CHAPTER 53: NEW GAUNTLETS

The Lizard Gate, it was a mixture of swamps and ancient ruins, a place whose difficulty was increased to C not just because the monsters were stronger, but because their home advantage was significant.

They blended into the ruins, trees, and the swamp, and when the time was right, they attacked to kill. Silva walked by the side of a swamp, his senses turned on as he scanned the area over and over.

A single mistake could cost him his life here, and he didn’t want that. He had on his cloak and gauntlets, he was ready to go.

A few minutes in, he sensed the first movement. Something was coming, and it was well within range. He could tell what it was, a lizardman, tall, about seven feet, scaly body, lizard like head, long limbs, and a very thick tail.

It was already rushing, mouth open and ready to bite. Silva stood unfazed; he lunged at the monster, running at top speed.

It spun around and swung its tail. It sounded like a whip, tearing through the air. Silva bent backward, dodging the tail. He felt the wind from it, if the tail had hit him, he would have been as good as dead.

He pushed forward to counter, but it blocked his attack. Claws met claws, and sparks flew. The two of them were immediately pushed back.

Silva rushed in again, leaping into the air and attacking with a claw strike. The lizard spun around and used its tail to block the attacks.

’That tail, it’s definitely the strongest weapon it has. I have to be careful of it.’

Silva spun in the air and sent a kick right to the head. BAM! He knocked the head to the side. He landed, and the lizardman shook it off, ready to fight again, but Silva had already vanished. Moving fast, he got to the back, pulled out his sword, and stabbed down into the tail.

The sword was said to have extreme sharpness, so it penetrated the tough skin of the lizardman and dug into the ground.

"Roarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

The lizardman felt pain unlike anything it had felt before. It tried to shake it off, but it couldn’t. The pain was immense.

Silva took that as his opportunity to end this. He made his way back to the front of the lizard, and without the tail to protect, he started landing claw strike after claw strike. Each one dug into the soft, powerful body, ripping through the lizardman until it finally collapsed, dead.

[You have gained 200 EXP, 50 demonic energy]

He looked at the body of the lizardman on the ground, a smile forming on his face as he walked to it and pulled out his sword.

He recalled the moments of his life where the C Gate was a terrifying thought. Even thinking of entering one gave him chills, yet now here he was, standing in it and defeating the monsters.

He dug out the core of the monster, tossed it into the air, and then continued walking. Unlike other gates where he could easily find his way back, higher-level gates were massive, and in the past, there had been many occasions where people were lost inside.

So markers were made by past explorers, and maps were sold as well. He bought one before entering, and his phone, which was in his inventory, also had a map he got from a reliable source online.

So with full confidence, he kept walking. He was a few meters away when the thought of using the lizardman for a weapon hit him. He didn’t want to expend much energy, especially since he planned to stay long, but he wanted to see what he would get.

So he turned around and walked to it. He placed his hands over it. "Demonic forge." He spoke, and immediately it shattered into light and reassembled into a pair of items.

His eyes widened when he saw it. It was unbelievable, a pair of gauntlets lay on the ground, made from the scales of the lizardman, with claws and purple patterns.

He grabbed them immediately and looked at them.

At the back of the gauntlets were two purple crystals that seemed to swirl with energy.

[Demonic Forge, Lizardman Gauntlets, C-ranked artifacts: Increase attack speed by 20%. Resistant to magical attacks. Stores physical attacks in core to be outputted in a heavy blast.]

Silva read through it, and the first thing that went through his mind was, Oh my God. And immediately, a splitting headache hit him.

"Arghhhhh!"

[User isn’t allowed to think of divinity]

"Shit, I forgot about that," he said, rubbing his head. He was still extremely excited, because what he had in his hands wasn’t just a simple weapon, it was a crazy one.

It could block all magical attacks, as long as they hit the gauntlets, and he was able to absorb physical attacks and output a blast when it was charged up.

Without hesitation, he pulled off his current gauntlets and placed them in the inventory before putting on the new ones. A grin formed on his face.

"I definitely made the right decision," he said, then continued walking, eagerly looking for the first victim of his weapon.

He didn’t need to look far, because while he tried to cross a swamp, a lizardman lunged out of the water. He had sensed it a while back, but he wanted to let it attack first so they could have a good fight.

The lizard spun around and swung its tail. It slammed into Silva’s crossed arms. He felt as though his arms would fall off from the force, but they held up, and the gauntlets were immediately charged up.

"Let’s do this," he said, and attacked with the right hand first. A powerful blast was released, it slammed into the chest of the lizard, throwing it back. Then he attacked with the left hand, slamming into it again and breaking a few bones.