I stood there frozen in fear. Although it was far away from me, I could feel the tremors from its breath. The wyvern was much larger than the last time I saw it. Or maybe this was a different one? After observing the arena, the wyvern focused its gaze on me. Looking at me, the wyvern gave a huge roar.
[KREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE]
The crowds began to scream in excitement. I looked at the corpse of the guard who was rammed into the wall. I quietly began moving, approaching the guard. Throughout my movement, the wyvern kept its eyes on me, but did not move. As I reached the body of the unconscious guard lying on the sand, I noticed attached to his belt a sword.
Suddenly, the status window popped up:
{ New Objective: Kill the wyvern (0/1) }
{ Reward on completion: Clover Sword, +6000 exp }
{ Penalty for failure: Death }
Before I could comprehend it, the wyvern suddenly came charging at me. It moved like a truck; its two legs created massive thuds that shook the entire ground, its jaws snapping like a bear trap. Its eyes were still fixed on me, unmoving and focused.
For a moment, my legs were frozen in fear. But, I gathered the will to throw myself to the side, narrowly avoiding the strike. I hit the ground, rolling to my feet in a cloud of sand. But I looked into my palm, at what I was holding. I had still managed to nick the guard's sword in time.
I gripped the hilt of my sword, unsheathing it from its scabbard and feeling the weight settle into my palm. Just under two feet of polished iron, the edges were sharpened to a whisper.
My fingers curled around the carved wooden grip, the warmth of polished oak fitting snugly against my palm. At the bottom, a small, rounded weight that balanced the blade. The blade was broad at the base, tapering to a vicious point. At that point, looking at the sword, even though I was before the jaws of death, I couldn't help but admire it. It wasn't a grand weapon, but it was a balanced one, an effective one.
The wyvern had hit its head on the arena wall and was stunned. However, it quickly recovered and fixed, once again, its eyes on me. But this had given me enough time to put some distance between us. The wyvern once more came charging towards me, its eyes filled with rage and its jaws snapping. I planted my feet on the ground, held my sword in front of me, and braced myself. I was going to face this monster.
The wyvern came charging at me, and I slashed at its head with my sword. My sword came in contact with its forehead.
[BAM!]
I was thrown across the ground. The audience roared in laughter and cheer. I felt my ribs being broken from the impact. As I was flung, I felt my back land on the sand. Why did I think I could take on a 4-ton beast just because I had a sword? The sword lay on the sand. Before my thoughts began to clear, the wyvern came charging at me. In an instant, it stood in front of me. Its jaws came down on me like a guillotine. I tried to push myself toward the left.
A [Snap] followed by a [Squelch]
I rolled around, the sand thrown by the impact. There was pain in my left shoulder. As I rolled, I noticed I couldn't feel my left arm. The wyvern had bitten off my left arm.
I screamed in pain 'AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH'. The audience did not gasp in horror; they did not cry for me, didn't look away, but instead cheered and applauded at the spectacle that was my suffering. The emperor stood there with a smug smile on his face.
The wyvern munching on my arm, once again, tilted its head toward me. Before it came rushing on me again, the status window popped up. But this time it was different; this time the world had gone gray, devoid of color. As if the world had been flushed of all its colors. Time seemed to have slowed down. The status window glowed in this dark and stationary world.
{CONDITIONS FOR SPECIAL SKILL UNLOCKED: UNLIKELY LUCK. ACTIVATE SPECIAL LUCK? (YES)(NO)}
Impulsively, I pressed the (YES) button. After I pressed it, time went back to normal, and the wyvern once again started moving towards me. Suddenly, a light beam fell from the sky, hitting the wyvern directly on its head.
[BOOOOM]
The impact created an explosion. The entire arena ground below me collapsed. I saw the wyvern being swallowed by the crumbling ground, and I fell down as well. The explosion blew away the sand, creating an orange blur in the air. The arena walls were destroyed. And the crowd panicked and fled. Something had hit the arena from the sky. Something moving at a high speed, but light.
I fell down a long way before landing on something soft. The fallen object had created a deep tunnel. After my consciousness returned, I looked around me. The area was full of debris: rocks, sand, and broken pieces of the arena walls. I looked above, and I saw very high above me, the orange air of the arena covered in sand and some sand on the land, pouring below. I looked below me to see that I had landed on the stomach of the wyvern. It was dead.
Whatever hit the wyvern had completely severed the head from the body. Luckily, the wyvern's body had landed on its back, allowing me to land on its stomach. I assumed this was thanks to my skill of [luck]. Maybe the explosion was because of the special condition of my skill as well.
The status window once again popped in front of me
{OBJECTIVE COMPLETE: REWARD/S ARE STORED IN INVENTORY}
{CONGRATULATIONS ON LEVELING UP}
{LEVEL UP 1-->2}
{LEVEL UP 2-->3}
{LEVEL UP 3-->4 }
{LEVEL UP 4--> 5}
I was still unsure what it was. All I knew was that it was a good thing.
I quickly got on my feet. The pain of losing my arm was still a lot to bear. But I knew as soon as the sand above settled down, the imperial guards and soldiers would come to check what had happened. I covered the bleeding with a cloth and moved on.
I searched around for a place to escape. I found the wyvern's head. It was completely crushed, its teeth and eyes had popped out, and blood was all over it. I saw on top of the head what seemed to be a rock. A meteor had hit the wyvern?
I continued looking around and found a small cave. It was narrow, but I could manage to fit in and walk inside it. With nowhere else to run or hide, I entered the cave. I sealed the entrance with some rocks and debris before I started to explore the cave. I wanted to hide the entrance, but make sure the seal was weak enough so that I could break it down with force.
After I was done, I started to move in the dark cave, as I had no torch, I relied on using my sense of touch to figure out paths. I continued for several hours, trying to navigate the cave system, going back and forth using my hands to feel the walls of the cave and the little bits of light that illuminated the cave.
Maybe it was because of [Luck], I found myself in a large clearing inside the cave, a cavern. There was light coming from the cracks above, and I could hear the sound of running water. As relief swept over me, I blacked out. I was hungry, hurt, thirsty, and tired.