Change: New World

Author’s Note: I changed the amount of skill books Hide found in the courtyard. I added one more Lesser Draconic Boost and one more basic fireball skill.

Confrontation with the Manticore

Unbeknownst to my actions, the Manticore continued to rampage above me. While I could not see anything, I could hear the constant destruction that took place. The sound of concrete crumbling, walls breaking, the occasional roar… at this point, I could only imagine what the current state of the Main building was like.

After a moment of thought, I retracted my eyes from the ceiling, and looked around my surroundings for the first time.

As expected, everything that entered my vision was nothing but pitch black darkness. If I really concentrated, and maxed out my vision with [Sensory Remapping], then I could see some light that seeped out in the direction of the Old School Building, but in the end, it was still a considerable distance away.

Aside from what I couldn’t see, the thing that truly made my heart shudder and my mind taut, was the constant trembling of this tunnel-like pathway. The vibrations that constantly shook my surroundings gave off a somewhat foreboding feeling, and placed an aspect of danger deep within my mind.

After all, even with all my enhancements and levels taken into consideration, I could not survive a cave-in.

I moved a few meters forward in the direction of the old school building. The idea was that if the pathway did collapse, I could instantly escape using [Shadow Sprint]. Due to my constant reliance on the skill, I managed to level it up to beginner level 8. With each successive level up, [Shadow Sprint]’s short range teleportation increased by 1 meter, while its long range teleportation increased by 10 meters. Right now, without a destination shadow, I could teleport up to a distance of 17 meters. With a destination shadow, I could teleport as far as 200 meters.

After I was positive I was within 200 meters from the old school building, I finally stopped. Only about a few minutes had passed, so the Manticore’s rampage was still at its height. As I waited in the darkness, in order to increase my chances of survival, I immediately fished out the new skill books I had acquired.

Since my current task was to draw out the Manticore’s rampage, I could do nothing but stay in here and wait with the egg nearby. As a result, I had an ample amount of time to myself. While it might not be the perfect time to be reading, I was fairly confident in my safety. After all, with [Shadow Sprint], escaping from a cave-in was pretty easy.

After rummaging around my backpack for a while, I pulled out a flashlight. Back when we entered the pathway, I didn’t really need it, mostly because the tunnel was fairly straight forward and contained only one path.

I sat down and amidst all the chaos, I quietly began reading.

After 30 minutes of slightly hurried reading, I managed to learn [Ferocity] and [Lesser Draconic Boost].

[Ferocity] was a somewhat common skill that allowed one to boost attack damage and attack speed at the expense of their stamina. The boost was somewhat minimal, so I was a bit disappointed upon learning the skill.

In comparison, [Lesser Draconic Boost] was leaps ahead of [Ferocity]. As expected, something with [Draconic] tacked on to its name was on a totally different level when compared with ordinary skills.

[Lesser Draconic Boost] was a body enhancement skill that temporarily increases a person’s stats and gave them “the body constitution of a dragon”. While it was already useful the first time I learned it, it was only after I used all three [Lesser Draconic Boost] skill books, did it become a real force to be reckoned with.

With a 100% synchronicity rating, the results of the three identical skill books was something quite formidable…