"That's not good. Could it be the boss?"
"The boss?!"
Instead of being scared, Ella's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Perfect timing! Ethan, got your Heal ready? Watch me one-shot this thing!"
Ella turned to look at Ethan—only to find that he'd already vanished.
She scanned the area and spotted him in the distance, chasing down the fleeing goblins.
His speed was mind-blowing—nothing like a priest's.
To Amy and Ella, he was nothing more than a blur streaking across the mountainside, cutting down goblins left and right.
"He's so strong! Is he really a priest?"
Amy gripped her sword tightly, her worldview shaken to its core.
This display of brute force was more ferocious than any frontline warrior she knew—including herself!
Even with her S-rank Clear Sword Heart talent boosting her speed, she couldn't keep up with him.
"Holy crap—look at that attack power! That speed!"
Ella was equally stunned, comparing his stats to her own.
"He's more of a berserker than I am!"
"Amy, stop gawking! Let's go! If we're too slow, Ethan might solo the boss before we even get there!"
Amy suddenly snapped out of her daze, stared at Ethan's retreating back, and took off in pursuit.
At the mountain peak, the sun blazed brightly overhead.
A three-meter-tall goblin wielding a stone battleaxe was under siege by five figures, who were attacking it from all sides.
Thanks to their relentless assault, the goblin boss's HP bar had been whittled down to one-third.
Just then, disaster struck.
The giant goblin suddenly glowed, and a layer of heavy armor materialized out of thin air, covering its entire body.
Shiny silver metal encased it from head to toe, with only a pair of blood-red eyes visible through the gaps in the helmet.
Even its stone axe was coated in a layer of metal, making it look even more ferocious and deadly.
The goblin boss had undergone an epic transformation!
"Oh no! It's transformed!"
The warrior at the front yelled in alarm, swinging his greatsword instinctively at the boss's newly formed armor.
CLANG!
Sparks flew in all directions.
The powerful impact sent a jolt up the warrior's arm, numbing it completely.
His greatsword left nothing but a faint scratch on the armor, dealing negligible damage.
ROAR!
The goblin boss roared furiously and swung its axe downward.
The warrior gritted his teeth and raised his sword to block—but the force of the blow sent him flying, sword and all.
BOOM!
Dust exploded everywhere as the warrior slammed into the rocky cliff face behind him.The steel greatsword in his hand bent into a terrifying arc.
"Captain!"A girl holding a staff at the back screamed in horror.
"Don't worry about me! Lock it down!"
The warrior struggled to his feet, his expression grim as he stared at the goblin boss—now stronger than ever.
This was wrong!How could it have gotten this powerful so suddenly?!
Moreover, the armor covering the boss's body looked strangely familiar…
But the goblin boss's blood-red eyes locked onto him through the helmet slit, giving him no time to think.
It charged forward, its heavy footsteps shaking the ground beneath its feet.
The metal-coated stone axe dragged along the dirt, scraping against the rocks and sending sparks flying in its wake.
"Vine Bind!"
The nature mage in the party chanted a spell.
Thick, sturdy vines erupted from the ground instantly, coiling around the goblin's legs.
But the goblin merely stumbled for a moment before slamming its armored legs down with all its might.
There was a sickening CRACK as the tough vines were shredded to pieces!
Its charge slowed down slightly—but it only grew angrier.
"It's no good! The control spell isn't holding!"
The nature mage's face turned pale with fear.
"Son of a bitch! Kane! Is this your doing?!"
The warrior suddenly realized something and roared, scanning the surrounding forest for the culprit.
"Well, well, Jason. Color me impressed. You're smarter than you look,"a mocking voice rang out.From the shadows of the nearby forest emerged two figures—none other than Kane and Lilian.
"I was planning to let this goblin finish you off first, then avenge you afterward. How considerate of me, don't you think?"
"You bastard! Using such underhanded tactics!"
Jason barely dodged the goblin boss's next charge, spitting curses at Kane.
"How uncouth,"Lilian sneered, curling her lip in disgust as she looked at Jason.
"We didn't break any rules. You're just too weak to beat the boss—yet you dare blame us for your failure? Such a sore loser. Pathetic."
Jason glared furiously at Kane and Lilian, but there was nothing he could do.
Player vs.
Player combat was strictly prohibited in the newbie dungeon.
Kane buffing the boss was a cheap trick, but it didn't violate any rules.
If Jason's team attacked Kane now, they'd be disqualified the moment they exited the dungeon.
The remaining four members of Jason's team all wore grim expressions, their faces twisted with rage and helplessness.
The boss, now boosted with both defense and attack, stood like an impregnable iron fortress. Their attacks barely scratched its armor, while each of the boss's swings carried a fatal threat.
"Captain, what do we do?! Our attacks aren't working at all!"
The archer in the team loosed arrow after arrow, only to hear them clatter harmlessly off the boss's hide, her voice laced with despair.
"Fall back! Abandon the boss—go kill the minions instead!"
Jason made a split-second decision.
Though seething with resentment, he knew completing the dungeon was more important than pride.
"Too late to run now, isn't it?"
Kane chuckled coldly, activating his S-rank talent—Conceptual Armament—once more to empower the goblin boss.
Since he'd already made an enemy of Jason's team, he might as well finish the job.
If Jason and his crew lingered in the dungeon, they'd likely lurk in the shadows and steal the boss kill.
Kane would never be able to focus on the fight if he had to watch his back for them.
ROAR!
The newly enhanced goblin boss let out a deafening roar, its blood-red eyes locking onto Jason—the first person to attack it.
It hefted its armored stone axe high, the blade whistling through the air as it swung in a devastating horizontal arc.
The strike's range covered every possible escape route for Jason.
His HP bar emptied instantly.
The dungeon's protection mechanism activated, teleporting him out of the battlefield.
Watching their captain get one-shot by the boss, the remaining four team members were plunged into despair and rage.
"Kane! Lilian! You bastards!"
The nature mage girl's eyes glistened with tears, a green glow flickering at the tip of her staff.
"Don't be reckless!" The archer beside her quickly restrained her.
"He's trying to goad us into attacking him! The system will penalize us for breaking the rules!"
The four glared daggers at Kane, but held back their attack—only to be sent flying out of the dungeon one by one by the enhanced boss moments later.
"Tch. All bark and no bite."
Kane scoffed disdainfully, slinging an arm around Lilian's waist.
"Now the coast is clear. Lilian, get ready to deal damage. We're taking this boss's XP and loot."
Lilian's face lit up with admiration.
She raised her holy sword, channeling sacred light to restore Kane's mana.
"You're amazing, Kane. You took care of the competition without even breaking a sweat."
Kane smiled faintly, but didn't rush into battle.
He waited patiently for the enhancement on the boss to fade.
As soon as the timer ran out, the heavy armor vanished without a trace.
The once-arrogant goblin boss suddenly slumped over, its strength drained.
Conceptual Armament (S-rank Talent): You may consume mana to manifest any equipment and empower yourself or others (manifested equipment only has basic stats, which cannot exceed your own).
While equipped with Conceptual Armament, you can trigger a second enhancement, boosting all attributes by 300% for 60 seconds.
Afterward, you gain the "Exhausted" debuff, which prevents you from equipping Conceptual Armament for a period of time.
This talent was truly worthy of its S-rank rating.
Even its most basic enhancement could double a target's stats—and the higher the target's base attributes, the more potent the boost.
If Kane had used Conceptual Armament on himself, he would've stood no chance against Jason's five-man team.
But by channeling it into the boss, he was certain no one in the entire dungeon could defeat it!
Kane cast an Identify spell on the weakened goblin boss.
Goblin Chieftain
Level: 5
Attack: ???
Spell Power: ???
Defense: ???
Skills: ???
"Guess we have Jason to thank," Kane muttered, eyeing the boss's HP bar with surprise.
Without Jason's team whittling it down first, this 10,000-HP boss would've taken the two of them forever to kill.
Even with the boss's HP halved by debuffs, grinding through 5,000 HP would've been a nightmare.
"Let's finish it!"
"Lilian, buff me. We need to take it down fast!"
Kane barked.
A flash of light surrounded him, and a suit of armor materialized out of thin air, followed by a massive greatsword in his hand.
"Right away, Kane!"
Lilian waved her holy sword, bathing Kane in soft sacred light that boosted his attack power and speed.
"The Exhausted debuff won't last long. We have to deal as much damage as possible before it recovers!"
Kane darted forward, charging the goblin chieftain.
He swung his greatsword straight at the boss's head.
-50!
A measly damage number floated above the goblin chieftain's skull.
"Still too much defense!"
Kane frowned, but didn't slow his assault, raining down blows with his sword.
Lilian switched to her offensive skills, firing holy light orbs from a distance.
The damage was even lower, but every bit counted.
The goblin chieftain let out a furious yet feeble roar, struggling to swing its stone axe in retaliation. But in its Exhausted state, its movements were sluggish and full of openings—Kane dodged its attacks with ease.
The battle settled into a steady attrition.
At this rate, they'd wear down the wounded boss long before Kane's mana ran out.
But just as Kane was calculating how much longer the fight would take, disaster struck again!
When the boss's HP dropped to 1,000, it tilted its head back and let out a long, low howl.
"Oh no! It's summoning more goblins!"
Kane's expression darkened, and he quickened his attack speed.
A few extra goblins wouldn't be a problem—but he feared the reinforcements would attract other players to the battlefield.
He couldn't risk someone stealing the kill!
With that thought, Kane immediately transferred Conceptual Armament to Lilian, enhancing her to the maximum.