Change: New World

Monster Subjugation Part 2

We eventually managed to drag the Dwarfling Menace’s corpse back to our base. It was a grueling, and painstakingly backbreaking task, but after much sweat and effort, we finally did it.

Although as a consolation, the sun had long since set. Looking at the barely functioning clock on the wall, I confirmed that it was half past 7.

The icy summer wind howled within the desolate hallway, complementing the scene which I had long grown accustomed to. The barren corridors, with its blood stained walls and dirt ridden tiles, was eerie and mysterious, giving off a faint resemblance to that of an Old haunted house. In a sense, this dungeon - which inspired fear, and the constant palpitation of a person’s heart - was the same.

Although as an afterthought, instead of imagined specters and fantasy ghouls, monsters as real and vivid as the sweat on my back thrived within the confines of this building.

I paused and thought for a while. I weighed in my options for tonight while my eyes naturally drifted towards the other people in the room. Cher, whose face was practically drenched in sweat cooled herself off with a bucket of lukewarm water. In the process of her absent minded pseudo bath, I fought an urge that growled in the pit of my stomach. Ignoring the glistening adolescent skin that gleamed with water and sweat, I looked over at Cielle and Hina.

Meanwhile, these two sat around a table, enjoying a simple meal of canned peaches and heated strips of meat. I watched all this complacently while my face remained stoic and contemplative.

Eventually though, I broke my gaze and finally decided.

Although it was a little later than usual, it wasn’t that much of an issue. Rather, the darkness brought about by the night would help improve my training speed, so it was sort of welcomed. After all, although everyone else got the chance to, I didn’t. Even if I’m relatively strong now, I still have to train.

I decided to do some solo hunting just before bedtime.

After my mind was set, I quickly said my farewells to the others. Like usual, their faces shifted to unease whenever I mentioned my intention to level grind by myself. Fortunately, since such a pattern had already repeated for close to two weeks, this time around, they didn’t put as fierce of a resistance.

I assured them with a few light hearted words of advice before I finally set off.

The dagger that I had unknowingly pulled out, gleamed with faint transient moonlight, expressing its own eagerness in full force.

****

The school Amphitheatre was a big place. Its size was about double that of the school’s largest gym, and the seats numbered close to 5,000. Apparently, the designers of the amphitheatre held the naive ambition of being able to hold in all of the school’s staff and students in one sitting.

Obviously, this goal was left unfulfilled.

The reason why I was currently heading towards the school amphitheatre was to, of course, hunt.

For the past two weeks, in order to get stronger and bridge the gap between me and the Dungeon Boss, I’ve been constantly level grinding. But, recently, my leveling up speed has greatly slowed, so instead of grinding regularly, I've decided to take up an alternative solution.

Elites.

Elite Monsters were existences within this dungeon that boasted the title of strongest. They were creature’s with the ability to control the other, usually mindless monsters, and they often held strength enough to complement their control. It is due to this reason that they are regarded as one of this dungeon’s most feared existences.

And also, due to their inherent bonuses, they are also regarded as this dungeon’s most desired luxury.

I’ve been hunting Elites for their exp and bonus points. Occasionally, the rare skill drop also greatly benefits me.

Like this, with a heart of greed, I managed to somehow kill the Elite Bird type monster, as well as the Elite Amphibious Monster. And today too, I stumbled upon the Dwarfling Elite, and managed to kill it. Aren’t I on quite a lucky streak?

Of course, the real process wasn’t as simple and happy go lucky as I made it sound. My own personal effort needs to be considered as well. Careful planning was necessary. The type of planning that took 3 to 4 days to achieve. And that was only for a single target. Although fortunately, in the meantime, in between espionage missions and data gathering, I killed their subordinates rather leisurely, so my level didn’t stagnate that much.

The first to fall to my blade was the Bird type monster. It’s official name was [Avian Helix Prodigy]. As with the naming sense, the Bird type monsters were all collectively known as [Avian Helix]. Anyways, the Prodigy was a rather troublesome monster to beat not because of its individual strength, but because of all the comrades that fought together with him.

It was too such an extent where I wondered whether it was the protagonist to a shounen manga.

In addition to that, its blistering speed that overshadowed mine was annoying. Having your strongest stat trumped was quite a mental blow, but somehow or the other, I managed to win. It was a tough battle, filled with constant evasion, and subterfuge, but I still won. Also, I learned [Body Maneuver], so it was more profitable than I first expected.

The next Elite I hunted was the Amphibian Monster. A mix between half man and half frog, although it did look more frog than human. It’s was named [Wetlander Chieftain], and was also a troublesome opponent to fight, although for completely different reasons. The Wetlander was not built for speed, nor did it rely on the power of its comrades, rather, it had the strange habit of isolating itself within the school’s indoor swimming pool, leaving its subordinates to wander the halls and nearby locker rooms.

What made this Elite a pain to deal with, was the fact that it never once left the water. Always submerged, always playfully frolicking around within the pool… it was to the extent where the water had long turned a murky green.

In the end, I had to force it out of the water in order to kill it. That was a whole ‘nother issue which involved a noose and human bait, but that’s besides the point. In the end, I managed to kill it. It died easily after it left the water, so there was no sense of tension. And as if to reflect that lack of tension, it dropped a useless skill. A skill to breathe underwater - [Amphibian]. Contrary to its name, it did not help me with underwater movement, but merely gave me the ability to breathe underwater.

Considering the fact that most amphibians don’t even breathe underwater after maturity, it was a name that brought on many misunderstandings. Although at least it was better than what the Prodigy dropped, which was a mere 3 health potions.

I ended up acquiring it without complaint though, mostly because its skill book had an equip bonus of added stamina immediately upon use.

And just recently, I killed off the Dwarfling Menace, rounding up my total Elite kill count to 6. Now, all that’s left are the other two, not counting the Wisp Elite of course.

And as luck would have it, both the Minotaur Elite, and the Horse head - officially named as Ipotane -were currently caught up in a rather favorable situation for me.

It’s that, you know, that. Territorial Dispute.

For an indefinite amount of time the monster tribes known as the minotaurs and the Ipotane have been in constant conflict. This was probably the reason why the Minotaur Chief parted with its spawn point early on in the Apocalypse. Either way, due to their constant conflict, it has led to the death and over all depopulation of both the Minotaurs and the Ipotane. Although unfortunately, their constant fighting has also strengthened them, increasing in both level and fighting experience.

For about a week now, I’ve been carefully observing both sides of the war, and finally, if my predictions are correct, then the culmination of all the violence will burst tonight within the Ampitheatre.

With greedy thoughts in mind, I headed towards the fabled battlefield.

****

Currently, I was sitting on top of the rafters, directly above the amphitheatre. Due to the particular design of the domed enclosure, the ceilings were pretty far up from the ground. It was to the extent where a normal person would probably break most of their bones if they were to drop from this height. Although for me, whose stats are abnormally high to begin with, falling from this height won’t kill me.

Looking down, I once again confirmed the surroundings.

Violence. Blood. Mooing and Neighing. In simple words, a chaotic battle was currently rampaging.

Cow headed monsters were barrelling through the room, sending various chairs and other obstacles flying. Their bipedal legs, which were adorned by a rather jagged hoof, had long since worn out the prestigious floor of the room. For some reason or the other, a few of these minotaurs were spitting out fireballs, which kept the Amphitheatre relatively lit up.

Although looking closely, most of the ones with the fireball ability were all leveled 25 or higher, so it might have been a race specific skill only acquired at higher stages.

On the other side of the spectrum, the Ipotane were putting up a fierce counter attack.

Their overall physiology was pretty similar to that of the minotaur. They had a humanoid upper body, a horse head, and also possessed bipedal legs. If I were to point out a particular trait of theirs that made them stand out, then it would be their exaggeratedly long arms, which gave them an overall lanky feeling compared to the brawny minotaur.

Unlike the minotaurs, who possessed a fire type ability, the Ipotane had no long range potential. Instead, they wielded makeshift weapons - things collected and gathered from within the school, and swung those around recklessly. Although it looked ineffective, compared to the weaponless minotaurs, then it was definitely an advantage.

At the pinnacle of this territorial dispute, were the respective leaders, who, coincidentally, were duking it out on top of the raised stage.

[Minotaur Chieftain - Level 41]

[Ipotane Tribal Leader - Level 40]

For Elite monsters, there levels were higher than usual. With the exception of the Cyclops Elite, who was a named monster, these two currently dwarfed every other elite I’ve come across. No doubt, there strength was forged through ongoing battle.

And currently, such an ongoing battle was taking place in front of me. Fire flying about everywhere, and the sound of the surrounding breaking in the face of a giant improvised pole arm, it was quite a frightening scene. Although for me, who currently saw these two as precious exp, rather than their actual battle, I was simply enthusiastically watching their hp diminish.

For now, I’ll let those two weaken each other. In the mean time, I’ll placate myself with their subordinates.

I gazed at the battlefield with unblinking eyes. Constantly scanning for the perfect opportunity, I waited and observed, waited and observed, until-

-There!

A level 24 minotaur. Its health had dropped down into critical levels, and was currently grimacing while it placed a oversized hand on top of an open wound. It's bruised and desperate form was truly perfect.

Without hesitation, I immediately began to take action. Brandishing Efhermet in my hand, I held it by the tip of its bladed edge, before I pulled back and-

Swish

In an instant, the dagger left my hands and whistled through the blood stenched air. Immediately after, the level 24 minotaur had died, a knife lodged into its carotid artery.

I unconsciously smiled while my right hand instantly jerked back. Not a moment later, the dagger dislodged itself from its neck with a plop, before it flew back and landed in my left hand.

“As I thought… this level of hunting is really too easy.” I mumbled quietly to myself as I stared in awe at the objects in my hand.

Efhermet on my left, and a thin piece of durable rope in the other.

By tying a long piece of rope onto the hilt of my dagger, I was able to create a retractable throwing weapon. While it was convenient to hunt from a distance, the downside was that the rope kind of interfered with the dagger’s flight pattern, resulting in less accurate throws.

Fortunately though, my dexterity stat was enough to overcome this difficulty.

Like this, I enjoyed a disgustingly simple hunting session.

Each time a monster’s health dropped to critical levels, in a flash, my dagger would instantly be lodged either into its neck or eye socket. I showed no discrimination between races, and hunted both Ipotane and Minotaur alike.

It was to the extent where all the monsters that died were done in by me and converted into convenient experience. Occasionally, they’d drop a potion or two, but the drop rate was irritatingly low, so I didn’t hold much expectations. Although tears did fall from my eyes whenever I saw a vial being trampled and destroyed in the wake of the confusion.

After a while, I managed to kill of approximately 20 monsters. Out of the 50 or so that remained, the 20 I killed was a huge percentage. Unfortunately, after the 21st death, I noticed a grave error.

If I continued to hunt like this, my skill levels won’t increase.

Skills, as expected, were things that increased the more frequently they were used. If I hunted from the rafters like a vulture, then my skills won’t receive any experience.

I was worried and concerned. As such, since I wanted to increase my skill level, then there was no other choice but to participate.

Having made up my mind, I instantly jumped down, my trajectory was heading directly towards the middle of the conflict.

Instead of landing on the ground, I landed on an unsuspecting Ipotane.

The impact from my drop caused the Ipotane’s legs to buckle, but it wasn’t enough to topple it down. As expected of a horse, it's got good legs.

Without any hesitation, I immediately pulled out Efhermet, and from behind him, I snaked my arm around its neck before my dagger slashed across its exposed throat.

Since the Horse had already lost a lot of its hp beforehand, and since the blow was a critical hit, the monster instantly died.

It was after its death that I remembered that I had wanted to acquire the [Sword Mastery] skill. With a regretful sigh, I put away my dagger and drew out the black short sword from behind me.

All around me, the monsters on both sides were looking at me with astonished expressions on their animal faces. I didn’t give them time to recover though, and in an instant, my body rocketed towards the closest monster, a minotaur about 50 feet away from me.

In less than 3 seconds, I closed the gap between us, and my sword flashed towards its arm. Without even using [Dissect], its arm immediately flew off, while a howl of pain escaped from its throat.

The nearby Minotaurs, who saw one of their own being assaulted, instantly flared up in rage. Immediately after, several cow headed monsters dashed towards me while a flurry of fireballs flew directly towards my location.

I didn’t immediately dodge, and instead focused. In order to properly train my skills, it was obvious that I had to use them. And currently, one of my skills [Sensory Remapping], was currently working in overdrive.

I closed my eyes and waited. For a moment, it seemed as if time stopped, but that moment lasted less than a second before my body instantly jerked to the left, dodging a searing ball of fire that lit up a nearby chair.

This tale has been pilfered from NovelFire. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

In a similar fashion, I dodged all the oncoming fireballs with as little of a margin of error as possible. The blasts of flame were all close enough to burn me with a mere graze, but I did not feel it. Rather, it would be more appropriate to say I did not feel anything.

My sense of touch was currently turned off. In return, my sense of taste was increased to impossible levels. The reason for this was because of a particular feature I recently learned from my [Sensory Remapping].

I could now taste temperature. Much like a snake who sensed bodied of heat through their tongue, I now possessed the same ability. This was all possible after I synthesized [Sensory Remapping +] into Intermediate Level 1.

As expected, since it was one of my most used skills, it was also the first to reach the intermediate level.

After reaching the intermediate level, I was now able to do things that would normally be impossible. By allocating a certain amount into a particular sense, I was able to generate an added effect. For taste, it was tasting temperature. For hearing - echolocation, for sight - night vision. I was still unable to do anything else with the other senses, and my current skill with echolocation and night vision were a little bit lacking, but it was still an amazing effect.

I fully showed of its usefulness by flamboyantly dodging all of the incoming flames. As I did so, my body moved towards a few nearby bodies of heat.

An Ipotane that had been standing by, watching my current predicament enthusiastically was immediately cut down by a wave of my sword. Like the Minotaur from before, one of its arms was sent flying. To follow up, I instantaneously shortened the gap between the Ipotane and I with a quick burst of [Rushing Dash].

As my body approached, so to did my sword, and in an instant, 1 metre and a half of cold metal stabbed itself deep into the Ipotane’s abdomen, quickly bringing an end to its life.

A nearby Ipotane was angered by the sudden death of its comrade, and flew into a rage as it charged at me. I nimbly dodged, making full use of the added effects of the passive skill, [Body Maneuver].

From behind me, an incoming Minotaur rushed, whether its true aim was at me, or the Ipotane in front of me was unknown. Regardless, I instantly, rolled to the side, and just as it ran passed me, the Dagger attached to a rope in my right hand instantly blurred.

I threw the dagger towards the Minotaurs legs, but instead of directly stabbing into it, the knife encircled the leg like a grappling hook, before my arm instantly pulled back. The Minotaur toppled to the ground with a thud, and before any of the Ipotane could steal my kill, I rushed towards it.

From atop its back, I constantly stabbed it with a flurry of sword strikes. In less than 3 seconds, it had died.

Like this, I continued to fight the two groups. I made full use of their obvious enmity for each other, and merely dodged and avoided their gigantic bodies, while occasionally dealing out a hit of my own. But while I dodged the majority of their attacks, as expected, it was impossible to avoid all of the. It actually became somewhat troublesome every time an attacked landed and it would go unnoticed due to my lack of touch/pain. I decided to reactivate my sense of touch midway during the fight.

Other than that, things progressed smoothly.

After I killed the 30th one, leaving 20 behind, I quickly grew bored, and my eyes swept towards the stage.

The two hulking elites were masses of blood and rage. They had stayed completely unsuspecting at their subordinates’ demise, and were completely locking eyes with each other. This wasn’t your romantic eye contact though. This was one filled with rage, anger, and the hard to miss killing intent.

What was a bit unfortunate though, was that the Minotaur’s health had drastically gone down- it’s hp now at a critical level. What made this even worse was that the Ipotane was currently rushing towards it, all of its intentions plainly written on its animalistic face.

“Ah, crap… at this rate…”

As I dodged an incoming fireball, I grimaced to myself and cursed. This was bad. This was really bad. At this rate…

-At this rate, my prey will be killed!

With a desperate sense of urgency taking over me, my body instantly jumped and rocketed towards the stage. I made full use of [Rushing Dash] to greatly increase my speed as I made a move to intercept the Ipotane Tribal leader.

Swoosh!

With barely any room, for comfort, I made it just in time to deflect the incoming pole arm with the edge of my sword. Unfortunately, the impact between pole arm and sword instantly drained the sword’s durability, causing it to crack and break in two.

“Agh! Damn it, I still haven’t acquired Sword mastery!”

I cursed while the Ipotane glared at me with seething anger. It's deflected pole arm was instantly brought down towards the direction of my head. I moved with by a hairsbreadth, barely dodging the pole arm by a fraction of an inch.

Immediately following, my foot stepped forward, as I dashed towards the Ipotane. The gap created by the monster’s pole arm was instantly shortened as I reared my right fist back.

-If I can’t acquire Sword mastery, then I might as well aim for unarmed mastery!

Ignoring the fact that I was currently weaponless, my right fist blurred as it found its mark deep into the monster’s stomach. Since I was wearing my improvised gauntlets, it did more damage than a regular fist.

The punch was enough to cause the Ipotane’s body to lurch backwards, but it immediately regained its composure and glared menacingly at me.

From behind, while the Ipotane and I exchanged a brief set of blows, the Minotaur Chieftain had been preparing his attack.

I quickly shot a glance behind me while I dodged another incoming Pole arm.