BXBX NOVEL Chapter 170 Countdown
[Two Weeks Later]
"Time remaining," he asked the System while walking.
[Time until Tower opens: 2 days, 2 hours, 12 minutes, and 36 seconds]
He continued walking along the abandoned street as the crimson clouds remained overhead, pulling his azure scarf over his nose.
"...I\'ve been thinking about it: I might start putting more points into offensive skills than defensive ones," Sol said, walking beside him.
Without responding, he kept walking, lost in thought.
Status, check, he thought.
[Player: Jeong-Hui.]
[Level: 25. EXP: 2200/15000]
[Age: 17. Class: Luminate Assassin]
[Health: 3600/3600 | Spirit: 3700/3700]
[Usable Skill Points: 0.]
[Assassin Proficiency: 39/9999]
[Martial Artist Proficiency: Taekwondo: 40/9999]
[Undying Proficiency: 3/20]
Below Undying Proficiency, as a sort of "sub-proficiency" was another:
[Zombie Self-Sustain: 2/10]
He had other proficiencies scaling, but most were minor and didn\'t require a watchful eye.
With the skill points he had acquired from reaching level twenty-five, he chose to place them further into his offensive-oriented build, hoping to reach new, flashy abilities soon.
Looking at his stats, he pondered a bit, keeping to his thoughts while traversing the block.
It\'s been two weeks since the player killers raided our compound. We lost over half of our numbers, and the one place we could all call home during this hell. Since then, we\'ve been on the move–staying at places only for a few nights at most while moving, he thought.
"Jeong-Hui! I\'m talking to you, man," Sol huffed, placing his hand on his shoulder.
[Sol | Level 24]
The hazel-haired spear-wielder now wore a verdant, long-sleeved shirt with an oak-brown sheepskin vest and a black-steel pauldron protecting his shoulder.
Most importantly, he had upgraded from his silver spear to one of an obsidian material, with orange-glowing cracks running along its length that ended in a curved, molten-like end.
He snapped into focus, giving a small smile, "Sorry. What were you saying?"
"Jeez…I was asking if it would be a good idea too–"
Before Sol could finish their sentence, they were interrupted by a yell from their companion across the street:
"Hey, both of ya\' dorks! I found a promisin\' lookin\' place!" Yeong-Un yelled, waving them over.
[Yeong-Un | Level 26]
In addition to the dark-blue coat he wore, the scar-covered man now wore cobalt gauntlets, greaves, along with some armor around his neck, though it was sleek enough to still allow for flexibility.
It had taken the whole first week, but eventually Yeong-Un had returned to his normal, energetic self–though he did seem to have a more "visceral" side, at least more so than before.
Losing Binna was hard on him. The first few days…well, he clobbered me one after I tried talking to him, he thought, rubbing his cheek as if caressing the long healed bruise.
"What is it?" He asked, walking across the street.
Him and Sol moved over to the store that had its windows busted out by Yeong-Un, stepping inside to find an abandoned market.
It was difficult to see from the outside that it was a grocery store due to the signs being destroyed and the windows obscured by dust, but it was unmistakable once stepping in.
"Ugh, what\'s that smell…?" Sol asked, plucking his nose.
"Rotten meat, and fruit, probably," he answered.
Currently, the three of them were sent out to find food rations for the rest of the group, who were staying temporarily at a place just a couple blocks away.
They got to work searching through the abandoned store, looking for any non-perishable items that might\'ve been left.
Yeong-Un didn\'t waste any time, excitedly finding both of them while holding two cans in his hands with a wide smile, "I found the jackpot!"
"Oh!" He said.
"Nice!" Sol smiled.
They followed Yeong-Un to the aisle in which he found the canned goods, piling them into bags found within the store.
"This should be enough for the next two days, right, Jeong-Hui?" Sol asked him.
As he was the one responsible for cooking, at least the bulk of it, the question laid on him as he nodded in response, feeling out one of the tin cans.
"Yeah, this\'ll get us through," he answered with a small smile.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
"Ah, damn it…It\'s startin\' to pour," Yeong-Un said, glancing past the broken window.
As rain began to fall down onto the street, the already bleak skies became dulled in a shadowy horizon with the rainfall.
"We should head back before it turns into a storm," he suggested.
"Yeah…Good idea," Sol nodded.
"We got what we came for anyway!" Yeong-Un added.
Bringing the spoils of their scavenge, the three ventured back out of the abandoned establishment as shattered glass crunches beneath their steps.
He looked up as the cold rain gently collided against his pale cheeks, coming down twice as fast as the minute before.
"C\'mon, fire head!" Yeong-Un called out.
He nodded before following, "...Yeah, my bad."
Over the course of the past two weeks, they had put distance from the compound of Gangcheori after it was left uninhabitable by the destructive forces. It was a narrow street, almost akin to a mixture of an alleyway and a street, with little cars abandoned in its width.
…I just want to get back and have a bite, he thought.
–But, turning the corner towards their way back to their temporary home, such reprieve never came easy.
"Uglies ahead," Yeong-Un warned, coming to a stop as he unsheathed the dual blades at his back.
He stopped as well, looking forward to see a group of three demonic entities that were standing over a torn-open Defect, digging their hands through its opened corpse as they tugged at its pale-white intestines.
The ravenous creatures took notice of the three humans as they turned back towards them, standing up.
[Enemy Identified: "Crimson Daeva" | Level 25]
They stood three meters tall, with bodies covered in bright-red, bristly fur and wide, golden eyes that held a spiraling hunger in them. A mixture of saliva and blood seeped from their sharp-toothed mouths, bearing blood-stained jewelry on their monstrous forms.
"Gross…" Sol muttered, wielding his new, molten-tipped spear.
Instead of drawing his daggers, he instead raised his hands, tightening the new gauntlets he wore on his arms.
They were forged from an all-black steel, sleek and designed with azure grooves that matched his scarf and new coat, which held azure fluff on the inside of its black fabric.
These gauntlets had been acquired during a visit to an Angel Shop; it was his "investment" into his martial artist side, bolstering the strength of his arms while maintaining the necessary dexterity of his hands for small, quick movements as an assassin.
"One for each of us–let\'s do this the usual way," he said, stepping forward.
"Hell yeah," Yeong-Un said.
"...Got it," Sol gulped.
It seemed the Crimson Daevas had the same idea, as the three, tall beasts rushed towards each of them.
Immediately, the one that launched towards him swiped towards him with its black claws–
CLANK.
Sparks flew as the claws of the blood-stained daeva clashed against the raised gauntlet of his, which completely stopped the attack from inflicting any damage.
After the attack from the daeva had failed, he calmly spun around and launched a swift kick to its head, causing it to stumble to the side, discombobulated from the powerful blow.
It was the same for his legs: he had acquired black-steel greaves that were light and minimal, amplifying the sturdiness and power of his own body\'s attacks.
"Graaagh–!" The maddened demon howled.
It continued again, swiping towards him rapidly as purple flames began to exude from its hands, nearly reaching him as he continued backpedaling while calmly watching its assault.
Each of its inelegant strikes failed to land before the beast, seemingly taken in rage, parted its blood mouth, spewing out a howl of purple flames.
"--!"
He used a swift step to get around the fiery breath, stopping the attack that set the asphalt ablaze with a swift kick to the creature\'s jaw, knocking it back across the street with a small shock wave.
Martial arts is invaluable; I\'ve learned that. A lot of my assassin abilities rely on spirit to be used, but with my martial artist side–there are a sea of options, and many of them don\'t require any spirit, he thought.
He looked on as after the creature had crashed through a wall of an abandoned store, the crimson-furred daeva launched back out, crawling on all-fours now like a savage beast towards him.
Come on, then, he thought.
The moment it came within reach of him–he spun around again with inhuman agility, using a front flip into a devastating ax-kick that was bathed in a sudden spur of orange flames.
"Dragon Stomp," was the technique used.
It wasn\'t just through continuous battle that he was able to cultivate his martial arts abilities; through his actions, he discovered a new path:
I\'ve been training with Xiaodan. Since he\'s a martial artist class first and foremost, there\'s so much he\'s able to show and teach me. I\'m thankful, he thought.