Chapter 70

[Level Up]

[Agility increased by 2]

[Mana increased by 1]

[Heat Resistance Skill increased by 1]

[Tracking Skill increased by 1]

All right. This is perfect.

The level up speed is no joke.

I already knew that it was possible to gain experience from causing fire.

It was a small amount, about a quarter of the amount that I could have got from defeating the enemy directly.

A Normal Difficulty player discovered this before we even got to the Round Ten, although that player did not think about causing a large-scale fire like this.

A red devil of flame engulfed the jungle. Black smoke completely filled the sky.

[Kiiiaaaaak!]

I can hear the screams of the monsters from all over the place.

Most monsters chose to run away from the fire.

That’s a wise choice.

They could either lose their life by staying or lose their habitat. It was obvious which one was the bigger loss.

However, my plan is to burn down the entire stage.

They can’t escape from the fire indefinitely by running.

After all, this is not a natural disaster.

Running from the fire that started from the east, countless monsters arrive in the west.

The scale of the herds of monsters on the run is incredible.

We are looking at it from the sky. It is a sight to behold.

I see they are not fighting in this situation.

Some of them were pushing, shoving and running over one another, but none of them are standing around and fighting each other.

They were all diligently running away from the fire.

Flying animals were flying toward the west in orderly manner like a flock of birds’ seasonal migrations.

However, there are some monsters who are trying to subdue the fire instead of running.

They are mostly ones with water-based skills who don’t want to leave their territories.

Of course, they are not a huge, coordinated group. They are individually acting, so I don’t think they can subdue fire this large.

However, because of b.a.s.t.a.r.ds like them, the fire is spreading slower.

We need to personally kill these volunteer firefighting monsters.

[Keeek!]

Idy’s spear pierced a monster and it died instantly.

Her attack was at a whole another level from a western knight’s lance charge attack.

It was a death blow that benefit from the speed of a dive flight move.

Having killed the monster, I flew up into the sky again.

Idy was going to suffer from being near the fire too long.

To help her against the heat and motion sickness, I gave her a bottle of elixir. However, there was no need for us to be inside the heat continuously.

There were countless monsters running away from the fire, but there were a few that tripped while running and got injured. Unable to move, those monsters were swallowed by the fire.

It seemed there were a few that hid inside caves and were roasted to death.

Good, good.

“Keruk. I am a little uncomfortable with this. Perhaps it’s because I lived in forests before. I am a little afraid of a large fire like this.”

“It’s all right. This area is someone else’s home anyway.”

“If it keeps on heading west, the fire will reach our home too. Keruk.”

“It’s all right. It won’t be our home anymore once we clear the stage anyway.”

“Keruk…”

[Buuuuoooo!]

From a distance, a humongous monster appeared, roaring.

It looked like brachiosaurus.

Of the two bogus dragons, this one has barrier skill.

It would’ve been better if this one ran away from the fire too, but this b.a.s.t.a.r.d was using its huge body and barrier skill to try and stop the fire.

It’s a huge prey to hunt. Let’s try.

“Keruk. Are you really going to attack that monster?”

“Of course. Get me my sword from the dimensional s.p.a.ce bag.”

Idy found the savage warrior’s backsword and handed it to me.

I had been using this weapon for a really long time.

I bought it when I cleared the Fourth Floor.

It does not have any special attribute. However, it is very st.u.r.dy, and does not bend; hence my fondness of this weapon.

I wish I had a good spear to use.

Against a huge enemy like this, a longer weapon would be better.

I happen to have learned spear techniques from Idy earlier, but I wouldn’t be able to use it without a spear. It’s too bad.

I should buy a spear as soon as I clear the 12th Floor.

We circled around the bogus dragon.

We didn’t get too close.

We have to stay away from its range and dawdle.

Like a fly…

However, we are no ordinary fly.

[Soul Steal]

It was going to deteriorate the enemy’s vitality. It could lead to death of the enemy if the effect continued for a long time.

The skill also returned stamina to me if I killed the enemy affected by the skill.

It really is the best skill.

It’s also perfect for drawing attention.

So far, although the monster noticed me, it was more focused on the fire. Now, the bogus dragon looked at me and roared.

[Buuuuuoooooo!]

What are you going to do by screaming at me? You rascal.

You think you can catch me when I’m flying around?

Also, if you chase after me, your home will burn away completely.

I screamed back at the bogus dragon.

Because of the effect from the knowledge of the time before babel, that bogus dragon clearly understood what I said.

“Captain, as I thought, you become too underhanded when you are fighting.”

The bogus dragon glared at me for a moment. It then turned its gaze back to the flame.

“Get ready, Idy. Let’s attack by taking advantage of this.”

“Keruk.”

I flew to blind spot of the monster on its back. Read The Tutorial Is Too Hard first on lightnovelbastion.com (If you’re reading this elsewhere, it has been stolen!)

“Now!”

My backsword and Idy’s spear were both swung at the same time.

Both weapons precisely aimed at the monster’s back.

Kwwaaaang!!

However, our attack was blocked by the monster’s barrier skill.

Isn’t that response too fast?

I turned to look, and the monster turned its head. It was glaring at us directly with its giant eyes.

I performed a few aerial acrobatics to dodge the monster’s tail swinging at us. I put distance from the monster.

I didn’t think it could respond so fast to the ambush attack coming at its rear.

Especially when that monster is so huge…

It’s pretty agile.

“Keruk. What do we do now, Captain?”

The monster is now ignoring the fire and steadily glaring at us.

“Well, we should keep trying.”

It will work eventually if we keep on trying.

The situation is overwhelmingly in our favor.

The monster wants to protect its habitat from the fire.

Its habitat is currently being lost to the fire.

The monster has to kill us quickly or just ignore us. It needs to choose one.

However, if it does decide to come after us, we can just run away by flying.

Meanwhile, its habitat will be decimated by the fire.

If it ignores us?

Then we just need to repeat the attack.

That barrier skill is not a pa.s.sive skill, meaning that it won’t sustain itself indefinitely.

It is an active skill that the monster needs to cast just before being attacked.

We will be attempting our attacks from its blind spots.

As long as we succeed just once, that will be the end of the monster.

The area has become a sea of flame.

The monster is also subject to the deterioration effect of the Soul Steal.

If it gets poisoned on top of this, well…

Its movement will become dull. It will keep on allowing more attacks to hit and will eventually die from the poison.

It’s perfect, right?

“Keruk. I somehow feel sorry for that monster. Keruk.”

“Hey. Should you say such things?”

“I know. I was joking. Keruk.”

Now, shall we go for another try?

The monster, which was glaring at us, gave up chasing us in the end. It turned its attention towards the fire.

It is still occasionally glancing at us.

You have huge moving eyes. You think I won’t notice?

I increased my flying speed and then used the Wind Spirit’s Blessing to accelerate further to approach the monster.

As I thought, the monster was wary of our movement. It swung its tail at us.

[Blink]

I used the Blink to dodge the tail and blinked closer to the monster.

Clank!

Again, our attack was blocked by the barrier.

Isn’t this b.a.s.t.a.r.d’s reaction time really is incredible?

I continued to fly along the body of the monster and tried more attacks.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

I used the Blink again after that.

We moved toward the lower end of the monster, toward its legs.

Because of the monster’s large body, it could not clearly view its legs.

Slice…

The backsword and the spear’s tip cut through its skin.

Chuuuuuuk…

I swung my weapons again and deepened its injuries.

Clank!

The third attempt was blocked by the barrier.

We moved out of the way and dodged the monster’s leg swing.

[Buuuuooooo!]

With the monster’s roar behind us, we ran away for now.

Hahahaha.

The monster chased after us for about five minutes. After a moment, it stopped.

The monster’s eyes were blood shot. Its gaze remained concentrated on us.

I think it is mad to the core.

Still, what could it do now?

The poison energy has already infiltrated its body.

The wounded area will slowly paralyze.

The monster will start to suffer from all sorts of pains.

Its movement speed will slow substantially once the paralysis reaches the leg muscles.

Unless this monster has poison resistance, great poison resistance at least, it will be pretty painful.

Since it is so huge, the poison won’t be fatal, but…

At least it won’t be able to ignore Idy’s attacks.

Idy couldn’t explain exactly how it worked, but her spear technique killed most monsters with a clean, single blow.

“We won. Keruk.”

Now, the monster has to give up on its habitat.

Unable to hold its anger, it chased us for five minutes while its habitat went up in flames.

Its options now changed.

It can either chase us or run away from the flame.

Either way, it will end in its death.

Although this is obvious, running away from us is not a possible option for this monster.

[Buuuooooo!]

Its loud roar pierced the area. The roar was full of anguish and frustration.

Is it not able to feel even anger anymore?

Its legs were full of wounds.

Also, every time a new wound was inflicted, more poison energy infiltrates the monster’s body.

Now, the monster didn’t even have any strength left to move. It just plummeted to the ground and cried out.

“Let’s go. We should finish it with our own hands.”

“Keruk.”

If we let it be, the monster was going to die by from the fire.

That wasn’t a bad thing, but we spent half a day fighting it. It was a tough fight.

We should end it ourselves.

There is the matter of the experience points. Read The Tutorial Is Too Hard first on lightnovelbastion.com (If you’re reading this elsewhere, it has been stolen!)

I pierced my sword right between its eyes. Several messages appeared in a row in front of me.

[Level Up]

[Strength went up by 1]

[Stamina went up by 1]

[Agility increased by 1]

[Mana Circuit Skill increased by 1]

[Sensory Amplification Skill increased by 1]

Oh, all right.

Mana Circuit and Sensory Amplification Skills don’t rise easily. They leveled up.

[G.o.d of Slowness is satisfied with your exploit.]

[G.o.d of Adventure is satisfied with your exploit.]

[G.o.d of Battle is interested in you.]

[G.o.d of Light is very intrigued by you.]

[G.o.d of Duel is disappointed by the unacceptable result.]

It’s been a while since I’ve seen so many G.o.ds showing interest.

It is expected. What we are doing right now is not something that happens very often.

I am certain that these bogus dragons are not there to be hunted.

Compared to other monsters at the 12th Floor Stage, these dragons have excessively higher specs.

Their size is at a whole another level, and the skills that they have are directly useful in combat.

If I could not fly, and if I could not corner it into a disadvantage by setting the fire, it would not have been possible to hunt the monster so easily like this.

The bogus dragons are more like a message to the player who enters the stage. By showing the two fight as soon as the player enters the stage, it is sending a message that the place is dangerous like this so the player should be careful and focus on survival for 25 days.

To go a little further, they also serve as a clue that the monsters at 12th Floor Stage each have a skill.

Still, it was totally worth overexerting ourselves and killing it.

I think I will get plenty of additional awards after this.

Idy was having a hard time because of the heat. I flew up high and flew away from the heat for her.

I also breathed in too much smoke while fighting the monster.

“Keruk. Now, what are you going to do?”

“First, we should go somewhere far away from the fire. Let’s rest there. We should eat the packed lunch too. If we could find a safe place, I think it would be also good to take a nap.”

The fire had already engulfed east side of the jungle. I am sure it will continue to spread even if I left it be.

“After that?”

Why are you asking the obvious?

We need to set more fires.