Chapter 105 - A-G 22097 Part 7 (1/2)

The glow from Cynrik's eyes dissipated as he deactivated [Mana Sight] and collected himself. Then, knowing he was pressed for time and the others were patiently waiting by the Boss room for his arrival, Cynrik ran one last simulation in his head to figure out the best possible outcome for the battle.

'Right, time to go.' Slowly getting to his feet but staying crouched low to the ground, Cynrik flicked his wrists and unsheathed both hidden blades with a muted sound before dashing off towards the smallest group of Packhounds.

Thanks to his 174 AGI, it took him less than a breath of time to cross the open space and arrive at the four sleeping creatures, his eyes locking on the back of the necks of two in particular. Then, bringing up both his arms as if hugging the air, Cynrik lunged forward and stabbed both unsuspecting Packhounds, severing their spinal columns and instantly killing both, before dropping his [Shadow Veil] in the process.

Skittering to a stop and feeling the eyes of the startled hounds around him, Cynrik flicked both his wrists in a clockwise motion causing a clicking sound from the gauntlets as they swapped blades. In an instant, the Cold-Steel blades slammed back into the gauntlet and changed to the Dark Infused hidden blades.

Wasting no time and bringing both arms up like he was swinging a baseball bat, Cynrik swung both his arms across his body and, for the first time, triggered the Assassins Tools Special skill [Blade Shot].

TSS TSS

Pumping a small amount of MP into both wrists expelled the two blades leaving behind a sound reminiscent of an airsoft rifle, turning the sharp Dark Mana clad blades into projectiles that hit their mark seconds later, penetrating deep into two more Packhounds, this time through their eye and into their brains.

Cynrik didn't bother double-checking to be sure he had hit his mark since Tobs had already made a ding sound in his head to indicate incoming notifications. Having cut down four of the ten hounds in less than three seconds, he tossed a glance at the six remaining Packhounds. Then, realizing it wasn't time to slow down, he unsheathed both his new swords, the Tri-Elemental Twin Kodachi's, and threw himself towards the closest hound, which was already on its feet and growling furiously at him.

”Hmph, [Haste], [Blind], [Fear].” In rapid succession, Cynrik started activating skills one after another, starting with [Haste], increasing his already high AGI one step further. The combination of the +10 points from his two swords and the +17 points from [Haste] caused his body to temporarily breakthrough the next checkpoint of 200.

Speed aside, Cynrik had also activated two of his recently acquired Dark Affinity skills.

-Tier-1 Dark Affinity Skill: Blind-

- By manipulating ambient Dark Mana particles, the User can choose one creature they can see within five meters and instantly coat that targets eyes with the collected particles inflicting the Status Effect: Blind-

-The success rate for inflicting Blind is determined by the target and the skill User's MIND and VIT stats. If both Stats are higher than the target skill success rate is 100%, if one skill is higher, 50%, if the targets skills are both higher than the User 25% success rate.-

-Status Effect: Blind- For 60 seconds, the being inflicted with this Status will only see a world of pitch black.-

-Cost: 50 MP-

-Tier-1 Dark Affinity Skill: Fear-

- Most creatures are born with an innate fear of the darkness. As a being who utilizes Dark Mana, you are able to create a small, intangible bubble of Dark Mana Particles spanning five meters around your body. Any creature not labeled as ”Ally” will have a chance of being inflicted with the Status Effect: Frightened if they enter this bubble of pure Dark Mana.-

-Status Effect: Frightened, So long as this Status is in effect, the afflicted will experience hallucinations of their absolute worst fears. Beings with this Status Effect will have a higher chance of exiting battle and trying to run from the being who assaulted them with this Status. The further the afflicted being gets from the one who triggered the Status, the faster its effects will dwindle. This Status effect will be reduced if the inflicted has a high MIND Stat.-

-The Status will stay active until its point of origin cancels the skill causing it, or the afflicted vacates the area.-

-Cost: 50 MP-

Chaos instantly broke out amongst the pack. As the Alpha was targeted with [Blind], it howled in rage and started digging at its eyes with its paws, thinking something was covering its face. In contrast, the remaining five hounds started whimpering and cowering due to being afflicted with the Frightened Status reducing the overall danger level of this encounter significantly.

Flitting around like a ghost, Cynrik weaved his way through the pack of canines, slashing out at the panicked creatures as he passed. Unfortunately, as he hadn't adapted to his newfound speed, Cynrik missed several kill shots, leaving behind wounded creatures in his wake. The scene of something flashing by and causing blood to erupt from their bodies only caused the already Frightened creatures to absolutely lose their minds.

As Cynrik made his way towards the angered Pack Alpha, the canines he passed started evacuating their bowels and bladders before collapsing on the ground in convulsions.