I certainly didn’t expect the boss to be like this.

I bought detailed information on this creature for twenty points, as I was interested in knowing more about it.

[Chimera](Uncommon)

Level: 75

This is a Chimera that’s still in the stage of growth; an adolescent.

These creatures aren’t commonly seen nowadays, but they started appearing in great numbers in the wild a couple of millennia ago.

They might seem ugly, but they were designed by a certain scientist with efficiency in mind. They take all the strengths of the monsters that they were made of, and the result is spectacular.

Their main drive is curiosity; to understand the world and themselves. Don’t mistake them for adorable creatures; if you face a Chimera, the battle won’t end until one of you dies!

That explains its small size! And its strength too.

I retreated a couple of steps backward, making some distance between myself and my foe. I didn’t know much about its skillset, so a ranged battle was my best bet for now.

I hope this works, as I want to move to the next boss quickly.

The Chimera stood unmoving, as if unaware of my sudden movements. I pointed my finger toward the ugly monster to use [Burn that Invader!].

Suddenly, the Chimera disappeared from its place in a blur and my attack struck the ground. I was startled by its reaction, as it moved as soon as I raised my finger.

It might have strong instincts or a skill that predicts danger.

I kept walking around the battlefield at a slow pace, focusing my senses on the surroundings. [Flawed State of Being] was the only skill that helped in such a situation, but I felt that it was good enough. It allowed me to visualize my immediate surroundings in a three-dimensional manner, without any blind spots. Its only problem was its small range of two meters, but that would improve as it levelled up.

Suddenly, I felt tingles throughout my whole body. The feeling wasn’t something that I experienced usually, but I recognized it immediately.

A great danger is creeping behind me.

As soon as I started turning my head, I felt something entering [Flawed State of Being]’s perception field. I wasn’t able to turn my head toward it fast enough, but I could tell that it was roughly the same size as a house cat.

Again?

The boss’s speed was incredible and it managed to strike me swiftly before it disappeared. My reaction was faster than the first time which caught me unprepared, so I was able to mitigate the damage. I momentarily increased the temperature of my flames to two thousand Kelvin before the monster headbutted my back. My stats skyrocketed, and the impact caused me to lose one hundred HP.

I could’ve used [Plasmic Torch], but the temperature of pure plasma would’ve destroyed my equipment instantly. There weren’t any suitable locations to hide the bag of holding, thus I didn’t want to risk my bag of holding. I also didn’t like how it affected my thoughts, so I kept it as one of my last options.

My items are in worse shape already, two thousand Kelvin flames are no joke.

Still, I was more satisfied with my performance, as I was already adapting. My defenses were much better, and my HP has already regenerated one hundred points at this point.

Thankfully, the creature touched my burning body long enough for it to catch flame.

The flames will deplete its mana in no time.

I didn’t know whether its high speed was due to magical skill or due to its special physique, and this was my chance to find out.

I moved around the battlefield as fast as I could, and the creature followed me at a similar pace to mine. A stranger would’ve thought that the chimera was a cat playing around with its master, but they couldn’t be farther from the truth.

It took more than a couple of minutes for the flames to extinguish on their own, which meant that the Chimera had a large mana capacity. Two thousand Kelvin flames consumed one hundred and forty mana per second, which meant that the creature had at least twenty thousand mana!

This little thing is horrifying! I need to do something about it right away.

Now that the creature had no mana, it became more ferocious. Its speed increased even further, and the creature seemed intent on killing me. I ran around the battlefield; my natural agility and [Light Steps] allowed me to keep a fair distance from that killing machine, but I had to take the initiative in the battle.

Time was ticking, and I already wasted a lot of it on tackling the temple. I wanted to be the first to clear the tutorial, and the only way for me to do that was to defeat all the three area bosses before anyone else.

I had two powerful skills to rely on in such a situation; [Shut-down] and [Plasmic Torch]. The former allowed me to be nearly invincible when I combine it with [It’s fine], but it had a very long cooldown. The latter was somewhat problematic, and I didn’t want to overuse it before finding a countermeasure against the negative thoughts that it induced.

I guess I have to use that ability after all.

I sighed and took off all my equipment, putting them all inside my bag of holding. I threw it upward as hard as I could, as I suspected that my opponent would destroy it if I left it on the ground. The bag flew with great speed, and the chimera kept its eyes on it until it disappeared behind the purple gases above us.

I grinned, and it squinted its eyes at the sight of my facial expression.

“[Plasmic Torch]!” I shouted. The boss looked startled and tried to run away, but I was faster.

I flew toward the monster, closing the distance in less than a second. Everything looked sluggish, including the creature’s reaction. Its eyes changed their target from my old location to my current one, but the movement seemed to be in slow motion.

I envisioned a spear of plasma extending from my body toward the creature with the highest possible speed.

The attack skewered the boss smoothly, and it managed to destroy one of its eyes on the way. The Chimera struggled and tried to free itself, but to no avail. I attacked it with two more plasma spears from different directions, and they were enough to kill it as it fell to the ground.

This is true power! I can’t believe how weak I was in my humanoid form.

I noticed the new thoughts that I was getting, and I wasn’t happy about them at all. I immediately turned off the skill and went back to my regular form. I looked up, waiting for my bag of holding to drop to the ground. I caught it smoothly, and I was glad that it fell straight down instead of somewhere else.

Such a feat is possible thanks to [Flawed State of Being] and my hobby as a baseball pitcher!

My joy didn’t last too long, as my mood plummeted immediately.

I felt truly powerless compared to my past transformation, and the difference was staggering. I already knew that the skill was my second most powerful offensive option, but the more I used it the bigger my dependence on it became.

I would’ve bought a mental resistance skill with my current points, but they weren’t enough for the skill that I had in mind. Besides, I had too many things that I needed to buy, and some of them were more crucial than such a skill.

I shrugged off the thoughts and took a look at the screens that appeared in front of me.

[Chimera] (Uncommon) (Level 75) defeated! Host earned 5100000 EXP.

-Host levelled up x2!

-Host reached Level 64! 8 MAG, 8 END, and 24 free stat points acquired.

[Flame-N-Go] levelled up x1! It reached level 19.

[It’s fine!] levelled up x1! It reached level 19.

[Burn that Invader!] levelled up x1! It reached level 15.

[Flawed State of Being] levelled up x2! It reached level 11.

[Plasmic Torch] levelled up x2! It reached level 9.

[Light Steps] levelled up x2! It reached level 18.

This creature was trickier to fight than the Hydra! I wonder how powerful it would’ve become if it grew up.

The EXP that I gained was less than usual for a monster of such a high level, but I had no right to complain. I equipped my belongings after mending them with my new wand and took a look at my gains.

“Status screen,” I said.

Host: Jason Stubbs

HP 900/900 (1 HP/440 seconds)

Class: Living Crematorium

Mana 3200/3200 (10.33 mana/1 second)

Level 64: 375450/2970000

Stat Points: 292

STR: 22 (+7)

VIT: 170

DEX: 22 (+7)

AGI: 31 (+14)

MAG: 320 (+30)

END:451 (+10)

Class Skills:

General Skills:

[Flame-n-Go]: Level 19

[Zoom]: Level 2

[It’s fine!]: Level 19

[Shut-Down]: Level 2

[Burn That Invader!]: Level 15

[Light Steps]: Level 18

[Kill Them Before They Spread!]: Level 14

[Shadow Assimilation]: Level 10

[Dismantle]: Level 5

[Plasmic Torch]: Level 9

[Flawed State of Being]: Level 11

If everything goes well, I’ll have enough free stat points to invest them in a new stat. I remember that new stats became available in the shop as soon as we finished the tutorial, and there are some interesting stats that I need.

I walked toward the Chimera. Its corpse wasn’t as damaged as I thought it would be, but it still had six holes in its body.

“Now, what will this little monster give me as loot?” I said as I used [Dismantle] on the corpse.

*

“Alright, Stella! The Cerberus is down, two more bosses to go.” hollered Igor. His great sword was stuck inside the Three-headed hound’s corpse, and his face was smeared with its blood.

“Why can’t I have a weapon for fuck’s sake!” replied Oleg, “All I can do is to protect such an airhead as he wreaks havoc.”

Stella started looking at Oleg with a cold stare, and the poor adolescent realized his mistake as he fumbled for a suitable reply.

“O..Of course, it’s an h..honor of m..mine to protect the Maiden of Ice!” he said apologetically.

The taller guy started laughing at his comrade’s embarrassing situation, then he asked Stella; “So, what should we do now, boss?”

Stella gave Igor a piercing gaze when he said the last word; she didn’t like to be called a boss. However, she brushed it off quickly.

“The sponsors said that we should increase our pace, as a competitor has appeared,” replied Stella, “I believe you can tell the identity of our rival.”

“If I had to guess, then the Jason Stubbs fellow seems like a potential candidate,” Igor looked serious for a moment, unlike his usual self, before he added, “No, I am sure it’s him! He has such a cool class name!”

“I know right!” said Oleg, “Living Crematorium just hits different! Unlike Heavenly Shield Hero, it seems like I am some kind of wanna-be hero.”

“We are supposed to be heroes,” said Igor, “Right, Stella?”

“Of course, we weren’t allowed to tell anyone, but the Great Church entrusted us with a noble mission,” replied Stella, “We need to save humanity from itself, and we have to be the strongest for that to happen.”