Fake Rocks

Ellis continued his journey toward the mountain. With each passing cycle, the mountain grew larger and larger as he got closer until he was directly at the base of it. Ellis stood at the bottom of the mountain and tilted his head up; he couldn't even see the top of the mountain anymore. There were orange and red flowers scattered about and large trees going up the mountain with different sized boulders peppering the area. The scale of the area made him take a step back in awe.

It looks like there's snow higher up on the mountain as well, so that's something I'll have to prepare for.

Ellis thought to himself as he mentally prepared himself for the trip ahead. Heading across open plains was rather easy as all he had to do was just go straight but scaling a mountain would be a different story. Especially since he would have to deal with monsters as well.

He decided to scout around the base of the mountain first to see where the best route to go up was, and hopefully, along the way he could find some monsters with a heavy layer of fur that he could skin to add to his armor.

Maybe I'll get lucky and find a huge wolf that I can train to be my own personal killing machine like Cora wolf.

Ellis chuckled to himself slightly as he thought about how life would be a little easier if he had a companion to travel with.

Ellis walked around the mountain and cautiously surveyed the area. As he came to the other side of a giant boulder, he saw a rock about the size of a watermelon moving around. Ellis froze in his tracks and then took a step back pressing his back into the boulder behind him. The rock shifted from side to side for a few moments before arms and legs popped out of it. Ellis's eyes widened as the rock started shuffling away. Ellis tilted his head back and rested it on the boulder behind him.

What the hell! That rock just turned into a monster. Wait doesn't that mean…

Before Ellis could finish his thought, the giant boulder he was leaning on started to rumble. Huge arms and legs began to form as it rose up from the ground.

Shit!

Ellis jumped forward and turned around as he looked up at the rock golem that was now towering in front of him.

[Rock Golem Lvl. 49]

[HP: 36000]

Holy hell, it has so much HP!

The rock golem raised is massive hammer-like arm and proceeded to slam it toward the ground where Ellis was standing. Ellis quickly jumped back as the golem's slow arm came crashing down in front of him.

BOOM!

The ground exploded leaving a huge crater behind where Ellis had been standing before he dodged out of the way. Before the monster could pull up its massive rocky arm from the ground, Ellis jumped up and smashed his halberd into the monster's head.

Clang!

The halberd might as well have barely scratched an itch on the Rock Golem's head as it shaved off a couple of pebbles and glided off to the side, leaving Ellis completely exposed midair. The rock golem pulled its arm from the ground and slammed it into Ellis, who could only pull his halberd up to block the attack. Blood spurted from Ellis's mouth as he hit the ground.

Damn. This guy packs one hell of a punch.

Ellis quickly checked his HP. The monster had done over 900 damage and Ellis had blocked the attack.

I won't be able to take many hits like that.

Ellis pushed himself up from the ground using his halberd as a crutch. The golem stomped toward him, but such a massive cluster of hard rock moved slowly. It would probably take this monster at least 10 seconds to get to him. Ellis could easily run away but what good what that do? He would have to fight these monsters eventually as the mountain was most likely covered in them. If he could deal with this higher level one, then he would be able to deal with any of the lower leveled ones easily. Ellis wiped the blood from his mouth.

All this golem has is its high defense and power, but it's extremely slow. Even without Partial Lightning State, I could run circles around this dumb rock. As long as I don't get caught in a position where I can't dodge, I should be completely fine. The only thing is, I have to figure out now is how to damage this dumb rock. Wait, maybe that will help.

Ellis remembered the wine in his backpack and quickly took a gulp. He immediately felt stronger albeit a little tipsy as well.

Ok, first let's try this!

Ellis raised his arm and shot a bolt of lightning at the monster.

ZWOOH! KABOOM!

A large blast of lightning hurled toward the giant rock monster in a flash causing a cloud of dust to form around the Rock Golem obscuring it from his vision.

THUD. THUD. THUD.

Ellis could still hear the golem coming so it was clear his lightning bolt hadn't done much, but he was still curious to see how much damage it did. His lightning bolts were pretty strong. When the golem finally appeared from the cloud of dust Ellis frowned. The lightning bolt had only left a small black mark on the golem's chest.

Damn! Even with the wine boosting my lightning it is ineffective against it. I could use Partial Lightning State to increase my strength even more, but I don't know if I can maintain it long enough to deal with this guy. Well, there's no chance unless I try.

Ellis activated Partial Lighting State in his arms and gripped his halberd tightly in both hands as a faint aura of lightning. The golem was now directly in front of him now, so Ellis ran forward to meet it. He couldn't waste a single second while he was in Partial Lightning State.

The monster swung its huge arm at him but Ellis slid past it as it carved a large trench in the ground. Ellis ducked between the monster's legs and swung his halberd with all his strength at the monster's left knee.

Boom!

A large chunk came out of the monster's leg as it wobbled before the weight of the Rock Golem caused the remaining rock on its leg to crumble under its own weight and fall down to its stump leg. With one leg bent and the other basically gone the monster swung its fists around it like a spinning top, hoping to hit Ellis as he circled around the back of the golem. Ellis easily ducked right under the monster's slow arms as they came at him. He then made it to the other leg where he struck it with all of his force. The Rock Golem's half-gone leg crumpled under the weight causing the monster to fall onto its back. With no legs, the monster wasn't as mobile so Ellis then walked up behind the monster's head and raised his halberd.

"You're done."

Ellis brought his weapon down with all the power of the Partial Lightning State and the golems head caved in before exploding from the power of the attack. Ellis relaxed slightly as he came out of his Partial Lightning State. He had used up most of his anima. Even if he had kept it up he would have been able to keep it going for another second at most.

Just as Ellis was about to turn around and check the area in the corner of his eye he noticed the fist of the golem was coming down at him.

What?!

Ellis quickly jumped on to the monster's chest as its fist slammed into the ground by its head.

Why are you not dead yet! You have no head!

Ellis racked his brain as he tried to figure out what to do. The monster's fist was coming at him again, but this time Ellis waited to the last second before he jumped up out of the way.

Boom!

The dumb rock monster hit itself in the chest sending rocks flying everywhere. The monster lifted its hand from its chest and swung it toward Ellis who was in the air just out of reach of the monster. Ellis looked down at the monster and saw that where the monster had hit itself in the chest, had revealed a large blue sphere that twinkled like an anima gem.

Hmm. This must be why it's not dead yet. This core must be giving it power.

Ellis landed on the monster's chest. The irritated Rock Golem swung its arm sideways to knock Ellis off of it without hitting itself again.

"I guess you're only mostly stupid, but you're too slow."

Ellis brought his halberd down into the faintly glowing core of the golem and it shattered. The golem's arm suddenly fell apart and sprayed rocks at Ellis who promptly dodged all of them before leaping to the ground. The Rock Golem was now just a normal pile of lifeless rocks.

"And stay dead!"

Ellis shouted to the dead monster as he brushed the dust covering him off.