Chapter 35: Brutal Struggle
Grrrrrr
The earth shook with tremors at the sheer weight of the green-scaled behemoth as its belly crawled through the ground, its poisonous green slits trained on the man nearest — Roy.
Its head rose to a whopping 8 meters, outclassing its predecessor by vast margins as it looked down on its soon-to-be prey. Its pale grayish slit tongue flickered in and out from its lips, constantly tasting the scent in the air.
[Greater Blighting Mamba: Level 15
Strength: 75
Constitution: 80
Agility: 87
Intelligence: 10
Ether Unit: 20/20]
Roy gulped hard, his hair standing on end. This predator he wasn’t going to take down easily. His clutch over his assault rifle tightened as he quickly began to allocate his stats as fast as possible.
He had a total of 31 relocatable stats. Unlike hunters, Lords gained 6 relocatable stats on leveling up. Times that by 6 and minus five gave what he had left.
With quick mental commands, his strength was reinforced by 8, his constitution by 10, his intelligence by 10, and 3 went to his agility.
A refreshing cool flooded his veins, his muscles restructuring, his cognitive process bolstered, and his skin, bones, organs, and constitution as a whole reinforced.
It might have taken long to explain, but from the mental commands till now had barely been a split second.
Crackle!
But unfortunately, to his greatest horror, his boosts in stats didn’t mean jack shit! The massive serpent swept forward, cracking its head like a whip!
Roy didn’t even have time to dodge. The beast’s speed was beyond its own stats. By adding factors of its weight, flexibility, and motion, it easily surpassed what Roy could handle.
By the time he could react, a gaping maw was already around his abdomen, massive fangs laced with dangerous greed promising to sink into him!
Chills ran down his spine, but he didn’t lose composure. Not caring for his safety, he ignored the closing maws and fixed his gun at an angle, aiming at the eyes.
Hopefully this will do the bastard in. With that thought as a signal, the safety long undone, he squeezed the trigger mercilessly. Rapid shots rang out and the nozzle constantly brimmed with sparks.
He gritted his teeth, holding back pain. Due to the odd angle of aim and posture, the recoil wasn’t playing nice on his joints, but thankfully his newly bolstered constitution held together.
But both parties in battle were surprised when—
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The creature reacted quickly on instinct. Its eyes closed as the bullets bounced off the Greater Mamba’s lids, leaving only sparks and a shallow dent. Indeed, its constitution was frightening.
Also, the mamba’s teeth couldn’t push past the outer layer of the tactical vest. Its fangs sank in somewhat due to the level disparity, but the Epic armor still held tightly, leaving its host unharmed.
The Mamba seemed unwilling to let go. With its maws firmly gripping its prey’s abdomen, it swung towards the walls.
Roy’s pupils constricted. This beast was too freaking smart — it was planning on using the wall as a hammer and its fangs as the nail!
He didn’t hesitate. His left hand pulled out his baton and he swung fiercely. Obviously, it wasn’t going to do any damage to the abomination, but he wasn’t looking for damage — he was looking for pain and momentum!
He struck fiercely at the dented eyelids, and his skill Bash (SSS) immediately did its work. This time the damage buff was higher than the last, probably because of his increased strength and constitution.
Bang!
The silver baton plowed mercilessly into the eyelids, causing the beast to burst into a painful hiss while flying backwards. Due to its cry, Roy escaped from the deadly maws, already pushing forward before the abomination recovered. In a smooth motion, he restocked the mag.
Click! Bang! Bang! Bang!
His eyes glowed an unnatural blue, his ocular skill Eyes of Truth (SSS) in full drive. His brain constantly predicted the motion of the swaying beast, making sure the bullet always met its target — the now blood-crimson-soaked mouth of the beast.
Click!
He restocked once more, doing so so fast there was literally no halt in his fire. Honestly, a normal firearm would have broken down by now or been suffering from overheating, but this was no normal firearm — this was an Epic-level weapon!
One had to know items were ranked Regular, Rare, Epic, Legendary, and Mythic. Getting Legendary and Mythic weapons this early in Arcana was impossible for most, so it was safe to say that Epics were the pinnacle items in Arcana for now. Even early comers weren’t exempt from this predicament.
Roy pushed forward with his fire, leaving deep footprints from channeled recoil as he marched. The already bloodied beast, with no scales in its mouth, was at its most defenseless. Constant pain caused it to keep opening its maw, letting out pained hisses — and letting in painful, wrathful bullets.
Roy continued the furious onslaught, not stopping until his bullets had practically ground through its mouth and the rest of its head!
Huff! Huff! Huff!
Misty breaths exhaled from Roy’s mouth and nostrils as he collapsed in a half-kneeling posture, using his assault rifle as a crutch. His eyes filled with apprehension, his trembling gaze resting on a small pile of loot inches away. Just now, he had almost died!
The Level 15 Greater Blight Mamba Boss had almost sunk its fangs deep into his abdomen. He had little to no breathing space throughout the course of the battle. Compared to this, the first Boss could be said to be a joke.
Thanks to his Epic armor vest, which helped him tank the lethal bite. If not...
His gaze hardened and his grip over his weapon tightened. This battle just now killed every sense of complacency he had previously. This dungeon wasn’t going to be as easy as assumed. Just like now, he’d be dancing at the edge of life and death at every step.
This thought didn’t worry him though — it just fueled his will to triumph. This was the reason he was here in the first place. After all, only under pressure can the greatest of weapons be polished.
He reached for the glowing beast core and quickly began absorption. There was no time to waste.
Meanwhile, the others just stood in silence, glancing at him with meaningful gazes — most especially the nine who were once disdainful.
Previously, they had held Roy in contempt. After witnessing him blitz his way through the dungeon, they felt aggrieved. They believed if any one of them had such cheats at the beginning, they would have had it as easy. But after the brief but brutal clash they just witnessed, though it was hard to admit, they had to regardless... this guy was a fearsome prodigy in the line of battle.
[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]
[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]
[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]
This time around, Roy didn’t waste time in allocating stats. The unhealthy habit of leaving stats unallocated stemmed from back in his MMORPG playing days. But now this was reality. There weren’t seconds of delay in attacks. Boss monsters didn’t have attack patterns — they were as cunning and brutal as could be.
Of the 18 free relocatable stats, he put 5 to Intelligence, 5 to Agility, 5 to Constitution, and the last 3 to Strength.
[Name: Roy Vanders
Race: Human
Status: Lord (Bearer of the Order of Justice)
Territory: Tier 1
Level: 9
Strength: 31
Agility: 35
Constitution: 36
Intelligence: 38
Ether Unit: 32/76]
A cool steam drifted from his figure as his attributes enhanced and the refreshing cool flooded every nook and cranny of his body. This... this could get addicting... he moaned inwardly with pleasure.
Then he shifted his gaze to the small corridor at a distance away. "Down to the next floor we go..." And so he walked forth, followed by the others, with Dio not forgetting to stay true to his porterly duties.
The others instinctively let him lead, and like this, somehow the weakest among the bunch became the one everyone unknowingly followed as the leader of this expedition...
...
[A/N] Sorry for the recent delay guys, i’ve been wrecked with a prickling back pain the past few days, coupled with work... Sigh! pls have mercy as I will try my possible best to post regardless.