The ground trembled as the Ruby Lion fell on the ground with a loud thud. Bits of red crystals came flying out of its body. It struggles to stand on four. I pulled back and out of habit started doing the spear stance that I always do whenever I was about to start practicing. I spun it above my head before it sharply stopped on my left hand with its tip pointed to the ground. Just like what Kliron said, I wait for the paws of the Red Lion to glow.
I said to myself that the moment that either of them started changing its color I would immediately start hitting it. The left paw started glowing, true to what Kliron said.
I hit the left paw and cancelled the Claw Attack, but before I could even recover my position the Lion slashed again with its right claw.
That’s two now.
The hair on its neck rose and it immediately snapped at me, aiming for my head!
What? I thought Kliron said that it has to cast three Claw Attack to activate the Bite.
“Idiot! Couldn’t you count? The last Claw Attack was the third one, the first one was before you threw it in the air.”
In normal circumstances, I wouldn’t let someone who called me an idiot pass without so much as breaking one of their bones. But this is different! I am facing a Lion who, right at this moment, is about to cast another Claw Attack. I have no time to deal with it.
I dodged to the left, its sharp claws just barely missing. I immediately spun to hit the right claw that started glowing. This time I once again canceled the skill.
“Don’t do so many unnecessary movements. You keep spinning repeatedly. Focus on your goal and just casually hit the glowing paw,” Kliron shouted from above
I gritted my teeth, “why would you call this casual? There’s no casualness in this.”
I hit the paw, I looked up and immediately slammed the butt of my spear on the Lion’s head, cancelling its Bite Skill.
“You’re too tense. Remember the cooldown? Each Claw Attack has a 3 seconds cooldown, so if the left was first to attack then it means that the next would be the right one. What we need is for you to cancel every attack and not dodge them!”
I inhaled and watched closely, my spear moved immediately and hit the left paw. I changed my position and the moment the right paw started glowing I hit it. Then hit the head.
After Kliron said that little information that I forgot, I immediately got what I needed to do. On the first set of Claw and Bite Skills, I just moved casually just like what Kliron said. But slowly, I started coming back to my habit of spinning and gliding my spear all around my body. But for me, using those ‘unnecessary movements’, as Kliron had called it, had made things easier for me. Before I could know it, I was already going head-to-head with the Ruby Lion.
Kliron jumped from above and rushed forward and slammed his sword on the Lion's chest. The Ruby Lion tumbled above like a discarded toy.
Kliron ran and immediately Dash on the falling Ruby Lion, before it could even fall on the ground he immediately hit it once again, putting the Lion once again in the air in complete helplessness. The Lion claws were slashing midair as if it was trying to swim in the water that I couldn't see.
“Hit!” Kliron shouted. It was then I noticed that his Energy Bar had depleted to almost nothing. I jumped and Dash forward. The right paw started glowing. I raised my spear midair. I planned to do an attack where the impact of my fall would create much more force than my usual attack. My spear hit the right paw just in time before the skill casting could be completed. The Lion roared.
“That action… it causes too much energy,” I said as I hit the Ruby Lion.
“Yes, it was supposed to be an action to activate a skill. But since we still didn’t learn any skills, I have to compromise," Kliron said.
We continue our strategy for the next few minutes. I continued preventing the lion from doing any move while Kliron tossed it every time his Energy Bar was full, slowly pushing it towards the space between two trees.
But this strategy was very tiring, I noticed that my coordination was slowly breaking. My Energy Bar also couldn’t keep up on how fast I was stopping the Ruby Lion from attacking.
"My green cannot keep up," I said as I followed behind him after he tossed the Lion in the air.
"What green?" He said as he slammed the tip of his sword in the enemies mouth.
"The one for energy," I said.
Kliron glanced at me and nodded.
"Yeah it is," he said.
"What should we do?"
After not answering for a few minutes.
"We have to throw it faster on the tree before your Energy reaches its limit… I’ll try tossing it three times in the air.”
I nodded and stared at the Health of the Ruby Lion. It has still 1/2 of its original life. I immediately felt tired seeing that we are still nowhere from finishing it. I sighed and that was a mistake, because the Lion had realized that it was an opening. It immediately struck with its right claw and snapped its mouth at me. I pulled back and hit the glowing right paw immediately. Stopping the Claw Attack from completing its casting.
"What are you doing? You think it would end just because it reached its limit," he said. I immediately felt ashamed when he had saw through me, because I really thought that it would be much easier if Boss' health was at its end.
"We have to be more wary when it reach its Critical State," he said
"Why?" I spun the spear over my head and slapped the pointed tip on its face.
"Usually mob like this, have some tricks in their sleeve-"
"They have sleeves?" I interrupted.
Kliron grunted in annoyance. "Shut the fuck up!"
I just can’t help but to interject. Well, suffice it to say that Grandpa just can’t help but to be annoying.
"This crystal lion would pull a stunt like faster attack speed or higher attack in the last 15% of their life," he said. "Mobs like this are more dangerous when they're dying."
“So we have to put this lion on that tree before it reaches the Critical State,” he said as he tossed the Lion in the air. One time, Two Times.... Three! As I followed him from behind I just can’t help but to felt amazed at how efficiently Kliron handles the mob in the air.
Ah the strength of youth!
I know he might probably be older than me. I lowered my body and spun with the spear pointed outward, making me look like a spinning ball with a pointed horn. It hit the Lion’s legs and made him lose its balance. How poor and sad. The Lion had become a joke.
The Lion is now much closer to the two trees. Kliron slammed his sword, tossing the Lion in the air one more time. I thought he would just do what he usually does. Waiting below for the Lion to fall and hit it once again. But instead Kliron jumped and raised his sword midair. He slammed it on the Lion’s calf who's also struggling in the air. The contact had made the bits of crystal fly out from its skin. While the Ruby Lion flew straight towards the two trees.
I Dash and immediately hit the glowing paw. Suddenly the body of the Ruby Lion glowed, from its crystal body I could see something like moving water that looks similar to a hot lava.
It had reached its Critical State.
“Its movement becomes much faster and crude, as if all it cares about is to kill me!
“Hold!” Kliron shouted, from the side I glanced at him and saw that his Energy was still replenishing.
I gritted my teeth and continued stopping the Claw Attacks, but since this Lion was much faster I was really having a hard time. Some skills I just dodge since I do not have the time to catch on to its casting speed.
Kliron jumped and immediately cut the two trees. It crashed on the Lion. Still it continues to struggle from being pressed by the two giant trees.
"Now!" Kliron said.
I jumped back and Kliron moved to the front. and hit the Lion on the face. From here I could see that the Lion was still struggling to get up and the tree was just barely holding!
I Dash and strike as he did. I still continued cancelling the skills of the Ruby Lion making it hard for it to stand and escape the two trunks of trees.
I was really amazed that time as I observed his fast movements. I know this was nothing like how I moved, I am just faster than normal, but Kliron, his movements are more precise.
I raised my spear and started swinging it from left to right. The wind around me hissed as I cut through them. As soon as the tip of my spear hit the side of the lion, bits of red crystal flew in the air.
My Energy had already refilled its half. I continuously hit the lion. On the last bits of its Health, I pulled back and jumped towards the Lion. As my body dashed downward I roared. Yes I do it, and how shameful it is to remember after we brought down that Ruby Lion.
The spear pierced the lion from the back, it arched upwards and roared. Its body slowly breaks into thousand pieces of glowless crystals.
A piece of rock with red and blue crystals poking from a black rock was dropped. It looked like a diamond ore.
A message appeared in front of us announcing our level. I reach level 4 with almost little exp before level 5. While Kliron had reached level 4 with still much exp to put in.
We both smiled at one another. And then we hear the familiar female voice resonating around the quiet forest.
[ SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT: Congratulations! to Promised’Desolation and Kliron The Guard for defeating Mysterious Boss Ruby Lion. ]
