Chapter 6: Defense (II)

Torin's head hurt. The inflow of information rushing into his eyes was staggering.

[Item Name: Absordite Brick

Durability: 9999 (EX)

Description: A brick made of Absordite]

[Item Name: Absordite Brick

Durability: 9999 (EX)

Description: A brick made of Absordite]

[Item Name: Absordite Torch

Durability: 9999 (EX)

Description: A torch made of Absordite]

[Item Name: Absordite Brick]

[Item Name: Absordite Torch]

[Item Name: ….]

[Item…..]

…..

…

Rather, it was just two pieces of information, but since he was in an enclosed room, he kept receiving notifications wherever he looked. However, there was no time to dwell on his newfound power.

He frantically scrambled out of the chamber he was in.

What greeted him was a beautiful hell. His vision had become a lot sharper, but as a result, he could see everything. And everything meant a ton of information flooding into his mind at once. The overload created a splitting headache, forcing him to shut his left eye. In the pain he was in, he could barely make out the ongoing battle between the insects and the humans, but it was still easy to tell which side was losing. 'Damn it.' he breathed. He was disoriented, and in no condition to jump into the fray. But he didn't exactly have much of a choice now. If the others fell here, he too would perish.

"F*ck it."

He picked up a torch laying on the ground, and ran at the nearest insect he could find.

The fat insect was distracted and poised to strike at someone else, thus it didn't notice Torin running at it. Torin brought down the torch on the insect as it leapt off the ground, knocking it away.

It didn't have as much of an effect as Torin had hoped, the insect's hard exoskeleton protecting it from injury. All Torin had managed to do was piss off the insect further. It clicked its mandibles furiously, and started to size up its new opponent. It jabbed its claw forward, and Torin blocked with the torch and counterattacked, hitting the side of the insect. The insect then lunged, which Torin avoided. This continued on for a while, but the two were at a standstill. While Torin was doing a good job holding the insect back, the insect was unfazed by Torin's attacks, only getting knocked away slightly every time it was attacked. Unfortunately, Torin was getting tired, and his movements were getting more sluggish. Compared to the goblins and skeletons he had encountered so far, this insect was on a different level, and he was not confident in beating it alone.

But he couldn't afford looking around for help. Any lapse of awareness and he might find himself skewered by the insect's claws. With no choice, he decided to bet everything he had on his newly prepared arsenal.

He opened his left eye, and tried focusing all of his vision on the insect alone. Instead of a headache, focusing seemed to help as the status window of the insect popped up.

[Name: Lesser Armored Striker

Race: Scylla's Spawn

Strength: 11 (E)

Speed: 14 (E)

Endurance: 18 (E)

Stamina: 12 (E)

Dexterity 3 (F)

Fortitude: 2 (F)

Mana: 0 (F)

Unique Traits:

Hive Mind (F)

Predator (F)

Tunnel Vision (F)]

As expected, the insect had far superior physical stats compared to him. However, nothing he could see was of any help in defeating the insect, apart from the Unique Trait: Tunnel Vision (F) the insect possessed - which Torin suspected was a lack of awareness on anything except its opponent. With Torin the only one facing it, he couldn't take advantage of that unique trait in any way.

There was still one thing Torin could try - Mana. Torin took a more passive stance, and rather than exchanging blows with the insect, he merely blocked and dodge the attacks, whilst simultaneously concentrating on gathering the new substance in his body in his hands, trying to do something like reinforcing and making the torch stronger.

[Mana has run out. Mana exhaustion penalty has been applied]

"What?" Torin felt his body suddenly grow limp, and he crashed onto the ground. The insect seemed confused too, and started advancing slowly towards the fallen man.

"It won't be easy without the points." Glaciaras's voice resonated in his mind. Right now, Torin was regretting his choice. Had he known that he would face stronger opponents so soon, he wouldn't have made such a hasty decision.

Before the insect could attack though, it started to shriek out in pain. Torin could see a dagger slashing through the abdomen of the insect, leaving a trail of green blood in its wake. The insect cried out its death throes, and collapsed onto the floor, unmoving.

Torin found himself looking at a shorter young man looming over him. Torin recognised him. He was that guy he saw playing around with electricity upon entering the sanctuary. The air around his dagger was crackling with power, a far cry from what Torin had accomplished with his own mana.

[Name: Julian Derecho

Race: Human

Class: Runner (II)

Patron: Thundra

Strength: 11 (E)

Speed: 24 (D)

Endurance: 6 (F)

Stamina: 11 (E)

Fortitude: 9 (F)

Mana: 12 (E)

Unique Traits:

Quickness (D)

Predator (F)

Charisma (F)

Skills:

Lightning Magic (I)

Weapon Reinforcement (I)

Body Reinforcement (I)]

Torin marveled at Julian's stats that his eye showed him. Compared to Torin, Julian was superior in pretty much nearly all aspects.

Seeing someone with different coloured eyes staring at him, Julian felt strange, as if he were exposed. 'Creepy.' he thought to himself as he observed the peculiar person he just saved. He was expecting words of gratitude, but all he got was silent stares.

'Ungrateful brat.' Julian gave Torin a disgusted look. He hovered around for a moment longer and gave a sigh, before running off to fight another insect. It would be better for him to help others who would actually be thankful. Those weak and rude were better off dead.

Torin wanted to help more, but his muscles thought otherwise, and refused to move. All he could do was sit on the floor and watch as Julian rushed off to attack some other insects. He didn't know why Julian had looked at him that way, but he dismissed it as being mocked for being so weak. Scanning the battlefield, the number of insects had gone down - but so had the number of humans fighting them. The insects still outnumbered the remaining fighters. Although Julian, Daran and a few others were putting up a good fight, one could easily see that they were getting tired, and their mana wouldn't last forever as well. The situation seemed as dreary as ever.

Until an arrow flew from the entrance of the sanctuary, firmly lodging itself in one of the insects.