Truly, powerful things tend to have more than four-character names.
Destruction Beam.
Immortal Sword.
Kaido.
Luffy.
Shilla Heaven.
And… Elastic Burst.
I succeeded in stealing that skill.
Just from seeing that seemingly powerful chimera possessing it at only level 3, I could tell it was a high-tier skill.
Elastic, and Burst.
Just looking at the words gives me a feeling!
「Target’s ‘Elastic Burst lv3’ temporarily becomes ‘Elastic Burst lv2’」
Also, the Elastic Burst I stole was level 1.
I used the skill without hesitation.
So what happened?
If I were to describe in detail what happened in the blink of an eye, it could fill several A4 pages.
To summarize it briefly.
To cut to the conclusion.
I succeeded in avoiding the Dancer’s attack.
At the same time, I half-failed in stealing Elastic Burst.
The initial bounce was good.
The rebound when jumping felt much stronger than usual.
But there was a reason it had the word ‘Burst’ in its name.
I couldn’t control that elasticity and acceleration.
Like what happened with Poison Scales before, I started bouncing everywhere.
Like a rugby ball, only much faster than back then.
Tu-ta-ta-ta-ta!
Only after colliding with walls about seven times could I land on the floor.
“Ugh-”
I felt nauseous.
When I looked up, the Dancer was clinging to a corner of the ceiling.
It seemed surprised that I moved similarly to itself.
This creature without eyes…
Its eyes and ears were still invisible.
Only its gaping bright red mouth was noticeable.
Looking closely, I could see it had nostrils.
But more than that grotesque face, I was curious about how it maintained such good balance.
I couldn’t control myself at all, yet how could it, being much heavier than me…
‘Ah, the legs!’
Then realization struck.
It uses its legs, positioned where arms should be, to walk on all fours.
The knees act as suspension to reduce impact, and it has four of them.
No wonder it could maintain balance so easily.
Plus, it seemed to have suction cups on its feet. Or maybe it hangs on with claws.
Meanwhile, the number of legs I have is… 0!
‘This skill is unusable.’
I tried to steal another skill.
「Cannot steal yet」
But it seemed the Crown of Steal couldn’t be used consecutively.
Well, if it could, one could just trap a creature with good skills and periodically harvest them like shearing sheep.
Then for now, setting aside Elastic Burst.
I’ll fight with my other abilities.
I also have fast techniques.
Ping!
A longsword shot fiercely at the Dancer hanging from the ceiling.
The chimera must be seeing Flying Sword Technique for the first time today.
Instead of kicking with its shin as hard as a sword, it acted more intelligently.
That is, it dodged the sword first.
Tang!
It jumped up and moved to another spot.
But that was also part of my plan.
Separate from Sunset shot in a straight line, and at an even faster speed.
Dawn flew in an arc.
The lighter dagger curved through the air to strike.
It only realized when it was landing.
Just as Dawn was about to pierce its neck.
Ting!
Sparks flew as Dawn was deflected.
It had raised one of its four legs to block the incoming blade.
As expected, it wasn’t an opponent to be underestimated.
Now as if it was its turn, it sprung forward at me.
I also made a leap.
Responded head-on.
「Using Heart-eating Leap lv4」
However, I didn’t dare try to eat its heart like before.
Getting hit by its shins would be no different than being struck by an iron pipe.
It’s common knowledge that it’s hard to dodge in mid-air.
The practice to become a rolling master was actually in preparation for situations like this.
「Using Rolling lv10」
I didn’t roll just to look cool.
While rotating, I could climb up its shin as it swung at me.
I tried to sink my fangs in.
But before my fangs could even pierce the skin, my body was suddenly thrown off.
It had shaken me off.
I bounced away while spinning in the air.
How fast it was.
It moved about cautiously with three-dimensional maneuvers.
I opened my mouth while turning my head to follow it.
「Using Beam lv3」
「Using Beam lv3」
「Using Beam lv3」
With pi-pi-ping sounds, I fired beams consecutively.
The Dancer managed to dodge the first two shots.
But no matter how fast it moved, it couldn’t be faster than me turning my head.
Ping-!
Finally, one beam hit it.
A bright red hole appeared in its belly.
But it wasn’t a fatal wound. Perhaps like taking a very strong punch.
Maybe because of that hit. It fell while jumping around.
Though it quickly got up and moved again, it was clearly flustered.
‘Ah, because the skill level was lowered…’
Thanks to the Crown of Steal, its ‘Elastic Burst’ level was temporarily reduced.
That seems to be why its movements became duller.
Sensing something wrong with its body, it began to retreat slowly.
“If not now, we won’t be able to catch it.”
I agree with Pelerian.
It’s too fast.
It was tougher than expected too.
It doesn’t seem very intelligent yet, but it might become smarter over time.
If we let it go now, it won’t be easy to catch.
Unless after I evolve…
But in this dungeon, the only way to gain experience is from chimeras…
“There’s that human too. The lunchbox, wasn’t it?”
‘That wouldn’t even register!’
I’ll catch it here.
With that resolution, I charged at it.
Among my attack methods, what has the highest burst damage?
Obviously…
‘Isil!’
Isil’s all-burning fire.
By the way, I had tried to ‘borrow’ Isil’s hellfire before but failed.
Only Isil could use hellfire for now.
The purple flames that burn everything.
Whoosh-
Shot toward the creature charging at me.
I thought the flames would engulf it.
The magic stone and flesh would burn, but it couldn’t be helped.
Just as the purple tongue from hell was about to lick the four-legged chimera.
Bang!
Surprisingly, the Dancer stopped advancing.
It had spread its legs to cling to the walls.
And just before part of its body could touch the fire, it made a reverse charge in the opposite direction.
In other words, it ran away.
It escaped faster than the hellfire could shoot out.
Maybe it got some burns on its skin.
I couldn’t tell.
It disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.
‘Haa.’
A deep sigh escaped.
I used every means I had, but still couldn’t catch it.
I miss mom.
