Civilization

My body pulls towards the right, the air around me distorts and the adult lion's eyes flash red, jumping towards me. With the sudden attack, the best I can do is bring my spear in front of me, blocking the lion's paw with the body of the polearm. I shove the lion away and prepare to stab its head before another *CLANG*.

My spear stabs into the ground as the lion disappears in front of me. The moment I hear the sound, I prepare myself for the next attack. I glance to my left and in the corner of my eye, I see the cub jumping upwards to my head. I force my body forward, awkwardly falling to the side of my polearm and dodging the cub's attack barely.

I kick at the cub with my right foot, grabbing and pulling the polearm off the ground at the same time. My foot slams into the monster's side but I wince at the pain of my foot hitting a stone monster. Regrettably, the cub barely flinches at my attempt to damage it, and instead, it tries to claw at my foot.

I do my best to roll to the side but I still get scratched on my calves. It was hard to judge how far the cub was away from me as the only light source was its eyes.

*CLANG*

The cub disappears and immediately, I jump forward, turning my body around to see the lion statue's jaws biting down where I just stood. I calm myself down, as my breathing accelerates. The knight statue in the middle of the room produces weird clanging sounds, either teleporting the statues or teleporting myself around the room.

The lion charges toward me, baring its sharp teeth. I stand my ground and thrust my polearm forward, aiming for the space between the lion's eyes. The red eyes shine a deeper crimson as my polearm approaches its face but before it lands another *CLANG* and the lion disappears. Reappearing on my left side and biting onto my arm.

Its sharp teeth stab into my flesh and a yelp in pain. I grit my teeth and use my polearm to stab into the lion's eyes shattering the ruby-like crystal and smashing part of its face. The shattered remain's fall to the ground, making raindrop sounds echo in the room. However, it wasn't enough to stop the monster.

It didn't feel pain and instead increased the pressure on my arm. I feel like it was going to rip my arm off my shoulder. Tears well up in the corner of my eyes and I muster all my strength, stabbing the monster again and again with the tip of my spear until it let go.

My whole left arm burns with pain. Blood drips to the floor and tears roll down my face. The feeling in my arm slowly drifts away. I look at my status to confirm how much HP I had left, knowing there shouldn't be much.

Name: Ian

Race: Human

Faith: 3512/10,000 ( Reach 10,000 to pick a Religion )

Happiness: 20  ( Happy ) 745/1000 ( Reach 1000 for a Golden Age )

Health Points (HP): 10/50

Mana Points (MP): 10/15

Strength: 30

Vitality: 25

Intelligence: 30

Dexterity: 25

Agility: 35

Luck: 31

Skill: Enhanced Agility (Active), Quickstep (Active), Cleave (Active), Eye of the Roc (Passive)

Equipment: Lucky Goblin Totem Necklace, Stone Golem Polearm.

I calm myself, ignoring the pain in my arm. Still holding onto my polearm, I touch the pouch on the side of my waist.

The small explosive was still there but I had refrained from using them since I was in a small enclosed space looking at how badly I'm hurt I guess I have no choice but to use everything I have. I might have been able to dodge the attack more effectively if I had used Enhanced Agility, but I kept it saved in case I needed to retreat, now I need to use it offensively.

I activate Enhanced Agility and stuff my hand into the pouch pulling the small core out and grasping it tightly while still holding onto my polearm. The lion in front of me had half its face destroyed from my repeated attempts while the cub on the other side of the room watches me.

*CLANG*

The scenery in front of me changes again, this time I'm facing the lion cub as it runs towards me. The small monster is more agile than its older counterpart and reaches me in mere seconds. The small paws swipe towards my stomach but I Quickstep to the side, and thrust my spear into the lion cub, stabbing into its side and creating a hole.

I glance towards the middle of the room where the knight statue is creepily watching the fight unfold. Its smile reaches its ear as the head is turned a full 90 degrees to watch me. Shivers run down my spine as I see it looking at me but I grit my teeth and dash toward the statue. The moment I had that decision I see its smile instantly flip. My heart skips a beat as I feel the air turn cold and time slows.

*CLANG*

In front of the knight, both lions appear as I am still in mid-run. Their mouths were open and ready to bite down on my face.

"QUICKSTEP" - Ian

I shout out in desperation, narrowly escaping death by quickstepping to the right side and positioning myself behind the knight. Its head follows me, turning 180 degrees, and watches me with a frown. I had noticed that the monster could not do successive teleports and since it just used its skill to protect itself, in theory, I should be able to attack.

Since I couldn't insert mana into the item like the NPCs I had always wondered about the method players would use to activate these weapons, but I guess it was even easier than I had thought. Just by thinking about activating the core, I see a small blue pop-up.

[ Activate Golem Core? Yes/No ]

Obviously, my thoughts were 'Yes' the moment I saw the message and once I had confirmed the activation of the core I drop my polearm and throw the core towards the statue. The small red orb flies through the air dying the room in a bright flash of light. I turn around and jump towards the ground as the core explodes behind me.

I feel the whole room shake violently and after a few seconds I turn around to confirm if the attack had worked. The attack collapsed the ceiling a little revealing the hole that once illuminated the room. With actual light filling the room, I was able to see the damage.

The knight statue's head and top of its chest had been shattered, leaving only the torso, the arms, and the bottom half. Both lions stood motionless in a jumping position, their eyes no longer glowing red.

Did I win?

I let the dust clear a bit before limping forward. Enhanced Agility had worn off and I feel my legs becoming like jelly as approached the golden box that was in front of the knight. However, as I got closer, I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand tall. I back off hurriedly but trip over something on the ground in the process. The knight statue starts to move. Its hands grasp the sword and lift it high into the air.

I fell to the ground landing on my butt, seeing the sword in the air and the fatigue from the fight washing over me, I feel like that was it. I had let down my guard at the last moment. The cold stone blade swings down over my head, I close my eyes in anticipation, waiting for the sword to penetrate into my skull and for the system to tell me I had died.

*CLANG*

Instead, I feel nothing. I slowly open my right eye but the knight statue had disappeared. Where did it go? Why did I hear another clanging sound?

I turn around, looking left and right to find a clue but nothing. Only a thin ray of light from the ceiling falling onto the golden box remain. The stone lions had disappeared as well as all the small rumbles from the broken pieces of the monsters.

I blink a few times, picking myself up. I had lost all feeling in my left arm and even though moments ago it felt like I was in immense pain, right now I felt more dumbfounded than anything.

I shake my head and decide to ignore what just happened. I tear off my clothing wrapping my left arm and putting it into a sling before walking to the golden box.

I reach out with my right hand, grabbing the top and slowly lifting it up, revealing the treasure that was inside.

A jet black half mask, reminiscent of the Phantom of the Opera. It covers the right side of the face, half of the forehead, and then part of the mouth and cheek. It differs from the Phantom of the Opera's mask by having a small white crescent moon on the cheek of the mask.

I look at the mask and feel myself being drawn in, grabbing the mask with my right hand I see the name as well the stats.

[ The Moon's Ghost

Intelligence  +10

Agility +10

Dexterity +10

Skill: Aura of Silence (Active)

A jet black mask once belonged to a magician who silently loves a woman. His voice is no longer able to reach her but his heart stays. The silent songs he sings allow those around him to disappear, either to help escape or to kill those who harm the one he loves.]