Chapter 15: Last Breath
[Vajra
Type: Divine Artefact
Description: Lord Indra's weapon, made of a great sage's bone. It can summon thunderbolts and rain. It grows stronger as the holder gets stronger.
Skill:
- Vajra, summons divine lightning, attack 2,500 + 35% of user's Intelligence
- Mist, slows down enemies and causes illusions.
-Calamity, summon rain which causes enemies to lose HP by 10% every 2.5 seconds. Duration: 15 seconds. Limited to one use per day.
Bonus:
-Reduce damage from lightning elemental attack by 70%.
-Intelligence +60%]
[Calamity]
Dark clouds gathered in the sky and thunder rolled. The calm weather changed drastically and it looked like a storm was coming. Soon rain started to pour and it became a heavy rain.
The droplets which touched the tortoise became vapour and the reaction made the monster suffer in pain. Not long after, the monster appeared like a roasted chicken.
Shrieekk…
The monster's scream was the sign that the skill took effect. 10% HP lost every 2.5 second was significant because the monster's HP was high.
'Now I need to wait for 15 seconds.'
'In 15 seconds the monster's HP will drop by around 18,000. It's more than a half!'
Under normal circumstances, a person breathed four to five times in 15 seconds. However, that 15 seconds became an infinity for Janu as the monster went berserk. It destroyed everything around it in an instant, and if Janu didn't move swiftly and carefully, he would suffer from the rampage. He jumped, dodged, rolled and parried who knew how many times.
'Now!'
When Calamity ended, Janu activated another skill.
[Vajra]
Flash..
BOOMM…
In a split second a huge lightning struck the tortoise. It was blinding and Janu didn't really know what was happening. He covered his eyes and all he could hear was debris and rocks falling to the ground. After a moment it became silent.
'Is it dead?'
He tried to open his eyes but it was almost impossible as dust was still lingering in the air.
Snore…
Snore…
'It didn't die!?'
When the dust cleared he could see that the tortoise was lying down on the ground. The water had evaporated and the pool wasn't seen any longer. It didn't move but it breathed heavily.
'It looks like it has lived for too long. It's unfortunate if it has to die this way. Should I kill it or not?'
Janu saw that his opponent was on the verge of dying. A single strike would be enough to take its life. If he let it go, it had a chance to stay alive, even though it might take a while for it to regain its health.
He sat on a rock and pondered. He looked at the monster's eyes and as if it could sense it, it opened its eyes and looked back at Janu. The look on its eyes told him that it had surrendered and accepted its defeat. It closed those miserable eyes and was waiting for its death.
Janu stood, turned around and walked. It would have been much better if it had died from the last attack. That was a monster and he was supposed to kill it. However, he felt it was wrong to finish it that way.
The monster didn't receive what it had expected. It raised its head and looked at him furiously. Like a true warrior, it demanded honourable death. Janu knew exactly what it meant but he was in doubt.
Janu stopped his step and looked back. He turned around and said,
"What do you expect? I cannot… No.. I won't kill you. If you live and we meet again I will face you again with my full strength. So, don't worry."
The tortoise was silent. Then it opened its mouth and spewed two Stone Skills.
'What!?'
It was surprising. He didn't kill it but it gave him the same rewards. It had never happened before.
The tortoise shook its body and some parts of its shell broke and fell down.
[Obtained:
Blue Skill Stone XL x1
Red Skill Stone M x1
Adamantine x99]
'Is it for real!?'
He was breathless at the thought of obtaining the drops without killing the monster.
"Thanks."
Janu held the Yellow Skill Stone and was in deep thought.
'I got different types of skill stones, but the quality is the same.'
'It's XL. The first that I got. What skill could it contain?'
'Activate'
[Obtained Last Breath
Link to another skill and activate it as the user is dead.]
[Choose a skill to link]
'It… activates another skill when I'm dead.
…
…
It can be useful. But,... I need to be dead…'
Janu was disappointed at that fact. He expected the skill to be OP but it was beyond his imagination.
'Right now, there's nothing worth activating when I'm dead.
It's totally useless now.
…
…
Wait…
If I get that skill…
It will be too OP, but where can I get that?'
Too much thinking wouldn't help so Janu continued to walk and left the scene. He focused on looking for that Underwater Breathing skill, but he had no idea where and how he could get that.
'Is it a monster's drop?'
'Maybe amphibian monsters drop it. They can breathe underwater right?'
…
…
'I'm classless but I can use many types of skills. It might be possible to get an active healing skill. Forget it. I need to focus on what's important right now.'
Janu was clueless about his nature. He even thought that he was an anomaly, and whether he was the only one or there might be someone else who was like him.
'Amphibians live near water. If I follow this river I might encounter one.'
He had walked for at least an hour but he found nothing. Just as he thought about that he stopped. He spotted a tiger drinking from the river. It wasn't as big as the tortoise but it was still much bigger than a normal tiger. Its height was at least two metres. If it stood, its height might even reach six metres. It looked dangerous and ferocious.
Its instinct let it know that someone was looking at it and it stared back. It was still without moving but its gaze was intimidating. What a true predator!
Macan Loreng Lv. 92
HP: 22,400
MP: 2,900
Strength: 2,040
…
…
…
Skills:
-Shred Claw
-Vital Choke
-Intimidation
Drops:
-Tiger Skin
-Ferocious Blood
-Beast Whisker
'It's on the same level with the boar, but it's slightly stronger.'
Janu was ready with a sword and a shield. Against a swift and agile opponent he needed to be balanced in both offence and defence. The shield was his main protection against sudden counter attacks and he also needed to be able to land a blow in a melee fight.
'Focusing only on attack is reckless. It seems aggressive.'
Slowly but surely the tiger walked towards him. Its eyes never moved away from him. When its prey moved it surely wouldn't let it go out of sight.
After some steps, the tiger sprinted to pounce on him. It jumped and used its claw to take him down. Janu, who had anticipated any possibilities, jumped to the right. He landed and turned his body to face his opponent. The tiger didn't rush. After it failed its first attack, it stayed calm and slowly it moved towards Janu again.
Its eyes were sharply staring at him and all of sudden it opened its mouth.
Ziiing…
Brukk..
The monster's mouth was shut at the collision. Janu threw his shield to interrupt the beast. He knew that it was about doing something.
"Not that easy, beast!"
'I wonder why many characters don't interrupt with skill activation in those films.'
Even though now he had the strength and confidence to face strong monsters, he didn't underestimate them. He knew of many instances of such situations where the strong were defeated by weaker opponents.
The tiger was surprised it was interrupted. It became angry and lost its temper. It ferociously chased and attacked its opponent. Janu, on the other side, had to lure it away from his shield so he could have a chance to retrieve it
[Shred Claw]
It raised its front leg to shred him. The claws on its paw were big and sharp. If they were to scratch on human skin they would surely leave a deep cut. Janu was aware of that, so he used the shield to block it.
Doong…
The claws hit the shield. Janu didn't waste this chance and countered by kicking its belly right behind the front leg.
Buuggg..
The tiger was pushed to its right. But before Janu could do a follow up, it had gained its stance. It lunged as Janu was in range and used its skill.
[Vital Choke]
Tigers kill their prey by biting their prey's neck and holding on tightly with their jaws. The prey will die from suffocation or from excessive bleeding if the fangs sever the artery. This tiger was no different. It tried to use its skill which targeted the vital part of the human body, the neck, to kill it painfully.
The fangs were ready to bite his neck. He raised his shield to block it. Even though the attack was powerful, it didn't hit the target and Janu could hold it without being pushed back. At that moment, he thrusted his sword at the tiger's chest as he saw an opening.
'Waiit..'
He pulled back his sword. On second thought, it might be good to let it live.
'I've been wondering for a while but I can't find what I am trying to find.'
'It might be possible. Let me try it. The tiger doesn't seem too dangerous, too.'
He kicked to create a distance. The tiger was cautious now and this gave him a chance to put away his sword and shield. He quickly exchanged them with his Divine Artefact, the Bansuri. He put the tip on his mouth and got ready to play it.
"Whooaa…"
Janu bent his body backward and took several steps back as he dodged the claw attack from the tiger. It seemed to want to make it even by interrupting his skill casting.
Again, the tiger attacked more aggressively as it saw its opponent didn't hold a weapon. It clawed, then bit, and clawed again. Being cornered, Janu bit the flute to hold it, so he could freely use his hands. He clenched his fists and got ready for another bout.
When the tiger clawed again, he didn't try to dodge. He kicked to parry it. He succeeded and kicked again using the same right foot. The tiger left an opening as its attack was parried and his head became the target of the kick. It didn't let itself become a sandbag and it soon gained its balance.
"It's hard to fight while holding back. I must avoid vital points.'
Janu only used half of his strength in that kick because he didn't want to kill it, or to make it disabled. He had a plan with the tiger, but the tiger wasn't an easy opponent if he didn't use his full strength. The tiger was ready again to attack.
[Power Up IV]
His strength increased significantly. He grabbed the tiger's leg when it was trying to attack him. He pulled it upward so he could get an opening. He used a front kick to attack the revealed belly.
Buugg…
Aaoommm…
The tiger screamed in pain. After he kicked the belly, he grabbed the other leg and pulled it so he got more opening. He kicked again and again using his two feet and the tiger became limp. He then let go of the tiger's legs and did an uppercut to the head.
Krueehh…
The tiger almost fainted. It staggered as it was trying to stand.
***
Previously
Janu activated one skill stone and got Last Breath.
'What about the other skill stone?'
'I hope it doesn't disappoint me.'
'Activate'
[Power Up IV
Raises the user's strength by 400%. Duration: 30 seconds. The more it is used the longer the duration is.]
***
Tootle.. Too..
Tootle.. Too..
Janu held the flute and played a tune, but it was different from the previous.
[Shepherd's Call]
The almost collapsed tiger lay on the ground. It was hypnotised and as if nothing had happened it calmed down. The ferocious look on its face was gone and the only thing left was its heavy breathing.
"I need Underwater Breathing skill. Can you bring me to monsters which can breathe underwater?"
"Grrwll.."
"Frogs, salamanders, lizards, crocodiles?"
The tiger was silent. It was thinking about those creatures. Suddenly, its expression changed drastically. It recalled something and now its face showed surprise and worry.
"Remember something?"
"Grr.."
Janu was communicating with it using the tune. It worked like telepathy. He told it his intention and it seemed to understand. He stopped the tune when the skill was in effect and took out a potion from the inventory.
"Open your mouth."
He poured it into its mouth and it regained its health. It then stood. Janu hopped onto its shoulder and it became his mount.
"Not bad."
'I got a summon, a rat, but it's locked. I could summon Garuda but I might need it later. I didn't think that Shepherd's Call worked this way. I guess it's more useful than I thought.'
The tiger ran to the forest and after about an hour they saw a cave near another waterfall. The tiger stopped all of sudden.
'This trip is quite peaceful. No monsters attacked. Are they afraid of this tiger?'
"C'mon. Let's go."
"Growll…"
The tiger refused. It was under Shepherd's Call's effect but somehow it didn't listen fully to Janu.
"What's wrong?"
"Grroowl…"
The tiger didn't give a satisfactory answer.
"Fine. I'll go alone."
Janu didn't really care. He expected to get another companion to help him but it couldn't be helped. So he went down from the tiger and walked to the cave.
'The skill is from a divine artefact, so it should be powerful, right? What makes the tiger not listen to me?'
He was walking while thinking about all the possibilities.
'Is there a powerful creature inside? More powerful than the artefact? What rank would it be?'
The cave was big. The diameter of the entrance was more than two metres. As he was walking deeper, he found some crystals along the path illuminating it. The cave got bigger inside but something was amiss. No creatures were found there and it was dead silent.
He walked for quite some time and he found a much greater space. He was standing on a cliff and below was a pond. In the middle of the pond was a huge statue of a toad. It looked old and moss was covering it. There were even some shrubs growing on it. The toad was ugly. It was full of lumps on its back and its belly was big and round.
Berut Toad Lv. 95
HP: 1
MP: 1
…
…
…
"What!?"
"It's alive!?"
"But wait…"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Monkey_D_Fluffy
Monkey_D_Fluffy Thanks everyone for your support. I really appreciate it. Enjoy!
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone