Chapter 45

045. Dungeon Strategy (4)

Rumble...

The moment I crossed the red portal leading to the boss room, I couldn't help but light up my eyes at the scene that unfolded before me.

"Grumble..."

A monster sitting on a crudely carved stone chair let out a low growl. It was several times larger than a regular lizardman, and Jee-won, who was standing next to me, widened his eyes.

"Of course... I thought there would be a lot of lizardmen, but it's the Lizard King."

Is this the standard progression?

'Lizard King, huh.'

It was exactly the kind of monster I had expected, so I didn't feel particularly moved.

The Lizard King is generally an advanced version of the lizardman. It has quite a few utility skills and its combat techniques are several times more threatening than a regular lizardman. It can temporarily bind enemies and emit poison to cause poisoning effects.

Well, if you only hear up to this point, you might think it's a very difficult opponent...

'But the Lizard King isn't that tough.'

Even though I had never faced one before, I was confident about this. The Hunter Association and various guilds have stated that a skilled B-class hunter can solo it.

Both the binding skill and the poison emission skill... while there are various types, they are not particularly high-level and not very threatening.

'With just a few skills, you can easily hunt it.'

The abilities I gained from the Tower of Trials were certainly not inferior to this.

However.

"Um, what are you going to do...?"

Jee-won, a pure D-class hunter, asked me with a tense expression. He probably thought it would be difficult for the two of us to take on the Lizard King.

But that didn't change my mind.

"Just wait a moment."

"Wait? No, no. Don't you have a specific plan? Even some support...!"

"I don't think it's necessary. Just step back and help if it gets dangerous; that will be enough."

This was a chance to see how much I had grown in the Tower of Trials...

I didn't want to easily clear it with Jee-won's help.

Moreover.

'Actually, it doesn't seem like it will take long to clear it.'

I was confident that I could take it down quickly with all the skills I currently had.

"Grumble, grumble!"

Thud.

The Lizard King stood up, seemingly irritated, and the ground shook.

And at that moment.

"Go, attack signal. Be careful...!"

Bang!

Before Jee-won could finish his sentence, I sprang into action.

I had already understood the attack signal.

"Grace of the Wind."

「The skill 'Grace of the Wind' has been activated.」

「All speeds increase by 10%.」

「Current skill stacking progress - 1/7」

With a gentle wind enveloping my body, my feet moved as if sliding.

Then.

"Grumble."

Whoosh-!

A strange wave spread around the Lizard King as it let out a short growl.

「You have been exposed to the skill 'Slowing Wave'.」

「All speeds are reduced by 25%.」

'Another debuff skill...'

In the past, I would have been annoyed and thought about how to counter it, but now it was different.

'I can just ignore it.'

「The skill 'Forceful Breakthrough' has been activated.」

「The player's mana is more than twice that of the user of the slowing skill.」

「The effect of reducing all speeds by 25% has been nullified.」

"Grumble!?"

The moment the slowing effect disappeared, I channeled a large amount of mana throughout my body.

I did this to strengthen my body further through the Mana Circuit skill...

As the mana circulated through my body, my steps became even faster.

And at that moment, I swung my sword at the Lizard King with my right hand.

If the opponent had been a D-class monster with no special abilities, it would have ended there...

Clang!

'Oh...'

The Lizard King quickly regained its composure and countered my sword strike.

It extended a long straight sword to block my attack.

Hmm, as expected, it doesn't give in easily like the monsters I've faced before.

'Then I need to step up my game.'

Without hesitation, I pressed my sword against the Lizard King's straight sword and moved my lips.

And.

「The skill 'Grace of the Wind' has been stacked.」

「All speeds increase by 60%.」

「Current skill stacking progress - 6/7」

I then stepped back, almost reaching the maximum stacking of the Grace of the Wind skill.

To lure the Lizard King's attention and reveal a weakness, I summoned a bait.

「I consume several commandments to summon a skeleton.」

「Current number of commandments - 21/30」

Several commandments I had accumulated disappeared, activating the 'Summoner' trait I gained from the Dominator's Aura.

Clatter, clatter.

Black smoke rose from the ground, and a small skeleton rose from it.

Whoosh.

The moment white flames erupted from where the skeleton's eyes should be...

The newly summoned skeleton began to charge at the Lizard King.

'Hmm, an automatic combat summon that can't be directly controlled...'

It was quite good that I didn't need to divert my concentration during battle.

However, was its efficiency a problem?

Bang-!

The skeleton that charged straight at the Lizard King was struck by the straight sword and staggered, then collapsed.

「The summoned skeleton has been destroyed.」

The result didn't seem impressive considering the number of commandments I used to summon it.

Of course...

'It's still worth it.'

Whoosh...

Right after the skeleton staggered, I immediately approached the Lizard King.

The Lizard King had made a large movement to shake off the skeleton, which had approached at a more threatening speed than expected.

Its posture was more disordered than before, and it had many more openings.

'I can take it down.'

I was quite fast, having stacked the 'Grace of the Wind' skill before the cooldown started.

And.

「The special effect of Swift Boots (C+) increases my instantaneous speed.」

With the effect of the item I obtained on the 7th floor, it felt like the wind was swirling around my feet.

So, the power of the blow, which contained all that speed...

「The dungeon boss 'Lizard King' has died.」

「The next dungeon boss will appear in 14 days.」

Crack-!!

Needless to say, it was an outstanding blow.

Thud.

"..."

I cut off the Lizard King's head, wiped the blood from my face, and chuckled.

Honestly, I thought it wouldn't be difficult in theory, but it felt strange to take it down so easily.

'The skills I obtained through synthesis are more powerful than I thought?'

While the Strong Eye only enhanced my vision, Forceful Breakthrough was different.

It made dealing with slowing and binding skills, which I used to be weak against, much easier.

'Of course, there will be opponents that even this doesn't work against, but I bought anti-magic resistance to prepare for that.'

Even the rewards I obtained on the 7th floor were incredible.

The Grace of the Wind skill can increase speed without any cost up to the sixth stack, and the Swift Boots greatly synergize with such skills.

Forceful Breakthrough and Grace of the Wind alone are already a game-breaking combination...

'And with the Necromancer's Summoner trait activated, it's even more destructive.'

Even if it was just an illusion, the skeleton summoned by the Summoner trait was quite useful.

It broke with a single strike but was sufficient to apply a slight threat.

Overall, it was a satisfying battle for me.

Well, the new abilities of Necromancy felt a bit weak...

But I could improve them gradually, so it wasn't a big concern.

"Uh, uh...?"

Feeling satisfied, I turned around to see Jee-won staring at me in shock.

"How...?"

From his words, I could sense a mix of many emotions.

However, I didn't have a specific answer to his question.

'I just did it because I could...'

For Jee-won, this might have been more meaningful than I thought.

I understood to some extent.

After all, getting the opportunity to clear a boss is difficult, and clearing it properly is even harder.

But I possess power beyond a C-class hunter, so I didn't feel particularly moved.

Of course...

"Are you perhaps a high-ranking hunter who has changed their identity?"

Jee-won didn't seem satisfied with such an answer.

"No, I'm not. I'm not a promising candidate for any organization either."

"But... if you're this strong, you shouldn't just be a C-class hunter, right...?"

"I guess so. I've recently become much stronger, so I'm not sure how strong I am."

"..."

It was a lie.

I had a pretty good idea of how strong I was.

I was likely approaching the power of an A-class hunter.

But I pretended not to care to avoid revealing too much about myself.

"Anyway, now that we've cleared the boss, we can obtain the dungeon's ownership."

I then shifted the topic to the dungeon.

Talking about the dungeon was better than discussing more about me.

"The ownership of the gate... Yes, that's right. As a sustained gate, Hunter Han Seung-yun can handle it as he sees fit."

It was a welcome statement.

I needed money at this point.

'Selling it would be better.'

It would be more beneficial to sell it and buy more items for the Tower of Trials.

I also considered using it without selling, but it's practically difficult for an individual to occupy and use a gate.

The procedures are complicated, and I didn't want to put in that much effort.

And...

Even if I occupied and used this gate, it wouldn't be much help.

'With the unique traits, it will become harder to grow in such dungeons...'

In reality, I had reached the limit of commandment storage and absorbed some commandments, but my abilities didn't improve.

This meant that such dungeons were no longer very helpful.

"I don't think I have anything more to say about the gate's ownership."

"Hmm, then you don't mind if I take the gate's ownership?"

"That's right. You basically cleared the dungeon on your own..."

His tone suggested that it would be fortunate to get some loot as a byproduct.

"Then let's collect the Lizard King's loot and leave."

Before Jee-won could say anything, I approached the Lizard King's corpse.

Collecting the loot was a bonus, but the main point was this.

「Absorbing the Lizard King's commandment.」

「Proficiency increased by 11%.」

'As expected.'

While a lizardman only gave 0.7% proficiency, the Lizard King was different.

The proficiency increase was satisfactory, so I was content.

I then activated Necromancy and began extracting the mana stone from the Lizard King's heart.

「Absorbing the Lizard King's commandment to permanently increase abilities.」

「Strength increased by 2.」

「Agility increased by 1.」

「Health increased by 4.」

「Mana increased by 4.」

「Endurance increased by 5.」

I would keep other commandments that don't significantly help growth for their shielding effects...

But absorbing the Lizard King's commandment to enhance my abilities was better.

I had returned to reality to grow and adapt to new abilities.

'Hmm, my abilities have increased quite a bit.'

Then.

「Absorbing one of the skills the Lizard King possessed.」

The sudden message made me widen my eyes.

"..."

The ability to absorb one of the skills from a commandment with a low probability...

An unexpected additional reward occurred.