116. Hidden Boss + Mimic = ? (2)
Alternate t.i.tle: Speed Growth of Demonic Realm Partner
I felt claustrophobic the moment I entered the level 38 dungeon.
Up till now, most dungeons had large interiors.
However, this felt as though I was being led through a narrow hallway for an execution.
It wasn"t even 5m wide, and it seemed that it was the same for the height as well.
And unlike the level 34 dungeon that had a pristine snow white interior, this dungeon"s interior was covered in blood as if it was the intestines of a giant that had swallowed metal shards.
I could only hear the sound of our footsteps against the gloppy blood clots.
"Why is it so quiet?"
"….."
"My ears are ringing due to the lack of noise."
"Same here. We should move faster."
"Okay. You are casting Eye of Insight, right?"
"Yes. I can detect something far away, but I think this dungeon is ma.s.sively long. I can"t clearly make out the numbers or forms of what I"m detecting."
"For now, let"s run until we get close to our targets."
"Yes."
Jong Ho and I were considered veterans.
This was the first time we"ve entered this dungeon.
Not only for us, but for humanity as well.
That"s why none knew what kind of dangers could lie in wait for us here.
I could detect monsters with my Eye of Insight, but since there could be surprises out of our scope of expectations, we did not run full speed ahead.
We moved at a speed where it was possible to scan around while covering ourselves with as many defensive skills as possible.
Jong Ho spoke while trying to catch his breath.
"Whew….. How much further do we have to go."
"I think we"ve been running for awhile. I didn"t see a single monster though….."
"There"s no way that we would"ve missed any with the Eye of Insight."
"But I can see the mark indicating that monsters are present far over there…. This really is odd."
"Can you heal me while we run. I think I"m going to die while running at this rate."
"Yes. Thankfully they"re a lot closer than before."
Just like that, we ran for 10 minutes.
Finally, the monster was in our sights.
It was just a single one though.
Since I couldn"t see any more red marks, it seemed that only this single monster was present in this dungeon.
"Krurururu."
"Did you hear that?"
"Yes, I heard. And I can see it from here."
"How many are there?"
"One."
"Only one?"
"Yes. And the size isn"t that big either." "Since the dungeon is small, I guess it has to be small as well. How much further do you think we"ll need to go?"
"1 min?"
"Is this dungeon designed to be grinded? Why is the boss appearing right away?"
"Pfft."
It happened when the monster finally came into Jong Ho"s view.
My Mana Shield shook.
It had suddenly attacked without warning.
Projectiles the size of basketb.a.l.l.s flew towards us, and my Mana Shield absorbed them all.
The shield quivered for a bit.
"Oho. A golem?"
"Looks like it"s an Iron Golem? But its size is small. The average golem is bigger than the avatars I summon."
"That"s true. Despite its small size, my shield is shuddering a lot. If this is its basic attack…. then it"s very strong."
The monster was shining brightly enough to blind us.
The body was split apart like the sh.e.l.l of a turtle, but almost as if a artisan had worked on it, the surface was smooth without any flaws.
It was so smooth that that if any flies landed on it, they would slip off the surface.
The head, arms, and legs were slightly floating apart from the body.
That was enough spectating though!
A projectile flew directly towards Jong Ho.
To me, however, it seemed incredibly slow.
Due to my physical growth, even bullets seemed to crawl by.
With a single swing of my sword, I sliced its attack in half.
The projectile that was split in half rammed themselves into the bleeding walls of the dungeon.
However, the area that the projectiles. .h.i.t seemed to bubble as if liquid metal was spilled on it, then immediately hardened.
Despite the blood coating it in red immediately, I definitely saw it.
If I let its attacks connect with me, I would probably be petrified on the spot.
Jong Ho must"ve seen it too, since he spoke with a slight hint of nervousness.
"For now, surviving is top priority, right?"
Suddenly, Jong Ho"s form lost all its colors and turned pitch black.
Even all of the equipment he was wearing changed as well.
It was the best defensive skill that the warrior cla.s.s had.
I also wanted this skill badly.
However, it could only be obtained by the warrior cla.s.s.
No matter how much mana I had, I couldn"t get it.
"Oh. So now you take reduced damage for a couple minutes?"
"Since I Awakened it a few days ago, the duration is 5 minutes long. The cooldown was reduced significantly, but it"s still 15 minutes."
"That"s pretty good still. Let"s go. When the duration runs out, get behind me right away."
"Okay!"
The Iron Golem continued its ranged attacks until we got near it.
Almost as if it was an Awakened casting single target skills, hardened spheres formed at each of its hands.
Its movements were precise and fast, almost like jabs.
Jong Ho, who had invested ma.s.sive amounts of stats into stamina, easily shrugged off the hits as he charged forward.
Stats alone wouldn"t have been enough to take those hits, but his skill was covering the remaining difference needed to charge in fearlessly.
He was like a wild beast, charging in blindly like that.
"Whew. Do you really have to tank everything?"
"How can I avoid all of those attacks? Dexterity is for cowards."
"Like this! Like this! Can"t you do it?"
"d.a.m.n it! Why are all these things sticking to me! It"s p.i.s.sing me off! Stop it!"
Jong Ho was pulling off the golem"s projectiles that hardened off of himself as if he was pulling leeches off his body.
If he didn"t have his shield, it would"ve hardened on his body immediately.
Seeing how I was smirking at his predicament, he spoke to me.
"Stop laughing and go cut it down."
"Yes sir!"
It didn"t take even a second to mince it into countless pieces, almost as if I was preparing sushi.
What about the golem"s body that was hard as steel?
That would only work on others.
It was nothing before my strength stat that was beyond 3 million.
On top of that, I was using the highest ranking weapon, Butcher"s Sword.
I was able to cut apart anything in the world apart like cutting through paper.
I wasn"t even using Formless Sword Aura, but merely swung my sword.
Receiving that many attacks, it melted powerlessly on the spot.
Almost as if liquid metal was spilling from a blast furnace, its form spilled all over the floor.
Despite being destroyed, it did not lose its shine.
Jong Ho looked at me with bewilderment.
"Hey. Apologize to the golem. Now."
"Pfft!"
"Ever heard of not overdoing it? But why aren"t we receiving any experience?"
"Dunno. I guess it would be too disappointing if it ended it like this. After all, there"s only one monster in the dungeon."
"I risked my life coming here. What do you mean it would be too disappointing!"
"We"ll have to thoroughly clear….."
It was then.
The pool of liquid metal that was boiling on the floor turned into little bubbles.
It was like how pockets of air was escaping from the surface of some boiling soup.
After that, the bubbles were splitting into thousands of pieces.
"….."
"Don"t you also feel like this is something to be worried about?"
"Ah. Maybe I shouldn"t have sliced it into pieces."
"It"s like mercury that rises to the top of a beaker. They look like little gems too."
However…
"Pfft! What is that!"
It didn"t take long for those tiny pieces to morph into mini golems the size of an index finger.
I thought that they would absorb the damage I dealt and repair itself back to its original form, but seeing this, I couldn"t help but laugh out loud.
I wondered if any of those little things had any strength behind them.
"Kururu!"
"Kuru!"
Each of them roared the Fear skill.
However, the sound they made was just as small as their size.
It sounded like the buzzing of a fly.
Since there were so many of them, this fight was going to be annoying.
Of course, I could just use Piercing Sword to slash at them nonstop until I reduce them to nothingness.
My body moved faster than I expected.
A sword aura that filled the area around me formed.
A level 200 Piercing Sword was pouring out Butcher"s Swords everywhere.
However, just as I was about to pour down swords upon the little golems that were charging at me like little bullets, I suddenly stopped.
"Wait."
"Why? They"re charging at us!"
"Hyung nim. You have Piercing Sword in the ring, right?"
"Of course, there are plenty of them in there. Why are you asking me this all of a sudden?"
"Can you control the skill?"
Piercing Sword only attacks targets that the caster deems as enemies.
However, Jong Ho was using the skill stored in the Balrock ring.
There was a possibility that he wasn"t used to using the skill.
Jong Ho himself already obtained the skill, but it could not compare to the level and destructive force my Piercing Sword had.
"It"s not my first time using it. Of course I can control it."
"Ok. It doesn"t matter if you hit me too, but I thought that it wouldn"t feel good to be hit by your skill. That"s why I asked."
"What are you saying. Why aren"t you attacking already!"
"Stat!"
"Huh?"
"Hyung-nim, there are free stats in front of us. Don"t you have to be the one to kill them in order for your Blood"s Craving armor to absorb them as stats?"
"That"s insane…. Is it even possible?"
"We"ll have to see. Get ready. Set. Action!"
That"s right.
Jong Ho had so far earned nearly 1 million in stats with his armor so far.
It was because of the special effect on the armor that gave him 1 point of stats for every 100 monsters killed.
So what if he killed the thousands of the mini golems right now?
I cancelled my skill and stood in front of Jong Ho to act as a shield.
Jong Ho wouldn"t be able to withstand their attacks just yet.
I could hear countless clanging of metal behind me.
It must be the sword aura that he created.
However, the swords that formed looked nothing like two weapons he was holding in each hand since he was using the skill that I had stored.
Butcher"s Swords formed, backed by over 3 million points of strength.
The little golems that charged in an attempt to pierce my shield popped as if if they were head lice being crushed.
The countless golems continuously charging against the river of swords only made the cramped dungeon more suffocating.
Following that, I could hear the narration of experience gains.
****
"Wow….."
"Did you get your stats?"
"Yes…. 28….."
"So at least 2 thousand of them?"
"Every time I go with you, I end up having my eyes opened up to a new world."
"I told you that we"re going to a nice place. Well, I didn"t expect this though."
"If I go run this 100 times….. I could get nearly 3000 points of stats….."
"I"m sure that you"ll have more than enough time to run this dungeon that many times before the gate forms. And at some point in time, I wouldn"t have to act as a meat shield for you, since you"ll be able to receive that kind of attack easily with the stats you gain. When that happens, I"ll be going in between the level 38 to 40 dungeons to search for the hidden boss, and you can set up shop here. How about it? Mission complete."
"This is insane…."
"But putting aside the hidden boss or loot in general, not even a single stone dropped. Even though the exit already formed over there."
"Huh? You"re right. Looks like it"s a total flop? Well, we can"t be that lucky on our first go. For now, let"s exit this place. We still have to go run through the level 39 dungeon. Time is money!"
"Yes!"
I had entered the dungeon in hopes for an artifact drop.
There still was a chance that a hidden boss would appear in this dungeon.
After all, we had only cleared this dungeon once.
However, the one thing that has become clear was that Jong Ho was the one who"ll be benefiting the most from this dungeon.
My partner for the demonic realm was growing stronger.
"Looks like day by day, I"ll feel more rea.s.sured."
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