Zenith Online: Rebirth of the Strongest Player
chapter-23

Kieran's expression grew increasingly ferocious right after Guhara entered another period of weakness. He guzzled down another Beginner Mana Potion to support Warrior's Aura and Enhanced Gaze, then rushed forward at the highest speed he could muster. In this state, Guhara couldn't acquire aggro.

Therefore, Kieran signaled for both Aspaira and Altair to dump their skills as soon as they came off cooldown. They needed to kill Guhara before she could recover and before Shibak interfered too much. Thus, the battlefield became chaotic, filled with the blistering heat from Aspaira's spell and the strong currents from Kieran's attacks.

Additionally, an eerie whizzing noise sounded repeatedly after Altair's attacks cleanly swept through the air. The slender blades met no air resistance, which was another reason why it possessed the fastest melee attack speed in the game.

Shnk! Shnk! Shnk! Bang!

…Boom!

Guhara's Health plummeted like an open drain faucet as the team unleashed a steady, overwhelming damage output. However, as a result, both Kieran and Altair's Stamina experienced a drastic decrease despite the reduced consumption granted by a dungeon setting.

'It may be difficult to defeat Shibak right after. After all, he was known to be harsh on one's Stamina,' Kieran thought to himself. Afterward, he lifted his Novice Greatsword with a cold expression on his face. A stormy gale surrounded his weapon and he brought it down like a divine edict dispensed by a deity.

A horrifying explosion sounded as both the Novice Greatsword's durability decreased and Kieran's arm ached terribly. Nevertheless, the outcome was worth it. Guhara, the truly difficult opponent, had fallen under this strike!

〈System: You have received 9,000 Experience.〉

〈System: You have leveled up! [Lv.13 → Lv.14]〉

〈System: You have received 5 Unassigned Attribute Points and 2 Skill Points.〉

〈System: You have leveled up! [Lv.14 → Lv.15]〉

〈System: You have received 5 Unassigned Attribute Points and 2 Skill Points.〉

While Kieran received 9,000 Experience with the help of the Medallion of Growth, the rest of his party received 5,500 Experience. After all, they were below Guhara's level. At least, they were previously.

Everyone in the party had at least reached Lv.12 after killing Guhara, but Kieran had them hold off on applying their Attribute Points until they got a glimpse of the loot these monsters would drop.

Meanwhile, Kieran retreated from Guhara's body. He didn't even have a chance to pick up any loot before Shibak released a deafening roar. If these bosses weren't killed at the same time, one would become marginally tougher to beat. If it were Guhara, their skill would activate faster, unleash faster, and deal absolutely devastating damage.

Based on his party's capabilities, Kieran understood there was a zero percent chance of anyone besides him and Altair dodging Guhara's hastened razing attacks.

So, Kieran readily chose Shibak as the last one to face. Subsequently, the crystal armor covering Shibak's body grew further.

Its defense value undoubtedly underwent a change. But, Kieran would happily deal with this than the previously mentioned scenario. Despite having 25% of his Stamina instantly refilled, Kieran still remained on the fence regarding how much would be consumed against Shibak.

'It's times like this that you prefer a Tier 1 class. Much stronger,' Kieran inwardly thought. The physique of a Tier 1 class was bound to start recovering the moment he stopped making exhausting movements.

Sadly, Shibak didn't give the team more than two minutes before it acted unusually by rushing toward Kieran without any prior indication. Although Kieran backed out, Shibak maintained the same aggro values as before. And, the only one to launch an attack on this monster thus far was Kieran.

'That's right… How could I forget? Killing one of them cancels the aggro reset that typically occurs after two minutes,' Kieran thought while also groaning slightly. Instead of canceling, the aggro value was forcibly applied.

'This will have to do…'

Currently, Kieran's Stamina was approximately 58%. He was unsure whether this would be enough because, unlike with Guhara, he would deal even further reduced damage. It was akin to going against a boss that grew stronger in phases, but not entirely.

Kieran took a single large step back, avoiding Shibak's powerful smash. Afterward, he executed a basic attack that made his eye widen in shock. He at least expected his basic attacks to still inflict some kind of substantial damage. Sadly, the reality was their situation wasn't so pleasing.

-1

"Oh! What the hell? Why are you dealing one damage?!" Sithik shrieked in fright. Kieran was the bread and butter damager of their team. So, the fact that his basic attack dealt one damage startled the party. Was this even clearable?!

"Relax. It's not as bad as we think. It's absolutely still salvageable. The only thing that will probably break past its defenses is our skills," Kieran said.

Of course, that -1 didn't mean the difference between Kieran's attack and Shibak's defense was one. While still inside the beginner village, any damage that dealt one or less damage would immediately be rounded up to one. This led to two possibilities—either the difference was exactly one or in fact a decimal.

Kieran could only verify this by testing his speculation. He assigned ten points to Strength, finally surpassing a surprising number of 50. Likewise, his Attack Power increased to 142.

Again, Kieran slashed his sword.

-2 [Damaged reduced by 20%]

This time the damage was marginally higher, but it gave Kieran a clear understanding of what occurred during this slight increase in attributes. After factoring in the rise of his Attack Power and Warrior's Aura, the attack should've dealt 173 damage to something with zero defense. Therefore, Kieran confirmed its current defenses.

"Its Defense is approximately 170. Altair, assign your attribute points in a way that ensures your skills will break past this threshold comfortably."

"Ah… so you mean dump! By all means, then I will dump it!" Altair grinned excitedly. His attack and movements were already more than enough, so he could spare putting all the Attribute Points gained from his recent level-ups into Strength.

Afterward, Kieran nodded to Altair. "Just fight with me. This monster has no troublesome skills, unlike its partner. So all we need to do is remain wary of its regular attacks. Don't mind our aggro values. I believe we can both dodge the retaliation."

At the same time, Aspaira continued to provide magical support from the back. However, her skills were incredibly draining. Just one Fireball exhausted four times the amount of Kieran's Force Slash. So, the advantage in unmitigated damage came at a cost.

Luckily, Intelligence also determined the size of one's Mana Pool at this point in the game. According to Kieran's knowledge, close to zero ways to increase one Mana Pool outside of Intelligence were active right now. To extract this knowledge, they'd have to visit Mage Towers and Sorceror Circles.

Meanwhile, a string of nonstop -1 and -2s appeared above Shibak's head. Frequent considerable damage values occurred from Kieran, Aspaira, and Altair's skills, giving the party some consolation.

When it was time to dodge, either Altair or Kieran moved when the attack displayed signs of targetting them. Although it was a long, tedious battle requiring endless attacks, the party soon managed to defeat Shibak after a grueling 10 minutes of fighting.

On average, they only dished out 800 damage, sometimes less when the attack hit the crystalline armor instead of hardened flesh. The attacks were further weakened when Sturdy occasionally triggered a Block, which negated all damage inflicted by the blocked attack.

It was an effect that Kieran absolutely despised sometimes. But, this effect became even worse with Bosses, who were lauded as super-beasts compared to normal monsters.

But, Kieran's frustrations were washed away when he received the Experience from Shibak. While it was lower than what he received from Guhara, it was still enough to get Kieran to the next level.

〈System: You have received 8,500 Experience.〉

〈System: You have leveled up! [Lv.15 → Lv.16]〉

〈System: You have received 5 Unassigned Attribute Points and 2 Skill Points.〉

Afterward, Kieran quickly ran up to the loot from both mini-bosses. He could see a few items shimmering with a faint purple glow at a glance. This glow symbolized the presence of Rare items amongst the pile of loot. The first thing Kieran collected was the coins, and he did so expeditiously, numbering at least 5 Silver coins in total.

Next, he sifted through the items for any heavy armor. Sadly, only one uncommon Lv.10 Heavy Bottom was dropped. Still, it was enough to raise Kieran's defense by 9 points, reaching 70.

A majority of the items were geared towards a tank. There was a Rare Lv.15 shield and even an abundance of plate armor. One of the other Rare drops was a Lv.10 Rare Plate Top. Once they got the chance, Kieran would undoubtedly put these items up for sale.

Next, Kieran found the last Rare item—a ring.

「 Crystalline Ring (Accessory)

Item Rank: Rare

Item Level: 15

Health +60

Defense +15

Item Ability «Hardened Skin» - Activating this ability reduces the amount of damage received by 10% for 20 seconds. This ability can only be used once every 30 seconds.

Description: A ring chiseled from a crystal material that promotes stability. The wearer is bounded to have improved defenses. 」

The ring was primarily gray in color, but it possessed dark yellow engravings throughout the inner space. Overall, Kieran grinned because this ring made it so he wouldn't need to dump an insane amount of Attribute Points inside Vitality and Endurance.

「Name: Aatrox

Lv.16 (Experience: 120/15,000)

Class: Warrior

Title(s): None

[«Stats»]-

Health: 300/300 (0.2 HP regen/sec)

Mana: 130/130 (0.15 MP regen/sec)

Stamina: 37/119 (0.1 Stamina regen/sec)

Attack Power: 142

Defense: 85

[«Attributes»]-

»Strength: 55 (43 + 12 + 0)

»Intelligence: 20 (20 + 0 + 0)

»Agility: 40 (37 + 3 + 0)

»Endurance: 23 (13 + 10 + 0)

»Control: 30 (30 + 0 + 0)

»Vitality: 28 (18 + 10 + 0)

»Perception: 50 (50 + 0 + 0)

[Unassigned Stat Point: 10]

[Skill Points: 8] 」

Ideally, the party wished to recover all their Stamina. However, precisely 10 minutes after they killed Shibak, numerous towering trees fell and sent intense quakes through the entire forest.

Simultaneously, heavy footsteps approached the party quickly. Soon enough, a bear over 4 meters tall with a vicious appearance appeared before the party.

Finally, they had reached the dungeon's final boss!