BXBX NOVEL Chapter 148 Skill Test And Hemlock
>User Arthur Gray detected<
Arthur entered the Dream Pod V3 and the lid closed above him.
"Lots of things to do today," Arthur muttered as he logged into the game.
The flurry of colors swept past him before he found himself back in the inn where he had logged off from.
Picking up the rucksack, he made his way to the town gate as he didn\'t want to waste any time.
\'If all things go well, I\'ll be able to finish the quest for the Black Root Hemlock as well as a bounty,\' Arthur thought.
His first destination was none other than the Trunel Woods as that was where the Black Root Hemlock could be found.
\'I\'ll need to find their grove first. It should still be in the same place as written in the forums.\' Arthur remembered.
With that in mind, he made his way through the woods. Of course, his journey wasn\'t as smooth as he soon encountered a familiar beast.
~GRRR~
"Bone Blade beast again… this time it won\'t be that hard." Arthur said before directly spurring into action.
He didn\'t even let the beast have the time to react and directly used Lock on it.
>Weapon Skill Lock has succeeded!<
>Bone Blade Beast\'s Will and Agility will be sealed!<
>Bone Blade Beast has been weakened: Agility -3, Will -3<
The reduction in the beast\'s agility stat allowed Arthur to outmaneuver it with ease as he quickly sidestepped the beast\'s skill, the bone blade rush!
"Too slow to affect me," Arthur said as he spun around and used one of his newly acquired skills.
"Rapid Thrust!"
[-10% HP]
[-12% HP]
[-15% HP]
[-25% HP]
Considering Arthur\'s agility, he was able to hit the beast four times in a row, draining away more than half of its HP in one go.
It was enough for the beast to be angered and retaliate against Arthur. As such it used its Bone Blade Rush again, but Arthur jumped back to avoid it with ease.
And while the beast was still trying to turn around to target Arthur again, he used another skill.
"Skewer!"
[-38% HP]
[Critical hit!]
[Fatal hit!]
The spear directly penetrated the Bone Blade Beast\'s neck, coming out of the other side. Bits of its flesh and blood vessels were stuck on the spear head, while copious amounts of blood spilled down the beast\'s neck.
It could barely let out a whimper before its death arrived.
>Player Arzhur has killed a Bone Blade Beast!<
>Player Arzhur has obtained 3% Experience<
"The skills definitely made it faster." Arthur was pleased. "The effect of the Spear Arts is also significant… I can feel the spear being a lot more comfortable in my hands." He looked at Dietrich.
He felt like he had been using the Key Spear for a long time. The weight and heft of the weapon felt normal to him and he had the illusion that he had thrust it tens of thousands of times before.
>Player Arzhur has obtained Mid quality Bone Blades x 2<
He also used Butcher and took the blades of the beast, storing them away.
"Another thing I need to try." Arthur held the spear firmly and activated another skill.
>Spear Coating has been activated!<
>Frost Touch has been selected as the infused spell<
Arthur looked at Dietrich as a pale blue glow covered it. The spear felt cold to the touch but returned to normal a few moments later.
"So this is Spear Coating huh… I can instinctively release the spell if I wish to." Arthur felt the changes within the spear.
For some reason, he also felt like the skill was perfect for Dietrich. He didn\'t know why though as it was just a gut feeling he had.
"Let\'s continue." Arthur progressed ahead but not before summoning Brambles as well.
~shua~
The form of Brambles materialized in front of him, looking a lot more calm than before.
The two walked through the woods for ten minutes before coming across another Bone Blade Beast.
~KRIIIII~
Brambles seemed to be rather excited to fight but Arthur stopped him before that.
"Wait, I wanna fight this myself." Arthur still needed to test out Spear Coating in a fight after all.
~Kri~
The beast held back after that and allowed Arthur to fight on his own.
"GRAAAA" The Bone Blade Beast smelled the scent of blood on Arthur and felt enraged from the start.
It used its signature Bone Blade Rush on Arthur right away.
~CLANG~
But Brambles was there to block it.
[-0% HP]
"This one is faster than the previous…" Arthur narrowed his eyes.
>Dragon\'s Insight has been successfully activated!<
~DING~
——
Target: Bone Blade Beast
Rank: Uncommon
Level: 14
Type: Beast
——
Arthur only looked at the basic information about the beast and saw that it was higher level than the others he had fought before.
"No wonder it\'s faster." Arthur muttered as he used the Lock Skill again.
>Weapon Skill Lock has succeeded!<
>Bone Blade Beast\'s Intelligence and Dexterity will be sealed!<
>Bone Blade Beast has been weakened: Intelligence -3, Dexterity -3<
This time though, Arthur didn\'t manage to seal the beast\'s agility thus its speed was uncompromisable.
\'Guess I\'ll have to do it directly. Thankfully, it\'s the perfect situation to test the skill.\' Arthur thought as he moved around Brambles.
He let the Bone Blade Beast attack Brambles a few times, as the beetle simply suffered no damage from its attacks. Arthur waited till the moment when the Bone Blade Beast had just recoiled from hitting the tough carapace of Brambles to attack.
"Release Frost Touch!" Arthur activated the spell that was infused into the spear watching as the spear head was coated in a blue glow.
A chilly feeling emanated from it while a trail of pale blue light was left as Arthur swung the spear.
Arthur\'s spear struck the back of the Bone blade beast, creating a cut as well as freezing it right away.
[-15% HP]
[-2% HP] [Frost damage]
But Arthur didn\'t stop there and swung the spear several times while continuing to move.
——
The Bone Blade beast was unable to react fast enough due to the loss in dexterity as well as the giant beetle blocking its path at every turn. Bramble\'s horn poked into the beast\'s attack path, preventing it from properly targeting Arthur.
[-12% HP]
[-1% HP] [Frost damage]
[-19% HP]
[-3% HP] [Frost damage]
[-16% HP]
[-2% HP] [Frost damage]
>The Bone Blade beast has been partially frozen!<
>Bone Blade Beast\'s movement speed has been reduced by 40%<
The multiple strikes of Arthur had shown its effect as the back and hind limbs of the beast were now covered with a layer of ice.
Not only did it inflict extra damage, albeit small, but it also ended up freezing the muscles of the beast. This led to the beast needing a lot more effort to move and getting slowed down.
"Die!"
Seeing the opportunity Arthur jumped and stabbed directly through the Bone Blade Beast\'s skull
[-39% HP]
[Critical Hit!]
[Fatal Hit]
>Player Arzhur has killed the Bone Blade beast<
>Player Arzhur has obtained 5% Experience<
>Dragon Horn Beetle has obtained 3% Experience<
The Bone Blade beast slumped down to the ground, while the spear was stabbed all the way into the soil below.
"Huu~" Arthur let out a breath and looked at the spear head that was still glowing in a blue light.
"This is more than enough to inflict several injuries." Arthur was pleased by the combination of the skills.
Next, he quickly got to butchering the beast and took the loot from it.
>Player Arzhur has obtained Mid quality Bone blades x 2<
Storing them away, Arthur continued his journey.
His destination was a couple of hours deep into the Trunel Woods and went through a lot of dangerous areas.
Arthur ended up encountering eight more Bone Blade beasts before he finally reached what looked like a clearing.
"This should be it." Arthur first checked the area for any mobs before searching it for his objective.
The clearing had a lot of flowers growing in it along with a few berry bushes. These were none other than the Dew Berries that Arthur had harvested before.
"May as well take these too." Arthur plucked the bushes clean before moving onto the other flowers.
In the multitude of flowers, there was a plant with a tall stalk but tiny white flowers.
Its stalk was green and looked like all the other plants, making it easy to blend in. But it was its flowers that allowed one to recognize it.
>Dragon\'s Insight has been activated!<
~DING~
——
Target: White Flower Hemlock
Info: A common poisonous herb that is found in various forests. It is said that among a field of hemlock, there would be a few that would reach the peak of toxicity and transform into a new species.
Effects: Consuming this would inflict the player with poison, making them lose 1% HP every second.
Uses: Used in poisons and some elixirs.
——