19 Triumph and Turmoil
Seth wiped the blood from his mouth and dashed toward the Boss at full speed. His instincts and perception worked together to evade Gallium Goo's attacks while anticipating its next move.
[Time Left: 00:04:27]
Gritting his teeth, Seth attacked Gallium Goo with everything he had. One moment he was on top of the giant ooze, slicing it multiple times, and the next, he was under it, chopping off its legs.
Whenever he felt exhausted, he would just consume an [Energy Potion], but he never stopped attacking.
Those [Energy Potions] came in handy. It looked like the system had foreseen that this would happen and provided [Energy Potion] as rewards for daily quests.
It seemed as though the system could sense what he needed in the future and would give it to him as a gift from the daily quests.
As time ticked away, Seth became increasingly crazed, barely noticing the white metal oozes that chipped away at his HP. More of them clung to his body, adding weight to his movements, but he didn't care.
He wanted to finish Gallium Goo before the timer was up.
[You suffer continuous damage!]
[Your movement speed is reduced!]
Seth ignored the notifications, his attention solely focused on the boss and the timer.
Little by little, Seth saw progress. Gallium Goo was reduced to a man size, and a bit more, he would defeat it!
[Time Left: 00:01:14]
[Your HP is decreasing!]
[Your movement speed is decreasing!]
[Time Left: 00:00:47]
With a leap, Seth smashed his twin blades into Gallium Goo's head and tore a large chunk of its metallic flesh away just as the timer reached zero.
Seth huffed, panting as he watched the boss turn into a pool of white liquid, and with it, a teleportation circle appeared on where it laid.
[CONGRATULATIONS for defeating the boss, Gallium Goo!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have recovered!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!] . . .
[OBTAIN 10,000 gil!]
[OBTAIN Refined Metal!]
[OBTAIN Gallium Armor!] . . .
The notifications kept ringing, but Seth could only think of his victory at the last second, and he finally took a deep breath to calm his racing heart.
He really did it!
It was close, but he did it!
He defeated a boss!
He was barely hanging in there, with his HP dwindling to single digits. Fortunately, upon leveling up, his HP, MP, and Fatigue reset to default, providing a much-needed relief.
In addition to the substantial amount of gil he received, the system awarded him two items. One for surviving the timer and another as a bonus reward for defeating Gallium Goo.
|| Gallium Armor ||
Medium Grade Equipment
The Gallium Armor is a protective garment infused with the unique properties of gallium, enhancing both physical and magical defense by 10%.
|| E N D ||
An equipment?
Seth was ecstatic. There was no way a mere beast or boss would yield equipment, so this definitely came from the system.
What's more, it was an equipment that improved defense!
Seth wondered if Ascendants with the class of crafters could craft this type of armor. He never knew because he had never visited an Ascendant Shop before. He had heard that a high grade single knife there cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
After all, better equipment meant a better chance of survival. You were practically buying your life.
So, what were the spoils from the boss itself? Seth was eager to know as he glanced at the pool of white liquid beneath his feet.
"Looks like you managed to defeat the boss. I'm surprised."
Seth's attention shifted to Roger and Selena, who were standing not far from him.
Oh, right. They were still here.
"Hahaha. Good work, Gofer. Now, step aside while I harvest the loot from the boss," Roger said, a smirk playing on his lips.
Seth briefly glanced over at the white pools of liquid and found many shiny objects scattered around it.
Those must be the spoils.
Seth didn't know how it worked, but when he killed the normal beasts outside, the loot automatically appeared in his inventory. But right now, he had to pick up the loot himself after he killed the boss?
Was the boss different, and the system couldn't pick it up? Or was it just random, like the system felt inclined to help him out in picking up the loot? Or did it have something to do with the level of the beasts?
Come to think of it, the colors of their names were different. White probably meant easy prey, and red meant stronger prey. And when he took a quick look at the white pool of liquid again, the name turned white.
So, it had to be something about the fact that white meant he could kill it easily, while red meant that it was a hard enemy for him to defeat at the moment. Then the system would probably automatically store loot from white-named beasts rather than the red ones.
It was a complicated matter.
Why couldn't the system just automatically store all loot in his inventory? Not that he had any aversion to picking up loot from dead beasts. It was his job as a Gofer, after all.
Seth left it be. He had more pressing issues to address at the moment.
"I've killed this boss; the loot belongs to me," he asserted seriously.
Roger shrugged. "Go ahead. We'll just kill you next to get the loot, or you can just step aside, live, and the matter is over."
"Kill me? Can you do it when you can't even kill the boss?"
Roger's smile disappeared. "Don't get strange ideas here, idiot. My skills might not work effectively against the boss, but I am still a Rank-A Ascendant. Against someone like you, I doubt if your blade could pierce my body."
"Is that right? Why don't we try then?" Seth remained oddly calm.
Before, he couldn't even raise his head to a Rank-C Ascendant, but now he had no problem staring eye to eye with Roger.
Angry veins popped on Roger's face. "You're asking for it!"
Dusts and earth started to coalesce around Roger, his eyes glowing golden.
[THREAT DETECTED!]
|| Urgent Quest ||
Eliminate the threats to your life!
0/2 left.
WARNING!
Failure will result in death.
|| E N D ||
*
*
*
*
|| A/N ||
After duking it out with a boss, Seth's up against a Rank A Ascendant.
Some might say we're sprinting through this story faster than a cheetah on Red Bull, but hey, I've got my reasons!
Onward to the next chapter, folks! 🏃♂️🚀😄
