oristo 57: Wolf Boss Mk II

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Chapter 57: Wolf Boss Mk II

One of the main problems of going into an elite dungeon solo is that it takes so damn long to get anywhere.

The enemies are tough and you have to fight your way through every one of them while trying to navigate an unfamiliar area – it’s enough to make your head spin.

I mean, I’m not someone who backs away from a challenge, but damn.

Annoying things and challenging things are two different things!

Hacking through the seventh wolf in the cave system, I stretch my shoulder and neck.

Aah… how annoying… well, I’m already this far in, so whatevs.

If I calculate the encounter rate to how far I’ve gone into the system, I think this dungeon is on the relatively small side, luckily.

In fact, as I creep ahead quietly, trying to avoid aggro since my HP is still recovering, straight ahead is a fairly well-lit area that seems to widen up.

Yeah, I’ll bet my left arm that this is a boss arena, or at least a mid-boss arena.

I recover my lost satiety and thirst – I’ve been in here a while after all – and take a breather to let my HP recover all the way before I move forward.

Yeeee-up.

This is definitely boss or mid-boss arena.

The small, cramped tunnels open up into a large cavern; large enough to get a decent windup for any of your major Skills, anyway.

That’s one thing with VR, and another reason why I don’t like fighting in the narrow cave systems.

You can’t just spam Skills without being aware of your surroundings.

Less skilled players tend to avoid tiny cave systems like this, but … anyway, point is, if the game is giving you a wide enough area where you can use Skills without worrying about the walls and ceilings, then this is sure as hell a place where you’re gonna be using them.

Dead in the center of the cavern is a large, pitchblack wolf.

It’s the size of the white wolves, but a black wolf.

… If this isn’t a boss of some type, I don’t know what is.

Sure, a boss of an elite dungeon is gonna be tough, and I did have some problems with the elite mobs on the way in, but …

You know, there was that Raid just a while ago.

My perception of the levels of difficulty of things has been somewhat skewed~.

“ROOOOAR!”

White fur attacks black fur; in case of a prolonged battle, I decide to start out strong!

The only thing is, to really get the most DPS out of Werebear Form, it’s much better to go in with claws and teeth, but since I’m expecting to have to fight through and past the duration of Werebear Form, I’m going in swinging the axe.

Sure, using the axe will deal better damage per strike, but … well, y’know, it’s the age-old dilemma of lots of medium-damage attacks or a few heavy-damage attacks.

Aaanyway…

Shit!

This bastard’s fast!

No, I mean, I get that wolves are your typical speed-and-agility mobs, but… damn!

Slash!

A, yup. Bleed.

Yaay…

Right, this fight’s going to get dodgy.

Fuuu….

I take a deep breath.

Time to turn on berserker mode!

Snarl!

Roooar!

Crash!

Pinning him against the wall, one, two, three, fo – damn, got away!

Tsk!

My hand, paw stings from where the wolf managed to wrestle its neck free, but I got three good hits in – whoa!

You friggin mofo…

Each of the wolf’s bite attacks deal Bleed, and they’re heavy attacks, too, so this is definitely a risky fight!

Hahaha!

The black wolf circles me, glaring as it takes its distance to prepare for another onslaught.

I take the opportunity to swig a potion, then,

Crash!

“Come at me, bro -” Woosh! Bang!

“Fuck!”

I toss the bottle and jump at the wolf, but… fireballs are unfair!

Friggin dammit!

There’s splash damage too?!

I call hacks!

“Damn …”

Crash!

“Fucking …”

Woosh, bang! Kaboom!

“Sonofa!”

Snarl!

Crash!

“Bastardmotherfuckingbitch!”

At some point, my vocabulary converted itself to cusswords as the wolf began to bombard me with all sorts of attacks.

Pounce, bite, fireballs, claws; one after another, like it’s putting all of it’s damn attack methods on display, this damn black wolf is a PAIN-IN-THE-ASS!

I don’t even have time to counterattack, fucking dammit!

Hot!

Goddammit, I even have to watch out for the splash from the fireballs.

Unfair, time out, argh!

Of course, Werebear Form has worn out, so … it’s a bit touch and go.

I dunno how far along the CD is, either, so I don’t know when I’ll be able to use it again.

I mean, I know there’s a CD of 20 minutes, but time inside a fight and time outside a fight feel completely different.

… Fuck it.

No pain, no gain!

“HRAAAA-!”

I meet the black wolf’s pounce head on with all my might, and although it takes a good chunk of my HP out … WOOT! STUN!

Unfortunately a short one that’s over after I chug a Rare Potion, but at least I got a chance to drink a potion!

Also, it now has to wind up before it frenzies again, so…

Body slam, body slam, axe to the face! Axe to the face! Axe to the fa – torso!

How’d you like that?!

After tussling like gradeschoolers in a fistfight, the wolf and I manage to separate ourselves, both looking pretty bad and glaring at the other.

Yeah, think you can out berserk me?! How’d you like that, huh!?

I wonder where my Werebear CD is … shit!

Snarl!

A dammit, I’m so tired I committed a basic mistake and took my eyes off the opponent for a sec!

In the split second before the wolf pounced, all I had time to do was take out another potion before its full weight hit my body.

“Uuuooof!”

Kree, kree!

I manage to swig the potion, with at least 60% entering my mouth so it will at least trigger the effects (and managing not to choke as I chug it way too fast), as unpleasant creaking noises come from its claws smashing my body against the wall.

As for the fangs coming in close,

“Eat glass bottle, freak!”

Crash!

I wasn’t sure it would do anything, but that does look damn painful…

Anyway, I deflected the bite attack that would 100% take me out, but now the wolf’s eyes are bloodshot and he looks pissed.

“Urgh…”

Claws, the claws are…

Crack.

As the wolf grinds its claws harder into me in fury, a distinct cracking sound reverberates through the cavern.

Eh?

Eh? Eh?

Eeeeeeh?

Whatwhatwhat?!

Why is the cavern wall shattering?!

EEEEEEEEHHHH!?

For a split second, my brain can’t keep up with the shift in situation, and before I knew it the wolf and I were tumbling head over heels into space.

…Fuck!

This is why I usually tap on the sides of the walls!

The Chibi thinks I do it because I’m a completionist, but fucking hell!

Do unexpectedly weak walls have a vendetta against me or something!?

Contractor, you did a shit job! Isn’t wall stability a basic requirement!?

I demand a refund….!

Sigh.

Luckily, or unluckily, the fall is a long way down, so I’m able to recover enough to grab the wolf, who’s a little too distracted with the falling thing, and …

CRUNCH!

…! !!! !!!!!

… …
Even though I managed to flip him over and land on him properly … my legs…!

After suffering in silent agony for a second, I glance over at the black furball underneath me.

It’s still alive?!

Still, it’s badly stunned, and doesn’t look happy. Yeah, take that!

See if you dare send me careening down a pit again!

Oooh… shit.

I still had some bleed effects, and though I used the black wolf as a cushion, I’m still gonna die after taking that fall damage…!

At this point, I’m on the border of suffering from Overdose, but … I’m so damn friggin close to killing this damn thing!

Chugging another potion, I swing my axe as fast as I damn well can … but it was overkill.

This guy was definitely on its last legs, so two blows to the head killed it.

FUCKING HELL YEAAAAH!

I can’t help but stand and roar at the sky before flopping onto the ground in exhaustion.

I’m so damn tired … Oh, yup. I have a High Fatigue BS.

Some people have been speculating that Bleed and other DoT BSes will increase the rate you gain exhaustion, and it seems it’s true.

Also, my Werebear Form is already off CD, so that battle took at least 20 minutes.

*Ping*

The Obsidian Guardian has been put to its Eternal Rest.
The Crystal Cave Mine has become an accessible dungeon.

… …. … Um…

That was a World Announcement, wasn’t it?

I have a bad feeling about this.

I lie on the ground for a while, unwilling to move until my High Fatigue became a Low Fatigue, and then, very, very reluctantly, I decide to open my Chat Panel.

There are a lot of new chats and messages coming in all of a sudden~.

… … … I didn’t see anything, and it’s set to the ‘in dungeon, afk’ auto-message, so…

Or like, I understand the Chibi, but why does everyone assume that Announcement was about me!?

There are THOUSANDS of other players running around, right? Go bug them!

… Eh, whatever.

Let’s focus on the important things, first.

I was mapping the upper part of this dungeon with my Skill, so I can pull up the current map and … even though most of it is dark, I can at least see the scale of this map.

And wouldn’t you know, it’s pretty big…

I can’t leave this dungeon the way I came from, and I’m honestly still kind of in a bad way with HP, Stamina, and BSes, so…. …

Since there aren’t any hostiles, I set up a campfire.

I mean, I worked so hard~ let’s take a break~.

Also, the beginner’s knife is losing durability fast.

Also also, I’m getting a lot of wolf meat, and I don’t know what to do about it, so let’s try some things out.

Taking a look at the wolf meat, apparently eating it raw satisfies hunger but reduces various substats, and even has a chance to give a disease-type BS.

As for if I cook it over a fire…

It does change the item from ‘Raw’ whatever to ‘Cooked’ whatever (or ‘Burnt’ whatever, which destroys the benefits from even eating it raw), but … it doesn’t turn into a food item.

It’s still a material item (or junk item if it’s Burnt).

Looks like I’m gonna have to get a crafter over here to explain this to me.

What do I need to do, add salt to it?

Not like I have salt, though.

Anyway, the problem is that I don’t know what would be the most lucrative – er, the most optimal thing to do with the meat is.

I need to make a cook crafter friend~.

I’ve never bothered before, since I don’t bother relying on food buffs and I’ll usually just eat whatever I can get that can satisfy Satiety.

Also, a lot of crafters will dabble a little in cooking, so I could always get cheap stuff from them.

But … y’know, there’s always a first time for everything.

At least, I’d like to know what kind of effects elite monster meat will have when cooked into food.

I sigh as I look at the Obsidian Guardian’s corpse.

I really wish I had toggled the Dismantle Skill off for this, because my knife is nearly broken, and tools with low durability can have negative effects on your Skills.

Also, my armor and axe have also lost a lot of durability.

Being stuck down here without much of an idea on how to get out, nor any idea on what kind of enemies are down here … right.

I’d prefer being in a better situation before I go poking around~.

Alright, time to call in reinforcements!

—

“… … … … Haa.”

Ooh, Jo’s mad, Jo’s mad~.

He’s so mad, he’s just given up.

“And? Why have you dragged us down here? There were elites above, elites!”

“Eeeh? They respawned already? I guess it has been a coupla hours~.”

Smack!

Jo smacked me on the head in irritation.

I guess this group of crafters had some trouble~.

“Didn’t you bring an escort?”

“We did, but … in the first place, please be aware that you are an abnormality in the game! Here. The item you requested.”

Jo sighed, moving away from the rope that dropped down from above so the rest of his party could come down, as he handed me a knife wrapped in a cloth.

“Ooooh, yay. Thanks, I was just beginning to wonder what I was going to do if this thing began to rot before I could dismantle it.”

When I pointed at the Obsidian Guardian’s corpse, Jo looked at it with interest.

“How did this happen? Is it one entire drop item? That can’t be…”

“Se~cret… not really, but it’s annoying to explain, so I’ll make the Chibi explain later.”

“… Alright. I bet it would be tough for us to emulate it anyway.”

Actually, not really.

As long as you can start the quest and find Barry Guss, it’s not that hard.

CLUNK!

… Hearing a construct land on the ground is a really DIFFERENT experience.

The dainty, doll-like girl wedged her feet free from the ground and came charging over.

“Aaah, geez! Naru-san, do you know how scared we were when that Announcement came on when we were halfway over? We almost just gave up and went back!”

“Eeeh… but I already finished it off, Ane-san.”

“Geez! Here, armor and weapons!”

Ane-san held her hand out with a huff, despite her expressionless face, and I obediently handed over my armor and weapons… although, my armor is all leather, so…

“Chie-chan, here! It’s nearly in ruins!”

There’s Chie.

Jo, Ane-san, Chie, and six others had finished dropping down from above while I was preoccupied.

We were supposed to meet up and head over to do Chie’s quest, but … I mean, there’s no problems with a side stop, right?

—

—

TALENTS

[Axe]Lv40
[Bolstered Endurance]Lv46
[Sharp Senses]Lv35
[Scavenge+]Lv14
[Spirit of the Wild Hunt]Lv35
[Inheritance of the Forest Guardian]Lv37
[Discovery]Lv28
[Bolstered Dexterity]Lv37
[Counter]Lv29
[Mine]Lv22
[Scribe]Lv22
[Bolstered Strength]Lv15

Avg Lv: 28
TP: 46

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<A/n: Whew…
Will calculate stats at a latter date. I super hate that kind of bookkeeping…>