Thud! Thud! Thud!
-10
[102/117]
After he rolled several times to the surface, Ling's head hit on a blunt stone the main caused why his health power decreased by 15. At the same time, red blood was soaking on his head and dripping on his forehead.
"Argh!"
He groaned in pain while having a hazy vision. Luckily, because of the strong explosion created by the two meters tall monster, the ordinary goblins were flung in the mid-air and scattered all over the place. With that, he managed to regain his footing immediately.
"This is just a game, right? So why I'm being afraid of this monster?"
Ling said in a weak tone, then pointed his shivering sword toward the direction where the cloud of brown smoke and the monster's shadow inside it.
[You have been affected by the fear effect!]
Fear effect. It's an effect when the players' mental state had been affected. To be more precise, the players lost their willingness to fight as their morale decreased. Yet, the effect still depends on the percentage of how much the player is afraid.
Morale. It estimates the courage, confidence, enthusiasm, and bravery of the player.
[Your morale had been reduced by 21%! To claim it back, you should conquer your fear!]
Now, it's explained why Ling was terrified. Also, feeling fear was natural for a human being.
Moreover, the blue elevated screen popped out and suddenly disappeared. On top of that, the shockwave and mild earthquake already subsided.
Well, if it was just those goblins, he can easily say that he'll win against them. However, a monster that had a bulk physique and was armed by a mourning star? He can't tell if he would win against it or even land a single scratch on its body.
He gradually shook his head, telling himself that this wasn't the perfect time to put too much attention to those ideas.
"Yes, it's obvious that I would be having a hard time facing them, especially, with their numbers. However, I will trust that NPC that all the monsters here are inside of our capabilities. Apart from that, I can't afford to earn nothing today!"
Alas, his willingness to earn money bestowed some courage to continue this raid.
HP: 67/100 HP:79/100
HP: 50/100 HP:46/ 100
HP: 90/100
On the other hand, no wonder, that the numbers he was seeing over the Goblins' heads were their health powers. And it seemed like, he wasn't the only one who received damage, as well as the five goblins.
An idea came up to his mind.
"Those ordinary goblins could be a threat while I'm fighting that big damn monster. It would be better if I eliminate them first since they're not in a good condition to fight back."
He said inwardly, planning to conceal his presence inside the thick smoke that enveloped them. Well, there was no problem with that decision as the [Shadow] passive skill allowed him to see through the dark.
[Great! Morale is up by 5%!]
Swoosh!
Ling quickly pounced on the middle part of the area, didn't care even the posts around him would collapse sooner or later.
"There's one there..."
He discovered an injured goblin lying on the surface afterward. It was trying to unleash itself from the walls that came from the ceiling due to the strong explosion. Despite the monster bathed in its green blood, still, the willingness to kill this man was rising.
[46/100]
When he reached the area, he crouched over the goblin's head and held the knife with both hands. After that, he kept stabbing it until its health power dropped to zero.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The green stench of blood splashed on his face, but he didn't mind it, knowing because of the blood other monsters would be surely alarmed and discovered his current position.
[You have received 75 EXP from killing the Goblin!]
[Level: 3 (232/315)]
Moreover, he hurriedly glanced in the direction where he could hear the goblin's swift footsteps.
It already leaped into the mid-air, at the same time, attacking with the same patterns. For him, attacking a monster elevating was an easy task. Why? It was because they can't change the trajectory in the air. Although, they can do a bit, still was not enough to fully avoid the attack.
First, he dodged the goblin's knife, then used the [Stab] skill.
Swish!
The sound of his knife tearing apart its flesh as it was creating a hole was perceived by his ears.
Argh!
[You've received 68 EXP from killing the Goblin!]
[Level: 3 (300/315)]
After the monster's body altered into the red particles, flying in the mid-air. Ling immediately hid behind the huge boulder as he noticed the Goblin Commander was utilizing its tremendous physical power.
The ground was shaking, so it was natural for him to think a dangerous occurrence would approach. Also, he felt the same pressure earlier, that's why.
Boom!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As he expected, a strong air materialized in one specific location before the monster released its skill.
It shook the complex and the marble was crumbling surface to the point no ordinary people can't stand it for a couple of seconds. Above him, dust was falling as this place seem to collapse.
"Huff... I didn't know the reason, but it's a good thing the big monster not charging toward me." He muttered.
When the ground stopped. Ling promptly killed the remaining goblins that were already in the brick of death. Yes, it was the right thing to do so that he can focus on the Goblin Commander.
[You've received 207 EXP from killing the three Goblins!]
[Level up!]
[Level: 4 (192/430)]
+2 attribute point
+1 skill point
[New skill acquired!]
[Smoke screen play]- it's a skill that allowed the player to conceal their presence just like a [Stealth] skill. But remember, this skill is just triggered when the player is inside the smoke, mist, and fog. It can increase the physical damage by 5%, plus a 1.2% critical chance, and 11% of movement speed. Cost: 8 mana.
After a quick on the screen, he removed it and focused his attention on the last monster.
"Finally, I leveled up! Plus, I acquired a new skill that consumed my mana so that I can conserve more stamina."
To recover the stamina he lost, he backed to the boulder again. In his mind, it was safer now since no monster could attack in his blind spots. Just one thing, the monster's extraordinary and the large mourning star could be the main threat in their battle. Why? Because in a single clash there's no doubt it could easily kill him.
Nevertheless, Ling wasn't yet aware of the consequences that will be implemented once he died.
[Your morale is up by 2%! Keep going!]
"Usually, that monster took time before swinging its weapon. I can use that small opening to counterattack. Or... Did I have to pass it, then went to the next floor?" He shook his head, "No, I can't do that. If I can't kill that monster, so how I supposedly defeat more monsters out there? This is a game, so it's obvious the next area has a stronger monster."
He refused to surrender, knowing he will just stay what kind of ranker he was right now. On top of that, he doesn't want to become a loser like in the real world.
Swoosh!
He dashed toward the two-meter monster, avoiding all the obstacles blocking his path. Still, he was using the smoke as he was planning to inflict some damage without being noticed.
Swish!
Suddenly, he stopped and stepped back a couple of meters after hearing a solid sound in front of him. Eventually, he crossed his arms as a strong force pushed him back while the smoke was fading away.
The monster wasn't planning to attack Ling at all. Or to be more precise, the monster was simply removing the smoke to have a vision of its opponent.
He gritted his teeth, 'Dam it! I didn't expect this monster is smart. I can't now use my new skill.'
But what he could do? He must defeat the monster or else he will die here and spend the monster's core for the revival process.
Once he stopped sliding, Ling immediately cast the [Dash] skill to have the right distance. He then followed through with the [Stab].
-20
Red numbers appeared over the monster's head, showing how much damage he dealt.
"Eh? I just narrowly cut it?"
Bang!
Once again, he stepped back after the monster used its arms to smash him. Yet, it just hit the surface and the portions of rocks were blown to his location.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
He crossed his arms to protect his body from the minor could give by the flying rocks. When it subsided, he ran around and hid behind the boulder and post to confuse the monster.
Eventually, Ling managed to get on the monster's behind. However, he wasn't doing anything, or even a sneak attack as if was the rogue class specialized.
"I can't do that, this monster has keen senses. If I do a sneak attack, I might be the one who will surprise. At this rate, I have to fight this monster face to face while maximizing my shadow skill."
Swoosh!
When he made up his decision, Ling ran toward the monster and used the [Dash] skill to increase his speed. After that, he gathered all his strength into his knees and jumped mid-air higher as possible.
His intuition was right, that the monster had low agility which was why even if it noticed him was coming it can't easily react.
He clenched his knife with both hands, then stabbed the monster's head without hesitation.
"Ahhh!"
The knife penetrated inside the monster's head as it seemed the momentum he created and the strength he had, was enough to pierce it. Also, the back part of the monster's head was too soft than what it looked like.
Swish!
Blood was splashing his face while the monster was groaning in pain and struggling. To be exact, the commander-goblin was using its hands to remove the human from its head. However, Ling was holding his weapon tightly, so the monster could not remove it. Aside from that, the more the goblin tried to remove the human the more pain it received.
"This is for you!"
While the knife was inside, he was surely pushing it and twirling around until it couldn't be seen in the monster's mouth. He then used his weight and strength to tug it down and cut the monster's body.
Swish!
Ding!
[You have successfully killed the Goblin Commander!]
[By killing the Commander and 10 goblins in a short time. You will acquire a title!]
[Goblin annihilator]- facing goblins it can inflict a 15% fear effect and +10% physical strength and +3% agility.
"Eh? The hell, this is the end...?" He paused for a second as he noticed something. "An item?"