Chương 48: Solo Mission - Robert (5)

I was besieged, greeted by a whole host of adversaries. There were at least fifty beasts walking towards me with their eyes open wide. However, I didn't falter; I continued to grip my sword tightly as I stayed put, staring nonchalantly at the beasts in front of me. In my mind, the fact that the beasts had wandered towards me was akin to them walking straight to their untimely demise. Walking towards me as a basic-level mana beast meant walking into a perilous situation where survival was not always guaranteed.

I checked my system window to confirm a thought that had been lingering in my mind. And what I saw just lifted my spirits even more. [Cave 33: Mission 1/1: defeat the beasts] Beasts to defeat: 1) Grizzly black bear (75/75) 2) Crimson fox (0/50) 3)??? (?? /??) Perfect. There were at least fifty beasts marching towards me. That meant I could kill the beasts right here, right now with ease and march towards the boss with my head held high.

The fight with the beasts would instill confidence in me which would benefit me in my fight against the boss. As the beasts inched closer towards me, I could tell straight away that they were the crimson foxes. They had the body shape of a fox: tall cat ears, a long tail and four legs. What made them crimson foxes, however, was the colour of their fur, which was evocative of pure, refined, ruby-red human blood. Still, I didn't hesitate.

I checked the name tag of the foxes not because I wanted to verify what the beast's name was, but because of their level. [Crimson fox (basic/advanced)]"Not scary now, are you?" I said in a boastful tone.

"I'll take you down as well as the beast you seem to be guarding." I didn't say any more. In fights, those who said the most tend to be defeated the quickest. They usually underestimate their opponent, display too much arrogance, boast in front of them and get humbled at the end when their opponent lifts their head and presents it in front of their troops. [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Slash! Instantly, the head of the nearest crimson fox fell, tumbling haphazardly onto the floor.

Tar-like black blood, which contrasted with the appearance of the foxes, spilled out as the fox's corpse fell on the floor with a loud thud. Still, the other foxes didn't stutter. They charged towards me at full speed, but it was no use. [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Slash! Slash! Slash! As I effortlessly darted between smaller groups of foxes, the foxes fell. Their heads were severed, their limbs were cut, their bodies were stabbed and their tails were detached from their bodies. Slash!

Slash! Slash! Some of the foxes had wounds so deep that their bones were exposed and painted with crimson-red paint. The stabs that I had refined to perfection perforated the beasts' bodies, creating carnage and spraying blood all over the place like blood sprinklers. [Crimson fox (7/50)] As soon as there was a reasonable gap between me and the remaining foxes, I wiped the tar off my face and said, "Let's try this out. Since they're still half in the basic level, it should work."

[Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] [Skill, 'Strength (basic)', has been activated.] Punch! One punch was all it took for the fox at the very front to be flung in the direction of the other foxes. The fox that had unfortunately made contact with my fist crashed into other foxes with such a force that it rendered at least five foxes immobile; at least ten others were injured.

I knew that unlike Theo's overwhelming punches, due to the difference in strength, my punches were not enough to kill mana beasts outright; all it did was weaken the beasts that had been affected. That meant I needed a way to finish off the beasts that I had weakened with my punches. Luckily, I also had a move like that in my arsenal. [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

With my determination at an all-time high, I thrust my sword into the weakened foxes at a superhuman speed. At first, that might seem impossible to understand, but I was able to pull off a move like that because of the countless number of times I activated my teleportation skill. [Crimson fox (13/50)] In an instant, I pulled out several more basic mana crystals from my pocket and threw them all into my mouth apart from one.

"That feels so much better." Smash! The crystal that wasn't thrown into my mouth had to suffer from the wrath of my hand. You have chosen to use a 'Basic Mana Crystal'. What will you be using it for? 1) Strength +3 2) Agility +3 3) Stamina +3 4) Intelligence +3 5) Upgrade skill Option 3. Trait, 'Stamina', has been upgraded by 3 points. Stamina: 26 → 29"I feel so refreshed." I couldn't falter at that moment. If I did, the foxes might find a chance to fight back and injure me.

So far, in all of my battles inside this cave, I hadn't suffered from a single wound. I didn't want that to change, but as I continued to massacre the foxes nearest to me, the distance between me and the pair of eyes that were at least eight feet into the air continued to decrease, which increased the chances of me getting scared and hesitating. After all, I was only one person, and I was only human.

On the other hand, the adversaries had the numerical advantage and potentially the upper hand in strength as well with the addition of the tall beast at the back. But did I really care about all of that nonsense? Definitely not. I had one goal in mind, and I wasn't going to stop until I achieved that goal. [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Slash! Slash! Slash! I went on another rampage, teleporting left, right and centre.

It was impossible for the foxes to track my rapid movements although they had one foot in the level above mine. After all, that was not how the skill user system worked in Night Hoppers. Slash! Slash! Slash! [Crimson fox (20/50)] Did I care about all the blood that was splattered on my body? Did I care about the beasts being a level higher than me? Did I care about who the mysterious set of eyes glaring at me belonged to? Not really. Because I had my own way of doing things.

[Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Slash! Slash! Slash! I swung my sword a few more times. I didn't want to focus on anything that wasn't related to the battle, especially not that thing behind all of the foxes. Slash! Slash! Slash! All I did was kill and watch as the number increased dramatically. [Crimson fox (30/50)] Slash! Slash! Slash! Heads went flying, bodies dropped to the ground, a blood volcano erupted. Cave 33 was a mess.

[Crimson fox (35/50)] I began to sweat profusely, and the sweat dripping down from my forehead mixed with the blood that sprayed onto my face. It created a terrible concoction on my face which I still wiped off with ease. Huff, huff, huff.

"Almost there," I said, gasping for air.

"I have fifteen left." Yes, Robert. Think like that. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. You're over halfway there. Get it over with and then fight what's behind the foxes. I thought my nose was going to release steam as my anger boiled as if it was all being dumped into a large pan. I thought I was going to blow a fuse in my brain and run amok. All of these feelings of anger circulated around my brain as I glared at the final fifteen crimson foxes.

"Let's do this." [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Five down, ten more to go. I thought I was going to run out of energy and faint, but I still had the recovery skill and some mana crystals left in my pocket I could use, which mostly eliminated that possibility. [Skill, 'Strength (basic)', has been activated.] Punch! Bang!

Beasts were flung in all different directions; some of them crashed into walls, and some of them even ended up on the ceiling before falling lifelessly with a loud thud, signifying that all of their bones had been pulverised and crumbled into little shards. Punch! Slash! Bang! [Crimson fox (45/50)] [Crimson fox (48/50)] [Crimson fox (50/50)] Huff, huff, huff. I wiped most of the blood off of my face once they were all down.

Cluttered on the floor in an untidy heap was a pile of blood-red corpses shedding black oil-like blood. Some of the corpses were missing their heads, some of them had deep gashes on their bodies and surprisingly, some of them were missing limbs.

"All in a day's work for a Hopper." Panting heavily, I reached into my pocket again and pulled out the remaining mana crystals. I had intended to leave some to sell after the mission, but under a certain twist of fate, they were all gone. That didn't matter though, since I had fifty crimson foxes' worth of mana crystals to rummage and use to my discretion. [Skill, 'Reading Bubble (basic)', has been activated.] [Skill, 'Recovery (basic)', has been activated.] Gradually, the exhaustion in my body subsided, replaced by a new, unwavering sense of determination and confidence. I, the weakest person in our group of Night Hoppers, had defeated more than a hundred beasts on my own, despite the fact that they had all been on the basic level. Nevertheless, I was still extremely proud of myself. The frail, timid boy who used to always read web novels on his phone had mustered the courage and defeated a hundred wild beasts all by himself. It felt like a miracle.

This boy was heading on the path towards infinite glory.

"That's enough contemplating for now," I said, standing up and disengaging the reading bubble. [You have disengaged skill, 'Reading Bubble (basic)'.]"I still have that thing to deal with." During the fight with the crimson foxes, the thing at the very back with the menacing eyes stood as still as a statue. All I could see during the fight was its eyes, which only provided a poor source of light in this pitch-black realm of oblivion.

The only way I could see that thing's portentous countenance was if I took several pronounced, confident strides towards it. Other efforts to get a glimpse of its elusive appearance were almost certainly futile. It had no presence, or at least, I couldn't sense its presence. It was reminiscent of a ghost; just being near that thing and seeing its eyes was enough to evoke feelings of dread and worry. But I knew better: only cowards would run away from that thing. And I wasn't a coward.

I took those confident strides to get closer to the thing. It was surely a mana beast; I could tell from those eyes that shot a piercing gaze at me. Also, it was impossible for a human to be as tall as the eyes engraved on this beast. As I walked, I was silent. I didn't want to boast, be arrogant and end up being humbled. That would surely be enough to make a mana beast laugh. Clop, clop, clop. I didn't have any mana crystals left, and I didn't bring a torch.

My eyes hadn't gotten used to the overwhelming darkness yet, meaning I had to use my system window as a source of light. And I was glad I did. [Cave 33: Mission 1/1: defeat the beasts] Beasts to defeat: Grizzly black bear (75/75) Crimson fox (50/50) Boss: The Blood Bear (0/1) It was a name befitting such a threatening beast. At least the name tag said so. [Boss: The Blood Bear (advanced)] I clenched my fists.

The name was 'blood bear', suggesting that this boss beast had some sort of connection to the crimson foxes I had just defeated. Maybe the boss was the foxes' ruler. But the most important question I had in my brain was whether this boss beast had enough power and strength in it to defeat a bunch of Hoppers. Was it a sick psycho who deeply enjoyed mutilating people's bodies to the point of no return? Just by looking at the name, that was possible. However, it was only at the advanced level.

The Hoppers who had died in this cave would certainly be at different levels of the system. It is unlikely that the Hoppers that died were all on the basic or advanced level, since those types of deaths occur regularly anyways and usually aren't documented about. I couldn't make conclusions too early though. It was still a theory, and this was the optimal place to test it out. The boss was still not fully in view yet, but regardless, I decided to charge in and deliver the opening blow of the fight.

[Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] Immediately, I was behind the beast, ready to thrust my blade into the bear's back. I charged in with all my might. However- Flash.

"What?" Suddenly, I felt a strong gust of wind hit me. My brain wasn't working at its optimal level at that point, so I wasn't thinking about why I had just experienced wind. After all, I was deep inside a cave. Just like with the grizzly black bears and the crimson foxes, I was confident that I had delivered a blow on the boss beast. However, this world always has room for reality checks. Clang!

"Why isn't it going any further?" [Skill, 'Strength (basic)', has been activated.]"Push!" It was pointless. Something akin to a shield was blocking my sword from continuing its journey into the bear's body. In fact, even with my strength skill active, I felt like I was being pushed back slightly. That was when I made possibly the most costly blunder I had ever made on a Hopper expedition. I looked up and made eye contact with the bear's ominous and condescending glare.

And at that point, I felt well and truly scared. The only time I felt similar emotions was back on Planet 501, when I, along with my friends, fought the boss with no name. However, this time, the boss beast was a level, or, to be more precise, half a level, lower than the one back on Planet 501. Therefore, I had no reason to be scared.

"W-W-What???" Clang! Crack! I was thrown back, but thankfully it wasn't with a great enough force to send me crashing into a wall. My butt landed on the sharp, prickly floor, which caused a surge of sharp pain to enter my body through my backside. I gripped onto the sword as tightly as I could, and I was about to swing it with all my might at the bear. But not all reality checks had room for mercy.

"Shit." The blade that should be lodged deep into the bear's body was non-existent. It was just not there.

"How the hell did this happen?" A perplexed look was etched clumsily onto my face. Presumably, the boss had read my move, turned around in an instant and aimed for my weapon rather than my body. It was a smart calculation, and I couldn't refute it. I had a few more swords remaining in my inventory, but I couldn't take them out at that point since the bear was parading towards me, exuding the same aura of confidence and determination that I showed when fighting the lower-level beasts. I couldn't help but shudder.

Just like the crimson foxes, the boss bear had a layer of blood-red fur. However, the bear I was facing was at least eight feet tall, it towered above me like a skyscraper and everything in its demeanour suggested that it was out to kill me and tear me to bits. Maybe this beast really was the source of the multitude of deaths that have occurred in this cave in the past. Clomp, clomp, clomp. Without swords, the only way I could fight that abominable mammoth was to use brute force.

I stood up, patting off all of the dust, dirt and grime on my clothes. I should still have some mana left, which meant I could still use my skills. If I could get a good punch on the boss, then maybe there would be time for me to quickly reach into my inventory and pull out a sword. [Skill, 'Teleportation (basic)', has been activated.] [Skill, 'Strength (basic)', has been activated.] Punch! My plan was to land a blow on the bear's torso and at least weaken it temporarily.

However, it seemed as though this bear had exceptional intelligence and perception skills.

"Crap, not again!" I immediately thought back to the time when Theo's punch was blocked by the boss back on Planet 501. This was literally what he felt back then. The only thing that kept me in the air was the furry fist of the blood bear which continued to dig into my fist.

"Why?" Crack! Crack! Crack! Thud!

"Owwwwwwwwww!" Oh dear. When I sat up after that gruesome fall, I instantly went to check on the hand that was supposed to deliver the punch. It was limp, it was numb and it was aching. No, saying the hand was aching was a total understatement. It flopped from left to right, indicating that all of the bones in that hand had been pulverised. This was an advanced-level attack. I didn't know if a basic-level healing skill could completely heal this wound. Nevertheless, I still had to try. So I waited.

It wasn't healing at all. No, the skill wasn't activating at all. The disheartening reality soon hit. [You have run out of mana.] I wanted to shout. I wanted to curse. I wanted to do something to relieve all of the anger and fury that was accumulating in my head. I was irate. I thought I had dealt with my over-reliance on mana, but in reality, I had done nothing to solve this issue. I felt like a fool. It was shocking; absolutely appalling.

The bear, its face devoid of any emotion and sympathy, continued to take elegant strides towards me, ready to deliver a finishing blow. This was it; in just a matter of minutes, I was going to join the multitude of corpses lifelessly sprawled out inside this cave. Maybe the Hopper back at the town was right about the strength of the mana beasts inside this cave. Maybe Jake really was trying to kill me, albeit indirectly. Maybe I really was just a weak boy who should just be reading web novels all day.

I braced for impact. And soon, after all hope was lost, the bear delivered its killing blow. Slash!