"Bang!"
"Ah, fuck!"
Lucien yelled out, painfully coughing up a bit of blood. His back slammed against the stone wall, and his chest burned with pain from the finger-sized claw marks left by the beast.
"Rrrrhh..."
The creature snarled lowly, eyes glowing with hunger and unrestrained killing intent.
"Fuck my luck!"
Lucien wiped the blood from his lips and stared at the wolf in front of him with red, furious eyes. The beast was crouched low, muscles coiled like a spring, clearly preparing to lunge at him again.
"Damn! Why do I have to encounter a monster as soon as I enter?"
Lucien couldn't help but complain bitterly. Although he did decide to get strong faster, at least give him a time to breathe.
He was attacked as soon as he appeared in this place. He didn't even have time to take out his weapon and block the attack of the wolf.
Fortunately, his perception was better than before, and he quickly reacted in time, saving his head.
"Rrrrhh..."
"Swoosh!"
Unfortunately for Lucien, the wolf had no intention of giving him even a moment to breathe. With a sudden burst of speed, it lunged forward, its sharp claws slashing toward his neck with deadly precision.
"Swish!"
However, this time, its claw sliced through empty air as Lucien suddenly dodged to the right with a burst of extreme speed.
The agility points he got from Glen before weren't just for show—they were finally paying off.
"It would've been better if I had at least one offensive skill."
Lucien muttered bitterly, then reached into his mana ring and pulled out two items—one in each hand.
In his right hand was a sharp blade, shimmering with a faint blue light. Its edge was so keen, it could practically blind someone just by catching the light.
No matter what anyone said, his family was rich—there was no way he'd come unarmed or without defensive gear.
In fact, his mother had tried to give him far more than he needed. He'd refused at the time, thinking it was unnecessary. But now… he was starting to regret that decision.
"Hope this works. Otherwise, I might have to run away,"
Lucien muttered under his breath while caressing the gold coin in his left hand, tension creeping into his voice as he stared at the seemingly ordinary wolf in front of him.
This was his first real fight in both of his lives; of course, he was nervous.
However, he couldn't deny that there was a strange feeling of excitement mixed in, too.
"Grrrkhh..."
The wolf's failed strike clearly angered it, letting out a guttural roar before lunging at Lucien with terrifying speed, aiming to kill him in a single blow.
But just before it reached him, the wolf's eyes caught a flash—a shiny coin flicked into the air by Lucien's hand, accompanied by a low, calm voice:
"Golden Flick!"
Suddenly, the beast froze, mesmerized by the gleaming coin spinning effortlessly in the air, its eyes locked onto the shimmering light.
Time seemed to slow as Lucien's hand moved with precise speed, drawing the sharp blade from his other hand.
"Swish!"
The blade cut through the air, slicing clean through the wolf's neck with deadly accuracy.
"Wow, that was easier than I expected."
Lucien couldn't help but be surprised at how smoothly he'd severed the wolf's head mid-fight.
---
[Golden Flick (D Rank) — Active Skill
Quickly flick a shiny coin or small reflective object at your enemy's eyes, momentarily blinding them.
Effect: Inflicts Flash Blindness for 0.5 seconds on any target within two ranks above you.
Cooldown: 1 hour]
---
This was the skill he had just used to divert the wolf's attention while he used his blade to sever its head.
Without it, he doubted he could have even gotten close to the wolf without getting injured.
"Let's leave this place before its companions arrive."
Lucien muttered, his gaze fixed solemnly on the dissolving corpse of the wolf before him.
Although the Golden Flick was a powerful active skill, it had a full one-hour cooldown after use.
If he encountered another wolf, or something even tougher, he might be in serious trouble.
"Eh? Where's my coin?"
Just when Lucien decided to leave and was about to pick up the coin he had tossed, he realized it had mysteriously vanished from the ground.
"Wasn't it just here?"
He frowned in confusion, eyes scanning the ground, when suddenly, a prompt echoed in his mind.
Ding!
[You have loaned 1 gold coin to Glimmergnaw – F-Rank Rodent.]
[Subject shows no intention of repayment.]
[Debt collection attempt: Failed.]
[Analyzing transaction records…]
[Extracting compensation of equivalent value…]
[Congratulations! You gained: +1 Agility, F-rank Skill: Rodent's Greed]
[Rodent's Greed (F Rank) — Active Skill: Triggers a sudden obsession with shiny objects and minerals.]
"...What?"
Lucien stiffened as the sudden prompt echoed in his mind. He never expected to hear a system notification at a moment like this.
Not to mention the 1 point of agility and this… useless skill he suddenly got.
'Is something near?'
Although Lucien was surprised, he suddenly became alert after realizing that there was some kind of monster around him.
He had already narrowly escaped the clutches of the wolf just now; he didn't want any other surprises.
"Krrrk... krrrk..."
Fortunately, as his gaze immediately darted around, he heard a faint scratching sound echoing from beneath the ground at the side.
Only then did he finally manage to see a small rodent gnawing at his gold coin a little way off, half of it already chewed away.
"Phew... fortunately, it's just some kind of mouse."
Lucien suddenly breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the small figure of a rodent scurry cautiously nearby.
"Krr?"
However, it seemed its senses were sharp as, the moment Ian looked at it, the creature perked up its ears and became alert.
Then, it immediately snatched the coin it had been chewing and quickly jumped back into the hole, ready to disappear through the tunnel it had just emerged from.
"Swoosh!"
Unfortunately for it, though quick, the rodent was no match for Lucien's speed as he swiftly dove down and caught it by the neck.
"Squeak!"
"Squeak!"
"Squeak!"
The Glimmergnaw struggled violently while squeaking loudly in fear.
But Lucien didn't care; instead, he smiled from ear to ear.
"Finally found something useful," he couldn't help but say happily.