NOVEL NEXT Book 1: Chapter 11: Eavesdropping
Scarlet Asger
A few seconds pass before I hear the spawn stopping right in front of the other spawn’s corpse. So I wait a few more seconds, then climb up onto the desk and then onto the cubicle where I jump onto this spider as well, just like the other one. But unlike the other one, my claws don’t manage to dig in as deeply into its head. They still enter it though, and that’s all that matters in regard to the plan working as it lets me dig in and not fall off.
The spider tries to toss me off with a little bit more success than the other one, only in that my legs lose their hold on it and end up flying around to hit the floor with a rather painful smacking sound as my feet literally dig into the floor heels first. But after that my legs end up flying back up again when the creature jerks backwards again, so its struggle was in vain. Except for the pain in my feet, and the holes in the floor.
I continue worming my claws deeper, only for them to stop at some point.
Shit, is this thing’s carapace just too strong for my claws to break through?!
In that case, how the hell do I enhance the claws?
I try various things including willing that strange sensation in me called mana towards my hands, to no avail. I try willing my blood in that direction, which obviously fails since I have no idea how to even begin trying that. And I even try reaching forward to bite my own arm and get my blood down to reach my claws, but that doesn’t work since I can’t lock onto my own arm with all of the spider’s flailing.
Eventually, my hold on the creature begins to slip.
No no no, please don’t-
[Skill ‘Blood Claws’ has leveled up to level 2.]I blink in surprise, only to feel a surge of strength enter my claws from somewhere. Somewhere inside of the demon's own body.
My grip stabilizes rather quickly, and soon enough I find myself able to dig even deeper until I finally hit its brain. And with good timing too, because I don’t think I would’ve been able to keep avoiding those legs that have been slicing at me throughout the battle for much longer.
{Level 5 Demon Spawn defeated. Bonus EXP is awarded for killing a creature above your level.}
{One Skill Point is awarded for killing a demon.}
{Three Skill Points are awarded for leveling an inherent skill for the first time.}
{Two Skill Points are awarded for leveling the inherent skill ‘Blood Claws’ for the first time.}
I blink in surprise at the extra messages before pulling my hands out of the dead spawn’s head and slumping onto the ground in exhaustion.
After a few seconds, I remember my Clean skill and use it to get rid of the ichor from my hands. Then I take a moment to listen for the other demons on the floor, finding each of them to be a safe distance away from me before I let out a groan.
Today has been a rough day.
I am absolutely skipping my workout tomorrow.
Actually, come to think of it, do I even really need to workout anymore? What with the reality altering stats thing?
I stare at the ceiling for a few seconds as that thought brews in my mind before I shrug, close my eyes, and focus on my hearing.
Let’s see if I can’t hear the conversations going on in the bunker. Because I’m pretty sure those bunkers have special technology in them to secure a connection past the shields. So they might have information on when backup will be arriving for this Fracture.
Although considering that it’s a Class I Fracture, I doubt that’ll be anytime soon.
After several seconds of focusing, I finally manage to barely hear some very quiet voices.
“You think we’ll be out of here by morning? I have a report that I have to finish before noon…” a slightly higher pitched male voice half asks half complains.
I can’t help but raise an eyebrow despite my eyes being closed.
Yes. Because a deadline is what you should be worried about right now.
“Probably. The boss is only a few buildings down, in a Class II Fracture from what I’ve heard. He’ll likely clean it up in a few hours,”
an older female voice responds, seemingly ignoring the complaint part of his statement.Oh. Right. I almost forgot that Allen is a Guardian.
“How do you forget someone is a Guardian?” I hear Tar’s voice intruding on my thoughts.
Well, I’m used to seeing him at the orphanage. Not with his armor equipped. So it was kind of hard to view him as some powerful Guardian when he was surrounded by little kids playing with them quite often.
The tanuki doesn’t say anything for a few seconds before eventually responding with a short, “Understandable then.”
“Still, I find it hard to believe that a Demonic Assault in Terra only had Class I and Class II Fractures in it,” another voice, this one sounding like it’s from an older gentleman.
My eyes shoot open at that.
Huh.
That honestly is quite surprising.
Demonic Assaults in the capital almost always have at least one Class III Fracture in them.
So what’s up with this one?
I stare up at the ceiling for a few seconds before beginning to get up with a grunt.
Guess it’s better not to question a good thing. Especially when I have some more demons to hunt.
I check the floor again, focusing once more on the demons, only to find myself frowning as I find less on this floor than there should be. Did some of them leave the floor?
When I entered the floor, I estimated there to be nine demons total. Five hounds and four spawn. Now I’ve killed two of the spawn, and it looks like the other two have either died, gone still, or left the floor entirely.
But what catches my attention even more is that the hounds seem to be bunched up near the stairwell. And they don’t appear to be leaving the floor.
“Be careful with those hounds. They like to hunt as a pack, and they’re generally stronger on average, albeit smaller than the spawn you’ve been fighting,” Tar’s voice suddenly echoes in my head, sending a shiver down my spine.
Well, this is a problem.
And to make matters worse, the hounds appear to have just started moving. Right in my direction.
Shit. They’re hounds. Of course they’d be able to track like a blood hound!