Chapter 60. Spear blast (2)
There was a question that players known to be good at hunting monsters received to the point of exhaustion.
'What's the secret to killing monsters easily?'
Most players answered like so. It was important to coordinate with your allies. It was important to know the hunting method in and out.
It was important to prepare for anything that could happen. It was important to keep calm in all situations and have good judgement… etc.
Although they were decent answers, the most definite answer was something else.
'Go for a monster lower than your own level. With that, the fight will be easy and you'll easily kill the monster.'
Most of the rankers also answered like this and this answer was also written in the book 'Hundred advice for players who are starting Ark'.
You had to hunt a monster weaker than yourself.
Ark's monsters were designed in a special way, so that a level 100 player could hunt monsters under level 100.
It wasn't the developers that made this possible, but the artificial intelligence behind the system, Origin.
Hunting a monster includes various factors and some of these factors were luck, surroundings and skill.
In any case, it was much easier for a level 100 player to hunt a level 80 monster than a level 100 monster.
It was typical of an RPG game.
However, those that were known to be good at monster hunting, mostly the rankers usually went for monsters 5 to even 10 or 20 levels higher than themselves.
A boss monster no less!
If put in a good way, it was being risky. If put in a bad way, it was being foolish.
It was also a point that most of these people would hunt in parties. It was more than just foolish to hunt a monster higher level than you alone.
Of course, those that played to make a living had to be risky and foolish. Having fun wasn't their main concern.
No one watched cars going 40 km per hour on a highway for entertainment. Cars had to race at about 300 km per hour or so for people to watch and be entertained.
Otherwise, no one would pay the money to see such a thing.
Then what was the best way to be both risky and foolish, yet still produce good results?
Everything!
You had to be good at everything!
Keeping calm and having good judgement were just the basics. Boldness and decisiveness, fast reaction, and readiness to gamble.
These were all traits that had to be honed to the extreme.
In this sense, Ian was the best.
He was calm and his observation skills were top notched. He takes risk when he has to and his experience in the fantasy world heightens his senses.
In a way, he and the top player, Brendan were the same type of people but only time would tell if Ian would be able to reach the level of Brendan.
Boom!
The Goblin king swung his greatsword with tremendous strength behind it and Ian dodged it by lowering his body.
Then, he quickly stabbed the spear at his chest.
'Why won't he die?'
Ian thought as he sighed.
The Goblin king was just like a machine currently. It was like he couldn't think as he was swinging his greatsword everywhere.
Maybe, it was the effect of the berserk skill.
Still, the Goblin king swinging around his blade was just a truck coming your way. If he didn't dodge it, you would be crushed.
Most of the people will be scared in this type of situation.
But Ian was not one of them.
His brain was working faster than a computer and the only thing in his sight was the Goblin king.
He had already shook off the hope of someone assisting him. Tacan was heavily injured and Alice has no mana.
The villagers don't even dare to fight the Goblin king and they would be defeated in a second if they did dared.
Now, the only person remaining was Ian.
Ian's whole focus was on the Goblin king. In his sight, there was only the Goblin king. It was like they had been transported to a place with only the two of them.
The person who would win would be able to escape this place.
Swish! Tak!
The Goblin king slammed his greatsword heavily at Ian and he blocked it while holding his spear in both of his hands.
Ian was trying to get a foothold but.he kept sliding on the ground.
His remaining health was quickly going down because of the effect of the poison. He has even started to feel some numbness in his legs.
It was the effect of the poison.
Ian can use Karios blessing here but he doesn't have the mana to use it. Even if he had mana, there was no way he would have used it as he didn't want to lose his stats.
"Chewww!!"
The Goblin king again shouted as he started attacking with madness visible in his eyes. Ian was getting pushed back.
'I have to find an opening.'
Although he was on the defensive, Ian was constantly trying to figure out a way to hit the Goblin king and he finally got an opening.
Swish! Slash!
'Fuck!'
Ian cursed in his mind as he crouched to dodge a horizontal attack. Then, he quickly stabbed the spear into the Goblin king's legs.
"Chew!!"
This time, the spear was plunged deeply into the leg of the Goblin king and his steps faltered because of that.
The Goblin king was already struggling to balance because he was just randomly attacking with tremendous power behind his attacks.
'This is my chance.'
Ian thought as his surroundings suddenly slowed down. He contemplated which skill he should use and in the end, he decided upon a spiral spear.
Swee!!
A vortex created on the tip of Ian's spear as he aimed at the neck of the Goblin king. It was the same place where Tacan had left a wound.
Stab!
Ian's spear twisted in his hand as he stabbed it into the Goblin king's neck with all his strength.
The Goblin king screamed when he felt that attack and that moment, several messages appeared before Ian.
There was no message of the Goblin king's death in there. That's why, Ian looked at the Goblin king.
The Goblin king was not in good shape. He was bleeding from everywhere and he was close to dying.
But he was still standing.
At that moment, Ian's gaze met the Goblin king.
'… He is struggling to even breathe'
The Goblin king was struggling to even breathe but he was still standing. It was because he knew that he would die if he let himself fall here.
Although death was inevitable here, the Goblin king's attitude was still unyielding.
'The quality of a warrior.'
The spirit of never giving up and the unyielding attitude - those were some of the qualities of a true warrior.
The Goblin king may be a despicable monster who had killed many innocent people but Ian had to accept that the Goblin king was a true fighter.
He may not be a good king, but he was a warrior.
"He is a worthy opponent."
At that moment, Ian perceived the Goblin king as a worthy opponent. He may be evil but as an opponent, the Goblin king was worthy.
'He wants me to finish him.'
Ian stared at the Goblin king's eyes. The Goblin king was telling him to finish him. There was no chance of him living but he still wanted to die to an attack from Ian.
Ian tightly gripped his spear when he saw that.
"I would fulfil your wish!!"
Ian said in a slightly raised voice and mana started condensing on the tip of his spear. He was using his new skill 'spear blast'.
He thought that it would be the best attack to give a good death to the Goblin king.
Soon, his whole spear started shining as mana flowed in his Crevice spear. Ian twisted the spear in his hand.
Finally, he unleashed the attack. A shock wave came out of the spear and directly headed for the Goblin king.
"Ch…"
The Goblin king was not even able to say a word when the attack struck him. His body was cut in half but Ian can see the slight smile on his face.
The Goblin king was content with his death.
Ian's full vision was filled with those messages and he quickly skimmed through them.
He didn't care about anything other than the Goblin king's heart.
The Goblin king's heart was the thing he was looking for and he had finally acquired it, but there was something strange.
'What is this Blood Goblin king?'
Ian thought that he was fighting a normal Goblin king but it seems like he was wrong.
If he thinks about it, The Goblin king's strength and special attacks were indeed a little strange and his intelligence was also high.
"Is he a special type of Goblin king?"
Ian muttered as he looked at the Goblin king's body which was being converted into red shards of light.
At the same time, he thought of the amazing A.I. technology. The Goblin king was just like a living being.
It was to the point that Ian was not thinking of it as merely a monster in the game.
It also makes sense as the monsters and the NPCs in Ark were really programmed like real people. That's why, many players would come to treat them as real beings.
'It seems like I have come to treat Ark as another reality.'
Ian thought as he started collecting the item drops. He was planning to give the nails and some meat to Alice too.
As he was picking the Goblin king's blood which was in a veil, a system message rang out.
Ian's eyes widened when he saw that message.
He has thought that the Goblin king was strange but it seems like there was more to it or he would not have received this system message.
'Duke Tardema? City of Magic? It looks like this would be my next destination.'
Ian thought as he put all the item drops in his inventory.
"Ian, come quickly. Tacan is in bad shape."
At that moment, Ian heard Alice's shout and turned back. It was not the time to relax. He had overcome the poison by leveling up but Tacan was an NPC.
He would die if he was not treated.
"Let me carry him to Ale village. Gustav must have an antidote for him."
Ian said as he picked up Tacan who was already unconscious. He was in bad shape but the poison hadn't spread to his whole body.
But Ian still had to hurry.
'I won't let anything happen to him.'
Ian ran faster as he thought that. A life was on the line here and he can't slack.
It looks like he won't get a chance to relax soon!