’While the actual Energy Reserve Capacity went up, the energy itself went down. If it hits zero, it doesn’t matter what the capacity is. If it does, the mech will collapse under its own weight.’
The obvious path forward was to try and find more metal to eat and quickly get his Energy Reserve Capacity to 10. Once he did that, he would not only be able to access his Cyber Space, but he would also have an extra life.
The Cyber Space came with many useful abilities, but the top one on Grey’s priority list was dismissing this damned iron jaw. If he did that, he would be able to access the abilities of the Skrill Mask again. Right now, he was pretty sure it wasn’t working at all because of his iron jaw.
If the Skrill Mask was active, his movements would be harder to track and that archer wouldn’t have been able to pin him down so easily. She would have had a hard time telling which of his afterimages was real.
As for the extra life, that spoke for itself.
Unfortunately, if the energy went down every time he devoured a piece of metal, then he couldn’t just try to blitz his way to 10 units. He would first need more Cyber Cores to replenish his mech.
There was one more issue hidden beneath the layers of all of this, and that was the fact that his Speed and Dexterity had gone down with the increase to his Endurance.
If he swallowed more metal, what would he do if they dropped even further?
If his Speed was too low, no amount of skill would help bridge that gap. Goblin Warlord Spirit would become useless. In fact, without enough Dexterity, how could you be skillful at all?
’Before I do any of this, I need better stats. Ugh—!’
Grey went to move his hand through his hair out of habit again, only to touch those disgusting wiggling worms. He had gotten so used to them he forgot they were there.
Taking a deep breath, Grey followed it up with a long exhale.
One step forward and two back.
With a swift motion, Grey unsheathed his dagger. It was going to be his new weapon for now, and clearly, the world was against him.
He had to be ready for battle at any moment.
’I’m off base right now. I went the wrong direction because of that illusion. If I just double back toward the city, I might get caught up in another trap. I’ll have to take a shortcut from here toward the original path I took, then. This way.’
Grey pivoted and moved toward the next ruin. If he was lucky, maybe most of these ruins had already been cleared so he wouldn’t have to get into too many battles.
He should have known better than to rely on his luck.
...
Grey crossed the threshold into a ruin minutes later, pushing aside a tree branch. Other than the city itself, which had a map Grey had downloaded from his apartment, the rest of his map could only be filled out through actual exploration.
As such, Grey’s current map was actually just two winding paths that connected back at the city. At best, he could guesstimate how many ruins he might have to go through to get back to the path he originally took.
There should only be three at most. If he was lucky, there would only be two.
Unfortunately, the moment he stepped into the ruins, there was a whirring sound as a barrier rose up.
—
[Instance Battle Triggered — Lair of the Skrill!]
—
’Skrill? Again?’
Grey was pissed at his luck for a second before he nodded to himself. This wasn’t the worst-case scenario. It was better than fighting against enemies he didn’t understand.
Figuring out the attack patterns and abilities of these monsters was half the battle.
The roar of a chainsaw filled the skies and Grey’s head whipped to the side to see sparks flying through the air.
His lip twitched.
That was definitely new.
A Skrill leapt at him, its body fluctuating wildly in the air, leaving streaks and afterimages.
’... That is also new...’
His Skrill Mask might have had that ability, but it hadn’t been so obvious on the Skrills he originally fought.
Grey didn’t have the time to shed tears.
—
[Name: Skrill Elite]
[Proving Class]
—
Grey slipped to one side, barely dodging. The scent of burning engine fluid filled his nose, the gasoline so overwhelming his head almost went light.
’Fast.’
Grey had dodged long before the Skrill leapt at him, and it couldn’t even adjust well in the air, but he had still almost been hit.
’Goblin Warlord Spirit isn’t going to be enough at this rate.’
Grey tried to follow up the instant the Skrill landed, but the creature’s chainsaw hit the ground first, its revving engine landing just right. Its rotating blades caught against the earth and roared, a kickback sending the creature right back toward Grey.
It was too late to dodge. Grey suffered a heel right to his jaw, a power so great it nearly took his head from his shoulders, rocking him violently.
Grey was half convinced that if this had happened before his Endurance reached 21, that was precisely what would have occurred.
Luckily, his iron jaw also displayed its prowess. Though his head snapped back violently, much of the blow was mitigated, and the sound of shattering bone filled the air.
Grey’s head spun and he inwardly wondered just how many times his brain would rattle in his skull today. But maybe due to his Endurance, he didn’t immediately enter a dazed state again.
He took several steps back as the Skrill roared in pain. The creature landed on the ground, using its chainsaw as a crutch as it balanced on its other leg.
Grey gritted his teeth, using a free hand to stretch his jaw from left to right.
"Come on then, you ugly piece of shit."
Grey shot forward.