hotmtlnovel Book 3: Chapter 8
Book 3: Chapter 8
Book 3: Chapter 8
Orc General
Perhaps there was no need for me to go this far by myself.
I had done this much by myself, so perhaps it was already enough.
Butit looked like I couldnt live smartly like that.
There were five more days until the evacuation of the townspeople was finished. I returned until the abandoned village inside the dark forest in order to hold back the orcs.
I also had an option to return to the town first but, there was a distance around two days from the location where I fought the orc soldiers until the town. If I wasted several days for going and coming back, the orcs would realize that the food procurement team had gone missing and they might start attacking.
Even so I might be able to replenish my supply if I went back, but I judged it would be better to use my time sleeping rather than for travelling that novelhall.com
But, it didnt seem like I would even have the time to take a proper sleep.
When I arrived at the abandoned village in the evening the next day, the orcs were starting to prepare to leave by gathering their remaining food under the command of the remaining orc soldier.
Based on my observation, they wouldnt depart right away. I assumed that they would depart at the morning tomorrow after the hunting team that should be gathering food around the forest right now returned back.
I was just guessing but, the force of orc soldiers that I defeated wasnt going to procure food but as advance party to attack the town. If that was the case I could understand why that unit contained such extreme force.
I just barely made it. It was already impossible to keep the orcs contained here, but I made it in time before they departed.
I climbed a big tree that was located in a distance where I could observe the movement in the abandoned village. I ate the blackberry and mountain yam that I found on the way here before closing my eyes until it became dark.
My body was exhausted from being unable to have proper sleep and meal for these three weeks. I forcefully recovered my body yesterday using potions, but the accumulated fatigue made me unable to recover my stamina more than 60% even after a whole day had passed since the battle yesterday because of the accumulated fatigue.
There was one more hour until the sun went downI consciously slept to recover my stamina and mana.
When I slept, my mana and stamina could recover in double the speed than when I was awake. I forced myself to sleep also to recover from the accumulating fatigue. Then an hour laterthe sun had set and the sky became dark when I opened my eyes. It was then I started moving soundlessly and slipped into the darkness of the night.
.
The orcs action couldnt be stopped anymore. I wouldnt have any way to interfere if thirty orcs that included superior variants started taking action. But, there was something that even I could do before they started moving in this current situation when the orcs were scattered throughout the abandoned village.
That way wasassassinating the orcs.
If the orcs were in perfect health, something like assassinating monster with high life force would be difficult, but it should be impossible right now when they were weakened from poison.
First would be the orcs that were patrolling around the abandoned village to procure food. They wouldnt get too far from the abandoned village because the group would depart soon but, in exchange they also stopped moving in group of three and walked around on their own.
I circled to get ahead of a patrolling orc and hid myself on a tree, Then I jumped down on the back of the orc that passed below me while putting a wire around its neck at the same time. I then tightened the wire around that thick neck in a snap using my whole body weight and my falling speed.
Gugaaa
That orc didnt even realize that it was under attack. It scratched on its neck from the sudden feeling of suffocation. But the spider string that was strengthened with mana wouldnt snap with just that much. My posture was half upside down, even so I kicked at the back of the orcs head using my heel and tightened the string strongly to completely strangle it to death.
What was troublesome about monster was how they could resume breathing again even after this when some time had passed. That was why I used Water on the leaf mold on the ground to make a water puddle before pushing the orcs face into it to suffocate it.
This was the 26thright now I still didnt want to smell of blood, so I didnt shed any blood.
I found a second patrolling orc and sneaked up on it. But perhaps this orc was still young and cowardly. It would only walk through an open space.
It was important to jump down from a tree to gain speed so that I could strangle the orcs thick neck instantly, so I couldnt use the same method like before with this one.
But there was also another way to fight for an open space. I quickly wrapped a spare string on the hilt of my black dagger and threw it in a large arc to hit the orc from right above.
*Gon-!*
Gah
The orc got hit on the back of its head by the hilt of the dagger that was strengthened with centrifugal force and mana. Its eyes rolled back and it collapsed. I immediately approached and dealt with the orc in the same way like the previous orc. Then I covered the corpse with some rotten leaves to hide it before searching for the next orc.
Like that I finished off three more patrolling orcs in the same way. With this there was no more orc outside and I moved on to the next step.
It was thirty orcs with this.
The orcs in the abandoned village hadnt seem to realize what I was doing because I had been avoiding to shed blood until now. Just in case I checked the surrounding with my Night Vision that could see the color of magic particles, then I blended into darkness and infiltrated inside the village.
.
If I had twelve more hours and powerful sleeping drug, there would be a better way of fighting that I could take, but unfortunately neither of those was something that I could obtain. In the first place powerful sleeping drug could only be gathered from high ranked plant monster, so it wasnt something that could be prepared easily.
In the abandoned village there were still orcs that werent asleep, perhaps because they would depart soon. For now I avoided the central part where the orc general might be located and chose to crush the western and southern part of the settlement first.
The western part only had normal orcs and no sign of orc soldier. All the orcs were also asleep.
I sneaked into a dilapidated house where there was snoring sound and found three orcs sleeping together in a huddle, so I took out a glass jar that was a rarity even in this country from my pouch. I poured its content bit by bit along a string to pour it into the orcs mouth.
This wasnt really a poison. It was alcohol that had been distilled many times to gain high purity for the purpose of disinfection.
Human wouldnt get away with just choking if something like this was poured into their mouth, but there was no problem for orc that was a tough creature.
I did the same thing with the four orcs at another house before returning to the first house. There the orcs that I gave alcohol first were snoring even louder than before.
While the orc was sleeping soundly, I slowly buried the black dagger that was like a large awl bit by bit into its head while avoiding large blood vein that would cause blood to spurt out.
The orc jerked and let out a groan at the end but, that orc didnt wake up nor the other orcs noticed me, so I continued killing the other orcs.
I didnt apply poison on my knife during normal battle because poison would become almost ineffective when it became dry. Even if I applied the poison right before the battle started, the poison would degrade just from touching air.
If it was a weak poison that was difficult to degrade like what the female thief who kidnapped Elena was using, there was exclusive sheath that could be used to preserve the poison. That was what Gelf told me, but that wasnt what I sought.
It wasnt like I was fixated with any particular way of fighting. If it was for the sake of killing an opponent who I had to kill no matter what, I wouldnt hesitate to use cowardly method.
But, if I got too focused on poison from continuously fighting by relying on it, it felt like I wouldnt be able to arrive at the strength that I sought. This was simply my selfishness.
It was 37 orcs with this.
There wasnt any sign of sentry at the east. When I headed to the south next, I only found three orcs that were still awake.
There should be a lot more orcs at here and the west area, but perhaps it was those orcs who were in the hunting team or the orc soldiers team. Perhaps these three here were awake was for taking turns with the patrolling orcs.
Those three orcs were sitting in a circle while eating something that looked like a long yam. TroublesomeI observed them for a while but they showed no sign of moving from that spot, so I carried out their assassination forcefully.
Feel
I used Feel to the two orcs at the opposite side. Those two felt like their ears were touched and looked back. I erased my sound and ran toward the back of the one orc who looked puzzled seeing what the other orcs were doing. Then I used my running momentum to stab the orcs skull with the black dagger until it went out from its mouth.
Goboh
The two orcs looked forward again hearing that strange voice. I already let go of the black dagger at that time and jumped over the murdered orc. The palm heels of my hands struck their jaws to return their gazes back to behind.
Buoh!?
The orcs who were unable to catch sight of me were unable to think of the pain and impact as an attack. I quickly pulled out two knives from my boots and stabbed the knives into their brains from the base of their ears while they still couldnt understand what was going on. The two of them were assassinated simultaneously.
It was a total of forty orc killed with this.
The corpses were letting out a lot of blood. The bloody smell would spread out and it might get noticed anytime.
The remaining enemies were the orc general at the center, one orc soldier, and then some ten odd normal orcs. But the problem wasnt the number. After all just one orc general was as big of a threat as fifty orcs.
Fuu
I let out my anxiety together with the air inside my lungs. Then I lightly stretched my body to keep it flexible.
Both my stamina and mana had only recovered around 70%. My body too, although I didnt have any injury like pulled tendon or bleeding, my whole body was feeling small pain all over perhaps because of the blows I received and the exhaustion.
Could I do it in this condition? Even so I had no choice but to do it I guess.
I moved inside the darkness and ran toward the center of the village where the orc general should be at.
When I arrived there, I took a lesson from my previous failure and scouted the place first.
There were eleven normal orcs that I could see just from what looking with my eyes that perceived magic particle. All of them were gathered at the central square to finish their preparation for attacking the town.
At the center of that was an orc soldier watching the surrounding vigilantly. It was carrying an unrefined bow that seemed to be made from a bent young tree and bowstring.
And thenthe huge orc that was taller than three meter at the back must be the orc general.
I got down from the tree and climbed to the rooftop of the dilapidated house that was nearest to the orcs.
I removed the short arrow from the crossbow gimmick on my hand protector and took out the steel short arrow that could fly the farthest from my pouch. I checked it for any scratch or bending.
Originally the small crossbow that master passed down to me was a weapon for close quarter to keep the enemy within five meter range in check. It had no strength to pierce through a monsters skull even in such close distance. Even when it was shot toward a wooden plank, it wouldnt be able to pierce deeply if the distance was more than five buildings.
Just from looking at the distance like this, I felt that it would be pointless even if I shot at the orc general. Most likely it would be able to dodge long range attack even if it was a surprise attack. Even so the reason I climbed on the roof was for sniping at the bow orc soldier.
The distance was 40 meters based on my eye measurement. Even the steel arrow that could fly in longer distance couldnt possibly pierce its skull. That was why I used my trump card in order to make this sniping worked.
I took out two small white porcelain bottles from Storage. I carefully removed the lid of one of them and poured several drops on a leaf that I had prepared. Then I closed the lid again.
I removed the lid from the other jar and dipped the arrows tip in it. Then I closed the lid and returned the two jars back into Storage before I finally let out my breath.
I mixed the tip of the arrow that I dipped into the drug with the drug that I trickled on the leaf. The steel arrow instantly rusted and a strong stink rose from it.
This was a deadly poison that master created. When separated into two liquids, they were almost harmless but they would change into a powerful corroding poison when mixed. I never used it until now because just inhaling its scent was dangerous. Even the user would be damaged if they used something like this twice in a day.
Furthermore it was weak against water and its effectiveness would degrade just from coming into contact with the water vapor in the air. I paid attention to not breathe in the fumes or to even blow my breath to it while inserting the arrow carefully into the crossbow. Then I chanted the darkness magic that I built up in my head.
Weight
It was the dark magic not to change weight but to direct an object to the selected direction. I called it magic instead of sorcery because I had changed its composition and increased its precision.
My Archery skill was only level 1 but, if I used it in conjunction with Dark Magic level 3, I could increase its accuracy and range and power dramatically.
The orc general raised its head at that timing. The bow orc soldier let out a yell of warning while readying its bow.
The bow orc sensed me, perhaps because of the poisons scent of because I used magic. It nocked an arrow that might be as tall as me on its bow that might reach two meter wide. It drew the bow powerfully and aimed toward me, but I continued pouring mana into my crossbow while carefully taking aim even then.
Bead of sweat trickled down my forehead due to my extreme concentration. The bow orc who had level 4 Archery lifted the corner of its lips in a smirk and aimed not at my body but my face.
*Shpan!!*
The bow orc fired its arrow. It sliced through air and approached with howling sound. I burned its trajectory into my eye and fired the arrow in my crossbow gimmick too.
Inside my internal thought that was lengthened by more than thirty percent using Body Strengthening, I had twisted my neck the moment the arrow was fired. The excessively precise trajectory sliced several strands of my hair as it flew past right beside my head.
The crossbows arrow that flew through exactly the same trajectory with the orcs arrow shot through the left eye of the bow orc that froze in fear for an instant.
The 41st.
You werent weak. But, my resolve toward death was simply a bit higher than yours.
GUBOOGAAAAAAH!
The bow orc who was hit by the poisoned arrow pressed its hands on its face while shrieking. It then collapsed with half of its face turning bluish black centered on its left eye that was hit by my arrow. It was already losing its life.
The orcs who were making a ruckus by such gruesome death fell silent. This poison was something that I received from master with very strict warning attached when I returned once at masters place, but I could understand why seeing its power.
It would be me who died first before the enemy if I relied on something like that too easily.
.
GUGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!
The orc general returned the orcs who were roaring in fear back to their senses. It exchanged glare with me who was standing on the roof.
He was putting on countless metal rings on its naked upper body as substitute for armor. On its lower body it was wearing a large insect shell as armor. It was a huge orc with height that surpassed three meter.
The Orc General considered me as enemy after I killed the orc soldier.
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Orc General RaceBeast DemihumanRank
Magic PowerStamina
Overall Combat StrengthWith Body Strenghtening40DOWN
StatusWeakened
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I surpassed even the movement of the hexagon rod that tried to intercept me. The black dagger tore the generals face.
GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!
The orc general groaned in pain from its torn face.
I flew past the orc general. I landed with a thrust into the forehead of the unlucky orc who happened to be there. After that I breathed hard with a feeling of lethargy assaulting me for an instant.
It was shallow. If I stabbed with the dagger in that speed, even an orc general should get fatally injured, but the general managed to move its face slightly and avoided direct hit even against such speed.
If it could dodge like that, then using the black knife that was currently under repair might leave more damage than the black dagger, but a knife was lacking as a finisher in the first place, so it was pointless to hypothesize that.
Rather than that, what was this feeling of lethargy? This sensationwas similar like when I used Body Strengthening for the first time. No, it was a bit different. I felt lethargy and heat accumulating in my muscles like when I used Battle Technique for the first time.
I was concentrating and circulating mana through my whole body, but what could be the cause of this? I guessed that it was thanks to that I could move faster than expected but, there wasnt any time to ponder about that right now.
The remaining enemies were only this orc general and two orcs who were looking at me fearfully. Perhaps there were also still other orcs who were out hunting but, it wouldnt be a problem to leave them alone if they werent here.
.
You
The general glared at me through the gap of its fingers that were pressing on its face, then it spoke with word.
This thingI had heard that superior variant had high intellect, but it could talk with human language? Perhaps because orc general had different vocal cords structure than human, the words it let out were halting and slow.
Humanwo, man. Why, attack, us? Why, kill, comrades?
From where the orcs stood, I was an evil who attacked their settlement and killed their comrades.
What was right and what was wrong would also changed with the change in perspective. Mankind that consisted of human race and demihuman races wouldnt always be in the right. Even mankinds enemy, the demon race should have their own reason why they were hostile toward mankind. There were even good people among such feared demon race just like master.
But, what meaning such thing had?
I understood your claim. But I too had a reason why I couldnt withdraw.
I dont hold any resentment toward any of you. Even animal will fight with their life on the line to protect their children if someone else enter their turf. You guys had become enemy ever since you appeared here. Thats all there is to it.
In the first place conflict wouldnt occur if this was a world where everyone could be satisfied. If you came to take things from others than surely you also had the resolve to have things taken from you right? Humans were also the same. That was why conflict would never end.
Got it.
The orc general narrowed its eyes at my simple answer and seemed to think of something. Its hand left its bloody face and it held the hexagon rod with both hands.
From its stance I could feel no haughtiness as the strong, and how it recognized me not as assailant but formidable enemy. The fearful two orcs might have also sensed the generals feeling. They grasped their weapons tightly and stood at the sides of the orc general.
My name, Goljaoul. Warrioryour name?
Aria.
I seehere I come, Aria-!!
The orc generalGoljaoul roared. At the same time he rushed forward explosively and struck with his hexagon rod.
I dodged it in a hairs breadth. I placed a single hand on the ground and kicked on the ground with one foot. I moved flowingly without pause while hand standing and planting the blade in my boot from right below into the jaw of an approaching orc.
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!
Goljaoul finally got serious.
Although his body was weakened from poison, there was a large gap in skill between him and rank 3 like me. I could only rival him in speed. My parameters werent lowered, but my mana and stamina already dipped below half due to the accumulating fatigue.
Did I still have a chance to win even in this situation? Until just now I also considered the option of running away in the worst case, but now I had discarded such thinking.
Goljaoul recognized me as an enemy. He discarded his pride as the strong and challenged me in battle proudly despite his weakened body. If I ran away from Goljaoul right now, it felt like I wouldnt be able to go up to this stage anymore.
The strength that I wished for wasnt just power. I would become strong at heart.
The orc who got his throat gouged vomited foaming blood while falling down. Goljaoul used that orc as cover as he approached and thrust forward with his hexagon rod. I bent backward to dodge that and opened a distance between us by crawling on the ground.
Rod had wide range of attack because it didnt have an easy to understand threat like a sharp edge. It could thrust like a spear, slash like a great sword, and crush like a hammer.
It looked like I could fight Goljaoul equally because his agility had decreased, but all my bones would be broken if I got hit directly.
Shadow Snatch
I created four darkness with Dark Magic and scattered them around me at the same time.
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Goljaoul stayed wary toward the darkness while rotating his rod above his head. Then he grabbed the end of the rod and swung down.
The distance of more than three meter was instantly closed in by the rod and the arms length. I used footwork and slid away while using my own shadow to fire crossbow arrow from the darkness that was floating beside Goljaouls head.
Goljaoul saw the fired arrow and dodged by sight. His rod smashed the ground and caused fragments to hit my body. But, I opened the distance once more using the opening that was created from that. I was at least able to prevent him from continuing his attack.
I was unable to use magic effectively because of Goljaouls cautiousness.
Shadow Snatch was convenient to use, but it also had weakness.
An object had to be covered with magic particles in order for the effect of space type Dark Magic to extend to it. With Storage I could take out pendulum outside although it had a bundle of string attached to it, but to make something travel from shadow to shadow, there needed to be a clear separation.
In the battle against spear orc soldier, I was able to make its spear travel through shadow because I was directly touching it.
When the sword orc soldier stepped on hidden weapon from the shadow on the ground, it was still wrapped in darkness and completely separated.
That was why, I couldnt do something like stabbing blade into shadow to attack at a location far away. I could only send throwing weapon or sorcery using Shadow Snatch.
But see, Goljaoulyou didnt know the depth of Dark Magic.
Gah!?
One of the darkness that Goljaoul hit cracked and a sphere of light fell out from inside. It released a powerful light for just a moment.
Space type Dark Magic contained spell formula and caused various phenomenon. The darkness just now sustained a daily life magic Light and directly sent it out when it almost reached zero.
There was also the possibility of light and darkness cancelling each other, but by enveloping Light with non elemental magic particles, the magic didnt vanish and activate in the end. I rushed toward Goljaoul with all my strength the moment it lighted up and blinded him.
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
I used the effect of Weight that was still remaining and Body Strengthening and closed the distance of five meters in a single breath with speed that was twice that of ordinary person. I thrust the black dagger toward Goljaoul who was covering his eyes.
GUGAAAAAH!!
But that full powered attack pierced the chest of the last remaining orc.
It was unknown whether it was just a coincidence or it tried to protect Goljaoul even with its eyes burned by light. Either way the dagger went through its breastbone and got buried until the hilt. The moment I tried to pull it out, Goljaouls hexagon rod hit that orc together with me while his eyes were still closed shut.
Kahah!
I rolled on the ground and vomited out blood. Even so it still wasnt fatal. Most likely he counterattacked with only his detection without relying on Night Vision, the large body of the orc served as a cushion and I managed to at least avoid a direct hit.
Gugo
Goljaoul narrowed his pained eyes and glared at me. He held his hexagon rod with both hands once more. I too filled my legs with strength and stood up.
I thought my bones werent broken. There also wasnt anywhere that felt terribly painful in my muscles or joints, even so I was aware that my stamina had lowered down until almost the limit.
I would be able to restore my stamina and wound if I used Light Magics High Heal, but I didnt think that Goljaoul would give me the time to construct level 3 magic. And even if I used it, my mana would become almost empty.
If it was Heal that I was used to cast then I might be able to use it after looking for an opening butno, lets forget it. Rather than wasting mana to give myself small recovery, it would be better to use it for attacking instead.
Even if I managed to restore my stamina, it would be pointless if I didnt have any finishing move.
This was the weakness of scout class. Although this class excelled in surviving unlike sorcerer or warrior class, I had no finishing move.
I had somehow made it until now. I thought that anyone would die if I could stab them with blade. That was fine if I was against normal adventurer. But now I realized that alone wouldnt be enough to face against the strong like rank 5 or above by myself.
I needed a finishing move. A powerful attack, just like what the Battle Technique that Goljaoul used.
We slowly faced each other. I lowered my waist and raised the black dagger. Goljaoul seemed to feel something and he lowered his waist as though he had resolved himself. He twisted his waist and raised his hexagon rod far above his head.
That was the level 5 Battle Technique that Goljaoul used. I felt the mana inside his body was heightening while I exhaled and accelerated my thought.
Remember. The feeling from before. The attack that tore Goljaouls face.
The level of my Magic Power Control had also increased from training my Body Strengthening. The level of my Non-Elemental Magic that was in charge of Battle Technique had also increased.
Not a single one of them was something complete. It would be no good if even a single one of those three was absent. The Battle Technique in close quarter combat skill was nothing more than an assistant tool.
When I looked using my eyes at the mana flowing throughout my whole body when using Body Strengthening, there wasnt only non-elemental magic particles there. It was slight but, elemental magic particles were also mixing in.
I paid no attention to that until now. Because I thought that was only normal. But if mana was likened as water, wasnt that mixed in elemental magic particle something like off-flavor?
That attack was a result of extreme focus. Until now I absorbed magic particles from the surrounding and blended it into my own mana to use elemental magic, but by concentrating I concluded that I used my own magic particles before they were turned into mana.
The magic particles inside me were purely non-elemental. Using them in that state had bad efficiency, so they would be refined into mana first but, various elements got mixed in during that process.
When using non-elemental magic, one should only use purely non-elemental mana.
In that case this time I should consciously remove any element from my mana. Even if normally that couldnt be done, it should be possible using my eyes that could see the color of magic particle.
Concentrate. Threw away the off-flavor with the delicateness that was like pinching iron sand from among the other grains of sand using a pinset. Refined my non-elemental mana to be as clear as a transparent glass.
tsu!
My non-elemental mana was visibily becoming even more transparent. The mana that was flowing along the blood inside my whole body was flowing even faster. All my muscles got tinged with heat due to the speed of the mana. This state was like when I was on the verge of using Battle Technique.
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!
Goljaoul sensed my mana and swung down his hexagon rod. His Battle Technique was unleashed.
Inside my mind that was accelerated through extreme focus, I was able to perceive the mana of the swung down rod smashing the ground, creating shockwave, and spreading it.
The mana rushing inside my whole body couldnt be controlled and became consumed in the blink of eye.
I kicked on the ground in that instant and rushed forward. My body surpassed even the limit of Body Strengthening. I left behind even the scenery that was reflected in my eyes, jumped over the shockwave that Goljaoul unleashed before it could spread through the ground, and hit Goljaoul whose eyes were wide open in astonishment.
!!
!
*DOSHAAAAAAAAAAAAA!*
My body couldnt endure the recoil and got blown away. I was rolling behind Goljaoul for dozens of meter.
Kahah, kefuh
I lied spread-eagled on the ground and immediately got a violent coughing fit. Blood flowed out from my mouth. I could only move my eyes. And what entered my sight at the distance was Goljaouls huge body slowly falling backward.
With my body that became unable to even move after losing almost all stamina and mana, I saw the black dagger that was stabbed deeply between Goljaouls eyes. After I confirmed his death, I closed my eyes in a silent prayer and darkness quietly enveloped my mind.
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Aria (Alicia) Race : Human Rank 3
Magic Power : 4/250 10 UPStamina : 7/200 10 UP
Strength : 9 (12)Endurance : 9 (12)Agility : 13 (17)Dexterity : 8
Short Sword Skill Level 3Martial Art Level 4 1 UPThrowing Level 3Archery Level 1
Defense Level 3String Control Level 4
Light Magic Level 3Darkness Magic Level 3Non-Elemental Magic Level 4 1 UP
Daily Life MagicMagic Power Control Level 4Pressure Level 4 1 UP
Stealth Level 4Night Vision Level 2Search Level 4Poison Resistance Level 3
Simple Appraisal
Overall Combat Strength : 612 (With Body Strengthening : 732) 36 UP