Swordsman

Everything fell silent. Aside from Zhou Kai's ragged breathing, it was as if nothing had happened.

But the Moonlight Orchid Amulet, now withered and worn, and the occasional stab of pain in his mind both told Zhou Kai otherwise.

Something had definitely just happened to him...

"Occultism... leveled up again?"

Zhou Kai's face darkened.

This skill came from the most intricately bound book, Morning Star's Journal. It contained scattered snippets about the ancient rites of the Church of Light, jumbled and disjointed, like the mutterings of a madman.

The system's vague hints had kept Zhou Kai from ever willingly touching this ticking time bomb.

The only time this skill had leveled up was when he dealt with the Paper Doll. He'd nearly been dragged into an illusion and died without knowing why.

And then there was just now.

Just looking at the massive surge in experience points filled Zhou Kai with dread. A chill crept up his spine to the back of his head.

"If I hadn't had the Moonlight Orchid Amulet, I'd have been done for. I got more experience from this than I did from the Paper Doll last time. That means it was even more dangerous!"

"Restore the amulet's durability to full."

Zhou Kai clenched the amulet, grateful for the flash of inspiration he'd had when he first got it.

This thing was an absolute bargain. It could not only dispel the Blood Tide, but was especially effective against this kind of intangible mental corruption.

He had a vague feeling that the Blood Tide and this kind of mental horror might share the same root...

But the thought passed in a flash, and he had no idea what it meant.

[The Moonlight Orchid Amulet's durability has been fully restored. Since you spent additional experience points, the amulet's quality has changed.]

[You spent 3 Universal Experience Points.]

[Universal Experience Points: 15 → 12]

The amulet's appearance visibly improved.

It had originally looked like a crude woven trinket from a roadside stall, but now it was neat and tightly woven. He could even faintly feel a framework of metal wire inside.

It should be much sturdier now.

Its maximum durability and effects had probably improved, too.

Zhou Kai looked back at the little desk. The eerie journal had vanished, as if it had never existed.

Phew...

He hadn't fought any monsters face-to-face, but his heart was still pounding uncontrollably, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

He couldn't shake the feeling that a pair of eyes was watching him from the dark.

"Fuck."

He muttered a curse and quickly retreated from the bedroom.

After searching the other rooms without finding anything, he hurried downstairs.

He planned to leave through the back door, cross the courtyard, and search the other buildings.

But just as Zhou Kai was about to touch the back door's handle,

he picked out an odd sound amid the wind and rain outside.

It was the sound of metal scraping against stone.

"There's something outside."

Zhou Kai's eyes narrowed. He came to a decision in an instant.

Take another route?

No... It had come right to his door.

Just what he wanted!

Zhou Kai gripped the axe in his hand, lowered his stance, and silently moved beside a window overlooking the courtyard.

A bolt of lightning split the night sky, illuminating the courtyard for an instant.

A shadow was wandering in the rain, its silhouette roughly the size and shape of an ordinary person.

Zhou Kai immediately had a good idea what it was.

"Either a Parasitic Corpse or another kind of monster I saw the other day... Let's do this!"

He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and brought his body to peak condition.

But before pushing the door open, his eyes drifted to the skill panel of their own accord.

[Hint: Upgrading Occultism will allow you to gain more from exploration and combat.]

Honestly, if he had a choice, Zhou Kai would never touch this damned skill again.

It was like the Inspiration mechanic in a Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game: the higher your level, the more you could detect the strange things beyond ordinary people's comprehension—and the easier it was to lose your sanity and die.

But... as long as he kept exploring, these bizarre encounters would only become more frequent. His Occultism experience would go up sooner or later, whether he liked it or not.

"If I'm going to gain experience points sooner or later, why not upgrade it now and get more out of it?"

Zhou Kai let out a long breath. Once he'd made up his mind, he actually felt more at ease.

"Occultism, raise it to Lv. 2!"

[You spent 10 Universal Experience Points. Your skill "Occultism" has leveled up.]

[Occultism Lv. 1 (5/15) → Lv. 2 (0/25)]

[You begin to demand more from the Nightmare...]

In an instant, the needle-like pain in his mind vanished, replaced by a clarity unlike anything he'd ever felt before.

The sensation was far stronger than the Clear-Headed state. It was as if the world itself had become more vivid and real to him.

"Let's hope my first prey tonight doesn't disappoint."

Zhou Kai licked his dry lips and slowly pushed open the back door of Residence 454.

The moment it opened, a spray of water came crashing into his face.

It was fast and heavy, accompanied by a sharp whoosh. It was definitely not rain blown in by the wind!

"Did it spot me?"

Zhou Kai's pupils contracted. Without a moment's hesitation, he swung his axe at the source of the spray, bringing it down in a fierce overhead chop!

Clang!

A shrill, grating metallic screech ripped through the rainy night!

Zhou Kai's axe blade struck the edge of a Two-Handed Sword with pinpoint accuracy.

Scree...

The force coming from the sword was incredible. Zhou Kai's palm jolted violently, and the muscles in his arm instantly tensed to their limit.

He let his axe slide down the sword's edge to redirect the force, only just managing to withstand the heavy blow.

Boom!

Lightning flashed in the distance, bleaching the courtyard white.

Zhou Kai got a good look at his opponent.

It wore a suit of rust-covered silver full plate armor and stood nearly two meters tall. Its face was completely sealed inside an airtight helmet, with only a narrow, pitch-black slit for vision.

It was one of the new enemies he'd discovered the other day!

Zhou Kai snorted. Several of the monsters that had torn him apart that day had looked just like the Silver-Armored Swordsman before him.

His anger surging, he put his back into it, twisting at the waist and pouring all his strength into his arm.

His axe knocked the heavy Two-Handed Sword sharply aside!

As the sword went out of control and slammed toward the ground, Zhou Kai turned his wrist and swept his axe at the swordsman's neck!

That was where the helmet joined the breastplate—the only weak point in this walking can of iron!

Thud!

The blow landed with a dull thump. The axe smashed squarely into the gorget, caving in the overlapping plates.

If there had been a living person inside, that Blunt Strike alone would have rattled their brain and knocked them unconscious.

But Zhou Kai was facing a monster.

The full-force blow only made its body stiffen for a moment. Its neck wouldn't turn, as if it were a rusted part.

"If I had a Two-Handed Sword, I'd have taken your damn head off with that!"

His first strike hadn't finished the job, so Zhou Kai immediately retreated, engaging the armored swordsman in a brief skirmish.

He was more agile and more familiar with how this body fought.

Zhou Kai circled like a hungry wolf around a bull, constantly moving and searching for an opening. He barely took any damage.

The armored swordsman, meanwhile, visibly grew slower and more sluggish.

Whoosh!

The sword tore through the rain and crashed down with immense force, smashing the courtyard wall of Residence 454 to pieces and sending bricks and stones flying.

But in the darkness, Zhou Kai dodged the deadly blow a step ahead, relying on muscle memory and battle instinct.

This thing was using Soraka Swordsmanship!

That made it easy to predict.

Zhou Kai's mind raced. After dodging the strike, he closed in and hammered his axe against the swordsman's helmet again and again, like raindrops—clang, clang, clang, clang!

His stamina was draining rapidly.

But the surge of adrenaline and his exceptionally clear mind let him ignore his exhaustion for the moment.

The swordsman, on the other hand, seemed to have been badly hampered by its damaged armor. Every movement came with a grating metallic scrape.

Now!

Zhou Kai stepped on the swordsman's sword before it could lift it, then leaped high, putting his entire weight behind the axe in his hands.

Thump!

At last, the axe blade split the Sturdy helmet.

The enormous recoil numbed his arms and split the skin across his palm, sending blood streaming down, but he paid it no mind.

Just like when he'd fought the Wanderer, the bloodlust in Zhou Kai's heart had been fully unleashed.

The longer he fought, the wilder he became; the more he killed, the fiercer he grew.