[ All Dungeon Skipped ]
[ + 2000 XP ]
Ivan stood now in the last boss room of the tutorial. The air was heavy with a mossy scent, which seemed to blend with his contemplative thoughts. As he looked around, memories of his initial entry into the game washed over him. He couldn't fathom back then the extent of his abilities, the vast realm of possibilities. He took a moment to savor the distance he'd covered while acknowledging the long road ahead.
His reverie was broken as his reflexes kicked in, hands darting up at lightning speed to intercept a sharp, piercing vine hurtling towards him. The attack was halted just centimeters from his face, his fingers holding it at bay.
[ Ezra, the Swamp Dweller (Lvl 51) is Present ]
[ Boss Battle has Begun ]
"Ha, seems you're quite eager to get started, Ezra," Ivan remarked, snapping the vine into harmless fragments with a deft movement of his hand.
Numerous other vines began to launch at Ivan, prompting him to draw Bloodhound from his inventory. With precise swordwork, he cut through each vine with ease.
[Ezra, the Swamp Dweller Skill: Vine Minions is Active]
Upon receiving the notification, the vines began to coil and interlace, transforming into something entirely new. The floor soon teemed with a multitude of swamp creatures, their bodies composed of conjoined swamp roots.
Ivan had anticipated this skill from Ezra, recognizing it as one of the most pivotal abilities in Ezra's arsenal. It wasn't the skill itself that intrigued Ivan however, but a system notification that had just appeared.
[ Scannable Mobs: 1 ]
[ Would you like to scan (Vine Minion: Rank F)? ]
[ Y/N ]
"Yes," Ivan replied, even as the vine minions closed in around him.
[ Error: Mob must be defeated to be scanned ]
"Then why ask me at all?" Ivan sighed in exasperation. He sidestepped to evade the charging vine minions, deftly swinging his sword to cleave through one that came too close.
Vine minions were relatively feeble, making them easy targets for damage. However, their resilience made eliminating them a different challenge altogether. Each time Ivan sliced through a vine, they reattached and regenerated seamlessly.
As Ivan's blade severed through one of the vine minions, he noticed something peculiar—the creature's health points were decreasing, steadily dropping with every successful hit, prompting him to confirm with the eye of creator.
[Name: Vine Minion (Default)
Title: None
Mob Level: 10
Class: Summoner
Summon Level: 8
HP: 27 (-3)
Stats:
- STR: 20
- AGI: 20
- INT: 5
- DEF: 44
- MAN: N/A ]
What this revealed was that the vine minions were susceptible to the poison of the Bloodhound blade. While slicing them might seem futile, the potent poison coursing through the sword could effectively eradicate them.
[ Skill: Chrono-speed is Active ]
Ivan, propelled by blinding speed, maneuvered among the vine minions with unparalleled agility. His blade cleaved through their robust vines, leaving them no time to counter his assault. Despite their regenerative abilities, each iteration of revival deepened the tinge of poison in their vines.
Gradually, their movements slowed, and the ability to regenerate waned until it ceased entirely. Ivan's relentless onslaught transformed their once sprightly forms into motionless, darkened corpses that littered the boss room's floor.
With the vine minions dealt with, Ivan's focus shifted to Ezra, whose humanoid figure had taken shape. Vine-laden hands coalesced to form a sword, mirroring Ivan's own firm grip. A seismic shockwave rippled through the air as their blades clashed, the clash resonating throughout the chamber.
Ivan's blade resonated with a subdued note every time it encountered the unexpectedly resilient vine. Boss and player locked in combat, it swiftly became evident that while their strength was evenly matched, Ivan held a distinct advantage in speed. This swiftness allowed him to land a few strikes that Ezra could not hope to block.
In a relentless exchange of blows, the once verdant vines of the boss transformed into the same darkened tendrils that defined its fallen minions. These vines, too, bowed to the insidious poison they had been subjected to.
After carefully weighing the evolving battle, Ivan decided to withdraw from their skirmish, priming himself for a conclusive strike. His feet radiated a radiant golden glow as his grip on the sword intensified.
[ Skill: Chrono-speed is Active ]
In an incandescent burst, Ivan bridged the distance he had strategically created, his sword slashing through Ezra repeatedly. Although the boss underwent successive regeneration attempts, its ability to heal could no longer match the relentless onslaught Ivan imposed. With every slice, the poison's potency intensified, transforming the encounter into a relentless countdown to the boss's demise.
Before long, the entirety of the boss's form darkened, an ominous omen of its impending doom. Ivan plunged his blade into the boss's chest, and then withdrew it in a fluid motion, before severing its head. This time, however, Ezra's ability to regenerate had been extinguished.
[Ezra, the Swamp Dweller has been vanquished]
[The Boss Battle has Concluded]
[+5000 XP]
[Tutorial has Concluded]
[Tutorial Quest has been Successfully Completed]
[Ten Mana Potions have been Granted]
[New All-Time XP Record Ranking Achieved for Tutorial]
[Would you like to exit the tutorial?]
For a brief moment, Ivan paid no heed to the prompt, diverting his attention to one of the lifeless vine minions strewn across the ground.
[Would you like to scan this Mob?]
[Y/N]
"Yes," Ivan replied, initiating the scanning process. A brilliant blue light engulfed the deceased Mob before it dissolved entirely.
[Mob Scanned]
[Evolved Mob: Poison Vine Minion]
[What would you like to name this Mob?]
A pause lingered as Ivan's thoughts raced through possible names, finally settling on one.
"Hexthorn," Ivan responded.
[Mob has been named. Call on (Hexthorn) to summon mob]
"Hexthorn," Ivan murmured, invoking the name. Like an ancient ritual, the vines began to emerge from the ground, spiraling and intertwining to give form to the evolved vine minion, who stood before Ivan.
[Hexthorn: An Evolved Vine Minion, its tendrils are infused with potent toxins that grow in potency with its level]
[Name: Hexthorn
Title: None
Mob Level: 10
Class: Summon
Summon Level: 8
HP: 30
Stats:
- STR: 15
- AGI: 13
- INT: 5
- DEF: 30
- MAN: 10/10]
[Hexthorn will consume 1 Zen per ten minutes summoned]
As if attuned to Ivan's unspoken command, the Mob disintegrated into lifeless vines, fading away as it was unsummoned at Ivan's will.
"What an intriguing skill," Ivan mused, his curiosity piqued as he confirmed his decision to exit the tutorial.
As Ivan emerged from the tutorial's grasp, the caress of sunlight kissed his skin, distant conversations mingling with various scents filled the air, imbuing a sense of heightened reality that surpassed anything he had experienced in the game before.
Yet, Ivan couldn't linger in this contemplative state for long. As his eyes adjusted to the new environment, a peculiar and unsettling scene greeted him. A gathering of individuals stood before him, each wielding their own weapons, their gazes locked onto him with a mixture of suspicion and hostility that Ivan couldn't quite fathom.
A voice, thick with concern and skepticism, broke the uneasy silence, throwing the questions into the open. "What happened in the tutorial? Where are the others who entered with you?"
The air was charged with tension, a palpable weariness emanating from the crowd. Ivan could sense the source of their hesitation, and it was undeniably tied to the staggering number that had catapulted him to the top of the XP ranking which was now made public. His achievement defied all norms, an anomaly that demanded explanation.
The barrage of queries was justified; after an extended period of no one emerging from the tutorial, the sudden appearance of a lone survivor was bound to raise eyebrows.
Ivan recognized the importance of navigating this situation with care. Though the logical course of action was to offer an explanation, the reality was that most of the tutorial was filled with event's Ivan rather kept secret.
Thus, he chose one of the few truths he could share, delivered with a tone that conveyed neither mourning nor elaboration. Instead, his words carried an air of unsettling dread, a silent challenge to those assembled. Regardless of how they interpreted his response, it left them with a pivotal question: What would they do about it?
"They're all dead," Ivan declared, his voice steady but laden with an eerie undercurrent. It was a statement that hung in the air, inviting contemplation and response from each individual present.