Chapter 5
The third day had come to an end, marking a significant milestone as Anastasia was finally approaching the halfway point for the first part of this challenging area. She stood over the carcasses of the cosion that had been defeated by her skillful hand. "I'll stop here; it wouldn't be wise to continue," she declared, her voice steady despite the exhaustion creeping into her bones. This decision weighed on her, but the sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows across the ground and hinting at the dangers that lurked in the darkness. After meticulously collecting the valuable cores from her fallen foes, she found a secluded place to rest and began the process of absorbing the cores. Surprisingly, she wasn't suffering the same level of pain as before, indicating that her body was adapting to the strenuous demands of her new abilities. Over the past two days, she gained a few remarkable skills thanks to the cores she had been diligently absorbing, each one promising to enhance her strength and agility significantly. With each passing moment, she felt more empowered, ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead.
[Your Pain Resistance Skill has levelled up!]
Pain Resistance
Level 10
One will be able to reduce the effect of pain inflicted depending on the level of [Skill] used or pain. If the level of the [Skill] is lower then the Level of Resistance then it is numbed. If the level is higher it is reduce by 10%
Had been one of them and would be helpful when absorbing cores. But of course it would have its drawbacks as well. Anastasia began absorbing the Cores after creating a fire and cleaning up. After she had finished she began checking her [Status].
Status
Name — Anastasia Rosebery
Age — 25
Level — 27
Rank — F
Class — Magic Knight
Stats
Potential — SS
Strength — 20 (F)
Agility — 28 (F)
Stamina — 22 (F)
Intelligence — 35 (F)
Senses — 25 (F)
Mana — 30 (F)
Luck — 20 (F)
Charisma — -50 (FF)
Skills
Swordsmanship (Lv 20)
Thunder Swords Art (Lv 22)
Serpent Swords Art (Lv 18)
Lighting Magic (Lv 21)
Poison Magic (Lv 24)
Poison Resistance (Lv 20)
Pain Resistance (Lv 15)
Insight (Lv ?)
In the three days she's been at it, Anastasia came to notice that only one of her stats were unable to change, [Charisma]. In the beginning she had added one point to each of he stats to see the difference in those points to determine where she should place extra points to, however, a screen appeared in front of her when she tried to add a point to [Charisma].
[Error! Stats Points unable to apply to [Charisma]!]
She ended up trying a few times but the same screened appeared every time. Even now it was still -50.
In the middle of eating a meal the sudden sound of shouting caught her attention. It was coming outside and it caused her to stand up before walking over towards the window. It had been pretty surprising since Anastasia hadn't come across people for the past three days. At least living ones.
Her eyes began looking outside into the street covered by the night. Looking down in the direction, she came from and Anastasia began seeing flashes of the light. "Damn it! Why won't these monsters leave us alone!" A man's voice filled with anger and annoyance echoed through the street. "Do something!" There were five people in the group. Anastasia was looking at the man who had been shouting, he was the front of the group. He appeared to be a swordsman type fighter carrying a sword.
"Instead of complaining, do something yourself!" Another man shouted with a spear attached to his back. The fact that they were shouting wasn't helping them with the group of cosions.
"Damn it!" It had then been when the swordsman turned back towards the back of the group where a boy, who didn't look older than fifteen, was running. He seemed to be barely keeping up. "Don't take this personally but you're useless!" Upon shouting that the man shoved the boy, causing him to stumble back and fall to the ground. "Now!" The other three didn't even hesitate in running leaving the boy behind.
"Wait! Don't leave me! " He tried calling out to them but they didn't even look back. The boy began to attempt getting up, however, his legs reached their limit. "No! No!" Obviously he began panicking as he didn't want to die. His head turned around the moment cosions stopped right behind him. Fear paralysed the boy and all hope was lost to him. It was then when they strike and blood splashed to the ground.
"You alright?" The boy's eyes that had been shut shot open where he found a beautiful blond hair woman glancing back at him with her blue eyes. She held a sword the rapier that was covered in green blood. The one standing before was clearly Anastasia. However, the answer had to wait as the remaining cosions started getting ready to attack. "Just stay put." Anastasia turned around in order to face the monsters. They started slivering right at her with incredible speed, they were over [Level 30] so their speed were high, however, they were nothing compared to Anastasia. She tightened her grip as the blade began darkening. One of the cosion leaped above her head.
"Hey! Watch out!" The boy shouted, trying to warn her. [Python Strike]
First Serpent — Python Strike
Level 18 (Rank F)
When the [Skill] is activated the blade is covered in poison and anyone struck by it will become paralysed. However, it is only for five minutes if the Level of Resistance is higher then the [Skill] Level.
However, despite his yelling Anastasia's blade swung toward the monster. The cosion came collapsing to the ground where it began foaming at the mouth. Being, not all that intelligent the last two attacked, only for them to end up the same way. It was then when Anastasia turned back to the boy. He flinched at the woman due to how strong she was. "Boy, grab your arrow." She ordered him but he looked confused at her. Seeing this caused her to sigh. "Do you want a repeat of what just happened?" But when this was asked he shook his head and his shaking hands stretched behind to where a quiver on his back. "Stab them between the eyes." She instructed him and he slowly crawled over to the closest cosion which had been the first to take down. The boy's hands were trembling as he was kneeling in front of it. To Anastasia it was clean that he didn't want to kill another living creature. "Don't hesitate. They will kill you if you don't." She informed him, which seemed to help as he stabbed the arrow right into the cosion.
After the events Anastasia was sitting with the boy across from her. Thanks to the light coming from the flames she was able to see his face clearly. He was on the short side with a thin build. The boy's skin was a chestnut brown while his eyes were teak wood brown. Just looking at him one would be able to see him growing up to be handsome in a few years. That had been thanks to his defined cheekbones and square jaw.
Anastasia was watching him stuffing his face with food she gave him. He mustn't have eaten much in the past few days. The two sat in silence until the boy finished. "Are you better now?" That question came from her and it seemed to have startled him.
"Y-Yes. Thank you." But he answered respectfully with his head hanging. There appeared to be a tense air hanging over them. Anastasia could only sigh at the awkwardness. But the main reason was due to her inability to talk to another person. It made sense since she hadn't spoken to for almost eight years. She didn't know what to say without sounding cold. However, she should at least introduce herself.
"Anastasia Rosebery." The boy's head shot in shock. "That's my name." She clarified as he seemed confused a little.
"I-I'm Elliot. Elliot Hieronymus." Which caused him to introduce himself. However, it wasn't technically necessary thanks to [Insight] allowing her to view Elliot Status.
Status
Name — Elliot Hieronymus
Age — 16
Level — 2
Rank — F
Class — Bow User
Stats
Potential — S
Strength — 4 (F)
Agility — 5 (F)
Stamina — 2 (F)
Intelligence — 6 (F)
Senses — 6 (F)
Mana — 5 (F)
Luck — 4 (F)
Accuracy — 7 (F)
Affection — 5 (Saviour)
Skills
Archery (Lv 2)
"However, it would be strange if she knew. "Elliot, were those people your friends or family?" Anastasia asked this question, but she didn't need a verbal response since his face said it all. The tightness of his jaw and the shadow in his eyes spoke volumes about the pain he was trying to suppress.
"No, we were from the same units." He began to answer her, his voice tinged with a mix of nostalgia and sorrow. "There had been more of us, but..." His words trailed off, and it was clear that the rest were dead. They were most likely killed by the cosions, merciless creatures that left no survivors in their wake.
"I guess you're lucky then." She informed him, but the words slipped out before she could think. The moment they left her lips, she regretted it, realizing how callous it sounded.
"What do you mean?" He obviously couldn't understand why she said those things. But this caused Anastasia to think of something deeper.
"They are most likely dead now," had been the answer she gave. However, it was not what she wanted to convey. It felt as if she had truly become her character, one she had crafted to be cold and distant, a mask she wore to protect her emotions.
"Why do you say that?" Elliot asked, his curiosity piqued. He leaned in, wanting to understand her perspective on such a grim reality.
"What do you know about [Survival]?" Anastasia countered, her tone shifting as she sought to redirect the conversation.
"I've heard rumours but never played." He answered, his head tilted in intrigue. Allowing her to continue…
"From what I've gathered the things happening are based on it." She began to explaining the reasoning. "This means at the moment the suburbs are two main areas and they're split into four." She had pulled out a notebook from her bag. On one page Where she drew three circles in one another. In the centre she wrote [safe] symbolising the safe zone everyone would be heading for. The circle second circle that surrounded the first. It had lines going through it, divided into four sections and she repeated this for the outer circle. Elliot looked at the drawing while listening. "At the moment we are on the outer circle." Anastasia pointed the pen to it. "Each sections have different monsters. The ones in our area are called [Cosion]. Believe it or not the monsters on the outer circle are the weak." Hearing this caused his eyes to widen, clearly he was having a hard time believing it.
"I-If they're the weak what's in the inner circle" However, he there seemed to be a part of him that didn't doubt her words. Listening to his question caused her to continue.
"I can't tell you accurately, but what's waiting is far worse. "Anastasia soon came to stand and headed to the window. "The good thing is that they don't leave their areas. Beyond the train tracks is where the inner circle starts." It was for this reason she didn't go on.
"So you're saying that those monsters have already killed those guys?" This was asked by Elliot since this has been what he gathered from the woman.
"Well, there's a chance they're betraying one another as well," Anastasia remarked thoughtfully. She then added, "The way they pushed and ran without hesitation means this definitely wasn't the first time they've done something like this." Hearing this made him stop and think deeply about the implications of her words. "That's why you're lucky." She informed him, concluding the conversation as she turned her attention back to Elliot. "Just sleep for now; the cosions won't bother us since they don't like the cold. We should take advantage of this peaceful moment before everything changes again."
"Alright."
Anastasia sat in silence as she watched the sleeping Elliot. No, she was looking at his stats. He appeared to have S Rank in talent. If those guys knew they wouldn't have abandoned but used him till he died. This boy really was lucky but Anastasia was even more lucky. A bow-user that can reach S Rank would be handy to have... After that thought came to mind Anastasia couldn't help but chuckle to herself. "I really have become another person." But what was this affection thing?