'...'
[AVOID IT]
A panel appeared right next to Stark as he was standing still, ready to catch the arrow that was flying at him, only centimeters away from his face.
The entity that was shooting them really wanted them to hit him somehow, and it only increased his theories as to what would happen if he were to get hit on inhale that white mist.
"Focus, don't let me down..." he mumbled as he focused his aura on his eyes and hands to be able to see the arrow slowly go toward him.
And then...
~FWISH~
Right as the arrow was in front of his eyes, ready to pierce him... Stark with lightning speed moved his right hand to grab the shaft.
This essentially stopped the arrow's momentum while it was now only millimeters away from piercing Stark between his two eyes.
'Phew...' luckily, grabbing the arrow before it hit the ground or somebody didn't activate its perk, meaning that Stark was safe for now...
Without wasting a single second, he activated [Perception] and read the arrow's status panel to learn more.
...
[Item:] Arrow of Sierra
[Type:] Arrow
[Quality:] Perfect
[Special Perk:] If this arrow hits you, you will be infected by the 'white mist' and slowly turn into a 'Servant of Sierra', basically... you'll become a monster, the mist infects your brain and breaks your mind to transform you.
[Note:] There is no known cure or way to resist the 'Arrow of Sierra' once it hits you, so avoid it at all cost.
...
'Servant of Sierra...?' this was a different name than the 'Victims of Sierra', meaning that the latter must truly be monsters from this rift, while the servants would be humans that were hit.
~FWISH~
He didn't have too much time to think about it though as not just one, BUT THREE arrows came rushing at him.
'This little shit is really trying to get me...' Stark sighed as he avoided all three arrows by taking a few steps.
It seemed hard in the beginning, but now that he knew someone was trying to attack him, even when the arrows came from directions, he could still somehow sense and avoid them.
Plus...
[Avoid it]
Focus on maximum level alert, so it would tell him every time an arrow was coming.
Stark stored the [Arrow of Sierra] inside of his [Spatial Inventory] to keep it safe, then began running through the first area.
He needed to get out of here quick since there was no saying these monsters behind the trees wouldn't attack, and adding that to the constant firing of arrows would be terrible.
Stark ran through the stone path as fast as he could, dodging arrows that came from the sky, the distance, from behind the trees and even sometimes from below.
He understood now that Hell-Level rifts and Nightmare-Level ones are different worlds apart, the latter being at least 5 to 10 times harder.
[Keep going.]
Sometimes, the entity would fire up to 5 arrows at the same, in the hopes of tricking Stark, but he would comfortably avoid them all, or use [Invincible Dodge] when it was just too close.
And after a few minutes of running through the path and forest that seemed stretch forever, with no end to it...
Stark encountered his first monster.
"..." it didn't roar or do anything for it's entrance, instead it just jumped out of the right side of the forest with the 'Victims of Sierra', and blocked Stark's way.
It was a large beast, and in comparison to everything he had seen yet, its skin was completely dark/grey, with only its eyes being white, void of pupils.
"GRRAOOUUU~" the wolf-like beast stepped forward.
'Is it also under the influence of Sierra or just a normal monster...?'
...
[Name: White Moon's Werewolf]
[Level: 65]
[HP: 90000]
[Strength: 1362]
[Stamina: 1827]
[Speed: 2174]
[Defense: 891]
[Skills: White Moon Transformation, White Claws, Beam Blast, Red Fury...]
...
After reading its name and status window, Stark instinctively looked up.
The sky was pitch black, its darkness looming over this entire rift.
Yet somehow... there was still light, and it was coming from...
A giant white moon.
Its edges were moving like waves, and it was so big that it must have been extremely close to the ground, the moon taking well over half of the space in the sky while still being up.
'Werewolf of the white moon huh...' Stark mumbled, after all it was indeed a full moon currently.
The white moon was the complete opposite of the black sun it seemed, as it didn't try to corrupt you.
Instead...
~FWISH~
"WHITE CLAWS!" the werewolf suddenly dashed toward Stark while he was observing the location of the next arrow.
Stark spotted the arrow coming at him, and at the same time, with the calmest of expressions, summoned his crimson spears and sent them toward the monster, not even looking at it.
~DASH, DASH~
The werewolf avoided the first two spears by dashing to the sides, but Stark predicted that and placed the final one right in front of the werewolf while it was still avoiding the first two.
"-25727!" it hit it in the face, exploding one of its eyes and leaving a visible hole on its head.
"..." meanwhile Stark used this momentum to spin and catch a second 'Arrow of Sierra' in mid-air, 'The moment I catch who's sending these... they're dead...' he groaned.
"RED FURY!" the wolf had been humiliated, and so it used another skill, making its last remaining eye burn with a crimson aura, there were no pupils so it looked like it was just set on fire.
And then...
"BEAM BLAST!" it opened its mouth, charging up a white attack that was on the verge of exploding.
It grew more and more after each second, and it was almost as if the monster... was sucking up the power of the 'Victims of Sierra' since the trail of aura that powered up the beam came from them.
~FWIIISHHHSHHH.... BOOOOOOM!!!~
The werewolf its attack, its whole body visibly suffering from using it.
This was an extremely powerful attack, yes, but in exchange, the werewolf would have to feel a lot of pain too.
'...' Stark sighed as he avoided yet another arrow, 'CLONE FRENZY!'
He wanted to end this quickly, as frankly, these arrows were beginning to seriously annoy him.
"Let's go, me" Stark pointed at the werewolf and its beam while summoning one of his clones, which immediately understood the situation.
And so the two dashed toward the wolf, planning on facing the beam that could one-shot them both head on.