Zenith Online: Rebirth of the Strongest Player
chapter-64

The deeper Kieran traveled into the Goblin Cave, the sparser the enemies became. Unlike the first room, which was filled with countless goblins, the second room only possessed half that number, roughly 150 or so.

The third decrease in a similar fashion, barely totaling 60. In exchange for the decreased numbers, Normal Goblin Minions no longer spawned as a way to maximize the Experience gain of any party seeking to challenge this Special Zone.

Due to this change, even the weakest Goblin Minion was a Lv.23 Elite, while the Goblin Leaders were elevated to Special Elites. The duration and difficulty of each battle increased accordingly because of this change, yet Kieran found this acceptable since his earlier estimation accounted for Normal monsters in the fray.

Despite being less than 22 hours in before reaching the second room, Kieran was more or less 50% finished with the most tedious part of his quest.

Still, being that Normal monsters no longer plagued his kill schedule, Kieran could allot additional time while remaining well within the timetable.

Identical to the previous room, Kieran's main focus was killing the Goblin Leaders to do away with their troublesome ability. Once he accomplished that task, Kieran focused on dealing with the Flame and Frost Goblins simultaneously.

It was challenging alone, but Kieran managed to avoid death numerous times with his indispensable Item Abilities. They provided an insane clutch factor that Kieran couldn't discredit no matter how much he wished to chalk it up to his independent skill.

Without the Crystalline Ring, Bear King Pendant, and Scarlet Steel Greatsword, he'd be a sitting duck against the virtually endless attacks.

Of course, one couldn't disparage Kieran's proficiency since these Item Abilities weren't almighty. Even with the assistance of said skills, an ordinary expert would have fallen numerous times by now.

After all, both Kieran's Health and Defense catapulted him into an echelon that belonged neither to a Basic nor Intermediate Class. It was as if he was stuck in a categorical limbo where some of his traits were on par with an Intermediate Class, but others were on par with a Basic Class.

Fortunately, in the case of Kieran's Attack Power, Warrior's Aura leveling up neutralized the slight increase in his enemies' defenses. The deeper Kieran moved inside the Goblin Cave, the more he felt the changes in his skills compound.

'Oh? Warrior's Aura previously increased at a snail's pace every second, but now it's visible to even me. The difference was like pouring water into a colander with tiny holes instead of a proper bowl without any holes to expel water.

Although the colander would fill somewhat, the draining principle of the colander made it feel as if the progress was nonexistent. Meanwhile, the bowl was an entirely different story. Even if it was minimal, the gain could be viewed.

According to Kieran's observations, Warrior's Aura currently accumulated at a rate of 10% per active hour of usage. Given that the amount of time he actively employed the skill in the past far surpassed this value, Kieran immediately felt the difference of operating without the Beginner Zone Handicap.

"It's a shame that Savage Break is much harder to level," Kieran sighed ruefully. Because it was a higher ranked skill burdened with a higher cooldown, the number of times Kieran could use the skill was limited compared to something like Force Slash.

Moreover, it was remarkably offputting how little each usage increased the mastery. While higher-ranked skills held more appeal, it wasn't practical to have an arsenal filled solely with such high-ranking skills. As a skill's caliber increased, it became customary for longer cooldowns to appear.

What's more, the higher a skill's rank, the more stringent the growth requirements grew. Even though Savage Break wasn't one of the highly ranked skills, Kieran only managed to increase its mastery by 40% after all this fighting!

'I'll have to be more conservative with my Skill Points in the future. I can't forget about the intended shortage,' Kieran thought. Relying upon the Skill Points provided during each level up to support the growth of a player's entire skill arsenal wasn't a viable option.

Each level up only rewarded enough Skill Points to acquire new skills from one's Skill Tree, not level them up until satisfied. This would become evident once more players unlocked their later skills that devoured Skill Points like ravenous beasts.

While thinking about this matter, Kieran stumbled into the fourth room. It possessed the lowest amount of opponents to date, only numbering twenty. However, Kieran's eyes narrowed when he realized something amiss with these particular goblins.

It was faint, but he could sense a disciplined aura from the goblins. They all possessed crudely made spears, but they held in a way that informed their opponents of their mastery.

What's more, these goblins wore mangled armor that protected their thighs and upper arms. As Kieran was greeted by their figures, their information appeared a second later.

「Lv.25 Goblin Enforcer (Special Elite)

Goblin Type

Health: 60,000/60,000 (100%)

Special Trait: «Pierce» «Steadfast»」

Kieran's face filled with slight astonishment as he skimmed through the information. 'They have two Traits despite only being a Special Elite, and every monster is identical? They must be a unique sub-set of Special Elites that conform to one standard. If that's true, then….'

To test his speculations, Kieran inched forward without brandishing his weapon to experience their inherent reaction. The Goblin Enforcers all snapped their eyes on Kieran and pointed their spears forward like trained soldiers.

Witnessing this sight made Kieran grin because it brought him back to his days of official military training. Everyone was trained uniformly, yet some excelled while others lagged behind. Some of this was due to talent, but the divide was primarily due to work ethic.

Not everyone possessed a stellar work ethic and was persistent enough to strive for optimal results.

"All as one. One man, one unit," Kieran muttered before returning the same gesture to the Goblin Enforcers. Unlike his prior battles faced within the Goblin Cave, there were no gimmicks to be utilized here. It was pure combat.

The piercing glint related to enhancing one's vision with Mana appeared in Kieran's eyes as he suddenly rushed forward. Once he did so, the Goblin Enforcers made their move, forming a wave as they moved forward.

While moving, Kieran minutely shifted his head to the side, dodging the sharp piercing thrust of one of the Enforcer's spears. After evading this attack, a flurry of spear thrusts shot toward Kieran.

Three of them were instantly deflected, but the fourth one made it through Kieran's defensive actions. The spear's tip tore past his cheek, forming a noticeable scar on his cheek.

-99 [Aatrox's Health: 561/660]

Rather than focus on this attack, Kieran instantly returned a Force Slash. Although Kieran didn't intend to attack within the counterattack window, he inadvertently succeeded.

Bang!

Contrary to what Kieran expected, the Goblin Enforcer was only knocked back a single step before stabilizing.

〈Alert: «Knockback» effect has been resisted by the «Steadfast» trait!〉

Once Kieran read this alert, he clicked his tongue. 'So that's what this Steadfast trait is. I'm not sure which one I hate more, this or Sturdy.'

Kieran relied upon Force Slash's knockback effect to initiate many of his combo strings since it left his enemies relatively defenseless as far as blocking went. What's more, Kieran estimated these Goblin Enforcers possessed Defense upwards of 400 based on the damage he dealt.

When he landed a basic attack, it dealt slightly over 400 damage. Even then, Kieran was proud of the damage he inflicted because it'd be nearly impossible for anyone else to replicate.

The 33% damage boost from Warrior's Aura and 20% damage boost from Goblin Hunter II gave Kieran an absurd advantage against these goblins. So despite their established rhythm, trained strikes, and deadly attack power, Kieran remained shockingly calm.

Once he shattered the defense of one Goblin Enforcer with Savage Break, he followed up with a Charge that momentarily stunned the monster in place. Usually, Kieran would advance off of this set-up, but Kieran chose to use Force Slash's pressure to create ample space.

Of course, that didn't mean this skill wasn't utilized to deal damage. Kieran simply used his current position to purposely launch the attack with unsteady footing. Thus, he was sent over 5 meters backward, the optimal location to unleash Flaming Circle.

A glorious blaze erupted as the amber embers flickered in Kieran's deep black eyes.

However, not even two seconds later, numerous spears pierced through the flames, creating small openings that Kieran didn't account for. 'What the… their trait even works on Item Abilities? Isn't that… kind of broken?'

Instead of its intended 15-second duration, the Flaming Circle barely persisted for 5 before the Goblin Enforcers managed to free themselves and peer upon Kieran with peevish gazes.

Naturally, they didn't take too kindly to being bathed by a ring of flames.

In preparation for what was to come, Kieran retrieved a Beginner Health Potion and put it between his lips while simultaneously activating the Spirit of the Bear King. The Dazed State was greatly reduced, but it sufficed for Kieran to perform his flawed replica of the Whirlwind Slash.

Numerous damage values appeared above the head of the Goblin Enforcer as the battle grew heated over the next few minutes. When Kieran's Agility failed to cope with the goblin's overlapping attacks, he tilted his head back and down the contents of the health potion before spitting it out.

The battle raged on for more than two hours before Kieran successfully killed the last Goblin Enforcer.

〈System: The Title «Goblin Hunter II» has reached its final Normal upgrade.〉

〈System: You have received the Title «Goblin Hunter III»!〉

〈System: You have gained 7,540 Experience! [Current Accumulation Value: 1,930,495/?]〉

When Kieran saw that he had accumulated almost two million Experience, his jaw dropped in exasperation.

'How much Experience will I accumulate before this quest is finished? And what level will I reach after I gain access to it?!'

Kieran couldn't help but question and look forward to the instance where he accepted the abundant Experience. Following his quest, Kieran moved on to tracking his progress and remaining times.