Tim's eyes widened at the series of notifications. He really didn't expect RNJesus to answer his prayers so soon, but killing a higher level elite beast was really quite the endeavour. If the beast hadn't attacked him, there was no way for Tim to actually force it out of the trees. And when it had, it was going for a silent one shot kill. Considering this beast gave him an entire level's experience, he doubted there would be more of this kind around. It didn't matter to him though, finally he could get his hands on some actual fucking loot.

" Please, let it be some armor, or even a shield works. I'll even take fucking boots, just tired of running around like a half naked caveman. Oh, and getting gored sucks too, but as long as you give me some good shit we can put this all behind us" Tim beseeched, hoping the cosmic entity could slightly move the odds in his favor.

[ Congratulations! You have recieved the high stage initiate weapon: Lunar's Claw! ]

"......"

Tim stared dumbly at the screen.

"Fuck, it's always the same old story, isn't it" sighed Tim. Getting the hidden drop table to proc was hard enough already, and he couldn't even choose what drop he wanted. He was pretty sure whatever this weapon was, it wasnt going to be as good as Warrior's Resentment, because named weapon were supposed to be the best in a rank.

It materialized in front of him, and he reached out to grab it. It was a single metallic glove, painted in a light yellow as if it were matted in gold, onto which three long, curved and wickedly sharp claws were affixed to. He wore the glove, confused how he was supposed to use the thing without impaling himself.

After a while, he realized that instead of trying to treat the claw as an extension of his fingers, he was supposed to clench his fist and use his arm strength to propel his fist weapon parallel to his opponent, letting the sharpness and the reach of the claws do the rest. The claws were affixed to the top of the glove, which was a bit thicker and elevated because of this reason and not the glove's fingertips.

He was reminded of his high school basketball coach, the guy was a pretty accomplished baller, but couldn't play defence even if his life was on the line. He always said, "Offence is the best defence, it doesn't matter if they score a few points here and there as long as you keep scoring", though Tim just saw that as an excuse for his own laziness and found it extremely amusing.

If something came in absolute close quarter range, the length of the rapier would make a defence much tricker than it needed to. He would've greatly preferred a shield to protect his vitals, but alas the world doesn't always move according to your expectations. Tim was filled with a unique sensation, as if he had moved up in the natural order, ascended from prey to a predator. Soon, he would go and challenge the apex predator in these lands and fight for supremacy.

Wielding the claw in his left hand, while rapier at rest in his right, Tim tried to do some combat maneuvers. It stretched his agility level to the maximum, it was really hard to focus on both weapons at the same time efficiently. He wanted to swap the claw for a shield or maybe just go with good armor and keep one hand free. But for now, he needed some counter if a creature got past his rapier and tried to eat his face. Oh, and he was also looking forward to leaving claw marks on his tormenters.

Deciding to remedy the issue as best he could, he put 3 points into agility, hoping that would grant him some better control and cleaner movement while.... Dual wielding, if you could call it that. The other 2 points went into strength, hoping that would increase the lethality of the claw.

Moving forward while chewing on some sharyu leaves, a few hours had passed without any visible sources of threat. The trees were now much more loosely packed, and he could almost see through the foilage. He slowed down his pace a little bit, proceeding cautiously, worried a trap would spring up the moment he was exiting the forest. After looking around a couple times more, he sprinted towards the exit fully ready for combat, planning to surprise his would be ambusher.

He ran out into the open, but something felt different. It was a lot harder to get a foothold, the earth seemed to shift with his every step, and the terrain was uneven. Tim's jaw dropped at what he saw. Majestic sand dunes were littered all around him, as if nature was displaying it's artistic talent for the world to see. Each step he took would be etched into the sand, only to dissappear a few hours later like he had never been there, never existed. He had never been to an actual desert on pre-system Earth before, and now he was forced to admit its grandness. Unfortunately, he wasn't here for tourism.

Three rumbling growls came from different directions, each throwing up clouds of dust as they ran towards Tim's location. This time it was mutated dogs, with teeth resembling those of a shark, almost doubled in size compared to a normal dog, with thick, muscular bodies that looked like they weighed a ton. Their fur was a mix of dark purple and light green, as if they had been afflicted with some sort of terrifying illness. The problem was there was 3 of them, coming from different sides, and Tim wasn't sure how fast he could run in this terrain.

There was no time left, he had to make a decision and act upon it fast or he would be pincered by all three from different angles.