Hunter was teleported immediately to a small square arena enclosed by towering stone walls covered by vines and ivy. It was just large enough he could reach from one end to the other in about twenty seconds, so about 150 meters.
The air was earthy. Smelled like soil that had just been hit by fresh rain.
A heavy aura settled across the arena. The aura of a boss, and it radiated out from the center of the arena where an enormous suit of armor stood with its plated arms crossed. There were no visible features under the armor, and Hunter knew there were none, for it was no real person.
This was the Liberator, the boss that 'freed' Seekers from the harsh world of the Trials by killing them.
Two pairs of chains ending in spiked hooks drooped down from the Liberator's arms, almost touching the floor.
>>>
*Boss encountered*
The Liberator
Threat: Five Stars
Level: 15
HP: 200/200
>>>
The Liberator was the first death that Hunter had faced in his past life.
A difficult, challenging boss for tutorial standards. Because a Seeker could sacrifice 50% of their essence to return to life, that meant they had 2 lives to work with until their essence was restored by killing monsters or consuming certain items.
The vast majority of new Seekers facing the Liberator would be at 1 life. Many of them would lose that life against his tricky sweeping chain strikes, his binding chain lashes, and, most terrifying of all, the ability to have his chains take root in a Seeker and reanimate them, turning the corpse against its once allies.
"We meet again," said Hunter as he took a confident step forward, dagger ready in case anything went wrong. "This time, though, you won't even get to touch me."
But Hunter never intended on getting into a melee slugfest with the Liberator. He was just far too out leveled.
Did that matter though?
No.
Hunter withdrew a Molten Bomb from his inventory, and at the same time, got close enough that the Liberator shuddered like an old engine revving up, its armor clattering violently as it shook dust off of itself.
Hunter threw the bomb at the Liberator, and the silver ball exploded on the Liberator's face, blowing up in an explosion of roaring flames.
>>>
The Liberator
HP: 200/200 > 190/200
>>>
The Liberator was still in its startup animation, its body creaking and slowly starting to move menacingly towards Hunter. This would have scared new Seekers, but Hunter just abused this time to throw more bombs.
Another Molten Bomb hit the Liberator.
>>>
The Liberator
HP: 190/200 > 180/200
>>>
Hunter threw another bomb.
>>>
The Liberator
HP: 190/200 > 170/200
Status: Burnt
>>>
Okay, good. Now that the Liberator was [Burnt], it would lose 5% of its large maximum health pool.
The Liberator, now completely alight with fire, finally reacted, extending its chains and throwing them down in a slamming motion.
Hunter stepped to the side and cupped another Molten Bomb in his hand. He did not throw it yet, wanting to maximize burn damage on the Liberator before throwing the bomb again to reset the [Burnt] status.
The Liberator performed multiple more attacks over the next five seconds. A sweeping chain strike that Hunter jumped over. A charging shoulder bash that Hunter dodged by [Combat Rolling] under its legs.
>>>
The Liberator
HP: 170/200 > 120/100
>>>
The flames clinging tightly to the Liberator's steel frame started to die down, but then Hunter just threw another Molten Bomb at its face, resetting the [Burnt] status effect.
The Liberator dropped down to its knees when its HP reached 100, its armor cracked and warped by the heat, and then suddenly, the flames doused. It started to shake even more violently, the clatter of its armor filling the room.
"Phase 2," said Hunter as he kept his eyes glued to the Liberator.
Between phase 1 and 2, the Liberator showed its true nature as a plant-based monster piloted by a mass of roots within.
The roots exploded outwards from damage in the Liberator's armor, curling around its body and merging with the chains so that they looked like wriggling tentacles of steel and vine.
"And goodbye," said Hunter as he threw a Molten Bomb.
Now classified as a plant type monster weak to flame, the Liberator took double damage from the Molten Bomb. The bomb exploded over the Liberator, and the flames scorched the roots that gave the armor life.
Hunter threw bomb after bomb after bomb as soon as possible. He could not wait for the [Burnt] status to tick because in phase 2, the Liberator had some area of effect attacks that needed to be blocked and could not be parried, and blocks would reduce but not completely nullify damage.
However, any tick of damage right now killed him.
But Hunter had just enough bombs to constantly bombard the Liberator to kill it.
When his bomb count reached 0, the Liberator's health reached 0.
Some Seekers might have seen this as borderline cheating. Basically 'cheesing' in video game language.
But Hunter saw this as a victory, plain and simple.
The Liberator's body disappeared into a shower of blue sparks that funneled into Hunter's body. Because he had killed the boss solo, he did not have to split the EXP from defeating the boss among up to four others.
>>>
[The Liberator has been defeated]
+1100 EXP
Level 3 > 10 [WORLD MAX]
EXP: 0/560
*35 Stat Points available to distribute*
>>>
Hunter felt heat on his cheek as a tiny blue sigil in the shape of a leaf inscribed on it.
>>>
[World Mark obtained]
Generating World Drop….
>>>
This was a small bit of variance that Hunter could not account for.
Every time a Seeker cleared a world, they gained a World Mark on their body to show they had cleared it, but on top of that, they got a World Drop which was a uniquely generated reward for the Seeker that depended on what they did.
It was often rare materials, spell books, skill manuals, or items, but in very rare cases, permanent passives could be granted that were worth more than any treasure. All of these were tailored directly to the one that received the reward.
So, a swordsman that carved their way through a World could earn either some new swordsmanship skill, a new blade, materials for a new blade, or, rarely, a permanent passive that boosted their skills or made their cuts deeper.
Unlike boss drops that grew less impressive the later down in line a Seeker cleared it, the rewards from a World Drop truly were random whether they were game breaking or just meh.
It was noted that the circumstances of the Seeker played a good part in getting a good World Drop, with extreme or odd situations giving boosts dependent on said situation.
Hunter knew that in his past life, a warrior known as Leon gained an absurdly strong passive that let him harvest health from monsters he slew.
He had chosen to be a warrior that shouldered damage for his party, but after his party were all killed by the Liberator, he had miraculously managed to overcome all odds, beating his undead Seeker teammates and the boss.
The result of that World Drop passive was that Leon gained an immense HP pool over time that made him the best tank without question.
But what would Hunter get?
The fastest man to have ever cleared the Tutorial World?
The only one to have ever cleared it without taking any damage from mobs?
To have so easily killed the boss in such a resoundingly convincing manner?
>>>
[World Drop generated]
[The passive: {Reaper of All Things} obtained]
-Reaper of All Things
Rank: S
Effects:
The Seeker sees weakness and exploits it. The Seeker senses weakness and sees only opportunity. The Seeker smells weakness and knows that it is only the smell of the hunt.
And when weakness is found, the Seeker does not hesitate to execute.
Every single strike the Seeker inflicts is the toll of the death knell.
So long as the Seeker does not take externally inflicted damage within thirty seconds, all of their strikes obtain a 50% chance to [Mutilate], destroying body parts.
In addition, attacks against enemies below 10% maximum health will be treated as [Executes], instantly killing them. The Seeker then is capable of harvesting their [Soul].
The more the Seeker executes, the more this execution threshold increases.
>>>