Destroying the Golem (literally)

"…"

[Golem HP: 2648]

Leon had done what he needed to do: he smashed the golem's head with all his strength using his aura, then backed away before it could hit him back.

He looked to his left, and the mage guy using his magic arrows had successfully killed off the golem by making it crumble completely.

To his right, a swordsman with a katana and a silver aura around it had cut the golem's head using a [Blade Strengthening] skill.

Some obviously died from the golem since, y'know, it was indeed difficult to kill it because of its defense, but the majority that had left the forest successfully found ways to kill the 'guardian', and thus pass the challenge.

And if Leon didn't hurry up, then he would surely fall behind and not even access the tower, which also meant not being able to devour the boss and failing his "Ascension Tower Boss Killer" quest, WHICH WOULD also mean, not getting a new skill for EGO.

"Damn… you're gonna stay useless for a while longer," Leon almost wanted to cry while he looked at EGO.

[Are you serious?] EGO was flabbergasted.

"Anyway," Leon didn't stop his fighting stance as he kept looking at the golem, who didn't even budge after the attack, "…?"

But right as he focused on that…

~BUMP~

The golem finally took a step toward Leon, being the one to actually engage combat this time.

Yet… something was wrong: its movements were too slow, and it even looked like it was struggling to move.

"…" Leon didn't even move from his place as the golem was pretty far.

And when the stone monster was only three meters away…

~CRACK, CRACK~

The golem's movements turned jerky, like a marionette with tangled strings.

Leon squinted, studying its posture.

The cracks spread further across its rocky skin, a clear sign that the earlier strike had finally taken its toll on it.

~BUMP, CRACK~

The closer it got to Leon, the more cracks appeared: its head, then its chest, its stomach, back, arms, and when there were only two meters between the two, its stone body was covered with cracks.

~BUMP~

~CRACK~

The golem stopped right in front of Leon, who didn't even bother moving, then it lifted its arm, attempting one last strike to eliminate the human.

And yet… before it could even swing down.

~CRACK~

The arm that had been raised crumbled, and soon after its entire body followed.

[DEVOUR!] EGO immediately did what it needed to do, sucking up the white aura from the stone creature, [Yum, mini-bosses truly better than those average mobs!]

It actually seemed like the higher than category of the monster, the more delicious it became, and thus the more stats it gave to Leon.

[You have devoured 'Stone Golem', gaining 27 stat points!]

[+12 souls!]

[Your HP has been fully restored thanks to 'Partial Healing'!]

"Phew…" Leon was happy that his kick had actually worked, though it was a bit delayed since the golem probably felt it that it would die the moment it moved.

~DING~

[EGO has leveled up to level 8!]

[You have leveled up to level 8!]

[Obtained 5 stat points!]

[Souls (Experience): 9/25]

[32 Stat Points Available!]

"12 on vitality, 20 on speed," Leon's health wasn't that much of a problem since was managing to survive some deadly hits, but his speed was still pretty low, so he focused mostly on that.

[Your Vitality Stat has increased by 12 stat points!]

[Your Speed Stat has increased by 20 stat points!]

"Alright," Leon walked past the debris of the golem, the 'arena' that had formed to isolate him and the golem had now disappeared, so he could leave.

[You have proven your worth and defeated the 'guardian', go attempt your luck and skills against the 'judge']

[Good luck.]

"…"

Leon stepped into the clearing, his pulse still racing from the fight, though the adrenaline go down.

There actually didn't seem to be any other monster in this place: it was only the guardian, and now before him stood the massive tower, all the people that defeated the golem heading toward it, although some were more injured than others.

[See, you can be happy you got a healing spell!] EGO smiled while looking at a guy with blood pouring out from his head, probably after being smashed by the golem.

"Sure," Leon was indeed thankful, but he didn't want to show it to EGO.

And after a few minutes of walking… he reached the entrance.

No one had entered the tower yet as most of them were still busy fighting their golems, so it was only Leon and two others: the green-haired mage with his blue magic arrows and long dark magician robe, and a blue-haired samurai (?) holding a katana in a business suit.

Leon on the other hand was still wearing his academy uniform.

"What's up," the mage spoke as they all reached the rectangular entrance of the tower first.

"…Fine," the samurai just nodded.

The entrance of the tower was only found on one particular side, and it was shaped like a rectangle, inviting anyone who dared to challenge the boss in.

You couldn't actually see the interior since there was a black fog blocking the view, and so it also meant that they would need to… traverse it.

"I'm Alan," the mage gave them a thumbs up.

"Max," the guy with the katana placed his weapon in his sheath beside his belt, his right hand always close to it as to grab it anytime something came up.

"Leon," the devourer finally said.

Leon didn't know any of these people, but just by the boss fight he had in the pre-selection trial, he figured out that having teammates for boss fights made them easier.

But the problem with Leon was different from all the others: although they could all get EXP for participating in the fight against the boss, Leon needed to participate AND give the final blow, otherwise EGO couldn't devour the monster, which meant no souls, no stat points and no quest completion.

So not only was the "souls" system absolutely horrendous to get levels, but it also fell short in the fighting aspect as well, forcing Leon to be SOLO most of the time as his teammates, even if they didn't mean it, could steal his kill and make all his efforts worthless.

"Well, no point in standing still, let's go," Alan hit his staff with one of his fingers, and it began to float around him, allowing him to keep his hands free.

"…Alright," Max nodded and both of the boys traversed the black fog, they seemed to know more than Leon.

"…"

[Come on, standing there doing nothing means there's a chance they can kill the boss, no point in testing your luck and hoping they fail,] EGO smiled.

"I know," Leon sighed as he began walking.

But when he was on the verge of passing the black fog… he heard a voice behind him.

"LEON!"

And when he turned around… he saw Dan, the golden fox running beside him.