The Joker, The Trickster, And The Magician

It is said that when you stare at the dark for too long, you'll eventually see what isn't there. This is indeed true if only what you're looking for is in front of you and not behind. A sheep has pupils that allow it to see 360 degree, which means it can see what's behind it without turning its head.

At this moment, trapped in darkness and exposed to an unknown beast, Wolfram wished he had such exceptional pupils. To see all around him and defend against the unexpected.

The attack came faster than he thought, in fact, faster than he could react despite his strong physical body. By the time he heard the sound of his enemy and opted for a swift dodge, the other party had already launched its preemptive attack. It felt like a truck had his back, the pain was the last thing he could think of as his mind was just happened and thinking of a solution that could turn the tides of the battle.

The attack caused him to crash into the metal wall and it even broke two of his ribs. He could taste the bitter blood in his mouth and the dizziness caused by the sudden impact was momentary but dangerous in such a situation.

Although slightly disoriented, Wolfram still raised his gun and pulled the trigger, missing the target but still frightening and forcing it to stop its second assault.

'I hear the sound of flapping wings, and they're quite fast too. Whatever hit me from behind had a large body, at least larger than me. The force behind the first attack was strong enough to send me flying away but not enough to instantly kill me which means strength is not its primary power. It must have a skill to counter those inside its territory... there's also the claws which are sharp enough to rip my flesh. I'm sure its first attack was merely its way of probing me. All its other victims were rendered immobile after receiving such an attack so it thought I'm the same.'

The gunshots bought him four seconds, which were barely enough for the dizziness to go away. Wolfram took out the rifle and pointed at the air above him before pulling the trigger, not stopping until he was out of bullets. At first, he heard a shrieking sound but after a while, there was nothing but silence.

He must have hit it at first but when it knew the danger of the rifle, it retreated to a safe distance and merely watched him. Not wanting to use the gun or fleeing to the illuminated area which was rather close to him, Wolfram looked into the darkness and taunted the beast

"Come on you winged bitch! COME ON!"

His mocking expression and high tone did its job and the already angry monster became enraged as it reciprocated with high-pitched screeches.

Hearing the source of the noise, although it was a bit far, Wolfram still tried to hit. The cards which were hidden in his sleeves were swiftly thrown at the origin of the screeches. Their speed was decent and their accuracy was perfect and while their goal was merely to force the monster to move so he can shoot it with his gun, they did more than he expected, much more, actually.

Four cards were thrown in two pair with a gap of one and a half-second between them. The first pair hit its target successfully and managed to cause the beast to cry in pain.

The monster wanted to run from the remaining pair but as luck would have it, the first pair hit its right-wing thus making it unable to fly properly. When it tried to fly away and dodge the two flying cards, it simply fell down, alerting Wolfram of its location and condemning its fate.

Wolfram followed with four gunshots aimed at where the noise was heard. Three of them hits their target, and the last barely missed. Fortunately, the damage done to the beast was enough to seriously injure it and render it unable to fly or fight anymore.

It continued to cry in agony and tried to flap its wings but that only resulted in a worse fate as Wolfram pinpointed its exact location.

He walked right next to it and used all his strength to furiously kick it, sending it flying until it crashed into a wall three meters ahead.

Though it didn't have a body as sturdy as the Hobgoblin, it was faster and more dangerous due to its special environment.

"How do you like that? Hah!"

Wolfram kept kicking it until he was tired. At some point, the darkness around him greatly lessened which signified the death of the monster. Upon a closer look, this annoying monster was actually a large bat with two short legs that had sharp claws. It was very creepy-looking and the blood pool under it made it look even more disgusting.

'To think a bat caused me this much trouble.'

Once he was done, Wolfram spat on the monster and sat a distance away from the lifeless body of the bat. Luckily, he looted two stats card and that's while excluding the reward from killing it.

*You have killed a Dark Bat (Elite) Lv1 : +1 Card Points.*

*[Search] Lv1 => Lv2! +0.22 Card Points.*

*You obtained the first fragment of the trickster's set (1/12)*

*For every three fragments obtained, you'll be granted one item from trickster's set.*

*Cards will now deal 5% more damage to Darkness Monsters.*

'As expected, killing it was worth it!'

Wolfram happily examined the logs and then crushed the two stat cards obtained. This monster was an Elite, contrary to the ordinary ones. He was so strong despite being Lv1.

Furthermore, he was so close to leveling up. If he kills five goblins, he'll surely obtain enough experience to become Lv2. As he rested and waited for some of his minor injuries to heal, Wolfram took out his dark card and examined his stats.

Wolfram Sakimoto

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Race: No Race

Class: 1 Star Trickster

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Cards Control : 3

Cards Sharpness : 3

Cards Speed : 3

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Strength : 3.09

Vitality : 2.4

Speed : 2.36

Perception : 3.4

Magic : 2.41

Magic Control : 1.33

Magic Resistance : 1.19

--

Card Points : 1.39

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Skills: Sneak Lv2. Dagger Mastery Lv2. Sensor Hearing Lv1. Lightsteps Lv2. Search Lv2. Gun Mastery lv1, Run Lv1.

The two stat cards increased his Speed and Perception by 0.21 and 0.39 respectively. Plus, he had 1.39 CP remaining so he started pondering where to put them.

It was alluring to put them on card stats but he stopped himself and 0.6 into Vitality, 0.1 into Perception, 0.34 into Speed and the rest into Card Sharpness.

He had two broken ribs which will take time to heal so an increased Vitality will facilitate his recovery. Speed was necessary for either fleeing, chasing or evading attacks. Perception's usefulness doesn't have to be mentioned.

Twenty minutes passed yet there were no signs of enemies approaching. Even the nearby survivors didn't dare to send one of their fighters to see what happened here.

When he recovered enough stamina to move, Wolfram got up and walked up to the stairs a few meters away from him. He didn't immediately head upstairs, instead, he looked down and noticed the existence of another floor under this one. Then he glanced upwards and saw endless stairs that led to the surface.

'There have to be at least ten floors, fortunately, the stairs aren't damaged.'

Just as he uttered those words, a loud explosion reverberated and caused the ground to shake intensely.

Huge boulders and rubbles fell from above, almost hitting Wolfram, who managed to evade in time. Dust acc.u.mulated inside the stairs, blocking the view for a few minutes.

When Wolfram looked up again, he started cursing loudly

"Motherf.u.c.ker! Why did I have to jinx it for myself!"

The stairs which led all the way to the surface were officially broken. They still led several floors upwards but he'll have to find another way to the surface once he reaches the floor where the stairs broke.

'Well, it's not like I'm going to escape this instant.'

After a final glance at the stairs, he turned around and walked toward the blockage. His motive was to get rid of the remaining survivors lest they follow him and cause trouble later on.

Furthermore, Wolfram still wished to find the general who tortured him and even attempted to execute him. He would toy with him until the latter begs for mercy, after all, the pain that general inflicted upon Wolfram is by no means small. The agony of the experiments is really unimaginable yet this supposedly just and righteous General never bat an eye when sacrificing prisoners for the sake of scientific evolution.