[Bladed Mantis LV30]
The black mantis with blood-red eyes was fast—too fast for even Gabriel's eyes to follow due to his low perception stats.
"A mage and a warrior, huh," Gabriel furrowed his brows. Though their classes weren't displayed on their heads, it was much easier to detect them.
For one, most mages wielded staffs, as they enhanced casting speed and boosted magic power, while warriors often wore heavy armor and carried crude weapons.
Plus, their fighting style was brutish.
"Damn it, it's too fast! I can't get a proper hit!" the mage shouted in panic, sweat rolling off his face.
Further ahead, the black mantis zigzagged through the battlefield, kicking up a cloud of dust as it dodged all the mage's magic blasts.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
"Aggghhh!" the warrior roared as he charged forward and slammed his shield into the wall.
However...
Just before the clash, the mantis vibrated its forearms and body.
The eyes of both adventurers shrank.
"It's activating its skills!" They both felt their blood run cold.
Gabriel watched with a calm expression as the mantis activated its skill.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoooosh!
Ten mantises appeared, flashing across the clearing, all attacking the two adventurers at once.
'After Mirage.'
It was a skill common among mantis-type monsters.
The skill allowed them to summon afterimages of themselves, confusing opponents.
'The only way to stand a chance against them is with very high perception.' Gabriel's eyes flashed, and without hesitation, he quickly allocated all twenty available stat points to Perception.
[Perception +20 → 44]
'Now, better.'
The effect was instant. The number of mantises reduced to three.
"Hey, you there! Help us out!" the mage noticed Gabriel's presence and called out.
Gabriel simply stared at him with a blank expression.
"Hey! Are you deaf? Help us! Are you just going to watch us get killed?!"
"Why should I help?" Gabriel finally spoke. "You won't be helpful to me alive anyway."
"You fucking psycho! What do you mean by that?!" The mage's face turned red with anger.
Moments later, with the bladed mantis's skill still active, it only took a couple of slashes to kill the adventurers.
Afterward, the black mantis turned its attention to Gabriel and charged.
"Hmph!" Gabriel exploded forward. A thunderous bang echoed as the previous spot he stood on collapsed into a crater.
With over 100 points in Strength and Agility, thanks to his new class and the Voidsting chestplate he wore, Gabriel's body shot forward.
The mantis's compound red eyes flickered with surprise, not expecting the human to move this fast—so fast that it couldn't even react.
CLANG!
Voidsting and the mantis's claws clashed in the middle, but Gabriel's sheer power blew the insectoid creature back.
As the mantis tried to recover, Gabriel was upon it again, his sword crashing down like a hammer. The mantis's scythe arm snapped under the pressure.
Realizing the human was too strong and it couldn't win, the mantis attempted to flee!
"Come back here, you coward!"
The mantis turned back—its expression almost said, "No, you can't make me!"
Of course, it couldn't get away. Its Agility paled in comparison to Gabriel's monstrous figure.
With one mighty roar, Gabriel activated Vicious Pounce, propelling his body forward. With a final blow charged with mana, he slammed his fist into the beast.
BOOM!
The body of the mantis split open as it collapsed to the ground.
From the beast, Gabriel gained 10 EP, bringing his total reserve from 48 to 58. He then spent eight EP to extract the corpse.
[Ding! You have extracted Agility +10]
After picking up the monster core, Gabriel turned his attention to the mage and warrior. His gaze especially narrowed on the serpent-red armband.
'Black Star Clan. Very troublesome bunch. I guess I don't have to worry about being targeted since I'm now an NPC.'
In Gabriel's past life, the Black Star Clan was a rogue guild in the human starting area, and they targeted players, believing they were invaders from another world.
Gabriel had been killed by them more than once, and naturally, held a grudge.
However, this wasn't the only reason he hadn't intervened. For one, he didn't feel obligated to help. He didn't believe in that karma bullshit—not after watching the whole world be obliterated.
And lastly...
They were not useful to him alive because—
"Extract!"
"Extract!"
From the mage, Gabriel extracted +5 Intelligence.
From the warrior, he extracted +10 Strength.
After searching through the corpses, he ignored the warrior's shield since it was already heavily damaged, taking only the magic staff and a vial of healing potion—both of common-rank rarity.
Shortly after, Gabriel roamed around the forest again. He encountered a few more random monsters, which were either killed by him or by Grizzlenault, pushing his level closer to 21.
Mantis-type monsters were rarer than he expected. For the next five hours, he continued searching for them.
It was only after the five-hour mark that he found another one—a Level 20 Blood Mantis.
Naturally, a Level 20 existence was no longer a threat to Gabriel, and it was swiftly killed.
From the mantis, he extracted a skill:
[Tri-Crimson Execution LV1]
[Rarity: Rare]
[Description: Strike the same enemy three times within 15 seconds to trigger a crimson explosion from within the target, dealing massive true damage based on missing HP. Cost: 20 MP per strike.]
Gabriel didn't learn the skill right away. He placed it in his inventory, already planning to give it to Korran to craft his weapon.
A couple of minutes later, he encountered the last mantis. After killing and extracting it, he headed back to Korran's smithy.
"That was faster than I expected, considering how hard it is to find mantis-type creatures out there in the wilderness," Korran remarked as Gabriel dropped three cores and a skill scroll on the counter.
"Yeah, it was a bit stressful," Gabriel replied, feeling slightly drained after running through the wilds all day.
"Okay, leave it there. You can return tomorrow to collect your weapon."
Gabriel nodded and left.
* * *
The next morning, after purchasing another bottle of Green Straw Berrie wine, Gabriel returned to the smithy.
The moment he stepped inside, his eyes were instantly drawn to the counter.
A massive sword rested atop the wooden surface—its form elegant and deadly. The hilt was wrapped in dark beast hide.
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
The blade was long—easily 1.2 meters, slightly broader than most greatswords, with jagged red patterns engraved along the fuller. They resembled veins, pulsing softly like flowing blood.
Korran leaned against the wall behind the counter, arms folded, a satisfied grin on his lips.
"Tch. Didn't think you'd come back this early. Most folks spend hours just recovering from a proper hunt."
Gabriel ignored the banter and walked up to the weapon.
"What's it called?" he asked, his hand hovering over the blade.
"I was gonna leave it unnamed, but then I saw what the skill did after infusion. That explosion? Yeah… this blade's not just for cutting." Korran's eyes gleamed. "It's for execution."
He smirked.
[Crimson Judgement (Gold)]
[Durability: 400/400]
Description: A semi-conscious weapon that requires 100 Strength to wield. Each strike builds Crimson Pressure against the same target. After three strikes within 15 seconds, trigger a true damage explosion. Note: All three strikes must be made within 15 seconds.]
Gabriel couldn't help but smile as he lifted the sword. The weight was perfect—heavy enough to crush, light enough for his current stats to swing with ease.
'Gold rank. This is perfect.' His eyes glowed with excitement, feeling the raw power vibrating beneath his fingertips.
"Of course it is," Korran grunted. "My work is always perfect. Just don't go getting cocky and swing that thing around town. The explosion alone might accidentally destroy a whole building."
Gabriel chuckled lightly as he placed the sword away. "Thanks."
Korran grinned. "I'll take another bottle of that wine as thanks."
"Of course. Yeah, it is."
Naturally, after getting the sword, Gabriel had an irresistible urge to test it out, so he quickly went back to the wilderness.
There, he spent the next couple of days hunting monsters and leveling up—until the day of the ruin exploration arrived.
* * *
AN: Don't Forget to Vote Extraction Talent With Your Valuable Golden Tickets and power stones!