"HAHA… HAHAHAHA…"
A hearty laugh resounded throughout the Boss's chamber. Cu Chulainn had a hand on his stomach and was laughing hysterically. Aldrich put down the sword and a weird feeling took over him. And he was no stranger to this feeling. He had felt this type of emotion from the people who had talked to him.
"I get it now… I get it. So let me get this straight in one time. When you are fast enough to catch me, you can't actually hurt me. And when you are strong enough to hurt me, you can't catch me. Isn't that…" The Boss lost his laughing demeanor and looked into Aldrich's eyes, and solemnly asked, "Isn't that PATHETIC?"
Aldrich's face crumpled, hearing the remark. In just two exchanges, the Crawler had found out the essence of his capabilities. For a moment, Aldrich glimpsed the scariness of the Skill Flaw Detection. But knowing and not knowing changed little for Aldrich. He still had to do what he ought to do. Aldrich took his eyes off the Crawler and looked at the sword.
"Humph! Do you think you can wield the Stone Splitter? Fool, the usage of that weapon requires more than some overpowered muscles."
Aldrich knew what the Boss had said just now was right. Stone Splitter was a Rare ranked weapon. He didn't have any proficiency related to swords, especially heavy swords. Even if he had, it wasn't practical for him to use it, as the only reason he had been holding this sword was his enhanced strength. The moment he would redistribute his Stats, he would also lose the ability to use it. Amid the fight, that would be nothing but suicidal. But Aldrich hadn't suffered a devastating blow to use the sword.
Aldrich lifted the sword and threw it upwards, like juggling a bottle. The heavy sword churned the hot air around it as it went up and came down. The Boss eyed Aldrich's actions curiously, trying to figure out what Aldrich was up to. But Aldrich didn't catch the sword. His shadow rippled and spread out with him as a center. It looked like Aldrich was standing over a dark well. An enormous mouth opened up within the shadow and gulped down the whole sword. Unlike the case with the Daggers, Aldrich could hear little chewing sounds coming out of the shadow. And a feeling of satisfaction got transferred to him from his beloved Item. It was the Shadow Homunculus, initially designed to complete the Quest. But Aldrich was more than happy with the eventual outcome.
[…
Item: Shadow Homunculus
Type: Shadow
Rank: NA
Durability: NA
Minimum Usage Condition: Needs to eat an Item every 3 hours
Description: An indestructible Item that doesn't need to be stored in the Inventory
Item-specific Skill: Devour
Item-specific Skill's Detail: Can devour any Item and imitate its Skill and Rank
Warning: It has living characteristics
Warning: If not given an Item to eat within 3 hours, Shadow Homunculus would refuse to obey commands
Warning: The digestion period would depend on the Rank of Item devoured
Warning: If the imitated Item suffers damage greater than its original Durability, it would break down into Shadow Homunculus
Warning: Only one Item can be imitated at a time
…]
Aldrich saw the Boss's face in utter disbelief and couldn't help but chuckle. A portal came into existence far behind him. And its presence meant only one thing. The thing which was also confirmed by the notification received by Aldrich.
[…
Quest 2 has been completed
Rewards:
1. Skill Points +7
2. Experience Points +6000
You have leveled up
You have leveled up
…
…]
Aldrich stared at the Rewards and couldn't take his eyes off them. He did not know that Quests could reward ExPs. There was no such mention of it on the Internet. Aldrich thought he couldn't be the first one to complete a Quest involving the Boss of Random-Dungeon. And so, he could infer only one thing from it. That the upper level of Dreamers had classified this information.
But this wasn't the time to think about such things. Aldrich saw the crazed look on the Boss's face and prepared himself for a brutal fight.
"What did you do with my SWORD?" Cu Chulainn shouted and lunged at Aldrich.
BOOM!!!
The two fists collided, and it sent the Boss flying back. But as soon as its feet touched the ground, it again dashed towards him. Aldrich concentrated his strength on his hands and again sent a punch towards it. But Cu Chulainn didn't face the punch this time. Instead, Aldrich saw a smile of mockery on its face. A feeling of doom overtook him. The shout of rage and the impulsive lunge was nothing but bait.
"Change."
Aldrich gave the command to enhance his Defence instead of his Strength. Unfortunately, it was too late.
BANG!!!
Just before the Defence Stat could take its effect, the archaic fist landed on his stomach and one could see the fist bulging out from his back. Blood came pouring out of Aldrich's mouth. Aldrich's knee buckled, and he got floored on the earth.
"Cough! Cough! … "
"Change."
Aldrich redistributed his Stats to Agility to create some distance. But again, the Boss was one step ahead of him. Aldrich was about to disappear when a foot struck him on his head. A muffled sound of splashing of mud came out from the impact. One could only see Aldrich's body out of the ground and not his head. Cu Chulainn went around and, holding Aldrich's ankle, flung him into the air.
A black blur streaked through the hot air, as Aldrich threw the Daggers towards the Boss while turning and tossing. The Crawler effortlessly dodged the Daggers and jumped towards Aldrich. By throwing him in the air, Cu Chulainn had already neutralized Aldrich's enhanced Agility. The Agility not only increased the speed but also affected a Dreamer's coordination and reaction. But no matter how fast Aldrich's reaction would have become, he couldn't avoid all the attacks. In the end, the Boss had forced him to increase his Defence Stat and Aldrich rolled himself up in midair like a ball.
POW!
The Boss's punches landed on Aldrich. Though it didn't do any considerable damage, it sent Aldrich even higher. And the Boss didn't show any inclination to fall back either.
POW! POWW! POWWW!
Every punch was heavier than the last. Cu Chulainn focused the attacks on various points of Aldrich's curled-up figure. The impacts sent painful vibrations throughout his body. Just before they began falling, Aldrich straightened up and increased his Strength. With an immense power behind it, Aldrich counterattacked with a fist. The fist struck right on the Crawler's face and Aldrich heard the faint sound of cracking of nose and broken teeth. But contrary to Aldrich's thoughts, the Boss didn't go away from him. The mythical legend had tied up its legs around Aldrich's waist. Its face had taken the full brunt of Aldrich's devastating punch, but its hands were free. Aldrich couldn't even say or think about his Defence when the two palms slammed against his ears.
BUZZZZZZZ!!!
Aldrich had momentarily lost consciousness before even feeling the pain. Cu Chulainn held Aldrich's face and came crashing down towards the deserted ground, full of rocks. As the Boss was about to hit the earth, it slammed Aldrich's head with all its Strength and momentum.
BOOM!!!
When Aldrich came to his senses, he felt the pain coursing through every fiber of his body. As he turned around and looked at the sky, still lying flat over the rocks, even his eyesight felt red and bloody. Except for the buzzing sound in his ears, he couldn't hear anything. He had never felt so tired before. With raspy breathing, he stood up and thought about his actions so far. He knew he wasn't overconfident when he had thought he could take on the Boss, but he had overestimated his capabilities.
'The Aldrich of now can't defeat this being,' Aldrich thought.
Aldrich saw the Boss dashing towards him and closed his eyes. Flashes of his life before the Dream surfaced in his mind. Aldrich had never fought before. It was natural to say that he didn't think like a fighter at all. But there were other things he was master of. Other things, if compiled together, would be enough to take over the world. And the thing holding him back was nothing but his thinking capabilities. The only reason Cu Chulainn had thrashed him around was that it knew that Aldrich couldn't change his Attributes fast enough.
'Think Aldrich, surpass yourself again. This is just another day,' Aldrich thought.
BANG!
A kick to his chin sent Aldrich back flipping, but before he could stop, the Boss had grabbed his ankles.
'Think Aldrich, it's just another thing to learn.'
BANG!
The Boss whipped Aldrich into the ground.
'Think Aldrich, remember who you are.'
The Crawler, still holding one of Aldrich's legs, dragged him out of the ditch and again threw him into the air. Cu Chulainn followed him up and was about to punch him in the head when Aldrich suddenly opened his eyes. With an unimaginable speed, a finger hit the Boss's arm. Cu Chulainn had just lost the sense of its one arm when hundreds of other fingers came flying towards him.
Pok! Pok! Pok!...
The Boss did not know what sorcery this was, as it couldn't feel any part of his body. When it looked at the bloody mangled face of Aldrich, it saw a finger pointed at its forehead. The finger was vibrating so fast that one could only see an afterimage. The vibrating finger followed a certain pattern from right to left and back. Cu Chulainn's eyes couldn't help but follow the blurry trajectory and its eyes rolled back into its head. A smile came to Aldrich's face as he pummeled a massive fist on the Boss's face. As he saw the Crawler's body crashing into the cliff, there was only one thought in Aldrich's mind.
'Why think so hard about something so trivial? I am the same person... Aldrich Guo, a Polymath of this era.'