Kobold King Boss Battle (2)

Just as Ho-jin had expected, Choco's Strength stat had been stuck in place for a long time—ever since she'd started using Five Elements Daoism in earnest.

In Al Fantasia, every level-up granted five stat points. Those points were automatically allocated based on whatever you'd been doing to earn the level, and repeating certain actions could raise a stat even without spending a single point.

In Choco's case, her hunting amounted to blasting things with Five Elements Daoism and, every so often, dodging whatever tanked the hit and came charging in. So of course her Spirit Power and Agility had soared, leftover points aside. The other two stats—Strength and Durability—lagged painfully behind anyone else at her level.

A textbook glass cannon. And even these numbers only looked this respectable thanks to the bonus stats she'd gained from awakening her Spirit Power. Without those, it would have been even more pathetic.

As Choco grunted and strained to lift the crossbow, Yeon sidled over and whispered.

"Want me to help?"

"I am fine. A single level-up and it shall be nothing."

"We're not hunting yet anyway. I'll carry it."

"I said I am fine—wha—?"

Choco stared dumbly as Yeon plucked the crossbow from her hands like it was nothing.

"Huh. Lighter than I thought?"

"Once you clear the stat requirement, the weight isn't much of a burden. More importantly, Yeon—what's your Strength at?"

"Oh, mine's 58."

"Higher than I expected. With how fast you are, I figured you'd dumped everything into Agility."

"My Agility's already over a hundred."

"Three digits already? That's impressive."

Watching the two of them slide effortlessly from the crossbow to a stat discussion, Choco muttered under her breath.

"These people treat this one like a piece of furniture."

She might as well have been invisible. She was staring blankly at Yeon when Se-jin quietly stepped up beside her.

Why is she coming over to me? Choco shot her a sidelong glance for no good reason, then whipped her head the other way.

Choco did not like Se-jin. Not the way Yeon treated her so comfortably, and not the way Se-jin found Yeon adorable. None ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of that was actually a bad thing, of course—but she couldn't help how she felt.

Besides, half the reason she'd fought with Yeon this time was this woman's fault. No—all of it was this woman's fault. Choco knew perfectly well she owned a share of those feelings herself, but she forced the thought anyway.

At least, she did—until Se-jin suddenly apologized.

"I'm sorry."

"…And why, pray tell, are you apologizing all of a sudden?"

"Because I'm the reason you and Yeon ended up fighting. I've been feeling bad about it."

"Hmph. So you do realize you were in the wrong?"

Even that snide remark got no reaction from Se-jin, so Choco let it drop. She had too many sore spots of her own to keep throwing stones. She let out a long sigh and muttered.

"Enough. This one was the fool who brought it upon herself. There was no need for an apology to begin with."

"Then…"

"That, however, is a separate matter. I still do not like thee."

"Eh…"

At that, Se-jin's shoulders visibly slumped, her face falling. She'd taken the snide remarks without so much as a blink, but the moment Choco said she didn't like her, she looked genuinely disappointed. It made no sense at all.

While that was happening, Ho-jin finished his conversation with Yeon and clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"We got a bit sidetracked, but that covers the boss fight. Anyone have questions?"

Nobody spoke up. He nodded and continued.

"I'll take that as a no. Choco and Cute are both stuck ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at twenty-nine, so let's hunt a bit before we go in. We can always finish leveling on the trash mobs once we're inside the boss fight."

"Wouldn't that put you and me at risk, Ho-jin? If we level up while hunting, we'll hit the level cap…"

"That's fine. Once you enter the boss fight, the level restriction no longer ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠applies."

The catch was that if you leveled past the cap while inside, you'd never be able to attempt it again. Your first try would also be your last.

"Shall we get going, then?"

The other three nodded.

Among the kobolds, the archer had the widest field of vision. It nocked an arrow and scanned the trees. The warriors up front hadn't noticed a thing, but the archer's class traits and buffs had honed its senses to a razor's edge—and those senses were screaming that something was wrong.

But it couldn't see anything. Even in a forest this dense, nothing should have been able to hide from its eyes. The kobold archer was still turning that thought over when a strange sensation prickled at it, and it turned its head.

The air itself seemed to gather and flow toward a single point. The moment it followed that current, the archer that had been watching the forest found itself staring at the sky.

It never had time to wonder why. The kobold archer died on the spot.

"Gyaah?!"

The warriors reacted a beat too late, shrieking at the sound of the body hitting the ground. Not that screaming would bring back an archer with a bolt through its skull.

"Oh, nice shot."

"A shot of this caliber is nothing to preen over."

Choco said it like it was nothing, already reloading with practiced ease. She pointed the muzzle at the ground, gripped the string with both hands, and drew it all the way back until it locked. That was not the motion of someone who'd only done this once or twice.

No wonder she'd been so confident when she took the crossbow.

If only my Strength were high enough. I could have done this even faster.

Choco clicked her tongue, nocked another bolt, and took aim at a kobold. Twang—a faint sound, and another bolt punched through a skull. Even kobolds this stupid couldn't miss it anymore. They spotted her and started howling.

"How noisy."

A volley of fox-fire poured down before they could even charge, and they shattered on the spot.

Is there anything this kid can't do?

Ho-jin watched Choco sling the crossbow over her shoulder with a look that said this was getting boring, and thought. No matter how you sliced it, this was the kind of skill that belonged to someone with a main account. Magic aside, the crossbow was honestly a fringe weapon. Easy to handle, sure, but its damage was fixed, so it was less versatile than a regular bow—and the fire rate was terrible. Nobody bothered using one.

Handling a crossbow this naturally was basically advertising that you had a main.

But that still doesn't add up.

If someone with a frame that tiny had been running around with a crossbow, there was no way it wouldn't have made the rounds. It would have been all over the forums. And as far as Ho-jin knew, he'd never heard a whisper of anything like that.

Which meant this was insane. No main account, a newbie buying a magic book way out of her price range, learning magic, and handling a crossbow like a pro? It wasn't completely impossible if some high-level player was power-leveling her.

A high-level player helping her grow… Did this kid even have someone like that? Given how she bristled at everyone except Yeon, the odds were vanishingly slim.

A man Ho-jin knew did use a crossbow as a sidearm, and the thought flickered through his mind—but he shook his head. That guy was the type to bury himself in his own hunting, not help anyone else.

I really can't figure this kid out.

With that thought, Ho-jin led the party to a new spot.

And the same scene played out again. And again. After enough repetitions, even Ho-jin had to ask.

"How do you keep hitting them that cleanly?"

"Is it not simply a matter of shooting as one would a gun?"

"You don't even go to the military, so how would you…"

"And what of thee?"

Ho-jin's mouth snapped shut. He was on supplementary service—the kind that didn't even go to basic training. He'd never held a gun in his life. Choco knew that, which was why she clicked her tongue.

"Never having fired one, how would thee know?"

"Okay, but you haven't fired one either, have you?"

It wasn't like she was some high school girl who'd already finished her military service. Ho-jin protested, looking thoroughly wronged, and Choco lifted her chin with complete confidence.

"I have fired plenty in Sudden Attack!"

"That's a game from over fifty years ago…!"

"What's Sudden Attack?"

"Beats me."

She could feel Yeon and Se-jin tilting their heads behind a thoroughly flabbergasted Ho-jin, but Choco stood her ground.

Truth was, she had never played it either. It really was a game from fifty years ago. And besides, you didn't actually need to have fired a real gun to be good with a crossbow.

The crossbow Choco used to carry was twice the size of the one in her hands now. Hitting things with it had never been hard. A few simple low-tier wind spells and you could shoot straight ahead and still hit something behind you. Thin the herd that way, then draw your sword and dive into the pack. That had been Choco's hunting style.

I miss those days.

Lobbing fireballs from a distance wasn't bad, but a real fight was better when you moved your own body. When you were swinging a sword, you didn't have leftover brain space for thoughts like these.

No. Don't think about that right now.

Choco scattered the memories she'd worked so hard to keep buried and nocked another bolt.

"Hm?"

"What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is it?"

"Those ones… they appear rather large."

"Large?"

At Choco's words, Ho-jin turned to look at the kobold pack she'd spotted. Compared to the groups of six or seven they'd been fighting, there were only three—but the problem was obvious. They were a completely different size. Ho-jin picked up on it too, and whispered.

"The Royal Guard?"

"Nay. Were they the Royal Guard, would they not remain at the Kobold King's side?"

"Still…"

"Come to think of it, didn't we hear something about that back at the fortress?"

"About what?"

Yeon had cut in out of nowhere. Ho-jin asked back, puzzled.

"I heard it from the people gathered at the fortress. The first group that went to check things out never even got close to the boss—they got wiped by the Royal Guard."

"The Royal Guard… some kind of surprise event change?"

"Perhaps. More pressingly—what shall we do? Should those prove to be the Royal Guard, we will level up."

Repeated hunting had already filled their experience bars past the halfway mark. A normal kobold pack would leave them just shy of a level. If this group was the Royal Guard, though, a level-up wouldn't be surprising at all.

Killing them wasn't the issue. Even if they really were the Royal Guard, a few spells would put them in the ground.

"Then… maybe we should pull back for now. Take a short rest, then head straight into the boss fi—"

"KUEEEEEK—!"

"—and that is clearly not happening."

"Is it not?"

Choco snorted a laugh and loosed a bolt without the slightest hesitation.

And about three minutes later, Choco and Pretty Cute hit level thirty.