She picked a dagger for the other hand. She momentarily picked up another sword to use 1st Life String on it. She attached the string to her left hand. After a pause, she also picked up a spear from under a mangled corpse, attaching a string around it for her right hand.

Not bad. Each weapon took a few points to bind, much lower when she had forcibly taken over. The string attached to the weapon would manifest when she activates the skill, pulling it towards her.

“Say, is there a reason that Fire Swordsman is staring at us in a very affectionate manner?” Kara asked. He’d been staring at her non-stop. If he had a Blood-lust skill it would have activated twice over

He might try to kill us at some point, Nilbog said.

“That will be true for everyone, at some point,” Kara replied as she moved forward. She had a total of 95 mana and 174 Life Force left. She wanted to leave Nilbog some Life Force for after the Dungeon, just in case someone attacks him before she can get here, but it didn’t seem possible anymore. She needed to guarantee the first spot, and that Fire Mage didn’t seem to be holding anything back.

1st Life Enhancement.

1st Life Enhancement

Slot: Enhancement

Increase Strength and Agility by 20%.

Duration: 3 Minutes

It was expensive. The cost was 20% of her Max Life Force, which was 46 points. It also capped her Life Force bar by that much, lowering it from 230 to 184.

The Ent swung its right arm towards the people to its front, causing all of them to leap backward.

Kara was the only one to dash in, ducking low enough for her nose to scrape against the floor. She stepped to the right and then to the left, getting under the Ent Core as it swung diagonally with its other arm.

Short-Breath in combination with Basic Dodge gave her a noticeable boost in speed. It was a decent combo.

Minor Penetration!

You have dealt 21 Slashing damage to Ent Core’s HP!

The blade barely made a cut on the Ent Core's skin. Its damage reductions were too high for any weak attacks. She quickly pulled it out and stepped under its arm.

The Ent Core’s right fist left a large dent where Kara was standing. Seeing their chance, all three people to its front had charged forward, putting in a couple good stabs after her.

Kara did not bother slashing from its side. Instead, she jumped forward, placing a foot against the monster’s thigh as she climbed onto its back.

The Ent Core swiped with its left arm and kept spinning around, missing Kara as she dug the dagger into its back. She’d only gotten minor penetration with 12 damage, but more importantly, she had a good grip. She swung along with the Ent Core, holding onto its back as it turned a few rounds. The stench of burnt flesh and wood exacerbated as her face pressed against its shoulder-blades.

When the Ent Core stuttered a step to the side, off-balance as its limbs returned to their original forms, everyone not hit by its attack took advantage of its opening. The others lunged forward, stabbing and slashing, but Kara was still not in position. She kicked its buttocks and climbed up, her dagger going into its neck as she raised herself to its shoulders. It was another minor penetration but this time it dealt 26 damage. As expected, it had significantly less damage reductions there.

Thorns suddenly thrust from its eyeholes to impale a surprised warrior. The attack didn’t penetrate, but it did toss him back a good distance. Arrows flew at the Ent Core, and though they did not fully pierce through, they did leave a couple holes behind.

Still on one foot, the Ent Core reached for Kara with one hand while the other defended itself from the people to its front.

Kara jumped up into the air, hoping none of those arrows would hit her. She avoided being grabbed, but the Ent Core’s hand remained above it, waiting for her to come back down.

Seeing that made Kara decide not to drop. She balled up and kicked her feet up into the air, letting her drop face first. She let her sword lead but instead of thrusting it into the Ent Core, Kara allowed the tip to gently rest on its palm.

She wiggled her body to adjust for the erratic movement of the Ent Core and the vibrations caused by the attacks it was received. Finding little use for her dagger, Kara dropped it to tug at one of the Life Force Strings she had attached to her left.

One of the swords on the ground began to skid towards her.

When the Ent Core’s began to close its hand, Kara used 1st Kinetic Burst on her head for the push up into the air. She allowed the tip to once again rest on its closed fist, buying her another second. Her left arm swung to the side as she flung her wrist up, causing the sword to fly into the air.

The Ent Core, not finding Kara, stomped its foot down and swung that arm down, causing Kara to jump back into the air again. Its fist extended forward, squishing one of the warriors against the ground.

Kara balled up again, this time throwing her legs under her, and her arms high into the air. As the sword finally reached her hands, she landed with one foot on each shoulder, the Ent's Core head reaching up to her knees.

Keeping her legs straight, Kara, with both swords in hand, swung downward with all the force she can muster, using an Amplification on her swing to make up for her lackluster Strength.

Critical Penetration!

You have dealt 195 pierce damage to Ent Core’s HP!

Critical Penetration!

You have dealt 241 pierce damage to Ent Core’s HP!

Kara felt her swords digging deep into its brains, going as far as the hilt allowed until the blade stopped against the back of its skull. Before she was able to twist her swords and deal even more damage, a swing from the Ent Core’s hands caused her to jump backward.

The dumb thing smacked itself, each hand on both sides of its face. While that typically would have resulted in little damage being done, the Ent Core apparently did not yet know how swords worked, or how smacking them would not stop the pain.

The two blades went even further in, fully piercing the inside of its skull. The twisted blades appeared on the back of its head, each dealing around a hundred damage.

At first, she doubted whether the Ent Core even had a brain, with it having thorns coming out of its sockets and all, but from the way it began rampaging around the room, she knew she dealt a true strike. There was little reason in even having a head if that was not the case. It was probably copying human bodies in its natural instincts to become a sentient being, something most monsters did.

The thorns left its eye sockets as well, singing widely, but that only added to the damage as it pushed against the metal.

"Third lesson: always look for the jackpot," Kara said as she pulled on the spear. Bosses were rarely a matter of simple brute strength. Most of them had vulnerabilities that could be taken advantage of.

The Ent Core began to rage. It charged around the room, swinging wildly. It was probably the first time it had experienced that much pain in its existence, with it being a tree and all.

Its face, previously absence of mouth, ears, and nose, now had a large circular hole below its eyeholes. A larger, four-meter tall thorn appeared from it. It curved into a ball at its end with brown-reddish thorns sticking out of it. It smashed into the ground, sending splinters everywhere. The tremors spread throughout the chamber.

Those with arrows began to run out, but the last few were used with precision, being fully charged with Life Force and exploding into its face.

6 people were left standing, waiting for the next opportunity.

Level 50 Incomplete Undead Ent Core ... HP: 730/2640

After a break to allow her STM to regenerate, Kara chased the Ent Core down. It was dangerous, but she could not wait any longer.

She dropped the spear and picked a sword from one of those who had recently fallen, and the dagger she had discarded. It did little damage, but it had its utility.

Not taking a single point of damage allowed her risky maneuvers, though it was important to remember that a single hit might take her out. Healing wasn’t effective when you’re dead. Unfortunately, she could not just wait for it to finish an attack before moving in. Her time was too short.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Kara glanced back to find the little rogue at her heel, a giant smile plastered on her face.

“I didn’t know you...you were good!” she yelled over the tremors of the Ent Core.

Know her? Kara thought to Nilbog.

Not really, but she’s a bit of an odd one.

She’s just a fool. It made sense for Kara to fight recklessly; she was the 44th in a starter Dungeon. Lower stats or, it would be shameful if she were unable to best the rookies.

The girl was not. She would only get herself killed, if not here then later.

There it was. After the Ent Core attacked the backline with no success, it turned and ran towards the middle of the lair, leaping high into the air and coming down with enough force that a shockwave scattered everyone around.

Before the dust even settled Kara jumped forward, nearly missing the Ent Core as it rose up and moved to the side. Her dagger did find the back of its neck, dealing 17 damage and allowing her to swerve in the air. She brought her body around and used another 1st Kinetic Burst to boost herself up. She landed on the Ent Core's collarbone with her sword stabbing at its cheeks.

She botched the attack, however. There wasn’t enough strength behind her attack to penetrate its skin from that angle. The tip of her sword made a slight dent and ricocheted off, dealing only a dozen points of damage.

At that point Kara would have jumped to the other side, anticipating the Ent Core retaliating, but all her plans went to the ditch when she saw Iris attached to its front, two daggers submerged into its neck.

That girl was either a manic or a psycho. Being at the front of the Ent’s Core not only limited her movements but also shortened the time she would have to react.

Kara could not predict the beast’s next movement because of her. It would have to fall to her observational skills and reaction time to stay alive, something she was hesitant to do in this body. Because of the two blades jammed in its eye sockets, the Ent Core had stopped using the thorns from its eyes, but the larger, albeit slower thorn still proved to be a problem that needed to be cut off.

It was a question of who the Ent Core was going to attack.

Spitefully, it attacked both of them, slapping the front of its neck and shoulder.

Kara stepped on top of its skull with one foot while the other pressed against the side of its head, keeping her balance. She held her sword directly above the Ent Core’s skull, her left hand with the dagger placed sideways over the handle.

Two seconds was all she needed to cast a 1st Gravity Push. She barely had a hundred mana points to it, but using an Amplification would solve that problem. It would push down the sword with enough power that it would surly pierce through, ensuring first place in the Dungeon.

Under her, she noticed Iris had let go of the daggers in its neck and clung to its lower chest with her feet on top of the Ent Core’s thigh.

That brat used the same trick Kara did. The Ent Core smashed the daggers deep when it missed Eris, allowing her to deal major damage.

One hand reached for Kara while the other reached for Iris. Kara jumped to the shoulder that was freed up with a curse. Half a second and she would have had the kill.

Iris somehow crawled under its armpits. That was smart; if she had let go she would have been right in between the Ent Core’s legs, and right under the large thorn everyone else was wrestling with. Running in between its legs was still a big risk, as the Ent Core was hopping from one place to the next, attempting to shake them off. The other warriors also attacked from the side, causing them to be as dangerous as the Ent Core itself.

Kara had no opportunity to attack. The hand chased her, going above its skull in attempts to grab her. She jumped up towards it, stepping on its fingers and quickly bringing her feet back up.

The palm closed instantly, nearly crushing her leg. She brought her feet down on its fist but had to immediately jump up again as the thorn thrust from below her.

The vultures jumped on the opportunity. Without anything to slow them down, everyone charged in, getting their own damage in.

Kara landed directly on the thorns, their pikes digging straight through her crude boots.

One or two good penetrations and the kill reward would go to the victor, and hell if Kara was going to be beaten by newbies for it. She began casting a 1st Gravity Push once again, but the thorn lifted upwards.

The Ent Core still had a hand allocated just to get rid of her, which was reasonable considering the agro she had accumulated.

The best option was to retreat. She had done well to distract the Ent Core for so long; damage assistance also contributed to kill contribution, but it wasn’t enough. She had no idea how the damage dealt to the Ent Core was spread out among the rest of the people around her, and she needed this Dungeon to be successful—how well she did will determine which Dungeon they’ll be able to do next.

Kara could not retreat. Her time was quickly running out, and with this body, there was no way to deal significant damage without aiming for the head.

She ran on the thorn towards face, wincing each time her flesh was torn. The damage and bleed damage was low, but the pain was not. The thorn began to swing around, attempting to throw her off. Kara was forced to crouch down and use 14 Life Force to create a 1st Life Clay. A yellow rope fell from her hand to surround the thorn. It helped Kara keep he balance while she waited for an opening, but the Ent Core kept one arm around its head.

Two seconds, that’s all she needed. Gravity had the longest channel but was the most cost-effective and powerful for downward pushes--she didn’t have enough for a decent Kinetic push.

The spell-sword began to move in for the final blow. He didn’t need a Scouting skill to realize the Ent Core was dying. He gathered the flames around his sword, a similar but more advanced technique than what Kara had used. His sword was at his far side, the flames a danger to him as much as it was to everyone else, even with all the Fire Resistances he must have had.

The flames become even more concentrated, circling the blade in thick tendrils. A skill or two prevented the metal from simply melting off, but his time was also limited. It took a great amount of Mana to hold that much fire together, and he was steadily increasing it.

If that hit penetrates Ent Core’s torso, then it would be a guaranteed kill.

He dashed forward, leaping over a low swipe from its free hand. Each step he took was combined with a Kinetic Burst, giving him short but significant bursts of Speed to help him maneuver. He began to lift his sword up to the front but had to step to the side when the large thorn Kara had been standing on top swiped straight down, nearly crushing him.

The moment the thorn swung down Kara jumped straight towards the Ent Core’s face. It’s hand, however, blocked her path towards the Ent Core’s head. There was no way forward. She didn’t have enough Kinetic Mana to spare to maneuver around it mid-air, nor could she waste her last Equilibrium. The next one wouldn’t be up for another 12 seconds.

The swordsmen under her kept charging, jumping above the thorn as it swung sideways. He brought his sword up, grunting from the power held within it, ready to thrust into the Ent’s abdomen. Kinetic Mana began to well up behind him, ready to push him forward. It would provide enough speed to fully penetrate, while the fire would cause the raw damage—it was a golden combo.

Kara spun mid-flight, turning away from the Ent Core. She landed on the Ent Core’s palm, and burning a Deviation to change her momentum, she sprung from the palm before it closed, her sword plunging down with both hands.

Sentient Killer Activated

In mid-thrust the fire swordsman looked up to see Kara’s sword pierce cleanly through his head, killing him instantly.

Critical Penetration!

You have dealt 46 Shield Damage to Fire Swordsmen’s Shield!

You have dealt 359 damage to Fire Swordsmen’s HP!

You have struck a mortal blow!

Revenge Kill! EXP is increased by an additional 50%!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You are now level 28!

Kara spun towards his right side as the blade sunk further into his head. She twisted it, giving her enough leverage to throw herself towards the ground, and then released it as the Ent Core’s fist squished his body against the ground.

Guided by a series of Kinetic Bursts, Kara flew forward, catching the charged sword before it touched the ground. As she simultaneously cast 1st Kinetic Shield and 1st Life Shield, Kara skewered the sword into the Ent Core’s guts.