Chapter 11 - The Spirit that Wanted to Become a Heavenly Being (2)

Because of the snowstorm, Hyun had become completely frozen.

He was able to block the damage, but he couldn't do anything against the abnormal status.

“Please free me!”

The moment Hyun shouted, Ain used her flames to melt down the ice.

You couldn't hurt the same party members, so Hyun didn't receive any damage.

Leopard was still stunned because of «Shield».

Fwoosh- Ain rapidly ignited both hands.

Leopard, who didn't have any protection, was fully exposed to Ain's attack.

[Critical Hit! You've dealt 852 damage!]

[Critical Hit! You've dealt 841 damage!]

[Critical Hit! You've dealt 830 damage!]

[Critical Hit! You've dealt 848 damage!]

...

Every single attack ended up being a critical hit. Ain had managed to land more than ten attacks on Leopard in just an instant.

Although it looked like a cat scratching a post, so it didn't look cool.

"Ugh... How dare you humiliate me like this?! Playtime is over. I'll kill you both right now!"

The moment Leopard woke up from the stun, his white robe had turned black because of Ain's attack.

But he was so angry that he didn't even care how he looked.

Whoosh - Leopard's wand began vibrating.

He was about to cast «Snow Shield» again.

Ain quickly stopped attacking and backed off.

Hyun once again ran towards the snowstorm.

The cooldown time of his skills had already refreshed.

Crumble- The «Snow Shield» stopped before the ice pieces could even begin spinning.

Ain unfroze Hyun while attacking Leopard.

"Ugh...!"

Leopard's eyes had turned red.

His white skin, just like his robe, had become tanned.

Normally, humanoid boss monsters had good defensive skills but low HP.

If Leopard couldn't use «Snow Shield», he was just a named monster that could attack fast.

Maybe not so weak, but that comparison wasn't that far off.

「He isn't using that anymore.」

「Artificial intelligence has gotten really good. There isn't a notable difference compared to real people.」

He hadn't used that skill again after they’d managed to cancel his «Snow Shield» twice.

Was it because he had discovered that they could counter his magic very easily?

That was when the real fight started.

Hyun used supporting skills from a distance. Ain and Lepard were each spitting out fire and ice.

—The fire and ice mixed with each other.

Even though it was a fight between Magicians, it looked like a battle between two Warriors.

Since Ain preferred fighting from a close range, Leopard couldn't move away, even if he wanted to.

Because of how fast Ain was, Leopard couldn't increase their distance.

Ain covered her hands in fire and landed attacks that were critical hits most of the time.

Every time Leopard's wand shone, Hyun used his «One Second Immortality».

Seeing Ain brush away the ice attacks from a really short distance was certainly very impressive.

Hyun could already see how the battle would end.

She used to play as a werewolf.

In close-range combat, you need to be able to read your opponent's next move. In those types of fights, even he was no match for her.

Not only that, but she was also good at psychological warfare.

Even if it was a named monster, she wasn't someone a mere Magician could win against.

[Critical Hit! You've dealt 843 damage!]

[Critical Hit! You've dealt 835 damage!]

Just as she thought, in Ain's system message, there were only alerts that said that the attack had been successful.

At some point, the fight became one-sided.

Ain mixed feints in her attacks; sometimes, she changed the timing and rhythm of her attacks just to screw with Leopard.

From time to time, Leopard tried to activate «Snow Shield», but it always failed.

Every time his skill activated, Ain just backed off and waited for him to be stunned, then she resumed her attacks.

Hyun smiled bitterly. Watching the boss being beaten up was like looking at himself a few days prior.

If he were in Leopard's place, he would have logged out.

"This can't be... A celestial being like me can't lose to insignificant earthlings like you!"

Creak-!

With the sound of the surrounding air freezing, an incredibly cold chill came out from Leopard.

It felt like he was about to freeze the entire world.

Leopard had just used all the mana he had left.

Even Tarr Tarr, who had been watching everything that had happened from a distance, froze for about 20 seconds.

Ain covered herself in flames and protected herself from the cold. She then used those same flames to melt Hyun, who had frozen.

Right at that moment, a rotating piece of ice flew towards them, but at the perfect timing, Hyun's «One Second Immortality» skill activated; Ain used that opportunity to brush off his attack.

"It's over,” said Hyun.

Ain nodded.

That magic Leopard had just used that looked like it would be able to freeze the entire world was his last card.

He used that technique when he only had 5% of his HP left.

Since he didn't have any mana left, Leopard was just a punching bag.

"See? I told you we could beat him."

At Hyun's smile, Ain replied with a low tone of voice.

"You're right... I honestly thought that you were being unreasonably optimistic. I was even prepared to die."

"It isn't like there weren't any dangerous moments, but I've always believed in you."

"Huh...?"

At Hyun's confession-like reply, she stretched her waist.

Suddenly, Ain's hand got covered in a fire. She was feeling shy after hearing Hyun's words.

With her hands covered with fire, she hit Leopard many times consecutively. Then, they got a message from the system.

[The Forgotten Magician Leopard has been defeated!]

[You've cleared it with a party of two people!]

[You're the first ones to defeat Leopard! Your Magical Power has permanently increased by 5 points!]

- Leopard was born as a normal human being. But from the first moment he learned about the Heavenly Beings, he had yearned to become one of them. Later on, he convinced himself that he was a Heavenly Being, and during his lifetime, he tried to reach the Sky City. But he ended up being executed by the orders of the Royal Family. You've successfully managed to end his misery. Bravo!

"He's already dead... Why are you still hitting him?"

"..."

Ain kept punching Leopard's corpse for a while.

It had been three weeks since Asrian Online had opened its doors.

Players in the Hall of Fame had surpassed level 40.

The user in the number 1 ranking was at level 50.

Other players were rapidly catching up.

They were no longer the unofficial number 1.

But it wasn't like they hadn't made any progress. Just taking a glimpse at their status windows was enough to see that their stats had improved a lot.

Hyun (Lv. 47)

HP: 658/658

Mana: 450/450

Job: Support (Hidden)

[Strength: 2] [Agility: 48] [Vitality: 14] [Magical Power: 45] [Empathy: 120]

Skills - <+Open List>

[※ You have 46 unused skill points!]

Ain (Lv. 46)

HP: 460/460

Mana: 1680/1680

Job: Close Range Magician (Hidden)

[Strength: 23] [Agility: 60] [Vitality: 10] [Magical Power: 153 (+15)]

Skills - <+Open List>

[※ You have 45 unused skill points!]

Titles - <+Open List>

Their stats had changed a lot!

Hyun felt happy just by seeing the status window.

If his status window got leaked on the internet, the boards would go crazy.

The sudden appearance of someone who had remained in the dark and with stats that didn't match the level would make everyone astonished.

It was all thanks to the first kill bonus rewards.

Those past few weeks, they had managed to kill 18 hidden named monsters.

When they had fought Leopard, their Magical Power had already gone up by 5 points. That's the equivalent of leveling up two or three times.

When you level up, you get two stat points, so their current stats were equivalent to a player of level 90.

It had a different meaning than leveling up to 90 as fast as possible.

'The initial growth rate becomes completely different... When I reach level 90, I'll have the stats of a level 130 player!'

Despite all this, they decided to stop the hidden named monster hunting temporarily.

The more levels a hidden named monster had, the stronger it became. Not only that, but they also had a more diverse attack and defense pattern.

Leopard was probably the last hidden named boss they could safely win against.

Thanks to defeating many named monsters, their inventory was full of rare items.

They sold the items they didn't need to the blacksmith for the highest price possible.

As of then, they weren't using the Auction House because the rare items were being sold for money rather than gold.

Even if he posted the item on the Auction House, how many users had thousands of gold coins to use?

'The only item left is this one.'

He hadn't sold the items that could be useful to a Support, but among them, there were some he wasn't sure about.

[ Leopard's Wand (Unique) ]

Requirement: [Magical Power 130]

Durability: (130/130)

Attack: 5

Magical Power Increase: 30%

Critical Hit Damage Increase: 30%

Increased Element Magic Damage: 50%

- By successfully landing five ice attacks, you'll freeze your opponent.

- The speed of projectile-type magics is increased by 1.5 times.

The wand they had obtained after defeating Leopard was one of those items that was hard to deal with.

The specs were incredible.

If he were to sell the item for money, he could probably ask for a high price. At this point of the game, there shouldn't be a lot of users with unique items, and that one had a lot of specs, even for a unique item.

'It really isn't useful for me.'

Since the Support's main stat was Empathy, they didn't benefit from the increase in Magical Power.

Also, the fact that the weapon of choice wasn’t important for a support was something most RPG games had in common.

Then, was it useful for Ain?

Not really.

'There's no way she'd use a weapon like a wand.'

For Ain, whose attack consisted in covering her hands with fire, using a handheld weapon was impossible.

From the information they'd gotten up until then, the weapon of a Close Range Magician was a glove.

'So... It seems like there's only one way to deal with this.'

Hyun was thinking about item enhancement.

Item Enhancement consisted in transferring one item's special effects to another one.

Every big city had an item enhancer. But even in Asra Online, he really didn't visit an item enhancer frequently.

The first reason was that it required you to spend a lot of money.

The second reason was that the success of an enhancement depended on probability.

If the item enhancement failed, you would lose both the item and money.

'I've sworn not to use the services of an item enhancer ever again...'

It reminded him of the time he lost the Sword of the Supreme Being.

That nightmarish day, he had lost both the item and money.

He was so angry that he couldn't even cry.

He was able to cry when he was in bed and about to sleep.

'But there's another way…'

If the only way to get good items was via item enhancing, he couldn't avoid going to see the enhancer.

‘Wait…’

Hyun was about to give up when a thought came to his mind.

Hyun began wondering about something.

'Why am I worrying about Ain's weapon? Shouldn't each person worry about their weapons?'

It seemed like he subconsciously thought that she was his underling, and that's why he probably felt that he needed to get her a weapon.

However, when he found himself in a difficult situation, the self-sustaining instinct kicked in.

He was using Ain as an underling only when it benefited him. That really said a lot about what kind of human he was. But at the moment, he wasn't mature enough to realize that.

* * *

32 rare armors.

Eight rare accessories.

Nine rare weapons.

One unique weapon!

While hunting hidden named monsters, he was able to obtain 18 items.

The items he didn't need, he had put them in the auction house, and thanks to that, he had gotten 20,000 gold.

Now he had nine rare items and one unique left.

Hyun tried to distribute the items in the fairest way possible.

"The unique item is probably worth ten rare ones. Ain, you should get the unique weapon; I'll grab the rest. Regarding the gold, we can just split it into two."

Hyun got all the rare items, and Ain got Leopard's Wand. She seemed to have no complaints.

"Now, we should start getting equipment. Ain, maybe you should try item enhancing for your weapon. Oh, if either of us requires more money, each should go and hunt independently."

After saying that, Hyun glanced at Ain.

If they thought they weren't getting a fair deal, people with a bad character would start screaming and swearing.

"Well, I don't mind."

Ain didn't seem to care.

Hyun clenched his fists in joy.

Of course, discreetly, so Ain wouldn't notice.

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