"Thank you, Mr. Armand," I said while I fended off Moa Manot's thorns and vines. "I'll be glad to return to your gym.”

I had concluded discussing a few business matters with Mr. Armand, owner of Phoenix Wings, and the gym where I had my fainting accident. We were now on the traditional small talk part so that ending the call wouldn't be too abrupt and formal. After all, he was trying to get chummy with me for future business partnerships.

Given that this was small talk, Mr. Armand probably didn’t mean his invitation and didn’t think I was serious about accepting it, especially after the last time I was at his gym.

But I was going there to redeem my honor and show the world the new me! One jogging session later, I transformed into the epitome of health. I should add a health-oriented Goal to my List to cement my resolve. It was time for Herald Stone to get hard in real life—I shouldn’t say that out loud.

My fainting fiasco at the gym led to me playing Mother Core Online. What would my second workout session bring?

“Ring me up when you're going there," replied Mr. Armand’s gruff but jovial voice, sounding like a simultaneously angry and jolly grandpa. I had no idea how he could pull that off, but it was entertaining to hear him talk.

“I'll take it slow," I said. “I want to spend more time on my feet than on the floor.”

Mr. Armand's laugh reverberated. He must be in a car, talking on loudspeaker. “Take it slow. Yes, you're right about that. I'll tell our instructors to help you through some light workouts.”

“Before I return to work”—I was grinning with my Mardukryon face as I said that—“I have to say thank you to Enrico. Can you please convey that to your son? I appreciate his visit while I was at the hospital.”

“I will,” said Mr. Armand. “Enrico told me he learned many things from you.”

As he should, I thought after the call beeped end.

How many times have I made Mr. Armand apologize for the gym incident that wasn’t his fault during our conversation? Three times? I was losing my touch. I thought I could needle another apology towards the end.

“The next thing is…” I scanned my to-do list for the day—small letter ‘l,’ in contrast to the capital ‘L’ List of my Goals in life. Follow up on some issues with our new supplier. “Call Fantails Farms,” I instructed my WeeCee.

[Calling Fantails Farm], a robotic voice replied. Ringing followed.

I had been fighting Moa Manot for around forty-odd minutes and had gotten used to its attack pattern. I bet that I could keep this up blindfolded.

Well, maybe not. But I could do it while making important calls and dictating to my WeeCee's speech-to-text transcriber the replies to my emails. Herald Stone, Multi-Tasking God.

Earlier, I tried blocking Moa Manot's vines while reading financial reports. But that didn't work as well as I had hoped. Notwithstanding the four eyes on our faces, Mardukryons could only look at one place. The upper and lower pairs couldn't be pointed in separate directions.

During the course of our battle, Moa Manot displayed another trait of Vinereavers. The Monkey Idol gradually became stronger and faster the longer we fought. There were times when several of its attacks landed in quick succession, tearing down my [Greater Pyro Shell] before its cooldown.

Because I was Herald Stone, I was legally not allowed to retreat—the only exception was lethal damage.

I stood my ground, surviving until my shell was up again through sheer fucking will… and [Healing Touch] … and the [Commemorative Restorative Potion]. It was a stroke of good fortune that Eclairs gave me the protein bar. I should give her a gift in return, something small that wouldn’t have any social bearing and imply anything further.

As Moa Manot’s health waned, it shed chunks of its stone statue body, revealing more of the plant monster hiding underneath. Through the cracks, fierce eyes peeked and dilated before hiding again. Mouths with gnashing fangs growled, shifting here and there as the mass of vines continuously coiled around each other.

Reminiscent of a Hermit Crabores losing their makeshift shells, Moa Manot's defenses fell as more of its squishy plant body was exposed. Blasts from my [Greater Pyro Shell], retribution, and even simple hoof stomps dished out more damage. The occasional instances of Burn and poison also helped.

“If this keeps up,” I said, “I’ll be done in ten min—what are you doing?”

Moa Manot stopped attacking. It deflated into a heap of debris and vines on the ground. Thornless vines emerged out of the piled and wiggled in the air. They looked different from the previous ones.

I warily stepped back and raised my shield.

But the vines didn’t come for me.

They drilled into the ground around Moa Manot. The boss pulsed with a subtle yellowish light, beating like a heart. Its health slowly crept back up with each pulse. Something was passing through the vines and into the main body—golden liquid.

"Cut out that monkey busi—! Ah, I should stop with these puns."

I kicked Moa Manot's head. The minuscule dent I notched on its health bar was instantly erased. It could be my imagination, but it felt like it became tankier.

Its health continued to replenish. I couldn't overcome the healing because the main source of my DPS—[Greater Pyro Shell] explosions and retribution—only triggered when I was attacked. This bastard wasn’t attacking me; it was busy channeling its healing skill. There must be a way to stop it from undoing all my hard work!

What about a stun? In most games, some sort of stunning mechanic usually interrupted skills. But I didn’t want to choose [Fiery War Stomp] over [Cleansing Flames]—I was waiting to pick the latter when components of my build were ready. I’m not going to ruin my plans for just one stone monkey.

I looked around, wondering what I should—“Freeze!” I blurted out. I already had a ready disable.

Freeze caused by the [Pristine Frostore Amulet] lasted only two seconds but could be enough to stop the boss. I stomped on its broken stone monkey head, pausing for a moment after each step to check if the ice was forming.

"Yes!" I cheered as Moa Manot got Frozen. The negative status didn’t last a couple of seconds because of the boss’s resistance, but that should be enough, right?

Wrong. It continued to heal, a tiny bit per second—but it was damage that took me a couple of minutes to inflict.

“Hang on… taunt!” Would this stop its healing shenanigans?

Lvl. 1 Enraging Call: Taunts nearby non-Player enemies, forcing them to attack you. During the duration, the taunted units gain 10% Damage, while you gain (+20 Armor).

Duration: 3 Seconds

Cost: 10 Energy

Cooldown: 5 Seconds

I cast [Enraging Call]. Moa Manot stirred, raising my hopes. Thorny vines protruded from its body and struck me. Unfortunately, its other vines remained in the ground and continued to suck nutrients. I taunted it again and trotted away.

“Uproot yourself and follow me!”

Moa Mano didn’t move from its spot. I continued running as its vines tried to grab me. Then it stopped because the taunt duration expired. Its thorny vines receded into its body.

Left with no other option, I went back to face it. I might not be able to stop the healing, but at least I could deal damage if I taunted it.

Imagine if Zoar Elab could heal during our battle. Was this a skill of baby Vinereavers because they have plenty of growing left in them? This area might be suitable for the growth of plant monsters. In contrast, Zoar Elab was roaming the ruins of a Mardukryon city. Stone blocks covered the ground, and there probably were no golden crystals beneath.

Moa Manot didn’t stop absorbing golden liquid from the ground until it had healed back around twenty percent of its life—that was just an estimate because I also continued to damage it. Fortunately, after its ‘sucking session,’ its defenses went down again as it had already lost most of its stone shell. With its buffed attack speed, it killed itself faster.

The fight went on more another forty minutes, probably more. Moa Manot healed several more times, but in the end, Herald Stone prevailed!

[ Congratulations! Herald Stone killed: Moa Manot, the Monkey Idol ]

[ Loot: 15,169 Artas, (3) Little Golden Eye, (14) Vinereaver Prickle, (10) Vine of Possession, (7) Statue Fragment, Band of Loamy Renewal {1} ]

“Congratulations to me, indeed!” I laughed as I pranced around Moa Manot’s corpse, a small ritual for killing my first solo boss kill. “Mum would be proud that her adult son managed to kill a monkey statue stuffed with weeds in a virtual world.”

Unlike normal monsters, the bodies of open-world bosses and mini-bosses didn’t disappear. This way, other boss-hunting parties would be notified that their target was dead—I doubted any Mardukryon player cared about Moa Manot. Above the corpse, the name of the player who killed it and the countdown until it respawned was displayed. Mini-bosses would return after thirty minutes, while bosses after two hours.

I smiled smugly, staring with pride at my name floating above the pile of rocks and vines. “I hope that’s enough Vinereaver thorns for Healer Gula because I don’t want to do this whole crap again.”

Next, I opened my inventory to check what the hell a [Band of Loamy Revival] was. Its name indicated that it had one slot, so it was a piece of equipment. It was a drop from a boss, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up because that didn’t automatically mean it’d be good. Zoar Elab didn’t drop anything valuable, so no one bothered to farm it even though it was a high-level boss monster.

“A ring?” I mumbled as I read its description. Then my eyes widened. “Relic Quality!”

Band of Loamy Renewal {1} | Item Level: 17

Relic | Ring

146 Magic Resilience

8% Physical and Magical Damage Reduction when not moving for the last 3 seconds

2% Health Regeneration per Second when not moving for the last 3 seconds

Requires: 62 Vigor, 25 Sense

--------------------

+175 Health

+16% Water Resistance

+13% Earth Resistance

“Divine bovine from outer space!” I raised my fist to the sky. Not only was the [Band of Loamy Renewal] a Relic Quality equipment, my first one, but it was also an item for tanks. I loved it when my hard work paid off; even better if the reward was unexpected. “Herald Stone is blessed by the gods of luck!”