***Ame, Capital Plains Border, Aura***

“Yuka-nee, you think we can do this?” Even though she was the one who had suggested the idea of fighting the [Magmatic wolves], it did not mean she was any less nervous about it. After all, it would be her first fight against a boss.

“You’ll be fine…” Ame felt a warm hand pat her head. She looked up to see her sister-figure fixing her gauntlet. She felt it was weird how Yuka-nee only needed a metal gauntlet on her rarely used left hand. Come to think of it… she did not use her signature Odachi when they were fighting the [Wolves] but now it was secured on her back.

“Besides, if anything happens: Your big brother will protect you both even if it means I have to sacrifice myself. Of course; the moment you both are safe I will get as far away from the boss as soon as possible” Ame felt reassured hearing her older brother’s claim.

“Well of course, if anything dangerous comes and blocks our path: Ame and I will gladly throw you in front of its face. Wouldn’t we Ame?” Ame giggled at her older sister figure. Of course she wouldn’t do that but she was trying to cheer her up so she was glad.

“You know… coming from you: I feel something dangerous… You don’t really mean that do you?” Ame only smiled at her older brother and then playfully ran behind him. “Ame…?”

“I’m counting on you An-chan~” She sweetly said to her brother while pretending to hide behind him. “Lead on~”

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***Hayato, Sleeping Forest, Aura***

Hayato grit his teeth. The burning sensation he felt underneath his armor on his skin could only be compared to swimming in boiling water. He had never thought he would feel this sensation again and he seriously did not expect a large amount of blood to be discharged from the beast’s abdomen.

As soon as the [Mutated Magmatic Wolf] passed him, he thrusts the blade into the ground to support him. He could barely feel his lower torso now but his arms felt as if they were being lit up with fire. He took ragged breathes to help him focus away from the pain and even gripped the hilt of his [Iron katana] until his hands turned white.

Hayato forced himself not to make any sounds. He felt like screaming his lungs out but that would not help him in any way so he just forced his scream down his throat and bear with the pain. At the least- “Wait…” Hayato’s eyes widened in realization; there was no [Information Window] opening up.

A low growl alerted him of the state of the monster that was hunting him down. In extreme agony, he turned his head behind him to see that the [Mutated Magmatic Wolf] was still standing albeit with its innards hanging out of its cut abdomen.

“You have to be kidding…” Hayato stood up straight and took out a single [Potion] from the [Infinity cube]. He slowly took off the cork sealing the contents inside. “…Why the hell did you have to grow another head?” Hayato drank the content and saw its effects triggering immediately.

All of the burns on his body began to heal and his [HP bar] rose rapidly to the point that it passed the border. The potion he drank was a rare potion [Argoris] had made to allow prolonged battle. It raised his [HP bar] by a 100% and it gave him regeneration that healed him 15% [HP] per second in battle.

The beast, seeing him healed up began to growl. The middle head hung lifelessly with a sword stuck between its eyes compared to the two beside it which were menacingly baring their fangs at him. A brief red glow signaled that [Rage mode] had been activated for the already strong [Mutated Magmatic Wolf].

“Come at me you poor excuse of a [Cerberus]!” Hayato challenged the [Mutated Magmatic Wolf] which was followed by said monster lunging at him with its heads.

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***Duuga, Sleeping Forest, Aura***

“Haha~ Isn’t this fun little [Hokkori]?” Katona squealed out loud as she jumped up in the air and landed a fatal blow to one of the many [Hobgoblin Hunters] that had encircled her by slamming her Earth infused leg down on its already damaged skull.

“I don’t want to die!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Duuga helplessly held onto the leather pouldrons with his mouth as the girl moved in such a way that he could not even chant the [Shield] magic he had in his arsenal.

Every move the girl made always ended up with a splattering sound whether or not the monsters blocked with a metal shield or with their own comrade’s hard shell and every time Duuga would always see the red of blood spewing everywhere.

“Thank you for the meal~” The petite girl put her hands together and bowed her head as she stood in the middle of littered corpses of the monsters that had thought she was a normal [Adventurer]. “Off we go~” She said in an oddly happy sounding voice and ran off in full speed in a random direction but not before fixing Duuga’s position on top of her head again.

“I’m gonna die! I’m gonna die! I’m gonna die! I’m gonna die! I’m gonna die!” Duuga couldn’t help but chant as he barely stayed in place on top of the crazy girl’s head. Even though she seemed to be so distressed before when she pleaded him at town, now she was a killing machine who didn’t even bother to pick up the [Monster Materials] dropped by the [Hobgoblin Hunters] she had slaughtered.

“You’re having fun aren’t you, little [Hokkori]?”

“As if I am having fun you crazy little- Uwa!”

“A big orange Wolfy~”

Duuga could not help but shake in fear as he watched a, possibly, 4 meter [Mutated Magmatic Wolf] stare down at the two of them. Judging from the bloody mouth and some body parts lying about, it had just been fighting a group of [Adventurers]. Whether or not they were [Kismetian] or people like Hayato, he did not know but one thing he was for certain: The thing now had its sight on the girl he was riding on.

“Huh…?” Katona inclined her head to the left, almost causing Duuga to fall off, and stared at the large [Mutated Magmatic Wolf]. No, she was not staring at the wolf but was staring at its neck as two more heads began to sprout. “Yay~ More Wolfys”

“As if those two can be considered other animals!”

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***Yuka, Sleeping Forest, Aura***

“All shields up! It’s going to spit out that flame attack again so anyone with [Shield] spells: go and cast you magic!”

Yuuka stayed behind Cairne who apparently had the spell and lifted up her own shield just in case the fire made it through the barrier like spells. Not long after the spell completed being cast, a strong blast of fire engulfed the entire space they were standing in.

She could feel the heat even through the magical shield. She was glad that there were other [Adventurers] when they came to the clearing in the forest 2 hours after the declaration of the, what the [adventurers] called, [Magmatic Rampage]. There were around 64 players present and all of them were under the leadership of a single party by using the [Alliance] system implemented in [Kismet Online] by joining up parties together.

Yuka couldn’t help but look behind her towards the youngest member of her [Party] as she began to dip her arrows with green solutions, poison if she was not mistaken, and began to load them into the crossbow she had on her.

“Three seconds! [Guardians] get ready to aggro! [Archers] ready your arrows! [Clerics] heal in rotation and make sure you don’t deplete your [MP]!” A loud gruff voice gave out orders. The owner of the voice was one of the leading [Guild Leaders] in [Kismet Online] named Roland.

“Get ready, Yuka…” Cairne whispered under his breath as he supplied as much mana as he could to the [Shield]. “On one: let go of the shield and ready your Oodachi. On three: target the wolf’s front legs as soon as it tries to swipe at the vanguard and then get back.” Cairne relayed his orders to which Yuka complied to. Even if the male was not a close-ranged fighter, he had the instinct and insight of one so his orders were usually spot on when it came to disrupting attacks and finding windows of opportunities.

“One…” Yuka let go of the shield and took out her wide blade “Two…” Just as the fire stopped, one of the heavily armored [adventurers] jumped in front of the [Mutated Magmatic Wolf] and executed a taunt skill “Three!” Yuka shot forward and did a horizontal sweep with her long blade hitting the left paw that was about to reach the [Guardian] causing the monster to lose balance.

“Let them fly!” Just as Yuka got out of the monster’s reach, a volley of arrows rained down on the large monster as it fell to the ground after being knocked off balance. “Mages, charge up your ice and let loose when the arrows let up!” Yuka went back into her position next to Cairne.

Yuka cringed as the recoil of repelling such a large and heavy paw with her Oodachi. She took a deep breath and tried to reduce the pain by focusing on the monster that was being pierced by multiple arrows and ice magic.

“O’frozen winds: Blast through the walls of thy enemies! [Frost Gale]!”

“Chosen of the cold, barrier of heat: Let loose your frozen rage: [Frozen bloom]!”

Yuka had to contain herself from laughing as well at the chants the [Mages], including Cairne, lest she broke their concentration. She really had to give it to the [Mages] since they don’t seem to be feeling any embarrassment at chanting those words.

“Hey! Something’s happening!”

Yuka snapped out of her momentary laxness and turned concentrated. What she saw made her twitch as the monster they were fighting grew another head. She forgot that this was a [Mutated Boss] and not a normal [Field Boss] or [Dungeon Boss]. They tend to gain certain characteristics depending on some unknown criteria.

“All shields up, quickly!” Yuka couldn’t help but shout out as she picked up the shield she cast away and stood in front of Cairne with the shield raised up. Not soon after, another blast of flames erupted from the twin heads of the [Mutated Magmatic Wolf]. Almost everyone of in the large group managed to get their physical and magic [Shields] up but some were not that lucky.

“We lost party C and half of E and G” a voice managed to shout out as screams of pain filled the air. Yuka pitied the ones that were not quick enough but waved it off as she was now aware that the monster’s flames were concentrated on hers and her neighbor’s party.

“10 seconds!”

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***Hayato, Sleeping Forest, Aura***

“Damn It…” Hayato cursed as he sat next to a large and dead [Mutated Magmatic Wolf]. Not only did he almost die multiple times, he had to exhaust his supply of potions and other healing trinkets. Though none were depleted, he did use at least 1/8 of the supplies he had and all of it for a single [magmatic Wolf].

“no… [Mutated Magmatic Wolf] which could be classified as a [Field Boss] level monster…” Hayato breathed out as he remembered the fight that took him 2 hours. Had he not have his [Ghost strike] passive ability he might have not been able to damage the monster at all. “damn it…” Hayato looked towards one of the [Mutated Magmatic Wolf] head and stared at the single limb hanging out of its mouth.

“That damned fool… If he had not ran out…” Hayato cursed. Not only did he use 1/8 of his healing trinkets, he also witnessed a death of a person who resembled an acquaintance of his in university.

The person had suddenly rushed out of the trees claiming that the kill was his but was easily brushed off by the thick fur of the [Mutated Magmatic Wolf]. The person’s spear did not even pierce the monster and broke after 2 seconds of in contact with the wolf. So in a desperate attempt to run, he wisely abandoned his weapon but was unable to outrun the towering almost 4 meter giant of a monster and got gobbled up instead.

Hayato sighed. Now was not the time to dwell on the death of an unknown. He needed to identify the new weapon he got and distribute his [Status Points] that he gained after rocketing to level 43. It might have been due to his [Lucky Bastard!] passive but it was more than he had expected. From the monster, he got: 2 unidentified weapons and pieces of armor, a ring and a belt.

He knew that the weapons and armor pieces must be of higher levels than him but if by chance the [Mutated Boss] dropped something of his level then he would at least get something to use. So using his [Advanced Appraisal] on the box with a large question mark, Hayato tried his luck at identifying the weapons. Needless to say: he was not surprised to see that it was for people two levels above him.

“Oh well…” Hayato put away the weapons and equipment into his [Inventory] and stood up. He walked towards the sword-impaled head of the [Mutated Magmatic Wolf] and pulled out his [Iron Katana] which only had 1 more [Durability Point] remaining. “Great…” He clicked his tongue and put away the sword into his [Inventory].

Due to the fiery body of the monster, Hayato could not use his tails to attack as when he tried to impale it with his tail: he lost more than 20% of his health so he had to stick to his [Lightning attribute] [Iron Katana] which was also down to only 1 [Durability Point] causing him to sigh again.

Hayato had already checked how many [Mutated Magmatic Wolves] were remaining. He wasn’t surprised to see that 8 had already been taken down, probably by other [adventurers], and was actually quite relieved that he did not have to hunt down the monsters on his own. “Time to distribute [Status Points]…” bringing up his [Player Information Screen] Hayato saw that he had 430 [Status points remaining to distribute].

“What?” Hayato blinked. He knew that he had put in 65 points into his [AGI] stat (since he leveled up 13 times when he was chased) when he still had the [Status Points] remaining from after the [Reset] but what caused him to get twice as much [Status Points] he gained from leveling up? It was now that Hayato realized the [Acolyte] job in his [1st Job slot]. “when…”

Hayato’s eyes widened in realization, it was probably after the reset when he was woken up by that [voice]. He shook his head and put in half of the points he had in [AGI] and the other half into [STR], [INT], [DEX] and [VIT]. “There’s 3 points remaining… I guess I’ll invest in some [LCK]…”

[table]Player InfoName:HayatoAlignment:MoonLevel:43First job:AcolyteRace:Demi-Human, FoxlingSecond job:N/AGender:maleThird job:N/Acombat windowSTR:93MEN:40AGI:320END:40INT:93LCK:43VIT:93DEX:93Miscellaneous windowHP5580MP558baseATK140-142baseDEF:42currency:1x107G 3S 32CbaseSPD32

“The racial gains are not working too…” Hayato realized that the [Racial Gains], status gains depending on the race, was not working. His race allowed him to gain a free +2 to [AGI], [MEN] and [INT] for each level up but it did not take place or not he would have more of each stat. “Was it because of my sudden leveling? Or is this only restricted to me?” Hayato was slightly annoyed that he was denied his [Status Points] but shrugged it off.

“Now… huh?” Hayato was about to walk off when he saw something sticking out from the [Mutated Magmatic Wolf]’s open abdomen. Curious, he approached it and was surprised to find two eastern blades. “Could it be…?” Hayato took one out and identified it.

[Table]Damascus Katana

Type:one-handed bladeDurability:80/800

Rank:BlueATK:+210

Stats:Ice attack 30%Requirements:LVL40

Innate skill:Dancing BladeInnate SkillCollapsing Blade

Hayato was surprised but then he took a look at the other blade. On its handle was a hand. Apparently someone was unlucky enough to meet the beast before it ran into Hayato. He sincerely hoped that it was not a [Kismetian] since it would be disheartening for their family to know that a member had been eaten by a [Mutated Boss].

“Finally~ He gets better swords~ I wonder how faster the fights are going to be now?” After 2 hours of silence, the [Voice] finally piped up again. “The fight was breathtaking~ every moment was a thriller, a gamble~”

Hayato sighed and pulled out the other blade after giving the person’s limb a proper burial next to the monster that killed them. He might be in dire need of new weapons but he would never disrespect a person’s dead remains. He identified the other blade which apparently had the same enchantments and innate skills.

Hayato was grateful. Now he only needed to kill the monsters with 1 strike to prevent breaking the weapons he had just found. A large explosion resounded off to the west followed by a howl. “I guess Target confirmed… Executing orders…”

Hayato never did realize what his alignment was.

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***Yuka, Sleeping Forest, Aura***

With an exhausted sigh, Yuka sat on the ground next to her party members Cairn and Ame. They had fought 3 [Mutated Magmatic Wolves] one after another so she was pretty winded. Add to the fact that each fight took at least 40 minutes was just a “Wow” for her.

“Good work out there, Yuka-Nee” Ame held out a boxed lunch in front of her. Yuka with gratefulness took the box and opened it to see that it was filled with rice, meat and some vegetables. “I made it with the [Wolf Meat] we got when we were leveling up.”

Yuka smiled at the little girl. She can be so thoughtful at times; it was a wonder how she got her sharp tongue. “Thank you Ame.” Yuka thanked the younger girl and then glanced towards the male of the group sprawled on the ground next to Ame. “The [Mana] consumption was intense I presume?” She inquired which only got a weak nod. “We’ll be going in half an hour so get your rest.” Again: only a nod followed by a soft snore.

Yuka looked around the remaining group of people. From the 64 players, the numbers were reduced to 35. Almost half of the original group had made it through the hellish battle against 3 [Mutated Magmatic Wolves]. She did not know what level they were but her current level, and by proxy: Cairne and Ame were level 62. She had gained 4 unidentified weapons and 3 unidentified armor pieces so she was already content with what she had.

“Leader, it appears that the other groups have managed to kill 3 other [Mutated Magmatic Wolves]. We don’t know how many there are but it seems that there might be more of them close by since the [Scouts] have some recent tracks.”

Yuka could not help but overhearing the report meant for the leader of [Kaen-Ryuu] also known as Roland the “Black blade” due to his signature black Two-handed weapon twice his size. She was surprised that she had been fighting alongside such a legendary icon of [Kismet Online]. Back when it was still a game: She had dreamed of meeting one of the top players in the game but she did not expect it to happen here. “First item Check~”

Yuka was about to begin eating her food when everything suddenly became hotter followed by three explosions occurring on the borders of the temporary encampment they had made. Three feral howls rang through the encampment causing her to momentarily freeze.

“What happened to the scouts?!”

“They broke the barriers with three attacks?!”

“Damn it! Everyone in positions now! We need to make a strategic retreat!”

“How did two of them…Never mind” Cairne who was sleeping just a few minutes ago was now standing with his newly appraised staff. Yuka put the [Boxed lunch] into her inventory and brought out her Oodachi. “Ame, Yuka: stick close and prepare to run.” Cairne steeled his gaze and readied his staff. “We can’t win against three of those things even if we have an advantage in numbers…”

Yuka knows that Cairne was correct. They always lost 1/6 of their members when they fought another [Mutated Magmatic Wolf] but to fight 3 at the same time? They would be decimated even if they had [Mages] with the [Shield] spell

.

-Chapter End-

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