Chapter 2: The First Taste of Blood
Chapter 2: The First Taste of Blood
You defeated a - Spawn Hatchling - level 2!
Extra experience is awarded for defeating an enemy one level above!
You have gained the Title - Life without eyes -
Life without eyes: Oh no, you removed its eyes with your mind. That… was… Awesome! Do it again!
| Removing eyes from monsters is now 5% easier!
| +2 added intelligence.
You are free to pick which title you can use. Limited to one at a time.
Rare Skill learned - Identify - level 1: A skill used for examining everything from objects to living organisms. This is a skill usually granted to production/mage class users. Identify anything up to 5 levels above you. Each level increases this by 2.5.
Experience gained!
Astrid glanced at the message in surprise. She had never heard of the System displaying personality in the messages. She glanced at the new skill.
“M-my lady.” Leena’s eyes opened wide, but it only lasted a second as the umbrella within her hands changed into a tipped-blade. She stood in front of Astrid. Half of the guards rushed forward while the others protected Astrid’s back.
“Take him.” Astrid said. She picked up the young boy. Her eye turned back to normal as she faced her maid, as if it was hiding. She offloaded him to her maid. “We’ll take him to the hospital.”
I feel strange. She gazed at the crushed eyeballs floating within the murky waters.
This chapter upload first at NovelUsb.Com
Leena bit her lips. She closed his eyes and nodded. Cradling him in her arms.
“My lady, this way.” The guard captain flicked the blood off his blade.
They rushed through the broken streets. People were busy pulling others out of burning buildings and staunching their wounds. Something lurched within Astrid's heart.
“Let’s help them.” Astrid stopped and moved towards one of the collapsed buildings. She heard the screams and wails from within as people desperately attempted to dig out the debris.
“My lady, we can’t. Our job is to get you to safety immediately.” The guard captain said.
“Would a Sinwen turn tail and run and leave their people to die?”
She focused her mind and connected to the debris of the building. Carefully, it began levitating in the air as she started excavating the area one piece at a time. Her forehead twitched at the mental strain. Leena dashed forward as her hands clutched around a large piece of wall. Gritting her teeth, she hoisted up the entire wall as a family of four was revealed.
The guards rushed forward, prying them from the loose rubble. The mother, despite suffering bad wounds across her shoulders and legs, gently wiped the dirt from the red aggravated wounds on her two children.
“Come with us. We’ll take you to the hospital.” Astrid said, before moving to the next building.
“Th-thank you, truly, my lady!” The mother said.
Soon, Astrid had moved the debris of four buildings. Sweat drenched her back, her mind thrummed with a dull droning pain. It was like a bead was impacting against her brain, squished against the hard cage of her skull. Astrid heard a crack from her side, her head twitched, looking at the nearby building.
The guard captain was fast to react. His body shot in front of Astrid as a hulking body smashed through the building. A ship’s anchor was tightly held within its grasp. With a swing, an intense clashing sound pierced Astrid’s ears. Astrid and the others hurried to the side as the captain resisted the enormous force of the Spawn.
What the hell is that?
Level ?? - Spawn Anchor-Knight
An evolved. Astrid’s eyes widened.
“Take the lady to the hospital! I’ll handle this and catch up!” The captain shouted. He parried the Spawn’s anchor to the side as it crashed into the floor, sending stone chippings flying like shrapnel.
Leena blocked the debris with her arm and nodded. “Everyone this way, hurry!”
With the survivors, they raced forward. Rushing around the street’s corner, an arrow tore straight for Astrid. One guard stepped in front with his shield, with a ting the arrow was blocked. Astrid glared at the Spawn Archer. She felt her mind connect to the monster’s eyeballs. With a tug, she could see the eyeballs twitch, the muscles in her face spasmed at her concentration. Her mind thrummed with pain.
C’mon, work! Her vision turned misty as a wet, warm trickle of liquid slid down her nostrils. The archer wriggled on the spot, cradling its face. Astrid felt the connection vanish as the Spawn looked over with wrath.
Exhaustion wracked her mind.
Level ?? - Spawn Sharpshooter
The guards charged forward along with everyone else as their sharpened, glistening swords chopped into the Archer’s fleshy neck.
I guess it was too high level. Astrid glanced ahead, a big red cross was pinned above the entrance of a building. Survivors were being ushered inside, people with broken pipes, kitchen-knives and bats were fending off the Spawn.
Rushing forward, an enormous force grabbed hold of one of her guards, sending him hurtling through the air like a rag-doll. An arrow the length of a spear and the thickness of an arm had drilled into the guard's shoulder-plate, continuing through to the other side. Another hulking Spawn pulled back a bow that matched its size.
Another guard dashed forward to intercept it.
“My lady, continue! We’ll hold them off!” The last guard shouted.
Astrid and Leena bolted toward the hospital. As they passed a dark alleyway, a Spawn Fletchling lunged at Astrid. Using her mind, she latched onto the blade within its hand and deviated it slightly–scratching past her cheek. Her leg snapped out as the Spawn stumbled to the ground.
“C’mon, hurry!” A man’s shout filled her ears. She looked behind, and more spawn arrived. Creeping out of the town’s alleyways like rats. Their little legs rushed forward, screeches left their fishlike mouths.
The hospital was right in front of her when something sticky coiled around her leg. Halting, she crashed to the floor. Astrid turned around. It was a tongue. A larger spawn had its mouth open wide, a long, fleshy tongue began pulling her toward the horde of rapidly approaching Spawn.
“Astrid!” Leena shouted. She spun around, but she was currently holding the boy with both arms.
Astrid’s heart tightened. She willed the area around its head to [Crash]. However, an immense pain filled her mind as it sizzled out. Ignoring the pain, and without thinking, she lunged towards the creature. Astrid grabbed hold of the thick tongue. Her eyes flashed a frigid light. Opening her mouth, she bit down. Thick, viscous blood surged into her mouth. Severing through the blood vessels within. She spat out the vile liquid. The monster let go.
Scrambling to her feet. Astrid and Leena finally passed through the doorway. A field of white eyes glared at their backs. Her guards were nowhere to be seen as they had disappeared within the dense shoal of Spawn. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, were approaching, their primal urge gushing forward, wanting to tear her, and the others to pieces.
I’m–too–tired. Astrid furiously blinked her eyes. It wasn’t helping, they only became heavier. The doors ground to a close, wretched, blood-curdling screams were cut off. Some weren’t lucky enough to make it inside.
All Astrid could see was a wall of darkness. Her mind slipped into unconsciousness.
***
With an ear scratching bang, Astrid’s eyes snapped open, accompanied with a dull thrumming pain. A putrid taste of iron and something more salty lingered within her mouth. Unable to stomach it any longer, bile crawled itself up her stomach and out of her mouth. The large solid-metal doors in front of her jolted with each bang.
“My lady, please have a sip.” Leena held out a glass potion with worry filled eyes.
Astrid looked at her still bloodied hands. They had dried, making the stains more like a brown splattering than red. Oh goddess, my head is throbbing. She caressed her temples, taking hold of the mana bottle she swallowed the contents. So cool, and somewhat minty. Better than the blood of Spawn tongue. Her face scrunched up at the horrid memory, its face caused a fiery heat to well up inside her. Next time I see it, it won't just be its tongue.
“Where’s the boy?” Wiping her mouth, Astrid stood up, her mind refreshed from the potion.
“He’s swiftly recovering. We got here just in time.” Leena flashed a relieved smile.
Astrid let out a relieved breath.
“Will these doors hold?” She approached the doors, her palm landed on the metal. It was cold to the touch. A sudden bang made her jump.
“It’s not the doors we need to worry about,” a gruff voice said.
He was an enormous man, with even larger forearms. Black soot covered his cheeks. Red spots marred his skin, like layers had been flayed off. He was holding a bucket that was even wider than himself; it was filled with wooden planks and a hammer.
“How would you know?” Astrid said to his quickly departing back.
Level ?? - Edward, Class: Blacksmith
Ah, I should have done that before opening my mouth.
His head turned over his shoulder. “I should know. I was the one who forged them.”
He, alongside the other survivors, was already busy nailing planks of wood to the windows. The windows didn’t last long. With a smash, broken pieces of glass fell into the room. Screams filled the room, men, women, and children all rushed forward to help blockade the windows.
Even with the threat of death, they remained to help each other. The wounded were taken care of, and the healthy fought to protect the injured, old, and young.
With a crack, the wooden planks that held the Spawn at bay snapped. Webbed hands entered. The survivors cleaved at their arms with any sharp objects they could find. Some had left their homes with kitchen knives, others used the scalpels scattered around the hospital's tables.
Leena’s petite frame dashed to the windows, her blade-tipped umbrella lunged through the broken window. When she pulled back, it was wet with blood. Her arm moved like a storm. Astrid’s eyes couldn’t keep up with the high-intensity movements. Instead, she focused on another window where someone was calling for help.
Astrid rushed over. With her current experience of using Crash, she was wary of completely blowing the planks off the window. Instead, she grabbed hold of a scalpel and threw it forward with Psychokinesis. The tip of the blade disappeared into the Spawn’s slimy flesh. With only a small trickle of blood, there wasn’t much damage.
Frowning, she picked up a few more. Throwing one forward again, she focused her mind and willed it to the creature's eye. It felt like she was drawing a line as she controlled the blade through the air. With the extra power enhancement from Psychic Power, the blade pierced through the gelatinous eyeball of the monster at high speed. It stumbled back with a screech.
You defeated a - Spawn Hatchling - level 3!
Extra experience is awarded for defeating an enemy two levels above!
You have levelled up!
Psychokinetic level 1 -> Psychokinetic level 2
Gained 5 stat points .
Skill level up!
Psychokinesis level 1 -> Psychokinesis level 2
Experience Gained!
Astrid’s lips almost curled upwards when a projectile shot through the window and threatened to pierce her flesh. Without thinking, a thin membrane covered a small area in front of her. With a thud against her mind, the arrow fell to the floor.
Breathing a sigh of relief, her mana evaporated. Astrid’s eyes widened as she quickly shut off her Mind Barrier. Running to an area where arrows couldn’t reach her, she massaged her temples. It seems like all of my skills use a lot of mana.
Astrid glanced over as Leena approached.
Level ?? - Leena, Class: Battle-Maid
Skill level up!