Immortal Mage System

Confronting the Critter

Keith thought of turning back and running for his precious life, but he knew that that wasn't the right action to take at the moment. He knew that he wouldn't make many steps before being caught by the Critter.

As Keith stared at the monster, his eyes widened in fear as it made more steps forward. Right now, the Critter was totally delighted to have found breakfast.

The Critter has three heads attached with each having two eyes. One faced Keith directly, the other to the left, and the third facing the right side. Its long fangs and curvy sharp claws were enough to reveal that Keith was on a thin line between life and death.

It possessed a dark wood-like body, short hands, and shanks of about a foot tall.

Still glancing at the Critter, the Immortal Mage System popped up.

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[Name: Critter].

[Race: Monster].

[Tier: 1].

[Brutality: D].

[Remark: Cannot be killed with level 1 weapons].

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Keith stared at the system screen with a confused countenance. "Monsters do have brutality ranks?" Keith was dazed. Only Specters has brutality ranks. However, though, there was not much time to waste.

The remark of the monster was quite challenging, but Keith decided to overlook it and fight the monster. Since the monster was already trying to slam its pointed fist towards Keith's chest... "I guess the battle begins now," Keith declared and dodged the attack, raising his swords after balancing his legs.

The monster had three faces, so it could see Keith clearly even though he had shifted to another side. Regardless, Keith tried slashing the sword towards its right arm to make the battle easier, but, as if the monster had known his next move, it shifted his arm and wiped Keith's face.

Instantly, blood spills out from Keith's mouth.

"Argh! s**t!" He yelled, his aching gums caused him so much pain. Truth be told, Keith was on the verge of sobbing.

But, he tried to get himself together and resist the pain. He stood up swiftly and dodged another attack. Gosh! The fuckin Critter had almost stabbed him with its sharp claws.

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[Skin-to-skin contact weak point detection completed].

[Critter's Weak Point has been detected].

[Weak Point: Decapitation].

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"Awesome."

Keith smiled after hearing those words. Now, he has a goal to achieve: decapitating the Tier-0 monster's three-dimensional-shaped head.

He was glad that he came to find out about its weak point, but, he knew that it wasn't going to be easy.

The gorilla-like monster kept trying to tear Keith's flesh, making more attempts to rip off his rib cage.

'This thing is crazy.'

The Critter continued to launch more attacks nonstop, making Keith weak and exhausted. They continued wandering around the forest until they got to one place where Keith would never have attempted to step his foot.

Phantom Falls.

This was where Tier-1 monsters dominated. The Phantom Falls was also a part of the Menace Forest, though, it was at the extreme end.

Based on his discovery as a human, the battlefield wasn't quite far from the Phantom Falls. In fact, Keith could see the mountain chain that surrounds it from the distance.

Keith's skin caught a cold due to the chillness of the icy waters dropping down the huge rocks. However, at this moment, he wouldn't just have to make it ruin his focus. Keith didn't want to die.

Not now, not ever — not when he finally became an Awakened.

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[Your Energy has been reduced by 15%].

[Your Strength has reduced by 20%].

[Host, upgrade your weapon before it becomes too late].

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"Shut up, I'm not," Keith cursed. He overlooked the system's warning and charged towards the monster this time. Being sharp enough, he slid his knees towards the ground to take down the right leg of the Critter, but unfortunately, Keith felt a bang on his chest.

The monster stumped its foot on Keith's chest region.

*Coughs*

Keith coughs painfully, more drops of blood spilling from his mouth as the heavy left foot of the monster keeps pressing his chest, threatening to destroy his ribcage.

'I'm dying.' He thought bitterly.

At least, only Gold-rank Awakeneds could match the devastating powers of a Tier-1 monster. Battling a Critter was much like a death sentence for people like Keith. Dying is about the moment a weak mage f****d up and here was his. If he had known, he could have just waited for another day to kill Tier-0 monsters. Perhaps, he couldn't have come across this fuckin monster.

Keith felt his life leaving him gradually, his eyes getting blurry. It was as though he had no core anymore, just like every Commoner out there.

He continued to cough out blood as the monster wouldn't just let go. What damned monster would let its food go easily? Especially for a Tier-1 monster, it was impossible.

Now, the Critter attempted to perform its final finishing move. Sinking its sharp claws into Keith's face and ripping his flesh.

Keith had thought of what to do to save his life before it got too late. He was obstructing the fangs of the monster from piercing through his face so he was a little bit safe from dying, at least for now. However, he finally decided to upgrade his Level 1 longsword. He blinked his eyes.

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[Do you want to upgrade your Level 1 longsword to Level 2?].

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"Make it happen, i***t, can't you see I'm dying?!" Keith bellowed.

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[Longsword weapon have successfully been upgraded].

[Weapon Level: 2/50].

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Suddenly, the sword transformed into a bigger, sharper, and lighter weapon, forcing a smile out of Keith's grieving face.

As a sword trainee since his young age, Keith didn't wait for the system to tell him what to do at that moment.

"You darned celestial creature..." Keith cursed. He slashed the longsword through both legs of the Critter, and luckily, they responded to the blade and fell as though like a tree.

Black bloods of the brutal creatures filled that spot, however, Keith wasn't stopping the attack. Now that he was directly facing the neck of the Tier-1 monster, he wasted no time in slashing the sword through it.

The longsword cut through the strong bones of the Critter's neck sending the two divided parts of its body to the muddy floor, dead.

"See you in hell Critty," Keith said. He sighed. "I don't know how, but this thing has the power of a Tier-2 monster."

He fell to the floor, weak and dehydrated. The blood coming out from his mouth never stopped. Keith spits countless times.

"Thank the heavens, I killed it... I survived!" Keith shouted in excitement.

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[You have slain a Tier-1 monster, D-rank Brutality Critter].

[You have gained two Core Fragments]

[Core Fragments: 3/1000].

[A Tier-1 monster is equivalent to five Tier-0 monsters].

[Congratulations, you have slain five Tier-0 monsters].

[Mission Progress: 5/10].

[Kill five more Tier-0 monsters to complete this mission].