--
The sudden drop in temperature prickled TJ's skin. Seeing the low stance of the polar bear, he immediately realized that it would use its other skill: [Frost Charge].
Even so, instead of running away to gain more distance or attempting to interrupt the skill, TJ chose to take a breath and stand still, waiting for the skill to happen.
TJ knows that running away was useless; he wasn't swift enough to actually run out of the skill's range, the bear's locked in on him, and the skill has already started. He couldn't interrupt it either because he doesn't have any heavy-hitting active skill that could do that.
Therefore, his only option was to stand still and wait. TJ strained his eyes and his ears, patient and ready to react at any given moment.
Ftoom!
And like the sound of glass shattering, the [Frost Charge] occurred. TJ leapt up high, jumping away from the bear's trajectory to evade the skill. He just left after the loud sound happened, giving him just enough time to escape by the skin of his teeth.
Yeah, he never planned to receive the full force of that charge; that would be suicide. With how huge this beast was, it's certain to be heavier too. All that mass hitting him at that speed will shatter every bone in his body.
TJ never posed as a tank. There's no way he could ever tank this charge even if he were to be equipped with a shield.
All he could do was evade it, and that's exactly what he did. It was closer than he'd like; he even felt his eyebrows frosting over when he got close to the chilling air accompanying the bear, but at least he still lives.
Luckily, it was only a single burst of charge, not a blitzing one. Otherwise, he would've been doomed.
TJ landed gracefully on his feet like a cat, barely making a noise or disturbing his surroundings. He watched as the ice armor around the bear turned into a snow that fell to the ground after its charge. The chill the beast emanated also decreased sharply.
These two aspects were caused by the activation of the skill. Since it has gone on cooldown, these effects have also disappeared.
One thing to note is that, in the middle of his evasion, TJ poked the bear to maintain his [Combo III] stacks.
Once he landed, he wasted no time and rushed towards the beast again. This allowed him to maintain his momentum and gain the initiative. [Frost Charge] wouldn't be available in the next minute or so, which means that during this time, TJ doesn't have to worry about it.
Hit after hit, poke after poke, TJ continuously launched attacks at the bear. With his speed, he ran laps around it, causing it to start feeling irritated with how swift he was, preventing it from landing a hit.
And to piss it off even more, TJ was purposefully poking it on its vulnerable areas.
TJ poked the bear's rear left paw joint again and again. He was precise and accurate with his targeting. He also repeatedly tried to stab it in the eyes and nose; alas, no luck there.
Hitting where it hurts the most certainly irritated the hulking beast. It brought out even more effort to swat him away, but TJ was just too fast for it.
Eventually, TJ accumulated another stack of [Combo III], making it two stacks, giving him an 80% boost in his combat stats.
Well, if he was fast before, he's even faster now. And when he poked the bear again in this state...
Tss!!
Roar!!
The feedback of hitting flesh was transmitted to him. The left hind leg joint of the bear had finally been penetrated. TJ's blade penetrated it, leaving a huge hole behind; he also made sure to dislocate it before withdrawing his blade.
He didn't stop there. He targeted its right hind leg joint this time. He avoided another swat when he saw the bear slowly turning around to attack him. But instead of running behind it again, TJ poked it in the eye once more.
It tried to stop the blade by raising a paw, but TJ's blade penetrated that. He took advantage of it and pushed the blade deeper until he also penetrated the bear's eyes.
He retreated just in time with his blade to avoid another retaliation.
The bear roared in agony and pain. Its front right paw now had a hole in it, and its right eye had been blinded.
TJ shook his rapier, getting rid of the snow that clung to it due to the [Frigid Touch]. He didn't dare to waste time at all. He once again ran laps around the bear, poking it everywhere to keep the pain train going.
He poked holes all over its body, leaving it writhing in pain. The blood pouring out of its eye also covered the one that's still functioning.
Now, the bear was panicking and afraid. It's lashing out at any sound, vibration, and pain it felt, hoping that by doing so, it could manage to hit TJ this time and end him before it becomes the other way around.
But TJ had come too far to fail now. And he'd be too stupid to falter at the last moment. He raised his vigilance while still maintaining the speed of his assault. It's easier this time because of the effects of his skill perks.
At some point, he gained the third stack to his combo, raising his overall bonus to 120% of his combat stats. This spelled certain doom for the polar bear because with another burst of speed, TJ landed on its back and drove his rapier straight to its skull.
The armor penetration perk triggered again this time, causing his blade to penetrate the bear's skull almost effortlessly.
With a mournful howl, the bear collapsed to the ground with a loud thud, kicking up clouds of frost, which quickly melted away along with the bear's last breath.
The bear's corpse faded away like dust scattered by the wind, and a beat later, the kill confirmation sounded in TJ's ears.
**
[Compact Snow Polar Bear, killed! ]
[+30 exp! ]
[Quest Updated! ]
[Kill Slime 1/1]
[Kill Goblin 1/1]
[Kill Kobold 1/1]
[Kill Tiger 1/1]
[Kill Polar Bear 1/1]
Summon the next batch of monsters? ]
**
TJ didn't answer. Instead, he sat on the ground, closed his eyes, and looked up while catching his breath.
That was one hell of a fight. He's never been pressured so much since he awakened as a warrior.
What really tired him out was being on the constant move. There were rarely any moments for him to stand still; most of the time, he couldn't afford to do so because that would be suicide against that bear.
Once again, his skill perks did wonders in that fight. Now, he truly patted himself on the back for insistently practicing his skills. Had he not, this fight would've been far more difficult.
But he really couldn't continue right away after that. Because the next thing he had to face was all five of those monsters at once. That will be his last test. If he could defeat all of them, then it's pretty much guaranteed that he'd be graduating from the prep school.
So, to increase his chances of successfully clearing it, TJ chose to rest for a bit.
While resting, he couldn't help but think:
"30 exp. I gained a total of 85 exp so far; that's eight and a half days' worth of exp. Add the 10 I already have, and that's 95 exp, all counting towards the total of 400 I needed to reach 5☆ Novice Rank."
"Filling the 5☆ Novice Rank requires another 500 exp. Then, transitioning from the Novice Rank to the Apprentice Rank requires a total of 1000 exp."
"And since I'm looking to transition into another class right away, that's another bunch of quests I need to fulfill."
"Ugh! So much work to do still!"
In total, TJ still needs to accumulate a total of 1500 exp to upgrade his professional rank from Novice to Apprentice after he reaches 5☆ Novice Rank.
With so much exp needed, he absolutely can't fail this final exam because that would delay his progress too much. He couldn't afford to stay another year. He must enter a university as soon as possible; only there would he be able to continue his momentum and fly across the low professional ranks.
Hell, if he could gain all of the exp needed by the end of this exam, that would be perfect. Alas, with how difficult it is, this was very unlikely. Still, though, that won't stop him from trying.
Looking at the fake blue skies above him, TJ tried to calculate it.
"Maybe it's possible?"
From the start of this exam until now, believe it or not, only 30 minutes have passed. It only stretched this far because he had to fight the enemies one by one, and he had to rest in between.
But after he cleared the final quest requirement, maybe, just maybe, he could actually do it.
Though he can't be sure until that moment comes, so...
"I've rested enough. Bring them all out; I'm ready."