Chapter 52: Summit
A few meters away, John was still locked in combat. His boar roared and writhed in fury, foam dripping from its mouth as it tried to break free from his grasp. But the spear was still buried in its belly, and John refused to let go, his left arm holding tightly onto the boar’s right tusk.
Even from a distance, Arthur could see the strain carving into John’s face as veins bulged from his neck.
Without any hesitation, Arthur lifted a hand. His mana was a bit below half, but it was more than enough.
The familiar shape of an arrow took form again as he stepped forward and aimed for the exposed side of the beast’s belly, where John’s spear was buried.
Then, he sucked in a breath and let the arrow loose.
The boar let out a shriek as the azure arrow pierced through its already open wound, worsening it even further.
But that was all the opening John needed.
With a roar of his own, he twisted his spear and drove it forward with all his remaining strength. The blade sank deep, hot blood spraying across his arms as the boar was skewered cleanly, the spear tip coming out of the creature’s back.
The boar shuddered violently, and with one last convulsion, it collapsed against the stone with a loud thud.
[Iron Boar defeated. +44 EXP]
The mist swirled as the mountain fell into silence once more.
Arthur lowered his hand slowly, his breath somewhat unsteady from all the mana drain.
John yanked out his spear from the vanishing corpse and plopped on his butt, sweat and blood streaking down his arms, but his grin was as wide as ever as he turned to Arthur,
"Now that... was a good fight!" the big guy said between breaths.
Arthur nodded, before plopping on the gravel too.
Indeed, if they set the Howler aside, these boars were definitely the strongest opponents they’d faced. They were only a level above him and John, but their strength, speed, and durability were on a completely different level.
John wiped his forearm across his brow, leaving a smear of blood on his cheek, and waited eagerly as he stared at the boar’s corpse.
Unfortunately, what he was waiting for never came. The boars’ bodies faded completely into motes of white light, leaving nothing behind.
"Damn it! How can these stingy bastards not even drop one item? This can’t be real."
"Should have killed a richer one, huh?" Arthur scratched the back of his head.
It wasn’t like he hadn’t known this could happen. After all, it was impossible for every strong monster to leave behind some loot.
And yet, he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed as he watched the last mote of light fade.
The two of them decided to rest for a couple of minutes and wait until their mana bars were back to full before they continued their climb.
...
The slope steepened the higher up they went, while the mist around them slowly thickened.
And as expected, it wasn’t long before another figure barreled through it, trying to catch them off guard.
Another level 8 [Iron Boar].
They met it head-on.
The moment it appeared, John’s roar dragged its attention, while Arthur’s water arrow pierced through the mist and drove straight into the beast’s snout.
The fight was brutal, but much shorter than the previous one. Of course, even two boars working together hadn’t been a match for them, let alone one.
[Iron Boar defeated. +44 EXP]
Arthur crouched and scooped up the tusk this one had dropped, his lips curving up in a smile of satisfaction.
This time, he still had more than three-fourths of his mana left, as well.
Even so, after the fight with the Howler, he and John had learned not to underestimate the monsters in this place, so they waited until they were both back in peak condition before continuing their ascent.
The mountain didn’t let up, either.
More figures slipped through the mist as they moved on.
Before long, another pair of Iron Boars appeared, followed by a level 8 Rock Serpent that peeled itself off the ground with a loud hiss.
This one was undoubtedly a terrifying existence. It was probably as strong as the two level 8 boars combined.
Unfortunately for it, just like with every other monster of its kind, the serpent shared the same fatal weakness. John stepped forward and let out a [Roar], yanking its attention, while Arthur conjured a [Water Arrow] and fired it straight into the beast’s open mouth. The snake jerked and snapped its head back as John jumped in to ram his spear through its exposed throat.
[Rock Serpent defeated. +48 EXP]
[Level Up!]
Arthur’s vision flared as the system’s notification echoed with a ding. He’d reached Level 8!
"Finally! About damn time." John said, a grin of satisfaction spreading across his face.
Arthur grinned back.
Then, without any hesitation, he opened his status window:
[Name: Arthur Shaw]
[Age: 19]
[Species: Human]
[Class: Mage]
[Title: Child of the Elements (Unique), Goblin Slayer]
[Level: 8]
[HP: 180 / 180]
[Mana: 250 / 250]
[Strength: 16+]
[Intelligence: 19+]
[Wisdom: 18+]
[Agility: 15+]
[Vitality: 9+]
[Elemental Affinity: Fire (Minor), Water (Minor), Earth (Minor), Wind (Minor)]
[Skills: Water Arrow]
[Unassigned Stat Points: 2]
As he looked over his new stats, Arthur couldn’t help but nod. His Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Agility all creeping toward 20 was one thing, but what caught his eye first was his Mana.
With 250 Mana, he could now fire a dozen [Water Arrows] one after another, without worrying about running completely dry. His mana regeneration didn’t seem to have improved lately, judging by how long it took to refill, but the growing size of his mana pool was something Arthur came to appreciate more and more.
His gaze traveled further down his status window, eventually settling on his elemental affinities.
Truth be told, Arthur had no idea how many affinities other people had, but he doubted many had more than him.
"Four is probably a lot, right?"
And even if others had more, his [Child of the Elements] title all but guaranteed he’d catch up to them sooner or later.
...He still had no idea where the title had come from, or why he was the one who’d gotten it in the first place, though. Also, was the (Unique) tag next to it some kind of rank, or did it mean the title was exclusive to him? Maybe both?
"I’m gonna find out about it sooner or later, I guess."
With that thought, Arthur clicked on the plus signs next to his Strength and Agility, keeping up the trend, before turning to John, who was apparently already done.
Soon, the two of them continued their ascent.
...
The climb grew harsher the higher up they got. Every ten minutes or so they met another monster, and the further they climbed, the smaller their rest window seemed to get.
Arthur was starting to suspect there were only level 8 monsters left this high up the mountain, which was a bit of an issue to be honest.
He and John fought until their arms ached and their mana bars ran dry.
Loot slowly piled up in Arthur’s storage bag, as well, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.
Forget about skillbooks, they hadn’t even seen another Iron Boar’s hide. All the monsters dropped were boar tusks and serpent scales, and the drop rate wasn’t really good either. By now, John was convinced he’d jinxed them with his earlier comments, and kept clutching his head in frustration.
Still, the two of them pushed on.
Finally, after what felt like hours of ascent, the slope ahead began to ease. The mist around them thinned, and streams of pale light broke through the haze.
Arthur lifted his head, his chest heaving after killing yet another Rock Serpent, but that was when he saw it.
They’d reached the peak of the mountain.