1.31 Showing Off

Chapter 31

My full power radiated from my body, contained within the fifty foot circle of Lynnorm thanks to the use of my [Aura Mastery] skill. My presence was on full display for the beasts, but didn’t extend to the rest of Paragon team.

The many hatchlings all froze and stared at me. Their weird, jerky movements from before changed to twitches and shivers that I knew to be the fear they must feel now. It was instinct for a monster, to know when a much more powerful monster was nearby.

I had been hiding it until then, but now it was out in the open.

[You Have Slain Lynnorm Hatchling – Lvl 3]

[You Have Slain Lynnorm Hatchling – Lvl 3]

[You Have Slain Lynnorm Hatchling – Lvl 5]

[You Have Slain Lynnorm Hatchling – Lvl 4]

[You Have Slain Lynnorm Hatchling – Lvl 3]

…

Death descended on all of them, my hand and blade the instruments of my sponsor’s will.

I also used the rocks. Throwing them through their bodies and seeing them pop and burst like bloody fireworks was rather amusing, to be honest. And it just meant that I could kill them even faster. Faster was always better, that’s why dexterity was the best stat.

The task was completed rather quickly. Dozens of terrified snakes met their end. I had to remove some of the blood from my clothes with [Blood Manipulation] again, I was getting soaked. No one likes getting covered in blood, not even Death’s executive assistant.

Executive assistant sounded like a better title than disciple in my head. So I made the choice on my sponsor’s behalf to give myself a promotion. It came with a desk and a view.

I sighed happily as the last serpent was cut down by my sword, creating yet another silvery orb in the air. There would be so much to do with that essence later, I looked forward to being able to try getting another skill.

But not right then.

Off in the distance, the others still tussled with the floor boss. Barry was doing his best to keep the monster’s attention on himself as Francis hacked at it from below.

Huwett and Vasquez still hurled and fired their attacks from a distance and there were quite a few bleeding holes and burnt pockmarks on the monster’s body and face by then. Norton was funneling a small stream of golden mana into Barry from behind, some sort of ranged healing spell as it turned out. But I knew it would be weaker than his other close-up options, that’s just how videogames were, and the System didn’t seem nice enough to have changed that.

With my own gruesome task completed, I scanned the surrounding area of their fight to try figuring out the proper angle to jump in for the assist.

There were still many rocky mounds that dotted the landscape and I chose one nearby to conceal myself and activate my [Shade Stealth]. I moved quickly from mound to mound, approaching the boss fight at an angle that brought me slightly behind the Lynnorm.

“Fucking die!” Francis shouted manically as he swung his axe, the edge biting into its meaty arm.

“Hold it!” Barry yelled to the others as he raised his longsword above his head. Already, there was shimmering mana gathering around the blade as he started the activation of his [Holy strike].

The firebolts and arrows halted for a mere moment before a large, searing explosion rocked the Lynnorm back. THe spell was followed by a screeching sound as an arrow coated in energy slammed into its midsection and tore a small hole through it’s entire body.

Vasquez and Huwett didn’t hold back.

Francis was already glowing red at that point and he simply began swinging his weapon faster, slicing over and over into its body.

The combined effort was enough to distract the monster while Barry prepared his skill. The Paladin leapt forward, bringing his golden-wreathed blade down on the boss. A flash of blinding light followed, and as it cleared the Lynnorm boss sported a new long gash from snout to neck, which poured blood onto the rocks below.

But it wasn’t dead. It writhed angrily and then roared as its body began to radiate a tinged green and yellow glow.

Uh-oh.

The boss’s energy flashed, and the ground shook beneath our feet. It looked like we had activated the boss’ second phase.

Sure enough, jagged rocks and small boulders began to float from the floor. They moved slowly at first, but they began to pick up speed and circle the Lynnorm as if it was creating a tornado with itself at the center.

“Get back!” Barry shouted, but just too late.

A rock shot outward at high speed, slamming into his chest and knocking the paladin off his feet.

Francis was hit by a larger missile, a small boulder that clobbered him in the back and sent him flipping over the dirt to land a few dozen feet away. He ground on landing, but didn’t stand back up. Norton was already running toward the warrior, the large healer dodging and batting away rocks with his staff.

Huwett and Vasquez ducked behind mounds, avoiding the boss’ ire.

Shit, we can’t handle this. We don’t have the tanks, nor the ranged dps. I realized instantly.

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If I did nothing, they might be able to kill the Lynnorm, if they sacrificed someone in the process. Or, they might just all die. It was hard to really know which.

But, I would need to show even more of my full power to take down the boss. Something I was still very hesitant to do. So far, my plans required the world at large not knowing the full extent of my abilities.

And yet…

Barry rose to his knees, the dent in his chest armor looked as if he was struck by the fist of a demi-god. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and he spat on the floor with a grin. He raised his sword again.

You damn idiot. Fine…

I rushed from my hiding spot, sword held tight in my hand. My eyes scanned quickly around the floor boss, watching the spinning maelstrom of stone that surrounded it. It was spinning quickly, but not impossibly so. I could run faster than the stones were flying. Which meant I could predict their movements and react to them.

Without hesitating any longer, I jumped into the tornado of rock.

My feet landed on a larger boulder, and I kicked off from it instantly. I landed on the next boulder higher up just as I reached the apex of my jump, and then repeated the process. Like an old-school platformer, as if I was an italian plumber and the snake had my princess, I made my way up to the Lynnorm’s head with superhuman speed and precision.

There was no actual wind to buffet me or blow me off course. The Earth-blood Lynnorm was doing what it’s name suggested, controlling the rock and stone directly. Which meant my little feat wasn’t as hard as it really looked. But still, it was something only I could do at that time.

Many Rift Hunters would eventually reach such a level, even a few Common Tier hunters. But let’s not truly downplay this, I mean, it was kind of badass.

I’m on a tangent again aren’t I?

So, I reached the top of the rock-tornado and jumped at the boss’ head. It’s attention was focused on Barry, what it saw as the biggest threat. So it didn’t even notice me until I landed on the back of its head and slammed my sword through the scales and flesh, into it’s skull.

The serpent screamed and shook, for more from surprise than pain, I’m sure. It was too large, and my sword too small to really pierce that deeply. But I wasn’t just a simple swordsman warrior.