[Now, now. Calm down. This will all come back to help you later...]
[Madness, really... This is madness...]
[Welcome to Tutorial Floor 2, Hell Difficulty.]
The 2nd floor was quite similar as the 1st floor in terms of looks.
Only diffference would be, that the ceiling is slightly lower than the 1st floor.
Unlike the similarity between the 1st and 2nd floor, I have become quite different.
It's not just the change in stats and skills, but my looks aswell.
I no longer wear the t-shirt I wore at home, but a leather armour which I bought using the points from the 1st floor.
Ofcourse, I can't rely much on this armour in terms of defense.
My reaction to the traps are still evasion and parrying with sword and shield.
I believe it would be unwise to rely on the ability of my equipments so soon.
But, relying on the armour's defense would hamper the growth of my skills.
It was reinforced with a steel plate on the chest, to prevent any accidents which may injure my heart.
After the increase in my stats, I was unable to adjust to the changes, resulting in injuring my wrists and feet from running or swinging the sword too fast.
Lastly, I checked the numbers and variety of potions which were bought with Kirikiri's advices.
Now, let's start.
Forcing fast progress was dangerous.
An unexpected attack from an unexpected source was what made Hell difficulty truly a nightmare in the Tutorial.
But it wasn't necessary to progress slowly either.
I was different now from back then.
I could take tension better now.
My physical capabilities and my reflexes have increased dramatically aswell.
This wasn't just for boast, or saying I could let my guard down.
I've assessed my strengths and weaknesses and subsequently am confident on making statements like these.
That wasn't all.
There was support from the Sprint skill and the Wind Spirit's blessing.
I found out that there were two buffs from the Wind Spirit's blessings.
First, +10 to Dexterity.
And the wind spirit's blessing itself.
I was able to find out what these effects were during the time I waited for the 2nd attempt in the waiting room.
To explain simply, it was similar to the Sprint skill.
When my movement speed exceeds a certain threshhold, my body becomes faster and lighter.
It was difficult to notice because of the similarity with my sprint skill and the increase in dexterity.
But, as I kept on with my training, I have felt something different.
It wasn't just the strength and speed of the run, but the weight of the body lightened aswell.
It was as if a mysterious magic was aiding my movement.
Allowing movements that would normally seem impossible, like the movements seen from an elf in a fantasy book or movie.
That was the effect that the Wind Spirit's blessing had.
And it's performance was quite astonishing.
The freedom of movement it allowed was out of this world, even if it didn't increase the speed by much.
Therefore, for the last few days I have tried to find the minimum speed at which this skill activates.
I wasn't sure of the exact speed, but it's alittle faster than a brisk walk.
As long as I maintained this speed when travelling, most traps wouldn't pose a problem.
I don't even need Battle Concentration for that.
Ping-
As if reading my mind, I could hear an arrow being released.
It was coming from the ceiling straight ahead.
Tung!
I blocked it with my shield cleanly.
And
Shook- Shook-
I rolled forward as I lower my back to dodge the two arrows from ahead.
The two arrows that came after the first did not make any noises.
I continued to dodge the arrows as I watch them fly by with my eyes.
Arrows of this speed could never hit me, as long as I watch out for the ones from my blind spots.
Tang.
I decided to parry one of the oncoming arrows with my sword, as dodging them was child's play at this point.
It would be dangerous if I were to fail, but whenever there was a chance, I tried to improve my swordsmanship skill.
Pang-
A loud sound came with the arrows that were just fired.
Annoying.
The centre of my balance was currently shifted because of the sword strike I just made.
[Battle Concentration]
The arrows seemed to travel slowly, as my conciousness accelerated greatly from my skill.
Then I looked ahead again.
Weird.
And it's too fast aswell.
Among all the arrows in this slow world, that arrow flew towards me with considerable speed.
Damn it. I couldn't dodge this.
This wasn't the time to have an adventure.
If I failed to parry that arrow, my life would be in danger.
In the slow world created by Battle Concentration, the arrows weren't the only thing that's slowed.
The only thing which it enhanced were my conciousness and awareness.
Thankfully, I was able to raise my shield and recover into a proper stance to receive it.
That arrow was too weird.
I adjusted the placement of my shield.
And.
BANG!
Even though I managed to block the arrow, the shock from the impact was significant.
But, the arrow managed to pierce my left arm, not to mention the shield, completely.
Uaaaaaaah! Damn it.
It seemed like the arrow shattered through my bone aswell.
If the arrow wasn't blocked by my arm, it would definitely have gone through the shield and into my chest.
If I didn't have much knowledge on how to block aswell, it's possible that the arrow would have gone through my arm aswell and hit me in the chest.
It's more like a ballista's bolt.
Ping ping-
Shit, that wasn't the end.
It seems the Battle Concentration skill was canceled when I got hit by that arrow.
I tried to dodge by rolling in the air, but managed to get hit in the ankle.
It stung pretty badly.
Thankfully, there weren't any more which was coming toward me.
First, I checked my ankle.
It seemed like what was on it wasn't an arrow, but a needle.
I quickly reminded myself of Kirikiri's advices.
That must be for certain.
First, I carefully pulled the needle out of my ankle.
Then I checked my body for any reaction.
Since it's a needle, I would assume that it was dipped in poison...
But I can't be certain.
I can't drink the potion with just an assumption aswell.
I simply sit next to the wall, with my inventory open.
Damn it.
The left arm's in a critical state aswell.
I wasn't even sure if I would even be able to tell the what the symptoms with this pain coming from my arm.
I was getting worried.
I tried to focus on the ankle, trying my best to ignore the pain from the arm.
Whoo.
I'm not sure if it's because of the intense exercise I hade, or the arrow in my arm, or because of the sting I had on the ankle.
After a while, I could feel pulsating pain on my ankle.
I think it was poison.
It's not going to instantly kill me right?
As I waited alittle longer, I could feel my ankle becoming paralysed.
Let's wait, just a little more.
The paralysis began to come up my leg, the head started to feel hot, and headache was starting.
Afterward it was a stomachache.
It was poison for sure.
I took out an antidote from my inventory.
There should be many types of poison out there...
Let's ask Kirikiri about that one day.
Trying to open the potion with one arm was quite the struggle.
I barely managed to take the cork out, and put the potion next to my mouth.
There was a rotten smell inside the potion.
This better not actually be poison that was slyly written as an antidote.
Wow.
I could feel pain from throughout my body, not to mention the heat and paralysis as well.
All these symptoms...
Um...
Wait a minute...
It's not so bad actually.
Shall we wait alittle more?