The Apparent Problem

  "Now that we know the way to the boss room, we can easily get back and forth," Cyrus explained to one of the lizards, exiting the dungeon casually. "Cyrus... Why do we have to make things so complicated? We could've just killed them then and there," asked Bobby, a stocky young man with spiky black hair, neatly trimmed facial hair, and several scars on his left arm. He wore a simple black shirt, gloves, brown pants, and blue armor on his right shoulder and lower legs. Who was a little confused and impatient, "You're an idiot. Even I would be unable to kill him without waking the boss. Then, I would be forced to kill the boss, and we wouldn't get our $125,000 paycheck. So, we let the spider kill Winter, we get your paychecks, and I get my dream job, no muss no fuss. Capish?" Cyrus explains, leaning up against a tree. "O-oh," Said Bobby, baffled but acting like he understood every word Cyrus said.

  "Countless eyes. An unsightly mouth. A body is as big as a house. Far-reaching legs. This boss is on a completely different level," Winter thought, shivering from the C-rank boss's aura. "A completely... Different level?" He smirked with images of the superior strength of his siblings. "What bullshit," Winter laughed, smiling. "I'm on a different level," he added, summoning his dagger. "I'm not trapped in here with you. You're trapped in here with me," he laughed fearlessly. "Are they right? Even though I've reawakened, am I still weak?" Winter thought, "But I don't feel hopelessly overwhelmed," he thought. The Buryura roared as it began crossing the mana crystals. "The fact that I don't feel intimidated while facing this C-rank boss probably means that I've become stronger," Winter thought, smiling at this revelation. It screeched and stomped as it hit the rough stone ground of the dungeon. "I'm currently Level 18," He thought, "I should be able to take on a C-rank boss!" He prepared his attack. The boss stomped now only yards away from Winter, "Jesus!" He then released the tension in his body and brought his right fit into the face of the Buryura with nearly all of his might.

  The Buryura was practically stopped in its tracks, compressing itself as it expanded its backside and lifted off the ground. With it stunned, Winter began to run up the length of the face-down ass up Buryura, dragging his daggers across its carapace. Instead of sparks this time, it began to bleed this strange green color. "My attack, it worked! My daggers seem to level up with me as well..." He thought, leaped off the Buryura as it began to get back up. Winter landed on his feet, bending down to disperse the force. Facing away from Buryura, he turned to face the monster, smirking. "This is where the fun begins," he said, his left shoulder facing the Buryura. It was stomping towards Winter again, dashing towards it, gritting his teeth. It roared, its ill-fitting tongue hanging out of its mouth. He leaped onto the Buryura and made circular slashes as he passed over the spider, landing on each side, barely staying on. Winter summer salted back and forth, cutting through the boss.

  Winter leaped off to the ground as the Buryura began to brush itself up against the walls of the boss room. Noticing he was off, it started to charge Winter head-on, but this swung one of its appendages at him. He stepped away from the swipes directed at him, avoiding them so quickly that it seemed multiple of him dodging the same attack. Winter dashed to the side of the Buryura. It threw another attack with the same appendage, but Winter blocked with both daggers and dashed past it. This time, sparks came from his daggers. "Seems like... Some places on its carapace are harder than others. If I want to damage it more, I'll have to use as much more strength!" Winter thought as he turned around to notice another attack. It plunged two of its appendages into the ground, and Winter had leaped out of the way in time. "There is nowhere to hide... No wonder because it's a spider with eight legs!" He thought, backing up a little more as it raised its appendages again. "Not to mention its destructive power... It's strong enough to break through anything, whether it's the ground or a bolder," Winter thought, rushing past the hole its appendage left in the rock-hard ground. "Each attack could be a fatal blow..." He approached the Buryura. "It'll take some time for me to take this one day alone!" Winter thought, summer salting once more. From one end to the other, making shallow cuts into the Buryura.

  Winter's onslaught of attacks continued, but slowly. With each movement Winter made, he could feel exhaustion build in his body. "It was eminent that he needed to end this fast or suffer possible fatal blows from the Buryura," It began, "Either way, Winter needs enough energy for the Lizard strike squad to come back. Even if they're split between D and C-ranks, an exhausted body wouldn't be able to fight eight-on-one," Ultima added, "How long has it been since I started fighting this guy? About five? Ten minutes?" He thought, blocking another attack from Buryura. "I need. To finish this!" Winter skids back. "The higher my fatigue, the slower I get," he thought, glaring at Buryura. "I need to use my dagger's specialty... That's my only winning constitution," he gripped his daggers tightly, rushing towards Buryura. "Targeting the enemy's weakness is the most commonly used strategy," He thought, speeding up. "The head is the natural weak point of all living creatures. I'll go for the weakest part of Buryura, the eyes!" Winter decided, leaping off the ground towards its head.

  Buryura gagged and jerked its head back, making puke noises. Drops of acid squirted out of its mouth. Winter immediately notices and pushes against Buryura's mandibles to leap away. He narrowly got out of range of the massive amount of liquid acid. "Liquid Acid?! Was it hiding its trump card?" Winter asks himself, skidding against the ground. "At this rate, I won't stand a chance with those lizards!" Winter thought, gritting his teeth. "I can't take it easy. He's already a step ahead of me!" He added in thought, "I have to move faster. I need to close this distance in an instant!"

~>System<{" The [Skill: Speed] Has Been Enabled,"}>it displayed<~< p>

~>System<{" Your Speed has increased by 30%,"}>it rang<~< p>

  Dead sprinting towards Buryura, nearly closing the gap in an instant. Leaping up to its head, Winter cuts into Buryura's eyes. Bouncing around its head with both daggers slashing and leaving curations. "I can't... Get a critical hit in!" Winter thought, getting ready to go in for another attack.

~>System<{" [Fatigue: 61],"}>it displayed<~< p>

  Winter exhaled and bit down on his breath. Gritting his teeth, he pushed on. "A bit faster! Just a bit faster!" He thought about slashing more and more. He landed, breathing heavily. Winter leaped out of the way of the Buryura's attack and made an exhausted attempt to continue his slashing. Looking it in the face, it roared, but a leg was missing from his view. And When he noticed, it was too late.

~>System<{" [Fatigue: 70],"}>it displayed<~< p>

  Halting halfway through his leap, he brought his arms together to block the attack with his daggers. Even he was swatted away by the Buryura, launched back, and crashed into the ground, leaving a creator on the ground on his abrupt landing. Gritting his teeth, he lay on his back, panting with exhaustion. Taking this opportunity to attack Winter, the Buryura threw an appendage at him. Gritting his teeth, he watched as it approached, attempting to consider an escape. That's when it came to him. "Did I... Use my status recovery today?" Winter thought, then with a calm tone, he spoke, "Status Recovery."

  A bright light engulfed him, and his fatigue instantly went away. Just as Buryura's appendage slammed into the ground, Winter had moved out of the way, leaping through the two claws and running up its leg, dragging his daggers across its chitinous armor. Sparks trailing behind him. Leaping up and over its mouth before he dove straight for the eyes. For a brief moment, Winter saw true terror in the Buryura's eyes. And when he got closer, he saw his reflection, "It feels good to be powerful!" He thought, landing on the head of the Buryura, stabbing its eye with his daggers, pushing them deeper with his momentum.

  With Rage and frustration, he stabbed and cut through it, viciously ripping its eyes apart with his sharp daggers. He lifted both arms and cut through. Slashes came everywhere, bouncing off the walls and changing direction mid-air like lighting. Then, he dashed off. Quickly, it seemed like he had teleported, crossing his arms with his daggers backward. The head of the Buryura split apart into several Gorey pieces, spilling orange blood instead of the green from previous attacks.

~>System<{" The [Player] Has Defeated [Dungeon Boss]. [Dungeon] Will Now Begin to [Collapse] in on Itself,"}>it rang<~< p>

~>System<{" The [Player] Has leveled up! [x3],"}>it rang<~< p>

  Breathing heavily, Winter walked away from the corpse of the Buryura, still bleeding from its wounds. Winter looked to the right and saw how many times he leveled up. He was happy with his new growth from this venture. "I'm glad I didn't use my Status Recovery from the Daily Quest rewards... I don't think I would have been able to do that without it," Winter sighed in relief, looking around him, seeing the sudden and abrupt change of fate in his life. Looking over at the Buryura's head, Winter saw ten purple, glowing Essence Stones in its head. Like a man skinning his hunt, Winter dug the stones out and placed them in his inventory.

  Things were brightening, and Winter was fully rested from the extensive battle with Buryrua, and the Lizard Strike Squad returned. The entrance was opened with an explosion of fire, dust, and smoke erupted out the entrance. Quite quickly, Winter's face curled up into a snarl and deathly glare. His eyes glowed a deep, blood-red. Like a heartbeat, it grew brighter, then dimmer before growing bright again. Through the settling smoke and dust, he saw the eight members of the squad walking in.