The 6-meter tall menace stands before me bloodied and torn to shreds by my last attacks. It's missing an arm, has a wide open wound in its chest, and can't possibly be on more than 10% health after the avalanche of rock that fell on it from above.
A dim light glows around its right hand and torso. The fragments of sword and armor that remain on its beaten body begin to materialize back into their original forms.
The jet-black aura that surrounds this beast reeks of death. It must be one of its skills.
Still charging my own blade, ready for battle, I stare the monster right back in its sharp green eyes. They almost look like they're glowing through the thick dark cloud surrounding the Boss.
I blink and the creature is gone. My heart skips a beat...
In what seems like no time at all, this beaten beast sprints toward me with blinding speed. It must be twice as fast as before...
I watch its silver sword come dangerously close to my mid section, less than 2 meters away. I Dungeon Walk to a safe distance the moment my brain catches up to the situation at hand.
Now, on the opposite side of the Boss room I put these new pieces of the puzzle together in my mine. It's 3rd skill...
"Final Breath."
Even from its name, it sounds like an ability that boosts the users stats at a moment just before death. The creature is on its final few HP, so that must be a trigger to activate this skill.
All I have to do is land one final hit, but all it has to do is land one me....
I grin with excitement as the red-skinned monster with a veil of black glowing mist all around it tracks me down and begins to run full force in my direction.
Waves of rock fly up in the air on both sides of the charging menace. Its speed is astounding. With a trail of dark aura streaming behind it, I have to Dungeon Walk out of its way to dodge mere seconds after its sprint begins.
It clears over 100 meters in the blink of an eye.
Black stone crashes to the ground, leaving a long hole all the way across in the center of the Boss room.
I grit my teeth as it circles back and runs at me again. Keeping my weapon charged, I continuously adjust my aim to never turn my back on this beast.
I air step upwards, trying to gain distance while drinking MP potions to keep all of my abilities fully charged.
The monster jumps up to follow along without a second of hesitation. The 50 meter high ceiling doesn't limit its range in the slightest.
I blip around the battle field, trying to avoid its constant attacks. Burning through MP potions and charging my attack up to 650MP. My Dungeon Walker skill is being pushed top the limits. My blade is glowing hot, fully charged.
I lock eyes on the menace as it tears through the rock below, making our battlefield more and more of a war scene by the second. Deep pits and high piles of rock are being thrown about as I Dungeon Walk across the sky and landscape below.
Using my All-Seeing Eye, I follow the fast moving beasts movements as it follows mine.
It lunges into the air for another strike.
"This is it..."
I let my attack soar.
The 650MP black blade of flames comes rocketing out of my sword, and I Dungeon Walk away to safety. Looking up at the sky from below, I watch eagerly for my attack to finally blow the Boss to pieces.
It will at least damage the monster, I'm betting on that.
The Berserker flying at my attack knows the painful feeling of colliding with this black blade very well. It's taken two of them at point blank range in the past.
For some reason, it wants to take this attack head on anyway.
A grin creeps across my face as I watch the approaching crescent of dense flames collide with the silver sword of the Berserker King. Fully expecting it to glide right through and finish the monster off, I thrust my sword in the air to celebrate.
"..."
I stop mid-thrust with my eyes and mouth wide open. An ear shattering clang rings out in the Boss room...
"It... Blocked my attack..."
The strike that previously took off its arm and shattered its armor without a problem is being held back with ease by the monsters long silver sword.
A bright flash of light appears on impact as my slash comes to a halt against the mana shielding around its blade. It lets out a roar, pushing its blade upwards and defecting my attack up to the already shattered ceiling.
It explodes into a display of dark flames, knocking more rubble loose from above. The beast learns from its previous fall and begins jumping from boulder to boulder, staying high up in the air to avoid being crushed under the rock pile this time around.
I grit my teeth, beginning to charge my blade up again in frustration while Dungeon Walking away to avoid the incoming fallen ceiling.
Burning hot with flames, I watch the beast form afar. It blocked that attack with ease... Meaning its newest skill has even boosted its mana control capabilities.
Such a skill must come with a cost. It may have near unlimited endurance and heighten abilities now, but it'll run out at some point. Energy can't just be created from thin air... Can it?
I open up my telepathic link.
"Ember, can you hear me?"
"Of course, Master."
From the backside of the Boss room, patiently waiting atop a pile of dissolved Berserkers, the black-scaled Dragon stretches its wings and hovers over to me.
I watch the King above begin to fall towards us, its eyes Locked on me from across the rocky arena.
I hear a light thud behind me as Ember lands, crackling with a light layer of flames surrounding its body.
I smirk.
"We're going to take this Boss out together, keep it busy while I get an attack ready. No matter what, I need to have the final hit."
Ember flaps his wings with a toothy grin.
"Understood."
I drink an MP potion, focusing on my sword while I watch the 7 meter long glossy black Dragon fly towards a falling monster surrounded with a black aura of death.
Gritting my teeth, I get ready to step in and teleport Ember out of danger in case this creature is too much to handle.
My worries are lifted seconds later as the loud clang of mana on mana echoes through my ears. Ember's red claws collide with the heavy silver sword of the Berskerer King.
My All-Seeing Eye picks up on two dense mana shield clashing, but Ember's is by far the dominant force.
A flash of white light is followed by a ball of dark flames to come shooting out of the the Black Dragon's mouth. He flaps his wings and flies Into the sky leaving the Boss engulfed in flames and roaring with fury. It's unable to put out the dense advanced fire magic.
I smirk, air-stepping closer watching my battle partner toss around the Berserker with ease.
The monster completely changes its focus, jumping up into the air, following Ember to the sky. The Dragon blows another attack full of flames down to cover the beast on its way up, then blocks its incoming sword with a graceful swing of its clawed front leg.
Another flash of white light blinds my view as a roar from the King sounds out.
I watch it fall to the ground with a loud thud.
More rock flies and the beast jumps up again in retaliation, trying to catch the dangling prize up the sky. Ember continues to dodge its futile attempts and blocks its sword with precise movements.
The Berserker is definitely faster, but Ember is picture perfect with every black and uses denser mana shielding than anything I've ever seen.
There seems to be many more perks from absorbing full pocket detentions worth of mana than just the levels...
Without the pressure of having to dodge endless attacks from the Boss, charging up my own is much easier. Another half a minute goes by and Ive managed to ready a strike even more powerful than the one that pierced Fisher's shielding. There's over 1200MP stored in this attack.
I'm not messing around. This will be the one to end it, and I'm making sure of that.
I call for Ember though our telepathic link.
"Play time is over, let's finish this."
Locking eyes with the flaming Dragon from over 70 meters away, I take in the full view of the battlefield. Ember is high in the sky and the Boss is preparing for another jump.
I Dungeon Walk above Ember, matching his flames and gripping my glowing blade.
"Dive."
Without a word, Ember's flames explode into an even more dazzling display and he tilts his head to the ground.
The Berserker below sees us, locking its sharp glowing eyes on me through its ominous aura. I see its jagged teeth gleam with a white shine as it jumps in the air.
It rockets up, us as we soar down.
With a yell, I jump off of Ember's back and fly straight at the beast. My smile widens even more than the battle friend I'm facing.
Swinging my sword across my body with all my might, I let the full-powered slash fly.
A dense black blade shoots from my sword, I follow through close behind it.
The thin crescent of energy slices through the air in silence as the Berserker readies its sword to block. Full of confidence in my abilities, I continue to fall, watching the collision happen right in front of my eyes.
It makes contact...
Then glides right through.
Its shining silver sword doesn't slow the dark crescent of fire down one bit.
Neither does its armor....
Lastly, its final layer of mana shielding is pierced without a hint of resistance.
My attack glides straight through without a sound. The monster's eyes widen, but it's too late to react, this battle is over....
The beast splits in two before my eyes.
I continue my descent as the monster's halves pass me on both sides.
Before hitting the hard black ground below, Ember swoops in to catch me on his back. Simultaneously, the sweet sound of leveling notifications finally hits my inner ear.
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
I let out a joy-filled yell, thrusting my sword in the air annoying victory for real this time.
The two halves of the flaming Berserker corpse hit the ground with loud thuds moments later as we soar over to check out the body.
Two boxes of blue text fill my vision as we approach.
[Use Absorption[Special Grade]]
Skill: Final Breath [Special Grade]
[YES][NO]
[Use Absorption[Special Grade]]
Stat: Strength
Amount: +81
[YES][NO]
We glide down to the ground, and I choose yes on both options without batting an eye.
The Black aura surrounding the fallen monster fades and the beast dissolves into the Boss room floor almost Immediately.
The sound of metal hitting rock fills my ears as I see a silver and gold set of lightweight armor hit the dungeon floor next to a large mana crystal.
Immediately, I use Appraisal.
[Berserker King's Armor Set] [Unbonded] +73% Defense
Hopping off Ember's back, I examine the Berserker King's item drop. It's a full set of armor, and will only take up one item slot...
I'll have to talk to Briana, the Legendary Crafter, about this Blood Bonded vs. Unbonded item tag. I can only assume she would know about such a thing.
Grinning, and placing the full lightweight armor set into my item storage, I open up my status to look at how much I've grown.
[Status Open]
____________________
Name: Jay Soju
Level: 412
Hp: 2065/2065
Mp: 720/2065
Strength: 1096 [+1217][+548]
Speed: 1194 [+716][+597]
Agility: 1291 [+581][+646]
Defense: 902 [+361][+451]
Mental Strength: 1015 [+609][+406][+457][+832][+508]
Skills:
Absorption [Special Grade]
Swordsmanship
Combat Magic [Advanced Fire Summoning]
Inspect [Special Grade]
Enemy Detection
Body Hardening [Special Grade]
Self Regeneration [Special Grade]
Spacial Magic [Item Storage]
Plunderer
Telekinesis
Appraisal [Special Grade]
Conceal [Special Grade]
Berserker
Dungeon Walker [Special Grade]
Intimidation
Dagger Mastery
Stealth
Bloodlust
Equivalent Exchange
Combat Magic [Wind Summoning]
All-Seeing Eye
Extreme Strength
Dual Wielding [Special Grade]
Telepathy [Legendary Grade]
Final Breath [Special Grade]
Items Equipped:
High Ogre King's Ring [+60% Mental Strength]
Cyclops Eye Pendant [+40% Defense]
Dark Elf Boots [+60% Speed]
Griffin's Talon [+40% Mental Strength]
Serpent King's Scale [+45% Agility] [+45% Magic Resistance]
Desert Troll's Charm [+45% Mental Strength]
The Flame Emperor's Sword [Fire Aspect][+111% Strength][+82% Mental Strength]
[Greater Demon's Core] +50% All Stats
[Lenses Of Illusion]
_____________________
White transfer magic appears moments later, and we disappear from the 19th floor.
When my vision returns, I let out a light gasp as I find myself in a dimly lit hallway about 5 meters wide. Dark rock lines the walls, and the light flickering of Ember's flames allows me to see all the way to the end.
It leads up to another Boss Room portal no more than 30 meters away...