Chương 22

The air inside the cavern was absolutely freezing. The water surged around Rudra's waist, feeling as thick and heavy as wet concrete.

"Fuck, it's cold," Rudra shivered, his teeth chattering. From the shadows of the flooded bookshelves, the first wave of enemies stepped out. They weren't the standard Level 13 skeletons he had fought before. These guys were huge, covered in dark seaweed, and held rusted blades crusted with black coral. [Abyssal Drowned Archivist - Lv. 61] [Abyssal Drowned Archivist - Lv. 62] [Abyssal Drowned Archivist - Lv. 60] A normal Level 44 player would have panicked or instantly yelled for a tank. Rudra just cracked his neck.

The first Archivist lunged, thrusting its sword. Rudra didn't step back. Thanks to his 176 Agility, the monster actually looked slow. He simply tilted his body, letting the blade miss his shoulder by an inch. Using the heavy water to anchor his feet, he swung his oak staff like a baseball bat.

"Crushing Strike," he grunted. The iron-oak slammed into the skeleton's ribs. Backed by his 167 Strength and his Level 5 skill multiplier, the impact shattered the bones instantly. The monster dropped straight into the water. Before the other two could surround him, Rudra pointed his left hand backward.

"Minor Tidal Push!" The burst of water shot him forward like a skipped stone. He closed the gap in a split second, swept his staff low to break the second skeleton's knees, and jammed the blunt end into the third one's skull.

"Too easy," Rudra grinned. His [Basic Staff Mastery] was sitting at 99. 9%, and it felt amazing. He wasn't wasting any stamina. He treated the high-level mobs like target practice, dodging their clumsy swings and hitting them back twice as hard. Stolen novel; please report. For the next hour, Rudra completely cleared out the flooded hallways. His inventory slowly filled up with high-grade coral drops. He took a few light hits, but with 1, 240 HP, he barely felt them. [Level Up!] [Level Up!] He finally reached the heavy iron doors at the back of the library. The water here was swirling fast, pulled toward the next room.

"Okay, big guy," Rudra muttered, checking his stamina bar.

"Let's go." He pushed the doors open. The final room was a massive circular hall with a broken glass ceiling. A giant shape rose from the deep pool in the center. It was a massive armored crab covered in dark iron spikes. Riding on its back was the towering skeleton he remembered, only this one looked much meaner. It held a massive rusted ship's anchor on a heavy chain. [Abyssal Tide-Bound Curator (Mounted Boss) - Lv. 65]"That is a lot of crab meat," Rudra drooled. The boss charged.

The Curator swung the heavy anchor horizontally, while the crab rushed forward to close the gap. Rudra ran straight at it. He aimed a heavy overhead swing right at the crab's front leg. CLANG! Instead of breaking through, his heavy oak staff violently bounced off the shell. His hands went completely numb from the recoil. He barely scratched its health bar.

"What the—" A red warning window flashed in his face. [Warning: Level suppression active. Damage dealt is reduced by 30%. Damage taken is increased by 20%.] The Curator didn't give him time to read. It brought the massive anchor crashing down. Rudra threw his staff up just in time, triggering [Iron Guard]. The impact was absolutely brutal. The level penalty amplified the damage, completely crushing his guard. Rudra flew backward, skidding hard across the wet stone.

[-345 HP] Rudra coughed, staring at his health bar.

"Holy shit. That actually hurt." He scrambled up, but the boss was already there. The crab snapped its huge claws, forcing Rudra to burn his stamina just to dodge. The Curator swung the anchor constantly, covering half the room with every hit. Rudra was completely on the defensive. The twenty-level gap and the heavy damage penalty meant his stats just weren't high enough to trade blows. The giant crab lunged. Its heavy shell slammed into Rudra, pinning him hard against the stone wall. He was trapped.

The Curator raised the rusted anchor high for a massive execution strike. Blocking it with the penalty active would instantly kill him.

"Holy fuck," Rudra cursed. Despite the danger, a wild grin stretched across his face. He was cornered, his muscles were burning, and his health was dropping. But as he looked up at the falling anchor, he opened his inventory.

"Still had to resort to this huh," he laughed.