Riley's eyes darted to the status window that hovered just above his line of sight, trying his hardest to steady his raging heartbeat.
[Player ID: A Random]
[Level: 3(30/200)]
[Profession: Assassin]
[Class: Apprentice Assassin]
[Talent: Gluttony (SSS)]
[H/P: 76
[M/P: 104
[Magic Damage: 10.4
[Physical Damage: 9.7
[Magic Resistance: 10.4
[Physical Resistance: 4.6
[Attributes: Strength: 9.7; Agility: 19.5; Vitality: 7.6; Mana: 10.4; Endurance: 4:6]
[Skill: Stealth(level 1)]
[Description: Temporarily Boosts Agility By 50% for 10 seconds, and masks the user's presence. Deals 15 points of damage to target + 100% of user's mana to target. Cost: 10 Magic Points. Cool-down: 3 seconds]
[Attribute Points Available: 4]
[Skill Points Available: 2]
[Equipment: Basic Cloth Shirt, Basic Leather Pants, Basic Daggers(common)]
He absorbed the numbers in a glance, mind spinning with calculation. After devouring three more rats, his attributes had increased, and he had once again grown a little stronger.
His physical damage was already inching close to 10, and his agility was nearly hitting 20. That was borderline broken for a level 3.
But was it enough?
He turned back toward the massive, looming figure of the boss-level beast across the grassy field.
The Great Spiked Rat stood motionless for a second, its eyes burning red and wild.
Its muscles twitched, its razor-sharp spikes bristling along its back, and the patch of white fur at its neck stood out like a taunt. Almost as if it knew it was the target.
Riley gnashed his teeth, fingers tightening around the hilt of his daggers.
His stats had improved a lot—sure—but he still had doubts they were enough to take on a lesser boss alone.
Even if it was just one rank above normal monsters, that rank meant a lot. Boss monsters weren't just stronger—they were smarter, faster, more aggressive, and almost always had something extra up their sleeve.
The thought hadn't even finished forming in his mind before the monster let out a thunderous, guttural shriek.
SHRREEEEEEEKKKK!!!
It immediately bursted forward, the force at which it lunged crushing the ground.
Riley's eyes widened.
"It's coming—!"
Due to the difference in their speed, to him, it was like the rat just vanished!
His instincts suddenly flared, and without wasting any time, he activated his skill once again.
'Stealth.' He thought.
His figure shimmered, his presence rapidly fading into the landscape as he dove to the side.
BOOM!!!
The ground exploded where he had just been standing, bits of dirt and grass raining into the air.
A a mini-pit was carved into the earth where the monster stomped, chunks of stone jutting up from the sheer impact.
Riley landed on one knee several meters away, panting, heart hammering in his chest.
His wide eyes stayed locked on the monster as it snarled, eyes glowing like twin fires.
'It's fast…' he thought, the weight of the situation settling in his bones.
It was too fast, too strong. Fighting it head-on would be suicide. He was an assassin, not a warrior.
But then he thought about the bountiful rewards he could gain from consuming the monster, his fingers twitched.
His stomach growled in hunger, and before he realised, he ran his tongue along the edge of his teeth.
This thing… was a walking buffet.
He licked his lips.
"You're my prey," He whispered.
Fortunately, the cool-down of stealth had already ended, and he quickly activated it again.
His figure blurred once again, and his agility soared to a little over 29 points due to the effect of the skill.
Within a flash, he reached the monster, swiftly ducking beneath its legs.
He swiftly pierced his daggers through the monster's neck, tearing it open with two quick slashes.
Spurt! Schlick!
Blood spurted out of the wound, and he quickly slid out from in between the creature's legs, reappearing behind it in a flash.
-25.4!
-25.4!
Two red numbers exploded across his vision, and a sharp screech echoed from the monster's throat.
SCREEEEEEE!
A grin crept onto his face.
"If I just keep this up… this thing is mine." He muttered.
However, in that moment, the time range for stealth suddenly elapsed, and the skill immediately came undone.
The shroud of illusion covering him shattered like glass, and his figure was fully revealed to the world.
'Shit!' Riley thought, his eyes widened in shock.
The Great Spiked Rat's ears twitched.
Then it snapped its head towards him, letting out an annoyed cry. Blood from the white patch trickled down its neck, and its eyes locked on him with an animalistic fury.
Riley didn't flinch.
Instead, he pointed one dagger forward. "Come on, then," He muttered.
The rat lunged.
Riley kicked off the ground in a diagonal dash, barely missing the arc of its razor-sharp claws.
The creature snarled twisted its body, slamming its tail on the ground.
BOOM!
The shockwave knocked him off balance. He tumbled sideways, feeling the sting of grass and stone scraping against his arms.
-6!
A red number floated above his head as he rolled.
He coughed once, then rose to his feet, wiping blood off his lips with his sleeve.
"Still hurts like hell…" He growled.
The rat was turning again, and he could tell from the heaving of its chest that it was about to fire another spike.
Whistle!
SWOOSH!
The spike flew, but this time he was ready.
He side-stepped at the last moment, letting it whiz past his head and slam into a tree behind him with a sickening CRUNCH.
His MP ticked down by 10.
'Stealth!'
He vanished again—shadows cloaking his figure as he dashed forward in a low sprint. The rat's head turned frantically, searching.
Too late.
This time, he leapt. Both daggers raised.
He stabbed downward—both blades plunging into the back of the beast's neck.
-30.4! Critical Hit!
'Finally, a critical hit!' Riley thought, his eyes shining with glee.
There was only a ten per cent chance of activating a critical hit when fighting monsters or other players, but whenever it was activated, the damage done increased by a whopping twenty per cent!
He dug the blade deeper into the monsters neck, and used his daggers as leverage to slowly slide down the beasts side.
Shrieeekk!
The monster cried out in pain, trashing around in annoyance, but none of its attacks could reach Riley, who was still hooked to the side.
It then tried to throw him off balance, but thanks to Riley's experience from his past life, he managed to skilfully avoid the spikes on its back before landing back on the ground.
The moment he landed, he swiftly leapt backwards, distancing himself from the monster.
Score!!!
In the next second, the giant rat cried out to the sky, its spikes trembling uncontrollably.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Numerous spikes suddenly shot out of his body, flying in all directions.
Riley gritted his teeth, swiftly deflecting any that came his way with his daggers. The ones he couldn't deflect, he skilfully evaded.
He looked at the flashing red tab floating above the monster, and his gaze sharpened.
[H/P: 8/90]
'It's health has gone below ten!' He thought, gnashing his teeth as a spike almost pierced him, but he was quick enough to evade it.
-7
However, another spike still grazed his thoughts, reducing a bit of his health.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
More spikes kept pouring out of the monster's body, almost like an endless barrage of arrows.
This was its final skill, the skill the great spiked rat always used when its health was already critically low—Spike Barrage!
It was like a last resort for it to eliminate any enemies who might be around it, before retreating to heal itself.
The skill would have worked on any other rookie player, but not Riley, who already knew about it beforehand!
'You're… mine!' He thought, spinning his body, before flinging one of his daggers towards the monster.
Swoosh!
The dagger flew through the air at rapid speed, stabbing through the monster's beady eyes in a flash.
Its trashing immediately came to a halt, and its body collapsed to the ground.
[Great Spiked Rat Killed!]
[+40EXP]