Alpha stood in a towering form befitting of his name. Wavy, shadow like fur bristled in the wind, and a series of inch long carnivorous teeth glinted ominously beneath the silver luster of the night's moon. A pair of crimson pupils pierced through the horizon as he aimed his gaze at the horde of incoming trolls.
Awoooooo!
Alpha howled with fervor, the excitement palpable in his eyes as his figure blurred, moving at unnatural speeds.
The sound of shots halted as both Roy and Richard gazed at the majestic figure of Alpha. That speed is definitely beyond the stat of 5, Roy marveled. It seemed the transformation didn't just help with size alone.
Like a mass of shadows, Alpha drifted swiftly across the barren plains under the cover of night. By the time he reached the trolls, unlike his Lord and Richard, Alpha didn't waste any time. His maws parted, chomping down on any beast in his path.
There was no blood. The monsters couldn't even struggle, as Alpha was like a wolf in a pen of sheep.
"Holy shit! How are they all at the same level 1? The disparity…" Richard voiced his awe. With the way Alpha overcame the beasts so easily, one would find it hard to believe the dog was at the same level as them.
Suddenly, the shadowy silhouette of the primordial canine burst into an intense brilliance as a system notification popped into view.
[Subordinate Alpha has leveled up!]
A few minutes passed, and it popped up once more…
[Subordinate Alpha has leveled up!]
[Subordinate Alpha has leveled up!]
Only after the third did the notifications stop.
It seems the requirement for leveling up differs between non human Hunters and human Hunters, Roy mused. After all, the system had informed him previously that to level up, one must use a beast core dropped upon the death of a monster.
It had also told him that killing beasts dropped various items, and boss monsters, unique monsters, and other variants had an extremely slim possibility of dropping a skill.
But gazing at Alpha's trail, he couldn't find any items or cores. This was probably because the laws of the plains recognized that for non human creatures, item drops were useless. They didn't need to absorb beast cores to level up like humans did — they just needed to devour.
The massive swarm of trolls continued pushing relentlessly, and there was only so much Alpha could fit into his mouth. Without further delay, though exhausted due to his ability handicap, Richard reactivated the turret in order to support.
Suddenly, a hulking shadow rose from the horizon. The sight of the towering behemoth turned Roy's expression grim. He didn't need to read the alert sent by the system to know straight away that this was the Vitality Troll Chief.
The humongous figure bore distinct features that differentiated it from its kind, apart from sheer size. Unlike the earthy green mass of roots and dirt, the chief was more human like, his figure ashen brown like the bark of a tree, with bulging crimson roots interweaving through his body like veins.
Graaaaghhhh!
Its roar rippled through the air as it moved forward, each step carrying purpose and direction, heading toward the small fenced outpost. Though small, it knew this was merely the start of something great — something it couldn't hope to comprehend.
But before this newly born Lord could mature, it had to snip him at the bud, killing him before he became an existence it didn't dare face.
Roy glanced at the looming behemoth, his composure kept in check. His eyes flickered not with fear, not with caution, but with excitement and expectation. This was his first battle in this realm — he just hoped it didn't end too easily.
Using inspection on the beast, he muttered, It shouldn't die so easily, right?
[Boss Monster: Vitality Troll Chief
Level: 8
…
Strength: 20
Agility: 3
Constitution: 28]
The inspection couldn't reveal the beast's skills, probably because it was an enemy. Roy's grip on his Epic M16 tightened as he briefly left a reminder to Richard: "Wait for my signal!"
After leaving those words, he jumped from the tower. The moment his feet touched the ground, they burst into motion. The Crystal Crimson Drake had already started spitting out loads of bullets, carving out a path.
Roy continued unimpeded as he sprinted quickly toward the boss monster, his eyes filled with calculating light.
The mag was exhausted, and a new one materialized in his arms. In a swift motion, it was slammed into place. The reload was so fast that if not for the clink of the safety pin, one wouldn't have noticed at all, as the epic gun barely halted its assault.
He wasn't as fast or overpowering as Alpha in terms of stats, but his weapon more than made up for everything.
Barely a minute passed, and he was already before the troll chief. A small clearing was present around the chief. Despite the maddening charge of its subordinates, they maintained their distance from it, like a massive boulder sitting in the middle of a river.
The massive atrocity of a creature froze in its tracks as its crimson gaze met Roy's ant like figure. It could sense the presence, feel the will of the lands melding into that figure, see the divine aura ever present around him — and it knew straight away: this was its target. This was a Lord.
Roarrrrrr!
The monster let out a furious bellow as its truck sized fists descended. The wind howled, followed by an undulating ripple on impact as the surroundings were immediately terraformed with brute force.
Though Roy dodged, his figure was flung backward helplessly by the massive shockwave of the impact, almost sending him to drown in the sea of rabid trolls.
But his feet quickly connected to the earth as he forced his weight down, digging through the rocky surface in an attempt to dispel momentum, two small trenches left in his wake.
The second his figure halted, his gun took aim. Wasting not even a second, it rattled furiously, letting out a furious onslaught of bullets.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Massive explosions rang out as the boss monster's constitution couldn't resist the bullets in the slightest. They sank rapidly into its figure, aiming to turn the enemy into a sieve. But unfortunately, the enemy was too thick, and the bullets lost momentum midway.
Pools of green sap bled from the troll chief as it let out a pained groan, its mind in furious shock at the damage dealt by this fledgling Lord.
It roared at the sky as its injuries were suddenly coated by a light of green, healing the damage in seconds.
Roy groaned laboriously. I see why it is called the Vitality Troll Chief now… here I was worried this would end too early. Shaking his head, he cursed. This will be a long battle…