Chapter 22: Struggle

My mouth gasped for air as I swung my sword at the ogre in front of me. The monsters did not have the size of the one I fought before, but it still gave me trouble defeating it.

I raised my hands and projected a fireball in the ogre's direction, hoping that I could injure that ogre before anything else. But the monster deflected my magic as if it was nothing but air. The creature waved its hands and obstructed the spell, forcing the fireball to wear out before it could hit its face. The blaze ignited the nearby grass, causing a forest fire in front of me. But the flames exhausted themselves, since the arcane surrounding the place devoured all the anomalies inside this woodland.

I gripped my Clarent sword in my hands and prayed to the deities above to win this battle. It was my only chance to survive in this wretched forest.

I dashed straight to the monster and attempted to hit the ogre, but failed. I tried a billion times, but my sword did not reach the creature. The ogre flashed me a sinister grin, knowing that I lost all my energy from all those attempts. As the beast approached me, I turned towards my side and caught it off guard.

"That's for mocking me…" I said, and lifted my sword.

After hitting the monster's neck with my blade, a clunking sound resounded from the scene. The ogre wailed in pain as it spewed green blood all over the place. It even drenched me with its bodily fluids and covered me with a sour smell. But it took only a matter of seconds before the beast fell to the ground.

The wounds I took from the ogre covered my body. The slightest touch of my hand made me want to jerk out of fear and excruciating pain surging through the grazes. It became worse when my health bar had gone low enough to cease my battle…

I needed to take a break after killing one monster within six hours inside this dungeon.

This… godforsaken dungeon.

"I need to get out of here… before those monsters… smell me…"

Monsters follow the scent of a fallen beast, especially when a puddle of blood covers the place. And that would never happen if I hurried myself to escape from that place. There were already rumbling sounds echoing in the distance. But thank the heavens that I arrived before the creatures could take me.

I also took off all my beginner's armour and protective equipment on my body, since it was all covered in monster muck. It was a great thing that there was a river close by where I fought the ogre.

But the water from that stream had impurities. Only a mage that had an aptitude to control water could filter wild rivers for them to drink it. I was no mage, and I could barely even conjure spells with this class.

I could only clean my clothes and myself from the river. I squeezed my protective wears with my clothes dry to wash out the smell of acrid blood stuck on my outfit.

A gallon of blood painted the river as I pressed the clothes on the stone. While doing that, a churning pain exploded near my thighs, causing me to slip and swim in the stream of water. I got out of the river with my wet and stiff body. The good part was I took a quick shower, and it cleanses all the dirt off my body.

I nestled my body over to the side of the rock and rested for a few seconds. The crashing of waves from the river reverberated through my ears. It was the only noise that kept me company in this dreadful forest.

I turned on my navigation system and looked for any nearby monsters in my vicinity. Those pesky bastards could have followed me around while bringing these tainted clothes I had during the battle. As soon as I knew the coast was clear, I closed my eyes for a second, meditating for my next move.

But the world did not like me resting in a stationary place, as it sent out more monsters in my direction. It came not from the roads that I monitored but below me, where my global positioning system could never reach.

I leapt from my post and dodged the initial attack of the worm monster as it revealed itself before me. The water coming from the stream splashed the water in my direction as if it was raining.

'If I had not reacted to that strike, my body would have turned into minced meat,' I thought, and raised my guard once more.

The worm did not stop just by that, as it looked at my already shivering and exhausted body. That slithering creature did not have orbs on its body, but I knew it was glaring at my figure, thinking that I was its food.

I ran in the opposite direction, hoping to escape the woods. I did not want to flee from this site, but I had no choice, since I already exhausted all my mana and health bars. The only way to survive this place right now was to exit the forest! But it was a lengthy pavement, and it would take me a few minutes before reaching that place before collapsing on the floor.

My breaths became heavier at every passing moment, telling me to rest for the time being. However, stopping right now would make me meet with death, as I could see him now waving in the distance.

I had to shake my head off to wipe that image from my face while constantly dashing through the thick boughs of the sea of trees.

The worm still chased me to the ends of this planet, hoping to kill its meal. I refused to become its dessert as I raced against time, only to see myself flailing on the ground like a fish. Within a few seconds, I kissed the soil, with the worm still chasing after my tail.

"Move… MOVE! DAMMIT, MOVE!" I screamed, as I pulled myself together and went towards the side.

It was a close call, but I evaded the worm's tackle after forcing myself to squirm on my flanks. I unequipped all my stained equipment on the ground and left the site with my stark body. I had no choice but to leave those behind, since it was the primary reason the worm wanted me and knew my position.

After doing all of those, the worm did not pursue me anymore. I knew that leaving that equipment behind was the right thing to do. But now… I did not have any additional defences to fight against the warm air and the attacks that would come to the monsters soon.

A towering tree greeted my eyes, almost welcoming my presence. In the middle of the bark, there was a hole. It was a space enough to cater to someone for the time being. I, who had no place to go and needed some rest, went inside the suspicious puncture and stayed in for the night.

That place became a haven for me to rest… Even the monsters swarming beside the tree did not notice me hiding inside.

"This place really is something…," I said, while flashing myself a smile.

This tree was also a part of the game. But I never expected that the hole that I deemed before as a mistake by the game developers would save my life.

I needed some time before resuming my farming progress. After killing that ogre, my level grew, and I was now a level 3 knight with decent stats and health. However, I knew it was not enough to take the orc, which was the leader of the ogres.

I needed to be at least level 15 to fight that thing, considering the army that the orc had beside it.

"One goal... at a time…," I murmured, and closed my eyes

I huddled both of my legs in the corner and tried regenerating my mana and health bars. It would take me around an hour before I could fight again, and another five to six hours to defeat an ogre. I only have a day to reach level 15…

But judging by the hours that went by, I did not know if I would make it on time to save the village.

If I went there and showed myself in front of the horde of monsters, I would die a pathetic death. I could barely stand up on my own against an ogre that had the lowest level inside this forest. A bunch of them fighting against me would spell "failure" in front of my eyes.

"Do I really have to go back?" I questioned myself, thinking if it was the right decision for me to neglect the village.

I was the descendant's hero who had the goal to defeat the demon lord… but it did not feel right….

I did not feel like a hero.