I rolled out of the way as the Monster screeched in pain and hit the ground, blood gushing out and forming a puddle around it across the ground.
It coughed out blood with an agonized wheeze as it tried to get back up, but my beam had burst straight through its spine, rendering it next to immobile.
That was one of my Wrath Skills, Obliterate. Its pretty much unblockable and costs no MP to use, but its activation conditions are a bit of a pain.
Instead of Mana, it's fueled by my rage, so I can't use it unless I get riled up. When my anger builds, a System display pops up with a bar labeled 'Rage Meter'.
And the percentage of the Rage Meter dictates both the scale and range of the attack.
If I use Obliterate when my Rage Meter is at one percent, the resulting attack only covers a distance of one meter, and is only wide enough to shoot a one centimeter radius hole through a target.
Since I just used it at ten percent, the blast covered ten meters, and the hole I drilled through the Monster's body has a radius of ten centimeters.
I could have used it earlier, but I needed to make sure that I only used it once I was absolutely certain that it would be strong enough to be a killing blow.
The more the Monster injured me, the more my frustration and anger grew.
But, according to Ai, the strongest emotion that fuels the Rage Meter is hatred, and since I don't really bear any genuine hatred towards this random Monster, I had to let my other negative emotions steadily build.
"If you'd been at full strength, I'd almost certainly be dead," I remarked, dragging my feet across the space and tentatively reaching down to pick up my blade, wincing as twinges of pain erupted across my entire body.
O-Ow...ow, ow, ow!
Now that the adrenaline is starting to wear off, the pain is really starting to set in. I need to stop the bleeding, none of my injuries are fatal, but I've sustained several deep wounds.
I took off my hoodie and shredded the fabric into several strips with my blade...the material may be tough to cut through, but thanks to the damage to it from the Hypersonic Bat's claws, I was able to use the tears to rip the fabric.
The fact that only one of my arms was in working order certainly made the task tougher, this is real pain, both literally and figuratively.
As I finally got done cutting up the hoodie, I wrapped the strips around my wounds, tying them as tightly as I could manage using just one arm and stemming the bleeding.
With that done, I approached the Monster, it was still alive but just barely. It was slumped against the ground in a steadily widening pool of its own blood, its breathing growing weaker and weaker with each passing second. Before it dies...
"
I then rolled it over and cut its chest open, using the blade to pry out its Core as I caught sight of it.
Hm, the bottom of the Core is damaged, I must have grazed it with Obliterate. No matter, it's still a High Level Monster's Core, I should get a good amount of money from it.
I gingerly sat down on the ground beside the Monster's corpse, letting out a strained sigh as I stared up at the ceiling, my entire body throbbing with pain.
It took me about five minutes to cut up my hoodie and dress my wounds, which recovered just enough MP to use Drain for long enough to consume the Monster's remaining Mana.
It's back down to zero now though, so I'll have to wait a few minutes before I can use Devour to consume its body.
Man, I'm in a hell of a lot of pain right now, I'm covered in cuts and gashes all over, and every wound is throbbing agonizingly.
Still, though...that was fun, what a rush!
Despite the danger I was in, I couldn't help but enjoy myself.
I mean, it's not like I plan on recklessly throwing myself into deadly situations, and I certainly didn't enjoy getting hurt.
But the fight itself, I just found it so exciting and thrilling, I bet it would've been even more fun if I was a closer match to the Monster's level and had been able to fight it properly.
While I'm not opposed to a challenge, having the odds stacked too heavily against me to this extent is something I'd like to avoid if at all possible. It'll all be for nothing if I end up dead, after all.
Now, then, looks like my MP's recovered sufficiently enough, time to use Devour to consume the Monster's body.
"
Ai, bring up my stats, I want divvy up all the points I gained.
Perfect, thanks.
Nice, looks like I gained quite a bit.
Alright, I'll put this much into Agility, and evenly divide the rest between Strength, Vitality and Perception.
There we go, looking pretty good, if I do say so myself. The increases to my stats from what they were at the start of this raid read as so:
HP: 95 -> 106
MP: 50 -> 77
Strength: 94 -> 105
Agility: 105 -> 125
Vitality: 96 -> 108
Perception: 102 -> 117
And my Power Level has increased to 106,300. Which means I still haven't gone past J-Rank level, the threshold that I need to cross with my Power Level possible in order to reach Q-Rank is 125,000, if I remember right.
For Combatants, a Power Level of less than 125,000 puts them at J-Rank, above that but below 250,000 is the range for Q-Ranks, 250,000 to 500,000 is K-Rank, above 500,000 and upto a million is Ace and X-Ace Power Levels fall between one to two million.
As for Mages, they're ranked based on those same numbers, but applied to Mana Level instead of Power Level.
So, in the grand scheme of things, I've still got a very, very long way to go.
Still, all things considered, this is a pretty decent increase, especially considering that this was only a Low Level Dungeon. I can't get too impatient.
The fact is, I'm still pretty weak, but that doesn't mean I can afford to get reckless and rush things.
I'm not going to get crazy OP or whatever overnight, I'll wind up dead if I try to push myself too hard. I'll take it slow and steady, build my power bit by bit.
Now, then...I should go wake the others, I'd like to leave this place, get healed up, go home and take a nice, long nap...