Chương 53: Chapter 52

As he was falling toward the ground, and the menacing golem was looking directly at him, Sam thought about a lot of things. He took in the surroundings, the body of the boss golem, the state of his mana reserves, and his Mana Shield. However, as the golem raised its arm and Sam could feel the mana being gathered there, he mostly just cursed. The next second, another barrage of Earth Bullets was launched from the golem's hands, aimed directly at Sam's chest.

He used his wind mana construct and launched his own barrage of Wind Blades to counter the Earth Bullets. They met in the middle between them and the two attacks, thankfully canceling each other out, causing a shower of dust to fall on the golem. It let out a roar, but it was too late. Sam was upon him.

Charging as much mana into the construct as possible, he fell through the dust cloud and released one giant Wind Blade toward the golem while using Wind Jump to land safe enough that his Mana Shield could absorb the impact of his landing. The boss golem, proving that it was indeed a boss golem, instantly raised a giant wall of earth in the way of the Wind Blade. However, the Wind Blade was strong enough to cut straight through the wall. And from what Sam could see, it even nicked the body of the monster.

Reacting to the minor wound, the monster roared and threw its arms up in the air. With the movement, the bisected wall exploded outwards, peppering Sam and his surroundings with a shower of rocks. Sam didn't stop moving. Using Shadow Burst, he moved around the hulking monster, playing on the fact that it was slow moving, and using the Phasing Strike sub-skill of his Mana Strike, he struck at the monster's legs.

Then, just as the golem turned toward him, one incredibly spiky arm raised to strike him down, he moved around the golem again, making use of the speed granted by his spell. He struck again, leaving a deep gash on the golem's leg, before moving the last time and striking the leg for the third time. The monster didn't take this offensive easily and raised his unharmed leg and slammed it down with surprising speed.

Thankfully, Sam was moving, so the spikes that rose from the ground around the golem only glanced off his Mana Shield. Doing a quick internal inventory of his Mana, Sam took a deep breath and waited for the monster to turn toward him.

'I really need to get some heavy hitters, because this is getting annoying…' Just as the golem moved into a position that would allow it to charge at Sam, he called out.

"Lucky! Now!" The golem was thus assaulted by the wolf from behind. And because it was mid-movement, body tilted ever so slightly forward, the boss stumbled. Lucky barked in celebration and then vanished back into the shadows. Sam, however, used this stumble to launch himself at the monster. Using Wind Jump, he moved with incredible speed and began bouncing around the golem, slashing at its legs while the golem tried to get back to a stable position as well as slap him with its spiky fists.

And amidst the great roars that shook the area, suddenly there was a small crack. Then a crunch. Sam smirked and jumped back to watch the boss golem roar in confusion before one of its legs stopped following its orders. There was a moment as the monster tried to move with one leg, but then gravity came to demand its due. Watching the golem face plant with satisfaction throwing up dust and debris, Sam didn't let his guard down.

Instead, he took a small step back, raised his sword that was still enveloped with the greatsword construct, and used another spell. The wind mana making up the construct began to move at the tip, spinning, at first slowly, then slowly picking up speed until it was so fast that only a blur could be seen. Then, with a simple twist of his mana, Sam made the entire construct transform into the drill.

Holding onto the spinning implement of death, Sam dodged several hastily cast Earth Barrages and used the Wind Jump spell to arrive over the golem laying impotently on the ground. It obviously tried to turn around to focus on him, but it wasn't fast enough. Within a second, Sam descended on the thrashing golem, piercing the middle of its body with a spinning wind construct. The golem's body twitched a few times, but ultimately it stilled. Sam stood on the corpse, breathing heavily with a giant smile on his face.

"Now, that's a fight!" As he began calming down from the fight, Sam's thoughts revolved around his inadequacies during said fight. If he had gotten some stronger spells aside from the very basics in his possession, he would have been able to achieve victory much faster.

"Need something that directly penetrates armor, as well as some big guns…" he murmured thoughtfully as he began to strip down the body of the boss. Just with his limited knowledge, he recognized at least three different valuable metals dotting the elemental's body. Not to mention the drops… The moment he was finished with the gathering, he left the remains where they were and called out to Lucky.

"Lucky!" The wolf, hearing his name, resurfaced from the shadows behind him, and after brushing up against his legs, sat down in front of him with tongue out and an appropriately wolfish grin on his face. Sam gave him a few pats, then began to issue commands.

"Go run around and see if you can find a few more golems. I want to make sure that we got everything." Lucky nodded in understanding and, with a small bark, jumped forward directly at the shadows at Sam's feet, vanishing into them. Sam made sure to call after him.

"And be careful!" The only response that he received was a faint wuff somehow echoing from the shadows. Smiling gently, he stretched, then by casting Earth Wall at different heights, he silently created a basic chair for him to sit down and rest. Letting out a sigh, he closed his eyes and simply meditated for a while. It was much different from the Active Meditation he had used during the fight.

While Lucky spent a few minutes racing amongst the cliffs and mountainsides, jumping from shadow to shadow, he spent the same amount of time going over the fight and making notes. Then, as he was finished with that, came the fun part. Checking the notification screens. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. [Congratulations! You've leveled up!] [You're now Level 28!] [Gained 4 unassigned attribute points!] [Gained 1 MAG for your judicious use of mana during your fights!] [Gained 1 WIS for planning out your attacks!] Humming happily, Sam added one point to Strength and Dexterity respectively, and the last two went to Perception. He would be making use of that stat soon. [Your companion, Lucky, has reached Level 25!] [Lucky's skill, Shadow Jump is now Level 16!] [Thanks to the efforts of your companion, he successfully learned the skill, Shadow Claws!] [Shadow Claws: Level 0/20 (0%) (Active/Passive) Your companion's claws are infused with shadows. There is a low chance to leave behind shadow mana with each attack of their claws. Alternatively, they can actively increase this infusion of shadow mana and strike at their enemies with giant shadow claws.] [Spirit Link is now Level 19!] Smiling slightly at Lucky's growth, Sam made a note to start gathering items for the wolf's next evolution.

He didn't know exactly where the ceiling of Lucky's current growth was, but he was sure it wasn't far away as he used a rather low-level item to facilitate the first evolution. [Mana Manipulation is now Level 3!] [Mana Shield is now 45!] [Mana Tempered Body is now Level 8!] [Extended Mana Strike is now Level 5!] [Mana Body Enhancement is now Level 36!] [Mana Influenced Body is now Level 5!] [Spell Layering is now at Level 9!] [Earth Wall II is now Level 7!] [Wind Blade II is now Level 6!] [Wind Bullet II is now Level 3!] [Wind Flurry is now Level 4!] [Wind Bullet Barrage is now Level 4!] [Wind Jump is now Level 10!] [Wind Edge II is now level 2!] [Wind Drill is now Level 5!] [Wind Affinity is now Level 17!] [Thanks to your mastery over Wind Jump, you have learned the skill, Wind Movement!] [Wind Movement: 0/100 (0%) (Active) You can use your mastery over the wind to move in any direction you wish. Your movement speed is increased significantly. This speed boost is increased by 1% for each skill level.] Sam read over the changes and was rather satisfied. He was a little disappointed that he didn't get a skill for the wind greatsword, but he was sure that after using it a few times, he would get it. [Active Meditation is now Level 27!] [Serene Movement is now Level 1!] [Discernment is now Level 7!] [Shadow Footwork is now Level 35!] [Shadow Burst is now Level 9!] [Shadow Mirage is now Level 16!] Sam frowned at the 99% the Shadow Burst skill was on.

Apparently, he needed to do something exceptional with the skill if he wanted to advance to the next level. [Advanced Sword Mastery is now Level 4!] [Mana Breathing is now Level 1!] [Advanced Breathing Technique is now Level 1!] [Calm Heart is now Level 29!] [Flow is now Level 18!] [Focused Flow is now Level 1!] [Multitasking is now Level 56!] [Efficiency is now Level 8!] [Parallel Processing is now Level 2!] Satisfied with his improvement, Sam turned toward the drops.

The first skill book contained the Earth Bullet skill, so he would sell it at the Auction House. However, the boss monster was generous enough to drop, aside from a rather large amount of ores, another skill book. And seeing the name, Sam learned it without hesitation. [Congratulations, you learned Earth Resistance!] [Earth Resistance: Level 0/100 (0%) (Passive) You have learned how to resist attacks made with the earth attribute. Each level increases the resistance by 1%.] It was really hard to acquire resistance skills without going through ridiculous or rigorous (sometimes both) training, so it was a nice bit of luck that it dropped from the monster. Lucky chose this exact moment to resurface from the shadows. Sam turned toward the proud-looking wolf.

"Found anything, buddy?" The wolf simply shook his head.

"Good. Then the job's done. Let's go back!"

"Wuff!" The trip back to the city was just as uneventful as the trip to the attack site. When he entered the city, it was still full of people rushing to and fro, and he could practically smell the excitement in the air. It seemed everybody had forgotten the nastiness of the troll hunting grounds and seemed to be focusing on the next best thing. Which was the real money exchange going live. There hadn't been any official announcement about it, but everybody treated it as if it was real.

Sam normally would have scoffed at taking any internet rumor at face value, but sadly, he actually knew that this was correct. Approaching the Merchant Association, he dodged around all the people going in and out, as well as several groups of arguing players. He chuckled silently as he gave them a wide berth. The other Sam knew very well why they were arguing. The banks didn't really give loans to people who couldn't afford to pay them back.

Thus, players had to turn to the Merchant Association for loans as they were more open to giving out money to even unknowns. While the interest could be ruinous, it was still better than any of the loan sharks. And with the advent of RMT, people were looking for every source to acquire more money. Naturally, the NPCs, or rather the developers, capitalized on it. Entering the building, he was immediately approached by an impeccably dressed gentleman.

He had dark hair, combed to the side perfectly, not even a hair out of place with an impressive mustache, wearing the medieval equivalent of a suit.

"Welcome back, sir. Am I to assume with your return that the task has been completed?"

"Yes," Sam answered with a nod. The man let out a brief smile and turned to the side while indicating to Sam one of the side doors.

"This way, please." [The quest, 'The mountains sometimes do sing!' is completed!] [You successfully completed the task the Merchant Association gave you.] Sam left the office with a sack full of gold in his inventory and a happy Association behind him. He did a quick run to the bank, deposited the money, and then returned to the building, looking for the next quest. After all, he needed the best quests to increase his level as fast as possible.

Granted, he could have 'found' one of the grinding spots and gone to town on the monsters there, but that seemed rather boring. Plus, it was a nice way to make more money and increase his reputation with the Association. So, for the remaining time until the announcement, he did just that. He went from quest to quest, raking in experience points both for himself and Lucky while also slowly but surely mastering his skills.

He hunted bandits at a logging operation, which initially was about hunting down a mysterious monster terrorizing the woodworkers. He exterminated slimes in the sewers, which did wonders for his Clean spells. Monsters of all types fell before his sword. Meanwhile, in the real world, he was busy coordinating with Lucy, both about the contract that he wanted her to sign, and the progress of their company in the game.

The warehouse was ready and already operational, having a middling success, as not many people realized its utility. Though, as their identification service was slightly cheaper (because they could only hire a journeyman) they saw a steadily increasing business in that aspect. The luxury accommodation was going through its final checks while the normal accommodations were ready to open after the luxury did.

After all, those who could afford it would feel much more special if they could say that they had those kinds of accommodations before the 'common rabble'. Sam also took the time to put up the golem farming spot on Shadowland, and currently, there was a rather healthy bidding war going on.

So, when the timer started counting down for Future Unknown's announcement, he was sitting with a portable device in his lap, in his living room, munching on some popcorn while reading the comments on one of the popular streaming sites. In front of him was a giant TV screen, showing the countdown in high definition. He couldn't wait to see the reaction of the people…