasn't as cute as a cat on the outside.
[Human (Blacksmith) lvl. 69]
He felt a headache coming on, but his mana held out.
“Are you alright?” he had a concerned voice ask.
He took his time getting up though, not in any rush to acknowledge the mad woman.
“What do you mean, hate you?! There were too many of them for us. You said so yourself,” the other woman approached as well.
“But you're the guard!” the woman half turned to her companion. “And your physical stats are superior to mine. How the hell does a guard run ahead of the person they are supposed to protect?!”
Rafe turned then. The mage who'd almost skewered him was half turned from him. All he could make out was unnaturally blue hair. Deep sea blue hair. Or at least unnaturally blue on Earth, where he'd come from.
The other woman was still walking towards them, but still half concealed from Rafe. There was hesitation in her voice before she replied, though Rafe did not think she sounded apologetic.
“...Helare, I'm sorry. I was just…so scared,” she said.
She sounded teary, but Rafe wanted to call bullshit for some reason. There was some kind of role play about body guards and murder attempts going on here that Rafe honestly wanted nothing to do with.
“And you think you'll ever be like your father,” the blue haired girl said as she turned to face Rafe.
Rafe's eyes widened when he saw her. He knew her. Or at least he knew her face.
And the one behind her. The one who was rolling her lilac eyes at her unsuspecting friend.
It was her. The person who'd almost ended his life before he'd had time to learn anything about the multiverse.
Her eyes met his, and Rafe noticed the moment she recognised him.
