Chapter 30

Siva’s Roar

He tried to defend but the B-rank monster was in his best condition, maybe someone who came from the back ranks while the bigger ones fought the dragon over him. He could only gasp and wide eyed surprised as the dragon, for the umpteenth time, defended him.

It ate the B-rank monster and its friends, five in all, crushing their bodies, throwing them away, and using his spiked tail to the damage.

The event only took a mere few seconds and Siva’s heart skipped a beat every time he saw a monster got killed by the dragon’s prowess. What more, though it already had the chance and the opening to kill or eat him, it still did not bask in the treat and instead went to finish off all the B-ranked monsters around.

“S-Siva…Aaaaarrgghh…” As soon as Samara found her bearing, she tried to stand up using her broken arm but ended up falling and rolling in pain when she finally realized.

She could’ve logged off but didn’t since logging off in the field and not in a safe zone had a consequence of not being able to log in for the next 72 earth hours. And not only that, users who logged off in the middle of a fight not only lose the equipment in their 3-slot settings, they also lose all money and items they currently had in their inventory.

So in short, quitting when in the middle of a fight where you had a chance of dying will make Janus angry and punish you severely.

It was this settings of the central AI that controlled the world of Terroa that made some users angry. But it also promoted security from a lot of unfair adventures not happening at the same time.

“Samara!” Agatha’s voice echoed in the voice chat of the communicator. “Siva, what happened to her?!”

“She got a broken arm!”

Their communication was halted when the dragon’s rampage ended with a crushing victory over the puny little B-ranked monsters. As the view was cleared and replaced by blood and gore from the dragon’s rampage, the panting creature glared at Siva and roared victorious in their midst.

The act gave the impression of the Lion King on that pedestal rock. And his subjects all watched from the sidelines as it proved once again why dragons are to be feared inside the game.

It was a unique skill from the dragons, Intimidation, that made them kings of the forest. Even if it was just a Forest Dragon, the lowest of the dragon race, it was still a Dragon who was the most powerful mob (or boss) in RPG: Terroa.

This skill that can make players freeze within a set of time is what made dragons almost unbeatable.

Intimidation, just like the skill’s name itself, once a player hears (especially sees) a dragon execute the Pose of the King, they all gets paralyzed and ends up freezing in place for five seconds (10 for those who sees). And when the players are frozen, that’s where the dragon gets the chance to eat. In short, it was a skill made to be the dragon’s weapon against them all.

But not every soul in the vicinity was affected of the skill. There was actually one person who had enough spirit to actually defy the intimidation of the king.

As soon as a notification in his vision said [Paralysis status rejected!], he knew automatically that he was in on a special of special cases. He glanced at Agatha who then spoke, “I‘m paralyzed!” and glanced back to the steady Samara who still wore the pain expression as she held on his broken arm.

“Heal Samara!” He said and stood up.

‘What are you going to do?’ Agatha said and began to run as she pants in the background.

“I will end this.”

‘Don’t! You’ll die!’

After Agatha’s response, Samara with her hoarse tone then spoke up. “You are going for a suicide…”

“No I‘m not.” Siva said confidently and seeing that he wasn’t affected of the skill, the dragon narrowed its gleaming eyes and lowered its head like a tiger, with a dark skinned dog-lizard’s scaly dragon-like face with whiskers, as it seemed to be readying itself to attack.

Siva took a step and that’s where the ten second of paralysis ended that enabled Samara to shakily stand.

She called out to Siva but he didn’t look back. The wind came from the North-Eastern side and the sol that shined down on Terroa came to a 4 P.M. position that gave him a boost of artistic coolness. Siva’s shirt who got torn up from the fighting fluttered and it looked like a cape as he steadied his bearing.

He faced the dragon’s imposing posture with casual steps and Samara continued to call out to him even after Agatha reached and healed her arm with Regenerate.

“You can’t win alone!”

She shouted but Siva ignored her as he manipulated his equipment settings and fixed back the third weapons options into the twin guns. After that, he closed his character window while never once averting his eyes on the dragon.

He said, “I am not alone.” and leaned back. “Think about it, Samara, we’ve been fighting together since the very beginning.”

“Siva!”

“Take her back, Agatha. This dragon won‘t let us go even I escape here. It set me up as its trophy. Even if we do fight it together, it would take you guys down first before it satisfies itself for a one on one fight with me.”

“But that’s…”

“That‘s only fair, Samara. Besides…can‘t you see?”

“Huh?”

At his prompt, Samara and Agatha exchanged looks and Siva pulled leaned his head to them as he opened his arms wide. “He‘s waiting for me to finish my last words with you guys.”

When the girls finally realized his point, they were left with no choice but to stare at his back as he went to continue his casual walk.

And then, Agatha made a last gamble and emptied her MNA points to zero (which also has a penalty of 90 seconds before starting to regenerate) and healed Siva from behind.

“You win this thing.” She could only say.

Without turning his head or stopping his steps, Siva stretched out his left arm and made an “okay” sign that left her smiling while Samara still remained anxious.

They ran back up to where Agatha was once hiding before and they were greeted by a group of hunters who had faces with shocked and anxious expressions.

But these are far from where Siva’s thoughts were all directed. To be precise, his eyes were straight looking at the dragon. The two of them were glaring at each other.

No movements, just a glaring contest.

Siva lowered his center of gravity, no weapons were visible, just the brownish red colored Cassius Clay on his arms that stretched from knuckles to elbow.

The dragon in kind remained on his hunting position and it tucked in his wings as a seemingly shadow of a wicked monstrous smile were drawn to its mouth. He’d have to be dreaming if it was but Siva didn’t care since he too was smiling and feeling the enjoyment of this one moment where he faced a maybe once in a lifetime experience of fighting a dragon one on one.

At that, he recalled the restraints, limitations, adds and cons, the scale of his wicked ability, triggers that activates the ability, and the conditions that activates it.

And as soon as he did, his body moved on its own as he started to walk towards the dragon.

Killing Zone

—within 100m radius, the user can call a monster horde

Effects:

1 Lowers the monsters’ defenses by 70%

2 Grants the gift ability, temporarily.

2.1 Exclusive to 100% SPR unique skills holder

2.1.1 Depends on needs at the moment

2.1.2 Consumes 80 manna

2.1.3 Only lasts until midnight that day

Conditions:

1 It only works on opponents recognized as enemies

2 It is a passive skill activated by agitation

3 Calls monsters the same rank as the user

4 No limits to monsters that can be summoned

After all these information entered his mind, he then recalled the circumstances where it all happened, how it happened, how it affected him, and how it pulled him up until the current situation. This ability gave him the power as well as the curse that he needed, a step closer to where he needed to be.

It went all in a fast forward motion, vividly clear and somehow felt easier to do and experience all over again.

He inhaled deep and released it.

He remembered his first fights where he still didn’t have Cassius Clay. Those were the moments where he had been given the Gift of Endurance. And he survived the head aching battle between those monsters that was actually above his capabilities. He used stones, sticks, even grass and rodents to trick the monsters to their deaths in his hands.

And on other days of his hunting, he was given the Gift of Power, the Gift of Stamina, Gift of Charisma, the Gift of Speed, and the Gift of Durability. But he never experienced having the Gift of Wisdom and the Gift of Energy since it belonged in the Mage class of users (though there actually are no classes and jobs in Terroa). And there was also the Gift of Constitution, at which was actually used by archers.

But it was all clear to him.

He remembered it all; those times where he’d almost died during a fight, alone in the forest, surrounded by countless monsters, struggling to live, with only a few HP left, bruised, beaten, injured, bleeding…dying…he remembered it all as if it was a few hours ago.

Close eyed, Siva inhaled and exhaled calmly. Arms wide and smiling while walking casually towards the dragon, the creature retaliated with a roar along with his Pose of the King that activated the unique skill that only those S-ranked and above ranked monsters had.

But while the souls who watched the climax of this brawl came into an abrupt stop of movements, he alone was unaffected by that terrifying ability.

He continued to walk casually. Every step was small and very much like walking in the park. But to the large beast who saw the stretch of his adversary’s strength, he started to move his head like a cowering rat, or a bat, who was being blinded by the light.

Their distance to each other shrank to a mere thirty meters. Then twenty. And finally, Siva stopped.

“Enemy…” He hissed and slowly opened his eyes.

The dragon looked at those eyes and roared angrily. A gust of wind came from where the dragon was and it was there that he lunged to bite Siva’s head.

Siva clapped his hands when he the dragon came and his fearless stance and his sudden act almost took the air on every spectator’s chests. The dragon welcomed the full impact of Siva’s attack and it took a few steps back groggily. But Siva did not stop there. He used his other leg to Air Jump and climbed up on the dragon’s head using his own whiskers.

That made him land on the dragon’s head, flipped in mid air, and kicked right where it was supposed to have ears. The dragon staggered and stepped back again and Siva, while in mid air, summoned Eibon and Steve, his twin guns, and emptied their magazines on the dragon’s head.

When he landed, he tried to call out on monsters again, willingly, but only four Cyclops Monkeys came.

“That‘s enough…” He hissed and used the dragon’s left shoulder to climb up, jump on the monster’s neck, and grabbed on tight to the Ender’s hilt there.

ROOOOAAARRRR…

The dragon roared angrily as it tried to shake him off. The B-ranked monsters began to attack it, aiming for Siva, but he skillfully avoided them in exchange for a lot of effort and a head splitting pain on his temple.

Siva groaned every time he was swayed hard but the Cyclops Monkeys continued to attack the dragon while the latter was still affected by Siva’s last attack.

It swung its tail, one monster was hit at the back and died. It roared angrily, the monsters froze, and when it opened its eyes, it trampled on two more monsters and blew off the last by slamming his body to it.

In the process, Siva was also blown off his position but he also pulled off the Ender and luckily landed on the ground on his fours. He used the sword to stab the ground and steady himself, making a skidding mark on the brown colored soil.

GRAAAAWRR…

The dragon roared again as he shook his head and tried to focus its eyes on Siva. Siva smiled and saw the Cyclops Monkey getting up, went towards it, stabbed it on the spine, then led it slamming its miniscule body to the dragon.

His plan worked as the dragon used its head to bite off the monster but Siva jumped and clapped hi hands that created a barrier of pure wind pressure between the dragon and the monster. The latter died as its eyes went up but the dragon lifted its head as if it received a large uppercut.

Along with the painful groan of the creature, its dull reaction of randomly clawing whatever’s up front got Siva by surprise and he used the sword to shield himself from the attack.

He got blown off, his HP shrank to mere 40% from a full 100 and Agatha gasped as tears started to flow in her eyes.

It was an epic battle.

Siva didn’t stop his movements, he roared and yelled on the dragon and the dragon shook its head as blood was flowing from its neck and its mouth.

The attacks are now taking its toll on the dragon and Siva was starting to feel that his chances of winning is getting near. But then again, his body was aching. His head was like being split open, his vision was getting so blurry, he was seeing the dragon in twos.

But he still tried to stand up. He used the sword to help himself, kneeled down on one knee and watched as the dragon spit out red dragon blood from its mouth.

Its neck was bleeding continuously because of Siva and had his last short stay there. He used the Ender to widen up the wound he caused earlier and since it was a defenseless area of the dragon, the critical damage it had on him was now taking its toll.

What more, Siva used his strongest attack on the dragon two times, its brain should be shaken up to its core and its eyes should be blurry from the blockaded blood on its head.

Still, the dragon remained majestically prideful as it did his dragon pose and roared that put everyone else around frozen.

“Hahaha…It‘s not gonna work on me!” Siva shouted and he roared and ran towards the dragon with all his might. “RAAAAAAAA….”

The dragon also took the challenge and though still staggering, went to meet the last and final bout.

It used its Dragon Roar and large black bullets came at Siva in super speed. But he already saw it before, had memorized the actions of the dragon before it used the ability and while it inhaled deep as its only preparation, Siva already jumped twice in midair to dodge.

Though the dragon saw him and tried to follow his climb, the Dragon Roar attack already ended and he had no air in his lungs to support a follow up attack.

Siva used this opportunity to throw the Ender to the dragon, hoping that its defenses were drained down to the lowest, enough to stab through its thick skull.

Luckily it did. But since it was a dragon with super high defense and naturally thick scales, the Ender didn’t really stabbed that deep. But the attack still gave Siva an opening. Since the dragon followed his movements upward, its head was eventually inclined facing him.

As he had thrown the dragon his sword its head naturally leaned aside to reduce the pain. That was the opening.

The dragon’s eyes were closed at that moment and so Siva quickly switched back to Cassius Clay, used his left arm to punch the air behind him, and gave him the boost on his way down. He then twisted his body and clenched his right fist the hardest.

“DIEEEEEEEEEEEE…!!!”

The dragon opened its eyes, mouth open wide, and its black cat eyes in golden iris focused on Siva as he looked at the face of the man his eyes last saw that day.