35 Elephant's Trunk
*You have gained the title 'Death In One Shot'
*Unique monster 'Gummy Bear Frog' acquired in the monster collection.
*You used 'Hunger Strike'. 95% of your FTH is hindered for 2 hours. The remaining 5% (0 FTH) is permanently reducted from your stats.
"What?!" Annera shockingly gasped.
The 3-meter tall monster was killed in one hit. It was not a rare occurrence by any means because higher leveled players could kill low-level mobs instantly.
However, the story changes when the player had a lower level than the monster.
"It doesn't make sense! How could you kill it in one hit when it's a Lv 30 unique monster?" Annera complained despite gaining juicy experience and leveling up.
"I don't know. The prompt said I did ten thousand damage. Maybe its H) is just small?" Bob also had no idea what just happened.
"Ten thousand?! You're level 16!"
"No. I'm level 17 now."
"Still! That damage output is cheating!"
"If you ask me, I don't know what happened. I just used a skill I learned after getting a class."
Bob turned his back towards Annera and looked at the ground to pick his loot.
*You have obtained 'Gummy Bear' x5.
"What do I do with this?" Bob picked up a mass of chewy matter. It was yellow and kind of sticky.
[Gummy Bear. Rare Material
-It is a crafting material you can get from the unique monster 'Gummy Bear Frog'.
-This material can regenerate by itself. When used correctly, it can be used to regenerate wounds.]
"Regenerate? What does that mean?" Bob couldn't help but ask.
*Regeneration is a natural process. Wounds will close in due time and lost health will be recovered.
"Why would this piece of blob help regenerate?"
*The origin of the material is from 'Gummy Bear Frog'. This unique monster is a low HP low defense monster, however, it has regenerative abilities that are beyond that of a troll.
"So that's why." Annera butted in.
"Hmm?" Bob made Geralt noises.
"If you think about it. This mob is placed within an area that is filled with level 20 players. It's a monster made for lower leveled players."
"Hmm. Your point being?"
"This isn't a boss. It's a mob that is designed to be hunted by lower leveled players. It has strong regenerative abilities, a party has to cooperate properly to be able to kill it."
The mystery of why the monster easy to kill was solved. It turns out that the Gummy Bear Frog only had regenerative abilities so killing it in an instant isn't an issue.
"But how did you kill it?" Annera asked Bob.
That in itself was another mystery to Annera. Bob's damage output with that skill was far too big to be considered normal. She inspected the weapon in Bob's hand but all she saw was that it was a standard spear.
"Are you cheating?" Annera could not find another explanation aside from that.
"Cheating? I don't even have a girlfriend." Bob replied based on his understanding.
"What. YOU FOOL! I meant are your stats fully broken by the system?!"
"No? I just used a skill."
"Then do it again."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"It's on cooldown for another 24 hours."
The skill named 'Hunger Strike' is a last-ditch effort skill. It is an HP percentage-based ability, and its effects are exponential. The lower Bob's HP was, the bigger the multiplier becomes.
However, maximizing the Hunger Strike's percentage comes at a huge risk. To maintain a low HP just to deal a massive amount of damage once is not what players would want to use to level up.
But Bob is different. He didn't have to worry about his effective HP percentage, all he had to worry about was to kill the enemy. With his HP always staying at a minimum of 1, Bob could use the skill with utmost efficiency.
"Okay. Show it to me once more tomorrow." Annera was determined to see what would happen when Bob used that skill.
"Yes. By the way, what do we do with this?" Bob offered the item he just picked up.
Annera inspected the item. She took time to associate the item with a crafting material because the item looked more like a giant piece of candy than a crafting material.
"Maybe we can make a set of items with this?" That was all Annera could think of.
"Let's go back to the city. Let's go ask around." Bob suggested.
And so, after leveling up 2 times, Bob and Annera went back to the city in good spirits. They don't know what could be crafted with the material but it would be worth investigating.
-
Once they reached the city, Bob said to no one in particular.
"In hindsight, we could have just asked the system." He asked as he scratched his head.
"My goodness. What an idea. Why didn't I think of that?" Annera slapped her forehead in bafflement.
But it was too late, they already arrived in the place they first met. They arrived right in front of the 'The Best Smithy in the City'.
"Hmm. Do you think they're still awake at this hour?" Bob hesitated to knock on the door.
It was currently night. The full moon was shining and the city was still burning. Despite the event from earlier, the city was deathly silent.
"Hmm. They're still awake, I think." Annera answered, somewhat positively.
BANG~
The broken door suddenly swung open, pushing Bob aside and hitting him in the face. The broken door also gave in and was now fully broken.
"Ouch. That must have hurt." Annera remarked.
The door was fully open, revealing men who were not wearing anything on their upper body. And there was a person leading them, a man wearing nothing but an apron, with a stiff and white mustache.
"Buhahahaha. Hello World!" Dan laughed at the top of his lungs.
He stepped out of the smithy, tall and proud. And someone that was sprawled on the ground saw something that he should never see from another man.
"It's an elephant's trunk!" Bob saw it in its full—tall and proud—glory.
"Hmm? Well hello there, young man." Dan noticed Bob.
Bob took a moment to stand up. When he fully stood, he offered his hand to shake with Dan's.
"Hello, sir. I haven't had the chance to introduce myself earlier. My name is Bob, and the spear you've given to me has been a great help." Bob said.
"Oh? Hohoho. Then being grateful is only right. Good for you, young man." Dan received Bob's hand and shook it.
After shaking their hands, Bob let go of Dan's hand and proceeded to ask a question.
"Are you heading out with everyone?" Bob asked as he looked at everyone behind Dan.
The blacksmiths were all carrying tools and materials. They looked like they were about to build a house with all the material they were bringing.
"Yes. We just fixed the smithy first, and now that we're done with the building, it's time to fix the city." Dan replied.
The smithies in the city were not obligated to help with the renovations. And they didn't need to do it at night. However, being the best smithy in the city, Dan told everyone to help rebuild.
"Are you interested in coming with us? It will be a great experience." Dan offered his hand.
[Quest Initiated: Help rebuild the city.
-Dan, the head blacksmith of 'The Best Smithy in the City', asked for your assistance in Donut City's reparations.
-Quest Reward: Intimacy with blacksmiths from 'The Best Smithy in the City' will rise. Set of smithing tools. 1000 experience. 50 gold.]
"Hmm. Okay!" Bob replied positively.
He did not help because of the quest rewards, but because Bob genuinely wanted to help the blacksmiths. He was a resident of the Kingdom of Doof, so the act is in line with his origins.
"I don't know, this seems like a waste of time." Annera commented.
She was a player, and she found that the amount of effort needed to finish this quest was a lot more than the reward it presented. She didn't find the intimacy reward to be necessary for her playthrough.
"Hmm. Well, maybe we can meet again later? I'd like to help these guys out." Bob was feeling helpful.
"Okay. I'll contact you tomorrow. I have to go and do my research assignments for the day. God, I hate my teachers." That was what Annera said before she became a mass of blue light that soon vanished.
"Alright. Shall we?" Dan asked Bob one more time.
"Okay! Let's go!"
[Quest Accepted]
*Repair Tools added to your inventory.
*Sacks of Flour x10 added to your inventory.
*Sack of Glaze powder added to your inventory.
"Alright, men! Start by mixing the flour!" Dan commanded.
All the blacksmiths began pouring their sacks of flour on the ground. They procured water from a nearby well and mixed. After a few minutes of mixing and punching, they finished making a dough that was as large as a car.
"Donut City's famous cement!" Dan slapped the dough, it was perfect.
"It's also Bagel Village's cement!"
