Chương 96: (B2 Chapter 47)

Without hesitation, I used quick step to rush to the side, away from the large, black monster. Some instinct within me made me use quick step once again as soon as it ended, this time in a slightly different direction so I wasn't running away in a straight line. And I'm glad I did! A rush of air passed me and I looked over my shoulder to see that the monster had just barreled past the spot I had turned away from barely a second ago.

My eyes widened as I hurriedly took note of how the bulky monster moved extremely fast but completely silently. Luckily for me, at least one aspect of physics seemed to be working properly. Due to its considerable bulk, it took some time to come to a halt and change directions, by which point I had used another quick step to move further away from the thing. The slowed-down surroundings and enhanced perception allowed me to spot an opening on the first floor of a building where a window had probably been.

I should get inside and try to escape through the roof by using concealed presence. It's too fast! I remembered concealed presence had worked just fine when I was following it at a distance. It was only when I got close to it and crossed some kind of threshold that the skill had broken somehow. I still wasn't sure what exactly had happened back there, but right now wasn't exactly the time to think about the mystery of my skill failing.

Looking back at the monster, it was still at the place it had stopped at, staring at me while seeming to take a deep breath in through its horrendous mouth. I got a seriously bad feeling from whatever the thing was doing, and I used yet another quick step to launch myself through the opening and into the building. I entered what seemed like an apartment, and wasting no time at all, I ran towards the entrance of the apartment and wrenched the door open, stepping into the hallway.

I had just taken a step towards the stairs to start heading up, when everything shattered. A loud screech sounded out from the outside and a split-second later, I was hit with a wave of force that slammed me into the wall of the hallway. The doors of the apartments tore apart and the sound of glass shattering sounded out from all around. That's all the things I had the chance to process before my world started spinning.

I could feel some kind of wetness in both my ears and I couldn't seem to form any coherent thoughts at all. I looked around with blurry vision and tried to take a step forward, but my balance seemed completely off and I started stumbling all over the place. Everything was a mess of colours and shapes, and for the life of me I couldn't remember what I was supposed to be doing. I stumbled on something on the ground, perhaps some stone from the wreckage of the building, and fell down.

I tried getting back up again but kept stumbling, not being able to get my feet under me. Multiple tries later, I gave up and chose to sit back, everything still spinning in place. A distant urgent feeling rose within me for a fleeting second, but I wasn't quite able to grasp it properly. Was I supposed to be doing something…? I had no idea… Everything was such a mess that I just wanted to lie down and close my eyes to rest for some time. Yeah… that seems like a good idea… rest should make me feel better…

I shut my eyes and immediately felt better, but some deep part within me was screaming at me to keep them open and start moving. I wanted to listen to it, but my mind was just too heavy at the moment… I'll think about what it means sometime later… A few seconds later, or maybe it was a few minutes later… a wave of relief spread through me, and it felt like the cloud within my mind had receded just a bit.

Immediately, the hazy memory of a large, black monster rose within my mind with urgency, and my eyes snapped open. My vision was still a bit blurry, but I could at least make out that I was in a destroyed hall surrounded by pieces of wood and stone. I got up and started making my way towards the stairs, still stumbling with every other step.

I reached the doorway to the stairs and wrenched it open, taking a glance back to find the horrifying sight of a large, triangular, demonic head pushing past the now hanging by one hinge apartment door through which I had entered the building. Shit! I started hurrying up the stairs, but despite my best efforts my movements were still slow and my balance was still off. Still, I did my best to hurry along and kept climbing the steps as fast as I could.

I periodically looked down through the gap in the stairwell and mercifully it had remained empty so far. A few steps later I took another glance down and saw the monster glaring straight at me from about three stories down. It was absolutely still, and it looked like it was enjoying hunting me, otherwise I would already have been dead. I think it wanted to enjoy pursuing me for a bit longer, which is why it probably let me heal up a bit before pursuing me.

Doggedly, I kept climbing the stairs, keeping my eye on the monster which was content with staring at me. I had climbed another story by the time the monster moved. It still remained in place, but had started taking a deep breath in. My mind was still fuzzy, but I somehow remembered that the monster breathing in spelled trouble, and some part of my mind was urging me to get out of this enclosed stairwell as fast as possible. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road.

If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Listening to the instincts that had kept me alive so far, I immediately stepped into the hallway and hurried along it, reaching the last door and going inside the apartment. Another wave of relief then spread through me, and the haze receded further from my mind. Instantly, the memory of the monster's loud shriek and the subsequent delirium came to the forefront of my mind loud and clear. I need to protect myself from sound!

I looked around, and thinking quickly, rushed towards the bedroom. I dove under the dust filled covers on the bed and placed as many pillows over my ears as I could, clutching them tightly so that they were pressing against my ears. I breathed loudly for a second before I felt more than I heard a shockwave travelling throughout my surroundings. The distant sound of glass shattering reached me again, and a wave of dizziness assaulted me, but it wasn't as bad as the first time.

I think the numerous floors between me and he monster helped dampened the sound attack… at least they must have helped a lot more than me desperately clutching pillows to my ears… Peeking out from the covers, I saw dust filling the entire surroundings, making visibility a problem. I stepped down from the bed and opened the window, and saw that I was about five stories high. The window had a ledge, and I climbed on it, heart hammering in my chest.

I didn't know where I was going to go from here, but I did know that staying near that monster was just asking to be killed. The wind whistled in my ears as a sense of vertigo hit me and I had to clutch the edge of the window to ensure I didn't fall off. Probably not the best time to try jumping from a building… not like I have a choice though… A deep breath to steady myself later, I looked back down and saw the ground littered with broken glass and other debris. More importantly, the ground looked very far away.

I found myself thinking about why I hadn't found out how high I could jump safely from yet. Shaking my head, I leaned forward and saw some possible salvation. Window ledges lined up below me, leading all the way to the first floor. Quickly making up my mind, I climbed off the ledge till I was dangling from my hands. I swung myself a bit, and in a feat I was sure I couldn't have done before all these stats empowered me, I landed securely on the ledge below.

Repeating the process three more times and then making the final jump, I finally found myself back on the ground. Immediately, I used concealed presence, relieved at finding it working, and sped away from the building, taking glances behind myself with every other step. A demonic triangular head was suddenly poking out of the window I had jumped off from, and I used quick step to turn the corner, not a moment too soon as I heard a loud shriek of frustration from behind me.

It seemed like the otherwise eerily silent monster only made sounds when it intended it as an attack. Throughout the chase, I had otherwise not heard a single whisper of sound from it at all. I kept racing away, using quick step liberally and taking glances over my shoulder every so often. Mercifully, it looked like the beast hadn't found my trail, and I managed to reach close to our base about ten minutes later.

Before going to the base, I entered a building and went up a few stories, entering an apartment and going towards the window. I stayed there for a while, about thirty minutes or so, keeping watch on the street just in case the monster had somehow tracked me all the way here. Once I was sure that the thing wasn't coming, I came back down again and finally entered the base.

Still breathing heavily and with my heart hammering, I rushed upstairs and entered my room, flopping onto the bed and finally letting go of concealed presence. I laid there for a few minutes, just getting my breathing back under control and trying to calm myself. What was that thing? The thing had just been too absurdly powerful. For one, it had somehow broken cleanly through concealed presence, something which hadn't happened yet.

That elite snake back at the tutorial had somehow been able to track me while I was still concealed, but even it hadn't managed to break through the skill completely. Then, it was the eerily silent movement it showcased. No matter how fast it had moved, not a single sound had escaped from its large body. Something that large and bulky had no business being so damn silent! Not to mention how fast it had moved in a straight line. Finally, it was that sound attack.

I wasn't even sure if it was just sound or something else, as the physical force with which the attack had rent apart that building wasn't something to scoff at. I was actually getting increasingly concerned about sound attacks now. Would increasing my perception keep me vulnerable to sound attacks? Did other stats also have weaknesses I hadn't realized yet? And more importantly, is there a way for me to shore up this weakness? Back in the dungeon I had also been taken out temporarily by a sound attack.

But there had to be something I could do to protect myself from such attacks. My mind went towards endurance or vitality… I believe increasing them would make me stronger against such attacks. Of the two, I was leaning more towards endurance, as Lucas had mentioned how increasing the stat made his body tougher and more resilient to damage. Thinking back to the monster, I realized it had been very foolish of me to approach it. Admittedly, I had had no intention of actually attacking it. But having fought it…

or rather ran away from it… I could see that it had been an absolutely perfect counter to me. Heavily armoured, fast enough for my speed to not be an advantage, no major critical weaknesses, and a sound-based attack that turned a person delirious and uncoordinated. It was just luck that the monster seemed to enjoy the hunt, and that my health regenerated on time… wait a minute… I bolted upright in my bed as a question came to my mind. Why had my health regenerated?

It was established back in the tutorial that health didn't regenerate during combat… wasn't it? So how had my health gone back up…? Had it not counted as combat because I was just running away instead of fighting the thing…? I doubt it… The more reasonable explanation would be that when I had been hit by the sound attack the first time, enough time had passed without anything else happening for the system to judge that I was no longer in combat.

But I couldn't shake the question of if the health had regenerated because I hadn't had an intention of fighting at all. Do both parties have to have an intention of fighting against each other before the system deems it a combat situation…? I should test it out… Laying back down on the bed, I started thinking back on the encounter again. I had foolishly gone back out at night again, something that had repeatedly caused me to get into serious trouble. I really shouldn't go out at night again…

another thing that I had thought multiple times already. But then again… What kind of assassin avoids the night…? I grinned as I closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep.