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Chapter 64: Weak Boss
🕑 Added 2025-03-26 03:03:07 +0000 UTC“Kouki has woken up,” Kaina said when James returned to the chamber. Their faces were a bit red, but James didn’t tease them. He wanted to finish this dungeon quickly and enjoy his million-dollar pay.
“So, are you alright now?”
“Yeah. Did you handle those skeletons?”
“Cleaned them up. Damn… you should have told me some of them could use weapon skills,” James cursed.
“Sorry…” Kouki apologized. James meant that as a joke, but it wasn't to Kouki. That gimmick had taken more than five people’s lives in this dungeon.
“Alright, do you want to sleep some more, or do you want to beat the next boss?” James sighed.
“Let’s beat the next boss. I’ve been dilly-dallying here for too long,” Kouki said. “We can rest after.”
“Alright.” James nodded.
“Alright! Form up!” The group then rallied.
“I should be in front,” James said. He then looked to Soldier C. “Warn me if you find anything.”
“Yes, sir.”
Another group of monsters arrived, totaling 30 monsters. James easily cleared them despite some of their archers and soldiers using weapon skills. Once James knew the enemy could use a weapon skill, he could plan around it. James might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he learned.
He could use his ice shield for the arrows and his stone crab buckler for spears. One thing about weapon skills was that they lost their strength after the initial impact. The arrows from those skeletons did penetrate the ice shield, but they lost their golden glow soon after. James didn't need to dodge them anymore, as his stats were more than enough for the arrows to bounce off him harmlessly.
As soon as he got close, he used fire-breathing to clean up the skeletons.
“The next castle is that way,” Kouki said. “Xavier, anything amiss?”
“No, sir.”
When the castle was finally in view, rows of soldiers manned the walls. James couldn’t help but be intimidated by it. They looked cool, after all.
“How did you guys breach that using ten men?” Sanders asked, feeling perturbed. If he had a rocket launcher, breaking down the gate would be a simple matter, but he had no such thing. A frag grenade would not be enough to blow it either.
“Either using a sword skill or magic, I guess?” James muttered. His axe skill could leave a deep gash on castle walls; he believed he could break it with two or three well-placed hits. Kouki nodded.
“Yes. As James said, I used a sword skill to break through the gate on this floor. We had cannons on the previous floor, but there were none here. Breaking the gate or walls is easy, but getting there was the hard part… we lost a lot of people due to their bow skills firing at us from a distance,” Kouki said, his face sullen.
“I am going to use my ice spears to hit them.”
“Count me in,” Kouki said. James looked at him as a gust of wind gathered in his hand. He might have picked up magic later than James, but he eventually learned it. He chose wind magic, thinking he could enhance his sword with wind’s cutting ability.
After upgrading his magic twice, he gained the ability to form a wind blade. Together with his Sword Aura skill—a benefit when he reached advanced sword mastery—Kouki finally had some ranged ability he could use.
“Swallow Strike!” Kouki shouted. A blue arc shot out from his sword skill, leaving James speechless. Arrows rained down on them, but James shielded them with his ice shield. Not all arrows were bow skills—only two or three of every ten arrows launched at them were imbued with the unique golden glow.
James then threw his axe at the gate. A golden meteor shot from his arm to the gate, destroying it in a single hit.
“That gate was weaker than I thought,” James muttered. Kouki stared at him in wonder as they stormed the gate. Once they were close, James' fire breath cleared them all in one go.
“Alright! All clear!” Kouki made some signs, and the others sprinted toward them.
“Ugh. No coins, EXP, and drops. I wonder what's wrong with the monsters here,” James couldn't help but whine. He had killed more than a hundred soldiers, but not even his class had leveled up.
“These monsters were summoned using a device. Unless we destroy the device, they will come endlessly,” Kouki answered.
“Ah. So that's what it means by ‘summoned’, huh?” James nodded while they were traveling through the castle.
“Bertrand!” Sanders shouted. James snapped his attention to Soldier B. An arrow was lodged in his head by a skeleton that had been hiding at the corner of the castle. Kaina and Soldier E quickly countered with their bows, shooting the skeleton right in the head.
“Buy a health potion!” James dashed to Soldier B.
[Survivor Bertrand has died. Using a health potion on him would bring no effect. Do you still want to buy a health potion?]
“Shit!” James cursed.
“Charles!” Anderson turned toward Soldier C.
“That skeleton didn't appear on my skill! I didn't know it was there!” Charles said. James had relied too much on Soldier C's unique skill. He had life detection. These skeletons were not alive, so he couldn't detect them.
“You, Charles, right? Next time, when you see a monster and it doesn't register on your unique skill, you must tell us, okay? Skills have loopholes,” James muttered. He regretted ever relying on other people. Soldier B's fate could happen to anyone—even to James. James wore a helmet, but it too could be penetrated by a weapon skill. Humans still die if their brains are destroyed; James couldn't afford to be careless no matter how high his stats were.
“Yes, sir!” Soldier C looked aghast. He realized he had been careless. He should have known that these monsters did not appear on his radar the moment they met them. But he hadn't noticed because it was just like usual.
“Shit!” Sanders grabbed Soldier C's jacket. His anger got the better of him, but Anderson and Kaina held him back.
“Cut it. Move on. We have a boss to kill,” James said.
“Let's go!” Kouki said.
They charged into the small castle more cautiously. At every corner, James peeked before rushing in with his fire breath. Even through the flame, James’s eyes kept looking for a golden glow that might reap his life.
Soon enough, they arrived in a room. A mechanical human with a bird's head stood proud before a cylindrical machine that spat skeletons on top. It held a spear and a shield. Gears rotated, and as it stepped forward, its steps made clanking noises. Its iron feathers gleamed and covered its body like scales. There were no weak spots. Kouki hesitated, but James didn't care.
He threw his axe and unsheathed his sword. A golden meteor charged toward the robot birdman. Its tower shield crashed against the golden meteor, pushing it back. The axe ricocheted and dropped to the floor. James lunged, activating his sword skill [Vorpal Lunge].
The birdman couldn't even retaliate. Again, it relied on its shield. The impact pushed it back, almost breaking its balance. But the robotic bird held on. It planned to counter with its spear after such a reckless attack. But it was futile, for an axe skill was coming. The mechanical bird couldn't comprehend how the axe that was thrown a moment before returned to James’s hand. He had picked up the axe from the floor using his tail.
The bird defended itself with its spear. Even though the spear was made of iron, it soon bent as James’s skill crushed it. The robot birdman soon fell to the ground from the impact as it dropped its spear. James leaped toward it, raised his axe overhead, and crushed its skull.
The battle was over not even a minute after it began. The summoned skeletons didn't even have time to provide cover fire for their boss, as James had killed it so quickly. This floor had three bosses instead of one. Moreover, they had monster-producing machines, so the boss difficulty had dropped.
James spat as he looked around.
“What are you waiting for? Charge!” Sanders rallied.
[Congratulations! You have leveled up to level 46. Your Attacker class has leveled up to level 22. You have obtained 100 coins.]
“Anything I can plunder?” James was pleased that he had finally leveled up. He couldn't gain any more levels from mobs. The skeletons also didn't provide him with any EXP or coins. He felt he had earned that ten million dollar pay.
[The Golem core in its head has been destroyed. There is nothing Chimera can plunder.]
“Can I sell this junk?”
[The system will grant you 23 coins for the entire corpse. Do you agree?]
“Do it.” James sighed. Twenty-three coins wasn't much, especially for a boss monster corpse. But it was something. A different kind of motes of light engulfed the robotic bird. This time, the motes of light didn't return back to James after they disintegrated the corpse.
“Wait. If you don't destroy the machine, you can sell it for more. I have Shop Level 2," Kouki said.
“Ah. Me too. Moreover, I have logistic skills. I think I could use the coins better because I can buy food and water with it,” Anderson interrupted.
“...alright, this one is yours.” Kouki relented. It was obvious he also wanted the coins, but Anderson's reasoning was more spot on. James suddenly felt envy at the group, but if he claimed the machine, he would be branded as selfish. He couldn't help but let Anderson do his thing.
That machine was worth 100 coins!
James sighed.
[Name: James]
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Level: 46 (↑1)
Coins: 250
Merit: 1
Stats:
STR: 147 (↑2)
DEX: 145 (↑3)
MAGIC: 101 (↑3)
MANA: 980 (↑20)
Skills:
Novice Axe Mastery Level 5 (Powerstrike, V-slash, Boomerang)
Novice Sword Mastery Level 1 (Hurricane, Vorpal Lunge)
Beginner Bow Mastery Level 8 (Quickshot) (↑1)
Beginner Dagger Mastery Level 1
Magic:
Mind Flay
Sense Alteration
Mana Sonar
Class:
Attacker (Level 22) (10% bonus when attacking, STR & DEX +1 per level)
Shop (Level 2):
Health Potion (100 Coins)
Hematonic Potion (50 Coins)
High Potion (300 Coins)
Antidote (50 Coins)
Sell Function Available
Unique Skill - Chimera Level 2:
Goblin Stomach (Iron Guts) (Stomach Slot)
Mana Core (Water Spells: Ice Spear, Water Manipulation, Magic +60, Mana +1000) (Extra Slot)
Minotaur Leader’s Left Arm (STR +25%) (Left Arm Slot)
Eyes of Mana (Mana Sense) (Right Eye Slot)
Golem Arm of Valhalla (STR +30%, Physical Resistance +30%, Negative Trait: Repairable, Mana -200) (Right Arm Slot)
Ratking's Legs (STR +25%) (Leg Slot)
Flaming Tiger’s Fire Lung (Fire Breathing Skill, Negative Trait: Mana -100, Magic -10) (Lung Slot)
Golem Core (Poison Resistance, Negative Trait: Mana -250, Magic -10, Repairable) (Heart Slot)
Orc’s Torso (Torso Slot)
Orc’s Head (Head Slot)
Shadow Snake Fang (Intermediate Life Leeching) (Mouth Slot)
Jumping Spider’s Spinneret (Thread Creation) (Extra Slot 2)
Flaming Tiger Lord’s Firefur (Fire Cloak Skill, Fire Resistance, Physical Resistance +15%, Negative Trait: Mana -100, Magic -10) (Skin Slot)
Kraken’s Arm Tentacle (Reach: 5 meters, Negative Trait: STR -10%) (Extra Slot 3)
Rock Crab Shell (Physical Resistance +90%) (Extra Slot 4)
Land Shark's Ear (Echolocation: 10 meters) (Ear Slot)
Equipment:
Leather Armor Set (+10 DEX)
Dustmail
Lightning War Axe
Longsword
Crossbow (×6)
Mask of Identity
Leather Bag
Sphere of Fethusiane
Cloak of Dark Night
Dungeon Core (x1)
Blue Gem (x5)
