The world turned into a fast blur as Raymond couldn't comprehend what had just happened. He found himself whistling through the air, unable to do anything.
Crash
Like a rag, he crashed into the nearby tree, his back meeting the hard wood, with such force it even created a light dent in it.
"Agh." He groaned.
His back erupted in an arduous pain. His head felt hazy for a moment however knowing something was wrong, he shook it swiftly to understand what had happened…
His vision cleared and as soon as it did, he found the culprit. His breath hitched in shock for a moment as his eyes widened.
There beside the corpse of the dead lizard, stood another one. It was the same kind of monster however this one looked a bit different from the other.
Dangerous and deadly.
Its size was almost double of the previous lizard, reaching almost seven metres while the rocky scales on its back looked even more compact and hard.
It flicked out its tongues licking the tense air, as its longer claws dig inside the earth. Its eyes radiate feral hunger and rage. While its tail from which it had previously attacked waved freely into the air.
"Fuck, there was another one." Raymond cursed as he slowly stood up. His back ached however he ignored it.
Silence reigned for a moment, as both looked at each other, Raymond's gaze flicked upon his sword briefly however with the monster at the other side he couldn't retrieve it.
Still, it wasn't that he didn't have any other options.
His amethyst irises glowed in the dark, as frigid cold mana radiated out from his hands.
Then, without any warning the lizard rushed at Raymond. It was way faster than the previous one. In a blink, it was upon him.
However Raymond also wasn't standing still. His eyes narrowed sharply, as raising his hand into the air, he immediately created a frost spike and hurtled it at the monster.
The lizard looking at the spike, didn't even try to dodge it. Rather, it moved even faster…its claws stretched towards Raymond wanting nothing but to tear him apart.
The frozen spike struck the monster's back, however it hit the back of the monster 's armour protecting it. Unable to pierce through the rocky armour the spike shattered into tiny shards of cold.
The lizard lashed out, its claws just inches away from Raymond's chest, however in the nick of time, he dodged as he sidestepped towards his right.
The claws hit the tree, as cracks appeared in the trunk of the tree. Yet, before Raymond could do anything. The monster twisted its agile body.
Like a whip, it's tail whizzed through the air coming straight towards Raymond's head. Raymond, not having enough time to dodge, brought his arms together and crossed them in an x-shape in front of his head.
Bang.
The tail struck his arms with a loud bang. Raymond felt as if someone had rammed a car into him. His arms trembled from the sheer power of the blow.
"Guh." His bones creaked, as he skidded back from the monster. Flares of pain erupted in his arms, as he endured it gritting his teeth.
The monster didn't let him recover, as it instantly lunged at him. Its jaws opened wide aiming to swallow him.
Watching the razor teeth, closing in on him. Raymond hurriedly ducked, the jaw of the monster shut in the empty air, where his head had been moments ago.
He didn't waste this chance. Mana flared in his fist, as he clenched it tightly. Power exploded from him as his fist struck under the monster's head.
"Keirg."
The lizard was flung away into the air, from the power behind the fist. It let out a low screech, as its brain rattled from the attack.
Shaking its head, it once again turned to look at its prey. However, Raymond was already gone from his previous position.
The lizard flicked its head towards the other side, as it sensed him. There Raymond stood panting, as his chest heaved. Sweat glistened down his head as his eyes never left the monster.
His sword glinted in his hand as he flicked it, removing the dripping blood from it. He finally retrieved it from the dead monster's corpse.
"Keighhh." The monster roared at him, as it saw its prey still standing. Immediately it ran towards Raymond with a frightening speed.
Raymond once again raised his hand into the air, however this time it wasn't directly aimed at the monster.
Rather, it was aimed at the cracked tree, which somehow barely stood even after all the assaults. He fired a frozen spike towards it. The spike hit the trunk blasting the round edge of the tree into wooden splinters.
The lizard not caring about his actions had already closed, however he was also ready. Blade struck claws as sparks erupted into the dark nightly surroundings.
Raymond gritted his teeth, as he met the monster's attack head on. The monster obviously was the more powerful one as Raymond had barely suppressed it, with mana flooding his whole body strengthening it.
Locked in the battle of strengths the monster seemed to run out of patience, as its jaw snapped towards Raymond.
"Shi-"
Instinctively, Raymond tilted his head towards the side barely dodging the attack, in doing that his control flickered, as lizard's one limb was left free.
In a blink, the lizard attacked. Its sharp claws slashed deep into his chest… a long vertical gash appeared on his chest and stomach.
"Aghhh."
Crimson erupted from the bloody gash, like a fountain of water, as Raymond screamed, feeling the mind numbing pain he had never felt before.
His vision blurred, as stars exploded in front of his eyes from the agony. However, he didn't back down because he instinctively knew backing down from here would mean certain death.
Clenching his teeth, enduring the pain. He tilted his blade as the monster claw slid off from it. The lizard was uncoordinated for a moment, as it quickly tried to gain the balance.
However Raymond was faster, mana coescaled around his knee and hit the side of the monster's head. The knee hit with a bang, he could feel the impact shattering the monster's skull…making the lizard step back.
Raymond didn't stop. With a single thought he activated his magic, using all of his remaining mana.
Five rough spikes of ice, materialized as they hovered in the air radiating frigid chill. With a wave of his hand he sent the spike for the monster.
The lizard, seeing the attacks coming towards it, instinctively tried to dodge it. It moved towards its right dodging the first strike.
The second spike hit its hard armour turning into crystal shards without doing any damage.
The third however struck true, as the monster had taken a heavy blow to its head, its balance disoriented for a moment and it fell.
The spike lodged straight into its eye. Piercing deep into its head. The monster convulsed from the pain.
"Keeeigr." It let out a terrible roar, as it shrieked in unbearable pain. Its body writhing like a snake.
However before it could even have the time to comprehend anything, a strange breaking sound whistled through the forest.
The lizard's instincts screamed, blaring like a horn, it looked towards its back. Its remaining eye widened in panic as it saw a large tree falling on it.
Yes, that was the same tree from which Raymond had collided too. He had been slowly attacking it as the fourth strike missed but the last one hit the sturdy tree.
It struck, tearing the other round edge from the tree. The tree trembled without support, its trunk leaned, falling straight onto the lizard.
Wood turned into splinters as the tree fell. The lizard watching it tried to move however, before it could do anything Raymond was already attacking.
"No, you don't."
He held his sword backhanded, as he threw it like a spear…his aim was terrible. Instead of striking the monster's face like he had intended it veered off to another direction.
But fortunately, it struck the lizard's front legs. The sword lodged straight into its legs making it unable to move. Just then the tree finally fell.
Its wood creaked, unable to support the weight, as the tree fell on the lizard with a loud thud.
A loud screech rang into the calamity, as the monster finally took its dying breath. Its body flailed under the heavy tree. Soon enough the monster was finally dead.
The night forest fell utterly silent for a moment, there was no constant buzz of insects, no rustling of the wind. It felt as if even the forest was holding its breath to see who would be the victor.
And finally it was decided as the system's chime came in at the right time announcing the words in Raymond's head.
[You have killed a Novice ranked monster.]
"Fuck this world."