The morning sun had begun to peek over the cliff, and the snow that had been falling the entire night had finally stopped.

Cedric, on the other hand, was still fighting.

He was breathing heavily from both exhaustion and the cold air, but he didn't stop. All around him lay the bodies of the Yetis that he had slain. The snow was stained a deep, dark crimson and trampled into a slushy mess from the sheer intensity of the struggle.

In truth, after killing over a hundred and twenty Saurians at the Saurian Outskirts, Cedric was already really close to reaching level 15. He was pretty sure that after killing only a few Yetis, he would be well over that cap.

But during the heat of the slaughter, he decided to just keep on fighting. His goal for this level up quest was not just to get his regalia, but to level up high enough to be able to survive the Home of the Hollow Ones. That was why he ended up hunting and slaying until the morning.

At a point, he had long run out of mana and no longer used flames of decay. But he didn't care; his level was pretty high enough now to deal significant damage without it.

His sword sank into the last Yeti nearest to him, killing it, then he wrenched the blade free just in time to dodge another Yeti's attack. In the same breath he slashed his katana in a wide, horizontal arc across its chest, then he leapt and kicked the creature in the chest sending it tumbling backwards and crashing into a tree.

When Cedric landed on his feet, he felt them wobble, so he used his katana to support himself.

He took a few ragged breaths, then quickly looked east and called out mentally to Aika.

'Aika, I think I'm done.'~

Earlier, Aika had checked the map and had seen a small cave east of the forest. So she had gone ahead to make sure it was safe, but upon arriving, she found some fox-like creatures and had to take care of them. She had finished though, and was now waiting for Cedric to be done. Not long after he spoke, she replied.

'Okay. Swap with little Ced.'~~

Cedric looked at the Yetis that were almost upon him, then he immediately activated his ability, swapping places with the raven that was with Aika in the cave.

The moment he arrived, he held the wall for support and took a few tired breaths. Thankfully, it was warm in here because Aika had lit a fire and was now boiling some tea for them on a makeshift tripod.

Cedric shot her a look. She was warming her hands by the fire, but was avoiding his gaze as if she were guilty of something.

Cedric walked up to her and folded his arms, "Look at me, young lady. Did you really name a raven Cedric?"

She pretended as if she did not hear at first. Then Cedric got closer and nudged her shoulder lightly, "Hey, I know you can hear me."

She finally turned and eyed him sheepishly, muttering, "Okay fine. You caught me. I'm sorry but… I swear it really did look like you."

"What about it looked like me?"

Aika looked at his face, then added, "You both have the same head shape."

"Huh?" Cedric arched a brow. Realizing he was far too tired for this, he sighed and slumped onto the floor beside her. But barely a few seconds later, he sat bolt upright again.

'Hey, Gamer Privileges, my stats please.'

[Retrieving Character Information…]

~~~~~~~~ Character Profile ~~~~~~~~

Character Name: [Cedric Anele Martini]

Age: [17]

Level: [15]

Grade: [2]

Element: [Darkness]

Exclusive Class: [Gamer]

Exclusive Class Attribute: [Gamer Privileges]

Bond Name: [Aika Soryu]

Bonded Ability: [Chrysalis]

Exclusive Skill: [Flames of decay - Lv4], [One with the Ravens - Lv3]

EXP: [9,550 / 10,000]

Karma points: [N2,080 / P710]

~~~~~~ ============== ~~~~~~

"Ha!"

Cedric was not sure where the energy came from, but he did feel really active seeing the profile.

The first thing he looked for was the regalia.

"Alright, come on... where's the regalia?"

[Regalia: Yoroi of the Ronin of Decay]

A smile ran across Cedric's face.

"Woah, so I'm the Ronin of Decay? That sounds badass."

He quickly looked at the properties of the Yoroi.

Properties: [Aura of Decay], [Blight of Will], [Shadow of the Fallen], [The Gift of Absolute Death]

Cedric's smile widened.

The names of the properties sounded cool. He began to pray inwardly that the properties themselves would actually be just as cool as their names.

He quickly pulled up the descriptions:

Property: [Aura of Decay]

Description: [The Yoroi induces the fear of death upon all those who look at the Ronin of Decay.]

'Holy…'

Cedric began to feel some kind of grim reaper vibes from this description.

'Okay, now that's pretty cool.'

He immediately pulled up the second property.

Property: [Blight of Will]

Description: [The Yoroi corrupts the will of an opponent over time.]

Cedric blinked a few times in disbelief.

'…corrupts the will of an opponent over time. That means…'

The longer a fight dragged on, the easier it would be to win. Even if he couldn't land a killing blow immediately, his mere presence was a ticking clock for his enemy's sanity.

Cedric was speechless.

'This is basically a cheat code for endurance fights! Just how insane is this regalia?'

He licked his lips greedily and checked out the next one.

Property: [Shadow of the Fallen]

[Description: The Yoroi makes the Ronin harder to track or sense in low-light conditions.]

'Whoa… this one really suits the whole Ronin aesthetic.'

Cedric nodded twice in satisfaction, and moved on to the last one. The name alone made it sound like such a big deal, so he couldn't wait to check it. However, the moment he saw the description, he couldn't help but clench his fists and grin even wider in excitement.

Property: [The Gift of Absolute Death]

Description: [The flames of decay can now wither even the soul, granting the gift of absolute death.]

'Yes!'

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