The challenging Dreadmoses

Ken jogged through the forest and avoided all the weak monsters that would only waste his time.

"Book of Records," he called out, and the Book of Records popped in front of him, "Show me where I need to go." He commanded, and the pages flipped, and a map started to draw itself.

On that map, there was a white dot surrounded by trees, and then an blue arrow appeared in front of the white dot that pointed toward the northern direction.

[I didn't know the Book of Records could do this! Pretty neat, you are never getting lost... Now that I think of it, you would be able to figure out an illusion from reality just by calling out the Book of Records...]

"Huh...? I guess I can. I would never have thought of that," Ken muttered as he felt weird about Eleis acting so helpful and on good terms suddenly, but he chalked it up to her being ever-changing and scheming.

He started to head in the direction the Book of Records pointed towards, and after a few hours of running, he arrived. "Where the hell am I?" he muttered as he surveyed the rocky lands filled with green hills.

Ken looked around and barely spotted some monsters. "Yeah... I don't see the reason why I should be here," he remarked.

[Me neither, you probably need to go deep into the lands.]

The Book of Records disappeared, and Ken started to make his way into the depths of the rocky lands.

After a while of traveling, there wasn't even a sign of monsters around, just grassy hills with a lot of rocks.

Ken alertly looked around as he felt something watching him. He snapped his head to a hilltop, and there it was—a monster. "...A minotaur? No, a dreadmose."

On the hilltop, a massive humanoid monster stood. It had gray skin with brown, rotten-colored hair, and its body was like a bodybuilder who never missed a gym day... and it was 4 meters tall.

(Image of dreadmose!!!)

Ken backed off immediately and got near a rock formation. 

[Quest

Kill 100 dreadmose (0/100)

Reward: Increase in Magic Circuit: F to E 

Penalty: Magic power sealed off for 1 month.

I got bored so I gave you a quest... ~Have fun~!]

Ken's expression turned into a deadpan as he looked at the quest and the dreadmose that was staring at him like prey.

"They are just agile and stronger ogres... It should be fine," he muttered bitterly as he drew his sword and walked towards the dreadmose that lowered its body to fight.

[Oh! A challenge! Never thought I would see you being challenged like this!] Eleis remarked excitedly. Ken's lip twitched as he 'Quickstepped' in front of the dreadmose and slashed at its chest, aiming for the heart.

The dreadmose wasn't slow by any means as it struck down at Ken narrowly. He appeared behind it and slashed multiple times at the dreadmose's back, causing numerous wounds.

"RRRRROOOOOOOOO," the dreadmose howled in pain and rage and kicked back.

Ken tried to avoid it, but the dreadmose's foot scratched the surface of the armor, making Ken be flung back from the recoil alone, "If I get hit once, I am dead... and you want me to kill 100 of them..."

Ken bitterly mumbled as he prepared to strike and end it here.

[Come on! You got a challenge from a dreadmose. Isn't that enough? A challenge from a dreadmose is saying that you are a formidable force and someone who needs to be taken seriously. In the whole of dreadmose species, this is called a challenge of power!]

Eleis stubbornly scolded, her tone playful.

"Whatever,"

Ken lowered his stance, and in a burst of speed, he lunged forward. The dreadmose roared and punched, trying to meet Ken in a head-on battle, but Ken wasn't stupid enough to confront a monster that was clearly superior in strength compared to him.

He 'Quickstepped' out of the way and dived down under it, plunged his sword into the neck, and dragged it down with all his might, cutting out from the neck till the chest was clean open.

"kk...kk-" 

The dreadmose struggled to breathe and it fell back, instant death.

[Huh? You aimed for the neck but then slashed down to the heart? Would it be easier to just stab into the heart?] Eleis skeptically questioned as Ken picked the hard way to kill a dreadmose.

"I couldn't aim there. If I did, it would give the dreadmose a chance to give me a hug... And I would die. Simple as that. Even if the dreadmose could give me a hug, I wouldn't take the risk," Ken explained as he looked around.

A few dreadmose had shown themselves.

[You have a pretty good number of audience! Seems like they all want to challenge you.]

"Sigh.... they are similar to gorillas but more competitive. They really love to fight and, to top it off, challenges to the death. They are a pain to deal with," Ken unhappily complained as he looked at a dreadmose that was grinning and coming towards him.

[At least they would be mad if you killed their whole kind in a challenge! And they won't care how you win. For them, a win is a win!] Eleis tried to hype Ken up, who stood with his sword ready to strike at the dreadmose in front.

"50 to 60... that's all I will be able to kill in one go, and that is if I push my limits," Ken muttered as he surveyed the place that was now littered with dreadmose.

[Come on, there are only about 50 of them here!]

Ken sighed, looked at the dreadmose in front, and took a stance that made the dreadmose grin in excitement as this symbolized an acceptance of a challenge.

The dreadmose leaped and balled its fists to slam down on Ken and make him a meat patty, but that wouldn't work.

Ken 'Quickstepped' back, getting out of the dreadmose's slam attack.

[Your Skill Quickstep has leveled up to 3!!]

A system notification popped up, making Ken smile, "Well, this made things much easier," he remarked

---Status---

Name: Ken Valxin. 

Level: 59 | 96% done!

Class Stage 2: Monster Slayer

Title: Anomaly, The Hunter of Aggressors, The Strongest Player

Power Level: 946 

Magic level: 1897 

Magic Circuit: F

Mana tier: 1

skill: Enhancement {3}, Quick Step{3}, Mana infusion{2}, Connection{∞}

Affinities: (!&@^%((_!@_!)

System points: 103,040

-----------------

Ken smiled, "Well, getting a hundred might not be that hard. I only need to make sure I am not getting hit even by a light punch," he remarked and prepared his sword to strike.

[Yeah, now go!!! Make sure you get hit by the 100th one just to know how painful it is or to test out the damage!! Either one works!]

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