Seeing the giant skeleton stuck to the ceiling as if it were glued there, rocks started to fall to the ground as the skeleton's body suddenly twitched, causing it to fall from the ceiling right on top of us. Quickly moving out of the way, Yuki and I dashed toward opposite sides of the cavern as the skeleton collided with the ground, causing the room to shudder while dust and debris were kicked up into the air.
"Are you okay, Alex?" Asked Yuki with slight concern as she stood before the skeleton, the dust and debris too thick to look through.
"Yeah, I'm good, Yuki; just be careful. That monster is probably going to attack you first." Replied Alexander with a nod as he used his unique eyes to look through the dust, spotting Yuki on the opposite side, several meters away.
Following my words, the skeleton's large body twitched once more, prompting me to lower my stance while tightly holding both Zartha and Trrina as I watched how the skeleton slowly began to stand up while grabbing its club off the ground.
'My goodness, it's huge, and here I thought Yuki was one hell of a unit.' Mused Alexander with a gulp as he looked at the back of the giant skeleton that completely towered over him while Yuki barely reached its torso.
With its back facing me, I figured it would be a perfect opportunity to attack, but while I was dashing toward it, the monster suddenly raised its head toward the ceiling, and with [Heroes Gaze], I was able to witness a substantial amount of earth mana converging around its mouth.
"Tsk, Yuki, raise your shields!" Yelled Alexander as he glanced at Yuki while dashing towards the monster, his words prompting her to frown before she quickly raised her shields into the air, protecting her body.
Almost immediately after warning Yuki, the skeleton loudly roared, causing the enter cavern to tremble while also momentarily stunning Yuki and I; however, the real damage was yet to come since immediately after, a torrent of sharp spikes the size of javelins made entirely of stone emerged from the monster's mouth. Quickly covering the ceiling before gravity took hold of them, causing them to fall back down and with there being so many, there was nearly no place in the cavern to dodge.
'Except for where it's standing!' Thought Alexander as he filled his body with mana, substantially increasing his physical attributes while also using [Speed Augmentation], which only further increased his speed.
Speedily dashing to the monster, I reached it just before the first javelin-sized spikes lodged themselves into the ground while Yuki's shields held firm as they either bounced off or were destroyed whenever they hit them.
I've heard from Yuki that the bones of this monster are extremely tough and are hard to break, let alone slice through, which is why she had advised me to use the board side of my greatswords whenever I attack; however, what I didn't tell her was that my greatswords, Trina and Zartha, were Mythical rank.
Raising my greatswords into the air, I slashed down at the monster's shin, slicing one of its legs off, successfully interrupting its attack as it fell to the ground. Leaping atop its chest, I was about to try and deliver the finishing blow by decapitating it; the monster swatted me away with its club, and just barely was I able to bring forth my greatswords to block the attack, though it still flung be quite a distance away.
"Ouch." Muttered Alexander softly as he shook his left a little before approaching Yuki, having been flung in her direction by the monster.
"You okay?" Asked both Yuki and Alexander as they looked at each other, causing them to faintly smirk before they heard the sound of movement, prompting their gaze too hard as they stared at the monster.
"Have you scanned its status panel yet, Alexander?" Asked Yuki curiously as she looked at the monster, which was slowly beginning to stand up while its other leg was reattached to the rest of its body.
"No, but thanks for reminding me. I had run in there guns blazing like a food." Said Alexander with a shake of his head as he looked at the skeleton, his purple, crystal-like eyes softly glowing in the dimly lit cavern.
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Species: Giant-Skeleton (Rare)
Age: 3 months
Tier: 2
Level: 156
Experience: [52%]
Class: Elite-Monster
Lifeforce: [98%]
Mana: 2,134/2,340
Vigor: 3,547
Endurance: 4,293
Agility: 498
Dexterity: 202
Intelligence: 234
Perception: 678
Traits: Soul Sense(Rare), Stone Body(Rare), Spike Breath(Rare), Regrowth(Rare), Spatial Awareness(Rare), Superior Endurance(Rare), Enhanced Strength(Uncommon), Earthly Smash(Uncommon)
Condition:
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"That's a decent number of traits, excluding the one every monster has; it was a total of seven traits. Though it's endurance and vigor are pretty damn high." Remarked Alexander lightly with an unsightly expression as he observed the monster's status panel while tightening his hold on his weapons.
"Seven? That is indeed quite a lot; this may be even tougher than we had anticipated." Muttered Yuki with a raised eyebrow before shaking her head and frowning as she eyed the large skeleton through the slit of her helmet.
"Heh, that's fine; I'm confident we can handle it. With you blocking and me attacking, sometimes I feel like we're undefeatable." Said Alexander with a faint smirk as he positioned himself behind Yuki at an angle while the monster ran towards them.
While standing behind Yuki, when the monster neared us, it raised its club into the air before violently smacking down atop Yuki, who slightly spread her legs and lowered her back, bracing herself for the impact. Despite the Skeleton using a great deal of strength, it could only crack the ground beneath Yuki's feet as she had remained stationary like an actual tank or an unmovable object. However, I didn't just stay idle; the instant the monster attacked, I dashed forward, jumped onto Yuki's shoulder, and leaped into the air as I coated my great swords in a thick layer of wind before I powerfully slashed it toward the monster's face.
Allowing gravity to take hold of me, I fell to the ground while constantly watching the monster, who now had two sizable gashes on its face, though my attack seemed pretty useless given the fact the wounds weren't that deep and that they were being healed at a slow yet constant speed.
'Seems I'm going to have to use more strength than usual.' Thought Alexander with a slight frown as he landed on the ground beside Yuki while the monster shifted its target
Before the monster could even get the chance to attack me, Yuki roared loudly with a deep voice, thanks to her helmet, causing the monster to suddenly freeze before it turned around and looked at her in anger. With Yuki having regained the monster's focus, I dashed after it from behind before once again slicing its legs off, causing it to fall, while Yuki suddenly charged forth, bashing her shield into its chest, caving it in, and flinging the skeleton a few feet away.
However, just like what its stats showed, its endurance was no joke, and despite all that attacking, it was still raring to go.
"Damn, this is one tough skeleton. We just have to cut off or bash in its head, right?" Remarked Alexander as he glanced at Yuki while running behind her, prompting her to nod at his words.
"Yes; one thing I've learned from venturing into this dungeon for years is that to kill an undead, you must either destroy its head or the heart, which usually kills them." Replied Yuki seriously as she came to an instant halt before raising her shield, blocking a powerful swing from the Monster's club, while Alexander dashed right past her, running underneath her arms, slicing at its newly regrown legs.
'Usually? I'm not that interested in encountering an undead that doesn't follow that rule.' Mused Alexander as he stopped on a dime before leaping into the air while spinning, chopping off the monster's arm and causing it to fall to the ground beside its legs.
Using [Air Jump], I leaped toward the skeleton's neck, only for it to suddenly raise its club into the air while converging a large amount of mana onto its tip before the monster swung down to the ground, completely missing me and, like a small bomb, the entire cavern shook with the blow. Following that, the mana entered the ground before tracing itself toward Yuki, and while I couldn't see the future, I knew something terrible would happen.
"Yuki, watch out beneath you!" Yelled Alexander loudly as he blocked an attack from the monster while looking at Yuki, who trusted him and, without any hesitation, placed a single shield beneath her feet, just in time to be lifted into the air by several sharp, pointy rocks that would've otherwise pierced her.
"I-I'm good!" Yeled Yuki as she quickly stood up from the ground before grabbing her shield and charging toward the skeleton.
Sighing in relief, Yuki and I once again entered the fry of battle, with her keeping the monster primarily focused on her while I constantly attacked, doing hit-and-run tactics, which were proving to be very effective; the only problem was, everything felt a little too easy, like something unforeseen was about to occur.
'Haa, I hope not.' Mused Alexander with a slight frown as he sliced off three rib cages while continuing to pass, leaving just in time for Yuki to get him a shield bash.