He rushed in. The gorilla’s size kept getting bigger as he came closer. Once it finally grasped that someone had entered its lair, it moved. The gorilla had only taken a step forward; initially Han slowed down in case he was seen taking the gorilla’s left and still being a decent ways back. The metal mace rang in a baritone pitch as it fell onto the rocky ground. It had stood up on its legs. Its height nearly doubled, maybe 4 meters tall or more. The behemoth didn’t stop there.

  The well-crafted helmet allowed its jaw to move whilst still being covered, giving it the opportunity to do what gorillas were known for. Hit after hit, the gorilla kept hitting its own metal chest plate. The loud ringing pierced Han’s head; he couldn’t even hear its guttural warning shouts anymore and got to a point where the banging didn’t have any downtime. It turned into a constant high-pitched hum that burrowed between his ears, begging to overpower any other winkling of sound. Stirring everything up along the way.

  Somehow, he smiled as much as Pochirin’s form would allow. The plan he had in mind was so simple that even a lobotomized Han could have proceeded without a problem.

  My turn!

  “Awoo!” Han howled for a split second until it turned into something a mere human ear couldn’t perceive. The air couldn’t help but abide the sonic waves that his ability managed to create. An opaque wave of literal sound that dragged any dust, vapor, and dirt procured all in the shape of a cone. From his distance, it covered the 4-meter-tall gorilla from head to toe.

  The gorilla was nothing but confused. After just making such an intimidating ruckus, it could merely glance around for a moment. Although it lasted a couple seconds, the gorilla was stupefied.

  In its armor, which reflected the seldom dim crystals, a bright light, something akin to a sun appeared. The gorilla didn’t care. It found the reason it was in such a state before it could even think to act upon Han. The miniature sun had embraced the armored gorilla. The explosion blinded Han temporarily after unblinkingly watching everything happen.

  Once his eyes became clearer, a part of his mind wished that he would have rather kept them shut. The gorilla, inflamed and unbothered, stared at him. The visage of a demon, the wildfire circled around its armor, seeping under it and catching everything that it could; fur, leather straps, and skin. Yet still, it watched him.

  Multiple arrows ding away at the armor; they were unable to pierce it. They achieved something else; its full attention.

  “Good job, Pooch! It’s our turn now.” Berdrogh chuckled; the heavy armor made his sprint more of a slow jog. With his shield and battle-axe in hand, he rushed, at his own pace, towards the burning gorilla. Who, in fact, didn’t wait, in a split second it grabbed its mace and met Berdrogh midway.

  The sudden deep bang echoed in the small room, followed by a smaller one as Berdrogh’s battle-axe caved in its helmet. Sending the gorilla flying, it floated mid-air for more than a second until it crash-landed, the armor sparked till it abruptly came to a halt. The whole short debacle managed to strip multiple parts of its right side.

  —GHUAAA!

  The gorilla ripped off the helmet with a baritone scream directed at Berdrogh. Then it even threw its helmet at him, hitting his chest plate. These actions Han saw didn’t seem brutish on Berdrogh’s part, while they were at a glance, he sensed they were planning something. On that note, Berdrogh started shifting left, quickly moving towards Han’s side of the boss room.

  —GHAAAA!

  Another scream followed, despite its rage, it had yet to attack them. Its behavior was interesting, it continued burning for what seemed to be minutes, though it didn’t whimper or act irrationally. Berdrogh managed to offset both of their positions seamlessly, his back against the dead end and the gorilla’s, to them.

  Multiple arrows managed to stick in its right side, but it didn’t seem to hinder it at all. Berdrogh smashed his shield down on the ground, fully crouching down and hiding behind it. Han, on the other hand, couldn’t do much. The smell of burning flesh and heated metals was a clear sign that he’s better off waiting for a better chance.

  Even more arrows land in its open right side. As it closed the distance between Berdrogh and it with a single step. Chills. Right at the boss room’s entrance, a large glowing magic circle spat out dozens of sharp icicles continuously. Most of them landed, embedding where they could and melting from the fire. Soon enough the fire was doused as steam erupted. The whole gorilla was covered in thick steam. Lionel’s attack had stopped yet Han still fought against the cold shudder.

  He glanced at his stomach. A shard of an icicle stuck in him. His heartbeat sped up. His mind was clear enough to scream an objective; get it out.

  Kanade’s sharp eyes noticed it in a split second. Without time to waste, she readied her next arrow. Sprinting towards Han, the tip of the arrow slowly started sucking in the air around it, catching even some of the loose steam. Her legs stumbled; the skill was completely draining her mana, forcing her to be stationary. The strong wind circled around her, giving her a way around the steam and finally getting a lock on the seemingly frozen gorilla.

  “Hypershot…” She mutters before letting go. The attack sent her bow flying out of her hands. Despite her gait resembling as if she was in quicksand, she made her way to Han. The black fur of his reddened with blood.

  “No… s-stop it!” She yelped as he kept trying to sink his teeth into the shard. She wasn’t that dumb to not know that if he pulls it out, he will die even quicker. She used all her force to stop his head from moving, only loosening the grip when he calmed down. Then, she grabbed it herself. His blue eyes were filled with an indescribable amount of trust; she couldn’t object. Even she didn’t understand what compelled her so much. She pulled it out, her eyes averted upon doing so.

  Han simply stood up as if he didn’t have a hole in his stomach a moment ago. Kanade’s serious eyes darted to the blood-red fur. Her hands sifted through but were unable to find the entry point of the wound. It’s as if Pochirin hadn’t gotten injured; she had no clue if familiars had healing this strong. Her heart calmed down whilst her mind racked.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Meanwhile Han, Han was inwardly shaking with excitement. His decision to get that extra EXP might have just saved his life. He gained a new passive that also had an ability tied to it. For the first time he was glad—glad that he was a Mana Tick. Nonetheless, his and Kanade’s heads jolt to Lionel.

  “What was that?” Kanade shouts as she began scooting over to her bow.

  “What happened?” From under the shield, Berdrogh peeked out. Passing the headless corpse of the gorilla and coming closer to Kanade. “Nice shot.” He added, Han noticed him sternly glance at him but assumed it was regarding something else.

  “He hit Pochirin.” She shouted, forcing Berdrogh to swiftly turn around to Han once more and then back to the debacle.

  “The boss’s eyes are bad, the burning obscured what was left of it; in practice, making it blind. The tank takes aggro by making noise, allowing me to spam an AOE spell without worry. What’s the issue?” He paused and tilted his head to the right. “The plan was rudimentary. All you had to do was play along, and you did.” His faceless mask landed on Han, “Your dog didn’t. Simple as.”

  “Shouldn’t you… say sorry at least?” An unexpected voice added on.

  “…For what? He’s at fault, and I don’t see him dying here, do we? Why should I mull over something so trivial? They’re NPCs for fuck’s sake, get a grip.” He waved his hand in a dismissing manner before passing them on his way to the dead end.

  “Even so…” Juuka faded out again. This time her wish to continue didn’t grab Lionel’s earshot.

  Both Berdrogh and Kanade deeply sighed. There truly was no need to go further into this matter. Han totally knew they had their stances, but it was better to avoid splitting apart so early. Their lives were at stake. However, he was really surprised at how hard it was for the prick to simply apologize.

  Tsk.

  Han turned away from all of them; his mind went straight to the part he knew would come eventually; looting, or in their case, lack of. The gorilla’s body didn’t show any signs of despawning yet, waiting to be looted by none other than players. He couldn’t access the loot menu, and neither could Kanade, so they were now stuck with a dead boss’s corpse and no profit to be taken.

  Although Kanade could take something, that would mean she would have to drag that something everywhere until floor 30 and back. They didn’t have that problem, even at lower levels their inventories were huge. Anyhow, he had already expected this outcome; they are mostly here for levels rather than loot. Though, something shiny wouldn’t be of harm.

  Kanade, a longtime resident, didn’t even have Han’s type of thoughts; instead, she walked past the burnt corpse. Its large head lay far away in the corner of the boss’s room. She took out her ankle dagger and did something to its gums. She noticed Han scoot over, by then she had completed whatever she was doing, showing Han one of the bloodied fangs.

  “A souvenir.” She smiled despite the eerie scene. While she was doing that, Juuka and Lionel looted the corpse and, without waiting, pushed the exit door. They both followed after them. It didn’t lead to anything new, in fact, the interior had gone back to a cave just out the door.

  All of them were going to sit down again. Han was a tad annoyed at the resting since he himself wasn’t and probably wouldn’t be for hours. Though, he caught onto Kanade’s sluggish movement. The skill she used had probably drained the majority of her mana, to which he had to oblige and wait alongside them.

  They were surrounded by the same, rather dim, mana crystals. It was bright enough to clearly see everything, though something minute, like reading, would be a bit cumbersome. They took a corner just by the door to the left, a tiny alcove they shared. Noticing Lionel take out food, Juuka did the same but with a potion. Since the EXP he gained barely put a dent, Han simply wafted the notification after glancing at it.

  [FORMIDABLE ENEMY FELLED]

  [1206 EXP GRANTED]

  Their tiny alcove was opposite to another cave path, the hidden way back. Since backtracking didn’t require a redo of the boss fights. Though his mind wasn’t on it particularly.

  Han also was quick to note the hunting session they had before. It also proposed a question since she hadn’t cooked it. Kanade, on the spot and without any worry, procured a bag out of her backpack and started munching on some deer haunch.

  “Can you… even eat… like that…?” Berdrogh asked, every pause was followed by a bite of an out-of-place sandwich. A sandwich that, surprisingly, he hadn’t brought himself; Lionel had taken it out of his inventory, of which he also ate one. He kept eating whilst lifting the mask in front of him; at Han’s angle he could barely see his chin. Though Han did not care for some edgelord’s in-game face.

  “Yeah… my gut can take it. With some mild regret.” She patted her stomach. Whereas Juuka wiped her mouth with her glove. An empty flask in hand. She glanced at both of them, too long for Han’s preference. Her blank eyes held no malice, but it was evident she was thinking. Until.

  “I could share my rations with you.” She scoots over a tad closer to Han, even if those two were in arm’s reach of each other before.

  “Why?” Kanade questioned. An obvious question that Han would have also asked. The girl was practically AFK since they met. Nothing good will come of her when she’s piping up like this.

  “I’m hunting for a bow, no pun intended.” She chuckled to herself, Han sighed inwardly. “Ahem, or any archer gear in general.”

  “So you want a guarantee that we wouldn’t fight over it? Fine, but I’ve no need for food.”

  “Well… I’ve got potions, though not that many. Ah, I could also share arrows too… I guess...” Using her hands, she kept tapping her index on her palm, although she stopped after doing so twice. After noticing the lack of pull she had, her habit of hermiting reappeared.

  “…Okay.” Although Han didn’t catch it. Kanade did; her arrows were not that numerous, needing to recollect them whenever possible, yet Juuka easily passed on the idea of sharing hers.

  “Perfect.” She flips her hand palm up. Out of nowhere a flask of red liquid faded in and gently landed in her hand. “Here.” She gave it to her. Then promptly hovered her hand in the air again, upon seeing Kanade’s confused expression it, dawned on her.

  “Ah, maybe it’s better if I hold onto them.” She took it back; the flask faded out of existence once more. Shortly, a quiet moment arrived. Everyone kept eating in silence, giving time for his mind to rack.

  Ah, can’t believe it actually came in clutch!

  Level 15 was, in fact, useful. Although he was a tad annoyed that the dog was the same level as him, the passive he gained made up for it in the end. The passive was named, ? Egheal ? it sported a long description, and it was a two-parter. It was also an ability, ? Egstoss ?; the passive made it so that he could use the host’s mana to heal them both slowly, or the ability to use his own and give a burst based on the percent of total mana he has.

  Since he’s technically a Mana Tick siphoned the host’s mana. So, 15 MP was 100% of his own total mana, and unlike using 15 MP from Pochirin that might heal a paper cut; his healed a hole in his stomach.

  On Pochirin’s side, he gained a decent ability, though the latter part of it was where it got strong. ? Oblivious Howl ?, it causes confusion in the directed enemies and, more importantly, enabled him to re-cloak himself without needing to drop aggro. And with the cooldown being two minutes, his mind was already filled with mosquito techniques; however, his break was over. Berdrogh clapped his hands, grabbing their attention, both of them were already standing.

  “Y’all are fine to go further? The next couple floors are beautiful.” He said the trio joined them and moved forward into the cave.