Brookborn
When Ayaan's vision returned, he found himself standing on the ruined building.
The blood moon is as usual hanging in the sky. He checked the surroundings from the rooftop, there was no sign of any creature. From the hotel, he can barely see the entrance of one of the cave paths, it is way too far away to get a clear picture even with his increased perception.
However, he can see some figures moving.
He climbed down the roof and started running. It didn't take long for him to go there. On his way, he didn't encounter a single monster. His journey until there was smooth.
Ayaan ran straight to the nearest cave entrance through which the stream was going.
When he saw the stream, he noticed that it is not as smooth and calm as before. The stream going… It crashed against the cave walls on either side as if it were telling them to move aside. It created white froths, surging forward as if its beast writhing in hunger, trying to swallow the cave, only to fall short. And its noise is like a roar of indignance for falling short of its ambition.
Previously, the stream of this entrance was not that deep. Even in the deepest parts of it, it barely reached his knees. But now, it definitely reached his torso at least and the water head is way too high. The path on either side of the stream is invisible and even if it is, Ayaan is not sure if he should walk it.
The stream would be hitting him in the back as he moved forward, trying to throw him off balance. He would have to resist it constantly, increasing his fatigue.
He looked around in contemplation and soon his gaze landed on one of the fallen trees nearby. It is not that big, around seven feet and around two feet wide.
Ayaan took out his black arrow sword and cut down some of the protruding branches, making it as cylindrical as possible.
He then cut off grooves on all four sides swiftly, before pushing the log towards the stream. It didn't even feel that hard, he felt like he could even carry the whole tree by himself, but he didn't.
When he reached the edge of the stream, he took a deep breath, rolled the tree with its length parallel to the flow of the stream, pushed into the stream, and kicked the ground while holding it.
Both Ayaan and the trunk moved to the center of the stream before Ayaan clutched into the grooves on its surface and climbed on top of it.
The rushing stream took away the tree and Ayaan with no resistance. Ayaan felt the wind whistle past his ears as he rode the tree over the stream.
He found his balance soon and placed his feet into the grooves he carved on the trunk on either side. He kept a close eye on his surroundings as he moved. Judging by his speed, he knew it wouldn't take long before he reached the first cave dwelling in this path.
At that moment, he noticed that the stream slowed down a bit. And saw the cave-dwelling around five hundred meters away. The cave dwelling is not exactly a cave dwelling anymore.
Because the rocky floor that he is expecting is completely covered in water. The stream seemed to have overflowed onto its bank. So, this only served to reduce the stream head, before it once again passes through a much narrow path on the other side.
Ayaan looked around with a frown, he was expecting the presence of some mob by now. But there is none. This might be the first quest, in which he wasn't attacked within the first two minutes after his arrival.
Maybe that thought jinxed him, Ayaan felt his ears perk and goosebumps rise. His spun chilled and his blood ran cold. A sense of danger enveloped him, which made him lean back.
*SPLASH*
Something broke out of the stream and leaped at him. It went past his face and Ayaan got a good look at it.
It is a small humanoid with smooth and iridescent skin. As it moves, its skin is shifting between blue, green, and silver colors, like the sunlight reflecting on water. It has a fish head, and its gills are glowing faintly.
Its whole body and particularly its limbs appeared slender.
The most distinctive feature of all, its round mouth is graced with sharp teeth, and its webbed limbs are graced with sharp claws. Of which, Ayaan just dodged one.
Level 2 Brookborn [██████████████████████] 100.0%
*KEEN* *SLASH*
Ayaan's Black Iron Alloy Sword appeared in his left hand and slashed at it. The sword went through its mouth and cut its body into two. Deep Sapphire-colored blood splashed on his face.
[░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 0.0%
[Exp+100]
[MP+10]
*BAM* *CRACK*
Ayaan felt a force from underneath the trunk as it moved. The trunk which was smoothly floating and on the way to the connecting cave path past the dwelling was turned and thrown. Ayaan fell into the water and the tree hit the cave wall, halting in its path.
Ayaan looked around him. The stream is not as turbulent here and he can see it clearly. There were more than a couple of dozen Brookborn around him, but he ignored them all. He held the sword tightly and moved in one direction at his utmost speed. Soon, he reached the area with the lowest depth and stood up.
*SLASH*
As soon as he raised, he slashed his sword to the side attacking the incoming Brookborn.
[Exp+100]
[MP+10]
Sapphire blood sprayed into the surroundings and the Brookborn who couldn't freely swing anymore in this low depth environment, stood up as well. He ignored the glowing loot and looked at the opponents.
They are not tall. They are barely three and a half feet each. Ayaan took out his combat knife and got ready.
He employed his usual strategy. His back against the wall and enemies in the front. Two weapons in his hand and lives for him to take.
One of the Brookborn leaped at him. Ayaan stabbed the knife on its head and sent it flying with a kick.
[Exp+100]
[MP+10]
At the same time, he slashed the head off another one. He took out a Black Iron sword and stabbed a third Brookborn. His movements are smooth and precise. Even though he is surrounded, he doesn't feel any sense of threat from them.
More than twenty-four brookborn died at his hands. Neither their speed nor their strength posed any threat or trouble to him.
Within no time, Ayaan amassed 2400 Exp points and twenty-four glowing lights. The water in the surroundings turned sapphire blue and it was slowly getting lighter as the flowing water carried the blood away.
Luckily there is just one type of drop from all these Brookborns.
==============================
ITEM DETAILS
==============================
**Name:** Brookborn shard
**Type:** Raw Material (Craftable)
**Grade:** Common
**Description:**
The shard of the brookborn's core scale. Flexible and sharp, upon processing can be used to create projectile weapons.
==============================
With the black alloy sword and the combat knife out, he has two empty slots. He used one to stash all the scales he obtained. Ayaan then got on the tree once again and rode the stream to enter the next cave path connecting this dwelling to the next.
This path doesn't have high visibility compared to the first one. This being a tunnel within the cave network, doesn't have any openings for light source.
As soon as he entered the cave, within a minute, Ayaan noticed various glowing spots underwater, moving towards him swiftly. Upon a closer look at the spot, the health bar accompanying them appeared.
Level 2 Brookborn [██████████████████████] 100.0%
He extended his fingers towards the water.
'Water Bullet'
With a mere thought, the water bullets were shot from his fingertips towards the glowing entities in the water.
[Exp+100]
[MP+10]
[Exp+100]
[MP+10]
[Exp+100]
[MP+10]
[Exp+100]
[MP+10]
One after another, the Exp and MP notifications came as the glowing objects turned into glowing pillars of light showing his loot. As he went past them on the tree, he caught the loot.
And these Brookborns who are so stupid enough to come towards him with those glowing indicators, just kept on shooting them down.
He traveled on that stream for more than five minutes before he finally saw the signs of open space. Just on this path, he killed another twenty-four monsters.
The second cave dwelling appeared and once again, it didn't have the rocky floor that it usually had. The water is overflowed from the stream and the speed of the stream is reduced a bit. However this time, there are no Brookborns under the stream to throw him off.
But he noticed there were dozens of brookborns just standing in that cave-dwelling looking at him blankly.
Ayaan jumped off the log while kicking it to the side. The log hit the wall once again and halted there while Ayaan jumped out of the stream shooting the Brookborns.
*SWOOSH* *SWOOSH*
The heads of the brookborns exploded. They are just standing there as if they are waiting for Ayaan to kill them.
Ayaan climbed to that spot where the water was only knee-deep and started killing them. The more he shot them, the more he felt the urge to kill them. Five, ten, twenty.
The killing just seemed so much easier and a bit… entertaining. Just when Ayaan was about to kill the twenty-fourth one, at that exact moment, he halted. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
'Something is wrong'
'Something is seriously wrong'
'What is it?'
He couldn't figure it out. His instincts are telling him to keep on killing. But his rationale is telling him otherwise. The fishy smell of the Sapphire blood invaded his mind. Urging him to kill more.
'What is it?'
He opened his eyes and looked at the Brookborns standing nearby. They are all looking at him, but they aren't doing anything, even when he stops.
He widened his eyes and killed the nearest monster. And then he noticed it.
'No notification'
Suddenly a flash of light went by and he noticed some prickly sensation all over his body. His mind cleared and so did his vision. Ayaan found himself standing in the knee-deep water, with a bunch of Brookborns all trying to bite into his flesh.
There is another bunch trying to carve out his flesh from the back.
[HP-1]
[HP-1]
Notifications rung. He finally woke up from the daze.
*BAM*
Ayaan raised his hand on which a Brookborn is biting and slammed it against the cave wall. Its head hit the wall and cracked open. He stabbed the knife into another one biting on him.
[Exp+100]
[MP+10]
*BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM*
The sounds rang as one Brookborn after another either got smashed or slashed to death.
The onslaught continued until Ayaan finished over twenty Brookborns.
"Argh…"
He felt a faint headache. He turned around sharply and looked at one Brookborne that is standing at the edge of the cave dwelling.
Level 3 Brookborn Trickster: [██████████████████████] 100.0%
This creature is much smaller and appears much weaker than the other Brookborn. Its hands are extended towards Ayaan and there is a faint glow over them.
'Water Bullet'
Ayaan shot a 2 MP Bullet.
*BAM*
An invisible barrier appeared in front of the trickster and stopped the water bullet. However, at that moment, the faint headache Ayaan felt disappeared completely.
*SLASH*
Ayaan slashed the nearest Brookborn and dashed toward the trickster. It didn't hesitate and jumped into the stream. Ayaan followed suit and leaped into the stream, covering the distance between them in an instant.
Ayaan caught a hold of the trickster.
*SCREEECH*
A screeching sound escaped its lips and Ayaan involuntarily let go of it. As it was about to slip, he swam after it without a halt. It was trying to escape into the stream path leading to the next dwelling.
He knew that the illusion he felt before was because of this creature. He had suffered the loss of seven HP points in that short time frame. There is no way, he can let this creature go and let it set up another ambush against him.
Ayaan dropped into the stream and let his body land on the bed, with all his strength he kicked the bed of the stream and let his body move like an arrow. He tackled the trickster underwater and stabbed it with the Alloy sword.
For a level 3 monster, it is surprisingly weak.
[████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 40.0%
Its health dropped by sixty percent.
Ayaan swam to the side while still keeping the sword in its body, slammed it against the wall, and stabbed it again.
[Exp+1000]
[MP+100]
Ayaan caught the loot. There are two items. The first one is the Brookborn Shard. The second one is a round condensed pill.
==============================
ITEM DETAILS
==============================
**Name:** Trickster Essence
**Type:** Consumable
**Grade:** Common
**Description:**
The essence extracted from the Brookborn Trickster. Increases the perception temporarily and clears the player's mind making them more resistant to illusions and mental attacks
==============================
Before he read the sentence completely, Ayaan popped the essence into his mouth.
Perception (SEN): 64>64+5
Ayaan didn't feel much difference until he looked into the tunnel leading to the next cave dwelling. There are dozens of glowing dots coming at him from the other side.
He swam back into the dwelling, collected the loot, and hurriedly rearranged the log to ride the flow of the stream.
He then held the Black alloy sword under his arm, and the combat knife in its holder.
By now, the Brookborns, a few dozen of them already arrived at the mouth of the next entrance and surrounded the log.
*SWOOSH* *SWOOSH* *SWOOSH*
Water bullets flew dyeing the blood with Sapphire blue.