24 Chapter 23

"And that's the tenth."

Nex muttered as he finished organizing the remains of the monster he had just killed. It was a very large boar. After hunting various types of Bosses, from aerials to plant-types and mammals for over ten hours, he finally finished procuring all ten Elite ranked ingredients that he needed for the quest.

"Now, all that's left is hunting for a Lord Rank. Good thing I already found clues as to where I could find one." He muttered as he stared at the deeper part of the forest.

While traveling around the forest, he saw that monsters keep avoiding a certain valley. This raised his curiosity. And now that he is done with hunting for the ingredients from Elite Bosses and no longer stressed for time, he decided to go see what exactly is in that place.

Starting to walk towards the direction of the valley, Nex noticed on his way that the number of the monsters and living creatures overall began to decrease, while a certain sensation that he felt began to increase. This sort of sensation, only the strong have the ability to spread.

Of course, instead of having second thoughts, Nex, in his usual manner, only had a wide smile in his face.

"Found it!"

♦♦♦

After several more minutes of walking, Nex arrived inside the area of the valley. Surprisingly, instead of staying low profile and covert, he began to run at a high speed while making obvious noises directly towards where he sensed the strong presence is coming from.

A moment of running later, he reached a small clearing at the center of the valley and saw the scene he had expected – a completely empty area.

"So it's like this huh?" Nex smiled and pulled out his sword. Without any further warning, he stabbed it at the ground with a large force while twisting the blade in the process.

'[Martial Secret : Drilling Pierce]'

The mana-covered sword was stabbed to the ground so deep that only one-third of it is still visible above the ground. When Nex pulled the sword out, the result was a round hole was seen and it was so deep that it is estimated to have reached at least 6 meters down.

'[Intermediate Enchantment]'

When Nex pulled his sword out, he strengthened his legs and jumped high into the air. The moment he left the ground, it began to crazily shake around like it was about to get destroyed by an earthquake.

*Roar!*

Suddenly, a colossal dark brown dragon-like head came out from where Nex was just at. It opened its mouth for a bite but didn't manage to catch him on time. Consequently, it let out a blood-freezing roar out of anger.

Seeing the gigantic terror-inducing beast that came out of the ground, Nex checked its details while standing mid-air using [Mana Step]. He beamed with joy.

[Adolescent Earth Drake(Lord Boss) LV : 20]

"This is exactly what I needed."

Dragons…

They are the ones who ignore the difference between mortals and divines. They are the ones that only the most powerful could aim to threaten and defeat. They are the beings that are considered the paragons of magic and owners of the strongest physiques.

Only a handful can compare to its existence.

This young Earth Drake is far from being called one of those pure-blooded dragons and only had a small amount of bloodline inside of it. That small amount of bloodline however, is more than enough to make it one of the strongest Lord Ranked Bosses in its level.

It is so strong that over 95% of the high-ranking parties that will face it before their Second Awakenings will find themselves wiped out within just a few seconds.

"Although their meat isn't as good as pure dragons, it will probably be enough for a satisfactory dish. I just need to make sure I could make it really tender and easy to chew."

And here is a fool who was busy thinking of the quality of the Drake's meat instead of how to survive.

The Earth Drake was pissed at the fact that Nex was standing in the air and didn't pay attention to it. The latter even had the gall to stab it in its back when it was underground! This human should grovel and ask for his paltry life to be spared! Its inborn pride didn't allow itself to calmly receive this sort of casual treatment from such a weak being. And so, it roared at the human furiously while infusing mana into its voice.

*Roar!*

With this roar, the air began to shake violently and cause destruction throughout the area it has reached.

Before this attack arrived at Nex, the latter lightly waved his hand while saying a few words.

"[Mana Art : Vibration Wave]"

From where Nex waved his hand, the air rippled and moved towards the incoming attack of the Earth Drake. It neutralized the attack from the Boss, so what reached Nex was nothing more than a gentle wind.

Staring back at the Earth Drake that was momentarily shocked that its attack was blocked with such ease, Nex shook his head.

"It really doesn't matter how pure their bloodline is, they always start to attack in the same foolish way."

*Roar!*

As if understanding Nex's words, the Earth Drake roared furiously and decided not to hold back anymore. No more Mr. Nice Dragon! Your humanly atrocious existence shan't continue for long!

Suddenly, a dozen of magic circles appeared on the ground. From them, large pillars made of black stone shot out from the ground and extend directly towards Nex in a flash.

"Finally, the fun starts."

And with this statement came Nex's disappearance from where he was.

The drake didn't think much of this and just snorted. The pillars along with some new ones were shot towards a certain direction at an even faster speed. The spot where they landed was the same spot Nex appeared but he dodge these pillars by jumping around in the air. He kept on using [Mana Step] as he continued to evade the incoming attacks like he didn't even need to see them.

Seeing how the human effortlessly evade its attacks, the Drake felt offended. Consumed by rage, it increased the amount of mana pumped into the spell. This made the pillars once again increase in number and movement speed.

Facing such assault, Nex abruptly changed his direction and instead of keeping a distance away from the Drake, he went straight towards the Boss!

Now that the human is coming directly for it, the Drake scoffed at this human's suicidal move. Its chest move upwards like when one is inhaling. When it opened its mouth once again, it released something far more frightening than a roar.

Out of the Drake's jaws came a cone of berserk mana mixed with black stones that extended in a 60-degree angle forward and destroyed anything in its way.

Dragon Breath, one of the one-hit moves of the dragon race and its subspecies, which was the most terrifying attack to take head-on. Facing such brutal attack, Nex was undaunted. He stayed at his spot and calmly put forward the hand with the [Corruption Bane Bracelet] and stream mana to his shoes. Several spells and techniques were issued out.

'[Dash]'

'[Martial Secret : Mana Phasing Step]'

'[Mana Revival]'

'5x[Advanced Enchantment]'

'[Mana Shield]'

'[Add Property : Mana Resistance]'

And then an amazing sight happened.

Instead of being eradicated by the rampaging mana, Nex's figure became slightly transparent. He jumped from one [Mana Step] to another, without being affected by the magic power that destroyed any other thing in its path. Whatever came his way, he would just block them with a strengthened shield he made out of his bracelet or just slice it with his sword.

The reason for this phenomenon is very simple. Nex did a movement technique that matches the mana around him to the vibration frequency of the Breath. This way, he could move through it without being obstructed, or worst, being shredded to death. This trick however, is only possible when there is just one type of pure mana like this one.

And just like that, Nex breezed through the Dragon Breath like how the fishes swim in waters. The Drake who thought the human was long dead, stopped its Breath and closed its mouth. Only, after the Breath disappeared, Nex is right in front of it with a smile.

"Hi!"

The Drake didn't even get to reply hi in roar-form when Nex jumped using [Mana Step] and swung down his sword.

'[Martial Secret : Mana Sword]

And from Nex's blade, a giant blade made of mana was extended and pierced through the Drake's skull, killing it instantly.

[Level Up!]

Hearing this message, Nex jumped down from the Drake's head and then turned to face the corpse of the beast. He stared at it with satisfaction.

"Now, what should I cook out of this one?"

♦♦♦

3 hours before the Quest's deadline.

The Cooks Guild Master sighed as he stared outside of the window in his office. Truthfully, he didn't really think that Nex will be successful in this mission. Although his class crest indicated that he had one of the better classes, it was still no more than a strengthened version of the explorer class. Its only true value is that he will have the ability to get rarer professions instead of normal ones. It wasn't necessarily a good thing.

The profession that he is testing for now is a good example of this. The ones at this level who can hunt monsters of this caliber are very few. Not to mention that almost each one of those people is an owner of a legendary class or a disciple of a great force. So not to mention hunting a monster, Nex will probably be very lucky to just keep his measly life intact.

As these thoughts ran through his mind, he suddenly saw from outside, a familiar figure coming towards the Guild building. It made him heave a big sigh of relief.

That figure is Nex.

"So he survived." Even though he didn't think Nex could pass the mission, he still thought of him as a talented young cook. He might not be capable of making true dishes like someone who has a cooking profession but he still can do pretty tasty meals. So when he saw that Nex came back alive, his mood improved greatly.

He hastily went to the entrance of the Guild so he could welcome the young man. Once he met Nex, he gave him a consoling pat on the shoulder.

"It is a good thing that you have survived, even if you didn't finish the mission."

"What are you talking about? I finished making all the dishes." Hearing the middle-aged man's words, Nex was confused.

"Yes. Yes. You finished making all the dishes." The Guild Master said absent-mindedly. He was bent on soothing this talented man's feelings. Nex must have been feeling dismal with his failure, he has to give comforting words to this guy!

"Still you should appreciate the fact that you managed to get out of there alive. It's the most important thing, to be able to keep your life."

"Dude, are you high?" Nex furrowed his eyebrows. "I just told you that I finished making all the dishes!"

"It's okay to complain, I know it's hard to accept defeat." The Guild Master shook his head. "Any other person in your situation would have…"

When he finally managed to comprehend Nex's words…

"…"

"What did you just say?!"