Chapter 8: Bird Mask Versus Orochi

「I didn’t want to trouble them any longer, and besides, I really needed to move on.」

While grinding on my own, very soon turning basic goblins and even Vorpal Bunnies into a bunch of polygons stopped being as effective as I would have liked it to be. Not to mention that my weapons durability was dangerously low. I know that this was supposed to be a beginners area, but with broken weapons there would only be so much that I could do……

「…… Maybe that one?」

In the distance I could already see the outlines of some buildings. That must have been the town I was walking towards, Sekandill.

This forest…… The map was describing this area as the “Forest of Looming Danger”. Currently I was right in front of a suspension bridge that was erected over a vast valley that was separating the forest in half. Sekandill was on the other side of said bridge. There was also a gatekeeper standing in front of the bridge…… Was it blocking the path on purpose? It was a huge serpent with its long tongue out, probably waiting for the players who wanted to traverse into another town.

「Is that supposed to be the boss of this zone?」

It seems that I can’t get past the bridge without defeating that monster first. The recommended party for that boss was three people of at least level ten, so would it really be possible to take that thing on solo? Because in some cases such bravado was the shortcut to seeing your screen turn grey as you await respawn.

By the way, is there any kind of penalty for dying in this game? Like losing a certain amount of EXP points, money or a random item from your inventory? I didn’t want to find that out, so I needed to absolutely not die during this battle.

「It’s a snake-like monster…… So it must be pretty fast and agile, and its main ways of inflicting damage would be through smashing things with its tail, biting and spitting venom…… At least that’s how it should go.」

It would be interesting to see if it really was something like that. For as long as the boss won’t do something stupid like blowing itself up when its HP reaches zero I should be able to defeat it if you maintain a certain level of caution throughout the fight.

「What was that rule again? While engaging a boss battle, other monsters cannot interfere? I sure hope it works just like that.」

It certainly wasn’t that realistic of a mechanic, but at least I wouldn’t have to worry about being surprised suddenly and taken with a pincer attack from both sides at once. So after making sure my preparations were all but done I stepped out of the tall grass in order to challenge the boss of the “Forest of the Looming Danger”, which was indeed a giant serpent.

Its name “Orochi” might be intimidating, but in the end it is only a beginners boss. Its movements should be easy to predict and it shouldn’t have any insta-kill moves in its kit.

And with the precise movements this avatar was offering, it should be relatively easy for me to kill this thing without suffering much damage myself…… Or so I thought.

「Geeeh!」

For when my twin mercenary blades shattered into myriad of polygons when I tried to strike its hard scales, I have witnessed first-hand just how strong boss’s defensive parameters could really be.

Ngh, I know that beginners should be able to kill this thing, but wasn’t that unfair that the weapons could break so easily against its scales!? On the other hand, Orochi opened its mouth wide, baring its venom-coated fangs and lounged itself towards me.

I manage to avoid the serpent by twisting my body and activate the Knuckle Rush skill, which allowed me to strike it’s long body with my bare fists a few times like a true martial artist would.

(Oh, so each punch in the sequence has a chance to critically hit? That’s convenient.)

I strike it about ten times, but only a couple of those hits felt to be stronger from the others. It was a shame that not every strike could be a critical hit, but two or three were better than none at all. It also seems that the side of its body was a legitimate area that could take damage, and soon enough the serpent turned its head towards me again.

When that happened, I used a secret technique that I was practicing in advance…… High-speed weapons switching. In the games that offered multi weapons slots to fill, it was a really important skill to have. One that could even be called your Ace in the Hole if need arise.

Like that, a pair of sharp knives appeared in my hands.

I face the serpent blocking my way into the new city with the knives in my hands. They had black handles and red blades, as though they were absorbing the blood of their prey on numerous occasions. They may look funny, but they were ideal for this battle thanks to their high critical hit chance and critical damage.

「Let’s see how you dodge this!!!」

Each of the knives in my hands move independently, targeting different places on the serpent’s body. Thanks to it being so big, it shouldn’t be agile enough to be able to dodge every single strike, unless it possessed some kind of evasive skill.

「How about those three places!?」

This might be a little off topic, but when dealing with snakes, what are the three things one should always be careful about?

Well, most people will always answer that it’s the snake’s head , fangs and tail. Since they have no limbs to speak of, they can only bite, roll, lash with their tail and propel themselves forward.

That is why I didn’t think that it would shoot something towards me from the hole near its tail. I would bet it would come from its mouth. I was so surprised that I wasn’t able to dodge in time…… Yeah, it was a direct hit.

It wasn’t a perfect reproduction of real life, but still, allowing myself to be hit with a ball of some stinking substance was pretty embarrassing, sure to leave some sort of emotional damage on me.

But above all else……

「This isn’t good……」

My HP continues to drop, bit by bit……

It was poison.

– Ravenous Serpent “Orochi”

A monster in the zone known as the “Forest of Looming Danger”. You must defeat it first if you want to traverse to the nearby town of Sekandill.

It attacks mainly by launching itself towards its opponents and biting them, so it is relatively easy to defeat once you get to know its attack patterns. However, when its HP drops below a certain level one must be wary of the poison attack which is not telegraphed in any way. It does not deal damage, but puts the player under the negative buff known as “Poison”.