NOVEL WEB Chapter 28: One Shot, Surprise
[Maddening Beaver]
-Rank: Silver.
-Level: 5
-[Vitality: 100%]
-[Mana: 600/600]
-Stats:
—Physical:
↳[Strength: 70 | Health: 70 | Stamina: 70]
—Mental:
↳[Mana: 60 | Focus: 60 | Perception: 60]
'It's fat, alright,' Almond looked at its status, his eyes focused.
Field Bosses were stronger than Adventurers of the same rank and level, requiring a group effort to defeat them.
But Almond had different thoughts. What if the rare drop chance increased if he fought and killed it alone, without any help, and did it quickly despite the gap in stats?
-Moonlight Wisps x 3 = 2 Mana, 1 Focus, 1 Perception, 1 Mana, 0.5 Perception.
-Bog Slithers x 3 = 1 Strength, 2 Health, 2 Stamina.
-Fen Serpents x 3 = 1 perception, 2 Strength, 2 Health, 1 Stamina, 1 Focus.
The above was the result of Spirit Devouring in this area and below his current status:
[Almond]
-Adventurer rank: Silver.
-Level: 5
-Class: Spirit Dealer (SS)
-[Vitality: 100%]
-[Mana: 575/575]
-Stats: 6 unassigned points
—Physical:
↳[Strength: 34 | Health: 24 | Stamina: 23]
—Mental:
↳[Mana: 23 (+34.5) | Focus: 27 | Perception: 27]
"Come on, Maddy," Almond muttered under his breath as his eyes were locked onto the Maddening Breaver that was in the air and falling.
But before it reached the ground, the monster had swiped its right hand, shooting a sharp and two-meter-long three-clawed projectile at Almond, its speed breakneck.
Almond didn't even flinch. His eyes only flickered as the pupils shrank, and a blast occurred, his feet kicking off dust while he shot at the Beaver like a bullet, his sword's edge gleaming crimson.
'Refill my syringes, you big healthy bastard.'
Almond consumed 20% of his stamina right off the bat as his sword cut past the monster's neck and landed behind it.
Two ghastly synergies were injected into the Beaver, sucking its Health and Mana.
Almond's slash-type sword attack penetrated and slashed through its tough armor and also dealt damage, enough to shave away 7% of its health since it was cut at its neck and sprayed a fountain of blood.
Maddening Beaver got mad that it was damaged and didn't even notice the syringes due to the cut on its neck.
200% of Almond's max Vitality and Mana was akin to over 20% of the Beaver's Vitality and Mana, so the Syringe weakened it more, but it was strange to monsters since this was a type of attack that didn't inflict pain, but still dealt damage in a way.
Maddening Beaver contributed the weakening to that slash at its thick neck.
Not feeling threatening enough to escape, it angrily turned to Almond and opened its mouth, releasing sharp and compact mud bullets.
Almond quickly manifested the Glassblaze Shield, its durability reducing crazily. It was a huge rectangle shield, but it allowed the user to see through it, so Almond approached the Beaver while it shot the bullets, his legs pumping.
Two seconds later, he jumped along with the shield and threw it towards the monster.
Maddening Beaver's eyes glinted dark red as its tail struck the shield, easily shattering it while its claw went for Almond, who was airborne.
"Not that easy, Maddy," Almond smiled as he knew this would happen.
This monster's reaction was fast, and its fatal point was its head. Moreover, if it was damaged below 50%, it would usually escape to the ground. One of its specialties was fast healing while it was under the ground, so once it escaped, it was over.
It would recover quickly and target other Adventurers.
Moreover, if Almond went for the Beaver's head carelessly, it would finish him off with its claw and tails that packed more power with its skill than just displayed in its stats. Even if he didn't die, he would be a mess at least.
Frontal attacks like that were useless unless…he attacked beyond its speed of reaction, and he only had one way to do that, and he had to one-shot the monster to win!
He pumped his feet and did an air jump using Mana, dodging the claw swiping while also using a Spirit Explosion behind him.
Right before the explosion occurred, another Glassblaze Shield appeared behind him to block the explosion while his feet gently laid the shield in the last of milliseconds.
All according to his plan, but the satisfaction of actually executing the moves he imagined was exhilarating. He was in full control of his body and mind, in perfect synchronization.
*BOOM!*
The explosion impacted the shield and then his feet, which Almond used to push forward, getting a speed boost from the explosion's impact.
He broke the sound barrier as a loud boom occurred immediately after the explosion and his sword, enchanted with 200 Mana, suddenly and unknowingly produced a blade-like aura that extended from it, making it longer and razor-sharp.
*Slash!*
'W-What did I do?!'
The thick and wide neck of the Maddening Beaver was cleanly cut!
*Smash!*
Almond landed on the ground and rolled several meters before smashing into a tree, his expression dumbfounded while his head began bleeding due to the impact.
His speed was fast, so it aided in strengthening impact, cracking his head slightly.
However, his mind was on that strange sword attack he just executed!
'I was going for the stab in the head…but why did I slash through its neck? And what the hell was that?! Did I just perform a freaking Aura Enfold?!'
His thought train stopped before it began as he felt a headache and pain, his vision turning red.
'Shit.'
He quickly injected the Spirit Syringe and recovered himself.
[Congratulations. You have killed a challenging foe all by yourself. You are rewarded 10,000 Gold coins for defeating the Maddening Beaver alone at your current level.]
[You have reached Silver rank level 6.]
'The notification is different,' Almond's eyes glinted. He looked at where the Maddening Beaver died and absorbed its spirit. Nearby, a glowing palm-sized orb was present, blue with brown patterns.
Almond had recovered to full thanks to his Spirit Syringe. He walked towards the orb and picked it up, looking at the rare-grade drop.
[Earth Shattering Gloves]
-Grade: [Rare / Low]
-Durability: [1500/1500]
-Attack: [100 + 100% of user's Strength.]
-Effect(s):
—> (Active) Drilling Claw: Transforms the gloves into claws and consumes a certain amount of Mana every second, depending on the ground's toughness to dig through and travel fast.
—> (Active) Infusing 50 Mana in the claws will create an Earth elemental barrier with a radius of 5 meters around the user.
—> (Passive) While the gloves are equipped, you exude an aura within a 5-meter radius that increases physical and magical defense by 50 flat values. This is only applicable to up to five ally targets selected by you.
"These are simply wonderful," Almond smiled. 'I can wear the gloves and hold the swords.'
The pair of gloves wasn't a weapon, after all. However, it could become one with that first active effect.
'Rare drops are awesome.'
He didn't join Lily and others in clearing the Monsters. Lily also didn't deal many killing blows, instead, she let Alfred kill them.
She only killed Shimmering Fen Serpents masterfully to leave a good record in her class quest.
Natalia was progressing as well, albeit slowly.
"That was really fast, Almond. I looked away for a moment, and the Beaver's giant head rolled off," Natalia blinked in curiosity. "But I saw a light."
"Aura Enfold," Lily said as she stared at Almond, her eyes sparkling with thrill and shock. "How did you do that?!"
Almond coughed and stood up, his expression turning solemn as he stood on a sword, holding a pose like a Jedi.
"Super Blade Awakening! Haa!" Almond cringed at his own words, but he swung the sword.
And nothing happened.
"As you can see, I also don't know," Almond wryly smiled.
Natalia and Lily almost fell to the ground.
"You…you got us," Natalia burst out laughing.
"True. But that makes more sense because Aura Enfold is not easy to learn at all. But you're really a monster, my darling," Lily's arms went around his neck, resting on his shoulder and pecking on his lips. "A box full of surprise."
"Here's another one," Almond smiled and showed them the Earth Shattering Gloves.