Swordsman's Regression: Reawakened as a Necromancer-Chapter 70: Sand Lizards

SKREEEEEeee!

Percival ⸢Quickdrew⸥ Lightpiercer, using the momentum to slash at the Sand Lizard closest to his face.

The sword didn’t slice through, rather it hit the beast with a CLANG!, creating an arc of ⸢Soulfire⸥ that blasted the other two beasts backward.

Percival spun the blade and leaped backward, creating critical distance between himself and the trio.

He needed a moment to recalibrate.

The fact that the beast could tank a direct slash from his blade, empowered by both ⸢Quickdraw⸥’s velocity and ⸢Soulfire⸥, meant they possessed a reasonable amount of formidable defense.

Likely due to their specialized hide.

Their scales almost looked rock-like, but they were actually heated sand, solidified to form an almost indestructible body armor.

It shone golden-brown, covering every part of their form, including their thin, muscled limbs that ended in sickle-shaped claws, and their narrow heads shaped like wedges.

⸢Threat: Sand Lizards⸥

⸢Level: 35⸥

Percival required more information. He kept one eye on his HUD and the other on the threat prowling around him.

⸢Main Skills:⸥

⸢Sand Run (Passive): Movement speed is increased by 200% when touching sand. Can run on loose sand without sinking⸥

⸢Spiral Strike: Can launch itself from sand like a torpedo, spinning its body to drill into the target with its claws and snout⸥

⸢Sand Spy: Can camouflage perfectly in the sand⸥

⸢... and many others⸥.

Percival did not have the time to read further. The last Skill summary warned that the Lizards could also burrow the sands at high speeds.

His Perception warned him that the Lizards were moving. When he lifted his gaze, he saw the three jagged things cunningly positioning themselves at his sides, surrounding him.

Percival brought his sword guard up near his face, maintaining a stoic expression.

Their other Skills didn’t matter to him; the real threat was the absurd speed buff they received from the mere fact that they were on sand.

Percival was fast, but he wasn’t certain he could outpace predators operating with a 200% velocity advantage on their home turf.

SKREEEeee!

They attacked again.

Percival tightened his hold on Lightpiercer.

Like a golden blur, the first fired itself at him from the sand, cockscrewing right at his chest. Percival placed the flat of his blade in front of him, blocking the Spiral Strike.

The ear-splitting shriek of iron being pierced filled the air as yellow sparks flew in all directions.

Percival angled his blade, deflecting the kinetic force as the Sand Lizard tumbled harmlessly past him.

The second struck from the rear-right, giving him no time to prepare.

Percival pivoted, dipping his blade and raising it to create an arc of defense. He parried the scything claws, but the lizard, even as it rebounded off his steel, refused to give up on the attack.

It exhaled a Dust Cloak, engulfing Percival’s face with a violent puff of fine, blinding silica.

Percival’s vision was immediately clouded by a stinging, ochre haze. But the blindness lasted only for a fraction of a second

The Lizards had banked on a longer disorientation, but Percival’s Constitution was too high for such a rudimentary stun attack.

The third Lizard aimed to use the distraction, but even though it attacked a heartbeat before Percival fully recovered, the reptile found no purchase.

Percival felt the movement before it even started. His Perception led him as the sand shifted behind his heel.

He threw his arm to the side, slashing at the lunging beast. The blade hit the creature hard on its torso, and as it flew to the ground, Percival pushed on his advantage.

The Lizard landed on its back. Right then, Percival’s blade came spearing down and—SKRSSSHH—stabbing right through its eye.

⸢Sand Lizard killed⸥

⸢+50 EXP⸥

⸢Title bonus: x1,5 multiplier⸥

⸢+75 EXP⸥

Percival withdrew his sword, ⸢Soulfire⸥ dripping from its edge. He swung the weapon quickly enough, anticipating the attack from another Sand Lizard.

This one came from his side, spiralling to strike. But Percival intercepted it mid-air with a chest-level cut.

It was not a mighty slash. Percival never intended it to be.

It was precise and empowered, aimed perfectly for the tiny opening in between layers of its hard sand scales. The ⸢Soulfire⸥ went deeper, rupturing the lizard’s vitality and control.

The blade itself sheared through the fleshy midsection, dissecting the Sand Lizard into rough halves.

Thud. Thud. The two halves of the beast fell to the sand, brown blood soaking the earth.

⸢Sand Lizard killed⸥

⸢+75 EXP⸥

Percival saw the last dive into sand. It began to drill its way around him, trying to be fast enough to catch him off guard.

But Percival’s eyes followed the moving sand like a target marker.

Just when the beast exploded out of the sand, he switched positions so fast it looked like he ⸢Grave Stepped⸥.

There was no one in front of the Sand Lizard for its attack; Percival was now behind it.

He activated ⸢Bladewave⸥, and swung his blade, sending an arc of mana crashing into the beast’s back.

It was a critical hit, but Percival made sure to save its health just enough for—

⸢Soulfire⸥. He burned what was left of the wounded creature.

—him to do that. Making sure the EXP went to his Necromancer Class was still a priority.

⸢Sand Lizard killed⸥

⸢+75 EXP⸥

Percival held his sword low as he gazed down at the dead beast. ’Seems I was faster after all.’

SKREEEEE!! SKREEEE!! SKREEEE!!

The sands behind him erupted into geysers as more Sand Lizards arrived, immediately bursting into attack.

There were eight of them this time, but now, Percival didn’t bother to hold back.

A novice would view them as overwhelming monsters of speed and armor, but Percival knew now that all of that was to hide their glaring weaknesses.

Two lizards lunged at opposite sides, bodies spinning like drills. It was a pincer attack designed to leave the prey with nowhere to dodge.

Who needed to dodge?

Percival simply lowered his center of gravity, waiting until he could feel their air pressure. Then, with a burst of Agility, he executed a vertical leap.

CRACK!

The two Sand Lizards collided beneath him. As they shrieked in confusion, a shadow materialized over them.

They looked up.

Percival was descending like a judgment.

He reversed his grip on Lightpiercer, driving the blade down. His aim was the soft, enticing skin where the neck met the shoulder.

SQUELCH.

The blade sank deep, pinning the left Lizard to the ground. Percival channeled a measure of ⸢Soulfire⸥ into the blade tip. Blue flames erupted from the wound, boiling the creature’s insides instantly.

⸢Sand Lizard killed⸥

⸢+75 EXP⸥

He ripped the sword free. Sensing its incoming attack, he spun in mid-air to face the other dazed lizard.

A simple horizontal slash, empowered by the necrotic flame and his falling momentum, severed its head before it could reorient itself.

⸢Sand Lizard killed⸥

⸢+75 EXP⸥

He landed softly on the sand, but there was no time to breathe. The remaining six were already upon him.

One attempted to use Dust Cloak again, exhaling a cloud of blinding silica.

Percival closed his eyes, trusting his Perception entirely. The world of sight vanished, replaced by earth vibrations.

He felt the shift in the sand to his left. A Spiral Strike was coming.

Percival pivoted, sidestepping the blur by a hair’s breadth. As the lizard shot past him, he lashed out with a backhanded strike. The tip of Lightpiercer found the gap in the underbelly, SKSSHH!

The surgical incision spilled its entrails onto the hot sand.

Another lizard tried to burrow, seeking to attack from below. Percival stomped his foot, driving ⸢Soulfire⸥ into the ground.

The vibration disrupted the loose sand, forcing the creature to surface prematurely, flailing and exposed.

He stabbed it right through the thin opening in its chest.

⸢Sand Lizard killed⸥

⸢+75 EXP⸥

And so it continued. The battle became a slaughter dance.

Percival slashed and stabbed. Their thick scales were barely a hindrance anymore.

He knew where the openings were, and he took advantage of them impeccably. He baited their attacks, let them overextend, and then punished them mercilessly.

⸢Sand Lizard killed⸥

⸢+75 EXP⸥

⸢Sand Lizard killed⸥

⸢+75 EXP⸥

⸢Sand Lizard killed⸥

⸢+75 EXP⸥

But more kept coming. Which meant this Encounter Zone didn’t share a Beast Source with another. It had its own.

And Percival needed to find it to end this assault.