The Forest Guardian roared.
ROAAAAR.
It was a Level 30 Elite Bear. Standing twelve feet tall. Its fur was made of iron needles. Its claws were dripping with green acid.
A tank-check monster.
Usually, you need a full party of Silver-Ranks to kill it. You need a Healer, a Tank, and two DPS.
I had a broken Saintess and a dagger.
"Boss," Seraphina said, raising her staff. "I can cast Holy Shield. It will absorb two hits."
"Don't bother," I said.
I cracked my neck.
"Shields are for people who plan on getting hit."
The Bear charged.
It was fast. A freight train of muscle and hate.
The ground shook. Trees snapped like toothpicks.
"Die," it seemed to scream.
I stood still.
I watched its pixelated movement patterns.
Left claw swipe. Right bite. Roar.
I knew this mob. I had farmed its cousin 5,000 times in the old timeline for a rare pelt drop.
The claw came down.
[Skill: Combat Step.]
I didn't dodge backward.
I stepped into the attack.
I slid under the armpit. The "dead zone" of the hitbox.
"Seraphina! Might!" I shouted.
"Yes! [Blessing of Might]!"
Golden light flooded my veins. My Strength stat doubled instantly.
I gripped the Void Fang.
I didn't stab.
I activated [Napalm Web].
THWIP.
I shot a sticky, burning net directly into the Bear's open mouth.
"GACK!"
The Bear choked. The venom ignited inside its throat.
It thrashed, clawing at its own face.
[Critical Hit!]
[Internal Damage!]
"Now," I whispered.
I jumped.
I landed on its back.
I reversed the dagger grip.
[Skill: Infernal Guillotine.]
Purple fire coated the blade.
I drove it into the base of the skull. The spinal cord.
SHUNK.
BOOM.
The mana detonated inside the neck.
The Bear's head popped off. Clean separation.
It fell. The massive body crashed to the ground, twitching.
[System Notification]
[You have slain Level 30 Elite: Forest Guardian.]
[EXP: +15,000.]
[Level Up: 15 -> 17.]
I hopped off the corpse.
"Loot," I commanded.
[Auto-Loot Active.]
[Item: Iron Bear Pelt (Rare)]
[Item: Guardian's Bile]
And the main course.
My left hand glowed Red.
I touched the headless body.
[Absorbing Talent...]
[Talent Acquired: 'Thick Skin' (C-Rank).]
(Physical Defense +10%. Stacks with Armor).
"Trash," I muttered. "Into the furnace."
I fused 'Thick Skin' with my 'Carapace Armor' passive.
[Fusion Complete.]
[New Passive: 'Ironclad' (B-Rank).]
(Damage below 50 is negated entirely).
I brushed the dirt off my shoulder.
Seraphina stared at the headless bear. Her mouth was slightly open.
"You... you one-shot it?" she whispered. "That was a Guardian. The Knights struggle with those."
"The Knights are inefficient," I said, walking past her. "They play by the rules."
I pointed to a cave entrance hidden behind the vines the Bear was guarding.
[Dungeon: The Crypt of Whispers]
[Recommended Level: 25-30]
[Type: Undead/Ghost]
"Come on," I said. "We have a schedule."
——————————————————————————————————————————
[Inside the Dungeon]
Cold.
The air was freezing. The walls were made of blue stone that seemed to moan.
Ghosts drifted through the walls.
[Level 25 - Wailing Spirit]
Physical immunity: 100%.
If Lord Azure walked in here with his swords, he'd be swinging at air until he died of hypothermia.
"Boss," Seraphina said, her staff glowing. "These are Spirits. Physical attacks won't work. We need to purify them slowly."
"Slowly?" I laughed.
I looked down the long corridor.
There were about fifty ghosts floating between us and the Boss Room.
"I don't do slow."
I held up the Ring of the Void Monarch.
"Seraphina. Cast [Holy Nova]. But don't release it."
"What?"
"Charge it. Hold it in your staff until it hurts."
"But... if I overcharge, it will explode and kill us!"
"Do it."
She hesitated. Then, seeing my eyes, she obeyed.
"[Holy Nova]... Charging..."
A ball of blinding white light formed at the tip of her staff. It grew larger. Brighter.
The ghosts screeched. They hated the light. They started swarming toward us.
Ten ghosts. Twenty. Fifty.
They rushed us like a wall of banshees.
"Boss! I can't hold it!" Seraphina grit her teeth. "It's going to blow!"
"Wait."
The ghosts were five meters away.
"Wait."
Two meters.
"NOW!"
Seraphina released the spell.
FLASH.
A supernova of holy energy exploded.
But at the exact same microsecond, I activated the Void Ring.
[Active Skill: Spatial Distortion.]
I didn't block the explosion.
I refracted it.
I opened a portal in front of Seraphina's staff and opened the exit portal behind the ghost swarm.
The Holy Nova entered the portal -> Exited behind the enemies -> Blew them toward us.
At the same time, I cast [Napalm Web] on the floor in front of us.
The ghosts were blasted forward by the holy light, directly into the burning, magical acid webs.
[Holy Damage] + [Acid Damage] + [Void Corruption].
It was a blender.
"SCREEEEE!"
Fifty ghosts disintegrated at once.
[Multi-Kill: x50.]
[EXP Shower.]
[Level Up: 17 -> 19.]
The corridor was empty. Just a pile of ectoplasm and loot drops.
Seraphina fell to her knees, panting. Her mana was drained.
"We... we cleared the entire floor?" she gasped. "In one spell?"
"That's called a 'Mob Train'," I explained, picking up a [Spirit Essence] from the floor. "You aggro the whole map, cluster them, and AoE nuke."
I tossed her a mana potion.
"Drink up. Break time is over."
——————————————————————————————————————————
[Meanwhile: The Screaming Woods Entrance]
Lord Azure slashed at a vine.
"Damn this forest!"
He was covered in mud. His expensive armor was scratched.
Behind him, fifty members of the Azure Dragon Guild were struggling.
"My Lord!" a scout reported. "The tracks! Someone killed the Guardian!"
Azure ran to the clearing.
He saw the headless bear.
"Someone is ahead of us," Azure hissed.
He looked at the clean cut on the neck.
"High-level Swordsman? Or... magic?"
Julian limped up (wearing spare pants from a guard).
"Father! It must be him! The Thief!"
"Impossible," Azure spat. "He is Level 15. This bear is Level 30."
"But—"
"Silence! Move faster! If he enters the dungeon, he dies. He doesn't have a Healer or a Mage!"
Azure laughed, confident in his ignorance.
"The Crypt of Whispers requires Holy Magic. He will be walled by the first ghost."
"Forward! The First Clear is ours!"
——————————————————————————————————————————
[The Boss Room]
Huge double doors made of bone.
I stood before them.
My stats were looking juicy.
[Level: 19]
[Strength: 45]
[Agility: 60]
[Mana: 120]
I was over-leveled for the content. But the Boss...
[Dungeon Boss: The Lich of Regret]
[Level: 35]
This guy was annoying. He had a "Phylactery" mechanic. You had to destroy four jars in the corners of the room before you could hurt him.
Boring.
"Seraphina," I said.
"Yes, Boss?"
"You see those runes on the door?"
"Yes. Ancient Warding seals."
"Can you break them?"
"It would take hours to decrypt the—"
"Move."
I stepped up to the door.
I didn't use a spell.
I used the Void Fang.
But I didn't slash the door.
I slashed the hinges.
[Effect: Ignores 50% Armor.]
CLANG. CLANG.
The massive bone doors didn't open. They fell forward.
BOOM.
We walked in.
The Lich was sitting on his throne, holding a staff. He looked surprised. He was in the middle of his spawning animation.
"WHO DARES DISTURB MY—"
"Shut up, Skeletor," I interrupted.
I was already sprinting.
The Lich raised a shield. "You cannot harm me! My Phylacteries are—"
I ignored him.
I ran past him.
I ran to the back of the room.
To the Treasure Chest.
The Lich turned his head. "Wait. What are you doing? Fight me!"
"No thanks," I yelled.
I kicked the chest open.
[System Warning: Boss is still alive! Loot is locked!]
"Locked?"
I grinned.
I touched the chest with my Left Hand.
[Trait: The Usurper.]
The System rules say you can't open the chest until the Boss dies.
My Trait says: "I take what I want."
[Bypassing Lock...]
[Lock Picked (Forceful).]
The chest popped open.
The Lich screamed. "THAT'S ILLEGAL!"
I reached in.
I grabbed the main reward.
A crown. Made of floating crystals.
[Item: The Crown of the Whisper King (Legendary).]
[Effect: +50 Intelligence. Control over low-tier Undead.]
I put it in my inventory.
Then, I grabbed a piece of parchment from my pocket.
I wrote a note on it.
I placed the note inside the empty chest.
Then I closed it.
"Okay," I turned to the Lich. "Now we can fight."
The Lich was shaking with rage. Purple fire flared in his eyes.
"YOU INSOLENT WORM! I WILL FLAY YOUR SOUL!"
He began to cast his ultimate spell. [Death Cloud].
I looked at Seraphina.
"Buff me."
"Which one?"
"All of them."
[Blessing of Might]
[Blessing of Speed]
[Holy Weapon]
I glowed like a Christmas tree of violence.
I pointed my dagger at the Lich.
"Hey, ugly."
"What?!"
"Look at the ceiling."
The Lich looked up.
I had cast [Napalm Web] on the ceiling before I ran to the chest.
Gravity took over.
A massive blob of burning, acidic web fell directly onto the Lich's head.
SPLAT.
"MY ROBES!"
While he was blinded, I shadow-stepped.
I appeared behind him.
I put the dagger to his neck vertebrae.
"Nothing personal," I whispered.
"Actually, wait. It is personal."
"I need your Mana Stat."
SLASH.
——————————————————————————————————————————
[Epilogue of the Scene]
One hour later.
Lord Azure and his elite team kicked down the fallen doors (which took them 20 minutes to lift).
They rushed into the Boss Room.
They saw the Lich's corpse. Shattered bones scattered everywhere.
"No..." Azure gasped. "He... he beat the Boss?"
"The chest!" Julian screamed. "The chest is still closed!"
Azure ran to the chest.
"He must have died! Or fled before looting!"
Azure threw the chest open.
Empty.
Except for a single piece of paper.
Azure picked it up. His hands shook.
He read the note aloud.
"IOU one Legendary Crown. Thanks for the Mana Crystals. - Avarice."
Azure screamed.
He screamed so loud a vein burst in his eye.
[Dopamine Spike: Complete.]