Ding!
[Nak, Goblin Barbarian (Uncommon Elite)] (Level 15 Mini-Boss)
HP: 500/500
MP: 280/280
Stats: 39 VIT, 50 STR, 35 AGI, 27 DEX, 23 INT, 23 WIS, 23 PER, 23 LUK
Remarks: It would be wise to be cautious.
"So we're back to fighting with physical attacks," Valyr said as he swiftly closed the gap between him and the goblins at the center of the room. By the time Nak and the others had sensed Valyr's presence, the distance separating them from him only spanned a couple meters, leaving them no time to react to Valyr's next move.
"[Venomous Strike]!"
Having only met the requirements to gain access to the second move of the [Serpent Spear Combat Style] once he had leveled up to Level 15, Valyr was eager to test the next move out in combat, which he just did.
Unlike the forward arc [Descending Fang] made whenever he attacked with his spear, the trajectory [Venomous Strike] made was ramrod straight, emphasizing on combining the user's strength and agility together to achieve an attack so grievous, the resulting attack appeared like the venomous bite of a serpent.
Bang!
'-1276!!'
With great force behind the attack, Valyr's spear pierced through the plate armor Nak wore, as if it were a hot knife cutting through butter.
While Valyr could not help but admire the four digit value gradually floating above Nak's head, seeing that he had dealt damage equivalent to over twice his opponent's HP, Nak looked at his assailant with widened eyes filled with incredulity, feeling his connection to the world gradually slip away as the man before him retracted his spear and watched to see its eventual demise.
However, just as Nak felt great indignance at how he had not even retaliated against his assailant, one of the smaller goblins came closer to him and shouted out in a language that only they could understand, the latter telling him that it shall sacrifice its life so Nak could take revenge.
Though multiple conflicting thoughts passed through Nak's mind as he felt his vitality continue to run out, he eventually agreed to the smaller goblin's words, recalling the promise he had made to the being that allowed him to be who he was today.
With that, he went ahead and gripped one of his hands around the smaller goblin's head before clenching it as tight as he could with his weakening vitality, causing a squelch sound to resound throughout the room as Valyr watched everything before him unfold in slight horror.
Recalling the multiple lives mechanic he had to face against during his fight against Eir, once Valyr knew that another mini-boss was in the room, he decided to act swiftly and kill the boss outright, thinking that this mini-boss before him would also have the same mechanic as Eir.
"But even though he's still on the brink of death, he can still do something like that?"
As these words came out of Valyr's mouth, he knew that he had no choice but to fight against Nak again, realizing that the mini-boss before him was just as annoying as the one before. However, just as the headless body of the goblin Nak killed fell to the ground, a slight frown appeared on Valyr's face once he noticed that, not only did Nak return to his original strength…
It seemed that he had even gotten stronger.
"[Analysis]."
Ding!
[Nak, Goblin Barbarian (Uncommon Elite)] (Level 16 Mini-Boss)
HP: 550/550
MP: 300/300
Stats: 44 VIT, 56 STR, 38 AGI, 29 DEX, 24 INT, 24 WIS, 24 PER, 24 LUK
Remarks: I wouldn't get hit by his attacks if I were you.
"So you're telling me… this mini-boss doesn't only just have multiple lives, but every minion he kills also increases his level by one?" Getting a feeling that the boss he would face in the final room would have a variation of this mechanic that was far worse, Valyr now wholeheartedly agreed with the statements Tristan and the others gave regarding the final boss of the dungeon as he let out a sigh.
"In short, I'm not just up against an incredibly strong goblin at the end…" Valyr closed the gap between him and Nak once more, activating [Descending Fang] as his spear arced forward.
"I'm up against an incredibly strong goblin that has multiple lives… and gets stronger the longer the fight lasts."
"How great."
Bang!
'-1518!!!'
Showing no mercy in his attack, Nak's head exploded into multiple chunks as the True Tideblood Spear collided with it. However, rather than his headless body falling to the ground with a thud, the headless body showed the will to keep living Nak had, its hands clutching onto the nearest small goblin so he could regenerate and grow stronger.
Unfortunately for Nak, just as one of the small goblins was about to head closer to Nak and accept its fate as a sacrifice, Valyr had appeared along the path the small goblin was taking before proceeding to kick it in the chest with all of his strength.
Bang!
Though his STR stat was somewhat lacking when compared to the current Nak's stats, it was still enough to send the small goblin flying, forming a small crater in the shape of its body as it collided with the wall.
Unsurprisingly, the three small goblins within Nak's vicinity witnessed this sight, with all of them looking at each other for a slight bit before one of them decided to head closer to where Nak was. From how desperate Nak's hands were swerving around its surroundings, the small goblins knew that there wasn't much time left before their leader disappeared for good.
But of course, just like before, Valyr was there to impede the goblin heading towards Nak, sending the latter flying with a single kick. Naturally, the two goblins that were still near Nak also attempted to sacrifice themselves for their leader, yet Valyr was there to stop it from happening, with Nak's body eventually running out of vitality.
Thud.
Akin to a robot instantly losing its power source, the desperate headless body of Nak abruptly stopped moving before turning limp soon after, its upper torso falling to the ground with a thud.
Thinking that he still had to kill all of the remaining small goblins in order to proceed to the next room, Valyr headed to where they were, with most of them being partly embedded into the stone wall. However, once he had arrived to where they were while maintaining great vigilance, he was surprised to find out that the other goblins had died as well.
Though he was slightly curious as to what kind of connection was needed for something like that to happen, seeing as they were thoroughly and utterly dead, Valyr instead decided to search their corpses in the hopes of finding a Dungeon Key Fragment.
Being unsuccessful in finding one in any of the four corpses, he then headed to the headless corpses of Nak and the other small goblin, only to end up not finding a Dungeon Key Fragment on their bodies as well.
"Am I going to get my next Dungeon Key Fragment from the disembodied voice again?" Thinking back to what he had gone through before entering the current room, Valyr could not help but scratch his head for a bit before deciding to head through the door that was already open quite sometime ago.
While walking through the corridor that led through the next room, Valyr wondered what kind of reward he would obtain from the disembodied voice. However, rather than being greeted by the sight of a room purposefully made for respite, what greeted him instead…
Was a room filled with something else.
