Vines shot out towards me, some shooting a strange purple liquid... Obviously I dodged it at first sight. Getting closer to the dryad, I sliced the vines near the dryad where most of the vines coming out of the ground were. That was a mistake... After slicing the vines, purple liquid exploded and rained over the party. There were no status ailments... Actually maybe discomfort or sticky counts as one. Covered in thick purple fluid, Jack got distracted by the sight of me shaking of the goo before regaining his composure and focusing on the fight.
Jeez, what can I do about him? Facing the dryad, trees burst forth towards me. The amount of force the tree trunks were exerting look like they could bust through a mountain. Activating my [black speed ring], I ran towards the dryad, slicing all the vines in the way. This time I was running so fast I dodged the goo released by the vines. Cutting of half the vines as their starting points were clustered in a bundle. After finally reaching the dryad, I plunged my knife at the dryad. *clang*
TCH! A air barrier?!isn't that a strong one at that! It blocked all my momentum. "AHH... t...t.. THAT BOSS IS LEVEL 160"(Haruka)
Did the archer use some form of long range appraisal? Lv160 huh? This fight will be fun. "RUN.. GUGHH.. we can't handle this, I'll tank as much as I can and buy you guys time to escape!" (tim)The first to run was Jack due to his melee build, his agility was highest followed by haruka's archer class.What a cowardly guy... At least help the priest escape.
" Enough! "I screamed tired of the chaos. Stacking a few [Ex speed enhancement] s, I launched my fist at the boss, without regard to my body. The result was that all the vines and the high tier air barrier broke. Jumping towards the boss, I launched my left hand into its stomach. It was surprisingly soft. I guess non-melee types are still vulnerable at high levels huh? Or was it due to my speed, that I could plunge my fist in with ease. With that left punch, in the front it looked like I made a hole the size of my fist but the back of the monster was completely gone.
" [Ex critical] Boss loses 80% hp"
The world system seemed to want to say. Its not a voice nor is it as visual as the class claiming shrine at the church. Its just a subtle signal sent to the brain, its like a suspicion but it makes the person receiving the notification feel that it was an absolute fact. If someone were to toy with the world system... That would be trouble.
The boss only had the front half of its body left. I removed my fist from the gaping hole and it collapsed on the ground unable to move. It attempted to regenerate by playing dead and using its vines to sap my hp. How troublesome, the shockwave of my fingers were enough to send the vines away. With that I finished it off, by embedding an exploding dagger in its head, it was disintegrated and I leveled up to 58.
I know its weird saying "this world is realistic", but strangely unlike other worlds, the stats convert into real values. Sure some laws of physics don't apply, allowing people to go beyond light speed, and there is a strange world system. But that was it. Notifications were just subtle brain signals sent by the world, that could go unnoticed if you weren't paying attention, the dead bodies decompose into mana but they still give off a foul smell and take a day to rot completely.
This world is very strange, realistic or not realistic? Is there such a goal for the world itself? Or is there some omnipotent being that develops everything. Religion isn't that uncommon in fantasy worlds, maybe what they believe in is real? Ah, I got into a dumb train of thought. Thinking about that deep stuff won't help anyway, I should stop, its an awful habit.
"So... Are you guys okay?"
"What are you...."(Jack)
"Just a 9 year old on a dungeon exploration"
"...." (Jack)
Jack couldn't find words to refute me. He just continued trembling in fear near the entrance of the boss room hugging Erika.Tim was sweating buckets near them, keeping an eye on me. Haruka was resting on the side with a relaxed manner and Erika was too busy blushing to see the situation
It looked like Jack was shaking even worse than when he was told " The boss is lv 160!".That makes sense, after all their average party level was around 40-50,of course they would fear the boss.
A small sense of isolation grasps my heart as thoughts flowed into my head. But. He. Fears. Me??.... An urge overwhelmed me, causing me to twist my neck at 90 degrees to the side while staring down Jack with a crack sound. "haaaaaah" Jack and tim screamed, with Jack being louder.
Haruka panicked and came over to me. "Ah! Is your neck okay? I know Jack can be pathetic, so you should just ignore his antics" (Haruka) "Thanks haruka, I calmed down a little thanks to you." Relaxing my shoulders, I smiled brightly. "Awawa" (Haruka) Oh? Is she a lily? Why's she blushing? I chuckled.
"Hey!, how long you gonna stay there hugging! Come heal Emily's arm!" (Haruka)
"huh?" (Erika)
Wow, she lost her consciousness from the hugging and didn't realise I was injured...
"Jeez your a girl! You should take care of your body better!" (Erika) exclaims as she started to cast some healing spells on me.
"Say you guys wanna go deeper?"
"awawawa" (Haruka)
Whoops, I gave haruka the wrong idea.
"The cave."
"Oh." (Haruka) looks disappointed as the misunderstanding was solved.
"You get to pat me at the end of the day, Okay?"
"YES!" (Haruka) isn't she getting too excited? Why's she breathing heavily? Uh oh.
"Come one, you two scaredy cats, lets go!" I signal to Jack and Tim.