Things didn’t exactly happen as Kaiden expected them to. The warthog’s hide and skull were so strong that the monster sustained their clash without getting injured. According to his logic, its brain should’ve been pierced by his axe’s spear-like end by now.
Since no such event occurred, Kaiden now found himself in a mighty power struggle against a wild monsterized beast. The razor warthog glared at him with eyes full of fury, using its robust muscles to push him back. Kaiden’s grip tightened around his axe’s handle as he met the monster’s challenge head-on.
"Gh!" he grunted from the physical exertion while gritting his teeth. His muscles ached, and multiple veins of his popped.
While this was going on, three pairs of eyes stared at him wryly. ’Men...’ the ladies thought in sync.
"You...! Win....!" Kaiden decreed with much difficulty before pulling his weapon back and stepping out of its way. The warthog monster resumed its charge, but no one was in front of it. Kaiden snickered at the dumb monster as he raised his axe high above his head and brought it down. "[Doom Strike]!"
He hit the charging boar in the behind because it had already shot past him. A guttural, pained cry erupted from the beast before it started limping.
Its fight-or-flight response kicked in as it started running for the woods visible in the distance. "I don’t think so..." Kaiden muttered with hungrily burning red eyes, dashing after his prey. Another two hits did the job.
[You’ve slain a razor warthog (Level 1). You’ve gained 30 XP.]
This was the standard way one could tell the level of their enemy. More experienced combatants could also estimate the level of their opponent from contextual clues or the strength and abilities displayed while fighting. Some artifacts and spells were also capable of measuring enemy strength, but none were as transparent and convenient as the system. Kaiden just had to look at the monsters, and the level was displayed immediately. Sadly, it didn’t work on humans.
Nearly a thousand viewers saw the killing taking place in real time. The chat spurred awake as messages of congratulations came rushing in, though a lot were also diminishing the achievement, saying this was just a beginner dungeon and a dumb beast-type monster at that. A fight rapidly ensued between a few chatters.
The dead monster bled profusely like a normal creature, but upon its death, it started losing color and became hollow before disappearing completely. Dead monsters were despawned while inside the dungeons. If a dungeon break occurred, meaning the monsters left the dungeon’s dimension and entered Earth, or they were dragged out alive, monster corpses would remain.
"I think I’m going to puke," Aria announced with a matter-of-fact tone. Her face was pale due to the brutality of Kaiden’s method of killing the creature.
Strangely, Kaiden himself felt nothing, as if what he’d done was completely normal. He didn’t know if he should be concerned by his lack of disgust and concern, but honestly, Kaiden was happy not having to face such issues.
Nyx had a similar reaction to him. She was technically training to become an awakened for a decade, and she was also a Scarlet fangirl who saw numerous videos featuring her burning monsters alive, so she was very prepared mentally.
Luna was in the middle of the two ends; she felt discomfort but was good to go.
"Here’s some sugar. It’ll help," Kaiden said while approaching his gorgeous Moon Valkyrie after grabbing a chocolate bar from his backpack. The group brought some essentials with them, ready to combat the most common challenges awakened face in dungeons.
"I want a hug instead!" Aria decreed and, without waiting for a response, dove into his embrace.
While the pair needily hugged each other, Nyx approached Luna. "I can’t help but notice that the princess has been very actively occupying Kai’s attention recently."
"You don’t need to tell me... The princess is scared, sure, but she’s overplaying it. Kaiden, as expected, fell for her act—hook, line, and sinker."
"What do you plan to do?" Nyx inquired curiously.
Luna shrugged her shoulders dismissively. "Nothing. I’m not such a needy person to stoop this low to get his attention. I’ll just slay some monsters and out-level the princess before long."
"Playing the long game, huh? Smart."
"Are you okay?" Kaiden asked as he lay a kiss on top of Aria’s head. She slowly detached herself from his arms and nodded while looking up at him with teary eyes. "Yes, thank you... I’m sorry."
"Don’t worry about it. You’ll get used to it before long."
The silver-haired girl nodded once again, and the group moved along.
"Oh, what a beautiful animal!" Aria squealed with wonder as two large, majestic deer-like monsters became visible in the far distance.
<Overgrown Stag - Level 1>
<Overgrown Stag - Level 2>
"I’m afraid we’ll be killing them..." Kaiden replied wryly to Aria’s innocent exclamation.
She eyed the gorgeous creatures with a pained gaze before steeling her resolve. These were monsters that would attack them until either party died. There was no such thing as a pacifist monster unless they were intelligent. Elves, for example, were well-known for not attacking unless one ventured deep into their territories, and even then, they often gave a warning before attacking. In this dungeon, there were no intelligent creatures—each monster was instinctively out for human blood.
"Let’s work together to bring them down," Nyx whispered as they all started sneaking closer.
"Yes, you and Aria should start this scuffle off with a ranged attack," Luna agreed.
"What’s your range?" Nyx asked, but Aria, of course, didn’t know. She had never shot her spell before as she had no chance to. "Ah, yes, sorry. Mine is relatively short, we’ll have to move closer," Nyx added once she recognized her mistake.
As the squad got closer and closer, it quickly became apparent why these beasts were called overgrown; they were twice as large as normal stags out in the wilds. Nyx’s plan was foiled when the monsters became aware of their presence even before they reached the halfway point of her range. "Aria, aim calmly and shoot one of them," Kaiden instructed as he stood from his crouched position, readying his axe.
The stags immediately started charging at them. Luna put her two arms forward while making a grabbing motion as if she had a transparent blade in her hand, and then intoned her Storm Valkyrie spell. "[Stormblade]!"
*zzzt-CRACK!*
A soft sizzle marked the arrival of her spell before a loud crack of lightning reverberated all across the battlefield. It sounded incredibly threatening.
A blade of constantly convulsing energies materialized in her hand. Luna flinched and almost dropped it but managed to hold things together. Her fright was understandable, as miniature lightning strikes constantly went off in the miniature storms surrounding her blade. Despite the blade being of hostile elements, it didn’t injure its rightful holder. Luna’s surprise quickly turned into gleeful satisfaction. This was a badass spell for a badass girl like her, a perfect match, she thought. These violent energies would help her slay her enemies.
"[Telekinesis]." Nyx was a lot more practiced because her spell could be used in a civilian setting. As such, she diligently trained ever since getting her class. She used her mental powers to grab her dagger from its sheath and aim it at the charging beasts. It floated in the air seamlessly.