The cavern's air was thick with tension as Nathan locked eyes with Xoruk, who rose from his stone throne. Clad in full plate armor, the king's presence was overwhelming, more so than anything Nathan had come across so far. Xoruk felt like a monster you’d only find on the higher floors. Nathan's grip tightened on his shadow sword, his heart pounding with a mix of fear, and anger,

“Why is the boss different? Especially on this floor!” The Hobgoblin Champion was the usual boss on the second floor, but with Nathan’s achievement, its strength was increased greatly. Nathan had assumed this would be the case for all the floors, but he was wrong. He didn’t expect the boss to be different.

As Xoruk drew his oversized broadsword, his sharp green eyes locked onto Nathan. Nathan initiated the battle, darting forward with incredible speed.

“I need to end this quickly!” Gracefully, he jumped into the air as high as he could, nearly reaching the ceiling of the forty-foot-tall cavern. Flipping in the air so that his feet faced the ceiling, Nathan activated Double Jump, sending himself launching toward Xoruk. Nathan brought his sword over his head, aiming a precise strike at the king's face. The orc raised his sword with one hand in retaliation, blocking Nathan's attack and sending a shockwave through the air. Xoruk’s eyes seemed to widen in surprise as it counterattacked, swinging its longsword with one hand with enough force to easily send Nathan flying. Nathan landed, rolling away to absorb the impact.

“You’re much stronger than I could have ever imagined. To think you have only reached the 3rd floor of the tower.” Xoruk had intrigue in his voice. Nathan was too focused on the battle to question this monster's intelligence, but Xoruk mentioning the tower, perplexed Nathan.

“No…I need to focus on the battle,” Nathan thought, shaking his head, and trying to come up with a plan. Nathan kept his eyes focused on Xoruk as his mind raced. Xoruk didn’t move and kept its gaze sharply on Nathan.

“I know I can’t beat this thing with raw strength. I have to somehow sneak attack it. It doesn’t know that I can enter the shadows, and I also have the Berserker Ring, although I don’t know if the 35% increase in strength and constitution will make much of a difference. Xoruk doesn’t seem hostile, so if I just keep attacking it for now, surely I’ll find an opening.”

The cavern echoed with the clash of blades as Nathan and Xoruk engaged in a fierce whirlwind of blows. Nathan’s heart raced as he darted around the cavern, trying to find an opening in the Orc’s defense. However, each strike was met with a swift and seemingly effortless parry from Xoruk, wielding his massive sword with surprising ease. Despite his powerful attacks, Nathan could sense that Xoruk was holding back as if assessing his abilities rather than trying to kill him.

With each exchange of blows, Nathan’s breathing becomes more labored. He tried to find any opening he could, attempting to outmaneuver the massive Orc. Yet, Xoruk remained unphased, his sharp eyes following Nathan’s every move. Nathan knew that the moment he used his trump card against Xoruk, at the wrong time, the fight would be over. Suddenly, Xoruk spoke, his voice echoing through the cavern,

“You fight with passion and tremendous strength, human. It's hard to believe you have only climbed three floors. But I know this is still not your true power.” This caught Nathan off guard. Ever since Xoruk first spoke, something felt off about it. He seemed almost friendly, and for the most part, only blocked Nathan’s attacks.

“Continuing to attack Xoruk like I have been is a waste of time and energy. The Eyes of Erebus is still supposed to be my trump card. I guess I have to use the Berserker Ring. There's no other choice,” Nathan thought to himself whilst continuing to send a flurry of blows at the Orc. After maneuvering behind it, Nathen jumped to a level height with its exposed neck, immediately activating Beserker’s Rage. He let out a vicious roar as his veins bulged with power, and his eyes glowed a bright red. He drew his sword back and with all his strength slashed at Xoruk’s neck. However, he swiftly turned around with a speed that did not match his size and blocked the sword slash with its gauntlet. But, much to Xoruk's surprise, this attack packed much more force and pushed him back far enough to knock him off of the raised platform of the throne. Quickly regaining its balance, Xoruk smirked,

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“That's more like it,” raising its sword to block Nathan’s attack from above, the two entered a much more intense dance of sword slashes and parries. This time, Xoruk retaliated slightly, and Nathan was cut by the massive longsword, but his wounds healed extremely quickly and he didn’t falter. He kept up a brutal intensity, attacking relentlessly, yet Xoruk matched the intensity with an unsettling calm, blocking and parrying with minimal effort. This continued until the 15-second duration of Berserker Rage quickly ended. Returning from his enraged state, Nathan’s eyes returned to their purple color and his veins shrunk. Caught off guard during the transition, Nathan lost focus and was thrown out of the rhythm of the battle for a split second,

“Shit!” Xoruk took this opportunity to slam its massive armor-covered foot into Nathan’s chest. Nathan could hear his ribs crack as an enormous foot slammed into his body with incredible power. Nathan was sent flying across the cavern, dropping his shadow sword and rolling uncontrollably before his back slammed into the rock wall, cracking it. Nathan struggled to breathe as the wind was knocked out of him, but as he began to breathe again he felt unbearable pain in his chest. His head began to spin, and he couldn’t help but be reminded of this familiar feeling of helplessness that happened on the third floor before,

“Why…why! Why are you so strong?” Nathan’s eyes locked onto the massive Xoruk who had not moved from his spot.

“The administrator was lazy. The binds that have locked away my strength for the past few hundred years have become weaker, allowing me to regain a minuscule amount of my strength. Even this small amount of power is still too much for someone on the lower floors.”

“So I was destined to die the moment I stepped in here?” Nathan looked down with a sigh. He quickly winced as the pain in his chest became slightly more intense.

“That will be decided if you survive my next attack.” Xoruk stabbed his broadsword into the ground right next to him.

Confused as to the meaning of the Orc’s words, Nathan slowly pushed himself off of the ground,

“What do I have to lose anyway?” Nathan formed a sword in his hand and prepared to defend.

Activating the skill Whirlwind of Stone, Xoruk slammed his fists into the ground. The entire cavern began to vibrate intensely. Nathan struggled to keep his balance as chunks of stone launched out of the ground, walls, and ceiling and began flying around the cavern at an incredibly high speed. Nathan tensed and watched his life flash before his eyes as a stone nearly the size of him was only an inch away from slamming into his body. The stones were moving much faster than Nathan could perceive,

“What level is this skill?” Nathan attempted to dodge at the last second, but he was too slow. However, as soon as the stone hit Nathan’s body, it immediately dissipated into dust. Nathan couldn’t believe what he had just seen until the same thing happened to another stone, then another, and another until he finally remembered.

“My robe!” Nathan examined the black robe he was wearing.

Robe of the Hobgoblin Champion [Unique]

When Equipped:

Constitution + 10

Dexterity + 15

Unique Skill: Elemental Resistance

Passive skill: completely resistant against any elemental skill below level 40.

Nathan smiled, completely releasing all tension in his form as tens of stones slammed into his body before immediately turning to dust. Luckily, amidst all of the stones, Xoruk’s vision was blocked,

“And these stones create plenty of shadows.” Nathan fell into the darkness below his feet and maneuvered in the shadow world until he could see Xoruk. He could see that the Orc eyes were closed, and his hands seemed to be deep within the ground,

“Perfect.” Without hesitation, Nathan immediately jumped out of the shadows behind the kneeling Xoruk. Gripping his shadow sword with both hands and bringing it high above his head, Nathan channeled all of his strength into a stab right at the back of Xoruk’s neck. His sword slammed into the Orc’s thick skin,

“Please!” Nathan quickly moved his head to look at the spot he hit, but his heart immediately dropped as he could see that his shadow sword had barely cut the Orc’s skin. Only a small amount of blood, with about as much liquid as a tear, streamed down its neck. Xoruk quickly ripped its arms out of the ground, all of the stones completely losing their momentum and falling to the floor.

“How impressive, I thought you had shown me everything.” The Orc stood up, turned around, and smiled, “You're just the climber I’ve been looking for.”