He opened his eyes slowly to allow for accommodation to the bright light.
After a period of adjustment, a vibrant forest of giant trees came into view.
‘Hm? This almost looks like...’
If not for a rge grassy clearing a few meters ahead of him, he would have thought he experienced Deja Vu.
He entered the clearing without hesitation.
Although he didn’t know what to expect, finding and securing the optimal environment took precedence.
A singur boulder near the tree line stood as the only obstacle that might impede fluid movement in this terrain.
[System Message]
[Your Trial Will Begin Shortly]
[Trial Of Courage: Subjugate All Monsters]
[Time Limit: None]
[Restrictions: All Skills And Spells Locked]
[Random LV-1 Skill And Spell Will Be Assigned]
[Failure: Death]
‘Seriously?’
Ari couldn’t help but ugh at the absurdity of the Trial.
‘Dispy profile.’
He retained the temporary rank from the previous trial, but Max-Level skills and spells had a lock icon beside them.
On the bright side, the single skill and spell avaible were very useful if used correctly.
[Avaible Skills]
[Lightning Ssh: LV-1]
[Blink: LV-1]
Ari leapt into the air then executed a mid-air dash followed by a second jump, nding a few meters from his original position.
‘Good, my core abilities weren’t affected.’
Rustle
Tap-Tap
Tap-Tap
The sounds of approaching footsteps tore him away from his thoughts.
‘Of all the possible monsters...’
Despite the distance between them, Ari easily identified the creatures approaching him from the tree line.
Tall and muscur, green skin with red eyes and sharp tusks, carrying machetes.
Having defeated many of their kind in-game, Ari understood how tough these monsters were if your level or that of your equipment was too low.
[Orc Scout]
[Monster Rank: C-Tier 3]
(Garru Garru!)
The Orcs roared in anger the moment they noticed Ari.
They raised the machetes and ran towards him.
Ari summoned his sword from his inventory and took a few steps back.
The Orcs closed the distance faster than he expected and lunged at him before he had a chance to correct his posture.
‘They’re fast!’
Cng! Cng! Cng!
The Orcs stared in surprise as their bdes were parried in quick succession.
With a swift motion, Ari side-stepped the Orc on his far right and plunged the tip of his sword into the side of its neck.
‘Dammit, it’s too shallow!’
The Orc swiped viciously, but Ari managed to step back just in time as its razor-sharp cws grazed his torso.
‘That was close!’
He took a few more steps back to gain some distance, ignoring the burning sensation on his chest.
The Orc held its neck and gred at him.
‘Argh, it's tough.’
With the Orcs’ robust monster bodies, Ari’s current stats, and weapon, his chances at a swift victory were zero.
His only option was damage over time.
Ari pnned to get as many strikes on the same area as he could, to create some vulnerability in their defense.
His core abilities would be pushed to their limits today.
(Garru!)
The Orcs appeared to be more cautious than before.
Ari readied his sword.
“One little prick and you’re scared like a little bitch, huh?”
He grinned.
(GARRU GARRU!)
They charged at him once again, with more ferocity than before.
After evading the incoming bde aimed at his throat and face by a hair’s breadth, he pivoted and parried the strikes from the side.
“It's like you’re not even trying. Are you sure you want to kill me?”
(GARRU GARRU!)
He narrowly evaded fatal strikes and parried ones that would immediately incapacitate him, repeating the cycle to the best of his ability.
Despite Perfect Dodge slowing time, he opted not to attack the Orcs yet, choosing to study their movements instead.
The reason for this was simple
Ari had to learn their attack patterns and tendencies to understand their “Normal” attacks. The moment he nds a few attacks without them being able to dodge them, their movements will become irregur and difficult to predict.
The more he avoided their attacks, the more ferocious they became. But thanks to their continuous efforts, he adapted, and even their crude and wild swings became somewhat predictable.
The challenge was managing the accumuting fatigue.
Although he could not determine how long the fight sted, it became increasingly apparent that he was the only one getting progressively tired.
His movements began to slow, forcing him to rely on their patterns and his reaction speed to stay out of danger.
Ari knew if things continued this way, the Orcs would catch him before long.
As the Orcs increased the speed and frequency of their attacks, Ari began his counterattack.
He tilted his body to evade a strike aimed at his neck to trigger Perfect Dodge, then used Lightning Ssh.
Fsh!
Ari swung his sword to create a diagonal gash across an Orc’s chest.
Perfect Dodge triggered again following a sidestep to evade a thrust to his chest.
Fsh!
The second Orc received the same wound as its brethren.
The remaining Orc attempted to attack Ari’s back, to which he promptly side-stepped and pivoted around to face it.
Their bdes cshed following a ferocious strike from the monster, but once he triggered Perfect Dodge.
Fsh!
(Garru! Garru!)
The Orcs realised that something was wrong.
Despite the power behind Lightning Ssh, since it was only LV-1, the wounds were too shallow to slow them down, serving only to infuriate the Orcs even further.
In contrast, one solid hit from them would cripple him.
Their attacks became erratic after they sustained wounds, leading to more wayward strikes.
‘This is inefficient.’
He had to reduce their numbers while managing his energy to avoid the worst-case scenario.
To that end, he determined it would be more effective to focus on only attacking two Orcs while using all of them to trigger Perfect Dodge when the timing was right.
Thanks to his attribute, the adjustment to their new patterns didn’t take too long.
Fsh!
He interchanged Lightning Ssh with regur strikes, managing to nd two hits with each trigger of Perfect Dodge.
It was fortunate that the Orcs had a one-track mind; they were so focused on killing him that they rarely changed their attack pattern.
Ari's breathing became increasingly boured as time passed, but his efforts were not in vain.
The targeted Orcs were enraged as blood oozed out of the deep gashes across their chests in the shape of an X.
‘I have to end this now.’
Ari decided now would be the perfect moment to use Blink.
Due to its low level, he couldn’t teleport farther than two meters, but it was more than enough.
Since the targeted Orcs became more wary of him than before, their relentless attacks became more subdued.
He envisioned his destination, then flexed his elbows, pulling his sword to his waist.