Plans are made to be executed, and if you are a masterful strategist, 'almost' every time, you succeed.
Almost... because there are some things that no amount of planning could conquer.
Power and the unknown.
If one were to be faced with power, no plan would work, and if they were to face the unknown, then they wouldn't even know what they were facing.
Alex was stuck in one such situation.
He wanted to clear this Gigglewrath zone before dealing with the demon, so he entered the zone and started killing the beasts stealthily.
If it was a beast roaming around without a partner, then he wouldn't even have a problem; if they were in pairs, it was still no problem as it would just take two arrows to kill them.
His strength had been elevated to level 20, and so had his mana, so his attacks carried the speed and power of level 20 humans, which was not something Gigglewraths could notice—at least not until they were in their raged forms.
So, Alex easily cleared out many Gigglewraths, continuously increasing his coin count.
But soon, as the number of dead Gigglewraths crossed 20, others started to grow alert; they were still not in their raged forms, but they were highly agitated and could transform at any moment.
Alex, however, still triumphed over them.
Where did things go wrong then?
"Arghhhhh!"
Alex groaned in pain as he gritted his teeth.
*Grab*
He glared at the beast standing in front of him with a height equal to his own, staring into his golden eyes with its wide purple eyes before he grabbed the beast's arm that had pierced his left shoulder, and...
*Fwoosh*
Flamed erupted from his palm, causing the beast's eyes to widen in shock.
The speed of the beast was way too fast for Alex; all he could do was take an attack, grab the beast in its spot right then, and burn it to a crisp.
The beast, on the other hand, tried to pull itself back.
But then it roared on Alex's face, unable to pull back as Alex tightened his grip around its wrist before it slashed its other hand filled with sharp claws at Alex.
"KRIEE!!" (Let me go!)
But the next second, Alex's palm covered its oddly small head, taking away the beast's vision before he tilted his head a bit, dodging the beast's attack, and the next instant...
*Flare*
A huge wave of bright purple flames roared covering the beast's head, burning way more fiercely than ever as Alex pushed all of his mana into the ability. seaʀᴄh thё NôᴠeFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
"KRAAARAAAAAA!!!"
The beast, which had its pain tolerance at an all-time high, roared in pain as it could still feel the burning sensation as its brain got roasted from the inside.
It flailed its hand, trying to get one of its attacks to connect, but Alex wasn't done yet.
He glared at the beast, still gritting his teeth hard enough to make his gums bleed, and the next instant, before the beast's attacks could connect...
"KRRAAAGGGHHHH—!!"
*Pierce* X3
The beast's agonizing steam was cut short as its body went limp, three arrows piercing its head from behind, poking out of its forehead.
"Ghhhh!"
Alex groaned as his arrows penetrated his palm as well, but it was fine; at least the beast was dead...
*Slick*
"Grrr!"
He growled as he forcefully pulled his palm away from the head of the beast and the arrows that were penetrating his palm.
Ignoring the pain in his palm, he glanced at the hand of the beast that had penetrated his left shoulder, fingers deep, gritting his teeth in pain.
If not for his beastly instincts warning him at the end moment, causing him to tilt his body a little, he would've been dead by now with the beast's sharp claws impaling his heart.
*Squelch*
With a slow motion, he pulled the beast's wrist away from his body, and the moment he did it, its body fell to the ground.
*Thud*
The beast did not look very different from the other Gigglewraths, but it was much larger than any other Gigglewrath.
If other Gigglewraths were close to 1 meter in height, this one was 1.8 meters.
Its body was thin and gaunt, and unlike the others of its kind, this beast had retractable claws and more horns on its head.
Its wings, which now had tears in them, were large enough to cover a human within.
But these features were not without a difference.
[[Name: Unnamed Wrathborn.
Race: Demonic Imp.
Title: --
Stats:
→ Strength – Level 23 (Tier 1)
→ Defense – Level 24 (Tier 1)
→ Agility – Level 24 (Tier 1)
→ Stamina – Level 23 (tier 1)
→ Mana – Level 24 (Tier 1)
Skills:
→ Hell Fire (Heroic)
→ Fury Unleashed (Heroic)
→ Command (Rare)
→ Metal Claws (Uncommon)
→ Fire Resistance (Uncommon)
]]
It was the leader of the Gigglewraths, or one could call it the boss of this zone.
It was, just like any other Gigglewrath, weak in its normal form, but its stats were levels 18 and 19 in its chubby form.
Alex could've never thought that it would get its stats upped by that much, taking it directly to levels 23 and 24.
It was a level 20 zone; how could someone expect there to be a level 23-24 beast??
If not for 'The First Ones' title, Alex would have surely died.
He had to use everything in his arsenal to kill this beast, but the ones that played a crucial role in this fight were battle analytics, hellbound touch, and the wind's whisper.
The first surprise for the beast, something that took away its wings, was the wind's whisper, and then it was battle analytics that made it possible for Alex to perceive the beast's movements even after the stat difference.
As for hellbound touch?
Well, everyone saw what it did.
*Gulp**Gulp*...
Alex, on the other hand, hurriedly took out the healing potion and chugged down 200 ml of it.
*Thud*
His body fell to the ground.
*Huff**Huff*...
His breathing was ragged, too spent to even be able to move for a while.
He gained nothing in this endeavor other than the fact that he now knew that demonic beasts could have stats higher than they were supposed to have.
Other than that, he had just lost in this zone.
He did win and amassed some 4000+ coins from this zone alone because of it being a demonic zone, but now, with the condition of his body, even if he used all of the blood-clotting lotions, healing bandages, and healing potions, his body would need proper rest.
A proper rest meant at least two days of rest, and if he were to hunt for these days instead of resting, then he would've collected way more than the meager 4000+ coins he had.
But that was not all; right now, the demon Chalitanetra was moving toward him, and from its speed, Alex was sure that it was around level 18 or 19, if not 20, so he decided to put a message in the world chat for the first time.
[Alex: The Demon in this area grows stronger with every one of its questions being answered.]
Alex sent nothing but just one message before he closed the chat, trying to rest for a while before he found a place to hide for the next 2 days.