His blood stores were almost used up, but they were more than enough to sustain the full regeneration of his arm.
Faust didn't stop swinging, his left arm aching terribly. He was covered in blood and thoroughly pissed.
Without Nirvana's Schema, he would have died from blood loss. The effects of soloing this forest showed themselves. But there was a smile on his face as the wind whipped through his red hair.
He was angry as hell that the lynx got the best of him in that exchange, but the joy of facing a competent opponent vastly surpassed it.
The lynx has level 2 stealth like me— and Dash—meaning it can sense sightlines too. But why can't I sense its sightline?
He thought it was Stealth hiding the lynx's eyes, but now he thought it was something else. The Lynx hadn't known he was there till he got close enough while looking at it.
My sight alerted it to the fact I was behind.
But the Lynx must have instinctively avoided looking at him before it pounced to make sure his Observe and Stealth skill didn't work till the last second.
It's ingenious.
An animal's instinctual superiority to a human.
But now that he understood how the creature operated, Faust could show his foe a human's adaptive superiority.
He swung behind a tree and waited, crouching down and slipping from his position to one with a better vantage point, before scanning the forest with Observe.
It was three minutes of tense waiting and movement, before he got a brief ping on the Lynx. A predatory smile lit up his visage. He pulled out the Jackal Dagger.
Then he turned away from it and tried something new.
Following the red outline created by Observe out of the corners of his vision, Faust employed a slow, circling of the Midnight Lynx.
He had to avoid looking at it and time his pounce for when its vision would be blocked by a tree.
Patience and an overwhelming desire to defeat the Midnight Lynx at its own game made Faust's body tremble with excitement.
They were only five meters apart now.
Faust was staring at the forest behind the Lynx, hiding in a dense shadow.
While the lynx pawed forward slowly. Uncertainty tainted its movements and dulled its mind. It stared in the direction he had last been, not considering the fact Faust might be behind it.
Rewarding me for doing the same thing twice. Tsk, tsk.
Faust resisted letting out a disappointed sigh. The lynx just passed the tree. He spun and crossed the distance between them.
He avoided every dry leaf and rolled his steps expertly. His eyes fixed on the tree, carefully not to look into the path of the Lynx.
Finally he paused at the tree. If his instincts were wrong, the lynx would be waiting on the other side to rip out his throat.
But when he came out it wasn't facing him.
And Faust pounced without hesitation. He wrapped his arms around its waist and performed a perfect suplex before it could even cry out.
The beast slammed into the ground, stunned, and Faust took advantage immediately, wrapping it in a rear naked choke.
"Time for some payback," he snarled.
Then he sank his sharpened teeth into the lynx's neck, using Attribute Drain and Blood Regeneration.
[You have gained 3 points of Strength]
[You have gained 5 points of Agility]
[You have gained 3 points of Constitution]
[You have gained 2 points of Spirit]
The beast cried out and fought. It was strong. Its muscles flexed like steel cords under its ink-black fur. Faust could barely hold on. They struggled through the dirt like wild animals in a blur of body parts
"Strong as hell," he groaned as his back hit the ground. "But let me teach you a thing or two about leverage."
He swung his body, switching into an arm bar with practised ease. He stretched the Lynx's arm farther and farther, pitting his strength against its powerful body.
It bit into his thigh, making Faust snarl. His leg erupted into pain as blood stained his white trousers.
But he kept twisting. He was laughing now as they both focused on breaking each other.
The midnight lynx broke first however.
A dull pop sounded as the monster's arm was wrenched from its socket. The Lynx howled, releasing Faust's leg.
Ignoring the pain in his leg, he picked up the creature into a final guillotine choke, securing its head and lower body.
He bit its back and continued drawing blood and attributes. The creature fought, but with one broken arm, Faust only had to track the other and keep it on the ground.
[You have gained 3 points of Strength]
[You have gained 4 points of Agility]
[You have gained 4 points of Constitution]
[You have gained 1 points of Spirit]
The lynx pushed him up against a tree in its struggles, howling frantically as it grew weaker and lost more and more blood and strength.
Once filled, Faust retracted his fangs and just focused on keeping it down while he stole attributes. The creature whined and kicked desperately, but was too late.
[You have gained 4 points of Strength]
[You have gained 3 points of Agility]
[You have gained 3 point of Constitution]
[You have gained 2 point of Spirit]
A few seconds later the system chimed. As his level increased and a new message popped up.
[Congratulations, you have leveled up to Level 4!]
[You have gained 5 points in all attributes, and 5 free points to distribute.]
[You have defeated a higher level enemy! Possible loot and Exp will be increased!]
[You have killed "Midnight Lynx" and gained 50 experience points.]
[Rewards have been placed in your equipped Spatial Bag.]
Faust released the beast with an immensely satisfied look. He patted the beast's body, sighing.
"Now that's just what I needed."
The talk of increased loot made him sit up too.
[You have killed "Midnight lynx" and gained 50 experience points.]
[Origin coins: 60.]
[Midnight Lynx Core x4]
[4x Midnight Lynx Essence: Consuming will increase Strength by 3.]
[3x Midnight Lynx Fur: Using in making magical items.]
[1x Skill Stones: can be used to upgrade skills.]
[1x Enhancement Stones: can be used to upgrade equipment.]
[You have gained Skill book (Stealth)]
[2x MIdnight Fur Hat (Iron): Improves stealth, +20 Agility, +20 Strength. Requirements: Level 3]
Faust was actually awestruck for a moment, but before he used his rewards he had to leave this place. This was deep in Midnight lynx territory. He wanted to stay on the edge of Kobold's territory.
Normally the Lynx don't come this close because of the Kobolds, but Faust's hunt had an obvious effect on the forest.
Once he was safely hidden on some tree branches, he began to take out the rewards. First putting his five free stat points in Spirit.
He consumed the essences like cheap drugs. They were small, spherical and purple. So he just swallowed all four at once.
[Strength: 65 > 77 (+20)]
Next was the skill stone. He used the two in his bag at once.
[Congratulations! You have upgraded "Dark Maw Lv1" to "Dark Maw Lv 2".]
[Dark Maw Lv2 (Iron): Condenses mana around weapons to create a shadowy maw that bites down on the enemy for great damage. Requirements: 20 Spirit. Cooldown: fifteen seconds. (Greater attack strength)]