Sora finally found herself in a journey she was so determined to take on no matter the challenges she was going to face ahead. As she navigated the treacherous landscapes, she had come across countless obstacles—climbing towering cliffs, battling Mythics with relentless abilities, all while learning the new art of crafting and harnessing materials from the creatures she defeated.
One of her most formidable challenges-or rather, last Challange she had encountered was a pack of monstrous, human-sized black beetles with gleaming golden pincers capable of tearing through metal and steel.
Trapped within the valley and the horrors it held, Sora took it upon herself to fight this battle.
[Siphon Skill Activated: Minotauraus]
She fought relentlessly, her body surging with power as she glowed with a dangerous blue glow as tore through each and every one of the Mythics with tremendous strength and speed, mimicking the very beast she had siphoned back in the coliseum, crafting various steel weapons as she slashed through them with ease and in seconds, she had disposed of them.
Within moments, the battle was over-but siphoning the dead creatures proved ineffective.
Level Up!
Level Up!
Level Up!
[All Threats Obliterated]
Golden Pincers Obtained (+10)
The system chimed in, and a satisfied smile crossed her lips. "Status," she commaded as the system materialized before her, a preview of her progress being displayed on it.
—STATUS—
• Crafter: Sora
• Level:18
• Class: ???
• Title: Soul Extractor
• Special Points: 35+
• Health Points: 240+
• Strength: 720+
• Agility: 210+
• Speed: 240+
• Durability: 370+
•Main Quest: Craft and Level Up
Just two more levels she had to obtain, and she could finally craft the weapon that would aid her from far ranges as there were no bows and arrows, the chaos daggers.
As she skimmed through the system's status and her progression, something had caught her eye, on the status tab were at least eleven structures glowed.
Crafter-Level Class-Title-Main Quest-Special Points-Life Points-Strength-Agility-Speed-Durability.
As she read through these structures, two of them in particular caught her attention. 'Class and Special points? What could this be?' she questioned in her thoughts. A day had passed since she had left the walls of Eldermere and she had learnt a few things, but now she was left standing in the vast expanse of a valley, surrounded by the entrails she had carved from the beetles.
Sora turned back to retrieve her horse, which she had left under a dried-up tree, not before wiping away the liquid that had been wasted from the beetles. The four-legged creature munched on the last of the apples she had fed it. Stroking its mane absentmindedly, Sora reopened the system and pulled up the tab containing the map.
To her surprise, she had been much closer to Scourge Lake than she had expected from the beginning. A blinking red dot marked her destination-only a few miles away. 'Marvelous,' she thought. Her mother had mentioned to her when speaking of scourge lake, that it only took at least seven or more days to reach.
But if she was able to push herself, she could get there in a just two days. Maybe even less.
As she savored her glory and progress, something unusual in the valley caught her eye. Near the base of the dried-up tree, a piece of black cloth was tangled in the brittle branches of a thorny bush. Sora hadn't seen this when she dropped her ride off, or maybe she wasn't observative enough of her surroundings.
Approaching cautiously, she reached down and tugged at the fabric, struggling to free it from the jagged stems. The cloth was worn and torn, but when she unfolded it, her heart skipped a beat.
Embroidered on the fabric was an emblem-the same emblem that adorned her own cloak.
This meant something.
A knight belonging to the bureau of the knights was around these parts and he or she could possibly be close by, and she wasn't sure if they were injured or worse, dead.
But such negative thoughts weren't on her agenda and she wasn't planning on thinking deeper on such negativity. She had to move on with her journey and she had to do it quickly, luckily she had found a trail of blood drops leading into nowhere, "I suppose we follow what leads us into the cause of the mystery?," she mused, glancing at her ride. The creature, as usual, offered no response.
Following the blood trail for over minutes, Sora reached across a narrow pathway that led into a rocky mountain. Flanked by steep hills and dense thickets, the pathway seemed to shrink, nearly swallowed by the encroaching landscape an Sora seemed to find this quite strange.
As she continued walking forward, Sora couldn't shake off the innate feeling that she was being watched by something ominous, lurking above the hills, and as soon as her suspicions were proven to be through, she didn't hesitate to act quickly, striking the horse in her care on the behind, prompting it to run off. She then summoned her system, drawing out one of the new daggers she had forged.
In that instant, what she had feared emerged from atop the hills, landing right before her. Sora stared this stranger down and all the fear she had stored in her emotions began to flood back, "How..... how is this possible?," she said in disbelief.
Standing before her was that very same mechanical horror she had faced during her journey to Eldermere. It was the tier four and this time it had returned back for its revenge, its slim and lengthy body now huge, though not bulky it was still huge, its red ominous eyes appeared in four-its unhinged jaw now full of metal spikes that could pierce through sturdy flesh with ease, talk less of its claws that was enough to cut rocks and metal like a mechanic saw.
Sora's pupils quivered as the system appeared as usual with its messages again:
[Current Quest: Defeat The Tier Four Metal Giant]
Reward: ???
Above the monster's metallic head, a translucent nameplate appeared in glowing greenish-yellow text:
METAL GIANT
Sora's eyes widened. From what she had remembered, she had only seen something like this kind of system display in the dream world. Yet here it was. Real. This proved to her completely, that the system was a real occurrence.
[Siphon Skill Activated: Minotauraus]
The system chimed for a second as a blue glow emerged through Sora's skin, her body feeling energized by the power she had siphoned from the beast. Her muscles stiffened, her muscular features bursting out as the metal giant roared.
Sora followed, roaring loudly and in an instant, the two oppositions charged at each other with tremendous speed. The two clashed, overwhelming themselves as the two were pushed back by the force of their weapons, Sora couldn't help but smile, her eyes glowing brightly as she recovered, her opponent doing the same as the two leaped backward before dashing back, clashing weapons.
Burst of lights filled the entire battleground, and soon enough Sora found herself in the air, relentlessly clashing with the monstrosity. After flurry of blows, the metal giant managed to graze the young lady's cheek, which enraged her.
[Health Points: 238/240]
Internal Damage Attack!
Dodging another set of attacks, Sora struck the giant in the stomach with tremendous force, a deafening crack echoing from her leg but she still pushed forward, bringing it to the ground with powerful force, shattering the ground. Sora landed softly, bringing out the system.
[Internal Damage Attack: 50secs Health Depletion]
Sora quickly brought out another tab with a list of her items as she picked out an orange liquid tagged with the name 'Elixir.' She chugged it down from a slim glass, her body glowing with a green energy.
[Health Restored]
She prepared, standing firm with her weapons as the battle wasn't over. Staring at the dust that emerged from the metal giant's fall, and just as the dust cleared Sora squinted her eyes to get a better look but to her surprise, the monster was nowhere to be found, leaving behind a cracked earth.
Suddenly a dark figure emerged from
behind of Sora with something huge in its hand and as soon as she turned behind, she spotted the metal giant with a bolder it had picked up.
Trying to find the time to react to the attack, Sora used her hands as coverage as the boulder was headed straight for her face and before she knew it, the boulder had struck her, sending her slamming against one of the rocky walls, shattering it in the process.
[Critical Hit!]
[Health Points: 190/240]
Sora's body was slammed into the rocky wall at the edge of the path, the stone shattering from the impact. The force caused her to cough violently, blood dripping from her lips as pain wracked her body.
The Metal Giant charged forward, raising another boulder, ready to end her, right there and then.
But then—
A heroic notification in the sound of a sharp whistle pierced the air.
The monster froze.
Sora, gasping for breath, followed its gaze upward from where the sound came from.
Atop the cliffs stood a lone figure with a blade the size of Sora's entire figure in their hand.
A man, his bulky figure illuminated by the sun. His face obscured by a cloak that sealed his identity, his tunic torn from the lower part to reveal his strengthened abdominals and metal shoulder pads that weigh heavy on ha shoulders.