[ +50 exp accumulated ]
That was the message that popped up as soon as soon as Adrian slashed through one of the rats with a water slash.
That was his fiftieth kill including the one he killed earlier.
Unfortunately, killing just fifty out of three hundred beyond ordinary rats wasn't enough to stop them from chasing him.
The fairy was greatly disadvantaged. He was surrounded by nothing but sand, the sand which the rats were using as cover as they pursued. Killer earth rats were very fast when travelling underground.
At first, Axel was at a loss on what to do and it was while he was still pondering that, he noticed a cliff far ahead.
He was quickly heading toward the cliff, the rats hot on his heels.
It didn't take long for the rats to catch up to him, and he soon found a huge shadow looming over him.
"Not again."
While still moving, the fairy quickly turned to face the huge web of rats that was getting ready to slam down on him.
Sliding back, he quickly lifted his staff and infused it with the light element.
[ Combo slash ]
[ Multiple release ]
His hands moved as fast as they could as he released multiple combo slashes toward the web of rats cutting it down as much as possible.
[ +35 exp accumulated ]
[ Total accumulated exp: 85 ]
He was able to reduce the size of the web, but there was nothing he could do about the rest as they slammed down on him.
Mustering all his strength, he jumped back still facing the rats.
He was able to avoid getting hit just by a few inches.
Unfortunately, avoiding getting hit didn't mean that the rats were going to give up.
Now back on the ground, Axel soon found multiple rats leaping toward him all baring their teeth as they were desperate to get a bite of his flesh.
Continuously leaping back, he was able to avoid most of them and the ones he couldn't avoid he was able to knock back with his cane.
The problem now was that the rats were very close to him and it was only a matter of time before they surrounded him in every direction. That was something he couldn't afford to let happen.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures."
The storage ring on his finger lit up at that moment, and in no time, there was a long blue spear in his hand.
[ Pristine blue spear equipped ]
[ Level: Core level two ]
[ Attribute: Water ]
[ Compatibility: 99% ]
[ Water ability enhanced ]
[ Basic water manipulation: level 2(+1) ]
[ Water blast: level 3(+1) ]
[ Water slash: level 2(+1) ]
[ Weapon based skill unlocked ]
[ Water barricade: level 1 ]
Taking just a glance at the messages in front of him, Axel quickly began working with the spear as he put the cane away.
A group of rats charged toward him at that moment in straight formation and without hesitation, he pointed the spear at them.
[ Water blast ]
A powerful stream of water burst out from the spear, blasting all of them back with ease.
Just after that, a single rat burst out from right below Alex, desperate to take its chance at some flesh.
Reacting quickly, Axel took a step back as he swung his spear upward releasing a vertical water slash on the rat and neatly splitting it into two in the process.
'If this keeps up, I'm going to completely exhaust my spirit force before I reach the cliff.'
Forcing the rushing swarm of rats back with multiple water slashes, the fairy raised the spear before thrusting it into the ground.
He was aware that there were a couple of rats underground waiting for their chance to pounce on him and this was to teach them a lesson.
[ Water barricade activated ]
The rats underground were forced out with loud squeals as jet streams of water burst from the ground, creating a barricade of constantly flowing water; it was just like a wall entirely made out of water.
The only downside to this was that it was heavily draining the fairy's spirit force.
[ 30% spirit force remaining ]
[ 28% spirit force remaining ]
[ 25% spirit force remaining ]
The rats were trapped on the other side of the barricade now as they were afraid of water. It was at this moment that an idea suddenly popped into Axel's mind.
[ Water manipulation ]
[ Increasing temperature ]
[ 71…72….78% ]
[ Maximum temperature output reached ]
As soon as he saw that message, Axel quickly pulled the spear out from the ground and allowed all that hot water to slam down on the swarm of rats.
The whole area was soon filled with the sound of their desperate squealing.
Seeing that their prey was no easy target, some of them quickly scurried away.
Unfortunately, most of them couldn't escape and found their body in water just about hot enough to end them.
As the water slowly drained away, most of it absorbed by the sand, Axel soon found himself staring at the heaps of rat corpses.
'It's a good thing all of these were just at core level one, any higher and this might have truly been hopeless.' He thought before collapsing on the ground.
[ Congratulations ]
[ You have successfully survived ]
[ Total accumulated exp: 252 ]
[ 303/ 430 exp ]
"So, I killed two hundred and fifty-two of them."
[ Receiving bonus rewards ]
[ New light skill unlocked ]
[ Light bullet: level 1 ]
[ Light slash: level 2~3 ]
[ Water slash: level 2~3 ]
[ Physical durability improved ]
[ Physical durability: 32~40 ]
[ +5 stat points received ]
After studying it for a while, Axel seemed to have started getting a hang of how the system worked and the benefits it brought to him. But, he was confused about the last part.
'Stat points? What do I do with those?'
[ Physical attributes ]
[ Strength: 65 ]
[ Dexterity: 78 ]
[ Stamina: 42 ]
[ Please choose where to allocate stat points ]
[ Or ]
[ Durability/resistance ]
[ Physical durability: 40 ]
[ Toxin resistance: 25 ]
"Oh, I see." He muttered to himself.
'It looks like I'll have to walk around here for a while if I want to find a way out so the best choice would be stamina.'
He nodded in agreement with himself before proceeding with his choice.
[ +5 stat points added to stamina ]
[ Stamina: 42~47 ]
With that done, the fairy slowly got up on his feet.
The one thing he was grateful about was that this place at least wasn't as hot as a real desert.
Still, there was no idea if that would change when it was time for the day to take over.
'Anyway, I just have to find a way out of here.'
The young fairy had just taken a step forward when he felt a chill run down his spine.
Regardless of the huge shadow looming over him now, he could clearly sense a sinister presence right behind him.
Fortunately, he didn't blank out from fear and reacted quickly to jump off to the side as the huge hairy claw dug deep into the ground.
Axel's eyes widened as he stared at the huge claws.
That could have gone into his body.
What were the chances that he would survive that?
Staring at him now was a huge black spider over eight feet tall with glowing red eyes.
The size of the beast was one problem but it was nothing compared to the main problem.
Staring at the spider, Axel couldn't help but get the urge to dig himself deep into the ground.
"Core level five? You have to be kidding me."