Depraved Hero's Path-Chapter 49: Undying Archives Of Old: Ghost Of The Past

[The Ghost of the Past wakes from its slumber.]

[Thriving on the fear it provokes, the Ghost Of The Past stands once more.]

[Game Difficulty: C.]

[Game Quest: Defeat the Ghost of the Past.]

Léa gulped upon reading the floating words.

’Alright, it’ll start moving any second now. I have to quickly grasp its speed. There’s no way that it isn’t faster than me.’ Thankfully, Léa had made a plan. ’Thriving on the fear, huh? Then I hope it’ll attack relentlessly.’

Her grip tightened around the Flaming Spear as a grayish energy started oozing out of the Saber-Toothed Cat’s replica.

’Alright, some magic is involved. That should be fine. The Difficulty is C-Rank, but that’s completely different from the Rank of Quests. For someone who has cleared the 1st Main Quest, this is C-Rank Difficulty. Even if the Game remains the same, the Rank will decrease after the Second Main Quest, and so on and so forth. By all accounts, C should be medium difficulty. I can do this.’

Léa was preparing to leap forward, when the gray energy suddenly stopped oozing out of the replica.

’...?’

Suddenly, it moved. Not the replica, but a gray, almost translucent ghostly version of the beast.

The replica’s replica moved, leaving the replica it was made after behind.

’This is confusing.’

In any case, the Saber-Toothed Cat stared with slit pupils at its prey.

The next second, its jaws open wide. A powerful roar resonated and,

[Game Start!]

Léa remained with her feet firmly planted on the ground.

Her plan was simple. Let the Smilodon make the first move.

Depending on its speed, Léa will either attack or dodge.

’More than that, I’ll need to quickly decide if I use the Quickstep Skill or not. The Cooldown is a bitch...’

Indeed, the Quickstep Skill had a five-minute cooldown. Still, it multiplies the Agility Stat by 1,5 times!

One would think that the Skill is amazing and deserves a much higher Rank despite the Cooldown, especially once one has an Agility Stat reaching three digits! Unfortunately, the Skill has a limit on increased Stats, which brings it down to its rightful Rank of D.

The Smilodon leapt forward.

’Tsk.’ Noticing the speed, Léa couldn’t help but click her tongue.

Attacking right away was impossible, which led to the second part of her plan.

"Store." She said, and the Flaming Spear went back into her Inventory. Léa jumped as high as she could and took hold of the Deinosuchus bones exposed above. Kicking her legs, she managed to climb on top of it. The Deinosuchus was about two meters above the ground.

’Good thing that I tried this earlier.’ Indeed, she had tested whether she could climb over it, and whether or not it could handle her weight. ’Don’t know why I even tried. Of course it can hold my weight, the fuck?’

Léa took a deep breath in.

’My thoughts are a mess. I’m stressed as hell.’

Which was natural. A Smilodon was growling right below her.

The Flaming Spear appeared in Léa’s hand again.

’I’ll thrust the Flaming Spear at it the moment it tries to climb over. The real problem is if it doesn’t try to attack me...’

Léa frowned as an image appeared in her mind.

That image, unfortunately, came to fruition.

The Smilodon leapt into the air as it roared. Léa thrust the Flaming Spear, but the Saber-Toothed Cat had moved so that the Deinosuchus bones would be in the way!

It paws took hold of the bones and,

’This fucking thing can weigh up to 280kg!’ Léa thought as she clenched her teeth, feeling the Deinosuchus below her shake and tremble, its support starting to give in! ’It’s going to fall. Stay calm. Strike as it’s falling!’

Indeed, it fell, and Léa with it.

The Smilodon, immediately noticing that the bones were about to fall on top of it let go of them.

It gracefully turned around so as to land on its paws, and leapt away!

"Fuck you!" Léa cursed, thrusting her Flaming Spear at just the right time to strike the Smilodon’s back! Unfortunately, because of the unstable footing, she couldn’t put all of her strength into it. ’I managed to put all of my weight into it though!’ Which wasn’t that much, but enough to make the Smilodon growl from the pain as the Deinosuchus bones hit the ground.

Léa stumbled for a moment before gulping. ’No idea why I expected them to break, they’re freaking bones!’

The Smilodon quickly turned towards her, its eyes raging with fury.

The distance had been closed. Only a couple of steps separated them. Only one leap.

The Saber-Toothed Cat took that leap.

[Your "Quickstep[D]" Skill is Activating!]

[Your Agility Stat increases!]

An added benefit of the Skill was that it multiplied the individual’s TOTAL Agility.

Léa’s Agility Stat stood at 7 Stat Points. Thanks to the Basic Agility Boots, it rises to 10.

The boost from the Quickstep Skill raised her Agility Stat to 15 Stat Points!

’Which isn’t that much, but...’

The moment that the Smilodon moved forward to leap, Léa ran as fast as she could to her left!

The Saber-Toothed Cat’s paws slipped on the ground as it tried to turn around following its leap.

Léa had disappeared behind one of the museum’s numerous pillars.

A powerful roar echoed throughout the Gallery of Natural History as the Smilodon temporarily lost its prey.

’I need to run away for now. I’m outclassed in speed. I’ll need to circle around and strike after it has forgotten about me.’ Léa thought to herself, slightly disappointed that it had come to the exit plan already. ’Well, what can you do?’

***

"I see." Elijah scratched his chin. "That’s interesting."

"It’s scary, really." Zarath gulped.

"Thank you." Rifna nodded. "I try my best."

Elijah turned back towards Zarath.

"So you’re sure that’s how it works?"

"I am." Zarath nodded. "I recognize that kind of Mana and Magic."

"Yes, I suppose you would." Elijah muttered, watching Léa’s screen. "She just needs to realize it by herself." He turned towards Rifna for a moment. "It’s super interesting."

"Nyahaha!"

***

’It’s unfortunate.’ Léa thought. ’The worst thing that could’ve happened, happened. If only it had climbed over the bones like I had planned... Ugh!’ She was fuming.

Who wouldn’t be?

Currently, Léa was crawling through the ventilation ducts.

’I’ll have to go for a surprise attack at some point... If I even get the opportunity to!’

Eventually, she found an air vent.

’It shouldn’t be able to follow me even by smell, and it’s too big to fit in the ducts. This should lead to it completely losing me. I’ll have to set up a trap somehow. With its beastly instinct, I doubt I could approach it close enough to attack without bringing its attention to me.’

Peeking through,

’Looks like some kind of desk. Probably where security usually is.’

Léa kicked the vent off, and dropped down into the room, landing on her feet.

’Where to go from here? As long as....’

Her critical mind knew exactly what the worst thing that could happen was.

"You’ve got to be kidding me!" Léa shouted, as the door to the room was brought down as if it had been made of paper!

The Smilodon’s roar echoed once more!

"Fuck!"