Chapter 29 "Kobolds Cave"

"You must have been confused when I said bet, right?" Ioki said as he pointed his finger to the sphere, "The bet is simple: if I could solo the Dungeon Boss, then I won the bet. If I lost, well, I lost... Here is the part everyone's been waiting for!"

Ioki slowly put his face toward the sphere.

"AGH, Are you trying to give me nightmares with that creepy mask of yours?!" DarkFlame typed.

"Ah, sorry, I forgot I have this equipment now!" Ioki said as he removed the mask once again, "Okay, continuing from before! The part everyone's been waiting!"

Ioki made a gesture of drumming in the air, "Roll the drums! Sound the trumpets! Blow the confetti!"

"HURRY UP AND TELL ME WHAT IS IT!" DarkFlame typed.

"I will let all of you see my titles, current stats, and everything else you are curious about me!" Ioki said while pointing at the sphere once again, "If I lost the bet, that is."

The chat went wild, and comments started flowing in like crazy after Ioki revealed the stakes.

"Does that include information on how you defeat The Warden?" KumaKuma asked.

"All of it! Even my 3 sizes if you want such things!" Ioki replied smugly.

"What kind of 3 size you have,  you brat! (⁠ノ⁠ಠ⁠益⁠ಠ⁠) You are a man, not a woman!" Ms. Maria typed.

Ioki laughed upon seeing such comments and was satisfied with the viewer's reaction.

Suddenly, Ioki put his face in front of the sphere, "But! A bet would only be a bet if there is another party at least offering something if I managed to win the bet, right?"

"What are you suggesting then, brother?" Mr. Turtle typed.

His face turns into the face of a businessman as the viewers start asking what he demands in return, "As much as I want to make a bet with all of you, doing so would be impossible!" Ioki replied as he looked at the eye symbol on the LIVE menu; numbers reaching 1,000 pairs of eyes are currently watching him!

Rubbing his hands before him, smiling creepily, "Give your best offer, and I'll choose one that catches my eye! If I win the bet, I'll take that offer of yours! There are currently a thousand pairs of eyes as witnesses here!" Ioki stated his condition.

"If you lost the bet, can you come personally to my Guild?" KumaKuma typed.

"Sure! I'll visit that Guild of yours!" Ioki replied.

"No, I want you as a member of the Guild. Even if you don't have a capsule, I could easily provide one for you," KumaKuma typed.

After pondering for a while and walking around in a circle, Ioki made a money sign with his thumb and index fingers.

"Sure! I could try to talk it out with my parents, I guess? So, what's your offer, KumaKuma?" Ioki asked.

"Under the name of Vermilion Dawn, I will bet the essence of Vampire Lord and Prince of Sand's Chest." KumaKuma typed.

The chats went wild upon reading KumaKuma's comment.

"Is it that much of a big deal? You guys went crazy upon reading it..." Ioki asked about the value of the two items.

Sure, an essence itself is really useful. But is it that much worth that it could make hundreds of Players go insane over it?

"Those are high leveled raid bosses... Vampire Lord is known as the bane of tanks in the late game, while Prince of Sand is a Hidden raid boss exclusively defeated by Vermilion Dawn themselves..." Mr. Turtle typed.

"Like the user earlier commented, that's the worth of the item you'll get if you won the bet against me," KumaKuma typed.

Recalling what happened before with Maria, Ioki doesn't want such things to happen again... Especially something that sounds like a "Hidden Raid Boss." The resources they poured to get that item itself might even be worth more than the item itself...

"Are there any more offers? By the way, KumaKuma, I don't want that chest of yours... Offer something else besides that, and I'll take the bet," Ioki replied as he finally started seeing a bunch of Players gathered in front of a massive cave.

"Looking for a tank! Need someone that knows how to manage aggro!"

"-1 Carry! Just listen to what the leader says!"

"Need love! I've been lonely for 20 years of living!"

Although the last one is kinda of out of place, the sound of people shouting and asking for party members indicates that Ioki finally made it to the Kobold's Cave.

"The cave is just in front of me, you know?" Ioki said as he pointed to the cave, "If there is no more offer, then I'll take KumaKuma's offer and proceed to enter the cave!"

"10.000 Golds," Mr. Turtle typed.

"WHAT THE FUCK?! ARE YOU A WHALE?" DarkFlame typed.

"I'll think of it as you make your way through the cave; it's not like you'll even make it past the cave itself with those stats of yours, though," KumaKuma typed.

"Deal! No takebacks! Both of you will get to know how I defeated the Warden in Hell and everything you want to know about me!" Ioki said as he put his hand in front of the sphere as if making a deal sign, "Let's see about that, KumaKuma; if I win, then I want extra money because you just ridiculed me."

After that, he slowly walks toward the cave entrance.

The air pressure changed as he entered the cave; metal clashing sounds could be heard and echoed explosions and the other spell effects, followed by screams and shouts of Players and Kobolds.

Ioki took a deep breath; chill and damp air could be felt entering his lungs. "Even though this is a game, they could even emulate such details... This air is really different than the air outside," Ioki thought.

He took his time and looked around; although there was no sign of artificial lights inside this enormous cave, as far as Ioki looked, there was no sign of darkness besides between the crevasse of rocks and natural cavings on the wall.

As he observed, he finally figured out the light source would be from the plant resembling a dandelion, but it's glowing in luminescent blue; the minerals decorating the caves as well have their own natural lights glowing from inside. Ranging from warm orange to bright yellow.

"Although it is a cave for Kobolds, but I wouldn't mind living here for all the glowy and colorful natural lights!" Ioki said while putting his arms in the air.

The deeper he walks inside the cave, the more obvious the sound of battles could be heard.

"I'm aggroing him! Fall back and recover for a bit!" A Paladin shouted as he changed position with a Warrior.

While the Mage in their party is casting, the Archer could be seen circling and shooting arrows toward the massive Kobold with a giant cleaver in its hand.

Ioki then focused on the giant Kobold. An iron plate could be seen covering its chest down to its lower abdomen. It is also wearing a sharp iron helmet; its bipedal legs are covered in chains.

A giant cleaver as big as its giant body is equipped on his right arm. Covered in leather strips in the handle, there is a hole in the bottom of the cleaver's blade where a chain could be seen. The chain connects to the Kobold's wrist.

On the other hand, something resembling a big knife is equipped; is it even still a knife, considering its size?

·        Death Spot | Field Boss

·        Lv: 45

·        Str: 60

·        Dex: 55

·        Con: 67

·        Int: 40

·        Wis: 51

·        Cha: 30

"The second party, get ready to unleash your skills after his health dropped to 30%!" The Paladin shouted as he raised his shield against the incoming swing from the Death Spot's cleaver.

*CLANG*

The sound of deafening metals clashing could be heard as the cleaver hit the Paladin's shield.

The other hand with a knife followed right after the cleaver hit the shield.

A man with a long sword jumped forward, parrying the attack as it approached the Paladin.

*CLANG*

Another sound of metals clashing could be heard as the two sharp weapons introduced themselves.

"Roger that! I will try to target his arm with my bind first! Shouldn't the Ninja have her skills ready a few seconds ago?" The Mage shouted as she commanded her party to keep raining the Death Spot with minor spells.

"Hangeki: Shichi! Safe your mana! This is a guaranteed critical hit!" The Ninja appeared in the air above the Death Spot with her sword pointing down to the center of the head.

*STAB*

A loud voice could be heard soon followed by the Kobold's blood spurting from his head, indicating a critical hit indeed happened.

It staggered the Death Spot for a few seconds as it kneeled on the ground.

"NOW!" The Paladin shouted.

Suddenly, the group of Mages started chanting; colorful circles appeared before them.

*BOOM!*

*BZZZT!*

*SPLASH!*

All kinds of elements showered the staggered Death Spot. His eyes rolled up as his body was steaming and wet, his fur covering his scars could be seen as he dropped to the cold ground.

*CLANG*

The sound of his plate hits the ground hard.

"YES!" The Paladin shouted.

While watching the fight of the other party with Death Spot, a Kobold made its way to Ioki.

*Whoosh*

After hearing the sound of a fist swinging through the air, Ioki's eyes widened before he instinctively dodged by stepping back. Ioki could see a furry fist go by his face with a deadly precision a bullet being shot. The fist lowered down before it finally let go of his clutch and touched the ground with his palm.

Using the palm on the ground as his pivot point, in one succession like flowing water, the furry figure continued his attack by sweeping Ioki's ankle.

After seeing the opponent go out of his vision, Ioki could only rely on his peripheral vision to see the furry figure's center of gravity change to his palm on the ground.

Ioki jumped as high as he could.

*BAM*

Ioki suddenly got knocked to a nearby rock. Due to the force of the attack itself, the rock was crushed as Ioki's body went through it.

Unknown to Ioki, the furry figure, using his momentum after the sweeping kick, had put his paws on the ground while his back was on Ioki. Using his paws on the ground as the spring, he launched a rear kick resembling a horse.

Ioki stood up while tidying himself as the dust settled, "Aww! That was not fair; my feet were not on the ground!" He shouted as he looked forward, trying to make the figure's silhouette through the dust.

A Kobold with black fur equipped only with tattered leather pants and gladiator sandals is standing there with its fist raised while its feet are tiptoeing, resembling a martial artist stance.

His fists, down to a third of his arm's length, could be seen covered with torn bandages.

"It didn't even take long before you found one..." Mr. Turtle typed.

·        Nine Paws | Elite

·        Lv: 40

·        Str: 50

·        Dex: 65

·        Con: 40

·        Int: 38

·        Wis: 29

·        Cha: 20

A smile appeared on Ioki's face as he raised his fists, "Now I know why you guys wanted me to go here!"

Seeing Ioki raise his fists and assume a stance, the Nine Paws smirked, showing his sharp canine teeth. He raised his paws and taunted him with a sign as if saying, "Come!"

"Let's dance, you dog!" Ioki replied to his taunt as he rushed forward.