Liam stared at the fire in the sky with a frown. Enduring the unpleasant heat he turned towards the boss, considering somehow forcing him to cancel the spell. He decided to first conduct a brief test, using his [Holy Wave] skill.
Liam emitted a wave of holy light, which spread in all directions. When it reached the boss though, a red barrier appeared around the mage, negating the skill.
Thought so... Come on, get this over with!
As if reading Liam's mind, the boss finally began his attack. The flames in the sky began to revolve, spewing small fireballs in all directions like a blooming firework.
Shooting stars fell from the sky aiming to incinerate the mage's enemies.
Liam weaved between the flames, dancing gracefully, his every step serving a purpose. Yet even he found it difficult to avoid the dense net of flames, receiving some hits from time to time.
[-205!]
[-205!]
Apparently, this gave the boss some hope as he upheld the skill for dozens of seconds. When the flames finally dissipated both Liam and the mage huffed in exhaustion.
Liam felt incredibly annoyed looking at the boss. After laboriously evading the skill for such a long time the mage didn't even give him a chance to retaliate, still hiding behind his barrier.
"You can still leave now, adventurer!"
"Stop talking. Let's get this over with, Autumn."
"What?!"
Immense shock could be heard in the boss's voice despite the distortion, causing Liam to grin. This was his retaliation for making him dodge for so long.
After the boss revealed his skills, Liam had begun to get suspicious about his identity. The four elemental spells the boss showed reminded him of a mage called Autumn who appeared later in the game.
In Liam's memory those skills were grand spectacles causing despair to the players, a far cry from their current image, causing Liam to harbour some doubts. But now he had confirmation.
A message appeared before his eyes granting him three points in his Knowledge stat, increasing it to five points in total. This was a reward for using knowledge from other sources to figure out a mystery.
Autumn's body trembled but he quickly composed himself. His protective barrier faded. The mage showed no signs of acknowledging his identity as he commenced his attack.
Liam dodged the next sphere, closing the distance and swinging his swords.
[-732!]
[-366!]
The mage's HP reduced drastically while Liam's ironically increased beyond their limit. With his rare weapon in hand his max HP rose by 300 points with each hit.
As the fight continued until now, he had broken through his limit, reaching 4593HP. His eyes bore down on the boss, causing the mage to shudder as Liam rose his hand to the sky, swinging it fiercely. A mysterious force engulfed the sword as the [Brutal Strike] landed.
[-1083!]
[-159!]
Liam's max HP were increased for the fifth time, which triggered the second effect of his sword. A bloody aura engulfed the blade. Liam felt an unpleasant sensation as the sword drank his bonus vitality, causing his HP to drop back to 4466 points.
Suddenly a sinister red arrow spreading the smell of blood separated from Liam's sword, aiming right for Autumn's heart, dealing the difference in HP as damage.
[-427!]
"Ah! You dare to use such sinister magic, adventurer?!"
Autumn groaned more out of disgust than pain, admonishing the use of such magic.
In Crunaboul there were many examples of someone abusing sinister magic like blood or dark magic, which influenced their characters, turning them into monsters.
Liam was just about to dismiss the boss's words when a certain thought sent shivers down his spine. Naturally players didn't need to fear being influenced my magic as Fate of Crunaboul was still just a game no matter how realistic it appeared.
But what if the line between game and reality became blurry? Would players have to be careful when using dark magic in real life?
This thought circled in Liam's mind for a second before he shook his head to get rid of it. He trusted that the army would surely consider this possibility. Perhaps they have already started to experiment.
The most Liam could do was maybe mention this to General Reilly some day.
"Daring to get distracted during a fight? Do you look down on me?!"
Autumn's angry exclamation brought Liam back to reality. He watched as the boss shrouded himself in searing flames, rising to the air.
His staff never stopped moving, incantations coming from his mouth. A magic circle appeared in the centre of the battlefield.
A huge amount of mana was attracted to the circle, creating a figure around it. Liam could only watch as a tall golem formed.
Its feet were made of flames burning the ground with every step, its arms were long whirlwinds stirring the air, its chest was a mighty boulder, and its head was made out of constantly shifting water.
Liam sighed as the golem turned towards him, its faceless head radiating a strong oppression. It raised one of its arms and punched the air in the direction of its enemy.
The whirlwind stretched quickly, blowing away the dust on the floor, about to slam into Liam's chest.
The latter remained quick on his feet. Dodging to the right he avoided the golem's arm, rushing towards it. The magical being wasn't known for its fast movements but rather its durable body.
Liam had to experience a golem's formidable defence often enough. But he knew something about this special elemental golem. It had pretty obvious weak points at the spots where the elements connected with each other.
Precisely moving his swords Liam slashed at the intersection between earth and fire, producing a crisp, metallic sound.
[-944!!!]
[-236!]
Liam was relieved upon landing a critical hit. For someone like him who had no critical strike chance on his equipment exploiting weaknesses was the only way to cause critical damage except from profiting from his allies' skills like Silent Acacia's [Mark of Death].
Luckily the golem only had two thousand HP, which was a far cry from its power in Liam's previous life.
Just as he thought this fight would be easy, the golem suddenly pulled a new move. It raised its foot, violently slamming it into the floor, causing flames to scatter in all directions.
Liam was caught unprepared, not expecting this attack which the golem was supposed to use when surrounded by a large number of players.
Nevertheless, his instincts warned him as soon as he noticed the golem raising its foot. Liam reacted swiftly, retreating and getting out of danger.
[Stance -24]
Liam admonished himself for not paying enough attention. However, the loss of stance wasn't a big issue as long as his [Holy Tempest] ultimate skill remained active.
A moment later the flames died out, prompting Liam to continue his attacks. Saving his skills he used normal attacks, bringing the golem to fall after two more rotations.
The magical being crumbled to the floor, prompting Autumn to slowly descend as well. Even with his mask the mage appeared quite weary, facing Liam with low confidence.
A brief check revealed that the boss had only 2541HP left. Liam was ready to end the fight. His swords showed no mercy. With his skills off cooldown he performed his usual routine, about to trigger an explosion of five holy marks.
But just as he finished the first attack of [Double Slash], Autumn suddenly let out a pained shout, staggering backwards.
The mage was blocked by the cart, leaning against it, his head tilted to the sky.
"I'm sorry..."
Not knowing whom this apology was for Liam watched as the red barrier suddenly shrank, converging towards the mage.
A shudder ran through Liam's body when the barrier passed through him. It tightly embraced Autumn before soaring to the air, carrying the mage away.
In but a moment it disappeared behind the horizon, its target obviously not Brobrity.
"Until next time..."
Liam chuckled to himself, clapping his hands, dramatically shaking off the dust. He turned his head back to the place where Autumn leaned against the car, staring at the treasure chest which had suddenly appeared.
[Congratulations on defeating the boss monster 'Black-robed Mage'!]
[Received 360EXP]
[EXP: 1470/1646]
Liam only glanced at his EXP briefly. He didn't have any expectations knowing that the stark difference in level would diminish his gains greatly even though he fought a boss by himself.
He kept the same mindset approaching the chest. Its lid opened without any spectacular light, clearly not containing much high-quality loot.
Thus, Liam was taken aback when a piece of paper appeared in his hands. This was never really a bad sign. Recipes, blueprints, scrolls, all of them could be useful. Liam grew curious as he checked the item.
[Land Lease BBY0014
Category: Unique
Effect: This land lease grants the holder the right to develop plot BBY0014 in whichever way they want.
Guilds, shops, homes, taverns… none can be realized without a land lease. But now you can live out your creativity.]