24 The Boss Kobold

"Fire Brid."

~VWUM!~

"Flame Wall."

~FWUUSH!~

"FIame Arrows."

~WHOOSH!!~

Rey advanced as he utilized the only three Fire Spells he could properly use.

The other Spells related to Fire Magic either drained too much Mana or would not be very optimal to use in an underground structure.

'And this isn't really so bad.' Rey told himself as he traversed the cavernous space.

As he trampled atop the burned bodies of his victims, Rey felt something curious tugging at his heart.

'Why am I not really moved? Isn't it odd?'

From what he had read or learned about situations like this, most first-timers ended up being very scared or nervous when confronted with monsters.

That was why Dungeon exploration was usually done in teams.

Experienced individuals would often lead the team in order to prevent an absolute breakdown or chaos among their ranks.

'Yet here I am, completely alone, yet I'm not losing my shit…'

Rey didn't even have a passive Skill that told him he had to be calm or anything, and it wasn't like he hadn't been jumpscared a few times since he began this adventure.

But, for the majority of the time spent here, he genuinely didn't feel nervous or scared.

'Is it because I read up so much about them that seeing the real thing didn't bother me anymore?'

That couldn't be the case, considering how many scholars often froze up when confronted with the real-life manifestations of the things they studied.

Rey explored various explanations, but after everything he settled on one.

"I don't know." He sighed.

All he knew was that he was enjoying himself, and it felt good to do so.

After Rey walked further for a while longer, he finally encountered an area with a lot more Mana Crystals than the previous areas.

The stones gleaned so brightly that it made Rey's Brid obsolete.

"There's lots of energy here. I guess that means I'm close to the Boss." He grinned.

Every Dungeon floor operated practically the same way.

For every one that existed, there had to be a Boss occupying it.

The first to fifth Floor had been conquered, and the Bosses were gone. However, considering everything else hadn't been fully explored, it was only natural to think the Boss here was still alive.

'The Boss is the strongest in a Floor. So far, I've been encountering nothing but Kobolds—some stronger than others.'

The closer one got to the Boss Room, the more powerful the monsters that one would encounter tended to be.

It was pretty much the law of the Dungeon.

"Let's keep advancing…"

Rey kept his guard up, ensuring he had proper attention placed in his surroundings.

'Using [Stealth] would be useless because Kobolds rely more on their sense of smell, and the Skill only affects visuals.'

It would only be a waste of Mana.

As he neared his target, he noticed the Mana Crystals around him had gotten even more.

Not only were they bigger than before, but they could be found practically littering around.

'Well, these are the nearly transparent Mana Crystals. They have the lowest quality.'

Of course, having so many of them in one spot made them extremely valuable.

Rey knew he would make a small fortune if he took them all for himself.

However… once again, he reminded himself why he wasn't doing any of that.

'Let's just focus on the task ahead.'

"KUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR…"

Rey heard a grumble.

It was so loud, and merely the sound of it caused his skin to rattle.

The ground he stood on began to tremble slightly, and Rey found saliva forming at the end of his throat.

'Okay. Maybe this is a little worrying.'

Bosses usually had special space dedicated to them—Boss Rooms, as one would call it.

However, not all of them operated like this.

Some liked to stay in the open, with the rest of the mobs.

… That was the case with this one.

Rey's eyes widened as he noticed the hulking figure in front of him.

'Why didn't I detect it earlier? Does it have the Stealth Skill too?'

The Kobold Boss was much larger than the other small fries that Rey had encountered. It was at least twice as tall as Rey, with fur so black that it seemed like he was coated in the night.

His bloodshot eyes were focused on Rey, and they gleaned with primal purpose.

Rey felt like prey the more he looked into its eyes.

The Boss was currently seated, but once Rey stopped moving, he began to stand to his feet.

Its lean waist and crooked legs made its bipedal form seem more nimble than usual, and its sharp claws were at least six inches long.

"Looks like I gotta be careful with this one…" Rey mumbled as he gulped down the saliva that had formed in his throat.

"GUUUURRRRRR…"

Once the Boss had completely risen to his feet, he lifted his leg to initiate an approach.

'Okay! Once he moves, I'll—!'

~WHOOSH!~

Right before Rey's eyes, it seemed like the Boss Monster vanished.

It felt more like a blur, because the next thing that happened was the Kobold Boss was right in front of Rey, with his hand raised for a slash.

'C-crap!'

All of it happened too fast for his eyes to properly register, and now his body was still trying to process everything to properly react.

"[A-Absolute Defense]!" Rey yelled out.

In that instant, a very powerful beam of transparent light covered his immediate surroundings.

As a result…

~WHOOOOSSSHHH!!!~

… He was able to properly protect himself from the first strike of the Boss.

'What in the world was that?!' Rey thought to himself as he glared at the Kobold Boss.

The horrid creature was already raising its hand for another volley of attacks.

'I should use a surefire Skill to quickly end thi…ss…?!'

As Rey stretched out his hand to launch a powerful Skill, he suddenly realized something.

His energy was gone!

'I-I'm out of Mana?!' His thoughts echoed in apprehension.

But how?!

The answer reflected around him, shimmering as it was about to vanish due to his current lack of energy.

'Damn! It's the [Absolute Defense]!'

Thus far, Rey had only been using 'Flame Wall' as his defensive maneuver, so he had no idea how draining the [Absolute Defense] Skill could be.

'Crap!'

As the transparent field of defense slowly vanished, and the Kobold Boss descended his sharpened claws, Rey's thoughts entered a state of disarray.

'A-ahh…!'

It was at this point that he realized the answer to the earlier question; the reason why he was so calm despite being in a Dungeon for the first time.

'I… I was certain of my victory.'

Why?

'I was strong.'

He killed all those monsters with relative ease and confirmed just how powerful he was.

Afterward, he took it all in stride. To him, it felt like nothing more than kicking evil dogs who were mere chiwawas.

They didn't pose a real threat to him.

… Until now.

'A-am I going to die?!' Rey asked himself.

His thoughts were in shambles for a moment, and he felt like so many things were happening within his mind at once.

'Is this… the end?!'

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[A/N]

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!