Chapter 343: Tough

"Magic Bullet."

Twenty Magic Bullets flew to a ten-foot-tall bear with rocks covering its paws. The bear didn't have fur and cracking skin as if it was made of stones.

The bear roared and waved its hand while spinning its body, destroying all the Magic Bullets that were about to hit him. If not because the Magic Bullets arrived at the same time, the bear wouldn't get hit by the Magic Bullets on his back.

Bam.

Roar.

The bear screamed in pain as the crack on his back became larger.

"Cannon Blast." Theo thrust his spear right at the bear's heart and concentrated the Cannon Blast on that area.

Bam.

The shock wave produced by the collision kicked up the dust. However, Theo could finally let out a breath of relief when he saw the hole on the bear's chest.

Surprisingly, the bear seemed to be more resilient than he thought. Using the last strength in its body, the bear swiped its paw from the left in order to kill Theo.

Theo used his Blink and appeared behind the bear, punching the bear with all his might. "External Flow."

The attack created the same amount of force as his Cannon Blast, knocking the bear to the ground. Without any more strength, the bear could only stare at Theo in his last breath.

Roar.

He let out a hollow roar before the notification appeared.

[You killed a Rock Bear.]

[EXP+17,460]

"Huft." Theo started breathing a bit roughly as he placed his hand on top of the bear, turning it into a card.

Rock Bear Paw (D)

Nutritious Food for a monster with Earth Affinity.

"…" After confirming his kill and loot, Theo summoned his clone and handed the spear, using his clone to scout the area.

On the contrary, Theo dropped on his butt as he groaned. "Mhm. It's harder than I thought."

"Kyu." Ava's voice echoed in his ears as she stood next with a bone in her mouth as she began to swallow it inside her body.

"Seriously, how can you even fit something like that in your belly." Theo shook his head helplessly, knowing that it was from the monster Ava hunted alone.

Theo checked his status first.

Name: Theodore Griffith

Status: Champion

Level: 199

EXP: 78645/110913

Blessing: God of Mischief

Skill: Swift Energy (D), Clone (C), Cannon Blast (C), Magic Bullet (C), Flowmotion (D), Telekinesis (B), Blink (C), Elemental Shield (D), Illusion Multiplier (D), Illusion Manipulation (C)

Attributes: Strength 295, Endurance 174, Agility 183, Vitality 175, Magic Power 295

Free Attribute Points: 0

"This is only the first day, but my level has increased by three. I know that this place is filled with level 220 monsters, but to think it will be this hard…" Theo shook his head. "To be honest, it makes no sense.

"I should have no problem defeating Hero Rank monster alone… but to think I'm struggling with level 220 monsters, is it because this place has a harsher environment that makes the monsters even stronger?" Theo narrowed his eyes. "Should I just return to the other gate to hunt easier monsters to get EXP points?

"But I can feel that I gradually hone my skill since this place requires me to go all out and keep improving to avoid dying." Theo looked down, thinking about his choice for a moment. "I will stay here for the time being.

"To be honest, because I am alone, I can get all the monsters and turn them into my own EXP… My progress is even faster than when I worked together as a team and fought against higher-level monsters… Still, this is rough.

"I should stay in this area for a bit, even if it means I need to slow down my pace. I will take my time and reach Level 215 first before challenging that Zombie Warrior."

As Theo adjusted his plan, his clone found another monster approaching.

"…" Theo narrowed his eyes and pulled another spear.

"Ava, there are three monsters approaching. You take the left one while I handle the other two," said Theo while looking up. The sky had become orange, so he thought they would probably need to stay here for the night. "I think this one will be our last fight. I can't keep up with tomorrow if I deplete my power too much."

"Kyu!" Ava nodded and began to hop forward at speed even faster than him.

Theo had understood that Ava's strength should be beyond Level 270 monsters and might approach level 300 monsters' power. He had the opportunity to fight one in the competition after all.

Theo followed Ava and met up with the clone, where the latter brought three orange tiger-looking monsters. However, these monsters didn't have any eyes and relied on their senses to know their prey's location.

"Magic Bullet." Both Theos released their Magic Bullets at the same time, shooting a total of forty bullets to the right one.

The right monster leaped to the left to avoid it, but the Magic Bullets turned and chased him, giving the opportunity for Theo to help his clone end the middle one.

However, the last one decided to jump and bite his clone, only to find himself flying.

Ava already calculated its path and kicked the monster in the face. "Kyu!"

The monster rolled a few times on the ground while screaming in pain. However, Ava didn't let this chance go and stepped on the air once to gain enough height to blast his head with a single kick.

"Kyu!"

Watching how Ava contained the monster, Theo decided to step up his game and used his Blink to appear next to the middle monster.

"Cannon Blast."

The monster noticed Theo's appearance and threw itself to the side, but his clone took that chance to stab the monster's head while using the External Flow and Telekinesis. The extra energy from those two ripped apart the monster's head, splattering the blood on the ground.

[Killed a Blind Eating Tiger.]

[EXP+ 9,060]

However, they still had another fight as the last one managed to destroy all the Magic Bullets and charged at them.

Before Theo could turn around, the tiger opened its mouth and released a small ball.

"!!!" Theo instinctively used his clone to come to his front and use the Elemental Shield to block it.

But he was certainly surprised when the ball exploded, destroyed the shield and engulfed his clone, leaving only the spear on the ground.

Theo had already known the result of his clone, so he already threw his spear before his clone was destroyed. That kind of movement could only be done if one shared their senses with their clone like Theo and the tiger had no time to dodge that spear.

The spear pierced the tiger's head as Theo picked the spear on the ground and used his Blink to arrive on top of the tiger.

He delivered the killing blow with his Cannon Blast, destroying its head.

[Killed a Blind Eating Tiger.]

[EXP+ 9,060]

"Huft. That's tough."