Chapter 28- Tough Battle

Abel instinctively sidestepped the second the screech sounded out.

The monster had attacked before it stopped shrieking! If he had remained standing he would've definitely suffered a strong hit.

The Boss was no longer a stone-toothed rat! The prefix ferocious was enough to tell the monster was very violent while its characteristics showed how evolved it was. Abel shuffled sideways and went in for an attack, he couldn't kill it if he continued to dodge.

-42

-37

Clang

Clang

Clang

-20

Abel barely got 2 strikes in before the Rat King turned around and attacked him back. While he blocked the first 3 strike, he got hit by the fourth taking 8% of his HP at once!

He shuffled again trying to reach the monsters back. Each movement was a calculated step, a strategic dance of offense and precautionary defense. He already noticed the monster was more agile than the Rat Lord but that was to be expected of a Boss monster.

-37

-45

Clang

Clang

The clashing of sword and claw created a symphony of metallic reverberations in the backdrop of his crackling torch fire. Sparks flew as Abel's blade met the sharp black claws, he managed to block several strikes with a whirl of his sword.

With every block, sparks flew out like a shower of luminous defiance against the oppressive darkness in the room.

'Ecliptic Slash'

-120

Abel swiftly used his skill the second he saw the sign of his enemy starting its own combo skill. He had fallen for it with the Rat Lord in the past and he wouldn't allow it to happen with the Rat King. He sidestepped nimbly and slashed with his sword, trying his best to whittle down the monsters HP bar as quickly as possible.

-35

-43

-40

Clang

BAM

-25

Suddenly, the Rat Tail came sweeping from the side, knocking Abel 3 meters back but also putting some much-needed distance between them. He had reduced the monsters HP bar by a third but his own had suffered just as much.

 'I'll get slower the second Serpents Dance ends. I need to use a healing potion before my health drops by too much'

Abel's thoughts were running faster than lighting as he evaded and blocked the lunging attack followed by the sharp claws.

He quickly rolled to the side when he spotted the tail coming in for another sweep then lunged upwards with a stab, preventing the monster from swiping at him while he was down.

-25

Although such a quick stab dealt less damage than normal, it prevented the Rat King from swiping him into a combo. Abel didn't dare let the combo start as it would definitely be much faster and a lot fiercer than the Rat Lord.

He kept up the rhythm until he noticed his speed drop minutely and he knew he'd be in for a tough 60 seconds. He blocked and evaded much more frequently with just a couple of opportune attacks when he'd maneuver to the monster's back before it could turn.

He slowly counted down the seconds and at the moment he calculated his sword skill to come off its cooldown, he activated Harmonic Breath right before he struck with his sword!

'Harmonic Breath'

'Ecliptic Slash'

-140

Although the effect of HP and Mana recovery wouldn't go into effect due to being in combat, he needed the +10% to all his stats. He could use all the damage he could get, even if it meant he'd have to spend 10% of his overall mana.

SCREEEEEEEECH!

Right after getting the Rat King's HP down to less than 50%, the monster seemed to explode with power as a tangible red aura overwhelmed its dark brown furred skin.

Without looking at the notification in his peripheral vision, Abel could guess the monster seemed to enter an enraged state adding another buff to it's already buffed stats.

Clang

Clang

Clang

Clang

Clang

-50

-15

-15

-15

The monster seemed to gain a pair of extra legs as it rapidly appeared before him. Abel had outdone himself by blocking all its fast claw swipes before failing to block its vicious lunging bite. He took advantage of its grip on his left arm and started repeatedly stabbing at its thick muscular neck.

Although he was also losing HP the longer the Rat King kept its vice grip on his arm, Abel made sure to stab at the exact same position with every strike.

-30

-37

-45

-69

-100

Finally, the Rat King let go and stumbled backward. Either due to the repeated stabs from Abel's sword or as an aftereffect of his enraged attack. Abel quickly drew out a potion and gulped it down in this short reprieve. He didn't dare go in for another bout without refilling his nearly depleted HP bar.

+200 HP

+10HP…

Just as he thought the monster would enter a weakened state, it stretched out its arm to the ore on the wall and swiped with its claw. The wall turned to butter before its sharp claws and it grabbed onto an ore before stuffing in its mouth, crunching at it with bliss.

+100 HP

+100 HP

Now it was Abel's turn to feel enraged! He had worked so hard to bring its HP down to 20% yet it regained 10% in a matter of seconds. He seemed to have forgotten that he had just chugged down a health potion himself, bringing his own HP back to 100%.

'Serpents Steps'

Before the Rat King could swipe at the wall for a second time, Abel activated his movement skill and appeared by its side swinging his sword with anger. He seemed to have lost his mind in rage as he kept slashing at the recovering Rat King.

-40

-45

Clang

-40

-30

Clang …

They kept trading blows without end, bringing down each other's HP bars with each blow. Whenever the Rat King tried to reach for the wall Abel would stab at it its neck, trying to hit the same spot from earlier.

The Rat King seemed infuriated at being prevented from swiping at the ore. It started its combo much faster than before and started slashing at Abel relentlessly.

-20

-25

-25

-30

It came so swiftly that Abel failed to block! Time seemed to slow down and just as it jumped in for a fierce bite, Abel realized his sword skill had come off cooldown and activated as he swung out. He swung at it's neck aiming for the gaping hole he had created early on and managed to widen in their most recent exchange

'Ecliptic Slash'

-250

-20

-20…

The Rat King's teeth stopped just centimeters away from Abel's left arm. It seemed to be held at bay by his new rustic blade. The monster was trying to control its mouth to reach out and bite at its enemy but the gaping hole had widened much more than before.

The slash from his sword skill had nearly decapitated the monster and blood was profusely gushing out of the massive wound. Just a second later, the Rat King toppled to the ground as Abel saw the notification for the EXP increase.

+800 EXP

Abel panted as he came back to himself. He looked at the bleeding, dead Rat King and then looked at his HP bar.

35%.

If he hadn't acted quickly enough then he would have definitely been the one lying dead on the floor right now. Perhaps he wouldn't even be on the floor but in the Rat King's stomach by now.

*pant* *pant*

Although the battle lasted less than 10 minutes, he had consumed all his mana and nearly all his HP three times over! The minor healing potion had refilled his HP bar fully after consumption and would add 10 HP every 5 seconds over the span of a minute. These costly potions work even in the middle of combat which is why they're so expensive.

Yet by the end of the battle, he only had 35% HP left, without this small addition of HP over time then he would have had to consume another potion which would've allowed the Rat King to also replenish its own HP.

*Ding*

Having Cleared the Stonebinder's Cavern on your own, you have gained a title!

Rodent Ravager: This title gives the user the vermin's bounty. Increase chances of finding valuable loot or resources in dungeons.

Abel looked at the title in happiness as he hadn't expected he'd receive such a thing. It made sense when he thought about it. How many people could clear out a dungeon on their own? Even if they had the skills and strength to do so, merely the hindrance of other players hunting in the same dungeon would prevent them from doing so.

Unless they found a dungeon that wasn't known to the public yet but even then, it would be difficult to clear it all on your own.

Titles in Faeron followed different rules and the way to gain them could vary even more than the professions available. Most titles were unique and a person could only equip 1 title at a time so it wasn't always the more the more the better, as some titles wouldn't give great or tangible benefits to its wielder.

After checking out the benefits of his Rodent Ravager title in more detail, he crouched down to heal up his low HP. He put aside the torch and pulled out the health ointment and started rubbing it on his left arm.

+50 HP…

Although the HP and MP recovery of his Harmonic Breath skill was starting to kick in now that he was out of combat, it would only last for a short 30 seconds before the skill entered cooldown. He then took out a mana incense stick and broke its last segment in half, quickly refilling his MP bar.

'I'm going to enjoy skinning you, you rat bastard'

Abel gleefully thought as he looked at the once ferocious Rat King just a little further away. After taking a few sips of water to pull up his stamina, he reached for his skinning knife and got right into skinning his first boss!

*Ding*

Skinning Successful:

+Rat King Meat x2

+Rat King Claws x2

+Rat King Tail x1

+Rat King Pelt x1

'I wonder how much Rat King Meat would go for…'

After packing up all his loot, Abel finally started looking around the chamber he had fought a life and death battle in. Other than the ores he'd seen in the other chambers, he found nothing. He was slightly confused and wondered if it merely meant there was no reaction. He kept walking around and called up his quests tab when he realized he might need to actually hold the little trinket to see if anything would happen.

He opened up his spacial bag and retrieved the little locket when the entire room suddenly started to shake.