Chapter 14: Fighting
Morden’s mind immediately went into overdrive mode, thinking of every way for him to get out of that situation alive.
And then he found one.
’Boost,’
He had activated his new ability not to increase his strength or speed; instead, he focused the vital energy at the exact spot he felt the attack would land.
[Durability +20 (temp)]
Ding!
A sound of metal clashing with something equally tough resounded in the surrounding area as it bounced on the cave wall.
Morden was able to block the attack successfully, but it was at the cost of leaving all other parts of his body completely vulnerable since they weren’t supported by vital energy.
That vulnerability was the exact thing his opponent immediately took advantage of.
From the dark corner, a dark figure rushed straight at Morden with another gleaming blade that looked closely like a butcher knife.
In the blink of an eye, it had arrived beside Morden, who hadn’t fully gotten his composure back and was sending another blade swipe at his stomach.
Luckily, Morden was flexible enough to dodge the attack, leaving his clothes ripped by the blade.
Taking advantage of his quick dodge, Morden exerted some pressure on his feet and pushed himself backwards, creating some distance.
A frown appeared on Morden’s face when he noticed his opponent didn’t continue pressing.
But on the bright side, it gave him time to actually see the face of his assailant.
"Layla," he muttered with widened eyes.
"Layla, what’s going on? Where the hell did you find the knife?" Morden asked, but he received no response.
Layla’s eyes just remained dull, but they also contained a faint red glint; her blonde hair was currently disheveled, and her hand almost limp.
As if triggered by Morden’s question, Layla’s immobile body suddenly sprung forward again, her knife leading her charge.
Seeing his opponent getting back into combat, Morden also didn’t hesitate; he exerted pressure on the ground and rushed to meet her.
Layla aimed her knife forward to pierce Morden’s heart, but with a side step and some maneuvering, he was able to leave the attack path.
"She doesn’t seem like she has any combat experience,"
’It’s all just like an instinct; that’s a point I can utilize.
Seeing his opponent’s obvious weakness, Morden immediately took advantage of it; he activated boost again.
[Speed +20(temp)]
With his speed stat almost double, he moved from beside Layla to her back in one clean motion.
While still maintaining that momentum, he summoned the Ghost Piercing Sword again and aimed it straight at her head.
Bam!!
The attack connected, and Morden could see Layla’s muscles go limp, but he still didn’t lose his vigilance.
He remained in his alerted state and watched Layla’s body carefully, he was expecting to see something else entirely.
Something that doesn’t belong there.
’Let’s see if that disgusting stuff is responsible for it.’
And just as he had expected, Morden noticed a red flash emerging from her body, ready to escape, but he wasn’t going to let it, especially as he was already waiting for it.
"No, you don’t."
He thrust his sword forward, straight into the reddish ghostly figure that was about to leave. He could feel his sword enter what felt like a jelly-like substance with a slightly thicker outer membrane.
Following his thrust, the red patterns on the blade began glowing slightly, which resulted in a sizzle accompanied by what sounds like a wail coming out of the ghostly figure.
"Oh, you can feel you are about to disappear now, uh?" Morden said with a strange smile.
He couldn’t help but feel the happy and satisfied feeling he had after he finished his operation in the village again as he watched the figure slowly vanish out of existence.
A few seconds later, everything was gone; the sword had stopped glowing, and there were no sizzling sounds coming from anywhere.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, you have killed an ordinary red ghost; ghost gene shard +1.]
"So that thing was called an Ordinary Red ghost; doesn’t it have a grade like those monkeys and my sword?" he wondered.
"And I even got gene shards from it, but I don’t have a ghost gene or anything like that, what the hell am I supposed to do with it now?"
"Keep it as a trophy? It’s not like I can throw it away even if I want to."
Morden thought about the new incident for a bit until he was interrupted by a cold gust of wind, making him remember Layla’s current condition.
"Now back to you," he said while looking at the unconscious Layla.
Thankfully, he had hit her with the sword hilt, or she might be slowly bleeding to death now; the hit had made her unconscious for the second time in a single night, and on both instances, Morden did it.
’Why did she get possessed again, and where the hell did she see those knives?’ Morden thought.
He bent to observe the knives further; he wanted to see if they were anything special.
"Ughhh," Layla suddenly groaned, startling Morden backward.
"What happened?" she asked with her hand on her head as she slowly got up.
"Uhmmmm, something... something happened and you ended up getting knocked unconscious," Morden responded while trying to avoid her gaze.
Layla’s eyes remained locked on him as her expression slowly grew more confused. She felt her head one more time before she opened her mouth to speak.
"Did you just hit me on the head?" her eyes showing a mix of confusion and anger.
"Hahahaha, funny, hit you? What? No no no. "Quick question, where did you get these knives?"
"Uhhhh, I can’t remember," Layla said when she saw the knives he was talking about and then immediately after, grabbed her head again with intense pain evident on her face.
"I.... I remember.....I remember now."
"I saw.... I saw a string of tests; it was red, immediately attracting my attention.
"It told me to... It told me to...,"
"Kill you."