Second World Online

The giant limestone rock where I had taken shelter exploded like glass shattered by a sledgehammer. Fist-sized stone fragments scattered in all directions along with white dust that blinded my vision.

The shockwave from the impact of the Silverwing Zephyr Griffin flung my body into the air. I spun in the middle of the dust storm, struggling hard to control my falling direction. I landed hard, rolling several times across the rocky high plateau surface to absorb the momentum.

The system immediately blinked red.

[-25 Physical Damage (Debris Impact)]

My previously full HP bar was now left at around 70 points. Just from being hit by stone debris and the shockwave, nearly a third of my life had flown away. Cold sweat immediately soaked my virtual back. My Glass Cannon status truly became a terrifying double-edged sword when facing a boss of this massive physical attacker type.

From behind the billowing dust, the giant silhouette of the creature rose.

KWAAARRRGH!

The Griffin’s high-pitched cry overpowered the roaring wind of Windhowl Peaks. The flap of its silver wings swept the dust clean around it within a radius of more than ten meters. The air on this high plateau suddenly felt dense and smelled of sharp ozone. The gray sky began to swirl, forming a black cloud vortex right above our battlefield. Small blue lightning flashes crackled among its silver feathers, signaling that the second phase of the Elite Boss had activated.

"Damn... its speed and size are unreasonable," I grumbled softly, forcing my body to stand. I swallowed, staring at the gaping hole in the creature’s chest that still dripped reddish pixel blood from my earlier opening attack. That attack had indeed been a huge success, but it had also triggered its absolute anger (Aggro) toward me to the maximum.

The Griffin’s glowing silver eyes locked onto me. Without warning, the creature once again flapped its wings and shot toward me. Not from the air, but running with its four sturdy legs, cutting through the distance at a speed on par with a bullet train.

I immediately activated [Wind Walk].

A whirlwind formed at my feet, granting me additional movement speed. I leaped to the right with a forced acrobatic motion. Exactly one second after my feet left the ground, the Griffin’s front claw as large as my own body slammed into my original position. The rocky ground was instantly shattered into pieces.

Before I could even regain balance from my leap, its silver wing slashed horizontally toward me like a giant sword.

There was no time to dodge! Its attack range was too wide!

Reflexively, I drew the Spellweaver’s Dirk and crossed it in front of my chest, channeling all my mana to reinforce the durability of the astral silver dagger.

TRAAANG!

My dagger blade collided with the tip of its silver wing feather. An ear-splitting metallic clang rang out. Although my crafted weapon was Rare tier, the difference in Strength status between me and this Level 29 boss was like heaven and earth.

I was flung backward like a rag doll that had been kicked. My right arm went completely numb from the impact (recoil). I slid across the silver grass for nearly ten meters before my back finally slammed into a small rock chunk.

[-60 Physical Damage!]

[Warning: Critical HP!]

My HP bar immediately lit up bright red. My remaining life now hung at only 10 points! One more touch even just the wind from a wing flap if it hit squarely and I would die and be sent back to the resurrection point with the penalty of losing levels and items.

"Cough!" My avatar coughed, spitting out a little virtual blood. My vision flickered red.

The Griffin turned its body, preparing for the next fatal attack. This time, it lowered its body. Its wings gathered crackling electrical energy.

"It’s about to fire a projectile attack!"

My brain raced faster than ever before. Shooting back using the Titan’s Ironbark Longbow required three seconds to draw. Clearly not enough time. Taking shelter behind a rock would be useless because electricity could conduct or shatter the stone.

I had to disrupt its casting focus.

My left hand quickly reached into my belt pouch and pulled out a [Standard Mud Bomb]. Since I could not use the bow, I manually lit its fuse with a spark of fire magic as small as a match, then threw it with all my strength toward the Griffin’s face like tossing a hand grenade.

Seeing the foreign object flying toward it, the Griffin did not stop its casting. It merely snorted in contempt, releasing a strong gust of wind from its eagle beak to blow the bomb back toward me.

But that was exactly what I had hoped for.

"Explode," I whispered.

I swung the Spellweaver’s Dirk into empty air, triggering the passive [Gale Slash]. A crescent-shaped wind blade projectile shot from the tip of my dagger not aimed at the Griffin, but chasing and slicing the mud bomb that was being blown backward through the air!

DUAARRRRR!

The medium-sized bomb exploded in mid-air, just a few meters in front of Griffin’s face. Thick mud mist and the smell of gunpowder immediately expanded, covering the vision of the giant creature.

The Griffin screeched in surprise. The electrical attack it had been gathering exploded prematurely and randomly in all directions, destroying the surrounding rocks without hitting my position. The creature coughed, flapping its wings blindly to drive away the mud smoke that had entered its eyes.

This was my only chance. A narrow gap between life and death.

I did not waste a single second. Ignoring the blinking red indicator in my eyes, I forced my legs to run forward, entering the billowing mud-dust smoke of my own making. I activated [Stealth]. My body blended with the chaotic air, hiding my presence from the sensors of that ferocious creature.

I slipped to its right side, continuing to move until I was right in its blind spot.

Fifteen meters from my target. The smoke began to thin, blown by the storm wind. My eyes locked onto the gaping wound on its chest, the weak point created by my previous attack.

I released my grip on the dagger, letting it return to its sheath, and gripped the Titan’s Ironbark Longbow from my back. The sturdy wood felt cold and reassuring in my hands.

I nocked a Blood Oak Arrow. This time, without any bomb attached. Pure absolute penetration power.

I opened my stance, planting my feet into the rocky ground. I drew the Bog Troll sinew string.

One second. My muscles screamed. The Ironbark wood began to creak softly. The mud smoke began to disappear. The Griffin shook its large head; its eyes opened wide again.

Two seconds. The aura of my deadly combo began to envelop the arrow. [Power Shot] injected neon-blue light. [Vital Shot] locked onto the target on the creature’s chest with blackish-red light.

Three seconds. The Griffin turned its head toward me. It heard the creak of my bow wood. Its eyes that radiated blue lightning narrowed full of vengeance. It did not charge. It opened its beak wide, and a giant Lightning Breath ball formed in its throat, ready to annihilate my position.

[Piercing Gale Arrow] activated. The wind around me was sucked into the arrow, forming a wildly roaring drill vortex.

In that fraction of a second, time seemed to stop. The two of us stared at each other. My calm eyes, peering from behind the fully drawn bowstring, collided with the savage eyes of the storm ruler. This was a game of courage (chicken run). Whoever released their attack first would win.

The lightning ball in the Griffin’s mouth exploded outward, forming a pillar of electricity that shot toward me.

I released my finger grip.

DZHAAAAANG!

The Blood Oak arrow wrapped in the storm vortex shot forth. Not at bullet speed, but like a falling meteor.

In the air, the trajectory of my arrow and the Griffin’s lightning pillar crossed paths! The rotational force of my wind drill was too strong; it split the electrical flow right in the middle, pushing the lightning energy to my left and right sides. Residual electrical shocks licked my arms and cheeks, making my remaining 10 HP points drop to the number 1.

I nearly died from the radiation of its attack!

Yet my arrow was unstoppable.

CRAAASHHH! SQUELCH!

The arrow slammed precisely into the center of the gaping wound on Griffin’s chest, drilling inward without resistance from any armor, and pierced straight through to the heart of the elemental monster!

The sound of tearing flesh and high-pressure wind impact was disgusting yet satisfying.

The Silverwing Zephyr Griffin froze. The lightning pillar it had fired immediately cut off. Its eyes bulged wide, staring at the wooden arrow that now pierced through its chest all the way to its back.

The giant creature let out a final cry that was extremely heart-wrenching, full of disbelief that it had been defeated by such a small, frail being. Its silver-feathered body staggered, then collapsed onto the ground with a hard thud, creating a small earthquake on the high plateau.

[Lethal Hit! Weakness Exploited! Critical Strike!]

[-11,500 Physical/Wind Damage!]

A moment later, the giant body shattered and exploded into thousands of silver and blue light particles that rose high into the air, blending with the suddenly calming storm of Windhowl Peaks.

[Congratulations! You are the first player to successfully kill [Silverwing Zephyr Griffin] (Elite Boss – Level 29) Solo!]

[You have obtained the title: [Storm Breaker].]

[Gained 35,000 EXP!]

[System: You have leveled up! Current: Level 24]

[System: You have leveled up! Current: Level 25]

I stood stiffly in place. My hands dropped the Titan’s Ironbark Longbow onto the grassy ground, then my body collapsed as well, kneeling with ragged breaths.

My HP bar hung at the number 1.

One number that became the dividing line between legend and loser. I stared at my palms that still trembled heavily from the effects of extreme exhaustion (Stamina depletion) and the adrenaline flooding my nervous system.

"I... I did it," I whispered between heavy breaths. Soft, slightly hoarse laughter began to emerge from my throat, slowly turning into loud laughter that echoed across the now-silent high plateau. That laughter was pure relief, a celebration of a life hanging by a single thread.

After resting for a full five minutes, allowing my stamina regeneration to recover, I used several Basic Potions to refill my HP bar into the safe zone.

I stood and walked unsteadily toward the small crater where the Elite Boss had fallen. On the silver-grassed ground lay a pile of loot items radiating an extremely tempting glow. One of them emitted a deep purple light.

My heart began racing again as I picked them up one by one.

[Zephyr’s Silver Core] – Rarity: Epic.

High-tier alchemy/crafting material. Contains the pure essence of storm and lightning. If combined with a weapon, it can grant a chained lightning elemental attack effect (Chain Lightning).

[Griffin’s Razor Feather] x3 – Rarity: Rare.

Feathers as hard as steel and as light as air. Extremely perfect for making high-tier arrow fletching (balance wings).

[Silverwing Beak] – Rarity: Rare.

The beak of the storm ruler. Possesses extraordinary natural sharpness and penetration power, often sought by blacksmiths to forge heavy-armor-piercing arrows.

I stored the boss core, beak, and feathers into my inventory with a wide smile that would not fade. My struggle on the brink of death had truly paid off handsomely with rare material rewards that would greatly boost my capabilities. That Epic-tier storm core alone was enough to make any player go crazy.

I picked up my Titan’s Ironbark Longbow, affectionately patting the remaining dust that clung to its wood. This weapon had proven its value far beyond my expectations.

Up above, the storm clouds had completely vanished, replaced by a purple-hued afternoon sky. The wind on Windhowl Peaks now blew gently, as if submitting to its new conqueror.

Suddenly, the sound of an incoming message notification (Whisper) chimed in my ears. I opened it. It was a message from Alya (Yuuki).

Yuuki: Big Brother! Yuna can’t play because her family is taking her out. Our party is short one person to continue the quest in the Whispering Plains. Do you want to join? At the same time I want to see Big Brother play. Pleaaaase? :3

I read the message and laughed softly. Remembering the promise I had made last night in the family room. Alya wanted to "protect me" on the front line. Their formation happened to be missing its reliable Tank/DPS position, which meant they would definitely need extra help very much.

I typed a short reply while gazing at the StoneBrook valley from atop this high cliff.

Syl: Of course. Big Brother will join. Just prepare your formation well. See you at the square.

I closed the interface panel. Today’s storm had ended, and I had obtained everything I needed. With the magic-layered Spellweaver’s Dirk on my thigh and the Titan’s Ironbark Longbow on my back, I looked forward to tomorrow’s adventure.

I pulled a Return Scroll from my belt, crushed it with the last of my strength, and let the warm blue light carry me away from the battle crater, back to the comfort of StoneBrook City.