Creak….
Rattle…..
The bones of Kulum, The Forgotten rattled ominously after the devastating blow, the Boss taking a few steps back to create distance, it's bony hand unconsciously drifting to it's damaged ribcage.
Mira's eyes sharpened with focus as she surveyed the damage, cracks adorned it's ribs, threatening to break, a smirk formed on her lips as an idea formed in her mind.
'This boss is strong, it's fast too, and it's defense is quite strong, but that one attack definitely confirmed something,' A dark glint danced in her eyes as she brought her arms to her sides, her [Claws Of Despair] Skill glowing bright in the night as she stared down her opponent.
The fiery orbs of Kulum met her purple ones in a silent clash.
'With [Grave Robber], I stand a far better chance of winning this!' Mira thought to herself as she charged forward, initiating the attack. For an E-Rank Boss, it was definitely a step above the rest.
Bosses were commonly dealt with in groups, as it was obvious that a singular E-Rank Hunter had no hope of defeating an E-Rank Boss, even if that E-Rank was at it's peak ability, the gap in strength was just too great to ignore.
Her feet pounded against the dirt as she rushed in, her claws rapidly slashing at Kulum as the Boss met her ferocity with it's own, raising it's giant rusted sword to meet her claws.
SLASH!!!
CLAW!!!
CLANG!!!
The battle resumed once more, with both Mira and Kulum giving it their all to tear each other apart. Every missed slash from Kulum split the ground and made the earth tremble, and every claw strike from Mira, the ones she could hit at least, dealt enough damage to push the Boss back and keep it on it's toes.
'Now that I think about it, what rank is this Boss, and in turn, me?' She thought to herself, she knew that from the moment she had Awakened, that she was E-Rank. It was obvious with how much she struggled to perform a singular push-up back in the hospital, and it was even more obvious after she had been struggling to kill her first few Skeletons.
But after she kept leveling up, it became easier slowly, and eventually she got so strong where E-Rank monsters weren't even a threat to her anymore. She could already tell by that evidence that she had outgrown the realm of E-Rank, and that she was probably in D-Rank territory as of now.
She could move faster, hit harder, and endure more than the average E-Rank could.
Kulum, the Boss of the supposedly E-Rank Dungeon was different, even after leveling up to the point where E-Rank no longer bothered her, it was still a challenge, it's raw strength and speed dwarfed hers, and the only grace she had to defeat it was a title she had conveniently earned in the Dungeon.
She knew that without it, Kulum's name would probably have glowed in red, and then she would have been completely outmatched.
'I suppose I'm grateful for that I guess.' She thought to herself, her eyes widening as a monstrous shriek escaped the Boss's Skull. The air bursting from Kulum as Mira took a step back, gritting her teeth as she felt the air become heavy, her sense stat picking up on the Boss's increasing wrath and power.
!!!
her eyes narrowed as she dodged another slash from the Boss, it's ferocity increasing as it dashed behind her and delivered a swift kick to her back, sending her crashing through the ground.
[-65 HP]
[HP: 177/540]
Cough! Cough!
Mira coughed as she was surrounded by a thick cloud of dust, pain registering in her back as she struggled to pull herself off the ground, her vision obscured by the thick dust permeating the field.
"Damn bastard, looks like it's still hiding some power left. I genuinely hope he doesn't have a Skill, if so, I'm totally screwed!" She muttered to herself, her eyes scanning the field as tried looking for the Boss's presence, only to find it had completely vanished, a bad feeling rushing up her spine.
'Where the hell did he go?' Mira thought to herself, panic rising up in her chest.
WHOOSH!!!
GLEAM!!!
Her ears twitched as she felt the slightest ray of the moon piercing through the dust, her eyes widening in shock as she shot her gaze up to the sky, where Kulum's body was suspended high in the air, sword raised high and drawn back for maximum force exertion.
"Shit!!!" Mira cursed loudly as she watched Kulum rapidly start plummeting towards her, leaping out of the way as the Boss monster crashed at her position, a second where she was just at.
CRASH!!!!
The ground split under the force of the strike, the blade cleaving through the dirt to create a massive crack that sent dust and dirt splattering everywhere, the purple haired woman's eyes glancing at the Boss, seeing an opening to strike.
"You damn asshole!" Mira roared as she used her [Claws Of Despair] to slash at the Boss, Kulum's fiery orbs burning as they dodged the attack, taking a step back and studying her movements closely, the intelligence the Boss showed scaring Mira a bit as she had never seen, or heard E-Rank monsters act so intelligently.
'What the hell is up with this dungeon, it's difficulty is way higher than what it advertised! Creepy skeletons, freaky ass spiders, and now a bone-head with a brain too!?' Mira thought to herself, a vein popping at the side of her head in pure annoyance, but she pushed that aside and rushed forward once more.
She raised both her arms, preparing to use a double clawed attack that would deal great damage and allow her to finish the fight, pouring all her strength into it as she aimed her attack at Kulum's Skull, bright streaks of light flashing towards it.
CLAW!!!!
WHOOSH!!!
SNAP!!!
"H-Huh?" Mira's eyes widened as her attack was stopped, her claws mere inches from Kulum's head as the monster caught her wrists in one of it's bony hands. Before she could react, Kulum slammed it's Skull against Mira's, a sharp pain blooming over her face as she was knocked backward.
[-42 HP!]
[HP: 135/540]
'Damn…my head…I can feel my ears ringing from that attack, fuck….' Mira thought to herself, her hands coming to instinctively clutch at her face, a pained groan escaping her lips.
Taking advantage of her distraction, Kulum charged forward once more, tackling Mira straight into a tree on the edge of the clearing, a pained choke escaping her lips before an excruciating pain flared up at her stomach.
STAB!!!