Its huge clawed paws snapped the trees with a single swing and its bloodshot red eyes did not leave the duo since it spotted them.
Even if Felix and Jasper were to stand on top of each other, the beast was still twice their size.
It looked like a tiger but with black and white stripes, a long tail that curved into an arrowhead at its tip, and its mouth opened into four places to reveal rows of sharp teeth and multiple tentacles that had mouths filled with sharp teeth as well.
[Name: corrupted forest tiger
Level: 45
HP: 3670/3670]
"Looks like the information we got was wrong; it wasn't hibernating, it was only resting, and now that it's done..."
"It looks to feed." Felix completed Jasper's statement.
The beast stood silently and Jasper kept his aim true on it. It was most probably accessing them to see if they were a threat or not.
"My skill needs some more time to be ready so just hold it back till then," Felix said.
"Hmph, you underestimate me too much," two arrows appeared in Jasper's empty quiver and he loaded them on his bow, making it three arrows.
"Just watch me defeat this thing myself."
Jasper pulled back on the bow's string and three arrows soared through the air and struck the beast on its forehead. Unfortunately, its skin was too tough and the attack did no damage but it did manage to infuriate it.
Suddenly, the beast rushed towards Jasper who began to run to it as well. When he got close enough, it swiped at him using its claws with so much force, that just the wind alone could have blown him away!
At the last moment, Jasper slid underneath the beast but not without firing an arrow at its forehead again.
The creature came to a halt and turned to look at Jasper who fired another arrow at its forehead. The beast scratched its forehead with its front paw before looking back at Jasper.
~ROAR!!!!
The beast released a guttural roar as its anger crossed a new threshold. It immediately lept towards Jasper.
Calmly watching the creature about to pounce on him, Jasper jumped away and the beast landed with a loud thud but missed its target.
~SNAP!
The sound of Jasper snapping their fingers was suddenly heard. The beast was about to strike again but it suddenly stopped in its tracks.
[Critical hit]
[-365]
[HP: 3305/3670]
A huge chunk of the beast's HP had suddenly disappeared and it knew it was because of the actions of the man who stood before it with a slight smile on his face.
[Skill name: Delayed damage
Skill class: Archery
Skill rank: A
Skill level: 2/3
Active: when activated all attacks given to the opponent will not cause any damage until the trigger is activated. Upon activation of the trigger, all attack damage will be doubled and one charge would be used up.
Charge(s): 3/5
Recharge time: 1 hour
Special effect: the longer the trigger stays unactivated, 1.5% of total damage per three seconds would be added upon activation (Max: 30%).]
There was no attack stat in Beltimus online, but the damage was related to the [strength] stat. The damage given as a result of an attack could give damage higher than the strength stat value since the force behind each attack was what mattered.
So someone with a strength stat value of ten could give damage points of fifty with a single attack but never below ten.
Jasper loaded the bow with an arrow and aimed at the beast.
"Come at me!"
*****
'You know, if I was human, there would've been more than three spots I would've found high-ranking monsters here which I would slay to get high-level weapons and some good exp.'
[We've been over this, you can't use any weapon or armor that isn't powered by death energy.]
'Neither can I kill anything that has been influenced by death energy and gain exp. I know. It's a bummer.'
Mikel had been walking through this desert for two days now non-stop. Luckily he had unlimited stamina and didn't need to eat or rest which meant he could travel as far as needed.
And since he had a companion to talk to in the form of the system, he was as okay as he could possibly be.
'You know, if this world is exactly as the game then that would mean that the 49 other players have an advantage here.'
[True.]
'All they need to do is go back to the spots where they got their most powerful skills and get them again. That would be super easy for people at their levels.'
'Then there's me who has to work even harder than them.'
[You have a big advantage. You just haven't realized it yet.]
'I hope I do.'
Mikel was silent for a while after that but he broke the silence soon after.
'I can't stop thinking of something though.'
[What would that be?]
'Among the top 50 players, there are some that have an amazing set of skills. If they can get it back...'
****
'....then you all have just given me an impossible task.'
[Name: corrupted forest tiger
Level: 45
HP: 1674/3670]
Jasper had managed to reduce the beast's HP by a large margin with minimal damage, but he had run out of charges for [delayed damage]. Although he had other skills, none of them could take down the beast immediately.
If its HP reaches 10% it will enter its enraged mode and have its stats doubled with its HP regenerating. It had to be killed before then.
Jasper would have done it by now, but the beast had begun avoiding his arrows and became more relentless in his attacks which forced him to activate the triggers earlier than planned.
"Jasper! Lead it to me!"
Jasper turned to see Felix standing with both his hands raised and he immediately understood that it was time. Even though he was angry that he couldn't beat the monster himself, he quickly began to retreat toward Felix and the beast followed behind him intending to end his life.
Seeing the beast approaching, Felix moved his hand upwards a little and the air above distorted a bit. His fingertips down to his palm disappeared the moment they made contact with the distorted air.
Then he brought his hands down and his hand came out from the distorted area while pulling a long black sword from it!
Felix then quickly threw the sword at the beast who upon seeing the incoming attack, stopped and swiped the sword away. Its attention then quickly turned to its attacker.
It looked at Felix to see that he had both his arms inside the ground. It looked like they had phased through. The beast suddenly felt a low rumble.
The look on Felix's face and his stance showed that he was putting himself under strain. Veins popped on his head and he released a scream as he threw himself back!
"AHHHH!"
~SLASH!
A giant greatsword burst out of the ground and cut the beast completely in half from the down up!
[Critical hit!]
[-4372]
[Congratulations! +1 Monster defeated!]
Felix let go of the sword and it disappeared. He struggled to get his breathing under control but quickly regained his composure by the time Jasper had begun to approach him.
He looked at his palm and balled his fingers into a tight fist.
'Seems I need to increase my strength stat if I want to use this skill more efficiently.'
[Skill Name: Swordsman's battlefield
Skill class: warrior
Skill rank: SS
Skill level: MAX
Skill cost: 1 energy per minute
Active: upon activation, the user can pull out swords of any shape or size from an alternate dimension to use in battle. The swords can be pulled out from anywhere and they will remain in this dimension until the user sends them back. Skill can only be activated if the user has stayed in the environment for a determined period of time.
Cooldown: none]
"FELIX!" Jasper's sudden scream jolted Felix and he turned to see a sharp tail's end in the shape of an arrowhead rushing towards him!
~PHINK! THUD!
In the blink of an eye, the tail had fallen to the ground, detached from its other end and Felix stood there with a sword in his grasp.
A few meters in front of him were three corrupted forest tigers!
The one who had its tail cut, had it growing back in just a few seconds!
'Of course, it couldn't be this easy,' Felix thought as he took on a stance.