"Next time, we will kill it in one shot."
Soren didn't have time to indulge in tenderness as he finally managed to lure the Blazing Falcon closer.
"Krrrrrrr...."
Sure enough, a monster was a monster after all. The moment it saw the Golem destroyed and its enemy injured, it charged toward them with unrestrained fury.
Before, it hadn't been able to unleash its full power due to Soren's constant interruptions. That was the only reason that measly Stone Golem had lasted that long.
But now that the annoying fly was injured, it could fully concentrate on pulverizing the entire squad of intruders in a single devastating strike.
"O-Okay..."
The Falcon's piercing roar snapped Sylvia back to her senses as she grasped the gravity of the situation.
In this condition, what she had to do was clear. She rushed to heal Aurelia first, who had been injured trying to protect Soren moments ago.
Only if Aurelia could cast another barrier would they stand a chance of killing this monster. Everything was proceeding according to the plan.
The tiring and monotonous grind inside the F-rank dungeon earlier finally began to show its effect. Even when the situation looked dire, their team moved almost instinctively, working in perfect tandem.
Evan alone drew the aggro of the other Falcon, dragging it away and giving them space to deal with the remaining one.
Meanwhile, Aria used her last Stone Golem and positioned it firmly in front of them, preparing to intercept the incoming attack.
Aurelia poured every last bit of her mana into summoning another Elemental Barrier around them, while Sylvia layered her healing and buff skills over it, strengthening the fragile shield.
They were just rookie hunters, low-level and inexperienced, tackling their very first dungeon together.
Yet their coordination was nothing short of remarkable. Even in such a desperate situation where they were clearly at a disadvantage, they trusted each other and committed to a plan that would have sounded ridiculous to anyone else.
To be honest, Soren felt deeply grateful. And because of that, he absolutely could not afford to let them down.
'System, add my 3 points to Luck.'
He allocated the free stat points to his Luck before calmly taking out an arrow.
He then notched it onto his D-rank bow and drew the string to its very limit, activating Eagle Eyes to lock onto the rapidly approaching Blazing Falcon.
'System, use Gap on Skill: Piercing Shot.'
---
Ding!
[You used your Gap stat on your active skill.]
[Congratulations! The skill, Piercing Shot (A-rank), has evolved by one level into Artemis' Grace (S-rank).]
---
In an instant, Soren felt an overwhelming surge of power as the skill evolved.
His senses sharpened to an uncanny degree, his reflexes became impossibly precise, and even the tension in the air seemed to slow beneath his awareness.
His entire demeanor shifted as his aura rose higher than it had during the practical class, pressing outward.
His 40 points of mana dropped directly to 2, yet his focus remained razor-sharp.
Once again, the arrow on the string, pulsing with mana, glowed with a radiant light more mesmerizing than before, so much so that even the monster before him froze in place.
It looked too graceful, too beautiful.
"Krrrr!!!!"
But the killing intent contained within it was countless times stronger than anything it had experienced before. Only now did it realize what Soren was planning.
Yet it was already too close. Before it could react, Soren released the arrow, aiming straight for its heart.
"Scree-RAAAH!"
Furious, it let out a deafening roar while unleashing everything in its inferno attack, colliding head-on with the arrow.
Unfortunately, the arrow was small and designed for high penetration, while the Falcon's attack was an area-of-effect assault. It went straight through.
While this also meant Soren didn't manage to stop its inferno attack, its concern wasn't that right now.
But rather on the graceful arrow that was so fast that it was right in front of its chest in the blink of an eye.
It couldn't even adjust its flight path before it found itself pierced through its chest…well...almost.
"Krrr..."
Just as the arrow was about to pierce through, the Falcon's chest suddenly hardened into metal.
*Molten Iron Guard!*
A defensive skill of the Blazing Falcon, capable of saving itself in moments of extreme danger.
Truly, as Soren suspected, this monster was incredibly shrewd and highly intelligent. After all this time, it had never once used this defensive ability.
Instead, it toyed with him, dodging his arrows over and over, as if it couldn't afford to be injured, though it could easily block them.
Was this the wisdom of monsters inside the dungeon?
If an E-rank was this cunning, what horrors awaited in D, A, S, or even SSS?
Soren now truly lamented that the game hadn't been descriptive enough about monsters and dungeons.
It just glossed over battles, focusing more on plot than the fight itself.
"Trriiingg!!"
As soon as the Falcon's chest turned to metal, the overwhelming power of the arrow finally struck something worthy.
Yet Artemis Grace was still an S-rank skill after all.
An E-rank monster couldn't possibly block it completely, especially with the amount of mana Soren had poured into it this time.
It would pierce the chest no matter what. Only… it might not kill the Falcon in one shot as Soren had hoped.
Unfortunately, the wrath that would follow after his failure was something they weren't ready for, as they were already struggling to defend against its simultaneous attacks.
However, just then…
---
Ding!
[An Incredible Luck applies.]
[Congratulations! Your invariable stat, Critical Hit, has been activated.]
[The damage dealt to the Blazing Falcon will be doubled.]
---
Soren heard the prompt from his system, finally allowing a smile to spread across his face.
Now he felt that the three points he had put into Luck were completely worth it.
"Krrrr!"
Sure enough, the moment Soren received the prompt, the power of Artemis Grace, struggling against the Iron Guard, suddenly doubled out of nowhere, blinding the monster.
"Swossh!"
Then, unsurprisingly, it pierced straight through the chest, cutting effortlessly through the hard metal like a dart through a balloon, before striking its heart directly.
"Boom!"
All that remained was the beautiful trail of his arrow and the piercing cry of the Blazing Falcon, filled with pain.
"Thud!"
With its heart completely destroyed, it could no longer float above. It fell to the ground, sprawling embarrassingly, its blazing wings slowly dimming as a sign of its true death.
For a fraction of a moment, silence filled the area, broken only by the heavy gasp of Aurelia, blood trickling from her mouth.
To Soren's surprise, she really managed to stop the final attack with her barrier alone, protecting them from injury.
Maybe her pride had been stung by his sacrifice?
---
[You killed an E-rank monster, Blazing Falcon, in one shot!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
---
Soren's trance was abruptly broken by the 'Voice of the World,' making him realize that, for the first time, he had killed a monster from a true dungeon.
Although he relied on his friends for help, he killed an E-rank flying monster that was higher level than him in one shot, even piercing its absolute guard.
To be honest, it was a very admirable feat, even at the Elite Hunter Academy, considering he was just a B-rank archer.
And it seemed the 'Voice of the World' thought so too, as Soren heard another prompt.
---
[Congratulations on killing the E-rank monster with a single shot.]
[You gained title: Falcon Slayer]
[Effect: Increases damage against falcon-type monsters by 10%.]
---
It was a title that dealt extra damage to falcon-type monsters. A good one for this E-rank dungeon, but it wouldn't be very useful once he left.
But Soren wasn't complaining.
"Are you alright?"
...
A/N: Please don't get confused between Soren's System and the "Voice of the World." Soren's system is called the Perverted Harem System, which gives him quests and rewards exclusively, while the 'Voice of the World' is Gaia's system, which everyone is aware of.
I added this mechanic to better express fights and dungeons, since things felt a bit flat without it.
Adios!
Forgetful_Sage[1]
[1] Oh, right, please donate some golden tickets and power stones. You readers are too stingy. I don’t even know if I’m writing this story to a ghost. Show some support, guys!