Chapter 11

Wesley lightly tapped the fairy with his finger, attempting to smooth things over.

"Apologies if I've rubbed you the wrong way," he said. "The Goddess instructed you to aid me, right? Let's try to get along."

She glanced at him before relenting, "Fine, let's move on. What's your plan, Mr. Tempest? If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I'm well-versed in this world's basics."

"Understood," he nodded. "First things first, what's your name?"

"Lilly," she replied.

He found the name peculiar but decided not to risk another outburst from the fairy.

"Alright, next question. What clues did the Goddess mention I'd receive soon?" he inquired.

"Don't fret, you'll discover them in due time," she replied cryptically.

"I thought you said you could answer any question," Wesley grumbled.

"I can, but I choose not to. You'll find out soon enough. Like the others," she added.

"Others? Are there more people here?" he asked, surprised.

"Of course. Haven't you encountered anyone yet?" she retorted.

"Well, I have..." he trailed off.

"Then why the surprise?" Lilly replied.

"Fair point," Wesley conceded.

"Enough chatter," Lilly interrupted. "Your Holy boost has a time limit. Don't waste it. Don't come crying to me later."

"Right," Wesley agreed. "I'll get going then."

"What sort of monster awaits?" Lilly inquired.

"A Lizardman Blood Guard," Wesley responded.

"Special Elite?" she questioned.

"Yes, level 12," Wesley confirmed.

Lilly sighed, "Not ideal."

"Tell me about it," Wesley muttered.

"What's your plan?" she asked.

"I'll try to defeat it. If not, I'll find another way," he stated.

Lilly rolled her eyes, "Well, now you have an added problem."

"What do you mean?" Wesley inquired.

"It won't just stay in its room anymore," Lilly explained. "You've disrupted its guard duty."

"Ah, I see," Wesley realized. "So, I'll have to deal with it head-on."

"Exactly," Lilly confirmed. "Or risk encountering it in a worse situation."

"Can I win?" Wesley asked uncertainly.

"With the Goddess's boost, you stand a chance," Lilly reassured him.

He then turned his attention to the Seed of Thousand Forms in his hand.

"What should I do with this?" he asked, eyeing the black metallic ball.

"Activate it and feed it your best weapon," Lilly instructed.

Wesley complied, swapping his current weapon for his Blade of Haste.

"That's better," Lilly approved.

After the transformation, Wesley held his new weapon, now dubbed Sharp Gale.

"Let's call it Sharp Gale," he decided.

As he examined his new weapon, Wesley felt a surge of excitement. With renewed confidence, he prepared to face the Lizardman.

"What is chaos damage?" he inquired.

"It's a powerful damage type," Lilly explained briefly.

"Got it," Wesley nodded, though still curious.

As he fed lower-level weapons to his Sharp Gale, Wesley noticed the slow progress in leveling up the weapon.

"So I can level it up indefinitely?" he asked.

"Given enough high-level weapons," Lilly confirmed.

With the clock ticking, Wesley focused on the task at hand, ready to confront the Lizardman.

"Let's do this," he declared, bracing himself for the battle ahead.

"What if I give 'em a weaker weapon?" He questioned, recalling Lilly's mention of boosting his Sharp Gale with a Bronze Short Sword.

"If you feed 'em lower-level stuff, their XP bar goes up," Lilly explained. "Once it's full, the sword levels up. This one's different, doesn't follow the usual smithing rules. Notice how it doesn't have level caps like the others."

"So, I can level it up loads?"

"As long as you find high-level weapons," Lilly nodded. "But the higher it gets, the less filling it'll get from lower-level stuff."

He dumped out all his collected weapons—his first, the Bronze Short Sword, a Bronze Axe from an Ogre, plus a level 1 Short Sword and a level 5 Long Sword from grinding. All just junk filling his bag, so he decided to feed 'em to his Sharp Gale.

Feeding it the Bronze Short Sword barely budged the bar, just 1%. The level 5 Long Sword boosted it by 10%, a better deal like the Fairy said. But trying with the Bronze Axe failed.

"You gotta stick to the same type," Lilly informed.

Limited options, Wesley realized. He put the Bronze Axe away. Feeding the third sword only bumped it up 12%, still a ways from a level.

This was probably his best shot for now. Checking his status, he saw twenty minutes had passed since the boost. Only about forty left. No time to waste, no knowing how tough the fight ahead would be. He grabbed his magic staff, ready to head out.

"You really dual-class?" Lilly seemed impressed, seeing him with both sword and staff.

"I thought you knew everything?" he retorted.

"Basic stuff," the Fairy shot back. "Your dual-class is odd."

"But it's good, right?"

"We'll see."

About to charge out, he paused. "Any help during the fight?"

"Nope," Lilly replied quickly.

Rolling his eyes at the Fairy's apathy, he asked, "Do I need to watch out for you? What if you get hit accidentally?"

"I won't," Lilly said calmly. "I'll be watching from a different dimension."

"Convenient," Wesley remarked. "What if I die? What about you?"

"I go home, job done."

"Heartless," he sighed. "And me? What happens if I die?"

"You die."

Depressing, he hoped for a different answer. "No respawn? Thought this was like a game."

"Not a game," Lilly reminded. "Fight harder if you wanna live. Stop stalling, boost's running out."

With that, the Fairy vanished, leaving Wesley to get on with it.

"Let's go," he said, raising his weapons and casting Magic Shield. Kicking the door open, he dashed out, bracing for an attack, only to find the room empty.

"Huh?" Remembering he hadn't checked the opponent's position, he glanced at his monocle's radar, spotting a red dot behind him. Turning, he saw the Lizardman swinging its scimitar at him. He barely blocked with his shield.

Crafty opponent, hiding by the door. He staggered back from the ambush but felt the blow wasn't as heavy as before, thanks to the boost. The Lizardman struck again, but Wesley knew its move from last time. Block until the sixth hit, then strike. He counted, dropped his shield, and landed a hit, dealing 82 damage.

Thrilled, he got careless and took a hit to his waist, losing 23 damage. But with Immortal's Might regenerating his HP, he quickly recovered. Despite having much less HP than the Lizardman, he still had the upper hand.

With the boost, the fight was easier. His speed matched the Lizardman's, allowing him to cope with its attacks and even counter. He chipped away at its HP, occasionally using ranged spells.

Thanks to Immortal's Might's cooldown reduction, he could spam his skills. But the Lizardman's tough skin and round shield made it resilient. It took a while to wear it down to 30% health.

With just over ten minutes left on the boost, he worried he might not finish in time. Sacrificing defense for offense, he frantically attacked, trading blows without evasion.

As the Lizardman's HP dropped below a quarter, it roared, its scales turning blood-red. Wesley braced, seeing its aura change. It dropped its shield, wielded its scimitar with both hands, then split it into two identical ones. Charging, it unleashed twelve lightning-fast slashes.

Wesley used Magic Shield and Parry to defend, still taking hits. Surprisingly, the damage wasn't much different. With its shield gone, the Lizardman was more vulnerable. Wesley went back to trading blows.

"Power Strike!" The attack connected and Wesley dealt a solid 24 damage.