-Mysterious Dungeon(4)-

In the group gathered, Chiba, Kenshin, and Matsuri were the only ones with long-ranged abilities. Tadaka’s ability was neither long nor short-ranged. His ability was all about giving his enemy negative status effects.

Matsuri started raining oversized arrows on the approaching monsters. Chiba too followed suit and rained a hail of Ice Javelins. Kenshin created a bunch of fireballs, the size of basketballs, and threw them towards the approaching monsters. When the fireballs landed on them, they exploded on impact, shredding the nearby monsters and throwing them into the air. At that moment, Chiba’s javelins rained down, impaling them to the ground.

It was a very surreal sight to behold.

Before they even neared the group, more than 80% of the monsters died by the combo of Kenshin, Chiba, and Matsuri. Seeing this, Matsuri gave them a thumbs up, showing her appreciation and respect.

As for the remaining ones, when they approached a certain distance from Osamu, the guy lifted his shield and charged forward like an enraged bull.

“Yaaa!!!” At the same time, he bellowed at the top of his lungs.

[ATK and DEF increased by 20%]

‘So it has such effect as well…’ Kenshin thought, but he wasn’t that surprised. He had seen many such skills in effect. It didn’t surprise him that much. At the same time, he marveled at the world lying beyond the boundary of level 100.

It was all about specialization.

Not many hunters try to build an all-around stat like Kenshin. After passing through the threshold of level 50, they would slowly start to specialize. Some people were exceptionally good at close-range combats. They would focus on battling close range as much as possible. By doing so, when they level up the next time, it will only affect the stats necessary for close combats.

For a hunter, there were no predetermined paths. Although things were different when magic was involved, after all, not everyone was born with the ability to manipulate magic. But, magic wasn’t the only source of energy for a hunter. Some skills require stamina to activate. Then there was WIL and Intent. Once they reach to Manifestation level, they could also be used as a form of energy to activate skills.

To maximize their potential, hunters would choose to specialize in one aspect rather than being a jack of all trades. For the hunters with stamina-fuelled skills, it was not so easy to awaken. Stamina was an intangible thing, unlike magic, which could be visible once it accumulates to a certain extent. Moreover, it was closely related to one’s body. It was not so easy to increase it. Training can only do so much. Unless they challenge stronger monsters and level up, enhancing it even by one point was an arduous task.

However, that wasn’t easy with their weak stats and even weaker skills. It takes too much effort to pass through that threshold.

But,

Those who managed to do so and achieved the impossible became unstoppable forces within their community. That’s because they could finally have access to magic and learn magic skills. With their overwhelming physical stats, they would bulldoze through any opponent of the same level as them.

This Osamu, Kenshin observed him for a while, and concluded that he was one of such guys who achieved the impossible. He was a physical skill user who had managed to attain his awakening. On top of it, he specializes in all types of defensive maneuvers. Such a character would always be on the most wanted list of any party. People of such capabilities were rarely freelancers. Kenshin wondered what the story behind this guy was.

The light barrier stopped the advance of the charging monsters and even managed to squash a few into meat paste. These monsters were all beyond level 50 with sturdy bodies and overwhelming power. Even then, they couldn’t offset Osamu’s charge and therefore reduced to this state.

“Can’t let you guys outshine me now, can I?” Toru mumbled as he slowly pulled out his tantos from their sheath. His figure blurred as he vanished from the spot. Soon, the reptile-like monsters started to fall one by one, with their heads separated from their body. The three magic casters stopped attacking as they were afraid of hitting Toru as well.

The assassin lived up to his title and finished the remaining ones within a handful of seconds. Toru then scattered the blood stuck to the sword before sheathing it to their scabbards again.

In the meantime, Chiba and Matsuri pulled out their small detectors and verified the level of these monsters. “They were all level 40 monsters!” Chiba exclaimed in surprise. She didn’t know they wiped out a huge group of level 40 monsters with just a few of them.

“I don’t believe these are all there’s to it. I am afraid these monsters weren’t even canon fodders. Isn't this dungeon is famous since no one managed to clear it? I don’t believe all those hunters got defeated by these weak monsters.” Toru thought out loud, which reflected the thoughts of everyone present. Something was definitely wrong.

“Let’s proceed. We will only know if something is wrong by moving forwards.” Kenshin also felt the gravity of the situation. He had already tried to use the map, but it wasn’t working the way it should. In this place, the map only showed a radius of 100 meters around himself.

[Mutated Hylonumous]

[Lv 45]

[ATK: 50][AGI: 20][DEF: 15]

[Skill]

Frenzy Lv 10

Just before they were all killed, Kenshin had used his system to scan them and discovered pretty interesting things. They were indeed prehistoric animal-based monsters. He researched them before and learned the names of many prehistoric animals that had gone extinct. He had also remembered their strength and weaknesses and their usual habits.

From the look of the things, he might need them in the near future.

As they were walking forwards, not even a few minutes passed when a huge shadow cast upon them. Everyone stopped and looked upwards. What they saw made them nearly piss in their pants. A massive bird was hovering above their heads with a wingspan of several tens of meters. Due to its proximity, they couldn’t see its full body, but everyone’s sure of its ferocious appearance.

“Run!” Someone shouted in the group prompting everyone to take action. They scattered away in an instant to avoid being grabbed by its huge claws.

[Evolved Pteranodon]

[Lv 117]

[ATK: 200][DEF: 50][AGI: 350]

[Skills]

Grab Lv 10 Drill Lv 10 Descend Lv 3

In the meantime, Kenshin scanned the bird and confirmed its strength and weakness. Its agility was higher than its attacking power, which was a common trait found on avian-type monsters.

Boom!!

The claws landed on the ground creating an explosive sound. Seeing that it didn’t manage to catch any prey, the prehistoric bird tried to take off again. That’s how it hunted its prey all this while. It would descend from the sky when its target was least alert and grab it before taking off again. Many birds of prey like eagles, hawks, etc. adopt this form of hunting.

“Douglas, come with me,” Kenshin shouted. How can he let it fly back again? Once it takes off to the sky, they would fall into a disadvantage once again. The speed at which it descends was very fast, leaving them with very little time to prepare. It even had a skill for that.

Kenshin wanted to keep it chained down to the ground and gang up on it with everyone. This was the best strategy to deal with avian monsters.