Chapter 87: First Monster Encounter
Things didn’t exactly happen as Kaiden expected them to. The warthog’s hide and skull were so strong that the monster sustained their clash without getting injured. According to his logic, its brain should’ve been pierced by his axe’s spear-like end by now.
Since no such event occurred, Kaiden now found himself in a mighty power struggle against a wild monsterized beast. The razor warthog glared at him with eyes full of fury, using its robust muscles to push him back. Kaiden’s grip tightened around his axe’s handle as he met the monster’s challenge head-on.
"Gh!" he grunted from the physical exertion while gritting his teeth. His muscles ached, and multiple veins of his popped.
While this was going on, three pairs of eyes stared at him wryly. ’Men...’ the ladies thought in sync.
"You...! Win....!" Kaiden decreed with much difficulty before pulling his weapon back and stepping out of its way. The warthog monster resumed its charge, but no one was in front of it. Kaiden snickered at the dumb monster as he raised his axe high above his head and brought it down. "[Doom Strike]!"
He hit the charging boar in the behind because it had already shot past him. A guttural, pained cry erupted from the beast before it started limping.
Its fight-or-flight response kicked in as it started running for the woods visible in the distance. "I don’t think so..." Kaiden muttered with hungrily burning red eyes, dashing after his prey. Another two hits did the job.
[You’ve slain a razor warthog (Level 1). You’ve gained 30 XP.]
This was the standard way one could tell the level of their enemy. More experienced combatants could also estimate the level of their opponent from contextual clues or the strength and abilities displayed while fighting. Some artifacts and spells were also capable of measuring enemy strength, but none were as transparent and convenient as the system. Kaiden just had to look at the monsters, and the level was displayed immediately. Sadly, it didn’t work on humans.
Nearly a thousand viewers saw the killing taking place in real time. The chat spurred awake as messages of congratulations came rushing in, though a lot were also diminishing the achievement, saying this was just a beginner dungeon and a dumb beast-type monster at that. A fight rapidly ensued between a few chatters.