Mark of the Slayer!

Slayer I

Without backing down, you have slain an enemy 10 levels higher than you in battle. He watches.

• +1 to all attributes

Mark of the Slayer I, has grown! For killing a creature 10+ levels above your level, your mark now grants an additional +1 to all attributes. Continue to increase the proficiency of your mark.

• Slayer I evolutions, 1/5

Slayer I proficiency increased 2/5

Slayer I proficiency increased 3/5

Mark of the Death Defier!

Death Defier (Rare)

Fate played its hand early, and lost. 

You have fought to the death, sending multiple enemies above your level to meet the Reaper. She approves. 

• +6 bonus to DEX, AGI, LUC

Dante smiled, looking over his notifications, then opened his status.

Dante Evergold

Race: Human

Mark: Lonely Hero, Burning Path, Crystalized Monk, Slayer I, Death Defier

Essence Points: 3442

HP: 220/220

SP: 250/250

MP: 340/340

Physique: F

Strength: 30, Endurance: 25, Vitality: 22, Dexterity: 29, Agility: 29, Intelligence: 32, Magic: 34, Perception: 21, Focus: 28, Willpower: 18, Fire Resistance: 19, Luck: 20

Combat Level: F

Dark Vision Lvl 4

Fire Manipulation Lvl 10

Fireball Lvl 7

Crystal gaze Lvl 2

Flame Burst Lvl 3

Charge Lvl 8

Imbue Lvl 4

Meditation: Waning Fire Lvl 6

Death's Corona Lvl 5

Dual casting Lvl 1

Legacy

Affinity of Fire [Locked]

Will of the Lonely Hero [Locked]

Arcane Blessings [Locked]

Ever so slightly the numbers ticked up. And now he had a new attribute.

"How much Luck, are we talking?"

Dante fancied himself stumbling on a hidden stash of gold, guarded by a buxomed leprechaun with blonde hair, and silk white lingerie. She was just the right size for...

"Oh my, well aren't you all tall-dark and handsome! Will you be gentle with me?"

She spread her legs, and a stench of death escaped.

"Oh–gods!"

Dante dry heaved, he had arrived at the killzone.

Near thirty one of the humanoid creatures named Ezaar, lay dead. Torn and ripped to pieces. Bodies of a few wolves mixed among them, telling the tale of their final stand.

The aliens were all quite tall, with the average height of the males coming in at six and a half feet. The females averaged around six feet. It was the males who had the extra pair of limbs. But for whatever reason all of their heads were shaved, allowing Dante a look at their pointed ears.

He would call them elves if it weren't for their green skin, though a few were brown and pale. In fact most were pale he noticed. The four armed green ones had simply garnered most of his attention.

Walking around the battlefield, strewn with earthen pillars and an assortment of potholes, Dante had a suspicion these creatures were nomads.

"Hello, any survivors!?"

Caravans overturned with dead and half eaten and rotten yaampur, contained all of the essentials for life.

There were bath basins, food barrels of fruit and salted meat. After inspecting with Crystal gaze, he discovered the cheese turned out to be made from yaampur's milk. 

"What the hell have I stumbled into...to kill a whole tribe. Who would do this?"

The scene was that of a horror movie, and as Dante continued his inspection he ignored the frozen look of terror on the Ezaar younglings face.

When he neared the fourth wagon, he noticed it had been burned. Someone tried to set it on fire, but there were runes protecting it against such action.

Breaking open the back, his jaw dropped. Inside was a trove of weapons.

North Seeker × 274 added to inventory.

Southern Blade × 289 added to inventory.

East Love × 255 added to inventory.

West Wind × 302 added to inventory

Southern Blade arrow specialized in slash damage, with an incredibly sharp crescent moon arrowhead. The East Love had an intimidating tip that resembled Thor's hammer. The arrowhead of the West Wind formed a triangular prism. A pyramid in which to contain magic spells. Runes also decorated the side and shaft, and the arrow was crafted from entirely different material than the other three Truth arrows.

After storing all of the arrows, Dante walked to the back, admiring the glass cases that held spears.

There were multiple sets, created with the same philosophy of the Truth arrows.

Divergent Wind

Item type: Spear

Durability: 110/110

Rarity: Uncommon

Quality: E

Damage: 204-207

Magic Damage: × 2

Spear infused with essence shards, and runic inscriptions that doubles the power of the wielders spell. 

Dante was a kid in a candy shop.

"Now I just have to find that hot blonde, and give her a shower or two."

Next Dante stashed a bundle of talismans, runestones and manuscripts. His mindset was too loot first, inquiry later. 

But another thing caught his eye. An engraved box with an intricate yaampur carved on the front. Inside was a set of three rings.

Ring of True Flight

• + 5 to DEX

Ring of the Roosting Sparrow

• +9 to VIT

Ring of the Iron Bow

• +8 to STR

By the time he had looted everything, his inventory space was near half way full.

The only armour he could fit were the females, he donned it immediately questioning whether or not his hips looked big.

As he dressed, Dante thought it was odd that there were hundreds of female armour but few females among the dead. But he didn't mind, because the set bonus gave him a boost to his Strength stat.

He suspected the reason being the longbows were crafted with the men in mind, and with them having four arms they clearly had the higher strength. So the female armour was a compensation for that. His Agility also got quite a high boost, along with his Dexterity and Perception.

Compared to what Dante assumed was the Iron Way clans armory, the last caravan was patterned in over a hundred different sigils and runes. The inscriptions intertwined to form a whole that was greater than the sum of its parts.

This caravan, likely that of their leader, Dante thought, was led by two huge yaampur, who's horns were like that of a demon beast.

Making his way to the side, he noticed that unlike the others this caravan was locked.

"Hello, anyone in there? I killed all of the wolves, so it is safe to come out."

He stood standing for a few minutes before he forced his way in, breaking the door. 'They probably can't understand me.'

"Sorry for that by the way, I just really need your help."

Dante entered the caravan with a sniff. The smell was minty, and grew stronger the longer he lingered.

'Is that, Lindonberry tea?'

Heading to the back, he made his presence very clear, as to not surprise anyone. The first room he entered was wide open. 'Nothing here.' Next he headed to the room with the lingering tea smell. It was slightly ajar and pitchblack inside. Dark Vision showcased a bed, a bookshelf, a lantern, and an altar with a variety of different leaves, fruits and–

Lesser Dark Essence Shard (Empty)

A shard once containing the Dark essence of mana.

Dante frowned, touching the bed and lantern. 'Someone was recently here…'

Exiting the room he froze, hair crawling at the base of his neck.

For ten long seconds Dante stood unmoving in the doorway, then he abruptly turned around, activating Crystal gaze. He checked everything twice, but the paranoia still remained.

Stepping out of the caravan, he checked for fresh tracks.

"Probably just a lost soul, clinging on to life."

As he walked through the ruined campsite, Dante looked up at the night sky. Winds of fury started to gather into the beginnings of a storm. Rain began to fall, thunder roared, and lightning strikes left blinding scars in the clouds above.

Dark Vision has reached level 4

"That's an omen if I've ever seen one."

Irritated on leaving the shelter, Dante activated Death's Corona, which shielded him from the rain and ran, following the tracks of a few Ezaar who had managed to escape.

~

The path led in the opposite direction of the storm, yet the trail died, washed away for hours now.

Uncomfortably, Dante walked through the night. Hands itching, as he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him. Stalking him.

Minutes after he lost the trail, his vision dimmed, making it harder to see in the dark. It was a profound annoyance. Wasn't this the ideal situation for Dark Vision? Yet the skill had failed him, and so Dante switched it off, using fire to light his way.

But the raging winds had a different plan, and he was forced to use Fire Manipulation or once again be plunged in darkness. If it wasn't for the moon, Dante would swear he was blind folded.

Walking through the night forest, he envisioned it as if he was wading in an endless sea. Rain poured all around his sphere of fire, the water evaporating into mist. He recalled a sea monster from earth, with bioluminescent light that invited in prey.

"Is that what I'm doing?" He thought.

Turning, Dante shot a fireball, then stilled, honing his senses. "Nothing…"

Shapes moved in the outer darkness. He couldn't be sure but...

At the sight of another blur, he shot an arrow. Seemingly ordinary, but the West Wind Truth arrow of the Iron Way clan exploded in a wrath of fire. Enhanced by elaborate runes and Dante's manipulation.

There was no sound, no creature hiding in the illuminated area. There were simply shadows. And In that split second, Dante witnessed the shadows shift. Ever so slightly they encroached, silencing the fire. 

Then the light from his sphere wavered.

He asked no question. No explanation was warranted. Dante ran.

Activating a craftly placed Flame Burst, he blasted off high into the night air, dodging the familiar skill that was Wolf's Edge.

Sharper and rotating at a higher frequency, Dante glimpsed the crescent blade of sword aura expand, slicing into the rain. At his altitude, it resembled the eye of a hurricane. One of blades that did not offer a calming reassurance.

At the center of the hurricane, the blades spun. At the edge of the hurricane, lay a tide of darkness. And just outside of that darkness stood the hulking monsters.

Saber Warg Lvl ??

Scarred Werewolf Lvl ??

Grey Werewolf Lvl ??

Dante's heart beat drowned out the rain. They had maneuvered around him in a three point pincer. Whatever direction he landed, he would have a fight to the death.

Dante made his decision.