34 Skill Testing

*You have slain a Lv 21 Mother Brog.

*You have gained 420 (+84) experience.

*Your experience has surpassed the threshold. You have gained a level.

*You are now level 16.

*Your contracted monster 'Lavanuk' leveled up.

"I can't get used to this. I just got smacked by a paw the size of my head, but I didn't feel any pain."

Bob said as he just killed a big bear with the tongue of a frog. Unlike the small brogs that were about half a meter, mother brogs were 2 meters tall when they stand on their hind legs.

"Just get used to it. Or if you want, you can set the pain factor to a minimum." Annera replied from the side. While Bob was busy dealing with the brogs, she was just standing still.

"I'll do that."

Bob patted his clothes to remove the dust that was sticking to him, but he couldn't do much about the blood that painted it.

"System. Set pain factor to the minimum." Bob exclaimed as soon as he was ready.

*Pain factor is set to 0.

"Hmm? Why is it still at zero?" Bob read the prompt and asked.

*Defining the word 'Minimum'. 'Minimum' is the least or smallest amount or quantity possible, attainable, or required. And the parameter 'Pain factor' has 0 as its minimum.

"Oh."

*Try saying 'Set Pain Factor to 1.

The system replied. The suggestion meant that the system recognized what Bob had in mind but still didn't set the setting right just to annoy Bob.

"Ok. Set Pain factor to 1. Is that good enough?" Bob was irked at the system's sassy replies.

*Pain factor is set to 1.

"Did it work?" Annera interjected. She held her wand with both hands as she approached Bob.

"Yea. Let's continue hunting." Bob replied promptly.

They walked around, looking for another available mother brog. A mother brog had significant damage output and health, but their speed was lacking. Thus, they have become a favorite.

"Hey. I've been thinking. Aren't there too many people here?" Bob complained as he looked around the plains.

"Of course, mother brogs are not dangerous for parties, so everyone would flock to hunt them for levels." Annera explained.

"Then can't we look for another place to hunt monsters? There should be a place with fewer people, right?"

"True. But let's get to level 20 first before we go hunt for the next leveling area/ I don't think we can do enough damage."

'And by we, I mean you.' Annera thought to herself.

"Okay then." Bob replied.

After waiting for another opportunity, a mother brog finally showed itself to Bob and Annera. It was showing its back and was busy digging the ground for some reason.

Bob readied his spear and rushed towards the mother brog. With a thrust, Bob caught the mother brog by surprise. He didn't make any unnecessary mouth noises, and his footsteps were masked by the noise of the surrounding parties.

"It isn't enough." Bob said as he retrieved his spear and backed off.

Roar~

The mother brog realized that it just got stabbed in its hiney. It roared in pain and looked behind and saw its attacker. The mother brog turned around but something was wrong with its movement.

'I like this.' Bob was satisfied. He casually gave it another stab.

It was slow. It was the effect of his newly gained skill 'Sugarcoat'.

*You have dealt 109 damage. (+10 FTH damage)

*You have coated the enemy with a sugary syrup. All enemy movement slowed by 20%.

The mother brog successfully turned around and retaliated, but Bob was no longer within its reach. Bob ran to the left, circling the mother brog and getting behind it once more.

Stab~

*You have dealt 105 damage. (+10 FTH damage)

Bob continued dealing cheap strikes from the mother brog's back. He didn't give it an opportunity to strike, because he turned the pain factor back on.

'I should let it hit at least once, right?' Bob thought to himself.

After a few more cheat hits, a prompt showed itself to Bob.

*The effect 'Sugarcoat' has worn off.

The buff on his weapon wore off. But the mother brog was still moving slowly. It was because the slow effect persisted and needs to be addressed before it will go away.

"Grrrr"

The mother brog was annoyed. It was fed-up with Bob's cowardly way of fighting. The mother brog looked at itself and saw the syrup covering its body.

Slam~

The mother brog gave up chasing after her tail. It sat down and started licking at its fur with its long tongue.

"Rrr?"

Lick Lick~

The mother brog continued licking the sugary coat. The sweetness of the syrup made it feel like honey, and that deliciousness couldn't be ignored by the mother brog.

Stab~

Bob didn't let the opportunity pass up. He managed to strike the enemy a couple of hits before the sugar coating vanished into the mother brog's mouth.

Roar!!

The mother brog stopped sitting on its hind. It stood and roared after being liberated from the creamy goodness of 'Sugarcoat's' effect. Bob sneaked in a strike at this time.

Stab~

Wham!

"ouch?"

Bob was suddenly thrown aside.

*Your HP has reached 0.

*You are an Essential. You can't die.

*Your HP is set back to minimum.

Despite the bear being slow, Bob was also slow. And after the slow effect wore off, the mother brog finally managed to hit Bob.

"It hurts, but not really." Bob said as staggered to stand up.

"Cluck?" Lavanuk chimed in.

"Hmm. Sure, we can work together. I'm already satisfied." Bob replied.

The mother brog was still on its hind feet, standing proudly. When Bob readied his spear once more, the mother brog began walking on all fours.

Bob went in to strike, and Lavanuk jumped!

She flew through the air and landed on the mother brog's back while Bob thrusts his spear upfront.

Sizzle~

"Calorie Burn!"

*Your physical damage is increased by 30% (+0%). Movement and attack speed increased by 15% (+0%) for 120 seconds.

*You will gradually lose 20% of your max HP for 20 seconds. Be careful, you can die from this effect.

Bob immediately rolled to the side to evade the mother brog's retaliation.

Wham!

He got hit. Despite gaining more speed from the skill effect, he still got hit by the mother brog's attack.

"Cluck!"

Lavanuk screamed and then pecked!

The mother brog suddenly bursts into flames. But the damage output of the burning effect was minimal, the fur of a brog mitigated the damage.

"That looks scary as hell." Annera commented.

What Annera saw would be considered something sinister in real life. A massive flaming bear, and she saw that same huge fireball of a bear smack down a person just now.

"Hup!"

But Bob was not thrown away this time. The mother brog's hit was square on his body but he didn't die. After the rolling animation, Bob struck with his spear once again.

ROARRRR!!

The mother brog cried out in pain. Its HP value was low and it started to panic. And with the panic, comes rage. It wanted to at least kill the person attacking it.

THUD~

Bob got hit by the mother brog's last stand, but Bob persisted. The pain he felt was like a gentle tap on his skin, he could continue fighting without worry.

Stab~

*You killed a Lv 20 Mother Brog.

*You have gained 410 (+82) experience.

*Your contracted monster 'Lavanuk' has leveled up.

"I like it. This is much better."

Bob was satisfied. He could feel the enemy's strikes and could properly react to them. He didn't want to fight like a madman just because he couldn't die.

"That's nice. Well then, let's go find another place to level up. This place is crowded with people." Annera found the place to be crowded as well.

They wandered around, looking for different monsters, but the plains around Donut City were filled with Brogs. It was frustrating to not find anything else.

"System, are there any other monsters aside from mother brogs and brog cubs here?" Annera asked.

*Yes. Go towards the area that is 200 meters northwest of here, there is a unique monster that only spawns once a day.

"Bah. What's the use? Unique mobs would be killed the moment they spawn." Annera used her logic.

There are unique monsters that have a separate spawn timer. They give a huge amount of experience or loot in comparison to the level they have. And because of that, they're usually killed the exact moment they spawn.

"Let's check it out. Coming to Donut Plains may have been a mistake but we should at least see that unique monster." Bob encouraged Annera.

"Hmm. Okay. It isn't far anyways."

And when they arrived at the destination, they found that the grass around the place was glossier and healthier than the rest. It was as if they had better fertilizer.

"Wow. That's a huge gummy bear." Annera commented.

There was a stationary bear in the middle of the shrubbery. It was yellow in color and it was somewhat transparent. It was 3 meters tall and it was not doing anything.

"Hey! It's still alive! You said it wouldn't be here by the time we get here." Bob said to Annera.

"Hmm. I think that's a bit too dangerous for players in Donut City. That HP bar is a bit too scary."

[Lv 30 Gummy Bear Frog]

The gummy bear had a huge HP pool. It was something that the usual player from Donut City could handle so everyone left it here. Higher leveled players found it to be a hassle to move to Donut Plains to kill it as well.

"Let's go give this one a try." Bob stepped on the luscious grass.

He walked towards the Gummy Bear Frog. He readied his spear as he got closer and then screamed.

"Hunger Strike!"

As Bob thrusts his spear, a red light followed the arc of his spearhead's movement and struck the Gummy Bear Frog.

*You have dealt 10,800 damage. Amazing!

*You have slain a Lv 30 Gummy Bear Frog.

*You have gained 2050 (+410) experience.

*Your experience has surpassed the threshold. You have gained a level.

"What?!"