[-1 Defense Point!]
The notification snapped him back to the battle at hand. He combed back his red hair with his free hand and looked at the Panda, who was now lying down on his side, watching his fight with interest.
"Isn’t there anything you can do?" he asked. He knew Pang could not go out, but there could be some stuff he could do! "Like...throw whatever at them?"
"Can’t, la! We’re not allowed to interfere with anything outside the barrier," he said, with a tone of chastising a child, and every time Finn’s eyes never failed to twitch.
"Then...how do I find customers?"
"That’s your job, Innkeeper."
"..."
He sighed and just headed back to the barrier. By this time, his attacks and the barrier had done a bit of damage to the beasts, though nothing lethal yet.
This would’ve been fine if he had the luxury of time and energy, both of which he did not have.
This can’t go on...
With a deep frown on his face, he walked closer to the barrier. He was so close that Pang flinched and almost ran over to stop him from running out.
"EI!"
However, he stopped right next to the barrier and squeezed the wound on his upper thigh. His eyes twitched at the pain, but he continued to do so. Seeing as he wasn’t running out of the barrier, Pang stopped abruptly and rolled over to his feet, though Finn couldn’t pay attention on him now.
He just made the pain he was feeling even worse. He was barely keeping things sane.
He then allowed some of that blood to flow onto his bone sword, and he testingly put it outside, causing the monsters to go even more manic.
ROAAAARRR!!
ROAAAARRRRR!!
[-1 Defense Point]
Finn watched as the monsters became more and more frantic and the smell of his blood, increasing the ’pink’ colored areas in their bodies. He couldn’t see this because his skill had long deactivated, but he had a feel of what was happening.
Of course, the more they bled wasn’t entirely a good thing for him. Their blood would also attract more and more monsters, causing this whole thing to be endless.
He couldn’t even handle one. How would he handle the rest of them?
He stood in front of the barrier, as close as safe to him, and the monsters focused on the spot. They’d ram into it, but also hit each other.
This was especially true whenever he stabbed a monster with the blade flowing with his blood, causing monsters to find the victimized monster just as attractive as he was, even if it was just a moment or two.
If he couldn’t damage them himself, then he might as well get them to injure each other instead.
They would occasionally step and bite on each other, making them bleed. When one monster’s sharp teeth had embedded in another, it wasn’t like they’d pull it out without damage. By instinct, they’d snap their mouths even tighter, taking away a portion of skin and muscle as they pulled out.
ROAAAR!!
The monsters got increasingly livid, ramming onto whatever solid surface they could hit—whether it was the barrier or another monster.
Of course, because his fresh blood was still more attractive, their primary focus was still on the barrier.
Bang! Bang!
[-1 Defense Point!]
When Pang realized what he was doing, he blinked, stared at Finn, looking quite impressed. He then moved to another area away from the barrier, but with a clear view of whatever it was Finn was doing.
[-1 Defense Point!]
Finn gripped his weapon and walked towards the barrier. He made quick stabs, specifically targeting the ’red’ spots and irritating the pink ones.ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel※fire.net
He had to be more careful now, lest they bite on his weapon again to pull him outside.
Considering his ’dormant’ physique, the only reason he could still make a hit was because of his [Blade Proficiency] skill. He was planning on maximizing that.
Stab!
Stab!
ROARRR!
One roared when Finn finally made its eye splurt in blood. This caused the monsters around it to be even more frantic.
However, human blood seemed to attract them more—even if it was behind the barrier, not to mention fresh blood on the sword that occasionally peeked out—so they continued to focus on him, just as he needed.
Some would even attack another monster because Finn splashed his own blood onto it.
However, the problem with this technique was that the longer the blood was away from him, the less effective they were, and he honestly didn’t think he could squeeze more fresh blood from his body without fainting.
So...he refused to be dependent on his own blood, slowly improving his own skills and accuracy. Fortunately, the monsters were also getting damaged at the same time, so even as he grew weaker, the same was happening to them.
Anyway, the monsters’ movements became more and more frantic, aiming where he was, not knowing they were slowly killing themselves.
The difference between the damage they caused each other compared to what he could do—despite using all his energy and literally bleeding to death—was dismal and embarrassing.
How much difference would it be if he were an ’awakened’?
"How do I awaken?"
"For your case...something in the Hearth Market might help you, but I’m not entirely sure it’d be of help."
"..."
Why was this guy always so vague? Was he internalizing the whole Black and white concept?
He shook his head, forcing his hyper-focus into the fight instead. He told himself he was gathering ingredients, which made things just a bit easier psychologically.
Dormant or not, he’d eat these pork sources someday!