PRACTICE GUARDIAN

Species: UNKNOWN

Class: UNKNOWN

Statistics: UNKNOWN

Skills: UNKNOWN

Weak Spots: UNKNOWN

The cage burst open, releasing the darkness within. Black strands whirled through the air, giving form to the unknown creature. This was the first time that Dallion saw something unknown. Even when his perception was low, the white rectangle still gave the species name and class. It was as if the creature had somehow surrounded itself in a shroud of invisibility.

All three trainees came to the same realization in less than a second and reacted in an entirely different fashion. Gloria used her acrobatics skills to leap back as far as possible, holding the dartbow tightly in front of her. Veil shot three darts at the forming silhouette. As for Dallion, he took a defensive side-stands, raising his left arm just enough to cover the upper part of his torso with his buckler.

Where are you? Dallion kept his eyes on the creature, waiting for defense markers. He knew that the creature would attack—anything that had to be kept in a cage so sturdy had to attack the first chance it got.

Three black strands emerged from the silhouette, grabbing hold of the three darts before they could hit their target. Dallion swallowed. This wasn’t a good sign. Two glowing red eyes emerged in the darkness, then a series of sharp blue teeth… very large blue teeth.

Green markers appeared, though not the usual markers. In the past, defense markers had always provided options against attacks, yet this was the first time Dallion was given a choice between three different attacks. Three green lines started from the creature’s mouth, linking it to Dallion’s left leg, Veil’s right arm, and Gloria’s throat.

“Look out!” Dallion shouted, while his mind frantically made an attempt to analyze the situation.

It had to be a pack creature. That’s the only thing that made sense. Within seconds it was probably going to split in three and attack each of them. A second later, Dallion was proven wrong. The creature leapt forward, ignoring Dallion completely, heading straight for Veil. The blond managed to fire one more bolt before the blue teeth sank into his throat.

FATAL WOUND!

VEIL LUOR’s health has decreased by 100%.

A red rectangle appeared just as Veil went out of existence. By now he was probably back in the real world and without supper. That wasn’t Dallion’s main concern, though. Two sets of defense markers remained.

“Gloria, get here!” he shouted, aiming at the creature.

The moment the red pointer touched the monster’s back, Dallion squeezed the trigger. As with Veil, the bolt never reached its target. The creature simply jumped to the left, avoiding the attack with ease.

That wasn’t supposed to happen. Dallion shot again, then again, and again. Bolts flew along the trajectory line like a stream, each missing by a few inches each time. It was almost as if the creature was toying with Dallion, directing most of its attention on Gloria.

The girl seemed to be perfectly aware of that, for she continued to retreat backwards towards the wall. It wouldn’t be long until she ran out of room. Once that happened the creature would finisher her off and go for Dallion.

Time appeared to slow down. Dallion’s mind went through the options. His speed couldn’t match that the creature and all of his attacks were easily avoided.

I need more time!

If he charged the creature, there was a chance that he’d create a good enough distraction for Gloria to attack. With her stats she’d probably strike at the creature’s weak spot.

Just give up, a voice whispered in the back of his mind. There was no point in trying so hard. This wasn’t the real thing, it was just an exercise. No one was going to get hurt, at most they’d skip a meal. And even if by some miracle Dallion managed to defeat the guardian, what would happen? A silver coin was a lot, but it wasn’t like he could buy anything he otherwise couldn’t. At best he’d have to wait a few seasons until a travelling merchant passed by just to get some useless trinket…

“No!” Dallion shouted. I’m not giving up!

Dallion glanced at his weapon. It was impossible to improve anything while in awakened state. He had tried improving his buckler, sword, even clothes enough times to know it was impossible. However, there was one thing he hadn’t tried.

Please work. Dallion grabbed his right hand with his left.

The creature snarled, leaping away from the nearby wall where a doorway had suddenly appeared. This definitely wasn’t what Dallion had in mind, but he took what he could get.

“Get ready!” he shouted and removed the buckler from his arm.

I want to do a defensive attack, he thought.

A single set of green and red markers appeared: a dash of footsteps forward, followed by a twist and release of the shield, just like throwing a discus. Dallion had never thrown a discus in his life, he had barely seen it done at the Olympics. Now was the time to try it out.

Without hesitation, he ran forward. His feat matched each step perfectly. After the tenth step time came to a stop—a real stop, not just a trick of his mind. After another four, Dallion held the buckler as the marker in the air indicated, twisted his body and released it at the precise moment. The shield split the air, following a trajectory towards the beast’s head. The attack didn’t stop there, though. One more set of markers remained—red markers indicating how and from where, Dallion should shoot his dartbow… And Dallion did just that.

Time returned to normal, along with a loud thump as the buckler struck the monster in the head.

HEAD WOUND!

??? has been dazed.

All actions will be performed at 50% speed for the next 10 seconds.

Best choice of first item ever, Dallion thought.

The bolt once again missed its target, as Dallion suspected it would, but it didn’t matter; the distraction had been long enough for Gloria to join the fight.

COMBINATION ATTACK

Dealt Damage was increased by 200%

CRITICAL STRIKE

Dealt Damage was increased by 200%