Chapter 16
#16. The Field Boss Battle
At first, when I faced hundreds of wolves, all I felt was helplessness.
I had stepped forward boldly enough, but doubts kept springing up about whether I could handle this many alone.
That doubt and that sense of helplessness did not change even after the number of wolves I'd defeated exceeded fifty.
Even after bringing down so many of them, the sheer numbers still gave no sign of ending; this was far different from the outnumbered fights I'd gotten used to on the first floor.
Even when I deliberately fell into traps that spawned masses of goblins to fight them, I never once thought the enemy numbers might be endless.
But that sense of helplessness was completely overturned by a single notification window that appeared before my eyes in the middle of the fight.
[Level Up!]
After defeating the Goblin Lord, the first-floor boss, I reached level 40, and within a few hours I was already level 41.
I'd been stuck at level 39 for quite a while, so when I killed the Goblin Lord and hit level 40, I just took it in stride.
The clear reward had been so huge that, if I thought about all the experience I'd accumulated until then, it made sense.
But reaching level 41 was a different matter.
That meant the wolves I'd killed so far had earned me more experience than the first-floor boss clear reward.
From that moment on, the far-off wolf pack before me began to look like a never-ending banquet.
The enemy numbers seemed infinite? If they were infinite, wouldn't that be better? When else would an opportunity for growth like this come around?
I gradually started laughing, and before I knew it I was swinging my weapons in almost a trance.
As time passed, there were moments when my stamina gave out and danger loomed, and times when I nearly died.
But all the while, I kept smiling. The dramatic changes in the status window delighted me.
Seo Jinhyuk Lv.44 (Warrior)
HP : 325/660
MP : 310/340
Strength : 62 (54+8)
Agility : 48 (44+4)
Endurance : 50 (44+6)
Intelligence : 46 (44+2)
With this, my Strength had broken through 60, and my Endurance had reached 50.
I had gained four levels in just one day. It was almost enough to remind me of when I first entered the Tower of Trials and skyrocketed in power by monopolizing resources.
And that wasn't even all. Fighting hundreds of wolves had done more than just raise my level.
[Combat Awakening Lv.2]
[Combat Endurance Lv.4]
In the middle of battle, the two skills I'd acquired for reasons I didn't understand suddenly leveled up.
Now I think I know what these skills are. Looking back at the timing of when their levels increased, it's obvious.
The moment when my heart felt like it would burst, my throat filled with a sweet metallic taste, my vision blurred, and I felt like I couldn't move anymore.
Even so, when I kept moving to dodge the wolves' attacks, the Combat Endurance skill leveled up.
The moment when I'd kept up a long battle and danger came, when I felt my life on the line and snapped awake to counterattack.
That was when the Combat Awakening skill leveled up. I can't be completely certain, since it only happened once.
In other words, the skill's level went up exactly when I kept the battle going and when I suddenly awakened in the middle of combat.
The cause and effect are clear. My actions, or rather my growth, are being reflected in the skill levels.
I'd heard before that first-generation Hunters tended to have more varied and numerous skills compared to their levels or classes.
The old Hunters from before strategies were established must have learned skills like this.
Thinking about it this way makes the first-generation Hunters' words—that experience and items aren't everything—sound different.
“Not bad.”
Grinning, I closed the status window and tossed away [Graksar's Bone Axe], which had shattered after its durability dropped to zero.
-Grrrrrr……!
In front of me stood a gray wolf with a body so enormous it dwarfed the others.
After I had brought down the wolf pack of several hundred, the field boss of this field area finally came lumbering out late.
The king of wolves—this guy is today's final opponent.
**
The field boss of the second-floor field area, known in the Open Community as Wolf King Robo.
While I was tangled up fighting the wolf pack, I'd even wondered what I would do if this guy came charging in.
The fact that he only crawled out after all his subordinates had been taken down made it clear why he was a king, not just a wolf leader.
Then again, what king in the world would leave his soldiers behind and come out to fight first?
“Hey, aren't you coming at me?”
I swapped out my half-broken armor for a spare from my inventory and equipped my shield.
Honestly, I looked terrible. Just my HP alone was already down to half.
I'd been steadily healing with potions here and there, but I'd been hurt so badly that I still had a lot of wounds left.
My face and hands, which weren't protected by armor, were especially wrecked, and every joint in my body creaked with pain.
And above all else, I was out of stamina.
Honestly, even standing still was hard, and I felt like lying down anywhere I could. I was nowhere near in fighting shape.
But my opponent was only a field boss. Given my stats, I should still be able to beat it without any trouble.
-Awooooooooo!!
As if it had understood my taunt, the Wolf King let out a high howl and a system message appeared.
[The reason it could become king despite lacking the capacity was because it had a companion more outstanding than anyone else at its side.]
But the system message that appeared was a little different from the one I knew.
What the hell, is something different again this time?
Come to think of it, I remember reading somewhere that a wolf's howl is a way of communicating with its companions.
-Tap-tap-tap!
As if confirming my thought, a pure white wolf burst out from somewhere with rapid footsteps.
The white wolf, slightly smaller than Wolf King Robo but still nearly the same size, flashed blue eyes and circled behind me.
[BOSS - Robo and Blanca]
So, you're going to gang up on me again, huh?
Then bring it on.
**
The biggest trait of wolf monsters is that, compared to their other abilities, their reflexes and speed are outstanding.
Of course, thanks to my very high Agility stat, I usually don't get outpaced.
In the brawl up until just now, I could outpace not only ordinary wolves but even named wolves.
But this white wolf that had appeared now seemed able to move at almost exactly my speed.
Since it's a two-on-one, if I let my guard down I might get hit hard. Better be careful.
-Tap!
Leaving the mysterious white wolf, Blanca, alone for the moment, I rushed straight at Robo.
I'd already figured out nearly all of Robo's combat pattern through the strategy posts on the Open Community. Let's confirm this side first.
-Awooooooo!!
Charging straight in, Robo let out a roar so loud it rang in my ears. It was the Fear pattern that induces terror in challengers.
If you're exposed to this pattern, you get hit with a paralysis debuff whose duration varies depending on your stats.
It was a dangerous pattern if you got paralyzed, but against my stats after clearing the first floor solo, it meant nothing.
Ignoring the Fear pattern, I charged in and leaped hard. My target was that ugly maw reeking of bad breath.
-Kwak!
Using Sword Charge's lunge effect, I drove the shining blade straight into Robo's eyeball.
Since he was a wolf boasting a body as huge as an elephant's, targeting a specific spot like this wasn't hard.
I used the blade planted in the eyeball as a foothold and vaulted onto Robo's back.
I was about to pull a new sword from my inventory and keep stabbing at its neck when Blanca moved at just the right moment.
-Swish!
Blanca was faster than I'd expected. Even the way it moved looked strange.
It wasn't running on the ground; it was gliding as if over ice.
What the hell is that? No, there's no time to think about it.
I quickly thrust out my shield and smashed the approaching Blanca in the snout.
-Crack!
The shield I swung with my Strength, now past 60, shattered Blanca's teeth with tremendous force.
It's fast, but it seems to have weak durability to match. Well, I guess that's how the balance works.
At that, perhaps angered that Blanca had been knocked flying by the blow, Robo shook itself violently.
“Tch.”
I'd been hanging on awkwardly to begin with, so I had no choice but to fall too. Not that it mattered.
Robo's pattern doesn't seem all that different from the community guide, and Blanca is less of a threat than I expected.
It's fast, sure, but it's only fast. Its strength and durability aren't anything special.
-Raaawr!
With ferocious red light pouring from its eyes, Robo charged again as I sidestepped and kept Blanca in view.
I put my shield in the way of Blanca's teeth, which came in a beat late with that same strange sliding movement.
-Snap!
Blanca was clamping down hard enough to look like it would smash the shield, but my shield, strengthened to the maximum, wasn't going to break that easily.
I calmly raised the straight sword in my right hand and used Brandish.
That was when it happened.
-Crunch!
Blanca's blue eyes flared fiercely, and the shield pressed against its teeth began to freeze over.
“What the hell, are you insane!”
Despite my panic, the skill I'd already started casting still activated, and I slashed at Blanca's leg in an awkward stance.
But even after being cut fairly deeply, Blanca showed no sign of letting go of my shield.
-Tap, tap-tap!
While I was pinned down like that, Robo lunged at me with teeth blazing with fire.
A unique pattern belonging only to [Robo and Blanca], one that wasn't known on the Open Community.
Fire- and ice-element attacks.
“Fuck.”
There's no way I can stop myself from cursing when something like this shows up on the second floor.