Infinite Realm

'Strange. I've been running for almost 5 minutes now but I still haven't reached it' Sato frowned as he stared at the white altar in front.

It looked like it wasn't that far; about 300 metres or so, but even with Sato running at almost full speed, he still hadn't reached it and the distance still looked the same.

'Also, I haven't encountered any monsters here. Are there really no other lifeforms out here?'

Apart from not making much progress towards the white altar, Sato hadn't encountered any forces lately. Just like with the first section of the [Staircase to Zolstice] which was devoid of any plants, the platform Sato was on, was the same. There were no plants or trees and apart from the white altar in the distance, there was no elevated ground. Simply put, Sato could easily see the area around him without much of a problem so there was hardly any way he could get ambushed. Nonetheless, he had yet to spot any monster so far.

*Crack*

"Hmm?" Sato perked up his ears and placed his hand on his sword's hilt as he stared at a spot a few metres in front of him.

*Crack*

The ground suddenly cracked open as a 3 metres wide fissure formed. A black shadow jumped out of the fissure and hurtled towards Sato with an aura of killing intent.

"Hmph!"

Sato reacted quickly and unsheathed his sword in one swift motion while also slashing his sword towards the assailant.

*Clang*

'Hard!'

During the collision, Sato had managed to force the creature back but he also felt a strong impact force which numbed his hand. The body of the assailant was much tougher than he had thought, so much so that it was almost like clashing head-on with an Upper-tier Mortal rank defensive equipment.

"Krrr."

The creature wasn't left unharmed either. It should be known that among current players, Sato's attributes could be said to be one of the highest, especially his [Strength]. Even for this creature with a hide almost as tough as an Upper-tier Mortal rank defensive equipment, it would still get injured in a head-on collision with Sato's sword.

"What in profanities are you?"

With the collision between the two ending in a draw, Sato was able to get a view of the assailant and he was stunned by what he saw.

The monster was a humanoid creature that had its body covered in a brown hard shell like a lobster's. It had two pairs of claws for arms and had a monstrous face. Despite being able to stand on two legs, it didn't look like a human in any way. Even the two 'legs' looked more like those of a crustacean than a human; lacking toes and just looking like a pair of thicker curved chopsticks. 

"My very first opponent in this strange world is you huh? A 4 armed creature with high defense and impressive speed. Also, to have taken my counterattack head-on without getting injured, your [Strength] should be quite high. This will be a tough fight." Sato put on a serious expression as he faced this foe.

Facing a 4 armed monster was far more dangerous and difficult than facing a 2 armed monster. This was because, with the advantage of an extra pair of arms, such a monster could make an extra set of attacks with the amount of time and effort a regular 2 armed monster would. In other words, where a 2 armed monster can launch 2 attacks with its arms, a 4 armed monster can make double of that, which is 4 attacks in the same amount of time. 

Considering that Sato only had 2 arms, it would be difficult to take on the monster unless he was could react much faster than it. For him to be able to pull this off, he had to face the monster with his total concentration and effort. To summarise, he had to take the battle seriously.

There was still the fact that the monster had high defense, great strength and nice speed. All these factors made it more deadly than a normal 4 armed monster.

"Shrrrkk!"

The crustacean monster shrieked before charging towards Sato. It moved at such a speed that it would leave a level 8 [Assassin] in the dust as it waved its claws at Sato.

With a calm mind, Sato didn't rush to intercept it but stayed on the defense. He needed to analyze the monster for its weaknesses and take it down once it showed a flaw and to do this, Sato needed to be on the defensive for a while.

*Clang* *Clang*

The two traded blows repeatedly with no side giving space to the other. Sato had his [Strength] which seemed to be a bit higher than that of the monster so he was able to hold his ground even though he was on the defensive and even managed to land a couple of hits once in a while. The boost in attack speed from his weapon also enabled him to keep up with the monster's 4 arms. As for the 'lobster man', which is the name Sato gave to the monster, it wasn't a weakling either.

Not only was the 'lobster man's strength impressive but its battle ability was at the level of a Veteran player, making it a difficult opponent for regular players. Without a doubt, if some average player were in Sato's position right now, they would have been killed dozens of times over.

From the continuous collision between the two and due to the difference in [Strength], a few of Sato's attacks were able to transmit a decent amount of force that dealt damage to the monster. Even though it had a tough shell that mitigated the penetration damage, it still couldn't subdue the force from Sato's attacks.

-30

-16

-18

'[Inspect].'

[[ System notification :

4 clawed Crustan (Elite )

Level : 9

HP : 836/900

Physical Attack Power : 105

Magical attack Power : 0

Physical Defence : 30

Magical Defence : 0

Attack Speed : 30

Movement Speed : 20

Attributes 

Strength : 35

Endurance : 40

Vitality : 90

Agility : 10

Dexterity : 10

Intelligence : 0

Willpower : 0

Skills :

. . . ]]

Overall, the monster's attributes were a bit similar to the Nightmare Devil's with the only difference being its perverse defense and high attack power. There was even a passive damage reduction skill that came as a result of the existence of the shell.

It was because of this that despite Sato trading blows with the monster for a while, he wasn't able to cause much damage to it.

'Times like these are when I wish I was a mage.' Sato thought after getting a glimpse of the monster's attributes.

Looking at the stats, the 4-clawed Crustan looked to be the nemesis of all close-range fighters but the prey of mages but this was actually a wrong deduction in some sense. The third challenge was always modified to suit the challenger, in other words, even if a mage were in Sato's position, they wouldn't necessarily face the same monster. Even if they did, its Magical defence would be very high, at least on par with the current 4-clawed Crustan's Physical defence.

'I need to find its weak spots.' Sato thought as he blocked a claw from the monster.

'There!'

With a flash, Sato thrust his sword swiftly and easily swept past the defences of the monster. The target of his sword was the joint that connected the left upper claw to its body. A line of red liquid flowed down from the spot and dyed Sato's silver sword with a tinge of red.

-116 (720/900 4-clawed Crustan's HP)

"Krrrrrr!!!"

The monster shrieked before furiously waving the 3 other claws at Sato. However, Sato seemed to be prepared for this as he instantly separated himself away from the monster.

'Looks like I was correct. The joints are the weakness.'

Just like with common crustaceans, the strength of the shells at the joints was always weaker than elsewhere. This was to help facilitate movement and agility as if the shells there were as hard as in any other place, it would be difficult for the monster in question to be able to move its claws with ease.

'Now I know your weakness, it's over.'

Sato lunged back at the monster and this time around, he didn't remain on the defensive as before but forced his way with an overbearing momentum. Each and every one of his attacks was precise and aimed at the monster's weak points. When the creature tried to retaliate, Sato would force it back with his overwhelming strength.

Sato initially focused on the left upper arm and after he had succeeded in causing heavy injuries to it, to the point of almost crippling the arm, he focused on another target. The battle wasn't difficult for him because even though the monster had the battle skills of a Veteran player, it lacked Intelligence much less Intellect. In some ways, it could be said to be nothing more than a battle puppet without the means to improve. Such a monster was not much of a challenge to Sato so its defeat was just a matter of time.

Less than 2 minutes later...

"Shrrrkk!"

With an unwilling screech, the 4-armed Crustan fell to a puddle of its own blood. Sato, who stood opposite it, didn't seem to have used much energy in the battle as only a tiny bead of sweat was seen on his forehead.

'This is just the first opponent. Who knows how many more I'll meet before I reach it..' Sato's eyes glinted as he stared at the white altar in front of him.