*
We were travelling from the Abandoned Drake Cave after a rather unfruitful hunt. We didn't earn much, and so I intended to travel to a popular dungeon that I heard of. Exploring is fun and all, but I'm losing money here. It was probably best to go stock up and level up a fair bit before I kept moving. There was a rather major problem, though...
"Howard, I'm hungry..."
"Eh? But we have already stopped twice for meals today, haven't we? Where's the rabbit jerky I gave you?"
Holy crap. It has only been 2 days since I gave the child a share of the rabbit jerky that I stocked up, you know? It was a pretty sizable portion as well...
"Tooth had some, and I had some... And then well... you know." The kid gave a sheepish grin.
Ah, so there's the problem.
The culprit's accomplice in question, a lizard man with a diminutive build, grunted and squealed several times in succession.
"Oh, and Tooth says he's hungry as well."
I wanted to say something offensive, but both of my... companions are still rather tender in age... Instead, I have to play the responsible older mentor...
Having children with you is troublesome...
I can see why so many young couples prefer to advance their careers first.
I sighed.
"Okay, we will stop for a meal."
"Yay!!"
"There's just one problem..."
"What is it?" The kid and his lizard companion stared at me questioningly.
"See for yourself." I showed them the contents of my bag. Both my young “protégés” took a good look...
... and made a rather good impression of that guy depicted in Edvard Munch's "The Scream".
**
He had fished up another large one today.
The poor fish suffered a stab through the eye and was killed instantly.
"Ah, the eye was the best part..."
The old man that was accompanying him today was dismayed at the loss.
He didn't make any comments. Then again, he never did. He dragged the now limp carcass to shore and hung it up to let the blood drip dry.
Then again, it was custom for some ethnic cultures to eat the fish eyes, considering it to be quite the delicacy. However, he had never tried cooking the fish the way others would, preferring to boil, roast, or salt the fish before eating it. Occasionally, he would drain the fish blood and eat the meat raw. That was the only way he knew how to prepare a fish. Several months marooned on a deserted island can do that to a person. As such, the notion of eating the fish's eyes was a foreign one to him.
"Say, would you like to come to our place for dinner tonight? The missus's making fish the proper way. You will like it, it's a guarantee." The old man said this as he nodded encouragingly.
He remained silent, not knowing what to say.
"I'll take that as a yes then!! Silence means consent... See you at sunset!!"
With that, the old man happily left, oblivious to the frantic reaction that occurred.
***
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THERE'S NO FOOD LEFT?!"
"GRAAAAAAHH!!!"
And there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth.
"Exactly what I meant. There's no food left. Here, see for yourself."
"WE ALREADY SAW!!"
And yet, the irrefutable truth was laid bare for all to see. There was no food left. That which I have feared for the most part of our trip has come to pass at a surprisingly early part of our journey.
I had stocked my "larders" generously to last a considerable period of time for one person, but a second, and soon a third addition to our rag-tag group put a rather large strain on my stockpile. We haven't exactly completed anything substantial, you know? I really fear about the future of the party at this rate.
"Well, there's no helping it. Pack your bags, we are going hunting."
"Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh??"
"Don't "ehhhhh" me. You lot ate my entire stock of food, even the stale bread that I brought along. Come on now, if we don't hunt, you don't eat. And that means no roast meat..."
"Ehhhh?"
"No jerky."
"Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh?"
"And let's see... no stew, no bread, no soup, nothing that I can cook."
"Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?"
"But need is no cause for fear."
Woah, a shining light of hope!! I almost see angels descending, too!! Funny how much morale can be built due to the prospect of filling one's stomach.
"I somehow got my hands on this!! Feast your eyes on this treasure!!"
I rummaged through my bag...
"Ta-dah!!"
... and dug out a green packet.
Yes, for some strange reason, I had found these for sale at the Warrior's Guild back at the Sleepy Fortress. Out of nostalgia, I picked up a few packets. Surprisingly, they cost less than even the bread that was for sale everywhere, so I made sure to pick up a large quantity when I found out about the cheap price. Of course, those were for emergencies only, but I believe now was a case that qualifies as one.
"What is that?"
"Gaaaah?"
Surprisingly, for their ability to eat their way through my food, I am shocked that they didn't manage to find this treasure.
"Why don't you give it a try?" I gave them an encouraging smile. I took a packet for myself and carefully opened it up. I took a fork and dug inside the packet, managing to extract a portion of the rice and meat that was vacuum-packed inside. It had a strange texture, was pretty sticky and had a rather intriguing aroma.
"Looks weird... Oh wow, it's all sticky and stuff... Smells weird too."
Kid had managed to open his packet as well. Tooth was having a bit of trouble though.
I had managed to find one of Royal Road's best-kept secrets, in my opinion. For all that effort to create a medieval theme, Royal Road had added modern combat rations into the game. I ate that quite a lot during my two years spent in Military Service while out in the field, so seeing this again brought back a sense of nostalgia...
The combat rations had deep roots in history as well. Back in the Sengoku period, Oda Nobunaga and his men would eat fried rice dumplings. It was preserved by the frying process, and was eaten by adding hot water to it to prepare an instant meal. Much like how you make instant noodles, which were carefully fried or dried out before it was packaged after being made and bundled up into circular shapes. Canned products also featured heavily in a war, but it was difficult to carry about, and being stored in the tin cans, the food attains a rather metallic taste...
Food that can be easily preserved and stockpiled with immense nutritional value was invaluable to any army. Many campaigns have grinded to a halt due to the lack of food, after all.
Today, combat rations have evolved to include other kinds of food within its burgeoning arsenal, using exotic flavours such as cream pasta and macaroni and cheese, going as far as to include local desserts like sweet potato soup in its ranks.
And yet, for all those different flavors, the ones I had back then all tasted the same, including the desserts. They had been drowned in preservatives, which killed off most of the taste, I guess...
Alright, essay aside...
"Well, down the hatch!!"
As one group, we took a bite.
"Ah... that salty but otherwise difficult to place flavor... It slides easily down the throat, but in a strange fashion... It does bring back memories." I had tears in my eyes as I said that, as flooded with nostalgia as I was.
It tasted similar to what I had last time... I took a look at how the others were doing. I wonder if they had liked it? As it transpires, turns out they didn't just like it. I turned my head happily...
"WOAH!!"
... and saw both Tooth and Kid lying on the floor, twitching as their leg muscles spasm-ed. They must love it, right?
"Hahaha... it's bad to sleep after you eat, you know... Eh, guys? Are you okay?" I laughed awkwardly as I took a closer look.
Holy crap, how is it that they are foaming at the mouth?! Wait, is that the poison status and paralyzed status on their hp bar?!
[You have been poisoned. Your hp will slowly decrease.]
[You have been paralyzed. You cannot move.]
Poison?! No, it must be Karma striking for eating all my food. I recovered quickly from my panic, and nodded knowingly at the sky. Amen to that. Sighing, I ate the rest of my combat rations, and looked through my bag for an antidote. Their hp shouldn't drop that fast anyways.
Remember, kids, food or otherwise, remember to pack some antidotes and other emergency supplies. You'll never know when you'll need them.
Incidentally, when I checked my status bar later, I found that a skill was generated by the Nomadic Imprint ability:
Iron Constitution
Improves poison immunity and resistances through building up the physical condition of the body.
Beginner Level 1/0%: +0.5% resistance to all elements and the poison status.
Funnily, a large amount of skill proficiency (with increasing amounts each time I ate a consecutive packet in one sitting) was raised each time I ate a packet of combat rations for some reason, so it was leveled rather quickly.
****
He knocked, and the door was opened unto him. The old man was there with a big grin on his face.
"Ah, it's you!! Now don't just stand there in the cold, come in, come in!!"
He was quickly dragged in. The house seemed well-swept and airy, but the sturdy stone walls were breaking down slowly in several areas with several cracks in them, giving it a rather shabby appearance.
"Welcome to my humble abode. It's not much, but it's home."
He was led into a room that was equally clean but poor looking. There, a table had been set for dinner. An elderly lady was busy stoking the fire as a covered pan steamed and bubbled at the edges. The strong scent of parsley flooded the air.
"Oi, old man. Did you bring back another one of your drunken friends today? When are you going to land that big one that you have been going on about?"
A heavily henpecked husband even at their advanced ages!!
"I'm working on it... get back to cooking, woman. Gyahahaha!!!" The old man seemed unfazed by it though, and laughed heartily in response.
"The missus keeps nagging at me over that "big one", you know? It has even gotten to the point where it just flows into one ear and flows out the other."
Yup, love don't last, the honeyed and blissful union only lasts for a few years. It eventually fades away over time, leaving only a working relationship, where couples tend to stay together, and I quote "for the sake of the children".
Perhaps, it was natural that nagging overtime would naturally become numb to the henpecked spouse. Perhaps arguing over the most trivial of things was their way of displaying affection. I don't get married couples sometimes...
Forgive this author for irresponsibly leaving such a negative impression of marriage on the reader and possibly driving down the birth rate even by a smidgen... *bows*
Anyways, the old man turned to he that was standing there, frozen by cultural shock.
"Gyahahaha, don't just stand there, have a seat, have a seat!!"
With that, he took a seat. Ill at ease, he looked around.
Over the course of years spent fishing and eating mainly fish as a diet, he had built up a body of steel. Sadly, it left him with a huge physique, and as such it was simply a case of the furniture being too small for him. The overly muscular man seemed out of place in this kind of setting as he sat there uncomfortably, all the while wearing his mask, which he seemed to take comfort in.
"Wahahaha!! It's rude to wear a mask in someone else's place right? Come on, take it off, take it off," The old man said this as he tugged the mask off without warning.
Before he could do anything about it, the mask was taken off, revealing a youthful face with brown hair and blue eyes. It didn't quite suit him though, and it was as if someone took a head of a youth and implanted it onto a muscular body of an adult.
"Cor, you are quite a looker eh? It won't do to starve a growing lad like you. Here you go, and eat up quickly!!"
The elderly lady served up a plate of steamed fish in front of him. It was a trout, steamed until the eyes became white, and garnished with a generous amount of ginger, parsley, celery and fried garlic.
He carefully cut out a slice with his knife and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly. The meat was tender, yet had a firm texture to it, which was comparable to chicken. The unpleasant fishy smell was covered by the aromatic vegetables, and at the same time gave it some crunchiness to it.
He swallowed. And quickly took another bite, and another, taking care to fillet his portions carefully without taking any fish bones with him.
"Hohoho. Looks like the missus snagged another fan with her fantastic cooking, she has. Gyahahaha!!" The old man laughed heartily as he ate another slice of fish.
"This is the best part." The old lady pointed at the face of the fish in front of her. Using the fork, she dug into the eyes. It was like a horror scene. She carefully extracted the jelly like substance surrounding the white eyeball and ate it. And then she smiled.
"Go on, give it a try."
He looked at the faces around him that were nodding encouragingly and picked his fork. Hands trembling, he poked out the eye and put it in his mouth, quickly swallowing. There was a fishy taste, but that was it.
"No no, not like that. Keep it in your mouth for as long as possible. It will taste better. Swallowing it like that will cause you to miss the nuances the eyes will offer you."
Emboldened by his first attempt and assure of the fact that eyeball wouldn’t kill him, he tried the other eyeball, letting it roll around in his mouth. It tasted different. It was pretty difficult to describe, but perhaps this best describes it: A rush of fatty fish flavor accompanied by a gelatinous spongy texture.
He drank the rice wine (sake) that was handed out. It was a fresh experience for him.
Life thrives and flourishes, spreading and creating, yet at the same time destroying. It creates, proliferates, and devours itself at the same time. In the process, new and wonderful things like this fish are created...
It was strangely philosophical, yet at the same time screams of simple pleasures...
The next time he hunted, he took care not to pierce the eye.
*****
"Urgh... I want to go home... Mama, where are you..."
"Gaaaaaa...."
Following our enjoyable meal where I plucked them from the grasp of death with an antidote, morale was strangely low.
Incidentally, the rations tasted better when it was heated on a fire, but I was too lazy to do so.
I carefully sharpened the camping knife and tied it back onto the Ash Spear Shaft, reassembling the Knife spear.
I was slightly disappointed that I didn't get to try out the weapon the last time, but the only monster that we found back at the Abandoned Drake Cave was Tooth here.
And then Tooth went and joined the party, creating the current situation that we are in. Simply put, my material earnings quickly fell to a negative due to the opportunity cost incurred by not killing Tooth.
Hmmm... it looks like a little bit of my Economics Education from college finally came in useful.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa.... If only I skewered him like a shish kebab back then." I sighed.
"Grah?" Tooth looked at me with a questioning look on his face.
"Oh, nothing."
It probably wasn't worth it anyway. Tooth's only level 8 and at the juvenile stage anyway, so the drops aren't likely to be very good. Even with the rare drop bonus I would have gotten, chances are that I wouldn't get anything good from him anyway, with that battered shield and rusty sword that he was equipped with. Regardless, I intended to recoup my losses quickly. Having reassembled the Knife Spear, I stood up.
"Come along now. It's time to recoup my investment." Having said this, I turned around to make them move quickly to the next spot...
“kuuuuuuuuuu...”
And found them asleep.
Good grief. I knew kids sleep a lot, but this is getting ridiculous. At this point, it was best to use an easy and gentle approach with them...
"Get up!! Get moving!! You have 10 seconds to move, on the double!! Hut!! Hut!! Hut!!"
"Uuuuuu... What a cruel person you are... I'm sleepy..."
"Get moving!!"
*SMACK*
With some light nagging and beating with my spear, I force marched them to our destination.
******
Hmmm... So in the end I came here alone, huh?
I stood at the entrance of the Kobold Raider's dungeon.
At the front of the cave, several NPCs and merchants were glibly hawking their supplies.
This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
"Potions for emergencies, I'll sell them cheap."
"Bandages and other supplies, bulk buys encouraged!!"
"Food cooked by a chef, I may still be unskilled but my food can still raise stats!! Eat your fill before you head in!!"
At the same time, people were seeking out a party...
"Level 12 Bard with several useful songs, including a Healing Song, looking for a party. I'll be sure to brighten up your hunting experience!!"
"Oh, a Bard. Great, we are need of a support class. Come join us!!"
"Level 17 Knight seeking a tanking role. NONE SHALL PASS!!"
"Erm, I'm a lvl 14 Shaman. My skills are still unpolished, but I have several offensive and support skills, and can fill up any missing roles in a party."
"Could you fill up an attacker role? We are short on attackers here."
"I'll try my best. Please to make your acquaintance."
Incidentally, the kid had logged off, citing the need to sleep, and taking Tooth with him.
It was troublesome, but I was glad for finally getting some alone time.
"So that was how parents feel when their kids are finally asleep..."
The heavy burden of having to take care of the two leeches has finally been lifted, if only temporarily.
"ORRRRRAAAAAAAA!! LET'S DO THIS!!"
My motivation was at an all time high... The day looked to be a fruitful one. My excitable action did draw curious looks from the other dungeon crawlers, though.
However, my level is rather low, and my weapon was far from impressive. It might be difficult to get a party at my current state. Still, I must make an effort. It's important to give as much information as possible. No point hiding things here and there.
"Erm, I'm a level 11 Spearman with several useful skills such as Repair and Identify. I can also perform an attacker role with a bit of support. My skill proficiency might be low, but I promise to fight hard."
"A spearman? Sounds pretty weak."
"Are you a suicide lead or something?"
A negative response at so early a stage?! I'm pretty hurt, you know...
"Well... I can put up one heck of a fight, so I hope you can give me a chance. I do have several useful offensive skills, you know..."
"Right... right..." They didn't sound too convinced.
Sigh... I guess solo fighting has its benefits as well... But I'm low on bandages and other supplies. I guess I will have to make do with what I have...
I gave up on looking for a party and went inside the dungeon.
*******
"Crap, I shouldn't have come alone, huh..."
It's only the first floor, and already I'm facing problems.
I was up against goblins, which are at least level 20. Level wise, they are nearly twice as strong as me. And naturally, they move together in groups, so they are a bit of a pain. In this case, there were 3 of them.
Nevertheless, their attack pattern was simplistic, with little variation. By comparison, wolves were a bit tougher in my opinion. My weapon wasn't suited for blocking though, but I was able to keep them at bay with its longer reach.
Hence, I made an effort.
First, I should carefully gauge their strength and ability.
I took the Balancer Stance, which boosted my stats as long as I stay in the stance.
I easily parried the first clumsy spear thrust by a goblin, followed by a second and a third.
Good grief, their martial prowess needs some work. The trainees back at the Warrior's Guild could fight way better than this.
I swung the spear in a short horizontal swing, the knife "spearhead" catching the goblin by the throat.
[You have dealt a critical hit.]
It took off a considerable amount of its HP bar.
Targeting weak spots in the anatomy seems to be the key to fighting higher levelled opponents. It improves your chances of a critical hit, and you deal more damage if you target weak spots on the body. Moreover, if you target different spots on the body, you can cripple opponents.
I had been fighting simplistic and low levelled mobs like wolves and foxes for the most part of my adventure, so I didn't manage to go into depth during battles.
As I was slowly analyzing the mobs while defending myself:
[You are immersed in the heat of battle. Your agility has increased by 4%. Your movement speed is increased by 6%. Your reflexes have increased. Your sense of pain is dulled.]
That ought to be Combat Immersion activating.
It was a bit of a cheat skill, but basically it accelerates the senses, movement speed and reflexes. I could see a goblin spear coming, and it was aimed at my chest.
"Too slow!!"
I easily parried the incoming attack, and stabbed out with my spear, putting my weight and forward movement into the attack for additional impetus.
It was textbook, straight from the GREAT BIG REGURGITATING SPEAR ENCYCLOPEDIA AKA Kite, and the first attack I tried with a spear.
"When an opening reveals itself, commit to it!!"
It was just a normal stab used by infantry spearmen.
As anti-climatic as it sounds, I don't have a single proper attacking skill. I could only utilize the buffs and power-ups I gained so far to improve the attacking prowess of my normal attacks, and work it from there.
I recalled an interesting thing I saw from watching a show from a few years back:
"After all, an attack's much stronger if you use two hands."
The attack scored a bullseye, striking the neck.
[You have dealt a fatal critical hit.]
The entire hp bar was knocked off immediately.
"Eh? Did he just take out a goblin in one blow?"
"How did he do that? And he's taking on a group of them by himself!!"
"His equipment doesn't look very good, but it's practical and does the job right... Maybe..."
There was some gossip coming from the other parties hunting around here, but I ignored it and concentrated on the fight. At my level, I could easily die if I take a blow from those goblins, even if their blows seem to have become slower due to my sharpened senses.
However, that thought caused my concentration to sway a bit, and I didn't dodge a goblin attack fast enough. It caught me by the side, missing my vitals but still leaving a flesh wound. It didn't hurt too much thanks to the Combat Immersion skill, though.
[You have lost 7% of your hp.]
"Dang it, that hurt!!" I raised a gloved hand and sent it slamming down on the goblin's head. It sent it reeling, and I smashed the spear one handed at its side to create further distance. This time, I jabbed the spear at the legs. They seem to tell you if you hit something important, anyway.
[Opponent's leg is badly damaged. Movement speed is reduced.]
Ah, like that. What a useful game interface. Either way, I finished off the goblin with a quick jab to the chest.
Wow, that was quite a good amount of experience. The exp bar filled up rather drastically, and I was pretty close to levelling.
"Alright, now for the third one to make it a clean sweep!!"
The last goblin snarled and charged at me with the sword.
Oh, it ends with a simplistic charge, huh?
I decided to play along. Besides, the extra movement speed will improve the momentum of my charge.
Not that I have any intention to follow through with the charge completely anyway.
I always wanted to do this again, anyway. I used the momentum to leap upwards.
First, gain a good amount of height.
Next, at peak, put the weight into the stab.
Simple and to the point. The result;
"KAMEN RIDER KIIIIIICK!!"
Yup, it's just Jump that I used against the wolves.
But hey, with a bit of imagination, it does resemble it, right?
Virtual reality is great for that sort of thing. What is a game, if not for having fun?
There was just one problem with this mindset though...
[You have dealt a fatal critical blow.]
[You have lost 15% of your HP.]
[The durability of your Knife Spear has fallen by 3.]
"Owww..."
I didn't land properly, and while I did kill the bugger, I hurt myself in the process doing so, and my weapon durability fell by quite a bit as a result of the impact. I made a note to practice safe landing in the future.
"Is he an idiot?"
"Good thing we didn't invite him into the party, huh?"
"He was pretty tough though. Could he be a higher-levelled player in disguise?"
Nope, you wish.
The slain goblin disappeared in a grey flash, leaving behind loot and coins.
[You have leveled up to 12.]
Oh well, didn't matter, got exp, got loot. My HP can be recovered using bandages anyway.
I picked up the loot, but before I moved off to find the next small party of goblins;
"Ah... the sweet smell of money." I carefully counted the money dropped, which was a few coppers. Wasn't much, but it all adds up. Everything adds up in the end.
Money is a pretty scarce but tangible resource after all.
********
Was it supposed to be this easy?
I carefully applied bandages after the HP regeneration from Berserk Impulse pushed me back over the set HP threshold, letting me regain control over myself.
[You have regained 1% of your HP. Bleeding has stopped.]
"Geez... broke the Knife Spear in the process. I need a more durable weapon... And that knife didn't come cheaply too..."
All around me, covered in blood and badly mutilated, were dead goblins.
I came across a war party after hunting a few small groups. I couldn't escape, so I stayed back and fought.
3 or 4 goblins were one thing, but all 15 at once... Not as easy, simply put. I was knocked into the HP threshold, and then from there I didn't quite recall things...
Berserk Impulse boosted my stats and HP regeneration by a substantial amount, but in exchange I lose control of my actions while that skill is active. The power boost I receive is equivalent to that of a cheat key, but it was dangerous since you attack everything indiscriminately, after all.
Berserk Impulse and Combat Immersion did level up once in the process, and I gained a couple of levels to get to 17. Again, all points to Agility 1st. Speed is important if you have a stronger but heavy and slow weapon after all. Strength does help your attacking speed theoretically, but Agility directly boosts speed. And with speed comes force. Simple physics, you know?
Of course, you also need to consider strength since it sets the limit as to how fast you can swing the weapon, and what I would like to call the "afterburner" effect. No sense being able to swing at high speeds if you can’t even properly hold the weapon.
Stat allocation aside, hunting felt really rewarding. I got skill proficiency, a good amount of experience and I had fun in the process. And there was still all that loot to consider.
"Great. I give thanks to the great spirits for all that good loot."
I carefully looted the goblins. The mob drops aren't very good, but at least they would sell for a bit when I come up to the nearest city. Each of the goblins dropped mostly coppers, but one did drop a silver coin though.
I would make sure to cherish that silver coin from now on... until the kid and Tooth force me to spend it, that is.
Alright, time to move on.
The goblins faded to grey flashes as I quickly moved to another area.
*******
It was slightly harder to hunt without the knife attached to the spear, but it was more comfortable to use without it.
The increased levels did make up for the loss of my knife, but it was a painful loss regardless.
Either way, for some odd reason, I was sweeping through the dungeon with ease, and soon found myself at the deepest portion of the room, where a boss monster resided, increasing my level further to about level 25.
Of course, when I hit level 21, I started adding points to Strength to increase my hunting efficiency. See the explanation above for as to why I did this, I have no intention of writing another essay on the topic for the sake of not going off course.
The monsters do get marginally stronger as you head deeper inside the dungeon. I found level 22 goblin warriors, level 25 goblin squad commanders, level 24 Kobolds, level 26 Kobold Fighters;
And the boss monster that resided there, the level 33 Kobold Chieftain. Unlike most Kobolds, that had wolf like snouts but rather short and stocky bodies, the Chieftain was tall and well muscled, wore a large metal helmet on its head, and wielded a large two handed mace as a weapon.
That mace was not a unique drop, but from what I heard from other dungeon crawlers, it was custom for most passing knights to pick it up. The weapon was really slow due to its weight, but it had immense power and the ability to easily dent and weaken armor, which was a valuable asset to have. You would have to forgo the use of a shield, but it was a powerful weapon nonetheless.
The Kobold Chieftain used that mace against me now, weapon swinging down in a deadly horizontal swing.
I ducked under the clumsy attack and smashed its legs with the spear shaft. It knocked away some HP, but the chieftain was unfazed.
Huh. Boss monsters are a large step up from the regular mobs, huh?
I stepped back, and took a stance. It was important to analyse the boss carefully for key attack patterns. In this case, the Kobold Chieftain favors horizontal swings as a means of catching multiple persons at once. In this case therefore, the party should spread out while having the tanker going up close to limit its ability to swing the mace properly.
Then again, that was when you are fighting him as a party.
The Kobold Chieftain swung his mace again. It was impossible to parry or block this kind of hit, so I dodged it again... Wait.
Did he just swing a two handed mace with just one hand?
A humongous, well muscled fist came rushing at me, catching me heavily on the chest.
"Gaaaark!"
I was pushed back a great distance by the blow, the air driven from my lungs.
[You have lost 15% of your HP.]
[You are stunned; you cannot move for a short period of time.]
Crap. That was dangerous. The Kobold Chieftain didn't display that kind of behavior against party groups. That must be the AI doing its thing. In any case, I had better be careful.
I caught some air as I breathed in heavily.
Case in point, the Chieftain took advantage of my momentary stun and was charging at me, its mace raised in a two handed grip. It seemed that this time, he had no intention of faking out.
“In that case...”
I stood my ground, spear held in the Fencer stance. Basically, I faced the opponent by my side, non-master hand leading and the spear shaft pointed spear first.
I didn't gain any stat boosts while in this stance, but it would make performing what I had in mind a lot easier.
The Chieftain swung. I judged the timing of the attack, and stepped forward, catching the mace with the spear moving in small circular movements.
While the mace had immense destructive power, when one catches the blow before it could gather the momentum, the power of the attack was diminished, and it is a lot easier to parry. It took an astute sense of timing to pull this off, but it should be worth it.
The circular movement of the spear shaft deflected the mace of its initial path, throwing the mace off balance and forcing the chieftain into a jarring position. It was a pseudo-stun, which was the window of opportunity that I needed.
"Sei!!"
Spear shaft moving in wide arcs to gather angular momentum, I bashed the chieftain several times in succession, catching it on the head, side, legs and back. The ricochet of the blows let me phase into another attack, riding on the initial momentum to add power to the hits.
The series of heavy attacks knocked a large amount off its HP bar, but it was far from over. The Chieftain naturally had a high amount of life points, being a boss monster.
I created some distance between us as the chieftain recovered and lashed out with a muscled arm which I dodged, and resumed my stance. It was going to be a long fight at the rate…
- Continued in Chapter 8.