[Monster Meats cannot be ingested. The penalty is the reduction of your HP permanently if you do so].
'I don't even know what HP is... What the hell, I'm hungry!' Nhaac! Luke closed his jaw tightly and quickly swallowed a Rabbit's Foot.
[Rare Monster-Rabbit Meat ingested. You will be penalized 3... 2... 1.]
Next, the half-wolf felt his chest tighten like never before, and an atrocious tingling began to spread throughout the entire left side of his body. Within moments, he no longer had the strength even to hold the food, which fell from his hand while his entire body shook with an agonizing cold that penetrated his entire spine.
[Your life points were permanently diminished.] He heard the voice say in his head, with a peaceful tone.
After a few seconds, Luke regained his body movements and stood up quickly.
'Okay... I will never do that again in my life.' He said to himself, his hand on his stomach as he felt a lump in his throat.
'You don't like it? Taste another little piece, go..."
A whisper passed by the man's left ear, alerting him. However, when he turned to see where the dull voice had come from, there was nothing. Confused, all his powerful ears could detect next was a draft.
'I have to get out of here before I go crazy.' He thought, believing that the murmur had been caused by the wind's introit.
Now that he was partially fed, Luke was in a bit of a mood to continue, but it was impossible to tell if he made the right choice by ingesting the drop from the Biped Rabbit. The only good news was this new draft, which could mean the surface.
Not wanting to waste much more time, Luke started following the wind noise through the shadows, which would give him an advantage in case any monsters appeared, and he made the right decision by sneaking around as he soon found another horde of Biped Rabbits.
In one chamber, all these white, fluffy, ultra-strong monsters had an established wheel, the center of which was being dominated by two larger Biped Rabbits, who were exchanging kicks and punches.
From his own experience, Luke knew that those white-haired legs were not to be underestimated, so he tried to silently surround all these frightening creatures.
Since the place where the half-wolf was standing was a little higher, he just thought to continue on his way, and for a thief, that was no big deal, he went on silently as always.
When at last the faint sound of wind became a little louder, Luke found a colossal flight of stairs.
"Are you sure you're going to follow? Hihihi!" A thin voice murmured in his right ear this time, causing Luke to immediately poke the air with his sharp fingers, but nothing was hit.
'What the fuck is happening?'
The half-wolf's instincts began to alert frantically right after the whisper, urging him to not go any further. However, the man had no choice, because his only clue about the direction of the surface was the air current.
Against his will, he stepped on the first step... and nothing happened. Tap! Tap! He climbed one step after another, not bothering to make any noise because he knew that what awaited him at the end was not good.
With more than 600 steps, the sides of the climb gradually changed in appearance, from the thick shade of rock that covered that floor, to old mossy bricks.
As soon as he reached the top, Luke saw a huge circular hall, which was so tall that it looked like a tower. The ceiling was completely dark and on the walls were crystal tubes through which lava flowed inside.
Illuminated by the charged light of the lava, there was a knight in the center of this hall, wearing the armor of molten rock that looked as if it had been taken from a volcano.
This armor looked so frighteningly powerful that there was not even any space at the joints, which made it look impenetrable and made Luke conclude that this could not be human.
Because it was mounted on a huge black horse, together they were almost ten feet tall, which made the knight even more imposing.
The moment the horseman threw his right arm to the side, and a huge sickle began to appear in his hand, Luke knew that he was not an ally.
The half-beast thought about running back to the stairs, however, by the time he turned around, he saw a wall that was not there before. From one minute to the next, he was locked in a room with a very powerful monster.
At high speed, the Dark Horse began to march toward Luke, whose only option was to run while carrying the Egg on his back, praying not to drop it.
Voooim! The scythe scraped under Luke's feet, who jumped at just the right moment to avoid having his leg amputated.
The half-wolf knew that this would not be an easy battle at all, considering the tremendous strength of his opponent and also the situation he was in, with several internal and external injuries.
For the first time in his life, instead of continuing to advance and slash, Luke decided to think tactically.
'If this armor is as tough as it looks, he must be heavy, for that reason he must also use a horse. Think Luke... think what you can do...'
Seconds passed and the only plan that appeared in the boy's mind, was too absurd to work, yet he had to try, after all, he had no other alternatives.
At some point, the half-wolf stopped running and turned towards the Horse and Rider, threw the egg as high as he could, and propelled himself towards his opponent.
Each step of his courageous momentum emitted a low sound, caused by the force he was putting on his feet with the meeting of the metal, which reversed the entire floor of the arena. Tum! Tum! Tum!
At that moment, Luke raised his right arm as he ran and the <Inventory Normal> appeared at his side.
"Will it wor— Shut up, it has to work out!" He shouted at his fearful subconscious.