EFFORTLESS KILL: ANASTASIA'S THUNDERWIND SLASH (A)

A densely wooded area mesmerized the bleary eyes of some of the participants further strained by the pearly-dappled sun in the dreary sky. Tiny specks of fur seemed to dance in the little shaft of the afternoon sunlight that slanted through the branch's gap.

The trees were tangled and hollow, piercing the overcast sky with their wide trunks. Dark green leaves adorned its branches along with thick vines.

The occasional hoots of lurking [Owl Bears] broke the silence in the dungeon. The piercing daylight made the nocturnal [Owl Bear] slumber in their nests.

However, some hungry owl bears went astray in search of food. At this point, the appearing humans were perfect prey.

Owl Bears were like a cross between an owl and a bear. It was notoriously aggressive and ferocious, covered in thick shaggy coats of both bristly fur and feathers of brownish-black coloration. Their hooked beaks at its head shrouded with feathers with predominant fur on its body.

Its sharp round eyes reflected ethereal hunger.

Anastasia, Han Seo Yeon, and Girth just appeared somewhere in the dungeon yet they came across the rather ravenous monster. With no warning, the monster leaped with its massive paws with sharp claws, causing a little tremor in the ground.

"Let me handle this"

Anastasia stood her ground against the 3 meters tall bipedal monster. A sword appeared in her hand as she leaped forward, meeting the frantic owl bear.

The [Owl Bear] whacked its paw which was effortlessly evaded by Anastasia mid-air. She took the momentum to step on the monster's arm and stomp her feet to push herself forward with great force.

In just a breath, her D-grade sword set ablaze in golden streaks, slicing through the neck of the monster. The [Owl Bear] fell heavily on the ground, headless.

Flicking off the blood from her sword, Anastasia turned her head to the monster's corpse. She bent her knees, stretching her right arm to take the diamond shard that dropped from the [Owl Bear].

[Owl Bear Mana Crystal (C)

Description: Can be used in manufacturing items. An additional skill will be added to the bonded item.

Contained Skill: Strength Augmentation (C)]

Mana crystals were valuable in the manufacturing of items. The dropped items which originally possessed limited skills could be enhanced further with the binding of mana crystal. This could add a skill or two with a binding failure rate that depended on the craftsman's aptitude.

Anastasia placed the mana crystal in her inventory and then turned her head to the two who looked at her with awe. They could never get used to seeing her adept swordsmanship and nimble footwork despite seeing it hundreds of times now.

They were still left amazed by her skill.

But, Girth could not tolerate himself being fascinated for long, he rolled his eyes.

Anastasia walked toward the two. It might appear simple to others but Anastasia herself felt the strength of the [Owl Bear]. The thick fur was akin to steel that she doubted she could kill it with ease without using her A-grade skill [Thunderwind Slash].

To slice through its metallic fur, Anastasia inferred that at least A-grade skill was needed. Skills below that could also work but that would take the guerilla warfare tactic of ambushing and stacking damage over time.

With this, she grew anxious about the two. Han Seo Yeon might be ranked 203 and had mostly A-grade skills but these skills were mostly inclined to support and tanking rather than dealing damage. The same went for Girth.

Anastasia couldn't help but wonder how these two supports would fare in the battle against the [Owl Bear].

Han Seo Yeon saw the abrupt change in her expression. He knew in an instant her worries.

"It is fine, we can do well on our own. Trust us, Anastasia"

Han Seo Yeon was reluctant to drag Anastasia in this examination. He sought a higher rank for Anastasia.

Girth, however, scorned her. Among the three, he was the one on the edge of the cliff - ranking bottom and the stench of death lurking around him.

He didn't want to fail this examination and die.

Girth walked away from the two.

"Helping each other, my ass, ke!", Girth jeered, kicking pebbles to the hollow trees.

Han Seo Yeon glared at his remarks. He knew where Girth was coming from but he could care less. Anastasia's ranking mattered the most to him at the moment. Han Seo Yeon solaced the remorseful Anastasia.

"You don't have to worry about him. I will make sure he survives so do your thing and don't worry about us"

Hesitant, Anastasia nodded her head.

"I will be just close so when you need help, send me a signal or whatever and I will be sure to come and help you guys right away"

"Just go away, ke!"

As Girth's voice fell, Anastasia stole another glance at the two before her figure disappeared into the tangled woods.

----

In pure contrast, other fortunate groups had a steady expedition in the gloomy forest. They didn't encounter any [Owl Bear] yet.

Several discouraged teams ventured into groups, dubious that they could fight the C-rank monster on their own. Unlike them, higher species roamed like lone wolves, thirsty to confront monsters and acquire mana crystals.

But they wouldn't be facing monsters sooner with the pearly sun still up in the sky. They could only leap from branch to branch, aimlessly in search of astray [Owl Bear]. Some even razed hollow trees in the hope that a monster nested there.

Among this fortunate group was the goblins. They had ventured with relative ease and were lucky enough to encounter their prey this early.

They were currently trailing Felix who was rather unfortunate as he battled against an [Owl Bear] the exact moment he appeared in the dungeon.

His wooden sword couldn't possibly penetrate the thick fur of the monster. The third time his sword met its thick membrane, the fragile sword broke.

The monster had been furious by the young elf's small figure that incessantly ran and hid through the tangled trees. With the breaking of the sword, the monster couldn't possibly let go of this chance. It delivered a swift strike toward Felix who was still suspended mid-air.

*boom*

Felix came hurling meters away, slamming and breaking tree after tree. His ribs broke from the impact, blood gushed out of his protruding bones.

The monster blinked in dissatisfaction. It was aggrieved at how it inchly missed the elf's head, diverting the blow to its shoulder instead.

Still, the elf had suffered fatal damage from the impact. The monster clicked its beak, running wild with elation at finally subduing its prey.

Now came its meal time.

The [Owl Bear] ran frantically toward the elf who chronically coughed blood. But, how could the overlooking goblins let a bottom ranker die before their eyes this early? The goblins couldn't let Felix die now.

They still need him to occupy the bottom ranking and be the tribute on this examination.

"KRIKRIKRIKRIKRI"

The goblins made wild noises from the opposite direction, nimbly twisting their small bodies to fit in a narrow crevice in a hollowed tree.

The [Owl Bear] with well-developed hearing fell into a trance at the clamor. It could easily distinguish from the noises that there were more of this ignorant prey. The monster couldn't let them away.

It stole a glance to Felix who appeared that he would take a long time to recuperate. The monster couldn't handle complex thoughts as it just ran to kill the group of prey, purely driven by instinct and craving to catch several prey. It would just return for Felix later.

The monster could pinpoint the location of the wild noise with ease. It was certain that it was in the narrow crevice. However, it tilted its owl head with questions when it reached the area. The goblins were nowhere to be found.

At that moment, somehow, it knew it had been tricked.

It promptly dashed back to Felix only to see a pool of blood. Felix had already escaped the scene.

*HOOOOOTTTT!"

The [Owl Bear] cried with enrage.

---

Inside the hollow tree on the outskirts of the dungeon.

Alab sat on the stump and before him was the [Skeleton Apprentice] who peeked through the narrow opening of the hollowed tree.

In the hands of Alab was a D-grade item that soon turned into a light that penetrated Alab's body into his soul. A notification then rang.

[Your converted points have increased.]

[D-grade points +1]

[[Available Converted Points:

- D (×78) ]

Alab was close to upgrading his [Skeleton Apprentice] to C-rank. He still had enough items from Anastasia's group, loitering in his inventory in wait to be converted into points.

The moment he arrived in this dungeon, Alab was rapid in finding a decent refuge which happened to be this hollow tree located on the outskirts of the dungeon.

There were lesser trees here and were far from the violent cries from both participants and monsters deep in the dungeon. He inferred that it was best to keep his hands off the battle momentarily.

He could take his time developing his skill and converting points.

With the passing of time, Alab continued to convert items, enigmatic as he peered into the deeper part of the dungeon.

[Your converted points have increased!]

[Your converted points have increased!]

[Your converted points have increased!]

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