Field Boss Battle

The moment I first faced that pack of hundreds of wolves, what I felt was sheer hopelessness. I'd charged in boldly, but doubts flooded me about whether I could handle numbers like that alone. Those doubts and that hopelessness didn't fade even after I'd taken down over fifty wolves. I'd dropped so many, yet the endless horde showed no sign of thinning out—a far cry from the multi-enemy fights I'd grown used to on Floor 1. Even when I'd deliberately triggered traps that spawned hordes of goblins, it never felt like the enemies were truly infinite.

But that hopelessness flipped completely on its head midway through the fight, thanks to a single alert window popping up in front of me.

It had barely been a few hours since I'd hit level 40 by taking down the Floor 1 boss, Goblin Lord Graksar. I'd been stuck at 39 for a good while, so reaching 40 felt natural enough. The clear rewards were massive, and factoring in the accumulated EXP, it made sense. But hitting 41? That was different. It meant the wolves ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'd killed so far had netted me more EXP than the boss clear reward.

From that moment on, the seemingly bottomless wolf pack started looking like an endless feast of delicacies. Infinite enemies? If they're infinite, that's even better, right? When's the next chance like this gonna come?

I started grinning, swinging my weapon in a near-trance as I fought on. Stamina wore thin at times, crises hit, and I nearly died more than once. But through it all, I kept laughing. The dramatic shifts in my status window were pure joy.

Strength had broken through 60, and Endurance hit 50. Four levels in a single day. It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠reminded me of my explosive growth right after entering the Tower of Trials, monopolizing all the resources solo. And this wasn't even the end of it.

The battle with hundreds of wolves hadn't just boosted my levels.

Two skills I'd picked up for unknown reasons during combat suddenly leveled up. Now I had a pretty good idea what they were.

Looking back at when their levels rose, it was obvious. The moments when my heart felt like it would burst, ketone breath rose in my throat, vision blurred, and I thought I couldn't move another step—yet I dodged a wolf's attack anyway. That's when Combat Persistence leveled.

When a crisis hit after prolonged fighting, and I snapped my eyes open in mortal peril for a counterattack. That's when Combat Awakening leveled—though it only happened once, so less certain.

In short: levels rose from sustaining combat and from those flashes of awakening mid-fight. Clear cause and effect. My actions and growth were reflecting directly into skill levels.

I'd heard first-gen Hunters had more diverse skills than levels or classes. Back before strategies were established, old Hunters must've acquired skills just like this. Suddenly, their claims that EXP and items weren't everything made a lot more sense.

"Nice."

I grinned, closing the status window and tossing aside the shattered [Graksar's Bone Axe], its durability at zero.

-Krrrng...!

Before my eyes stood a gray wolf dwarfing the others in size. After I'd wiped out the hundreds-strong pack, this field boss finally sauntered out. The Wolf King—this guy was my last opponent of the day.

**

The Field 2 boss of the Field area—known in open community posts as Wolf King Robo. I'd worried mid-pack fight what if this bastard ambushed me. But showing up only after all his minions were dead? That screamed why he was king, not just leader. Hell, what king leaves his soldiers to die and fights first?

"Hey, you gonna come at me or what?"

I swapped my half-ruined armor for a spare from inventory and equipped my shield. Honestly, I looked like shit. HP was under half, even after steady potion chugs—the wounds were just too many. My unprotected face and hands were a mess, joints screaming everywhere. And stamina? Rock bottom. Standing still was an effort; I just wanted to collapse.

Far from full strength. But it was just a field boss. With my specs, I should ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠handle it fine even like this.

-Awooooooo!!

As if understanding my taunt, the Wolf King let out a piercing howl, and a system message appeared.

But the system message was a bit off from what I knew.

Fuck, something different again this time? Come to think of it, I'd read wolf howls were for communicating with packmates.

-Tatata!

Confirming my thought, rapid footsteps rang out, and a pure white wolf burst from somewhere. Slightly smaller than Wolf King Robo but similar, it glared with blue eyes and flanked my rear.

Yeah, gonna make me fight two-on-one after all, huh? Bring it.

**

Wolf monsters' biggest trait? Blazing reflexes and speed over other stats. Of course, my high Agility meant I rarely got outsped. Even in the recent dogpile, I'd outpaced normal wolves and even named ones.

But this white wolf seemed to match my speed. Two-on-one, no room for slacking—one mistake and I'd eat a big hit. Gotta stay sharp.

-Tak!

I ignored the unknown white wolf, Blanca, and charged Robo first. Community strategies had most of Robo's patterns down. Confirm that side first.

-Kraaaang!!

Charging head-on, Robo unleashed an ear-ringing howl. Fear pattern to terrify challengers. Exposure causes paralysis whose duration scales with your specs. Deadly if paralyzed, but meaningless against my solo Floor 1 clears.

I ignored it, leaped strong, aiming for his foul-breath maw.

-Kwak!

Sword Charge with its dash judgment—glowing blade stabbed right into Robo's eyeball. Elephant-sized for a wolf, easy to target weak spots. I stepped on the lodged blade to vault onto his back, pulling a fresh sword from inventory to stab his neck—

But Blanca moved.

-Sasasak!

Blanca was faster than expected. Her movement was weird too—not running on ground, more like sliding on ice. What the— no time to think. I thrust my shield at her charging jaws.

-Pak!

Shield swung with 60+ Strength shattered Blanca's teeth with massive force. Fast, but fragile. Makes sense for balance.

Then Robo shook violently, pissed at Blanca getting smashed airborne.

"Tch."

Already precariously perched, I tumbled off. No biggie. Robo's patterns matched community info, and Blanca was overhyped. Fast, sure, but only in speed. Strength and endurance? Meh.

-Kwang!

Robo charged with red-glowing eyes; I sidestepped, watching Blanca. She slid in a beat late with bizarre motion; I met her fangs with my shield.

-Kag!

Blanca crunched ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hard enough to wreck the shield, but my max-reinforced one held. Casually, I raised my straight sword for Brandish.

That's when it happened.

-Eujek!

Blanca's blue eyes flared; the shield touching her teeth started freezing.

"What the fuck!"

Despite shock, the casted skill fired—I awkwardly slashed her leg deep. But Blanca clung to the shield, unfazed.

-Tak, tatatak!

Feet stuck, Robo barreled in with flame-wreathed fangs. Unique [Robo & Blanca] pattern unknown to community: fire and ice attributes.

"Fucking hell."

Shit like this on Floor 2? Couldn't not curse.