"Yuu!"
Verdra immediately made a beeline toward my battered body, after I took a clean hit from Jack.
"Cough…cough."
Damn it! It's hurt so freaking much! I wanna cry.
I coughed up blood, the result of my stomach being pummeled, reducing my HP down to under 30%. If I hadn't slowed Jack's punch with my ice barrier, I'd be 100% dead by now.
"Yuu! Are you okay?"
She propped me up by placing her hand beneath my shoulder, her voice filled with worry.
"Of—course not…" My voice came out as a pained groan.
"You won't die, right?"
"Cough— …I'm not—dying here." I ran my fingers through the shop menu and bought two items.
Jack jumped backward several times, putting distance between us until he returned to his first position. He opened his book again and flipped through its pages in rapid succession.
"Here—cough—take this." I handed Verdra an Agility Boosting Potion (High) and bought myself a Healing Potion (High).
Healing Potion (High) had the effect of healing wounds and restored 75% of HP. It couldn't cure illnesses or regenerate severed body parts like the Elixir of Life, but it was far cheaper at only 15k Currencies.
Potions purchased from my shop shared a 10 minute cooldown across all types, including mana and healing potions—except for the Elixir of Life. Even though it was listed under potions category, perhaps because it didn't have "potion" in its name, the cooldown rule didn't apply to it.
Because of those rules, I couldn't just spam stat-boosting potions to gain an unfair advantage—well… just one of was already an unfair advantage, but this was a life or dead situation, who cared about playing fair.
After drinking the healing potion, I wouldn't be able to make use of another potion for 10 minutes—except for the Elixir of Life, that is. But that thing was stupidly expensive, so spamming it was out of the question anyway.
After Verdra and I finished drinking our potions, my wounds were fully healed, and Verdra's Agility was boosted by 75% for the next five minutes.
—————————————————
Name: Verdra (True Dragon)
Agility: 3078 + 2308 (Expires in 300 seconds)
—————————
"I think your Strength is enough to crush him, but he's just too fast. With that boost, you should be fine," I explained.
By the time I finished my explanation, Jack was also done flipping through his book. He pulled out a sword and a—card?
"Verdra, get ready!" I warned, steadying myself.
"Sorry about this, Yuu." She spread her wings without lowering her clothes, ripping through them and leaving fist-sized holes behind.
"Don't worry about it. After our yeti-slaying fest these past three weeks, I could buy you a whole dresser full of school uniforms," I bluffed.
—————————————————
Currencies: 141,480
—————————
If I hadn't been forced to remove her from my party for over two weeks, all the yetis that she killed would've earned me more than 300k Currencies.
Jack raised the hand holding his card high above his head. Suddenly, a massive surge of water burst forth, flooding the room up to just below my ankles.
Once the room was completely flooded, he gripped his sword tight with both hands and thrust it deep into the ground.
"Verdra, fly! And whatever you do, don't touch the water!" I ordered sharply.
"Alright. Hang on tight!" She grabbed my hand and pulled me up into the air.
Just as my feet left the water's surface, a massive burst of lightning crackled through the flooded room, with Jack's sword as its center.
"Woah! That was close!" I blurted out, stunned by the sheer scale of the attack. "Is he immune to lightning or something?!"
That's probably the reason why my Electrokinesis had no effect on him.
Jack's sword crumbled after his large scale lightning attack, he's likely overusing it after it was running out of energy.
"Verdra, now's our chance! Put me down, then go straight for him and do your thing!"
She released my hand and shot herself as fast as a bullet straight toward Jack just as he pulled another sword from his book.
He fights purely with his magic weapons and raw strength… looks like he can't use magic himself.
I landed on the flooded ground and instantly froze the water surface around my feet. Manipulating the ice beneath me, I hovered above the water surface and rushed toward Jack, following Verdra from behind as best as I could.
Verdra's Agility growth potential was ranked SS. Assuming monsters also followed the same stats rules, her Lv352 Agility—boosted by 75%—was now equivalent to at least a Lv616 monster with the same growth potential as her. If their growth potential were lower, she'd be even faster—fast enough to outpace a Lv650-ish monster.
—————————————————
Name: Verdra
Vitality: SSS
Strength: SSS
Intelligence: E
Agility: SS
Dexterity: SS
—————————
*Slash*
In a flash, Jack's right arm was severed cleanly from his shoulder by Verdra's Hellfire slash. Blue flames erupted from the wound as he leapt sideways to distance himself from her. He tried to grab another sword from his book, but just as the hilt was about to come out, his hand froze mid-motion.
From the neck down, his entire body was encased in my ice, unable to move.
With so much water around, this place was practically a paradise for a Cryokinesis enthusiast like me. Still, to immobilize one with his level of physical strength, I had to compress the ice and hold it in place with everything I had.
Aargh… Why'd he so freaking strong?!
—————————————————
Brain Load: 84%
—————————
Verdra, make it quick—but don't kill him yet. I spoke directly into her mind.
"You really like ordering me around with menial tasks!" she shot back straight into my mind.
She halted midair by spreading her wings wide, effortlessly stopping her body from her strong momentum. Dragons really were really terrifying.
Twisting her body, she swung her Hellfire-wreathed sword down, severing Jack's remaining arm. Still airborne, she spun again and sliced through his thighs, leaving him limbless on the water's surface. I immediately froze the water around him just in case.
Verdra landed on the ice platform I'd created.
"Ugh… my head hurts. I'm using too much mana," she grumbled, slumping her shoulders.
—————————————————
Name: Verdra
Mana: 437 / 3430
—————————
"Ahaha… same here—urgh…" I joked, fighting off a migraine of my own.
"What are you going to do with him now?" she asked.
"What else? Killing him, of course."
It took countless slashes, thrusts, and repeated strikes of ice shards before he finally died. Jack had no mouth, so he didn't scream or wail like other monsters. That somehow made him even creepier, though.
Just how in the world Verdra could effortlessly mutilated this guy?
< Cryokinesis Lv5 → Lv6 >
< You have slain a Doppelganger. EXP + xxxx >
< Lv Up x213 >
< Maximum Lv increased to 666 >
< HP and Stamina fully recovered >
< You received 6,660 Currencies >
Suddenly, my vision blurred…
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
When the usual lengthy notifications ended, I found myself standing in a vast white space. No walls. No floor. No ceiling. Nothing but white as far the eyes could see. I didn't even know how I was able to even standing on this nothingness.
Then, someone tugged my shoulder.
"Yo."
A deep voice called out from behind me.
I spun around and leapt back, taking a fighting stance.
"No need to be on guard. I'm not your enemy," the man said.
He was tall—over two meters—with tanned skin, a burly build, and a bald head. Was he just that tall, or was I just too short? I had to crane my neck in a really uncomfortable position just to meet his gaze.
"Who are you?" I asked, not lowering my guard in the slightest.
"Jack," he said simply.
"Jack…? You mean that Jack!? How did you end up as a boss monster?" I bombarded him with questions.
"Yes. That Jack. I didn't become a dungeon boss—that doppelganger just copied my power after defeating me," he replied with a manly smile.
"Th-then where am I? I thought I was already won against him?"
"Haaah…" He sighed. "This is your subconscious realm. I can talk to you because you killed that doppelganger. The fragment of my soul trapped inside him was now freed, thanks to you."
"You're… welcome?" I said awkwardly.
"Lis Vistrich." He suddenly spoke that name with a serious expression.
My face twitched.
"I see. So you're her victim too," he continued.
"Too? So you were a trashed Hero as well?" I asked quietly.
"I was."
"But… they said that the last Hero they had was around two hundred years ago. Is that bitch really that old?"
"She's an elf. Their lifespan is over twenty times that of a human. To her, two hundred years is less than ten for us."
"I see… that makes sense."
Suddenly, Jack's body began to glitch.
"I don't have much time left," he said, looking at his flickering arms. "So I'll be brief. I want you to deliver a proper punishment to that bitch for what she did to us. And please, give her my regards."
He smiled broadly and held out his hand, beckoning for a handshake.
I took his hand. "I will. Even without you asking. I'll make sure she suffer thoroughly, so much so that she'll regret ever being born." A grin spread across my face—one that didn't match the ominous words I'd spoken.
A strange surge of energy flowed into my body through our clasped hands.
"That's my present to you," Jack said. "Hope it helps on your path to get our revenge."
He released my hand as his body glitched violently. "Before I go… can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Who's that red-haired chick you're with? Totally my type."
"Haha. Nice try, big guy. But I'm not giving Verdra to you—not even in a million years," I replied in playfull tone that betrayed my serious face.
"Hahaha! Too bad. why is she so fast, tho?"
"What's your Agility stats rank?"
"B."
"Then you'll never stood a chance."
"Hahaha!" He laughed as his body faded. "That's reassuring to hear. Farewell, Yuu."
"Farewell, Jack."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"…Yuu. Hey, Yuu!" Verdra waved her hand in front of my face.
I straightened up. "What?"
"You were just standing there in silence for a while. You got me worried sick," she said, hands on her hips in relief.
"Hehe. Sorry. I was just having a little chat with Jack."
"Chat? With Jack?" She eyed me skeptically. "Yuu… If my memories served me correctly, he never hit you on the head, are you sure you're okay?."
"Haaah…" I sighed. "I'm fine. He said you were his type, though."
"Not in a million years!" she shot back instantly.
"Yeah. That's exactly what I told him."
"What do you mean?" She tilted her head.
"Don't worry about it. Let me show you instead…" I opened my status page.
—————————————————
Name: Yanagi Yuu (Human)
Skills: Basic Gaming Features | Book of Safekeeping | Draconic Contract (Verdra) | Cryokinesis (Lv6)
———
Book of Safekeeping: A mystical book capable of storing anything.
—————————
*Poof*
"…Here. Take a look."
A floating book appeared before me. It had a plain, wood-colored cover, about 25 cm long and 18 cm wide.
"Woah—wait, isn't that Jack's? So you really talked to him?" Verdra stared in disbelief.
"I told you I did." I squinted at her. "He gave it to me after I somehow freed his soul. It's called the Book of Safekeeping."
"How nice of him. So… what does it do?"
"Hmm, let's see…"
I opened the book through a mental command and took out a card from one of its pages. The card was solidly built, unlike your ordinary trading cards that would bent easily in your fingers. It was slightly smaller than the book itself, so each page could only hold a single card.
I created an ice chunk about the size of my head and brought it up to the card's surface. With my mind, I ordered the card to absorb it—and it did exactly that. Once the ice was fully absorbed, the previously blank card now displayed an illustration of an ice chunk.
"Woah! That's amazing!" Verdra exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.