"Bang!"

'Yikes!'

Even with the backpack shielding his back, Oscar still got his ass cheeks pierced by the red spikes, hailing from the rat king running behind.

'Fuk me! Why did this monster have to come after me without finishing its business with those adventurers first!'

Gritting his teeth, Oscar pulls out the spikes with a tearful face, while cursing that monster's seven generations.

'Urgh! Give me a break!'

Running backward, all the while carrying a heavy bag eventually starts taking a toll on him.

If not for that rat monster occasionally giving its motivational speech/squealings behind his back, Oscar surely would have taken a break or two...

"Scrriiieee!"

'No, no, no, not again! Yikes!!!'

His previous tear hasn't even dried yet, when a new one takes its place; just like the red spike nailing his butt cheeks behind.

Orb of Inferno- 5/20 (common)

Wiping his tears before gripping the magic orb, Oscar begrudgingly looks behind at the merciless rat monster 'You will pay for this!'

With a focused mind, he tried to feel the blue magic crystal, as he did with those normal mana stones before. Only to get disappointed when he felt the crystal was empty...?

Like it was missing a piece. Which, if goes by the description. He could somehow guess what it needs 'Mana... It needs mana! But...'

As he glanced at his status,

MP: 0

'Urgh!' He groaned in frustration.

He was confused for a moment, but then he thought 'It just needs mana right? It doesn't say the mana has to be mine!'

Hopeful, he took a look below, at the orb overflowing with mana.

'Oscar! You can do it!'

Focused. He activated the Mana concentration and felt the overflowing Mana inside the orb, which felt like a running stream of water, compared to the limited glass of water in those small Mana crystals before.

Gently, his mind was able to stir the same water/mana with ease, courtesy of it freshly unplugged from the eye of magic formation.

'Just like this!'

Motivated. He could feel some mana particles moving with the flow of his mind. Gathering around the point of contact, the rapidly moving legs.

Slowly, some sparkles visibly traveled up to his waist in a spiraling motion. Rotating around his hands before swirling around the 'Orb Of Inferno'

And like an uncontrollable small magnet attracting the fine iron particles, it greedily sucks the mana without stopping, or more like it couldn't. Like a 1000watt electric latched itself to a small table fan, it kept pouring mana without abandon.

Mana concentration Lv4 > Lv5

'!!!'

Seeing the orb in his palms, glowing with the increasing temperature, Oscar felt a deep sense of accomplishment, which suddenly turned into a deep sense of concern for his burning hands.

'Urgh! Hot! Hot! Hot!'

Some fires crackle around the magic device. He tried to hold it with one hand to another before finally losing his grip on it, leaving behind the burned marks with the sizzling skin as it dropped onto the floor.

You have gained the skill, "Fire resistance Lv1"

*Clink!*

*Clink!*

With each bounce, the device burned brighter and brighter, seemingly overflowing with the amount of mana it wasn't intended to withstand.

*Crack!*

*Boooom!*

'Huh?' At his back, the device blasted near the rat monster's face, with an ear-piercing blast and terrible shock waves traveling far and wide, within the closed caverns.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

'I did it!'

Oscar cheered as he screams internally out of joy, but not for long…

From behind, he saw the monster 'raticulously' jumping right through the wall of fire with some furs missing around its face and a few minor skin burns, otherwise fine with all limbs still attached. It continued to pursue him with much greater fervor than ever before.

'Fu*k! Give me a break!'

"Scrrriiiii!!!"

With every thumping of the rat monster, the ground shakes, while all the other nearby monsters skittered away or hides at their safe spots.

Leaving the little goblin, who was daring enough to challenge the boss monster with his measly level, to fend alone.

Oscar was more than certain, that even if he ran on all fours to the best of his ability, he would still get caught, and shredded like cheese inside a shredder.

Fortunately, the floor of the caverns he was going through was structured like a downward slope, giving yet another boost to the smooth traveling vehicle he was riding on.

The mutation 'Foothold' was playing its role in more than just keeping him stuck on top of the rapidly rolling orb. Oscar didn't even have to put more than necessary strength to keep moving his legs in a rhythm. Whenever one leg loses the ground, the second takes its place before starting the cycle once again and again, making him look like he was jogging, just backward.

'One two... One two!'

Even his mind was starting to relax as time passed, but not for long. The familiar deep squealing of the rat monster boomed, causing his sensitive ears to cringe in pain yet again. And a loud noise accompanied by the shower of red spikes hailed in his direction.

"Scrraaaaa!!!"

'Ah!

No!

Not again!

You pervert!'

Instinctively covering his butt cheeks, Oscar activated the 'Elusive Dash', his sense of awareness increased by a fold, with him pedaling furiously backward like never before.

*Swoop! Swoop!*

*Tink! Tink!*

With a well-timed jump, Oscar successfully dodged the attacks as the spikes hits the orbs' glossy surface, sending tiny sparks to fly around.

Elusive Dash Lv1 > Lv2

'Ha ha! See, I dodged it, you idiot!' Feeling smug. He abruptly turned behind to taunt that rat, only to feel dreadful the moment his left foot overlapped with the right leg's trajectory, resulting in his imbalance...

'No!' Flailing his hands around, Oscar did his best to regain his balance.

*Boom*

"Ghhhhaaaa!"

Rolling and bouncing countless times within a second, Oscar finally finds some semblance of balance, resulting in him sighing in relief.

'Sigh... Huh?!' Only for the next moment to find himself running upside down; both hands paddling the orb like a unicycle, while his legs dangling overhead carrying the bag. Displaying great acrobatics in a dungeon.

*Dum! Dum! Dum!*

"Screeeeeeeee! Scre!-Scre!-Scre!'

The rolling of the orb reverberated alongside the passage followed by the monster's gleeful squeals with a not-so-hidden cackling at the pesky goblins' misery. The rat monster increased its pace and seemingly decided to end this little game of chase.

"Ghaaaa!"

Horrified. Seeing the monster catching up to him, Oscar consequently slapped the orb's surface as hard and fast as his strength could provide, feeling his upside-down spine-tingling at a dangerous level he even activated the Elusive Dash, ready to dodge any possible attacks.

Forgetting the most important fact, he couldn't see the road ahead of him. He kept blindly thrusting his hands, again and again, only to stop when he couldn't… 'huh?'

The giant ball accidentally dropped down without warning, flipping his world upside down. It traveled from up to down in a downward spiraling way, leaving the rat monster behind.

*bang!*

*bang!*

"Ghhhhhaaaaarghhh!"

Terrified beyond belief, Oscar stumbled on his back, left and right, crashing countless times, as his body thoroughly rolled, slammed, and rammed against the hard bedrocks, before falling and settling down at last with a loud,

*Thud!*

'Urgh! It... Hurts! damn it!'

His body cried in agony, and his muscles aches in pain.

It took him a minute for his muddled mind to comprehend what happened to him, before he heard an outrageous squeal of the rat king monster coming from a distance, seemingly echoing from above the stairs...?

"Ugdabdagda?!"

Alerted, Oscar shakes his head furiously, clearing his dizziness in an instant.

'Huh?'

With a somewhat clear mind, he found himself crashed against some green bushes. And a few meters away he could see a cave/gateway with a structure that most likely resembles some stairs going upwards, strangely big enough that even tens of giant monsters could easily pass through.

"Screeeee!!!"

*Bang! Bang!*

The rat monster's squealings can be heard from above the stairs, but oddly enough a translucent barrier was stopping its descent, resulting in it banging against the barrier in vain. It bounced back in return accompanied by its painful yet equally vengeful squeals.

The challenge for the title 'stratas boss monster' has been automatically cancelled

Cause- The challenger is out of range

Penalty- You won't be able to challenge the boss monster in the next two days

'Oh...' After seeing the screen popping in front of him one by one, Oscar was able to make a guess on his current situation, and how he was able to stay alive.

'So, the boss monster can't leave its domain?'

He smiles, listening to its rage-filled shouts above stairs like music, before turning around and finding the obsidian orb boring a hole against the destroyed giant tree, while the bag covering the dirt near him.

'Sigh... You better have some powerful magic crystals like that one or some useful information about the outside world, else I will bury you alive right here'

Although grumbling, Oscar smilingly proceeds to check his hard-earned spoils, but stopped himself immediately, considering he was on a different dungeon floor he doesn't know about.

'Safety first' nodding to himself, Oscar took one last look at the gateway for the floor above, before showing his toothy grin.

----------------------------------------

Standing at the foot of the stairs, maintaining eye contact with that boss monster floor above, behind the safety barrier, Oscar peeks his tongue out.

'Khe! Khe! Khe! Come and get me if you can fatty!'

Having his fill-in making fun of the already frustrated monster. The goblin runs away with a dash, leaving behind a bloodshot rat king banging against the barrier wall, calling out to his departing figure to come back.

"Screeeeee!!!"