Chapter 8 - [Pray]
Prayers to the Goddess. It's a form of devotion. An art. Even though it doesn't grant you any blessings, it purifies your soul. Forgives you sins.... Or so it is supposed to do.
For a devoted acolyte who used to pray twice a day, one before sleeping and another after waking up, it had become an integral part of his life. It was something that he did, not only for others, but also for himself.
He didn't do it for anything in return from the Goddess. It was something that his parents had taught him, and in essence, it was also a form of respect that he showed to his parents beliefs, unto himself and unto others.
[Can you pray for them as you take their life? Especially Sister Zehra. Her present life wasn't as virtuous as I believed it to be, but I would like to pray for her next life.]
'How virtuous,' Noah mocked his words a bit, but since Elios has been helping him a lot by managing those stats and stuff, he decided to fulfill this small wish of his. In a way, it was fun for him too. That priceless look on those dark mages faces was totally worth it.
[Be Kind. Unto yourself and unto others...](Elios)
"Be Kind. Unto yourself and unto others..." (Noah)
[You have Killed a novice Dark Mage!]
[... for this world is cruel. And, I, too, am not pure...](Elios)
"... for this world is cruel. And, I, too, am not pure..."(Noah)
[You have killed a novice Dark Mage!]
[So forgive us all, of Alepsia. Have mercy. And show the right path to this poor little lamb!](Elios)
"So forgive us all, of Alepsia. Have mercy. And show the right path to this poor little lamb!"(Noah)
[You have killed a novice Dark Mage!]
"...He... he is a psychopath!!!" A dark mage, terrified, finally spoke out loud what was going on in everyone's mind.
"Run! Run away from here!"
"Release the Hounds at him and run away!"
"Run for your life-Kyak!"
The Hounds were released, a total of 3 of them, and they all ran towards Noah. If Noah had faced them before when he was weaker, there was a high chance that he would have either died, or chosen a path to run away.
But now...
[Free Attribute Points: 9 -> 0]
[Agility: 20(10) -> 30(15)]
[Stamina: 5(10) -> 7(14)]
He could take them pretty easily.
Even though he only had a broken staff as his weapon, he could still use the sharp end to accurately hit the hound's weak point.
-Whoosh!
-Skish!
[Critical Hit!]
Even though the broken wood pierced the belly of the first hound, he was still able to endure it. In terms of speed, Noah was faster than the hound, but given its durable skin, it seemed killing the hound would be a bit tough.
'At least we put down one of them,' Noah thought as he looked at the wounded hound, barely able to stand on his own. All he needed to do now was to take care of the other two-
"[Great Heal]" (Sister Zehra)
Zehra cast a healing spell at the hound, immediately healing it to its peak health. Her eyes showed slight signs of fear, as she looked at Noah, before she gulped and decided to run away with the rest of the dark mages as well.
"Fucking bitch..." Noah gritted his teeth as he saw the two hounds almost reaching him, and then picking up another broken staff from the ground, and a random bone, he stopped and turned around.
Waiting for the perfect moment, Noah jumped to the side, dodging the first hound, and then another jump to dodge the next one. The dogs reached behind Noah and began turning, but before they could do so, Noah reached the closest one and first pierced its neck with the bone.
It was nowhere near enough to kill it, but the next attack with the sharp end of the broken staff, exactly at the same spot where the bone was stabbed, Noah used all his might, strong enough to pierce the neck, and come out of the other side, killing the hound in one go.
[You have killed an E-Ranked Monster: Twin-Headed Bloodhound!]
[You have received 1,000 Exp!]
At this point, Noah was starting to get tired. It had been a while since he leveled up, so the fatigue was catching up. And as he wondered how much he needed to level up again, the answer came in front of him.
[2,000 Exp. You will need to kill both the hounds to level up.](Elios)
Noah nodded as he saw his fatigue building up faster. It was as if he was getting weaker by the moment.
[Self-Heal!]
And at that moment, his entire body felt rejuvenated. His eyes widened as he felt refreshed, as if he was at the peak of his life again.
[Not enough MP to use this again. Our only choice is to kill the two of them!](Elios)
Wasn't really reassuring to hear, but Noah already knew that. In fact, he was thankful that he could be in peak form right now. Though the main problem remained was a weapon. Noah knew that he could not defeat those hounds with his bare hands, but the problem was that there was nothing that could be used as a weapon.
Everything he could have used, he had already done.
[There is something we can do... but you are gonna be in a little pain. Will it be all right?](Elios)
Elios asked politely. And Noah, even though he was a bit reluctant to do it, the situation didn't really permit him to go against it. He was surrounded by the hounds from both sides. Slowly he nodded, preparing for the pain that was about to come.
[Self Curse: Berserker!
Grade: D
Effects:
-The user loses his sense of rationality. Immense pain and rage takes over, breaking the psyche of the user.
-The user loses 50% of his Max HP at once!
-Temporarily increases the user's physical stats by 200%!
Duration: 30 seconds!]
And not even a second passed till...
"This... this isn't little...You... FUCKING BASTARD!!" (Noah)