Galaxy's First Ruler

[…

Time Left: 29 minutes

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"Ugh!" Aldrich pulled the twig out of his palm. The emanating vapors had penetrated deep through the wound, and the blood and flesh around had rotten considerably. As the vapors reached deeper into his body, it sent waves of pain to his mind from time to time. He looked above and the three monsters had already gone.

But he got enough time to look at what were these 'things' he would have to deal with.

[…

Record of Common Agropelter

Status: Enraged (Strength +2, Agility +1, Correspondence +1)

Level: 5

HP: 100/100

SP: 231/231

MP: 302/302

Rank: Common

Attributes -->

Strength: 9 (+2)

Defense: 5

Agility: 21 (+1)

Vitality: 5

Perception: 6

Correspondence: 21 (+1)

Active Skills -->

1. Corrosion Breath

2. Minor Dash Burst

Passive Skills -->

1. Whipping Throw

…]

"So they are applying this 'Corrosion Breath' on these twigs and using their Passive Skill to target me."

Aldrich's hand reached into the void and had taken out a vial having red color potion in it, the Health Potion. The stock of which was the same as the Stamina Potion, but had found out to be much pricier. He drank the whole content and regained his lost HP in a matter of moments. The wound on his left palm sizzled, and the rotten part disappeared without even leaving a trace behind. He took out two grenades, running towards the hill. But only after 200 meters, several twigs came flying from his front and his left. He changed his route to the right, but the same attacks were being repeated, again and again. By the time Aldrich realized what was happening, he had already deviated from his original path.

"They aren't trying to kill me, but rerouting me in a particular direction. But why?" An uneasy feeling anchored itself in his heart. He couldn't have remained passive now. The moment his Divine Sense caught a disturbance, he dashed towards it. Twigs came flying from here and there, but he had to get rid of at least one of the remaining Crawlers. He chased the Crawler to the bank of a river for 3 km (1.86 miles) avoiding the 'arrows' now and then. But there was a vast difference between the Crawler's and Aldrich's SP. Aldrich, now only 100 meters behind, could see the monster slowing down.

Screams of the other two Crawlers, full of rage, came from Aldrich's behind. One needn't guess the inevitable outcome of the Crawler upon being caught up by him. He had been reading the movements of these Crawlers for quite some time now. He threw one grenade on his right and leaped towards the Crawler who seemed to be making a run for the river. The trees got blasted apart by the grenade and the Shockwaves threw back a black-furred beast. It was the crawler that had been running behind Aldrich and came to ambush him. With swift action, Aldrich took a hold of the ankle of his long-awaited prey and used all his strength to throw the beast towards his left.

The last Crawler jumped out of the bushes, trying to catch its thrown companion. But Aldrich hadn't just thrown the beast. The Grenade had followed the Crawler and just as the moment both Crawlers came in contact; it exploded.

BOOM!!!

Blood and pieces of flesh, along with the bloodied and injured Crawler, were sent flying.

[…

You have killed 1 Common Agropelter

ExPs obtained: 250

You have leveled up

…

…]

This wasn't the time to revel in his victory. Aldrich ran towards the heavily injured Crawler, who was now trying to climb the tree. With his hands holding the monster's legs, he pulled it down and jumped back a few meters.

WHACK!!!

The monster's long arms flailed about like long whips and a greenish-black vapor was coming out of his mouth and nostrils. But even the monster was left baffled by the way Aldrich had run in the opposite direction. And he hadn't remained alive to get a proper answer.

BOOM!!!

Aldrich had left a present for the monster after pulling him down.

[…

You have killed 1 Common Agropelter

…

…]

The last remaining Crawler hadn't been running around as Aldrich had thought, after being thrown back by shockwaves of the first grenade. It had stood atop a tree and had watched its companions being blasted apart by him. The monster eyed him with so much hate that Aldrich almost felt its eye would burst out of its socket. The monster whipped its arms around and let out a roar of vengeance.

'AOOKKK!!! HOO! HOO! HOO!'

Aldrich got a bad feeling, the way it was beating his chest and had been roaring towards the sky. He knew it wasn't just a way to let out pent-up feelings, but if he was right, then this only meant one thing. It was a way to call someone. And that might well be the same being in whose direction they had forced him to run. And his guess was right on the point. An even louder but distant roar shuddered the entire forest and reached Aldrich's ears.

Aldrich had been already making his way towards the crazed monster who seemed too tired to even climb down. As soon as he approached the foot of the tree, the monster let out a foul breath, which enveloped all the twigs in his hands. All the twigs were thrown towards Aldrich, but Aldrich had easily avoided all of them and climbed up. Seeing its failed attempt, the one-eyed monster covered its own hands with the corrosive breath. Aldrich could see those hands rotting vividly. The monster frantically whipped his arms around, trying to hit him. But Aldrich didn't even need to approach him.

Not taking any chances, Aldrich threw two grenades, one on the right of the Crawler and the other on the left.

BOOOOM!!!

[…

You have killed 1 Common Agropelter

ExPs obtained: 250

You have leveled up

…

…]

Aldrich couldn't even collect the shining Mana Core that had come in the place of the crumbled Crawler. The sound of trees being trampled and of the soft running water resonated with each other. Aldrich hastily used one of the Stamina Potions out of his stockpile. He had been just hoping that the approaching Crawler won't have a Perception higher than his Attribute. He went away from the blast site and covered himself using a bush. Running wasn't an option, he had realized in a short distance chase, he couldn't match up to these types of Crawlers.

The trees nearest to the river bank were smashed aside, and the Crawler came into Aldrich's vision. And his eyes became wide by looking at the sheer frame of that monster. The one thing that Agropelter had lacked was their size, and it seemed the world had made this Crawler to overcome that weakness. It almost looked like a 12 ft. high Agropelter, but with a robust ape-like structure.

[…

Record of Common Bigfoot

Status: Berserk (Strength +3, Agility +5)

Level: 7

HP: 273/273

SP: 437/437

MP: 191/191

Rank: Common

Attributes -->

Strength: 28 (+3)

Defense: 13

Agility: 21 (+5)

Vitality: 14

Perception: 5

Correspondence: 12

Active Skills -->

1. Mountain Stamp

2. Ape's Rush

Passive Skills -->

1. Target Lock

…]

Aldrich let out a breath of relief, seeing the Perception of the Bigfoot. He saw the Bigfoot was occupied in roaring and thrashing around, so he assigned the 12 Attribute Points he had got by the last two Level ups. He distributed 5 points each in Strength and Agility, and 2 in Defense.

[…

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Level: 7 (2200/2800 ExPs to level up)

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Strength: 20

Defence: 10

Agility: 20

Vitality: 11

Perception: 100

Correspondence: 15

Unassigned Attribute Points: 0

…

…]

Not concentrating on the addictive feeling too much, Aldrich planned how to take down the oversized Crawler. It didn't take him long to make a preliminary plan. Aldrich took all the things out of his backpack and buried them lightly near the bush. He put about 10 grenades in the bag and came out from the cover of the bushes.

The Crawler snapped his head towards Aldrich, and let out a heart-shaking roar.

'AaaOoooKkkkk!!!!!!!'

But Aldrich didn't wait for the monster to finish its trivialities. He ran, as fast as he could, back into the forest. The forest's land shook and Aldrich felt tiny quakes with every step. The chase didn't last long; Bigfoot was just as fast as him and had even more Stamina. As soon as it came within 100 meters of Aldrich, he felt nauseated. One could have compared the feeling to being marked by a predator.

Aldrich didn't even get to turn around when something sent him hurling forward. The momentum was so great that only after smashing through three trees, the fourth one bounced him back. Blood seeped out from the corner of his mouth and he tried to open his eyes, but a dark shadow had blocked his view of the sky.

A miniature version of an ethereal reddish-black mountain had been hovering in between Aldrich and the rest of the world.