[Soarsie]

"I guess you guys are the only ones left."

I looked over at my shoulder and found Maverick grinning from ear to ear, his beard shaking when he laughed.

"Congratulations," he said.

I didn't deign to reply. From Rodrick's group, Maverick seemed the nicest, but there was something about the old man that irked me.

The way he hid his lascivious smile behind his beard and the way his eyes flickered with desire whenever he thought I wasn't looking was getting on my nerves.

'All men are lascivious in nature . . . kill them . . .'

I ignored Vexana's whispers in my head. I had no time to entertain her maniacal hobby of killing every creature we met.

"You know . . . you don't have to be a hunter and do all this boring stuff," he started, storing his weapon before his fingers brushed lightly against my hand, the gentles of promise. "You could live your days with three meals a day and more. You would even have extra money to shop for the things you fancied."

I pulled away from him and spat at his face, "I'd rather die."

Maverick's amiable expression twisted hard with contempt. "Heh. Too bad. My offer could have saved your life."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

Maverick's mocking smile never came far from his lips, one that put goose skin on my arms. "Do you really think that Rodrick would spare you? He hates cheat and BUG players the most. He would let thieves go than slip a BUG player from his hands."

"Lancelot had nothing to do with me."

"Maybe. But Rodrick will never let one survivor go and rat tales about his massacre to the guild." he gave the barest shrug like it didn't concern him. "Telling the guild you died is the easiest and fastest way to bury you in the annals of history."

". . ."

Maverick laughed and went to his companions. A high menacing laugh who thought he had won it all.

This was bad. I bit my thumb and thought of a plan. I guess I was left with no choice but to use that.

'Are you finally going to open my second tier spells . . . it's about time . . .'

The toll was too much.

'One eye isn't much . . . for power beyond your wildest imagination.'

Easy for you to say. You're not the one who's going to lose an eye.

I was so engrossed with my plan that when an inhuman scream pierced my ears, it was already too late to know what had happened. In a blink, Maverick was split into two and died.

GrrR . . .

A menacing growl reverberated in all corners, and what appeared from the ground was a strange monster of bones.

It was constructed of broken bits of bones tethered together with flesh, tendons, and sinew to form snaking tentacles of jagged bones that connected to a central mass that was buried in the ground.

Like some horrid landlocked octopus, it spread from this center point like limbs reaching for more mass to add to its rancid collective. The smell of sawdust and chalk permeated the ground, alongside the copper tinge of blood, infected with this particular abhorror. The stench of decay was thick in the air and clang to any that dared invade its domain.

"W-what is that?!"

There was terror in Lilian's voice. Gone was her usual mocking smile.

"It just killed the old man!" Edgar's eyes were popping in their sockets, voice in disbelief.

My eyes were wide too. Maverick's defense was the highest among us. He was a tank! But one surprise attack and he was gone, just like that.

I hurriedly used monocle when Lilian shouted, "That's not an enemy we can defeat! It's an S-Rank demon! Retreat!"

Huh? S-Rank?

∥ B O N E

S P L I N T E R ‖

Nature: Huge undead, unaligned

Description:

Lurking in graveyards and age-old battlefields, the abhorrors serve as a reminder that there are things worse than death and even undeath. They are a disease of death that seeks to infect life wherever it may be found. Just as infection results from botched healing, the abhorrors spread in the wake of the malpractice of necromancy.

Once the unchecked necrotic energy infects the remnants of the dead, a new type of life begins to spread. There are three known types of abhorror: bone splinters, tangles of limbs, and voided souls. All should be avoided by any who seek restful sleep ever again.

Bone splinters lie in wait for living prey to come close. Their senses allow them to detect creatures even while underground, burrowing forth to consume the bones of the living. Their blows are vicious, breaking bones and inflicting horrific wounds with every strike.

‖ A T T R I B U T E ‖

HP: 1 470 000

MP: 1 000 000

STRG: 2 000

DEF: 2 000

MDF: 1 800

INT: 500

AGL: 200

LCK: 20

‖ D A M A G E

R E S I S T A N C E S ‖

None

‖ D A M A G E

I M M U N I T I E S ‖

? Necrotic

? Poison

? Psychic

‖ C O N D I T I O N

I M M U N I T I E S ‖

? Charmed

? Deafened

? Exhaustion

? Frightened

? Poisoned

? Stunned

? Unconscious

‖ W E A K N E S S ‖

? None

‖ S K I L L S &

S P E L L S

Passive Skill: ｂｅ𝚍𝚗ｏｖｅ𝚕．𝚗𝚎𝚝

? Archer's Eye (1/Turn)

As a bonus action, the bone splinter can add 500 damage to its next attack or 100 on a ranged weapon attack.

? Sharpshooter

The bone splinter's ranged weapon attacks ignore defense and shoot true damage.

Active Skill:

? Multiattack MAX

–– The bone splinter makes two attacks. It can forgo making one of these attacks to instead take the Hide action

–– Cost –5000 MP

–– 5 min. cooldown

? Bone Sliver MAX

–– Ranged Weapon Attack + piercing damage. If the target is a flesh and blood creature, it suffers a bleeding wound. While so bleeding, the target loses 10 percent of hit points every second.

Each time the target is wounded again in this manner, this damage increases by 1 percent to a maximum of 20 percent.

All wounds on a target close if they healed.

–– Cooldown 5 minutes

–– Cost –4 000 MP

? Slam MAX

–– Melee Weapon Attack + piercing damage. If the target is a creature with a skeleton and is hit, the creature's bones are broken, and the target's speed is reduced to 10 percent for five seconds.

What's more, the target is vulnerable to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. This effect lasts for five seconds.

–– Cost –10 000 MP

–– Cooldown 5 minutes

? Subsume MAX

–– Melee Weapon Attack that instantly reduces one creature to 0 hit points within reach that has a skeleton.

If hit the creature's skeleton is torn from its body, killing it instantly. If this attack kills a creature, the bone splinter regains 3 500 hit points.

–– Cost –500 000 MP

–– Cooldown 1 hr.

‖ E N D ‖