The Third Return of the Necrotic Magic Swordsman

[14th Everdusk 2103], CGA branch, Dyna Crest country.

{The system has detected low health of the host. Please restore it before you die.}

I heard this, but no words came out of my mouth as immense pain coursed through my body. Then something changed as if something kicked in inside of me, like something helping me.

{System has detected some strange energy coursing through the host’s body, neutralizing the effect of poison.}

{System can’t detect what it is. Please refrain from using otherworldly powers which may cause harm to the host’s body.}

”Wh....what,” I said, conscious enough to understand and respond to what was happening around me. I was shocked about how I survived, but it seemed I didn’t have to find the answer as it came straight to my face.

{System has detected a message from a dormant talent lying inside host, which is starting to awake up, detected message from the talent, proceeding to forward it.}

[Talent has detected a lowest grade of poison in host body, the awakening requirement have been confirmed.]

[Talent (?) have been awakened in the body. The body is being remodifies to fight of the poison.]

[Talent has detected the poison to be enough to be form a skill, the skill creating is being process.]

[1%.....23%.....34%.....67%.....89%.....100%]

[Skill has been created, (Passive) {Lv.1} has been created, the initial poison is being ejected from host body] 

Just as the notification appeared, I felt something coming out of my mouth, a blob of dark red blood, sizzling slightly.

I instantly understood what it was—the venom in my body, adapted by the talent and expelled to save my life.

”And with this talent, I even gained some skill, even if it’s low level. Maybe it can be helpful later as resistance skills are quite rare and useful in many ways,” I said, opening my HP bar to check its condition with the skill information.

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Low Poison Resistance (Lv. 1)

Type: Passive Skill

Grade: Tier 0

Proficiency: 0%

Description: Grants basic resistance to low-level poisons, reducing their effectiveness and duration. This skill provides a slight edge against toxins encountered in beginner-level adventures.

Effects:

Reduces damage from low-level poisons by 10%.

Shortens the duration of low-level poison effects by 15%.

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[8/230 HP] [181/300 MP]

”Why is my health so low, and my mana points significantly higher at this moment?” I asked the system.

{Host was unconscious for more than an hour. In the meantime, the host’s HP wasn’t recovering while mana was regenerating at a normal pace. It was found that the poison stopped the body’s regeneration ability, and only after the poison was released did it start.}

”Okay, so then, being sleeping in the middle of a dungeon with low health is like offering myself as prepared food for monsters,” I said, deciding to move away from the place as wolves might come chasing me. I was shocked to find that I had been lying here for an hour and no monster had come.

I start moving as I was ready to cast skill to save myself, but nothing happened for some time as I was happy for it, but my pace of action was getting back very slow, and it might take me more than two hours to get to full health from now on.

Just before I could move forward, I heard the sound of leaves shifting as three snakes of the same color crawled down from the tree, hissing at me in anger.

”Oh, so you all are here, huh? Good. I was expecting to find you all and eliminate you before my boss battle, as you may become a hindrance later,” I said. If we left some monsters alive, there was a small chance the boss could summon a high number of allies, which would only tire me more.

And with a small chance, it may be like 15% or something, but with my luck, I can’t take this as merely 15%. In reality, it might be 90-95% for me, as usual.

”Okay, let me clear the debt your comrade or one of you left me with,” I said as I used my skill to summon my ally.

Two undead skeletons walked out of the formation and stood in front of me. With their usual tattered clothes and rusty swords.

”Alright, show them what you are made of – bones, of course – and tear those venomous serpents apart,” I commanded. Upon receiving the order, the two skeletons began running toward the three serpents and attacked them. Despite being only Level 6, their stats were unusually high, making it easy to confront Level 9 serpents.

My two summon were doing well until one of them fell due to an attack on its leg, causing the balance to break. 

Seeing summons being overpowered by the serpents was not favorable for me, so I decided to use my skills to assist them.

”Ah, come on, they still aren’t levelling up,” I said for my skills while aiming at the serpents group.

The bolt shot toward them and instantly dried up so much bar of the three serpents as before my summons could kill them. I stopped them from doing it as I needed to do something for which these three can be used.

I approached them and swiftly used my sword to sever the heads of serpents’ heads at a precise length, ensuring that their poison sacs remained intact. I then stored the heads in my inventory, awaiting the notification to appear, and prepared to use the plunder talent on them.

{You’ve killed 2~Lv.7, 1~Lv.8 Venomfang Serpents. You’ve gained 85 EXP points.} [85/350 EXP]

[You’ve gained 20 Evo-enchant points. Total: 130 (110+20)]

, I said as the process started with energy hovering above the three serpents’ bodies.

[Talent has detected few bodies of Lv.7~8 Venomfang Serpents, what do you wish to do: Plunder, Dismantle, Store.]

I choose plunder like why this talent is asking me this so much time, can’t it choose by itself.

[No talent, skills, abilities, few degraded bloodlines (not suitable) detected. Stats identified.]

[You’ve gained +2 Agility, +1 Intelligence, +1 Strength. The degraded bloodline, has been ejected from the host body for not being suitable.]

”Oh, so these small serpents have a bloodline, huh? But what can I do as talent deemed them unworthy then... wait, isn’t my bloodline of that serpent also unworthy? Hey, talent, mind checking this bloodline?” I said as I pulled out the unknown bloodline vial.

[Scan completed. The bloodline is suitable for host use. Recommended to use after a certain strength is reached to avoid mutation through the process.]

The talent told me, shocking me with the answer.

”Hey, wait, then why is that bloodline not suitable, and why this? Are you also modified by those thrones, huh? Answer me.” I shouted, but nothing came back from the system, as if they didn’t deem my question worthy of an answer.

”I swear, whoever is behind this, I will kill you,” I said while roaring toward the sky.

{A/N: Why am I feeling chills here? My feet are all cold right now.}

But maybe it was not a good choice, as I was able to hear the noise of wolves running around me, and I had to hide as I couldn’t fight in this situation.

-- To be continued --

Okay, guys, time’s up for today. What’s going to happen next? Will Evan get ambushed by wolves, or will he get away? And why did he take those heads with him? Is he going to make or sell them for a profit? We don’t know, but surely it will be revealed in the next chapters, maybe.