Chapter 27: Should I consider myself lucky?
As Ari stood in front of the marble entrance, a magic circle appeared beneath his feet, glowing with a dazzling red light.
Having anticipated this development, he waited patiently as the red light enveloped his entire body.
The magic circle registered the number of ascenders planning to enter the boss chamber, ensuring that the difficulty is set appropriately.
Naturally, ascenders have tried to trick the system in the past to gain advantages.
Large parties would have a smaller group stand at the entrance to be registered, thus significantly lowering the difficulty of the boss raid.
Once the difficulty had been set, the entire party would storm the chamber and overwhelm the bosses, at least, that is what they had in mind.
However, they soon discovered that the magic circle registered mana signatures, and only allowed registered ascenders into the boss chamber, physically blocking entry to all others.
In addition, even if the boss chamber had been cleared by the smaller group, those who did not participate in the boss raid could not advance to the next floor.
Since this discovery, the tactic is still used, but for different reasons.
Guilds use the tactic to allow party members to gain experience in smaller boss raids on the lower floors, before joining grand boss raids comprised of dozens of ascenders.
Rumble
Moments later, the entrance vibrated and swung inwards.
Ari summoned his sword and entered without hesitation.
A faint blue glow illuminated the chamber as rows of torches ignited on the walls one after the other, revealing an obsidian feline creature sleeping peacefully at its centre.
Ari’s pulse quickened.
‘Isn’t that?’
<Observe>
[Tenahu (Early Stage)]
[Monster Rank: D-Tier 3]
He sighed, feeling conflicted.
Given his selection of Hell Difficulty, Ari anticipated an incredibly difficult boss encounter, however, facing a D-Rank boss as an F-Rank on the first floor felt outrageous.
He never lacked confidence in his abilities, so he wouldn’t give up without trying.
Defeating the Tenahu would be no easy feat, however, due to it being in the early stage, he still had a slim chance.
Ari recalled a scene from the comic where a single middle stage Tenahu massacred a party comprised of both B and C-Rank ascenders.
He smiled bitterly. ‘Should I consider myself lucky?’
As the blue flames lit the final torch, the five meter long creature opened its red eyes, its piercing gaze focused on Ari immediately.
Despite having just woken up, the pressure the Tenahu exuded was enough to make those ranked below it tremble with a mere glance.
Given Ari’s past experience, the pressure of a D-Rank boss wasn’t enough to phase him, however, due to the vast difference in their rank, he couldn’t avoid the oppressive weight of the Tenahu’s stare entirely.
His body tensed reflexively, however, it only lasted for a moment.
A wave of calm washed over his body as his attribute God of Combat triggered, allowing him to use the pressure to his advantage, heightening his awareness.
He activated Accelerate, Boost and Enhanced Recovery without hesitation, then set explosive Magic Mines ahead of him.
The Tenahu rose off the ground, revealing its massive, one and a half meter tall body.
Two tails swiped the ground on either side of the Tenahu as it revealed its razor sharp fangs, causing an immediate shift in atmosphere.
As the Apex predator of this floor, seeing its prey, a mere F-Rank human, have no reaction to its presence felt like an insult to the beast.
It released a low growl as it shifted its weight onto its hind legs.
Crack!
Following a noise that sounded like a rock being crushed, the Tenahu disappeared from view.
Ari used Blink immediately, moving diagonally from his position in an instant.
The Tenahu reappeared mid-air and swiped its massive paw, cleaving the ground where Ari stood a second ago.
KABOOM! KABOOM!
The moment it landed on the ground, a series of explosions rang out, dyeing the chamber in orange light.
Clouds of dust and smoke obscured Ari's vision, making it difficult to determine the Tenahu’s condition.
ROAR!
A directional shockwave blasted through the dust clouds, digging a trench in the ground as it sped towards Ari.
The shockwave travelled much faster than he anticipated, reaching him before he had the time to adjust his footing.
Ari’s mind raced. He crossed his arms over his chest to block the shockwave, his left arm at the front.
<Magic Shield>
BOOM!
The shockwave struck the golden shield with a terrifying impact, blasting him into the wall behind him, creating deep spider web-like cracks.
Ari had no leeway to counter. The magic shield shattered shortly after the impact, but it served its purpose in blocking the most devastating part of the shockwave.
His D-Rank armour absorbed the rest of the damage, preventing his bones from fracturing due to the impact.
His body ached all over, however, it would not affect his combat abilities too much, at least, for now.
‘I can’t take too many of those hits.’
Growl!
The Tenahu burst through the smoke with a ferocious charge, crossing the distance between them in an instant.
Ari used Blink to appear in front of the Tenahu, then rolled underneath its giant claw attack.
Slash!
Ari used Lightning Slash to attack its flank, however, the blade bounced off the Tenahu’s body as though he had struck steel.
‘So tough!’
Despite Ari’s actions ending in failure to cause any damage, the Tenahu roared in anger and swiped at him.
Clang!
Ari deflected the attack with his sword then executed consecutive dashes in the shape of an L, then used Lightning Slash to attack the beast’s flank a second time, striking the same area as before.
Pang!
The blade bounced off once again, but Ari adjusted immediately and swung a second time.
The Tenahu reacted swiftly, leaping to the left to prevent a consecutive Lightning Slash.
It turned to face Ari then launched an attack of it’s own.
ROAR!
The distance between them was much shorter than the previous roar. The shockwave tore through the ground, reaching Ari in less than a second.
‘I have to avoid it!’
Ari leapt into the air, performing a double jump to clear the shockwave, then launched a counter attack.
<Magic Missile>
Vhoom! Vhoom!
Multiple purple projectiles whizzed through the air, striking the Tenahu in the face with thunderous bangs.
The beast shrugged off the purple projectiles and continued its attack.
Ari executed a series of mid-air dashes to clear the range of the shockwave.
‘That’s the fourth attack now...’
Seeing all of his attacks end in failure, where conversely, a single attack from the Tenahu caused damage even after being blocked, Ari couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.
‘This feels like the trial of courage all over again.’