[Level 30 Monkey King]
[HP 1,470,000/1,470,000]
“Hmm… Hmm….”
I was sitting on the floor with my head in my hands, facing the boss of one of the regular instance dungeons, the ‘4 Divine Beast Dungeons’, the ‘Monkey King’.
Even though it was just the boss of a regular instance dungeon, the fact that it had 1.4 million HP wasn’t a big problem.
This was because the Swordsman skills that had ranked up or were newly acquired after level 25 had become much more powerful accordingly.
The reason I was holding my head was because of the changed Swordsman skills.
It was time to establish a ‘damage cycle’.
[Moonlight Slash (B)]
-Delivers a strong slashing attack in a 360-degree arc. (Cast time 2 seconds)
-(Instant activation) When blocking succeeds
-(D rank) After skill activation, enter Sword Drawing Stance (Cooldown 30 seconds for re-entering Sword Drawing Stance)
-(B rank) Cast time reduced by 1 second
“The time to use Moonlight Slash as the main skill in boss battles has passed.”
At this point, ‘Moonlight Slash’ had no more value than dealing with many trash mobs at once and as a Sword Drawing Stance initiator.
The Swordsman’s new main skill was the enhanced version of Moonlight Slash, ‘Starlight Slash’.
[Starlight Slash (E)]
-Delivers a strong slashing attack to a single target. (250% damage of Moonlight Slash)
-Usable in Sword Drawing Stance
‘Starlight Slash,’ a single target skill that becomes even stronger according to the damage multiplier of ‘Moonlight Slash.’
It’s no exaggeration to say that after acquiring this skill, which can only be used in Sword Drawing Stance, the Swordsman’s damage digits completely changed.
Of course, it’s not just the Swordsman whose skills have become stronger.
In line with the inflation of boss spec, the skills of each job class in ‘Astria Online’ were evolving.
Then, would a Swordsman who doesn’t use ‘Block’ at all and maintains only Sword Drawing Stance while dealing free damage be truly powerful?
That wasn’t the case either.
The ‘Block’ skill, which had increased in rank, had also evolved.
[Block (A)]
-Blocks attacks from the front 180 degrees.
-(A rank) On successful block within 0.2 seconds of skill use, gain a ‘Vigor’ buff that increases all damage by 30% for 10 seconds.
A technique that exists in fighting games and such. The so-called ‘Just Guard’ judgment.
The ‘Just Guard’ judgment, which gives an advantage when blocking an opponent’s attack at the exact timing, also existed in ‘Astria Online’.
“So, I need to block an attack at the exact timing once every 10 seconds to receive the buff, then immediately enter Sword Drawing Stance, and unleash Starlight Slash while avoiding attacks with movement.”
I nodded.
This was the damage cycle that would allow the Swordsman to exert maximum potential.
It didn’t seem too difficult.
Stand up!
Having finished studying, I stood up and faced the ‘Monkey King.’
Beep.
“Woong?”
The Monkey King boss, holding a massive club, looked at me with puzzled eyes as I entered its recognition range.
I confidently put my hands on my waist and taunted the Monkey King.
“Hey, you! Be my practice partner for my damage cycle!”
“Woooong!”
The Monkey King, full of anger, charged at me with its club raised.
* * *
I came out after defeating the boss of ‘Flower Fruit Cave’.
“Ah.”
I frowned and shielded my eyes from the sunlight suddenly attacking them.
The rays of light seeping through my fingers felt stinging.
After a moment, when my eyes finished adapting to the light, an endless plain spread out before me.
“Oh.”
I stared at that scenery with my mouth open blankly.
The ‘Flower Fruit Cave’, which was carved into the cliff near the plain, was at a slightly high altitude.
Although it had been quite a while since I entered this area, it was the first time I looked down at the plain from this position.
The field dyed in green, viewed from the highlands, was so vast that the end was not visible.
Every time the wind blew gently and shook the grass leaves, it looked like a huge green wave was rippling.
This was the central part of the Astria continent, the ‘Rozelia Plains’.
It was the third stage of adventure following the Orc Forest and Fames Desert areas.
This wide plain was located on the border of two massive Empires.
And in its center, a majestic and mysterious forest was situated.
The forest named ‘Rozelia Forest’ formed its own world like the heart of the Rozelia Plains.
Ironically, that beautiful forest was now an invisible battlefield between the two Empires.
“A PVP field, huh.”
I sighed.
Certainly, when I was active in the Astria continent, the two Empires were on good terms.
The brother Empires, ‘Alpharion Empire’ and ‘Betarion Empire’.
Of course, only the Empires’ names and the Emperors’ surnames were the same, and I didn’t hear any names I knew in the NPCs’ conversations.
As expected, did the world of ‘Astria Online’ just take the background of the Astria continent? Or is it just that the time period is different from when I was active?
Studying isn’t my preference, but I felt the need to rummage through books if there’s a quest to visit places like the imperial capital’s library or imperial palace later.
More than that, the daily quest at hand is the problem.
I grumbled while looking at the forest in front of me.
“I don’t like PVP.”
I aimed to be a herbivore user.
I wanted to play the game just running dungeons solo.
But this game’s system made me become a pawn of the Empire.
I clenched my fists and steeled my resolve.
“Today, too, as a mercenary belonging to the ‘Alpharion Empire,’ I need to do my best with the daily magic stone collection quest.”
Inside the ‘Rozelia Forest’, which belonged to neither of the two Empires, there were plenty of expensive ‘raw magic stones’.
Both the Alpharion Empire and Betarion Empire didn’t openly claim ownership of the forest because neither wanted a war where both sides would lose, but they hired mercenaries to collect magic stones behind the scenes.
Fights between users hired as mercenaries continued inside the forest, but thanks to entrusting it to users who weren’t officially affiliated with the country, the two Empires could be somewhat free from responsibility.
While there were severe penalties for PK without the other party’s consent in normal fields, there were no penalties for PK actions in this forest.
It was truly a field that could be called a ‘PVP faction battlefield’.
Perhaps to motivate PVP-oriented users, ‘Astria Online’ has introduced mouth-watering rewards in the PVP field.
The ‘refined magic stone’, which was the reward for the faction battlefield daily quest, was an item that could increase attack power when applied to weapons.
It wasn’t a concept of enhancement with probabilities, and if you disassembled the weapon you had been using after applying it, it would return a certain amount so you could use it for enhancing the next weapon.
It was a weapon enhancement material that all users wanted, but its structure required entering the PVP field to obtain it.
I didn’t want to buy it at an expensive price from carnivore users either.
There were herbivore users like me who just did the daily quest and ran away quickly.
“I hope I don’t get ambushed by carnivore users today.”
Running away wasn’t difficult.
But even for a herbivore user like me, there were times when I had to fight back.
I sighed deeply as I headed towards ‘Rozelia Forest’.
Rustle rustle.
I smiled brightly as I picked up and collected shining raw magic stones the size of pebbles.
“I found them quickly today.”
Although ‘raw magic stones’ were widely spread inside the forest, if you found the first one, you could find more additionally in the surrounding area.
The raw magic stones I had collected so far were seventeen in total.
If I pick up three more in this area, I will fulfill the daily quest quota.
After that, I just need to leave the ‘Rozelia Forest’ PVP field without looking back.
Flinch.
As I was picking up the eighteenth magic stone with a bright smile, I felt a chill down my spine.
Someone is nearby.
Where?
I quickly put the magic stone into my inventory, drew my sword, and looked around.
My body was ready to run away at any time, fully buffed with agility and movement speed through ‘Backward Evasion’ and ‘Sword Drawing Stance.’
A moment of silence.
And then.
Rustle.
A sound came from near a tree about 10 meters to the right.
Thud!
I quickly looked towards the tree and used ‘Backward Movement’.
My body instantly moved 8 meters back.
The current distance from the tree is 18 meters.
The maximum range of ranged class attack skills is 15 meters.
If I run away using the movement speed buff from backward movement and Sword Drawing Stance, they won’t be able to chase me.
Pitter-patter!
But the opponent wasn’t easy either.
Thud, thud, thud.
“Hah!”
In an instant, three talismans were stuck at my feet.
Along with that, my body suddenly stiffened.
This is the binding skill of the Yin-Yang Master class.
Non-attack binding skills can be cast up to a maximum distance of 20 meters.
This confirmed it. The opponent is a Yin-Yang Master.
But the opponent will have to come within 15 meters to deal damage to me too.
I can’t run away. Then I have to fight back.
15 meters is the range where ranged classes can use attack skills, and it’s also within my range.
If I confirm the opponent’s appearance and use ‘Charge’ after targeting, I can break free from the binding.
The Swordsman skill ‘Charge’ is simply a technique to approach the target quickly in PVE, but it can also be used as a binding release technique in PVP.
The current distance to the opponent is 16 meters.
The opponent’s face, hidden by the tree’s shadow, wasn’t clearly visible.
15.5 meters.
But the hand movements towards the talismans in their arms were clearly visible.
15 meters.
Flash!
Before the Yin-Yang Master could complete the motion of taking out a talisman, my body broke free from the binding and rushed towards the Yin-Yang Master in an instant.
I felt the Yin-Yang Master flinch in surprise.
Flash!
Clang!
Having suddenly brought the opponent right before me, I activated Moonlight Slash to transition into Sword Drawing Stance. The Yin-Yang Master also used the response skill ‘Bulletproof Talisman’ to block Moonlight Slash.
Swish.
I immediately used ‘Counterattack’ to take the Yin-Yang Master’s rear.
I don’t give them time to react. Moonlight Slash is just an initiator for transitioning to Sword Drawing Stance.
Taking advantage of the moment when the Yin-Yang Master’s movement stiffened after losing sight of the enemy right in front of them, I unleashed ‘Starlight Slash’ towards the Yin-Yang Master’s back.
Huh?
Red, hair?
“Ch-Chris unnie?”
“Ah…?”