Chapter 281: Adrift (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 281: Adrift (1)
The effects of the skill Priest of the Storm could be divided into three main bullet points.
1. Until the skill was fully charged, the caster was immune to all damage. In some ways, it was a high-value skill. Even if the user couldn't move while charging it, an invincibility skill was still an invincibility skill. In the game, incredible plays were possible if you used it well.
2. Once it was done being cast, the caster acquired a huge boost to their defense stats across the board. When you coupled this with the temporary invincibility it offered, it wasn't a stretch to call this the highest-quality survival skill in the game. But that wasn't all.
3. The skill caused wide-range damage in a certain area around the caster until Priest of the Storm ended. The greatest defense was a good offense, after all, and the damage it dealt was too high to write off as a simple survival skill.
"It's coming soon."
The moment I raised my shield to right below my eyes and crouched down, the storm wall around the monster gradually expanded and enveloped the entire sanctuary.
[100%]
This change signaled that the skill was done charging.
Shaaaaaa!
Strong winds whipped around my body. It wasn't as difficult to see an inch in front of me as it had been when I was inside Eye of the Storm. However, as if blades were hidden in the raging winds, what seemed like shining white shortswords struck my armor and body.
[You are taking damage.]
[You are taking damage.]
[You are taking damage.]
[You are taking damage.]
This was the reason why I got my comrades out first. This type of area of effect skill was impossible to block, even with a shield.
Kakak, kakak, kak! Bang!
Arms, back, shoulders, waist, thighs, calves—to the extent that it was basically impossible to identify which part was getting hit at any given point, simultaneous blows struck me all over my body. It was as if dozens of people were throwing snowballs filled with rocks at me from all sides and without stopping.
Hmm, yeah, that sounds about right.
To be fair, considering my Physical and Mana Resistance, it wasn't like I was at a risk of a one-hit KO; this kind of continuous small damage barely left a mark on me. But what about Amelia? Her Physical Resistance wasn't as high as mine.
What the hell is this girl?
Surprisingly, she was avoiding every single hit.
Wow, how high does your Agility stat have to be to get you eyes and reflexes like that? I asked her to come because she said she could do it, and I guess she really can.
Oh, I wasn't jealous, of course. Why would I be?
"You look busy."
Amelia didn't answer me. Was she trying to tell me to focus up rather than chitchat with her?
"Kwohhh!"
Just then, the one-armed shelled monster roared more menacingly than ever and charged at me. This was a side effect of my Threat Level. If I were a human using Wild Outburst, it would have still tried to kill Amelia first.
Kwaaang!
The moment I took the bastard's ridiculously large body with my shield, I got shoved backward. But a big move like that was bound to leave an opening.
Stab!
Amelia thrust a shortsword into its back. Because of the jump in its Defense stats, it didn't sink in as deeply as before.
It doesn't even flinch now.
Even after being stabbed, the bastard swung its front foot at me without hesitation.
Voom!
This was the tricky thing about Priest of the Storm. As if to prove my assertion that the greatest defense was a good offense, the fact that its Defense stats went up essentially translated into an increase in its attack power. It could now focus the time it would have spent on defense solely on attacking.
Dash.
I promptly dodged to the side and widened the distance between us. A little while ago, it would have used Ley Line or Eye of the Storm next. Now, there was no need to worry about those follow-up attacks. Since this world was a heartless place where you had to give something up to gain something else, Priest of the Storm had a penalty too.
"Kwohhh!"
Sure, scream. You can't use your skills right now, anyway.
The use of other skills was not permitted. A Storm Gush that reached this phase had to fight while relying only on hand-to-hand combat and that wide-range attack. In the game, this lasted for ten minutes.
If we can't kill him in that time, let's run away without looking back.
As soon as it could use its other skills again, the raid would be a failure. Not only would it start throwing all kinds of crap at us again, but its injuries would slowly start to heal once Priest of the Storm ended. And with Amelia as our sole damage dealer, it would be able to recover faster than we could damage it.
[You have cast Swing.]
Not caring about preserving my remaining MP, I used my skills like there was no tomorrow, figuring that regular hits wouldn't even be able to distract him.
"Amelia!"
Whether we could take this guy down or not depended on how well our main damager performed.
"...Tsk." At my shout, Amelia clicked her tongue and swung her shortsword again. From the look on her face, it was very clear she just wanted to stall.
Tsk, you people with nothing to lose.
I couldn't understand it at all. Like it or not, we had to fight this guy for ten minutes either way. Why just hold out?
If we can kill him, it'll be a jackpot and—Oh, right. She wouldn't get anything out of an essence drop.
It made sense that Amelia wasn't showing any enthusiasm for my plan. Her essence slots were all filled, anyway. But since the wizard had already escaped, the essence couldn't be stored in a Magic Vial. And even if it could, it'd be difficult to split the loot once it was sold since she was from Noark. She probably hoped never to see us again after today.
With that in mind, I decided to give her some different motivation. "If we kill him, I won't claim ownership of Belverson's equipment!"
But, what was this?
"...You were thinking of claiming ownership?" Amelia asked innocently.
Then did you plan to take it all for yourself? When all you did was show up at the end and take the last shot?
"...You guys get Carmilla and I get Belverson. We already decided on this."
Hmm, I did hear that was how the agreement went down, but I hadn't been the one to make it.
Stab!
Amelia thrust a shortsword into its back. Because of the jump in its Defense stats, it didn't sink in as deeply as before.
It doesn't even flinch now.
Even after being stabbed, the bastard swung its front foot at me without hesitation.
Voom!
This was the tricky thing about Priest of the Storm. As if to prove my assertion that the greatest defense was a good offense, the fact that its Defense stats went up essentially translated into an increase in its attack power. It could now focus the time it would have spent on defense solely on attacking.
Dash.
I promptly dodged to the side and widened the distance between us. A little while ago, it would have used Ley Line or Eye of the Storm next. Now, there was no need to worry about those follow-up attacks. Since this world was a heartless place where you had to give something up to gain something else, Priest of the Storm had a penalty too.
"Kwohhh!"
Sure, scream. You can't use your skills right now, anyway.
The use of other skills was not permitted. A Storm Gush that reached this phase had to fight while relying only on hand-to-hand combat and that wide-range attack. In the game, this lasted for ten minutes.
If we can't kill him in that time, let's run away without looking back.
As soon as it could use its other skills again, the raid would be a failure. Not only would it start throwing all kinds of crap at us again, but its injuries would slowly start to heal once Priest of the Storm ended. And with Amelia as our sole damage dealer, it would be able to recover faster than we could damage it.
[You have cast Swing.]
Not caring about preserving my remaining MP, I used my skills like there was no tomorrow, figuring that regular hits wouldn't even be able to distract him.
"Amelia!"
Whether we could take this guy down or not depended on how well our main damager performed.
"...Tsk." At my shout, Amelia clicked her tongue and swung her shortsword again. From the look on her face, it was very clear she just wanted to stall.
Tsk, you people with nothing to lose.
I couldn't understand it at all. Like it or not, we had to fight this guy for ten minutes either way. Why just hold out?
If we can kill him, it'll be a jackpot and—Oh, right. She wouldn't get anything out of an essence drop.
It made sense that Amelia wasn't showing any enthusiasm for my plan. Her essence slots were all filled, anyway. But since the wizard had already escaped, the essence couldn't be stored in a Magic Vial. And even if it could, it'd be difficult to split the loot once it was sold since she was from Noark. She probably hoped never to see us again after today.
With that in mind, I decided to give her some different motivation. "If we kill him, I won't claim ownership of Belverson's equipment!"
But, what was this?
"...You were thinking of claiming ownership?" Amelia asked innocently.
Then did you plan to take it all for yourself? When all you did was show up at the end and take the last shot?
"...You guys get Carmilla and I get Belverson. We already decided on this."
Hmm, I did hear that was how the agreement went down, but I hadn't been the one to make it.
"I didn't hear anything like that!" I shouted while dodging Storm Gush's claws.
"...I see," Amelia quietly muttered.
Somehow, I felt like I knew what she meant by that this time. She must have seen the stubborn, barbarian-style logic that she'd be forced to contend with in the near future. Thanks to that, a little enthusiasm appeared in her eyes. As her employer, that was exactly what I wanted to see.
Boom!
With that, a more active battle ensued. Although we were already getting ahead of ourselves with talk of loot, the possibility was in actuality fifty-fifty: either we defeated the monster in time, or failed and dealt with the challenge of escaping and all its related losses. It was hard to judge which way this would go yet. We could only hope for the former as we worked our butts off.
"Behel—ahhh!"
Sweat and drops of blood ran down my skin. Still, there was no time to rest. The more I bugged this bastard, the more helpful it would be to Amelia, who was dealing damage on a razor-thin tightrope as it was.
Stab!
The monster's claw landed on my shoulder.
Click.
Losing its seam, my breastplate split open and fell to the ground.
Damn repair costs.
My hands shook, but I decided to think positively. That armor was already as destroyed as it could get. Even if I avoided that last hit, it wouldn't have made a big difference.
"Amelia!"
The Storm Gush ignored me and swung its tail at Amelia.
Dash.
Fortunately, she avoided it by hurriedly jumping up.
Stab!
A shortsword hidden in the storm plunged into her body. This wasn't a surprise. At first, she had managed to avoid each one, but as the battle dragged on, small and large injuries started accumulating on her body.
"Ugh."
The location for this particular wound wasn't great—none other than the thigh. It seemed to have touched a vein because an unbelievable amount of blood gushed from her sliced leg. However, the real problem lay elsewhere.
Dash.
It was the fact that Amelia's mobility had been hampered.
God damn it.
As I feared, Amelia couldn't attack as actively after the injury, and this resulted in a drop in DPS.
We won't be able to finish him at this rate.
My mind was all jumbled up. Should I change our strategy now? Should we just hold out and then bounce? Then what about my repair costs? Who was going to compensate us for our struggles?
...Let's stay a little longer.
I quickly wrapped up my internal debate and made a decision. While our state had taken a turn for the worse, this bastard was clearly cornered too. His HP should have been nearing rock bottom.
"Human." That was when it spoke for the first time, its eyes full of hate. "Human!"
My body stiffened at its strange, sudden intensity.
That line... wait, was this monster always able to speak?
I had no memory of that, no matter how hard I racked my brain. Then was this a change that came with the reality patch? Anyway, I could think about that later. That wasn't important right now.
"I didn't hear anything like that!" I shouted while dodging Storm Gush's claws.
"...I see," Amelia quietly muttered.
Somehow, I felt like I knew what she meant by that this time. She must have seen the stubborn, barbarian-style logic that she'd be forced to contend with in the near future. Thanks to that, a little enthusiasm appeared in her eyes. As her employer, that was exactly what I wanted to see.
Boom!
With that, a more active battle ensued. Although we were already getting ahead of ourselves with talk of loot, the possibility was in actuality fifty-fifty: either we defeated the monster in time, or failed and dealt with the challenge of escaping and all its related losses. It was hard to judge which way this would go yet. We could only hope for the former as we worked our butts off.
"Behel—ahhh!"
Sweat and drops of blood ran down my skin. Still, there was no time to rest. The more I bugged this bastard, the more helpful it would be to Amelia, who was dealing damage on a razor-thin tightrope as it was.
Stab!
The monster's claw landed on my shoulder.
Click.
Losing its seam, my breastplate split open and fell to the ground.
Damn repair costs.
My hands shook, but I decided to think positively. That armor was already as destroyed as it could get. Even if I avoided that last hit, it wouldn't have made a big difference.
"Amelia!"
The Storm Gush ignored me and swung its tail at Amelia.
Dash.
Fortunately, she avoided it by hurriedly jumping up.
Stab!
A shortsword hidden in the storm plunged into her body. This wasn't a surprise. At first, she had managed to avoid each one, but as the battle dragged on, small and large injuries started accumulating on her body.
"Ugh."
The location for this particular wound wasn't great—none other than the thigh. It seemed to have touched a vein because an unbelievable amount of blood gushed from her sliced leg. However, the real problem lay elsewhere.
Dash.
It was the fact that Amelia's mobility had been hampered.
God damn it.
As I feared, Amelia couldn't attack as actively after the injury, and this resulted in a drop in DPS.
We won't be able to finish him at this rate.
My mind was all jumbled up. Should I change our strategy now? Should we just hold out and then bounce? Then what about my repair costs? Who was going to compensate us for our struggles?
...Let's stay a little longer.
I quickly wrapped up my internal debate and made a decision. While our state had taken a turn for the worse, this bastard was clearly cornered too. His HP should have been nearing rock bottom.
"Human." That was when it spoke for the first time, its eyes full of hate. "Human!"
My body stiffened at its strange, sudden intensity.
That line... wait, was this monster always able to speak?
I had no memory of that, no matter how hard I racked my brain. Then was this a change that came with the reality patch? Anyway, I could think about that later. That wasn't important right now.
[You have deactivated Giantization.]
[You have cast Giantization.]
I quickly switched to Giantization (Normal) Mode. That was because I couldn't use Transcendence during Giantization (Transcendence) Mode.
[You have cast Transcendence. The next skill you use will be strengthened.]
It was really just the slightest difference. And in order to compensate for this difference, what we needed now was not a tank but a damage dealer. Of course, I didn't have a great number of skills. So, which one of them should I use?
Not Leap; maybe if I were facing a lanky long-range type, it would have come in handy, but an ability that made me faster wouldn't let me whittle down even 1 percent of this guy's HP. The same went for Swing. Turning on Transcendence only increased the range, not the damage itself. That was useless. However, there was an essence that I'd never included in any of my cultivation plans that I had consumed by chance, and which, funnily enough, had helped me countless times on my journey so far.
[You have cast Flesh Burst.]
Yeah, maybe this one.
[By the authority of the transcendental body, the potential inherent in this skill is now unlocked.]
After activating the skill, I jumped forward. The skill wasn't instant anymore and now had a three-second delay, but in return, the damage it could cause had increased greatly.
Hmm, it was about thirty-five times, I think?
I'd only calculated it once or twice while studying Transcendence but my memory should have been accurate. There hadn't been many other skills in the game that increased damage to this extent. Of course, the pure damage Flesh Burst itself dealt was low. This skill was just used to spray acid—it didn't have much explosive power. Even multiplied by thirty-five, it would be hard for this ability to take off even 3 percent of a rank-three monster's HP. Well, I would be satisfied with that for now.
Dash.
I dashed forward once more and clung on to its neck with both arms: Barbarian Trojan Horse Mode.
"Human!" The monster roared as it struggled to buck me off of it. Oh, to think it would willingly open its mouth for me.
Slide.
I dropped my mace and shoved my hand into its snout.
Chomp!
The bastard immediately bit my hand with its thick teeth as if to punish me for doing something so irrational, but it was wrong about one thing.
I'm a barbarian, not a human. Anyway, time's up.
When I finished counting down in my head, an explosion erupted from the hand in its mouth, although there were none of the sparks that would have accompanied a classic explosion.
Kabooom!
Yeah, if this wasn't an explosion, then what was? The moment the blast occurred, I was thrown back into the air. That was how strong the force was.
Boom!
My heavy body immediately plummeted to the floor, and I hurriedly raised my head and stared at the spot where the bastard used to be. I realized it when I saw the wind had died down.
Shaaaaaa!
The Storm Gush's body was disappearing into a cloud of light.
[You have killed a Storm Gush. EXP +7」
So, I'd gotten him.
[Achievement Unlocked
Condition: First rank-3 monster kill.
Reward: Permanently increases your Spirit stat by +1.]
Was it because I'd lived as a barbarian for so long? A sense of satisfaction filled me just from the fact that I had been victorious in battle. But unfortunately, that satisfaction did not last long. An indescribable pain soon took over my entire body. The cause was clear.
[All Defense stats have been temporarily nullified.]
Ha, I didn't even consider the fact that Pain Resistance would go away after a Transcended Flesh Burst.
Oh, fu—
I hadn't experienced pain like this in so long that I couldn't even scream.
"Barbarian, are you okay?" Amelia's face entered my blurry vision. She then said something strange. "You're lucky."
I didn't think she said that simply because we'd survived because we'd succeeded in defeating that monster.
Oh, could it be...?
"Essence...?"
"Yes, it appeared."
What, really?
I raised my head a bit more and looked above me. Then, I saw an ultramarine-colored essence floating in the air. I probably didn't see it earlier because my eyes weren't focusing right.
Hallelujah.
I immediately crawled toward the essence on my stomach. The pain tearing through me? What about it? Humans were creatures that could be blinded by greed regardless of circumstance.
"...Shouldn't you treat yourself first?"
Treatment could come afterward. Besides, it wasn't like this was the first time my arm had ever been pulverized.
"Ehhhssence..."
"Strange guy."
I pretended not to hear Amelia and crawled toward the essence like a possessed man.
[The Essence of the Storm Gush is being absorbed into your soul. Strength has increased by +90. Agility has increased by +55. Physical Resistance has increased by +75. Natural Regeneration has increased by +50. Lung Capacity has increased by +40. Lightning Resistance has decreased by -30.]
Strength filled me up from the inside out. While I was savoring that pleasant fullness, Amelia opened her sub-space bracelet.
"Anyway, take a potion now."
That was the moment.
Shaaaaaa!
A brilliant light began to leak from the sub-space's opening. This seemed strange even to someone unfamiliar with magic, like me. A sub-space item didn't light up just because you put something inside or took something out.
Then... what is it?
It seemed Amelia was just as confused because she hurriedly put her hand inside and rummaged around. Then she pulled out an item.
"Why is this...?"
It was a stone that was emitting pure white light.
[You have deactivated Giantization.]
[You have cast Giantization.]
I quickly switched to Giantization (Normal) Mode. That was because I couldn't use Transcendence during Giantization (Transcendence) Mode.
[You have cast Transcendence. The next skill you use will be strengthened.]
It was really just the slightest difference. And in order to compensate for this difference, what we needed now was not a tank but a damage dealer. Of course, I didn't have a great number of skills. So, which one of them should I use?
Not Leap; maybe if I were facing a lanky long-range type, it would have come in handy, but an ability that made me faster wouldn't let me whittle down even 1 percent of this guy's HP. The same went for Swing. Turning on Transcendence only increased the range, not the damage itself. That was useless. However, there was an essence that I'd never included in any of my cultivation plans that I had consumed by chance, and which, funnily enough, had helped me countless times on my journey so far.
[You have cast Flesh Burst.]
Yeah, maybe this one.
[By the authority of the transcendental body, the potential inherent in this skill is now unlocked.]
After activating the skill, I jumped forward. The skill wasn't instant anymore and now had a three-second delay, but in return, the damage it could cause had increased greatly.
Hmm, it was about thirty-five times, I think?
I'd only calculated it once or twice while studying Transcendence but my memory should have been accurate. There hadn't been many other skills in the game that increased damage to this extent. Of course, the pure damage Flesh Burst itself dealt was low. This skill was just used to spray acid—it didn't have much explosive power. Even multiplied by thirty-five, it would be hard for this ability to take off even 3 percent of a rank-three monster's HP. Well, I would be satisfied with that for now.
Dash.
I dashed forward once more and clung on to its neck with both arms: Barbarian Trojan Horse Mode.
"Human!" The monster roared as it struggled to buck me off of it. Oh, to think it would willingly open its mouth for me.
Slide.
I dropped my mace and shoved my hand into its snout.
Chomp!
The bastard immediately bit my hand with its thick teeth as if to punish me for doing something so irrational, but it was wrong about one thing.
I'm a barbarian, not a human. Anyway, time's up.
When I finished counting down in my head, an explosion erupted from the hand in its mouth, although there were none of the sparks that would have accompanied a classic explosion.
Kabooom!
Yeah, if this wasn't an explosion, then what was? The moment the blast occurred, I was thrown back into the air. That was how strong the force was.
Boom!
My heavy body immediately plummeted to the floor, and I hurriedly raised my head and stared at the spot where the bastard used to be. I realized it when I saw the wind had died down.
Shaaaaaa!
The Storm Gush's body was disappearing into a cloud of light.
[You have killed a Storm Gush. EXP +7」
So, I'd gotten him.
[Achievement Unlocked
Condition: First rank-3 monster kill.
Reward: Permanently increases your Spirit stat by +1.]
Was it because I'd lived as a barbarian for so long? A sense of satisfaction filled me just from the fact that I had been victorious in battle. But unfortunately, that satisfaction did not last long. An indescribable pain soon took over my entire body. The cause was clear.
[All Defense stats have been temporarily nullified.]
Ha, I didn't even consider the fact that Pain Resistance would go away after a Transcended Flesh Burst.
Oh, fu—
I hadn't experienced pain like this in so long that I couldn't even scream.
"Barbarian, are you okay?" Amelia's face entered my blurry vision. She then said something strange. "You're lucky."
I didn't think she said that simply because we'd survived because we'd succeeded in defeating that monster.
Oh, could it be...?
"Essence...?"
"Yes, it appeared."
What, really?
I raised my head a bit more and looked above me. Then, I saw an ultramarine-colored essence floating in the air. I probably didn't see it earlier because my eyes weren't focusing right.
Hallelujah.
I immediately crawled toward the essence on my stomach. The pain tearing through me? What about it? Humans were creatures that could be blinded by greed regardless of circumstance.
"...Shouldn't you treat yourself first?"
Treatment could come afterward. Besides, it wasn't like this was the first time my arm had ever been pulverized.
"Ehhhssence..."
"Strange guy."
I pretended not to hear Amelia and crawled toward the essence like a possessed man.
[The Essence of the Storm Gush is being absorbed into your soul. Strength has increased by +90. Agility has increased by +55. Physical Resistance has increased by +75. Natural Regeneration has increased by +50. Lung Capacity has increased by +40. Lightning Resistance has decreased by -30.]
Strength filled me up from the inside out. While I was savoring that pleasant fullness, Amelia opened her sub-space bracelet.
"Anyway, take a potion now."
That was the moment.
Shaaaaaa!
A brilliant light began to leak from the sub-space's opening. This seemed strange even to someone unfamiliar with magic, like me. A sub-space item didn't light up just because you put something inside or took something out.
Then... what is it?
It seemed Amelia was just as confused because she hurriedly put her hand inside and rummaged around. Then she pulled out an item.
"Why is this...?"
It was a stone that was emitting pure white light.