Smart Coward

"Status."

As soon as my lips parted, a translucent blue window appeared in front of me.

⌜Status⌝

User: Ash Morningstar

Level: 1 [ I Star Knight ] | Locked |

Profession: Knight

﹂ Type: Swordsman

Attributes:

﹂ Strength: [ 1 ]

﹂ Agility: [ 2 ]

﹂ Perception: [ 2 ]

﹂ Endurance: [ 1 ]

Traits:

◈ Curse: Mana disease - the user is unable to use mana.

◈ Curse: Damned - the user is able unable to level up.

◈ Blessing: Sword Genius - the user has natural talent for swordsmanship.

◈ Blessing: Devourer - the user is able to 'devour' attributes of killed foes.

Skills/Spells:

◈ Shadow Manipulation [ Mastery - Lv. 1 ]

﹂ Shadow Step - the user can teleport short distances through shadows.

⌞The End⌟

Certainly, a lot of changes had occurred since I equipped the ring of blood.

For starters, my level was locked at 1, unable to progress further.

Then, I had also gained two extra traits…

Devourer and Damned.

Reading through their descriptions I nodded my head. It was the same as in the game.

Overall, everything was as I expected, so everything was fine I guess?

I managed to obtain an artifact in only a week after coming to this world, so I should be happy.

However, no matter how much I tried to convince myself, I couldn't shake off the unease that had settled in the pit of my stomach.

It was easy…

Too easy…

Thud…

I was so absorbed in my thoughts that I almost missed the loud sound that came from above the ground, outside the chamber.

'I talk too much…'

My head immediately snapped towards the entrance.

Without even hesitating, I rushed outside.

If I were to face a stronger opponent in that underground chamber, I would have no chance to win or escape. I needed to get to an open area as fast as possible.

Emerging from the tunnel, I surveyed the area, however, my eyes found nothing out of the ordinary.

That was until I noticed a shadow looming over me and tilted my head to gaze upwards.

!!!

An entire stone chapel was collapsing as if struck by an unseen force, the massive structure crumbling down upon me.

'Curses!'

『 Shadow Step 』

Just before the debris could hit me, I activated my spell and disappeared into the shadows, reappearing a safe distance away.

'What the hell happened…'

Looking at the cloud of dust rising from the ruins, I observed the situation with growing unease.

How come an ancient building just collapsed out of nowhere. There is a small chance that it was due to natural causes, but something about this felt off.

Pluck…

Suddenly, I heard a disgusting sound of something flopping on the pavement. It came from the debris of the collapsed chapel.

It didn't take long until the being responsible for the noise emerged from the smoke, making my eyebrows furrow in displeasure.

It was one of those Chimeras I had seen in the woods.

The abomination's disgusting and twisted body oozed viscous fluids as it pulled itself from the rubble, its multiple misshapen limbs and gaping maws creating a horrifying and unnatural sight.

Its face, if I can even call it that, was directly facing me, its soulless eyes staring me down as if I was its prey.

"Was it you that destroyed the chapel?"

Leaning against my sword I spoke more to myself than a Chimera who couldn't converse.

I was relaxed, because its movements were very slow, so I had time to think.

I could simply walk away from the creature, because its speed was nothing but a joke, but I could also attempt to kill it. It would be an opportunity to test Ring of Blood as well.

However, if this monster was indeed responsible for the destruction of the chapel, its strength was far greater than it looked.

The question is…

Do I risk it or play it safe and retreat?

'…'

It didn't take me long to decide.

Spinning around my heel, I began distancing myself from the abomination.

Was I a coward? Probably. However, I was not stupid.

If such a weak-looking creature managed to destroy an entire ancient chapel, then what else could it be capable of?

There are simply too many unknown variables at play for me to take a risk and try to engage the Chimera in combat.

I only had one life after all.

Whilst jogging, soon I reached the edge of the ruins and plunged back into the mist of the forest.

Going back was a lot easier than coming here, because I was now aware of what creatures roamed the area. It took me barely an hour before I reached the stream and another one before I reached the place where the coachman had released me.

I had instructed the man to come pick me up in half a day, so I still had a couple of hours to spare and with nothing to do I decided to create a plan of what to do next.

Since I managed to get an Artifact I wanted within a week, I still had three weeks to spare until I had to attend the Academy.

Within such time frame, I could achieve a lot of things: retrieve another item, although not of Artifact tier since they are either too difficult or too far for me to get, create some connections with important characters that would surely benefit me later on or simply go and kill as many beings as I can and 'devour' their attributes, growing my character.

Although all possibilities seemed enticing, I already knew which one I was going to choose…

Devour as many attributes as I can!