Chapter 150 The Day 'It' Happened (3)
[Giant Fire Boar]
Strength: 131
Dexterity: 121
Stamina: 112
Magic Power: 115
Intelligence: 102
[Skills: Strong Mana Body, Fire strides, Earth shatter, Earth Spikes, Fire pillar, Berserk overload, High smell, Sharp hearing, Fire spheres, Free Mana breathing.]
-The creature has gone beyond the saving in its berserk state.
-The high intelligence it gained by sacrificing its sanity is terrifying.
-If I were you, I would never go up against this monster, not when it\'s like this.
-Take my advice, oh weak one, forfeit. That would be best.
\'What?\' I exclaimed in utter confusion as I looked at that blood-red status window of this creature.
First those comments about this creature, then those exaggerated numbers, and lastly, that intelligence.
Not even Gaar, a creature who can talk or his companions, had that kind of intelligence.
Not only that, this boar had the most skills I had seen in an energy beast.
First, this was no ordinary monster. Second, I had to kill it.
And then this skill of mine...
\'Forfeit the match? Weak one? You bet.\'
I knew this creature was at least stronger than me, in almost most ways.
It was superior, but it had a fatal flow I couldn\'t look away from.
It was mad, a berserk monster.
Even if it was superior with high stats, it wasn\'t at the level of impossible.
\'Well, every creature would be weak when you fight a catastrophically strong being like her.\'
I was confident of defeating this one, just that I will have to make some sacrifices.
[ "Asta, Celes, let\'s start." ]
[[ Yes~! ]] she answered with a radiant voice and came out of her mark.
<-Yyyyyyyy.>
Even this weapon carrying a special [Ego] was excited about this \'tough\' fight.
Well, Asta was special in many ways. And it was my partner.
Taking out a cool-looking white bow, which was apparently a (Level-9) artifact I got in the position.
Of course, it was just a random bow, like many I had in the white crack.
I didn\'t have the main bow or a favorite one, not for now at least.
Nothing worked as well with me as this arrow.
Of those countless weapons in weaponry, not a single one resonated as well with me as Asta.
Well, everything was better than most, so I didn\'t worry at all.
Master already said there was a perfect one dying to be one with me... and ignoring that weird phrasing, it meant there was a weapon perfectly compatible with me somewhere in this tower.
Well, there was only the 51st floor, the grandest and most special place, [Treasury], that could have something like that.
I could go anywhere in this tower and I knew a lot about this place after living here for almost 3 years but, I wasn\'t allowed on some floors.
Not for the time being.
Maybe I can go after this fight?
Well, I have to win this utter one-sided thing first.
[ "Let\'s go." ] I announced and the invisibility spell broke.
With bloodshot eyes, the boar looked at me, exactly in my eyes, and roared once again.
"Mooooooo!!"
Even its voice was weird.
"Shadow Dive."
I vanished and at the same time, a ball of scorching hot fire shot at that place.
-Boooom!
The explosion was loud, but things became strangely quiet after this attack.
The confused boar looked around, failing to notice me under its enormous body.
Asta was invisible all this time, but as soon as I reached the weak spot of this boar, coming into sight, it vibrated in an ear-piercing noise.
-Skiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...
This boar had a weak vision, but its hearing power was far superior to many beasts.
But its supreme sense was its giant boar nose.
It could detect anything if it had even a little distinct scent than the surroundings but, I had my beloved Celes this time.
We couldn\'t do it before, but now we can completely erase the presence, sound, smell, or even the light waves passing by us.
We can completely become one with our surroundings, just that it took high mental power to maintain that form.
Even with the golden fruit, we could only maintain this for around three minutes consecutively.
Thankfully, this one didn\'t have a large cooldown and we can use it every other minute after the use.
But it was enough to deal a fatal blow to this creature.
(High water pillar)
Against a fire and earth affinity creature, water would naturally be more powerful.
And this was a Solnova spell, so there was no way this creature with no affinity with the spell could sense it.
I was almost under this \'male\' boar, and the spell was more powerful than a (tier-3) spell.
Casting it was easy as I had the beautiful blue pearl the hippo gifted, so it took far less concentration, even for a high-level spell like this.
If only it had hit this bastard...
"Moooooooo!"
I don\'t know how, but it sensed the attack... or at least a threat to its life and ran forward without hesitation.
Truly, this bastard had even more battle sense than other creatures.
It would be a perfect creature in a war, and maybe some places do use it as a war mount.
Well, my perfect sneak attack was ruined and the pillar of water that shot out of the ground gave away my location.
"Mooo!" and this basted didn\'t waste even a second to use the earth\'s spikes.
\'One on the left, two on right, and... one under me? That bastard!\' I shouted mentally and took out four enchanted metallic arrows.
The invisibility from Celes was still there but I can\'t use shadow dive right now.
There was the only way to avoid getting hurt this early in the fight.
Channeling some mana in my black boots, or the [Versatile Boots], an artifact with high jump enchantment, I tapped the ground.
-Xiuuuuuuu.
As if an arrow, they shot me floating in the sky and I covered the four arrows in my hands with pure white energy different from Mana.
The spikes collided with each other and failed to deal any damage to me.
The boar was some distance away, but, while in the air, the invisibility ended.
[[ Master! Sorry! ]]
She apologized hurriedly and became visible around me.
But thankfully, I was still airborne, floating in the same place I was stopped.
(Lesser fly)
An easier version of the flying spell that can at least stop one in the air.
Though it took a lot of Mana, it wasn\'t as high as the amount I can recover from the surroundings naturally.
The fruit was a great help but, there was a problem.
"Moooooooooo!!" the black pig roared and 1,2,3,... 15 magic circles appeared around him.
\'Well, damn.\' I gasped in shock as his skill channeling finished instantly.
-Swish! Swish! swish!...
\'Fuck... fuck, fuck, fuck.\'
Its speed was closer to my arrows, and even before I could think properly, the earth spikes were released.
"Shit..."
Cussing the pig for the last time, I channeled a large amount of Solnova into these four different colored arrows and shot them without much thinking.
-Boooooom!
Fifteen earth spikes of almost one-meter length and half-meter width were halfway to me.
\'As if I would let them pass.\'
Everything was happening at a speed no normal human could perceive.
The red, green, blue, and brown arrows were faster than the sound and the boom after the release had broken the sound barrier.
A spark appeared between the four of them as they made a rectangular shape and then suddenly joined together.
[ "Asta, now!" ]
The four arrows became one and were replaced by a bright, yellow light.
"Moooo!?" the berserk pig shouted as if shocked by this sudden appearance of the spell, but it should have focused on the surroundings.
-Swiiiiiiish! Khack!!
"Moooooooooooo!!!"
The boar screamed with an agonizing scream as an arrow covered with low-pressure water collided with it.
It pierced its back legs, and it fall to the ground, screaming in excruciating pain.
At the same time, the yellow light covered almost as much area as these earth spikes.
The light was blinding, but the way it covered all those spicks was the indication of its absurd strength.
"Good, now let\'s go-" The pig had hit the ground and a large smoke had covered my front vision.
The way the pig fell was natural, and I thought that was it but…
-Swiiiish!
\'That was close...\' I gasped after dodging two spikes shot just after this pig was injured.
Thanks to my third eye, I saw the whole fight from a different angle, and I was able to dodge this one.
The pig bastard had faked that last one... and it stood up unharmed after noticing I was alive.
\'Intelligent basted...\' I cussed and vanished once again.
Faking an injury?
Not even that slime was intelligent enough to do something like that.
This fight... would be more difficult than I thought.
That last attack with Asta was close to a (tier-4) spell, and that pig was standing there as if the pain was nothing to it.
The blood was gushing out of the wound, but the pig had a smirk as he looked at... me?
\'Crap... it just predicted this one, right?\' I wondered and while flaying down as fast as I can, I flipped my body to the left and dodged the sudden fire attack.
This time, it was an earth spike covered in those dirty crimson flames.
\'Skill… combination?\' barely avoiding the hit and managed to land on the ground safely.
That was unbelievable...
A (Green) ranked creature being able to combine the skill with this much proficiency?
Holy mother of crocodiles…
This creature was a rare one, blessed with the gift of knowledge and wisdom.
Despite its low natural racial intelligence, this abnormal one had far better battle sense than any regular beast.
This would be difficult, and a battle of attrition was the only way to stop that pig.
\'Didn\'t think I will use this one this soon. But, well, going all out against just a berserk (Green) ranked creature was meaningless from the start.\'
What my skill said was true, and there was no way I could beat that thing on my own.
But, after preparing for a year, there was no way I haven\'t thought of this possibility.
I was overgeared.
The (Level-9) bow, a pseudo-divine artifact with countless enchantments, tons of scripted spells, and an absurd amount of elixir that can heal health, stamina, and Mana.
Many mass-produced arrows like the one from before and my marvelous Celes.
Even with my physical and body limitations, I believed even a lesser (Indigo) ranked creature would be possible for me.
And I was only counting Mana and Solnova as energy sources. There was no need to use the high power Aura for this disgraceful creature.
\'Three eyes... you have a lot to learn, darling.\' I smirked and my body melted in shadows.
"Moooooooo!" Pig roared and the surrounding earth shattered as large spikes of earth, bigger than before, started appearing one by one.
The mana into the surrounding surged towards it, making a visible fog of dense Mana.
He was breathing in this dense cloud of Mana, gathering more energy than before.
At that rate, I was sure its Mana regeneration will be faster than the skill usage.
Well, damn… again.
I could see my master this whole time and she had set up a tea table under an enormous umbrella and was watching my fight with a pleased smirk.
I knew she was just doing this for her fun... at least that was the only conclusion I can think of after seeing that pleased smirk.
Deciphering the thoughts of this higher being I respected as my master and loved as my grandma was one of my bucket list tasks.
…that might never come true.
As I was looking at her from some distance with my third eye, she smiled and waved at me.
\'How does she even see this third eye!?\'
Sighing deeply, I tightened the grip on my bow and took out a quiver full of the special arrows like before.
This tower was amazing and one of the floors here had a divine artifact that can make the programmed items.
That thing was a cheat, and having abundant resources was the biggest blessing this tower offered.
I actually had more weapons in my white crack that could support a small-scale war.
Who knows what I will even use them for, but they were there.
Well, if I really had to-
"Mooooooooo!" the pig was ready even before I expected it.
[ "Asta, execute (Act-1)" ] I said and my lance-like arrow returned to my hands.
Quickly channeling my fast, pure white Solnova, I filled it with new energy.
A runic pattern of blue covered its body, and the red gem at its end blinked like heartbeats.
Asta was special because it can use any energy as its power source and one of the most broken aspects of it was its ability to gather environmental energy and amplify the spells to a whole new level.
[[ Oh? Finishing it this quickly? ]]
Master asked for the first time in this long battle and even that… with a sad voice?
Now I was even more certain she didn\'t just want to have some fun.
She already knew the outcome, so she didn\'t even try to give the hint.
I... could have entertained her far more than this, but… something was off.
Something wasn\'t right with her behavior today.
Even though I knew her mood swings, that hour-long stare, this happy expression, that strong pig... I had an uneasy feeling and after hearing that expected answer just now, my mind became more chaotic.
[ "Let\'s talk later, grandma. I should focus on this pig." ]
I answered and just for a second, an almost unnoticeable moment, her eyes changed from a warm look to a mournful look.
[[ Master... ]]
[ "Let\'s finish this, Celes. Asta, I\'m counting on you, sweety." ]
After shoving the end of Asta into the ground and confirming the Gathering of Solnova from the surroundings, I vanished, and so did Asta.
We were connected with a special bond so I can feel the uneasiness she had but didn\'t show it openly.
Celes was also feeling something weird about the situation but focused her attention on the enemy before our eyes.
"Let\'s end this..." I mumbled in a stern voice as the new spheres of earth and fire shot at the place we were standing.