Honestly, my words were more for my own encouragement than for giving Alice any sort of morale boost. Besides, I couldn’t convince myself that the giant beetle would just stand there while I took down every single one of its minions.
Even if I eliminated every grasshopper and fly in front of me, I still had no concrete plan for dealing with the main creature — no visible weaknesses, no vulnerable points to exploit behind its impenetrable shell, polished and gleaming in the dim light of the surroundings.
Why am I so sure of this? Actually, it’s pretty simple. I’d had my [Predatory Gaze] activated for a few seconds — a fairly straightforward ability: anything my eyes land on, I can analyze anatomically, identifying weak points with near-surgical precision.
But as I focused on the beetle, I noticed something odd. Its vulnerable spots, which would normally pop out to my gaze like they were lit up, now seemed hidden, as if covered by an outer layer. And in the case of this monster, that “layer” was none other than its natural armor. Without piercing that tough shell, Alice and I would barely have a chance of taking it down.
On top of that, Alice didn’t have attacks capable of dealing consistent enough damage to break the beetle’s shell. If it were Oliver, maybe there’d still be a chance, but the worst part? I didn’t have any useful abilities against armored enemies either.
Class Abilities: [Silent Steps (Common)] - [Precise Strike (Common)] - [Insidious Poison (Common)] - [Predatory Gaze (Uncommon)] - [Savage Instinct (Common)] - [Basic Enhanced Senses (Common)] - [Detect Presences (Common)] - [Sense Hostility (Common)] - [Identify (Common)] - [Multiracial Language (Unique)]
Just a quick glance at my abilities makes it immediately obvious that my style is ambush-based melee combat. Not that I’m completely useless in direct confrontations — far from it.
Abilities like [Precise Strike], [Insidious Poison], and [Savage Instinct] are extremely effective, greatly boosting my strength and reflexes in any situation. Still, if you ask me about the penetration power of these techniques... well, the answer is obvious, and it’s not exactly confidence-inspiring.
Lost in thought, I let those concerns slip to the back of my mind. In the end, dwelling on them wouldn’t change our current situation. Carefully controlling my male body, I began slowly observing the movements of the grasshoppers and flies around us.
The number of them was still absurd — easily around fifty scattered across the nearby area. The only advantage we had was that, despite their impressive numbers, both were fragile.
With that in mind, I slowly reached out and touched Alice’s shoulder gently: (Anyway, we better not lose the edge of a first strike)
Feeling my touch, Alice glanced briefly at my male body before nodding slightly. She slowly extended her hand forward, and in the next moment, a faint mist began spreading through the area, emanating from her fingers. Content originally comes from Nove1Fire.net
It was delicate enough that each strand could be seen, yet it maintained a subtle, almost ethereal glow that didn’t obstruct vision, just floated silently, enveloping the space around us. The mist rose quietly over the surroundings, drifting through fields and trees like an otherworldly curtain.
Within seconds, the entire area was shrouded in her ghostly fog. Curiously, even though everything was submerged in that dense mist, my viewpoint remained unobstructed — every rock, branch, and shadow could still be perceived with almost unsettling clarity.
And just like the last time Alice manifested this ability, neither the grasshoppers nor the flies seemed to notice the mist; they carried on with their routines as if the air around them were perfectly transparent. It was almost as if the mist was invisible to their eyes — a silent presence, yet strangely aware of everything around it.
At the same time, Alice lightly touched my shoulder. When I looked at her, she simply nodded, without saying a word. I didn’t need an explanation—her gesture spoke for itself. My female body, far more agile and light compared to my male one, reacted instinctively.
I started running, feeling every muscle move with precision and speed. At that very moment, the flies and grasshoppers finally stirred, reacting to my escape—but by then, it was already too late.
Alice, standing beside my male body, clenched her fist tightly. Instantly, a spark shot from her fingertips, tearing through the mist and briefly tinting it with a yellowish hue, almost as if the air itself had caught fire from within.
At the same time, every grasshopper and fly buzzing around fell abruptly to the ground, as if invisible strings holding them had suddenly been cut. I didn’t waste a second. With the dagger firmly in hand, I activated my [Wild Instinct] skill.
Immediately, a strange sensation coursed through my body: my vision narrowed, honing in on every detail around me as if the world had compressed before my eyes. Every blade of grass, every cloud in the sky, every tiny movement in the environment jumped out at me with near-supernatural clarity.
And as if time itself had bent to my perception, everything around me seemed to slow down, revealing details that would normally go unnoticed. I wasn’t just seeing the environment; I was feeling it, ready to react to any threat before it even dared to approach.
As I approached the fallen monsters, still paralyzed, my body moved on its own. I felt my senses sharpen, every fiber of my being awakening, while strength and speed surged through my muscles like an electric current.
The moment I drew my dagger, I was already in motion: I sprinted forward, the ground rushing beneath my feet, and drove the blade into one monster’s skull with lethal precision. Without missing a beat, I propelled myself to the next one, feeling the air slice across my skin and the metallic scent of freshly spilled blood fill my nostrils.
*You killed [Corrosive Fly – lvl 22] – Experience gained. Experience shared with your group. 22 XP obtained*
*You killed [Corrosive Fly – lvl 21] – Experience gained. Experience shared with your group. 21 XP obtained*
*You killed [Corrosive Fly – lvl 23] – Experience gained. Experience shared with your group. 23 XP obtained*
*You killed [Green Grasshopper – lvl 23] – Experience gained. Experience shared with your group. 23 XP obtained*
*You killed [Corrosive Fly – lvl 20] – Experience gained. Experience shared with your group. 20 XP obtained*
*You killed [Green Grasshopper – lvl 20] – Experience gained. Experience shared with your group. 20 XP obtained*
At that moment, all I did was slash relentlessly at everything in front of me. I maneuvered around the area with agility, keeping my distance from the giant beetle, while driving my dagger into one monster after another without hesitation.
Meanwhile, translucent screens constantly flickered in my field of vision, overlapping like distorted reflections of a world I barely recognized. But at that moment, none of that mattered. All I could see, all that truly registered in front of me, was the vivid green of blood spilling from each creature under my blade.