Chapter 10: Tomb of the Gnolls (2)
Kai looked at the health bar floating above the gnoll skeletons' heads.
They’re healing? How is that possible?
He had used Holy Explosion right at the beginning of their encounter, significantly reducing their health. But now, their health was almost fully recovered! Moreover, their health was still rapidly regenerating.
There’s something more to these guys.
They weren’t just high-level monsters.
Kai, who had been beaten like a dog, quickly realized the severity of the situation and checked their information.
[Gnoll Skeleton LV.55]
[Status: Recovering HP.]
[These creatures have received a blessing from the dungeon’s boss, the Undead Gnoll Chieftain. Increased effectiveness of recovery skill significantly increased rate of healing.]
They’re being healed by the Undead Gnoll Chieftain?
This was the hidden secret! Kai's eyes sparkled, and the next moment, he used the Sacred Flare skill.
Flash!
Click, click, click!
Taking advantage of the gnoll skeletons' weakened attacks due to the blinding brightness, Kai narrowly escaped their encirclement.
Using Holy Explosion to defeat them isn’t enough.
Those crafty and despicable bones would never wait for his skill to be cast.
Then I need to use a skill with no casting time...
Currently, Kai had two skills without casting time. One was Heal he learned during his Cleric days, and the other was Sunlight's Warmth.
"Neither of them is an attack skill," Kai clicked his tongue lightly and then blinked several times.
Wait a minute, why am I looking for an attack skill?
For Undead and demonic monsters, a Cleric's Holy Power itself was practically an attack. In fact, high-level Clerics often enjoyed hunting Skeletons using Heal skills in cemeteries or ruins.
I've forgotten it completely, always being in a support role.
Moreover, the gnoll skeletons were currently under an enhanced effect of healing skills.
Kai's lips slowly curled into a smile. Sensing the ominous aura in his smile, the gnoll skeletons hesitantly stepped back.
"Where are you going? Busy?"
Kai, with his hands full of bright white Holy Power, gestured toward them.
"Come here for a moment."
***
MID Online had a variety of monsters. Among them, undead monsters were known for being tricky to handle due to their high health relative to their level. These tenacious creatures would rise again and again if not properly taken down!
Fortunately, there existed an energy that was inherently opposed to them, and that was Holy Power. Even simple healing skills were attacks against them, which was why Paladins and Clerics were highly sought after in undead hunting parties.
Of course, the damage from healing skills isn't as strong as that of attack skills.
However, most Heal skills had no casting time and very short cooldowns. This was the result of continuous buffs by Pegasus Co., as Clerics were a challenging class to level up and not many players chose to play them.
Plus, there's the advantage of attacking and healing at the same time.
"Sunlight's Warmth!"
Kai's hand was enveloped in a golden glow. This hand was originally meant to heal allies, but Kai clenched his fist and pounded the gnoll skeletons. At the same time, their health began to rapidly decrease.
Ding!
[The target's healing skill effect is greatly enhanced. You inflicted 757 damage.]
[The target's healing skill effect is greatly enhanced. You inflicted 704 damage.]
It was certain that neither the Undead Gnoll Chieftain nor the developers had anticipated such a scenario.
Faster, before my Holy Power runs out.
Kai moved through the Skeletons that beat him, like a real Envoy of God.
"You, I remember the shape of your skull. You're the one who hit my ribs, right?"
The gnoll skeleton shook its head.
"No use denying it."
Crunch!
Each time Kai swung his fist emitting Heal, a gnoll skeleton shattered. It was the simplest yet most efficient attack!
"Phew."
Kai looked around the aftermath of the quick battle and started picking up the bones.
[You have acquired 3 Gnoll Skeleton Bones.]
[You have acquired 1 Gnoll Skeleton Bone.]
[You have acquired 2 Gnoll Skeleton Bones.]
Magic ranked crafting materials neatly piled up in his inventory.
This feels nice.
It was a different feeling from wiping out enemies with Holy Explosion. He enjoyed the exhilarating pleasure felt through his fingertips in real-time!
XP is substantial too. I might even overcome the dreaded level range here.
In MID Online, players could learn new skills at the Class Tower every 10 levels. Especially, level 50 was a turning point in the game. It was the level where the difficulty of monsters noticeably increased.
"Let's hit level 50 here, then go to the village to learn new skills."
Kai was already looking forward to the skills he would learn as a Solaris Cleric.
***
[Level increased.]
[Acquired 5 stat points.]
Kai immediately opened his stat window to distribute the points.
[Kai]
Class: Solaris Cleric
Level: 51
Title: Representative of God
HP: 10,900
Holy Power: 19,400
Stats
Strength: 39 Stamina: 109
Intelligence: 39 Agility: 39
Holiness: 194 Benevolence: 18
Remaining points: 25
"That was an easy passage through the dreaded level range."
Level 50 was the brutal level often termed as hell by other Clerics! Kai smiled broadly, having easily surpassed that challenging level.
Now, let me think.
Kai, true to his intellectual nature, began to ponder, How should I distribute my stats from now on?
Until now, he had been allocating points to Stamina and Holiness, the standard for a Cleric, with each level up. But now, the situation had changed.
I'm no longer a typical Cleric.
A Solaric Cleric was a class capable of solo play. Naturally, he felt the need to allocate his stats differently than before.
Since I'm going solo, I might need to invest in Agility at some point.
In MID Online, increasing Agility didn’t increase attack speed but rather enhanced one's reflexes. In other words, increasing Agility meant an increase in evasion rate, accuracy rate, and critical hit probability.
Let's keep all possibilities open for now… and think about it a bit more.
Kai decided to postpone his decision as he wasn’t yet certain about which stats to invest in.
After all, stat points don't disappear just by saving them.
He would have used them if he felt there was a skill that needed to be leveled up, but since that wasn't the case, it was a reasonable decision to hold off.
"Then, I'll keep the stats saved for now… ugh, I feel a bit sluggish."
Kai had demonstrated what it meant to be a gaming addict by only sleeping 3 hours at a time since entering the Dungeon.
But thanks to that, I was able to level up this much.
Despite his body being in a terrible state due to accumulated fatigue, he had no regrets.
But now, the hard work is coming to an end.
There were only 3 hours left of the first discovery buff of the dungeon. What he needed to do in the remaining time was to defeat the boss, also known as the purpose of the dungeon's existence.
Phew, this is a bit nerve-wracking.
Kai had only experienced casual Instance Dungeons, and not real dungeons. Unlike the Tomb of the Gnolls and other dungeons that were hidden which were called dungeons, Induns were always open to players, making them accessible to anyone.
I never thought I'd be soloing a real dungeon.
He felt a sense of accomplishment and felt proud.
Kai slightly turned and looked back at the corridor he had traveled through.
I'll have to use a Return Scroll when I go back to the village.
There was only one path in the Tomb of the Gnolls. However, it was so long that it took three days just to reach the boss room.
The Return Scroll was an expensive item costing 30 silver, but he couldn't gather the courage to walk back.
Well, let's see the face of the house owner, shall we.
Kai buffed himself up and touched the stone door.
Ding!
[Warning: Entering the boss room will disable logout and return until the battle is over. Would you still like to proceed?]
"Of course."
Screee.
The old stone door slowly opened with a sound like nails on a chalkboard.
Kai walked into the room without hesitation.
"Hmm."
Inside was a massive square room. Four large pillars supported the ceiling, and at the end of the room, there was a chair made of bones.
"...A skull?"
Kai looked at the gnoll skull on the chair and started casting a spell. Although he had seen gnoll skulls before, this one was easily three times larger than any he had seen.
That big head must be the Undead Gnoll Chieftain.
Kai quietly began using his skills.
Trrrrr.
The inside of the boss room slightly vibrated. At the same time, red glows flashed from the eye sockets of the skull.
[Boss monster, Undead Gnoll Chieftain has...]
"Holy Explosion!"
Kai launched a preemptive attack even before the enemy completed its transformation, and that wasn’t the end.
[Woken up from a…]
"Holy Explosion!"
[...deep sleep.]
"Holy Explosion!"
Boom! Boom!
White beams of light continuously struck the skull of the Undead Gnoll Chieftain. The Chieftain's health quickly dropped by half.
Click, click, click!
The skull, as if angered, moved its jawbone and then slowly rose into the air. As it did so, the bone chair supporting it disassembled and formed the creature's body.
It’s big.
Transformed into a formidable being over two meters tall, it glared at Kai with a fiery glow in its eyes.
Kai immediately looked at the information floating above its head.
[Undead Gnoll Chieftain LV.58]
It was a level 58 boss monster! Normally, it would require a party of at least four adventurers, each above level 55, to take on such a creature.
Click, click, click!
The creature aggressively gnashed its jawbones and raised the staff it was firmly holding in its right hand. Simultaneously, wisps of smoke rose from the floor of the room.
"What's that smoke?"
It was the same smoke that Kai had chased after for three days but could never catch.
[The Undead Gnoll Chieftain is summoning the souls of gnolls.]
[Gnoll skeletons being summoned.]
"This is…"
Thud!
The Undead Gnoll Chieftain forcefully slammed its staff onto the floor. In sync with the sound, the smokes began to take on the shapes of gnoll skeletons one by one.
"Even on the brink of death, dungeon bosses do this, huh," Kai murmured with a hollow laugh, while the Undead Gnoll Chieftain looked down at him as if it were a king.
Pass through my minions and ascend the stairs to face me!
It seemed as though the creature was shouting that, although unlikely. Its fiery glows were that intense.
Silence descended in the room.
"...."
"…."
The silence, which felt like it would last forever, was broken by a single drop of water from the ceiling.
Drip!
The drop of water hitting the floor acted as a signal flare. Thirty gnoll skeletons all at once surged toward Kai.
Alright, bring it on.
Kai's hands, ready to face them, were soaked in golden light.
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