Chapter 29: Race to Level 10 VI

“Leader, there’re people ahead!”

“I can see. Don’t bother with them. Just focus on running.”

Teo silently watched as the group of three ran past him. Eyes narrowed, he took note of their clothing. It struck him with some familiarity. The identical brown jumpsuits with yellow lines running through their sleeves appeared to be uniforms of some kind, but Teo couldn’t remember which department they belonged to.

But there was no time to ponder about some uniform.

A guttural roar reverberated through the hall as it announced the presence of the monster Gloria so dreaded. Teo’s heart nearly leaped out of his throat from the sound alone.

“It’s here.”

Teo didn’t need anyone’s reminder. He had already noticed the blurry humanoid outline at the edge of his night vision’s range limit. But that blurriness was clearing up faster than he imagined. The monster seemed quite fast on its legs.

Gloria took the initiative to her hand.

Bang!

She fired a shot that struck the lanky figure’s left shoulder. She got better eyes than him since her [Observe] had reached a higher level than his. And she used a gun, which means there should be a skill related to vision in her arsenal. Though she mentioned having only three skills, Teo had taken her words with a grain of salt.

The monster wasn’t deterred, however.

“Shit! Teo, cover for me.” Gloria groaned and hastily repositioned herself to the other side of the narrow pass.

The biggest taboo for a sniper was to stay in one place after firing the shot. Whether the target lives or dies, they must retreat or reposition.

Teo took in the lanky monster a few heads taller than he, rushing at them like a speeding train, arms flying wildly in the air. Its chin was dyed red, probably from the blood of its previous victims. The visual impact was too much. His legs trembled while the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

Cover for her! From this thing? How?

She was being unreasonable. This undead seemed like one you wouldn’t wanna mess with. It had arms long enough to reach the knees, outranging Teo’s sword. And those claws! He was sure they could rip him to shreds like he was made from paper.

It looked every bit frightening as the one from Gloria's stories.

Ghoul Lv 1

HP: 500

WIL: 24

[Observe] had noting that could shed some light on its power. A higher HP doesn’t mean more power; look at the level 2 zombies! Though, it had the same amount of WIL as Gloria, would that mean anything?

“Oi! Snap out of it!” Gloria’s frantic scream pulled Teo back from his reverie. By then, the ghoul was only a few meters from him.

“Gahhh!” Spooked enough to let an embarrassing scream out, Teo pushed his upper body back, doing a perfect ninety-degree lean and barely missing the claw homing for the neck. It went over his head with a ‘swish’ sound effect.

Bang!

An orange glowing bullet drilled through the air and poked a hole in the ghoul on its shoulders. Green blood carrying a foul scent oozed out, painting a patch on its ash-colored skin.

Teo crawled away while the monster was recovering from the wound. His heart was drumming wildly in his ears. He glanced at his surroundings but didn’t see Gloria anywhere.

Guttural growling pulled his attention back onto the monster. Red eyes without a pupil glared back at him; as if to blame him for the wound on its shoulder. Suddenly, Teo had an urge to snitch on Gloria.

Bloody jaws literally unhinged, pulling down all the way to its chest as it roared.

Its meter-length arms whipped out, once again trying to maul Teo, which he sidestepped before jogging away to put some distance between them. But the monster didn’t seem to like this act of social distancing; it followed him, razor-sharp claws swinging wildly in the air.

I can’t be on the defensive. I’d die if this goes on. Teo frowned.

He was afraid of making mistakes, which he knew would happen sooner or later if this fight dragged on for too long. His stamina was limited.

I'll attack.

Resolving himself, he went on the offensive with a powerful thrust from his wooden sword. The tip of the weapon targeted the wound opened by Gloria’s bullet.

But the ghoul was faster. Its left hand shot up, slapping away the incoming sword while the right went for Teo’s abdomen. Everything happened in the blink of an eye, leaving no time for him to put up a proper guard. He only hoped his folded left hand could brace what was coming.

Poisonous claws easily cut through his jacket and punctured into his biceps, bringing a burning pain to his arm. His entire left side numbed for a moment.

You have suffered a puncture.

-50 HP

The ghoul leaned over, jaws unhinged and blood-coated teeth ready to take a chomp out of his neck. Teo’s heart dropped to the pit of his stomach as his entire life flashed before his eyes. However, before the judgment day could come early, a shining bullet came to his rescue like a guardian angel and drilled a hole in the back of the beast’s throat.

It stumbled back, coughing out green blood. Teo was forgotten for the moment as it flailed wildly as if to kill some enemy only it could see. It whipped its bald head around, searching for the cause of its suffering. Unfornutaly for the ghoul, Gloria was too well hidden in the shadows. She was making good use of the environment, like a seasoned hunter.

This gave Teo the window of opportunity to counterattack. Mana pulled from the [DanTian] as he activated the first skill awakened after coming to this dungeon. [Willpower Aura]'s formless aura swirled around his body and enhanced all his physical attributes.

[Willpower Aura is in effect]

STR -> 58

AGI -> 61

DEF -> 61

VIT -> 69

MAG -> 48

Teo experienced an explosive strength coursing through his veins as he went on the offensive. Limited mana had restricted the skill to only a few seconds; he had to make it count. Once the duration was over, a coma would follow. If the beast wasn’t dead by then, Teo would have to say goodbye to his life.

As Teo raised his left leg, the world seemingly slowed down considerably. The ghoul's swing had become sluggish in his eyes; as if it was trying to move inside water. He had experienced this world once before, and it was when he used the skill for the first time against the level-two zombie.

Circling around to its back, Teo grabbed the ghoul's head from behind. 58 points of strength exploded as he slammed the beast to the ground face-first, forming spider web cracks on the floor around its head as the pavement caved in slightly.

But Teo wasn’t done. He raised his right leg, then stomped with all his might and great momentum, further pushing it into the crack. Then, he stomped again. And again… and again.

Crunched noise of its skull breaking was heard between frantic stompings, but he didn’t care. There was only desire in his heart, to stomp till he could no more. This continued till [Willpowr Aura] ran out of juice. Then, a wave of weakness followed as Teo fell to the ground, feeling disconnected from his body.

The sequela had arrived, putting him in his most vulnerable state.

Bang!

A bullet lodged itself into its skull as it drilled inside.

Teo gasped, filling his lungs with as much oxygen as he could. He was exhausted. And tired. Most of all, he was frantic.

Is it dead? He looked at the unmoving body, [Observe] activating.

Ghoul Lv 1

HP: 5/500

WIL: 12

Status: fatally wounded, dying

It was dying. Now, he could finally relax.

Teo lay spread eagle next to the ghoul, eyes wide at the soul lamp hanging from the ceiling. His throat had dried up, and his heart pounded in his ears.

He was in a state of disbelief.

“We did it,” Gloria said, revealing herself from the shadows. The rifle was being used as a walking stick as she came over with unsteady steps. Despite her pale complexion which suggested exhaustion, there was a pleased expression on her face.

“It’s not dead yet.” Teo reminded.

“It only has five HP left; a simple nudge could put it out of misery. I have left it alive for a reason. Teo, try taming it.”

“Can I?” He asked, wondering if it was possible.

“We will know now. Just try it.”

“Okay…”