MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

"What the hell was that about, Faulus?" Whilst Hal was making his way to the aberration at the limits of his agility, Loreina looked at the alchemist with a frown. "Did you really have to force Valyr to make the first move? Even you could have beaten that thing with your stats, no?"

In response to the series of questions, Faulus remained silent. Though he had gained his bearings the previous night after talking with Valyr, it seemed as if all of that progress was instantly lost after sighting the first opponent of their inheritance, feeling a hint of fear at the thought of fighting something like it.

Not wanting to show to the others that he feared fighting against even the weakest kind of enemy they would come across in the inheritance, the alchemist clicked his tongue as he responded, "So what? Am I wrong in saying that Valyr would have an easy time fighting against it? Am I also wrong in saying that Valyr would have gotten more information from fighting against it with his combat prowess?"

"Now's not the time to argue over something like this." Scratching the back of his head, Valyr interrupted the two from further bickering as he told the two to focus their attention on Hal's fight. "If we're already fighting over something as small as this, I don't know if we wouldn't even be able to explore the inheritance completely."

Thankfully, after these words, Faulus and Loreina remained silent and focused their attention on Hal, who was only seconds away from landing his first strike on the aberration. With that, Valyr briefly ruminated over the various reasons why Faulus wanted him to go first, only to put it aside for the meantime as he hoped to gain a greater idea of the inheritance from this first skirmish.

…

"[Blade of Six Paths]…" Imbuing his sword with a bit of mana, Hal gazed at the aberration in the eyes, the latter's attention wholly focused on him. Then, without hesitation, he raised his sword to the sky before bringing it downwards, landing a solid strike on the aberration's body.

"[Mortal Severing Slash]."

"Grwaaagghh!!!" Though the aberration had a series of skills that reduced the damage it took, the strength imbued within Hal's strike had caused a large wound to open up on the aberration's body. Letting out a shriek from the pain it felt, the wound ran along the aberration's torso to one of its enlarged arms, making one faintly wonder how strong its vitality was.

'This seems… easier than I thought?' With the aberration thoroughly enraged by the attack, Hal watched as the aberration swung its arms to the sky before slamming it down to the ground at full force, causing the ground to quake. Unsurprisingly, with the great disparity between his and the aberration's stats, he was able to easily dodge the attack, countering against it by landing a series of slashes across its arms.

Once more, the aberration screamed out in pain, its blank stare from earlier now replaced with a maddened expression that wanted to kill Hal no matter what. Empowered by its rage, the aberration attempted an attack once more, utilizing the strong muscles in its legs to appear in front of the man before slamming down.

Yet, similar to before, Hal was able to easily dodge the attack as a calm expression appeared on his face. Landing a series of lacerations across the aberration's engorged legs, he gradually began to land more and more attacks on the aberration as he wanted to confirm a suspicion he had that arose from his first attack.

By the end of it, the aberration had become a recipient of Hal's incessant attacks, letting out scream after scream as its only sign that it remained alive amidst the beating it had taken on.

"[Mortal Severing Slash]." Feeling as if he had gained more or less all of the information the group would need from their enemy in the plains, Hal took one last look at the aberration, whose body was greatly mangled from the attacks he had landed on it. Though somewhat surprised at its tenacity to keep on living, the man went ahead and ended the battle with a quick slice through the aberration's throat, separating its head from the body for good.

Ding!

Hearing a few notification sounds resound in his mind after he had killed the group's first aberration, a look of slight surprise appeared on Hal's face for a brief moment before making his way back to where the four stood as he condensed all of the information he had gained from the fight on his way back.

"What's the verdict?" Watching Hal return from his fight against the aberration, Valyr took the initiative to start the conversation, even though how the fight went earlier already told him what he wanted to know.

"Easy pickings," Hal responded, looking at everyone else before stopping at Faulus for a brief moment. "Though I'm not sure if all aberrations are like this, it seems like they've been put in the inheritance as a way for inheritors to get used to combat before heading deeper."

"I'm quite certain that everyone here could fight against a bunch of aberrations on their own without much problem, though keep in mind that their stats and skills are the real deal," he continued, looking at Loreina and the other two. "Especially you three. You three would definitely suffer a lot against even one of its hits."

"I guess that's that, then." Pondering over something for a bit, Valyr eventually looked at the others with a slight nod. "Everyone, we'll head in a bit deeper into the plains and set up our camp there. After that, everyone can split up and fight against aberrations to gain a better idea of what to expect once we head deeper into the inheritance."

"From what Hal has said, it's a good way for us to polish up on combat." At these words, the young man briefly glanced at Hal, who bitterly smiled after noticing his momentary gaze. "So, if you feel like your combat skills aren't up to par for what's to come, now's a good chance to brush up on that."

"Any other questions?"

Seeing that everyone shook their heads in response, Valyr nodded back in understanding as he and Hal led the group deeper into the plains, only stopping once they had found a suitable campsite a couple hours after the beginning of their trek.