Eliron grabbed Yennefer's cheeks and dragged it till it turned red.
"Took you long enough!" He angrily huffed by her side. "I almost got killed, you know?!"
"Owww… I'm showry…"
When Eliron finally let go, she sighed and began rubbing her cheeks.
Then she placed her finger on his forehead. Immediately she did, a bright golden screen flashed in front of him.
[Ding!]
[System synchronisation completed!]
[Attunement to the collection in progress~]
[Ding! Attunement complete!]
[The host has successfully awakened the primordial collection!]
INITIATING SKILL COUNT
DING!
1,003,689 SSSR SKILLS COUNTED!
Eliron's smile widened as he read through the notifications. 'It's about damn time!'
Then another screen appeared before him.
— — - 「Act One」 - — —
[Title: Blood Rain]
~> Objective: Stop the further annihilation of the wood elves.
「Rewards」
◆ Body tampering ichor x1
◆ + 10 Stats Points
A dark smile appeared on his lips as he raised his sword.
"System, activate SSS-Ranked Swordsmanship skill."
•••
Darell, the leader of the mercenaries, had burned through the city, taking everything of value.
But even after raiding every single house, he had found nothing of use. The wood elves were so poor that they could hardly afford a meal, talk less of having jewelry.
In place of gold ornaments, they used wooden ornaments and trinkets made of stone.
'They are useless.'
Although he had been handsomely paid for the job, he was hoping to find a bonus that would shoot his profits to the sky.
And now he finally had it within his sights. A mage, one capable of using teleportation magic at that!
Mages were high-value individuals sought out by many influential people, and a slave mage? That was even more valuable.
The woman in front of him would sell for a fortune just because of her looks, if he were to add the fact that she was a mage.
It was more than enough money for his retirement!
Darell licked his lips, his hands tightening on his blade. "Kill the boy, but don't touch a hair on the mage's body, she's mine!"
"Gladly, boss!"
The first mercenary changed, veins bulging on his arms, face twisted into a snarl as he swung his gigantic battle axe, aiming it right at Eliron's head.
Eliron shifted his stance, pushing one foot backward for balance and raising his sword to meet the axe.
In a blink of an eye, the mercenary's axe was sent flying into the air.
"What the fuck?!" His eyes widened in shock, his brain finding it hard to process how Eliron had disarmed him with two simple moves.
But there was no time for him to think, Eliron was already charging at him, his eyes sharp with utmost focus.
The mercenary swung, his heavy fist cutting into the air but Eliron swerved to the side, his slender body easily evading the blow.
With a simple lunge, he had cut right through the man's defenses.
And in the next second—
"Argh!"
Steel flashed, gleaming under the moonlight as the clean blade was stained red with blood. An arm was flung into the sky, completely severed from its frame… the mercenary's arm.
And then Eliron lifted his blade, pointing it right at the man's throat.
"Wait, please, please! I'm sorry!" The man begged, wetting himself.
Eliron cocked his head to the side. "Sorry for what? For murdering women and children? For burning our homes?"
His gaze darkened.
"Or for killing my brother?"
Before the man could speak, Eliron drove the dagger deep into his neck, his lifeless body falling to the floor with a wet thump.
"Die!!!"
From behind him, two men had already lunged, letting out a battle cry as they swung their blades.
But Eliron ducked underneath the attack, he grabbed the mercenary by the arm and drove his sword into his gut.
Then he twisted to avoid the second man's strike, rotating his body along the dull edge of the blade, before lashing out at him, his sword dinging its way past his armour.
Now three bodies were at his feet, his clothes caked in blood.
Then he turned to the others.
'One down, twelve more to go.'
It seemed during their fight, what was left of the mercenaries had gathered here.
After watching their comrade die in seconds, the mercenaries were hesitant to move, they clutched their weapons tightly, staring at the man with apprehension.
But then, a voice cut through the silence.
"You fools! May your names never be inscribed on the halls of Valahad for your cowardice."
He was a large man, burly chest, bloodshot eyes and a beard that went down his chest.
In one arm was a battle axe and in the other was a spiked mace, each one of them dripping fresh blood.
Eliron remembered him at first glance.
He was a minor villain mentioned in the story, but even then, his name was always associated with rivers of blood.
The man they called Goliat.
He sucked in a sharp breath as he lifted his blade.
SSS rank swordsmanship skill was a skill he knew about from the novel, the one developed by the sword saint.
But it had its limitations, for example, the user's physical makeup.
Eliron's current body was terribly weak so he was lacking both the speed and power he needed to properly execute proper attacks.
His skills might have worked on the underlings, but for someone like Goliat…
'I need something else.'
The leader of the bandits tapped Goliat's arm proudly as he stared at Eliron.
"Bring me his head!"
From behind him, Yennefer's voice came, sounding slightly concerned.
"Ther— -Eliron, you need more time to attune to the collection! He's too much for you at this point!"
Eliron slowly shook his head. There was no question about it, he had to take down this man right now, or there was no telling what would become of the wood elves.
He had lived eighteen years with them, abandoning them was not an option.
As Goliat was slowly marching towards them, Eliron searched his mind for any skill he could use.
His body was weak and slow, his mana capacity was too low for high-grade skills…
"To honour your valour, I won't use any skills in this battle." The man scoffed. "It's not like I'll need it anyway…"
Eliron stared at the man who was two times his height and five times his body weight.
And then he smirked.
'System, activate SSS Ranked Skill, Mana Breathing, SSS Ranked Skill Luck, SSS Ranked Skill Million's Poison, SSS Ranked Skill Basic Foresight.'
[• • •]
[All Skills are now active…]
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A/N
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