MM - Chapter 37 - SHAMELESS

Raine timed his dodge perfectly. Right as the shotgun slime’s eyes locked in position, he dove to the side. The three lances aimed directly at him were easily dodged. They bounced off the wall behind him and shot over the boss’s head. Two to the right narrowly missed when he jerked his head and left shoulder back, twisting his torso wildly. Unluckily, this put him right in the path of the one coming from the left. It speared straight through his hip, painfully holding him in place. [-199]

Raine’s health flashed red in his HUD. Between the two hits he’d taken, he was down to exactly fifty HP. Only one lance remained.

Since SolemnRiver could take a single hit, Raine had tried to position himself so the last attack would need to go through the boss to get to him. He failed. The difficulty of predicting a trajectory off the far wall, through the boss’s murky body, with a girl blocking his view, was simply too ridiculous. The blistering fast ray of slime missed the boss by mere millimeters, shooting directly for Raine’s face. Held fast and off balance from his earlier dodge, he only had one chance to live.

Raine snarled, baring his teeth. Discipline fueled bulging muscles as he strained all his attributes to their peak. A mighty clang resounded through the room as his spearhead barely intercepted the lance. [-32] 

[Hard Iron Spear: Durability -5]

The attack careened to the side, hitting the wall and deflecting out of sight. The weight of the impact threw him back, only for the cord of slime through his hip to jerk him forward. [-17]

The slime shots withdrew back into the boss, freeing him. He charged, not wanting to see how close that was. It didn’t matter, another hit would be the end and they still hadn’t dealt any damage to the annoying slime. By the time he got there, SolemnRiver managed to dislodge another of the stones. With only two left, Raine launched into it with a frenzy of stabs and Pierces.

Greater Werewolf’s Regeneration kicked in, healing him for ten percent. [+44] In the next instant, his spear finally dealt damage and his next stab cracked into thin air, releasing a satisfying Rupture that had the boss’s gelatinous mass roiling. [-837]

The shotgun slime’s eyes lit up again and Raine retreated four steps in a short bound. Only two of the eyes locked directly on him. His eyes dilated as adrenaline slammed through his veins. His breath stilled, and the world came into sharp focus. 

The lances explosively released in every direction. Raine’s perception of time swelled, the attacks appearing to move in slow motion. He saw where he needed to be. It was crystal clear in his mind’s eye, but his slow avatar refused to move fast enough. He struggled mightily against his low level attributes, boosting every limb with Discipline and once more throwing his spear into the path of the only lance he couldn’t dodge.

Color and sound returned in a sweeping flash that nearly stole his breath. His HUD once more blared an angry red and his spear lost another chunk of durability, but he survived. No, he was alive, more alive than he’d ever felt. With a bark of laughter, Raine leaped forward, his spear sinking into the boss again and again. [-164, -128, -169] Its defenses were weakened for another five seconds and he took full advantage, Piercing on cooldown.

When the six second window ended, the Bullet Slime stretched to the ceiling. SolemnRiver fell from its body. She glowed with a Mend that healed her from the randomly angled hit she took in the last wave of attacks. She was on her feet and sprinting for the wall in record time, barely managing to get out of the area of effect as the boss filled most of the chamber with rapidly deflecting lances and thunderous claps of sound.

Raine jumped at the wall, landing feet first to dodge then leaping right back into the fight. He was in position before it dropped from the ceiling, another Rupture causing it to release warbling waves of agony. [Critical hit! -1,673]

SolemnRiver’s two-handed axe crashed into its other side. She spun so fast her feet blurred, her massive weapon connecting three times in rapid succession. With his focus still ramped, he managed to mostly follow her mysterious footwork, tucking the memory away for later examination.

They dealt a solid chunk of its health before its eyes glowed. Both retreated a step, and Raine easily dodged while SolemnRiver took a page from his book and used the flat of her axe to block the two aimed for her chest. The force blasted her back and she slid along the floor, luckily not getting hit by any of the deflections. Another Mend no doubt drained the last of her Celestial Power, but the boss was nearing death and they could both smell its panic in the air.

Its eyes lit up for the final time, and Raine ran directly at SolemnRiver. Her eyes widened in shock as he planted the butt of his spear into the floor and launched himself at her like a maniacal pole jumper. His feet crashed into her chest, sending the princess in all but name skittering to the wall. Raine’s health was back at half from consistent ticks of regeneration, so the lance that slammed through his leg didn’t kill him.

He dangled helplessly for a second before the slime retracted, then he righted himself by smacking his spear into the ground. As SolemnRiver stood up with a curse on her lips, he dashed forward, releasing a Rupture that turned the shotgun slime into a collapsing wave of mucus.

Long before she made it back, Raine scooped up the coins and skill book that dropped.

[Obtained 25,000 Group SP bonus 300% Superiority for defeating an elite boss 4 levels above you]

[Obtained 20% AT bonus 300% Attunement for defeating a monster 4 levels above you]

[Obtained 1 gold 13 silver]

[Skill Book (Parry) - Novice - Common Gray: Nullify the damage and redirect the force of a physical attack (Cost: 5 discipline) (Cooldown: 10 seconds)]

“You shameless son of a bitch! What the hell was that?” She screamed in his face, ignoring the two pieces of equipment still floating above the ground in shining gray and blue bubbles.

The others filed into the room and soothing regeneration swept through Raine. He shrugged silently, activated the new skill book, and turned toward the next tunnel. SolemnRiver fumed, her knuckles white, grinding on the haft of her axe. FierceFire approached from the side, her hands up soothingly, “Ignore him. We knew from his contract and the first fight how greedy he is.”

The two guys each grabbed at a different piece of loot which promptly activated notifications in everyone's interfaces.

[Party loot acquired - Combat Helmet: Common Gray - LVL 10: (DEF +12) (ACU +2) (PHY +2) (Durability 60/60)]

[Roll eligibility: All]

[Party loot acquired - Double-tap Greataxe: Lustrous Blue - LVL 10: (AP +65) (AS -.25) (PTC +15) (FNS +10) (ACU +5) (Durability 160/160)]

[Roll eligibility: All]

FierceFire’s eyes lit up and she clapped excitedly, “Congratulations, Taly!” In the same breath, she rounded on the two guys, “Don’t even think about rolling for that axe if you want to survive long enough to take three steps outside this dungeon.”

Their hands flew up in surrender, neither thinking they stood a chance of escaping SolemnRiver after she kept up with Raine’s frankly ridiculous speed. The rolls went out for the armor piece first, which went to the shorter of the two men. He cheered, quickly donning the dark green, military-style helmet.

The axe popped up next, and everyone in the room besides SolemnRiver instantly declined. FierceFire’s joyous smile slipped when two rolls appeared in the interface. [??? - 73 / SolemnRiver - 72] The chamber turned deathly silent, except for the sound of SolemnRiver’s teeth grinding back and forth, “I’ll kill him. As soon as this contract ends, he’s dead!”

Explosive slime impacting tunnel walls echoed obnoxiously into the cavern. Their eyes flew to the symbols in their HUD’s and as one, the group dashed after their truly shameless leader. They raced up the steep elevation of a long tunnel, heaving for breath. Meanwhile, the health bar beneath his blank name fluctuated wildly. 

They caught up to him in the next room. He faced five Bullet Slimes, easily dodging their non-deflecting shots and rapidly poking the stones out of their bodies. SolemnRiver glared at him with furrowed brows, her head tilted slightly as she realized his spear technique had improved drastically since they entered the dungeon. Not only was he bending his torso to increase his speed, but his footwork had shifted to a lower, longer stance giving him more maneuverability and power.

She gave up on getting the axe. The man was clearly a more competent martial than her, and if he changed to his main weapon, she probably wouldn’t survive two exchanges. That assumed she managed to avoid his overpowered double wave skill that did more than enough damage to one-shot her.

[I’m being too short-sighted. I should try to recruit him if he’s not already in a guild. People with his skills aren’t easy to find. I stand to gain a thousand times more if he’s working for me than against me.]

Unaware of her thoughts, Raine continued to drill into the slimes. He was happy with the new axe. Despite it lacking an innate skill, its attributes were impressive. And if he could master the footwork SolemnRiver displayed, the negative to Attack Speed wouldn't be an issue.

The second he dislodged the final absorption stone, he hit the slime with a Rupture and the group went to work whittling it down. Seemingly calmed down from losing the competition for the gold coin, SolemnRiver joined him on the front line and they whittled the slimes down in quick order. Raine only had to roll six times before getting his spear back. He would have settled for the axe as well since they knew he had it. While spamming the roulette, he sunk his accrued SP into the dagger, bringing it up two levels.

[Last Chance’s Gambit - Common Gray - LVL 7 > 9 - SP 0/100,000: (AP 16 > 20) (EP 16 > 20) (AS +1) (FNS 7 > 9) (CNC 7 > 9) (Durability 45/45) Innate Skill - Final Gambit: Convert 100% remaining EP into a single target non-elemental attack. 17 > 19 damage per EP converted]

They killed another thirty slimes as they rapidly progressed up the mountain, each giving Raine maximum SP and AT now that he was safe from accidentally leveling. SolemnRiver kept pace with him, not once competing for the coins that dropped. Not that she would have had a chance if she tried. As the last slime chased him down the tunnels to the final boss’s chamber, he glanced at his status. With a thought, he highlighted which attributes were boosted by his current weapon.

NAME: Alaric

CURRENCY: 783-G 98-S 72-C

CLASS: none

TITLE: Rock Crusher

ASPECT: Greater Aspect of the Werewolf

LEVEL: 10

SUPERIORITY: 114,100 / 150,000

ATTUNEMENT: 424.15%

HEALTH POINTS: 420 (440)

ATTACK POWER: 80 (95)

DEFENSE: 97 (105)

RESISTANCE: 68

CRITICAL RATE: 18% (20%)

ELEMENTAL POWER: 68

DISCIPLINE: 76 (78)

ATTACK SPEED: 2.0 (2.1)

MOVE SPEED: 5.4 (5.5)

ATTRIBUTES:

POTENCY: 42 (44)

FINESSE: 40 

ACUITY: 35 (37)

PHYSIQUE: 42 (44)

CONNECTION: 34

SKILLS:

[Strike - General Skill - Novice: Increase damage with blunt basic attacks by 20% (Cost: 1 Discipline) (Cooldown: 1 second)]

[Pierce - Novice - Discipline: Increase damage with thrusting basic attacks by 20% (Cost: 1 Discipline) (Cooldown: 1 second)]

[Slash - Novice - Discipline: Increase damage with slashing basic attacks by 20% (Cost: 1 Discipline) (Cooldown: 1 second)]

[Blast - Novice - Elemental: Launches a ranged attack with staff, wand, or bare hands increasing damage by 20% (Cost: 1 EP/CP/DP) (Cooldown: 1 second)]

[Rupture - Novice - Lustrous Blue: Strike the air to reduce enemy defense by 40% for 10 seconds and release a shock wave dealing 500% damage in a 5-meter expanding cone. (Cost: 10 discipline) (Cooldown: 15 seconds)]

ARMOR:

[Bandit Face Shroud - Common Grey - LVL 10: Obscures identification skills up to beginner tier]

[Superior Scaled Pauldrons - Common Grey - LVL 10: (DEF +17) (PTC +3) (FIN +3) (PHY +3) (Durability 75/75)]

[Superior Scaled Chestplate - Common Grey - LVL 10: (DEF +21) (PTC +2) (PHY +5) (Durability 75/75)]

[Superior Scaled Greaves - Common Grey - LVL 10: (DEF +18) (PTC +5) (FIN +2) (ACU +2) (Durability 75/75)]

[Scaled Gauntlets - Common Grey - LVL 10: (DEF +12) (PTC +1) (FNS +1) (PHY +2) (Durability 55/55)]

[Scaled Boots - Common Grey - LVL 10: (DEF +12) (FNS +3) (PHY +1) (move speed +1.2) (Durability 55/55)]

[Technomancy Reverse Apron of Confundity - Common Grey: Worn around the nape, this device projects a translucent filter that obscures details of the wearer’s armor]

[Ring of Nine Arms - Cursed]

WEAPONS:

[Hard Iron Gloves: Common Gray - LVL 5: (AP +6) (AS +1.5) (PTC +2) (ACU +2) (PHY +2) (Durability 40/40)]

[Hard Iron 2-H Mace: Common Gray - LVL 5: (AP +19) (Defense +12) (PTC +4) (PHY +6) (Durability 40/40)]

[Last Chance’s Gambit - Common Gray - LVL 9 - SP 0/100,000: (AP +20) (EP +20) (AS +1) (FNS +9) (CNC +9) (Durability 45/45) Innate Skill - Final Gambit]

[Hard Iron Shield: Common Gray - LVL 5: (DF +26) (PTC +3) (PHY +3) (Durability 60/60)]

[Double-tap Greataxe: Lustrous Blue - LVL 10: (AP +65) (AS -.25) (PTC +15) (FNS +10) (ACU +5) (Durability 160/160)]

[Kallnenko Branch: Common Gray - LVL 5: (AP +15) (AS -.25) (DEF +10) (PHY +4) (Durability 35/35)]

[Cassidy’s Comet - Lustrous Blue - LVL 9 - 0/100,000 SP: (AP +55) (PTC +11) (PHY +11) (Durability 90/90) Innate Skill - PuriPuri Comet Burst]

[Hard Iron Spear: Common Gray - LVL 5 (AP +12) (DEF +6) (PTC +2) (ACU +2) (PHY +2) (Durability 35/40)]

[Hard Iron Sword: Common Gray - LVL 5 (AP +10) (PTC +4) (ACU +3) (PHY +3) (Durability 40/40)]

The end of the tunnel was flooded with light. Raine burst into the last cavern and freezing winds howled in his ears. A cave exit dominated the far wall. A bleating roar raised the hair on his neck as a majestic, winged goat raised its head. Thick, white fur lightly covered powerful muscles. Radiant sapphire eyes observed him with hungry interest. Long limbs tipped in sturdy claws scraped at the rocks beneath its paws. 

[Elite Ariesilae - level 15 - HP ?????/?????]

It stood to its full height on powerful back legs, heavy horns sprouting from its skull nearly scraping the ceiling. With zero warning, the beast streaked across the room. Thick neck muscles jerked to the side, sending one of its oversized horns at Raine’s chest. Parry pulled his spear into position just as fast. A loud crash shook the room, sending rubble cascading down around him as the boss hurtled past, its momentum redirected into the wall.

Raine grinned after confirming the weapon took no durability damage despite the immense power behind the blow. He faced the beast, lowering his stance.

It shook its head, turned to face him, and dropped to all fours. Muscles rippled, bulging with untapped power as it released a thunderous bleat, murder in its eyes.