บท 29: Dangerous Mountain Region

After traveling for around 30 minutes, Izroth and his party arrived at the very outer section of the mountain region. It was at this point that they were no longer within the jurisdiction of Amaharpe and instead in an area that belonged to the various monsters and small tribes living in the mountain region.

As the tank, Halls was naturally in the very front of the group to make sure any monsters they came across would aggro onto him first. Izroth was not too far behind Halls walking at his own leisure pace. Luna and Scarlet were at the very back of the group which was the natural position for ranged playing styles.

Not too far ahead of them, Halls spotted what seemed to be a group of rocks bundled together moving around. At first, he believed that his eyes were playing tricks on him, but the more he looked the less it seemed to be so.

"Get ready" Izroth said in a low voice to Halls.

...

Around one hour ago back when Izroth was still inside of the Combat Master class building speaking with Terminus, at the headquarters of the gaming company who made RML were two people in a small room.

The room was crowded with all kinds of computers, wires, and monitors running all over the place. A man with glasses and messy hair sat in front of a desk which was surrounded by the electronics. Behind him was a woman with bright red hair and a small frown on her face.

"Are you sure we should involve regular players in this? I would be lying if I said I didn't feel bad leading a group of players to their potential death. I have no problem going in but... What exactly is it that you want me to discover...?" the woman with bright red hair said.

"You don't have to do much really... Just act like a friend but play the enemy in secret. The goal is only to confirm my theories and for that to happen I need you to witness it first hand. Your character is already set up and ready to go." the man in glasses spoke while not looking away from his computer screen. The data in front of his eyes was too amazing to turn his head away from! He'd never seen anything like it before in this world.

The woman let out a sigh, "I don't see what's so interesting about one player... But, since I owe you I suppose I'll play the villain as repayment" she said reluctantly.

The man let out a small laugh, "I'll shamelessly accept that repayment. Don't worry, just login on to your character and follow the plan. Even if he figures you out that's fine as well. Just remember, don't break your character, the more you believe it to be true the more accurate the data. You are the villain in this scenario, after all, it is a roleplaying game".

The woman with red hair nodded and silently walked off.

"Let's see exactly what makes your character so special..." the man sitting in front of the desk said with a slight smile on his face.

...

When the party arrived around 15 meters away from the group of bundled together rocks, it began to shift and move. A few seconds later a pair of lifeless blue eyes stared at the group of players that stood before it. It was a type of rock monster!

Name: Mountain Golem(Normal)

Level: 15

HP: 5,000/5,000

ATK: 280

DEF: 100

AGI: 20

MAG: 0

Skills:

Tremor(Active): Deals 100% of the golem attack as damage to all enemies within 10 meters.

Stone Toss(Active): Tosses a large stone up to 25 meters at a target enemy dealing 150% of its attack as damage and stunning them for 3 seconds.

Earth Magic Resistance(Passive): Earth magic used against this golem has its damage reduced by 90%.

What high HP and attack! Its defense stat was also fairly high. Not to mention it also had a skill which could stun a target for 3 seconds. But the thing that made it bearable to deal with was its incredibly low agility stat. That meant it wouldn't be hard to land an accurate attack on it because it lacked the speed to avoid it. As for its magic resistance passive, only a fool would use earth magic on something made entirely from earth.

Halls was the first to step forward, unsheathing his 'Shadow Fang Sword' that he acquired from defeating the first world boss and holding his shield out in front of him. His shield lit up a bright red color as a strange aura rushed out enveloping the 'Mountain Golem'. Halls used the skill 'Taunting Aura' to lock the focus of the 'Mountain Golem' onto himself.

Skill Name: Taunting Aura

Skill Level: MAXED

Skill Rank: C

Requirements: Level 10 Warrior

Mana Cost: 20

Active: Releases an incredible battle aura towards a target enemy making them focus their attacks on the user of this skill. Increases 'Threat Level' by 50%.

Cooldown: 25 seconds

The Mountain Golem let out a deep roar and slowly moved forward.

Halls rushed forward to meet the monster swinging his 'Shadow Fang Sword' outward striking against the golem's tough stone skin.

-40 HP!

4,960/5,000 HP Remaining! (Mountain Golem)

"What tough defense...!" Halls was shocked by how little damage he dealt with his attack. Even though he was a tank, he was still proud of his above average attack due to possessing the 'Shadow Fang Sword', but this golem had such incredible defense that it was difficult to even scratch it!

Wooooooosh!

A strong wave of heat invaded the air as a ball of flame slammed into the body of the 'Mountain Golem' causing it to halt its steps for a moment.

Scarlet used the skill 'Fireball' on the golem. Since she dealt magic damage instead of physical damage, the amount of her 'Fireball' did much more than Halls basic attack. This made her feel proud of herself because Scarlet knew that she would be the most useful out of everyone here.

Skill Name: Fireball

Skill Level: MAXED

Skill Rank: C

Requirements: Level 10 Mage

Mana Cost: 50

Cast Time: 2 seconds

Active: Shoots out a fireball infused with highly concentrated mana dealing 150% of the user magic as damage to an enemy within 20 meters.

Cooldown: 5 seconds

-293 HP!

-4,667/5,000 HP Remaining! (Mountain Golem)

Halls and Luna were surprised by the amount of damage Scarlet dealt with only one skill. With just one blow she managed to knock off more than 5% of that golem's ridiculous HP! However, after remembering who else was in their party, they couldn't help but feel as though it was still lacking in comparison.

Izroth moved in a natural manner, as he unsheathed his 'Nameless Blade' and slashing right at the 'Mountain Golem'. His sword was surrounded by a light milky blue aura accompanied by its trademark oppressive force. Izroth used the skills 'First Baneful Sword: Destruction' along with the weapon skill 'Sword Force'.

Ziiiiiiiiiiiing! Slash!

-1,160 HP!

3,507/5,000 HP Remaining! (Mountain Golem)

Battle Alert: Player Izroth has 'Feared' Mountain Golem for 3 seconds!

Izroth was pleasantly surprised, this was the first time his 'First Baneful Sword: Destruction' activated its 'Fear' effect.

Halls and Luna were much better prepared for a ridiculous damage number, however, Scarlet was completely dumbfounded! Izroth dealt over 1,000 damage to a monster which high physical defense, that was insane!

Scarlet shivered to feel a cold sweat run down her back. What was that damage?

"He's a Combat Master... How can he deal such high damage...?" Scarlet eyes filled with shock. At some point, a feeling of doubt started rising up within her. Scarlet felt as though even if her group had two level 15 rogues and one level 16 ranger, they may not be able to deal with such monstrous attack damage.

While the golem was under the 'Feared' effect, Izroth did not let up on his assault. Concentrated energy converged on the tip of his finger. Just a moment later he struck straight towards the neck of the 'Mountain Golem', Izroth was attacking with one of his newer skills 'Fissuring Point'.

Izroth's finger pierced through the stone golem defenses with relative ease.

-140 HP!

3,367/5,000 HP Remaining! (Mountain Golem)

"As I thought... The neck of this golem is not considered as a vital point..." Izroth thought to himself. He expected as much, but still thought it was worth testing on the off chance that he was incorrect.

Scarlet was not sitting back and relaxing during that time. She was already charging up her next spell, "Flaming Spear!". Fire formed in the shape of a spear directly in front of Scarlet. A strong aura of mana danced around the spear before firing off towards the 'Mountain Golem'.

Skill Name: Flaming Spear

Skill Level: 2/4

Skill Rank: B

Requirements: Level 15 Mage

Mana Cost: 150

Cast Time: 3 seconds

Active: Fires off a spear infused with highly concentrated mana converted into a powerful fire aura dealing 275% of the user magic as damage to an enemy within 25 meters.

Cooldown: 45 seconds

-536 HP!

2,831/5,000 HP Remaining! (Mountain Golem)

Although her damage was not as high as Izroth's, it was still an impressive amount.

The 'Feared' effect on the 'Mountain Golem' had finally ended as it lifted its fist up into the air. When Izroth saw the golem do that, he instantly retreated backward to a safe distance. Soon after Izroth retreated, the 'Mountain Golem' slammed its fist onto the ground causing a tremor to occur.

-180 HP

1,320/1,500 HP Remaining! (Halls)

Halls lost his balance a bit from the sudden tremor caused by the 'Mountain Golem'. As he was regaining his balance, the golem did not halt its attack as it lifted up a stone into the air and tossed it right at Halls! He managed to get his shield up in time to block part of the attack damage, but still took quite a hit.

BLOCKED!

-240 HP!

1,080/1,500 HP Remaining! (Halls)

Battle Alert: Mountain Golem has stunned Player Halls for 3 seconds!

+225 HP!

1,305/1,500 HP Remaining! (Halls)

Luna used 'Cure' on Halls to keep his HP above 75%. As usual, her heals were timed with precision.

Izroth kicked off his right foot and rushed back in towards the 'Mountain Golem'. His right foot suddenly seemed to transform and move as though it were slithering, imitating the movement of a snake striking out to attack its prey, 'Serpent's Bite', Izrot's foot slammed into the body of the 'Mountain Golem' shaking it to its core and stopping it from moving altogether!

-35 HP!

2,796/5,000 HP Remaining! (Mountain Golem)

Battle Alert: Player Izroth has 'Paralyzed' Mountain Golem for 1.5 seconds!

Even though the damage on the skill was incredibly weak, that wasn't Izroth's main focus when learning this skill. It was because of the Paralyze' effect that this skill shined amongst the heavenly laws he learned on his way to Amaharpe.

With that window of time given to Halls, he did not take any more damage before finally being rid of the golem's stun effect! The golem itself also managed to free itself of Izroth's 'Paralyze' effect around the same time as Halls broke free.

Woooosh!

Scarlet hit the golem head-on with another 'Fireball' spell! Halls followed up as his sword turned into the form of a shadow releasing a terrifying pressure. This was the weapon skill attached to his 'Shadow Fang Sword' called 'Shadow Pressure'.

The same time that Scarlet and Halls attacked, Izroth arrived behind the 'Mountain Golem' slashing outward with his 'Nameless Blade'. His sword appeared to have a shadow tailing just in the back of it as Izroth spun rapidly connecting yet another strike onto the golem. 'Phantom Strike'.

The HP of the 'Mountain Golem' dropped rapidly falling close to 40%. The group did not halt their assault, relentlessly chipping away at the HP of the 'Mountain Golem' before them.

35%...

25%...

10%...

The 'Mountain Golem only had around 500 HP remaining, but before it could get another skill off Scarlet had just finished casting the killing blow, 'Flaming Spear'.

Woooooooosh!

A spear engulfed in fire with mana concentrated around its entire form, pierced through the body of the golem completely making it crumble into nothing but dust.

-536 HP!

0/5,000 HP Remaining! (Mountain Golem)

Ding! Congratulations, you have defeated 'Mountain Golem'!

Ding! You have been awarded 600 EXP!

Loot Drop:

-x6 silver coins

-x2 Tough Natural Mineral

The 'Mountain Golem' gave a total of 2,400 EXP, but since they were in a party it divided it amongst all of them and so they only received 600 EXP each. Though, 600 EXP for defeating a monster in around 1 minute give or take was quite a lot. If they continued to farm these monsters for an entire hour then they could gain a potential 36,000 EXP and level up multiple times! However, they came here for a quest and so would not lose track of the main focus.

Halls was the party leader and naturally divided the loot fairly amongst the party. Each member received 1 silver and 50 bronze coins. As for the x2 'Tough Natural Mineral', the group rolled for those items. One of them went to Halls himself while the other found itself in the possession of Izroth.

Crafting Material: Tough Natural Mineral

Details: The natural toughness of this mineral makes it ideal to use in crafting low to mid ranked armor. Adding this material to certain formulas can greatly enhance the overall defensive capabilities.