A deep red fire grows hotter and hotter around the High Ogre King’s body. Its dual blades glimmer off the light of its crackling flames, twisting them around in the air.

The monster lets out a bellowing roar and charges at us again. My last successful attack has definitely made it mad.

I dart off to the left side and Arie veers off to the right.

Using a few of my skills to land that combination attack felt pretty good. Usually, I rely on my brute strength and fire-based attacks to take out my opponents.

That won’t work on this boss for a number of reasons…

I smirk, realizing this is a good opportunity to utilize some of my new abilities. The cat’s out of the bag on most of my skills for the people in this boss room, there’s no point in holding back anymore.

“All-Seeing Eye.”

I activate my perception-boosting ability and the entire battlefield seems to slow down in front of my eyes. This is the first time I’ve used it with so many moving variables… it’s incredible.

The boss looks like a fireworks show of various complex mana patterns. Its inner body shines with a dense light pink core of energy leaking out into its arms, then swords to control them with the dual-wielding skill.

I watch the mana continuously flow through the blades as they fly through the air. My enhanced senses allow me to see exactly where they’re headed seconds before they arrive.

There’s much darker pink mana, closer to red, permeating out of its body creating the dense flames. It becomes very clear where the small gaps of fire magic are present, I’ve never really thought of magic powers like this… It’s very technical…

My mind is shocked by the sudden input of immense amounts of information, but I grit my teeth and continue running forward trying to stay focused.

As I get closer, I air-step upwards to face the menace as it swings one of its swords at me. Last time, it took most of my strength and energy to twist out of the way to avoid its attack, this time around I have a different plan.

With a sly grin, I watch the flow of mana force its sword toward me in an almost lackadaisical manner. What seemed to be elegant highly concentrated attacks before, now look like nothing more than careless random swings.

I air-step towards it tracking the simple trajectory as it draws near.

With a few light directional corrections in mid-air, I step onto the flat side of its long blade to propel myself upwards even higher. In the moment, I look down to see and feel all of the mana within myself with much greater understanding.

“Wind Summoning.”

As I jump off the monster’s blade I concentrate on forming sharp layers of wind around my own, then release two invisible dense crescents of wind similar to the fire attack I tend to use often.

The boss shifts its eye towards me as it comes to the realization I’ve somehow completely outwitted it.

*SHINGGGG*

The invisible wind blades cut through the weak points in its fire magic and hit the monster’s open neck as I activate stealth and dungeon walker. A dark portal forms in front of me and I fall through while the Ogre cries out in pain.

Moments later, I come out of the warp portal next to Arie deactivating stealth as he fends off the monster’s second sword. It lifts it up in the air reflexively to protect its neck, but this leaves its abdomen open for another attack.

Without saying a word, I give a firm nod to my fellow dagger wielder, and we both charge in. With a gust of wind magic, I separate its veil of flames.

*SHINGGGG*

We land four slashes to its exposed mid-section. As soon as both of us land our hits, I activate dungeon walker and drag Arie through the portal to narrowly avoid the angry monster’s incoming double-sword attack. Its fire magic engulfs the area be previously stood burning even brighter than before.

We exit my warp portal about 10m away, right behind the bloodied angry mess of a boss. I let out another laugh as Arie feels his face, then chest to make sure he’s still in one piece… he yells at me.

“Thanks- but what was that?! You have a teleportation skill? And you can bring people with you?”

I breathe heavily and reach into my item storage to take out a few mana crystals. Then, crush them in my hand until they’re dust, plundering my MP back up to full.

“I… have a lot of skills as you can see.”

I smile wide-eyed watching the High Ogre King turn towards us.

“I’d love to talk about them with you, but now doesn’t seem to be the right time!”

I let out a chuckle and Arie nods with a grin.

Suddenly, we’re interrupted by the sound of loud yells behind us.

We both quickly turn to see Bruce barely holding off a mutant Ogre’s sword with his hammer and Abby glowing green healing a large gash in his side.

Nessa and Abby attempt to land hits on the behemoth, but they seem to be having a hard time. Their swords keep clashing against its shield, and both of them look rather awkward without the use of their special abilities. Sure, they’re quick and they most likely won’t get hit, but no damage is being dealt.

The mutant they’re fighting is overpowering and outmaneuvering them. Each member in that team of four is very competent on their own, but the lack of their best abilities is not helping one bit…. They’re all out of their element, and facing an opponent stronger than anything they’ve trained for.

I turn to the tan-skinned dagger wielder by my side.

“Arie. If even one of us gets taken out here, we all fail-”

He cuts me off, gritting his teeth and staring down the mutant.

“Leave it to me, you handle the boss. I will pass this exam no matter what, I’m putting my trust in you Jay, don’t die….”

I give him a firm nod.

“I won’t.”

With that, we both dart off in opposite directions. Arie is more than capable enough to take on a mutant, and I may be the only one here that can get in close enough to land hits on the boss.

There’s not much time to think.

I look up at the charging 6m tall Ogre while air-stepping off the ground to start another barrage of attacks.

Every second my All-Seeing Eye ability stays active, the more clear everything around me becomes. My movements become quicker and more precise as I adapt to the patterns of mana in the air.

The monster swings both of its blades at me but I activate stealth and begin my assault. Quickly and quietly I continue air-stepping around narrowly avoiding its blades. It still senses my presence as I get closer and tries to spin its long sharp horns at me again.

I see this coming moments before it happens and let out two summoned wind-blade attacks straight ahead while making a warp portal in front of me to transport directly to the monster’s opposite side near its waistline.

The dense blades of wind clash with its bone-white horns letting out an almost metallic ring as I slice at its mid-section drawing more blood.

In a rage, the beast swings its swords at my new position, but I warp out of the way as its heavy swords cut through the open air.

Underneath my stealth skill, I continue to glow with a dark crimson aura, tinted with gold and white. The grin across my face widens more and more as I become increasingly in tune with my new enhanced perception ability. It’s allowing me to confidently warp around the battlefield letting out attacks of wind magic at a safe distance.

After 3 double hits to the abdomen and 1 brutal slash to its neck, I warp away to assess the damage I’ve dealt and plunder MP from a few mana crystals.

I’m not making direct contact with the boss, so every moment I’m fighting, I lose a considerable amount of mana.

It’s bleeding all over, but even with the array of attacks its taken, it must still have over 50% of its HP left. One wrong move and I’m a goner.

I take a deep breath and run back in. I instantly spawn a dark portal in front of me to get a perfect position to attack.

*SHINGGGG*

I continue to gain speed and accuracy while shifting my weight in the air to narrowly but gracefully avoid its incoming swords and release mid-range air-slashes at its exposed parts.

I start letting out loud laughs as I let the Dagger Mastery skill take control of my blades. Watching the mana flow through my arms and hands, allows me to sync their movements with my wind-summoning skill much more efficiently.

Each attack I let out becomes even more precise drawing more blood from the High Ogre King. It erupts with a bellowing rage-filled battle cry, struggling to get into a good defensive stance. I land another five or so consecutive hits, then warp away temporarily to restore my mana.

It raises its blades, spinning around and turning its head back and forth trying to guess where my next attack will come from.

By now, its legs, neck, and mid-section are covered in deep wounds. The monster is breathing heavily and I can sense its swings are slowing down. With a grin, I air-step back in warping around the beast letting out another ruthless wave of invisible attacks in its blind spots.

Painful cries ring throughout the boss room as its guardian gets mutilated from all sides.

I warp away from the monster one last time to restore my MP with mana crystals and plan a flashy finish. I’ve learned how to control a few of my skills much better, but I’m not going to give up an opportunity to end this match in style.

The hard ground cracks under my right foot as I boost myself forward with a gust of wind. With both daggers in hand, glowing with every buff in my arsenal, I get ready for the kill shot.

The flames of the boss monster flicker as it holds its sword out in front, attempting to block my incoming strike.

Moments before impact, I use a warp portal to transport myself directly above its head. I throw my blades in front of the monster using telekinesis to send them flying at its swords.

The four weapons collide in the air creating a loud clanging sound as I land on the High Ogre King’s back directly between its horns placing both hands flat against its lower neck.

“Equivalent Exchange.”

The brightest flash of white light fills my vision as I deal 1000 damage to the monstrosity below me. It roars, and I match its tone with a yell of my own. As many times as I use this skill, I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to the pain.

My vision clears, and I scramble into my item box grabbing an HP potion and chugging it down as I begin to feel weightless…

*THUDDDD*

The flames all around me flicker and die down as the massive boss falls flat on its face, and me along with it as I drop 6m to the floor. My daggers and its swords clang against the hard rock and I let out a sigh of relief.

Then…. I feel the back muscles begin to twitch and a faint grunt slips out of its mouth. I immediately summon a sharp blade of wind and concentrate all of my remaining mana into a single strike.

Without hesitation, I release my attack on the beast’s open neck.

*SHINGGGG*

The wind sword cuts through its flesh along with the hard red rock below.

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

[Use Absorption]

Skill: Dual Wielding [Special Grade]

[YES][NO]

An extreme feeling of satisfaction comes over my body as I choose yes and deactivate all my skills.

The boss has finally been defeated.

[Status Open]

____________________

Name: Jay Soju

Level: 315

Hp: 1580/1580

Mp: 1220/1580

Strength: 765 [+300]

Speed: 910 [+546][+273]

Agility: 940 [+423][+300]

Defense: 682 [+273][+239]

Mental Strength: 765 [+153][+306][+344]

Skills:

Absorption

Swordsmanship

Combat Magic [Fire Summoning]

Inspect [Special Grade]

Enemy Detection

Body Hardening[Special Grade]

Self Regeneration

Spacial Magic[Item Storage]

Plunderer

Telekinesis

Appraisal[Special Grade]

Conceal

Berserker

Dungeon Walker

Intimidation

Dagger Mastery

Stealth

Bloodlust

Equivalent Exchange

Combat Magic [Wind Summoning]

All-Seeing Eye

Extreme Strength

Dual Wielding [Special Grade]

Items Equipped:

Golden Wolf Ring [+20% Mental Strength]

Cyclops Eye Pendant [+40% Defense]

Dark Elf Boots [+60% Speed]

Ring of Protection [+35% Defense]

Griffin’s Talon [+40% Mental Strength]

Enchanted Silver Ring [+30% Speed]

Serpent King’s Scale [+45% Agility] [+45% Magic Resistance]

Desert Troll’s Charm [+45% Mental Strength]

[Enchanted Dagger Set] +300 Strength +300 Agility

[Rodrigo’s Silver Bracelet]

_____________________