Chapter 55 - Escape

"Ugh..."

I made a strange noise when I felt pain sting my whole body. I raised a question, how can I get all this pain? Then…

"Aaa..." I screamed for a moment I opened my eyes. At the same time, I got up to finally sit down.

I remember that the silhouette attacks me. I become alert for a moment later I made a sound, "Ugh!" Because of a painful headache jabbing my head.

Vaguely, I remembered that the silhouette threw me and as a result, I was lying in the middle of the road. I fainted and after that... What's going on?

I looked around to look for the silhouette. However, what I saw made me hold back my screams.

For some reason, right now, I was sitting in the middle of a living room filled with pieces of Corpse Walker's bodies!

A second later, a foul smell attacked my nose.

Unable to stand this situation and the smell of this room, I forced my body to move. I walked through the nearest door and ended up in the hallway.

I evaded the stench after I walked into the kitchen. I rested my body on a nearby chair before massaging my forehead to relieve the headaches that were tormenting me.

What's going on? Where's the silhouette? Why does my body feel so heavy? Then, where are my weapons and my treasures?

I wanted answers to all those questions but I couldn't get anything from my memories.

I don't remember anything after I fainted.

"There's no point trying to remember things I don't remember. Now, I must grasp my current condition before making any decisions and actions. [Stat Open]."

『General Information』

[Name: Eclaite | Gender: Female | Age: 19]

[Race: Beastkin - One Tail Fox | Level: 9/10 ]

[Job: Slave, F-Rank Adventurer, Courtesan]

『Basic Statistics』

[ HP: 29/34 (68) (65*) | MP: 26/26 (53)

| SP: 46/47 (95) ]

[ STR: 23 (56) | AGI: 25 (51) | Luck: 1 (3) ]

[ END: 20 (40) + 5 | DEX: 7 (14) | ]

>>> Weakened heartbeat [236 Hours : 31 M : 51 S]

[ + All Basic Statistics -50%

+ HP, MP, SP regeneration speed -50%

+ Unique Skill Heart of Monster cannot be used in the state of the weakened heartbeat.]

『Skill』

[Heart of Monster] [Doppel?????] ∇

[Lesser Strength | Lvl - 2] ✦ New! + ∆ Level up!

[Lesser Stamina | Lvl - 1] ✦ New!

[Enchanted Body | Lvl - 1] ✦ New!

What's this? Weakened heartbeat? Why did I get a Debuff like that and when did I acquire new skills? Moreover, it doesn't include my three Basic Statistics that increased by a large margin!

"My STR is twice as much as it should be. And surprisingly, even though I have a Debuff right now, my STR is more than the previous one, before I got the stat boost."

How did all of this happen?

Okay! Stop asking questions like that.

What has happened let it happen.

I don't have to bring up the past if I didn't lose something.

Now! Let's take a look at the new skills I've acquired.

[Lesser Strength | Lvl - 2] [Passive]

[+ Permanently give 10 points to STR.]

[Lesser Stamina | Lvl - 1] [Passive]

[+ Permanently give 5 points to SP ]

[Enchanted Body | Lvl - 1] [Passive]

[+ Increase HP by 5% permanently.]

So... These three Skills are the culprit that made my three Basic Statistics increase greatly. But... There are still some points that don't fit.

Haa… right now is not the time I thought about something like that.

I have to get out of here. I don't know when that silhouette will come back and I don't want to see it again.

After drinking a bottle of Basic Potion, I left the kitchen. A few minutes later I was walking on the sidewalk of this lost city.

I was lost for a while before I finally knew where to go after I saw this city from the roof of a building.

My goal was the alley where the silhouette attacked me.

This may sound like a bad decision - well okay! Returning to the crime scene was a very bad decision. But I have to go there.

I need that treasure to take off this Slave Collar. I also need a weapon to defeat the Corpse Walkers that will probably attack me.

So, with a clear objective, I walking in this lost city carefully. I want to avoid fighting as much as I can but who could have thought, not a single Corpse Walker appeared to attack me.

This situation became more strange when I didn't hear any voices made by the undead.

Silence is a sign of danger.

So, I ran, as fast as I could to that alley.

Up the alley, I found the coins scattered on the ground. Since I didn't want to stay too long in this Dungeon, I didn't pick all the coins, I took one small bag that was clearly in there and picked up silver coins as much as I could put it into the little Leather Bag in my belt.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find my Bleed Fair or the dagger that I picked up from the iron box. Luckily, I found Silver!

"This much is enough for me."

I ran out of this alley. My goal is the exit of this Dungeon.

This silence terrified me and make me uncomfortable. That's why I ran as fast as I could. But, the moment I came out of the alley, I froze.

"How can it be?" I asked when I saw the bodies of silhouette that were torn apart lying in the middle of the road.

Looking at that body, I could guess that the silhouette was eaten by a monster or something terrifying.

The silhouette is strong. So, if it was lying here as a corpse, it meant that there was a monster stronger than the silhouette.

I got goosebumps when I saw the silhouette's corpse.

"I can't believe that a monster can do such a cruel thing," I said as I turning my face away. "This place is getting more dangerous!"

I ran to leave the silhouetted corpse behind. Not once did I look to see it again.

A few minutes later, I reached the hallway where all the mummies were.

"Haa... Haa..."

Running with all your might for a long time was exhausting. A combination of that fatigue, my body still hurts, and the headache forced me to rest for a while.

Then, after my condition improved, I took a spear from one of the mummies then walked out of the Dungeon.

I followed the trails in the North Forest. And the longer I walked, the more headaches I felt got worse.

When I wondered what happened to me, three Vargs came out of the bush.

I didn't realize their heat until the last minute.

"Woff!"

Vargs let out a bark and I unsheathed the Silver Spear.

Our fight begins.

Two Vargs attacked from the left and right. While the last Varg lurking around by making use of my blind spot.

"Woff!"

Varg A jumped to attack me and I swung my spear to hit its head.

Dwag!

Varg A was thrown away and Varg B ran over from the left. Its wide-open mouth was aiming for my feet.

I twisted my spear and then channeled my energy to my left arm.

A dim red light coated my spear.

"[Red Piercing]"

I wanted to stab Varg B in the head but I missed. Varg B dodged to make my attack cut its ribs. The mistake I made brought a result. Varg B managed to bite my left leg.

"Argh!"

The wolf pulled my leg. It tried to knock me down and I stopped the monster by stabbing its stomach.

"Khaing!"

As the wolf loosened its bite, I pushed my spear to stab its stomach deeper.

The moment I managed to nail Varg B to the ground, Varg C hit my back. My balance was gone and I fell forward.

I rolled on the ground once before trying to stand up. Unfortunately, my effort was stopped by Varg A. The wolf that coming from behind managed to bite my shoulder and climb onto my back.

Once again, I lost my balance. And this time, I fell with my face first.

Varg C didn't waste the opportunity. It came closer and bit my neck from the right.

Splat! Clang!

"Argh!"

The wolf gave it a strong bite. Luckily, my Slave Collar provides protection. Its fang didn't cut too deep.

As quickly as I could, I move my right arm to strangle Varg C. Luckily, because my STR had increased, I managed to crush the monster's neck.

"Khai-!"

Finally, Varg C released its bite.

I pulled Varg C's head away. Almost at the same time, Varg A also released its bite. Varg A tried to bite my neck but I didn't let it.

I released Varg C and then used both my arms to push my body up as quickly as possible.

The thing I did was make Varg A off my back.

Varg A fell and I unsheathed Silver. Before the wolf stood up, I stabbed it in the neck.

"Khaing!"

I kicked Varg A to pull silver. Then, I turned to look at Varg C. The monster was lying, convulsing on the ground. I approached the monster to stab its head.

I moved my head to look at Varg B and I found the monster motionless, lying in a pool of its blood.

The monster couldn't pull out my Silver Spear.

As I was relieved that all the monsters were dead, my gaze became blurry. My body became limp and I had trouble standing up.

I tried to look for Basic Potion inside my small leather bag as I recalled the wound on my neck.

Unfortunately, I didn't find the Basic Potion I wanted. I remember I drank that potion earlier.

Forgetting the Basic Potion, I picked up the first aid kit. But, before I had time to use it, all the energy is gone from my body.

My body fell forward.

Then, all of a sudden, I felt someone catch my body.

I tried to figure out what was going on by moving my head and I saw Vier's face.

I do prefer that the white knight who saved me was that Fallen Elf girl. But, I think, Vier is okay too. He's someone I can trust.

That strange thought crossed my mind before I fainted, again!