BOOM!
The explosion threw Sunny backward. He tumbled through the dirt, coughing up dust,.
"Did I... did I kill it?" he wheezed, scrambling to his feet.
He looked through the smoke.
The Iron-Hide War Bear was standing on its hind legs, roaring in fury. A patch of its metallic fur on its chest was scorched black. Sticking out of the burn mark was... something.
[Ding!]
[Fusion Complete!]
[New Monster Created: Pyro-Leech Dagger (Mutant)]
[Grade: Rare (Growth Type)]
Sunny blinked, wiping grit from his eyes. The item he had created by fusing the shell, the fire sac, and the shiv wasn't an item anymore.
It looked like a jagged, red obsidian spike, but it had pulsing veins running along the "blade." At the hilt, tiny magma-colored legs were dug deep into the Bear's flesh.
"It's... eating the Bear?" Sunny squinted.
A blue screen popped up over the weapon.
[Monster Info]
Name: Pyro-Leech Dagger
Attack: 5 (Trash)
Ability: [Plunder] - Slowly absorbs the target's Defense Stat and transfers it to the Host as temporary HP.
Current Status: Feeding.
"Attack is 5?" Sunny yelled, his voice cracking.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!"
The Bear had thousands of Health Points. Doing 5 damage was like trying to kill an elephant with a toothpick.
The Bear swiped at its chest, trying to dislodge the leech, but the thing was dug in tight.
The pain just made the Bear angrier. It locked eyes with Sunny again.
"ROAR!"
It dropped to all fours and charged.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!"
Sunny turned and ran. His Agility was high, but his Mana was empty. His main dps, the Obsidian Spike-Stag, was on cooldown in his ring, recovering from being smashed.
He was running on fumes and dopamine.
He glanced around the arena. It was absolute hell.
To his left, the Twin-Tail Death Stalker (the giant scorpion) was having a buffet. It had grabbed a student with its pincers and was snapping him in half like a KitKat bar.
"I quit! I surrender!" students were screaming, scrambling up the stone walls of the Colosseum.
But the walls were greased with magic. They slipped, sliding back down into the pit of despair.
"Pathetic," a voice boomed.
Sunny looked toward the center. Prince Valerian was standing there, calm as a cucumber. His Sky-Ocean Leviathan hovered above him, looking bored.
The Inferno Lionwas cowering. Every time the Lion tried to roar, the Whale just sprayed a concentrated jet of water that slammed the Lion into the mud.
"Die already," Valerian sighed.
The Whale whipped its tail. The Inferno Lion's spine shattered.
[Ding!]
[System Announcement: Boss 'Inferno Lion' Defeated by Prince Valerian.]
"Show off," Sunny gritted his teeth, dodging a massive paw swipe from the Bear.
The wind pressure nearly took his head off.
The Bear was fast. Too fast. And Sunny's new "weapon" was just ticking away, doing nothing but making the Bear glow slightly red.
[Defense Plundered: +1]
[Defense Plundered: +1]
"Too slow!" Sunny screamed. "I need a meat shield!"
He couldn't do this alone. The Bear's [Metal Skin] negated 80% of damage. He needed someone to distract it while the leech softened it up, or he needed someone with a heavy weapon to crack the armor once it was weakened.
Most people were running away from the Bear. But there was one guy.
A big guy. Massive. He looked like he ate rocks for breakfast. He was cornered against the wall, holding a tower shield. His beast, a Granite Boar, was bleeding out next to him.
"Hey! Big Guy!" Sunny sprinted toward him, leading the Bear right along with him.
The big guy's eyes widened in horror. "Don't bring that thing over here, you lunatic! Fuck off!"
"You want to die here?" Sunny slid to a halt next to him.
"Or you want to kill a Boss?"
"Are you crazy? My Boar is down! I have no offense!" the guy yelled, raising his shield as the Bear thundered closer.
"I have offense!" Sunny lied through his teeth. "But I need a tank to hold it still for ten seconds! Can you hold it?"
The guy hesitated. He looked at the drooling, metallic Bear, then at the slippery walls, then at Sunny's crazy eyes.
"If I die, I'm haunting you!" the guy roared.
"Deal! Name?"
"Gorn!"
"I'm Sunny! Brace yourself!"
The Iron-Hide War Bear arrived. It didn't care about their conversation. It reared up and brought both paws down in a hammer smash.
"Shield Wall!" Gorn shouted.
He slammed his tower shield into the dirt. A faint yellow aura flared up.
The impact was terrifying. The ground cracked. Gorn's knees buckled, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood. The shield groaned, spiderweb cracks appearing on the surface.
"I... can't... hold it... long!" Gorn wheezed, his face turning purple.
The Bear raised its paws for a second strike.
"Now!" Sunny screamed.
He didn't attack the Bear. He jumped on Gorn's shield, used it as a stepping stone, and vaulted onto the Bear's back.
The Bear thrashed, trying to shake him off like a flea.
Sunny grabbed the handle of the Pyro-Leech Dagger that was still stuck in the Bear's chest.
"Drink, you ugly bastard!"
He poured his last remaining drop of Stamina into the weapon. The Leech pulsed violently.
[Ability Triggered: Accelerated Plunder!]
[Warning: Weapon Durability decreasing!]
The Bear howled. The metallic sheen on its fur began to dull.
[Defense Plundered: +50]
[Target Defense Reduced by 30%]
"Gorn! Hit the knees!" Sunny shouted, hanging on for dear life as the Bear bucked like a rodeo bull.
"With what? My fists?" Gorn yelled.
"Yes! Use your head if you have to!"
Gorn roared, dropping his shield. He wrapped his massive arms around the Bear's left leg.
"Earth Tremor!"
Gorn channeled his mana into the ground. It wasn't a strong spell, just a basic Tier 1 skill, but with the Bear's defense lowered by the Leech, it worked.
The ground shifted, trapping the Bear's leg. The beast stumbled, falling to one knee.
"It's working!" Sunny grinned savagely.
Sunny pulled his hand back just in time. The teeth grazed his arm.
[HP: 85/100]
"Too close," Sunny hissed.
He looked at the Leech Dagger. It was glowing bright red now, almost white-hot. It was full.
[Plunder Complete. Weapon Charge: 100%]
[Next Attack will deal Explosive Damage.]
"Finally!"
Sunny ripped the Leech Dagger out of the Bear's chest. A spray of black blood followed. The Bear screamed.
"Gorn, get back!" Sunny warned.
He flipped the dagger in his hand. The "tick" legs retracted, and the blade solidified into a jagged edge of pure fire mana.
"Open wide."
Sunny jammed the dagger into the base of the Bear's neck, right where the armor plates met. It sank in deep.
"Detonate!"
A muffled explosion erupted inside the Bear's neck.
The massive beast stiffened. Smoke poured out of its mouth and nose. Its eyes rolled back into its head. Then, slowly, like a falling building, it toppled over. The ground shook one last time.
[Ding!]
[Boss Defeated: Iron-Hide War Bear]
[Contribution: Sunny (60%), Gorn (40%)]
[EXP + 500]
[Ding!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[You are now Level 6!]
Sunny slid off the carcass, landing in the mud. He was covered in soot, blood, and bear slime. He felt amazing.
Gorn collapsed next to him, panting like a dying fish.
"We... we actually killed it," Gorn whispered, staring at the corpse in disbelief. "We killed a Tier 2 Boss."
Sunny checked his loot notifications.
[Loot: Iron-Hide Core (Rare)]
[Loot: Bear Paw (Material)]
He stood up, his legs shaky but his spirit high. He looked over at the center of the arena.
Prince Valerian was watching him. The bored expression was gone. Now, there was a flicker of curiosity in those blue eyes.
"Not bad," Valerian mouthed.
Sunny spat blood on the ground. "Fuck you, Princey. I'm just getting started."
Suddenly, the last Boss the Twin-Tail Death Stalker screeched. It had finished eating the random students and was now looking for dessert.
It turned its multiple eyes toward Sunny and Gorn.
Gorn groaned. "Please tell me you have another explosive dagger."
Sunny checked his inventory.
Pyro-Leech Dagger (Broken/Recharging).
Obsidian Spike-Stag (Repairing: 2 minutes left).
Balanced Iron Shiv (Lost inside the fusion).
"Nope," Sunny grinned, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the Low-Tier Beast Ring he stole from Bolton. "But I have a lot of EXP."
He looked at the giant scorpion.
"Hey Gorn."
"Yeah?"
"Ever wonder what happens if you fuse a Scorpion Boss with a dead Bear?"
Gorn looked at him like he was the devil himself.
"Bro, what is wrong with you?"
"Everything," Sunny laughed, his eyes glowing with the System's light. "Cover me. I need to go shopping."
[Ding!]
[Shop Unlocked!]
[Welcome, Host. Would you like to spend your Credits?]
Sunny ignored the Scorpion charging at them. He opened the holographic store interface right there in the middle of the battlefield.
"Time to pay to win."