Grrr!
The creature was three meters tall. It has firm sturdy muscles and a fat belly .
Its reddened eyes were fixed on Ellaria's petite figure , growling as it approached her with a huge axe in hand .
Bosses are the most powerful beings in a Dungeon . As soon as someone entered their rooms ,they attacked immediately and the red skinned goblin king was no exception .
Roaaar!
The giant goblin roared and dashed toward the girl . Each of its steps shook the ground slightly .
Ellaria didn't stay idle , she knew that a single blow of that terrifying axe would be enough to send her to the afterlife . Thus rather than foolishly defend against the impossible she choose the offensive. As what they say , the better defense is offence .
She swiftly darted toward the monster head on , without a shade of hesitation .
When the distance between them became mere meters , she bend her body , got away from the axe trajectory , then stepped to the side to slash the goblin right leg .
However, even with all her strength , only a small wound formed on the thick red skin. Enough for just a few droplets of green blood to slip through .
It was just a small cut but it still angered the monster.
As a king , how can he be injured by an ant not even one third his height ?
It swung the axe to the left , with a 'swoosh' sound, it broke through the air directly toward Ellaria. The latter was prepared and dodged it by jumping backward .
The axe crashed on the empty spot creating a crater , the steel blade half buried in the ground .Before the goblin king could lift back its weapon , Ellaria used that split second to counter attack . She jumped on the goblin extended arm , conjured a basic fire ball, and threw it toward the left eye while using the sword to pierce the right one . Her movement were quick and nimble , it left no time for the victim to react .
Roarrr!
The goblin king let out a pained roar while instinctively covering its eyes with both hands .
Soon after, another pain assaulted him , his right leg trembled by the sudden attack . Ellaria targeted the goblin knee ligaments and slashed them mercilessly , trying to make the monster fall .
And soon enough , under her constant attack , the goblin lost its balance and fell on one knee.
Ellaria smiled , with a lost eye and another half blind ,coupled with the short loss of mobility if she manage to hit the core area in the abdomen , the fight would be her win .
The girl took her chance and rushed toward the monster, she gathered all her mana in her arms , preparing for the last attack . However ,a red hand came toward her, she managed to avoid it in time but a falling axe soon followed by .
Ellaria was surprised to see a giant axe right in front of her .
Winds blew through her hair , Ellaria looked at the sharp axe two times her size an inch away from her nose , then swept her gaze toward the half blind goblin holding it .
Its remaining eye was red , it looked back at her with maddened fury , but the goblin didn't move.
Like if the time had suddenly stopped on that scene . none of them moved .
"As expected, an E-Dungeon boss is still too much for me without my puppeteer magic" Ellaria relaxed her body , she massaged her arms , they were all sore by the constant full powered blow, but it wasn't enough to deeply pierce that thick skin .
Bosses are really in another league compared to the monster in the floors below .
If she wasn't a puppeteer and managed to stop the goblin last attack , death would have taken another soul today .
[Are you alright master ? ] Fluffy who was quietly watching the fights at the side walked to her worriedly .
"I'm fine , just a little tired " Ellaria patted his soft head "So what do you think about the fight ?"
[Master's attack were precise and decisive , you targeted specific area without hesitation , and your speed and control over mana was good, however , your reaction time was slow , if you had reacted faster in the last minute you wouldn't have been taken aback by the goblin last attack ]
Ellaria listened attentively while nodding . Only by knowing her weaknesses , would she be able to advance further in the road of power.
[But needless to say , for an apprentice swordswoman ,at such a young age , being able to clear an E dungeon , and put on a fight against an E-boss , Master is already a heaven defying person , all the so called geniuses in the continent should be ashamed of themselves ] Fluffy nodded proudly.
When his master grows up , no one in the world would be a match to her, he suddenly felt a stance of anticipation deep in his heart .
"I still had a long way to go , if I want to track those people and save my sisters and brothers " sadness flashed past her black eyes , as she recalled the familiar faces , but in the next second , she regained her composure and determination sparkled in her eyes, making them even more captivating "When the time comes where I had accumulated enough strength and power to protect myself and my beloved ones , I will start the investigation and hunt them down one after another"
The time would come ,she needs strength , power, influence and loyal subordinates . Step after, step , she will move forward toward her goal .
Now that the dungeon boss was frozen still with her magic, Ellaria and fluffy lightheartedly went to check the treasure room .
Beside the beast cores, adventurers harvested treasures from the dungeons, mostly weapons .
The higher the rank of a dungeon was ,the more precious the loots were .
Researchers described the dungeons as huge black holes of mana . They were entirely formed with mana from the small particle of dirt to the living beast residing inside . They constantly absorb mana from its surroundings .
The more they absorbed the higher their level , and thanks to special devises the guilds were able to determine their ranks through the rate of absorption .
Dungeons existed even before the human , they are like natural phenomenon , when the world's mana had overflowed in certain areas , a dungeon would form to keep the balance .
When adventurers died inside a dungeon , they dropped weapons and belongings which, over the years, would slowly get affected by the dungeons mana, and gain special effect , rising their value by a lot.
Researchers had tried to produce powerful weapons by leaving them in the dungeon but regretfully, once an item became a part of the dungeon it would be send to the treasure room inside the boss den.
Additionally, beside the high ranked one, low dungeon won't produce valuable weapons ,thus , it wasn't worth the wait nor the effort , as craftsmen would be able to create even better weapons with reasonable prices .
The project was eventually abandoned by the research institution .
E-Dungeons treasures , as the second lowest ,weren't that special . Unless you were blessed by the heavens and lady luck had smiled upon you , you won't be able to came across a valuable item in low ranked dungeons .
The treasure room was small and only half filled , most items were weapons; cheap bows paired with woodden arrows, rusted shields , daggers ,.. .
Ellaria helped fluffy empty the room and put the loots in the space .
When it was time to go back , with a flip of her hand , a clear crack resounded, and the goblin king's head made a swift one hundred eighty degrees turn, killing him on the spot .
****
Outside , the moon was high in the sky , the two guards stood lazily bathing in the moonlight , taking head on, the cold breezes .
Suddenly the ground shook , trees trembled , and ripples of mana surged over from behind them .
"W-What is happening ?!" The two guards unleashed their swords immediately , and turned to the giant gate .
The earthquake increased in intensity , bringing their already high anxiety up to another level .
"Quick , alert the guild" Eyes glued on the giant oppressing gate, the guard shouted urgently to his companion "It's a dungeon break!"
The guards weren't noobs, they had guarded a lot of gates in the past, and had even witnessed the outbreak of two of them , they knew exactly what to do in this kind of situation .
In this job, being overwhelmed by fright of the upcoming monster wave was an unacceptable mistake. Their duty was to inform the guild and the adventurers the earliest possible . Any delay may cost several innocents lives .
The guard immediately took out a parchment and tore it in one go . The paper flattered before slowly disappearing in the air .
That was the guild signal . Once the parchment was ripped into two , the spell graved on it will activate and send an alarm to the workers back in the guild.
After sending out the signal , the guards didn't run away, they backed off from the gate , and hid behind the trees.
Men mustn't coward in front of danger. They had to delay the monsters until the adventurers arrived .
However, the surrounding suddenly calmed down and the gate before their eyes, that could let out regiments of enraged monsters , blurred out , its outlines were fading until it disappeared completely . Like if the earlier tremor had never happened.
The two guards froze , their gazes fixed on the empty space before them .
"Euh...….WHAT?!"
****
Meanwhile, the little girl ,unaware of the commotion she had caused, returned home ,washed up , changed her clothes, mended her injuries and went to sleep in her cozy bed .