Chapter 7

The 'hidden condition' to trigger the 'hidden event for beginners' while hunting the deer required a level 3 or below player to defeat 34 deer under 45 minutes of the period—which Grid had cleared just in 40 minutes. A lone deer was originally set to be the target of level 3 users, not below, but a beginner worthy of acquiring hidden rewards had to show their achievements first to get the chance of having a face-off with the hidden field boss. Considering the level of the user, the experience provided by the number of monsters was just enough for one level up, giving the user a slight boost before they fought against the boss monster, quite similar to the previous hidden event. The same setting was carried out in all 'HEFB'. 

The two elite monsters, or the minions of the boss, known as the Swift Does, attacked Grid first. It was quite similar to the scenario when the Silver Rabbit had just appeared but its minions attacked first. It was a simple pincer attack on Grid from both sides, very similar to the attack pattern of the herds of deer that Grid had defeated earlier. Still, he didn't get complacent despite knowing their attack pattern. 

Although the Swift Does look similar to the Thirsty Deer and had no antlers, they were 1.5 times bigger in overall size, had 3 times of health & agility, and had twice as much strength. Their abilities, such as the kick and headbutt, were also of a higher level compared to the Thirsty Deer. Meanwhile, he also kept paying close attention to the biggest variable on the field, which was the Golden Buck, the hidden field boss. It looked like a sika deer with big antlers on its head and at least 2 times bigger than the Thirsty Deer. 

The moment Swift Does reached near Grid, he did a backflip to avoid the pincer attack. The Swift Does collided with each other rendered immovable on the ground for a few seconds. 

Thaak!

Just then, the Golden Buck followed and attacked Grid from behind with a piercing headbutt. Grid, who had been paying a great amount of attention to the buck, avoided the sharp and pointed antlers and moved to the does. He played out a vertical slash with the posture of Chop and aimed at the knee joint of one of the does. 

Ptaak!

[Critical Hit!]

[A minor fracture has occurred in the knee of Swift Doe. It can't move for 10 seconds.]

The Golden Buck had already changed its direction after missing once and returned with the piercing headbutt again to deal with Grid. Grid avoided the buck's attacks. With the power the golden deer had, they were very much fatal to a beginner. Compared to a Thirsty Deer, the Golden Buck had 10 times health, thrice the strength & agility, and enhanced abilities such as piercing headbutt and kick. It was stronger than Grid stat-wise as well. However, similar to the Silver Rabbit, it also had low intelligence and couldn't outwit Grid.

Just after the headbutt Grid just avoided, he moved to the next target, the other swift doe. He followed his previous strategy and hit the knee of the doe, giving it a minor fracture as well. 

Ptaak!

[Critical Hit!]

[A minor fracture has occurred in the knee of Swift Doe. It can't move for 10 seconds.]

Somehow, he repeated the same process 6 more times, crippling all the legs of the two does and rendering them immovable while avoiding the attacks of the Golden Buck simultaneously. It was a stamina-exhausting process; those fine and extensive movements sucked a lot of stamina out of Grid.

Ptaak! 

[Critical Hit!]

[All legs of the Swift Doe have been fractured. It can't move anymore.]

....

Ptaak! 

[Critical Hit!]

[All legs of the Swift Doe have been fractured. It can't move anymore.]

After Grid rendered the Swift Does immovable, the Golden Buck fell into the Berserk state.

[Golden Buck has fallen into the 'Berserk' state!]

[While in the Berserk state, the Golden Buck's strength and attack power are increased by a large amount but its defense is decreased.]

After seeing the situation, Grid decided to take care of the Golden Buck first since Swift Does wouldn't be there to bother him during the fight anymore. He avoided Golden Buck's attacks and focused on hitting its hind limbs with the low-cut horizontal slash. One strike wasn't enough for the critical hit to occur even though Grid had targeted its knee joint. 

Ptaak!

...

Ptaak!

[Critical Hit!]

The second strike did the deed, and a critical hit did occur, but it wasn't enough to cause a minor fracture. 

Ptaak! 

[Critical Hit!]

[A minor fracture has occurred in the knee of Golden Buck. It can't move properly for a while.]

Finally, the third strike caused a minor fracture to one of the hind limbs of the Golden Buck. This much effort was required just to cause a minor fracture in the knee, a weak spot for the critical hits to appear, even though its defense was decreased due to the Berserk state it was in currently. This is why Grid was reluctant to fight against it first before immobilizing the does. If the Swift Does had been well during the battle, it would have been pretty annoying and Grid couldn't have focused on the boss monster. 

Even though a minor fracture had occurred, being the boss monster, that it was, it wasn't to be taken lightly. Even though its knee was fractured, it wasn't rendered completely immovable. It could move, but not properly. However, it didn't matter to Grid, he had achieved what he needed. While iron was hot, Grid avoided the fatal kicks that the buck was sending toward him and hit its other hind limb that wasn't fractured. He repeated the process, and the other hind limb was fractured as well, which finally rendered the buck immovable for a few seconds. 

Ptaak! 

[Critical Hit!]

[A minor fracture has occurred in the knee of Golden Buck.]

[Both hind limbs of the Golden Buck have received minor fractures. It can't move for 10 seconds.]

With the boss monster regeneration buff and the fractures being minor, the Golden Buck could have recovered to a somewhat movable state after a while. However, Grid didn't give it any time that was needed. Instead, the proper gap that Grid needed to kill it had just appeared, he couldn't let it slide. He repeatedly hit its neck with vertical slashes in a short period. During the process, critical hits occurred many times stunning the buck again and again. The miserable buck finally died after its neck got fractured by the 10th vertical slash from the blunt Wooden Sword.

...

Ptaak! 

[Critical Hit!]

[You have defeated the Golden Buck.]

[You have acquired 30 bronze coins.]

[You have acquired the Golden Deer Leather.]

[You have acquired the Golden Venison.]

[You have acquired the Beginner's Deluxe Sword.]

[150 experience has been acquired.]

Just after the battle ended, other notification windows, unrelated to the boss fight, appeared. This was the effect of the 'passive ability correction' that Morpheus had applied to Grid... 

[Your proficiency in swordsmanship has increased by a large amount!]

[The level of Sword Mastery skill has risen.]

"Hahaha, very nice... this is amazing!"

In Satisfy, the system related to the acquisition and proficiency of skills was very well established. It was different for Players and NPCs, particularly the named NPCs. That's why Players and NPCs had a striking difference between their skill levels. It was particularly apparent when named NPCs were compared to most players. 

For NPCs, the path to acquire skills mostly went through training, accumulating proficiency, and getting enlightened. The quest system wasn't available to NPCs; only the 'enlightenment system' worked with them properly. The skills they had acquired through hard work or by understanding certain concepts—were truly their abilities.

However, for players, it was different. For them, the path to acquire new skills depended on their class, class-specific quests, other quests, and achievements. Not by getting enlightened since enlightenment was too much of an obscure concept for the users. That's why, the skills they had acquired weren't their true abilities but the 'system correction' ensured that they would act as such.  

Similarly, the process of accumulating skill proficiency also differed. An NPC could increase the skill level just by understanding the higher concepts related to the skill or getting enlightened, but a player couldn't achieve such effects. The player had to unconditionally hunt monsters, clear a quest, or get an achievement to get the same effect. However, the current Grid was different. His abilities were higher than his current level. To say the least, he was like a hybrid between a Player and an NPC. He was getting the best of both worlds. 

For players, Sword Mastery was a separate skill, different from their sword techniques, sword skills, swordsmanship skill, or playstyle, though it accumulated experience every time they used a sword or trained with it. This was how players who couldn't get enlightened, usually accumulated proficiency to increase the skill's level.

Meanwhile, for NPCs, this wasn't the whole truth. Although they didn't have the availability of the quest system of players, they had something better, the 'enlightenment system'. For them, their Sword Mastery skill represented all of their swordsmanship skill. It represented how proficient they were in the path of swordsmanship. It included their sword techniques and swordsmanship art-style. After reaching a certain level, their Sword Mastery skills became their swordsmanship art-style.

This was the reason why Grid was different from normal players. Grid was closer to the concept of an NPC with the privilege of a player. Rather than acquiring the Sword Mastery skill from a Warrior or Swordsman class, he had acquired it through his achievements. Since he knew the ins and outs of Satisfy from the previous turn, including the swordsmanship of Pagma, Chiyou, and the Overgeared God that was perfectly imprinted in his body and mind, his Sword Mastery grew way faster than others at any action he performed with a sword.

This was also the reason why Grid had acquired Sword Mastery way earlier than others because the system had judged his posture, footwork, and understanding of swordsmanship to be beyond something normal. It was extraordinary enough that the system could have rewarded him with the Mastered Sword Mastery skill if the ability correction was applied properly. However, the system couldn't do it because of the restraint of rules.

Satisfy's system worked with certain rules. One of the rules was to reward someone who had achieved something. In Grid's case, even though he had the ability of a swordsmanship master, he hadn't accumulated the achievements necessary to be rewarded with the Mastered Sword Mastery skill yet. He needed to accumulate enough achievements to reach that level.

However, it was unlikely that the system didn't apply ability correction to Grid's skills. The system did apply the ability correction to Grid's skills but it was in a passive form that was always applied. This resulted in Grid accumulating the skill proficiency many times faster than normal. This was the reason Grid's swordsmanship-related skills, such as Sword Mastery, were growing at an insane pace. 

'Anyway, I should first kill the two minions before checking anything else.'

"Unequip the Wooden Sword and equip the Beginner's Deluxe Sword!"

[You have unequipped the Wooden Sword.]

[You have equipped the Beginner's Deluxe Sword.]

Grid equipped the epic-rated sharp sword with a purple glow without any hesitation over the Wooden Sword that seemed like trash now. He then went to the Swift Does and finished them off with vertical slashes on their necks.

Ptaak!

[Critical Hit!]

[You have defeated a Swift Doe.]

[You have acquired 9 bronze coins.]

[You have acquired the Elite Deer Meat.]

[30 experience has been acquired.]

... 

Ptaak! 

[Critical Hit!]

[You have defeated a Swift Doe.]

[You have acquired 9 bronze coins.]

[You have acquired the Elite Deer Meat.]

[30 experience has been acquired.]

[Your level has risen.]

[10 stat points have been acquired.]

After clearing the hidden event, Grid reached level 4. 

'Hmm... I can defeat the normal green slimes just fine, but considering the traits of slimes, handling the boss may prove difficult... Ah... this would do the trick for sure.'—After contemplating something, Grid invested all the stat points that he had just acquired after the level-up into the intelligence. 

"Increase intelligence by 10 points."

[Your Intelligence has risen.]×10

His next targets, the green slimes, were resistant to the physical damage. The hidden boss that would appear after clearing the hidden condition should also be more resistant to physical damage compared to normal green slimes.

After guessing the hidden condition required to trigger the hidden event for beginners somewhat accurately, Grid knew that he would be able to level up once more before confronting the hidden boss.

His vertical and horizontal slash skills, which dealt energy damage to the target, required at least 60 mana to be activated. He didn't possess such an amount of mana currently. After investing 10 points into the stat just now, his current intelligence reached 15 points and provided him with 45 mana. 1 point in intelligence stat provided 3 points in mana. Still, this wasn't enough.

He needed at least 20 points in intelligence stat to be able to activate one of his slash skills. However, since he knew that he would be able to level up before the boss fight, he invested the stat points without hesitation. Once he reached level 5, he would invest more stat points in intelligence. That way, he would be able to confront the hidden slime boss properly. 

'Hmm... Let's go to a safe place and check things out again.'

***

Grid retreated to a safe place again, the place where he had roasted the silver rabbit's meat previously. 

"Status Window!"

[Name: Grid

Level: 4 (5/700)

Class: Beginner

* Can learn new skills when certain conditions are met. 

Health: 270/270 | Mana: 45/45

Strength: 15 | Stamina: 15

Agility: 15 | Intelligence: 15

Composure: 1 | Concentration: 1

Stat Points: 0

Weight: 360.1/300

* The weight limit exceeds 100%, so movement speed is reduced by 25%.

Items Worn: 

1. Weapon: Beginner's Deluxe Sword (Weight: 60)

2. Boots: Beginner's Deluxe Boots. (Weight: 20)

Skills Possessed: 

1. Meditation Lv. Mastered

2. Beginner Sword Mastery Lv. 2

3. Vertical Slash Lv. 1

4. Horizontal Slash Lv. 1

5. Beginner Cooking Technique Lv. 1.]

"Inventory!"

[Inventory]

[Total Items Stored: 154

Money: 1 Silver & 90 Bronze Coins (Weight: 9.1)

Meat:

1. Rabbit Meat × 21 (Weight: 42)

2. Elite Rabbit's Meat × 3 (Weight: 9)

3. Venison × 34 (Weight: 170)

4. Elite Deer Meat × 2 (Weight: 15)

5. Golden Venison × 1 (Weight: 10)

Leather: Golden Deer Leather × 1 (Weight: 15)

Equipment: Wooden Sword × 1 (Weight: 10).]

'Ohh... My weight limit exceeded 100%, huh? So that's the reason I felt somewhat sluggish after I killed the Golden Buck. Anyway, it isn't much of a problem and can be solved when I reach level 5 in the future. Also, not much movement speed is required to hunt the slimes. Even if something does occur, I will just sell some food materials in the city.'

After thinking of an idea to solve his weight limit problem, Grid started checking other things...