At the very south of the map, Noah walked out of the forest onto a beach. He hadn't seen monsters for a while so knew he was getting somewhere.
As he walked around he found an enormous cave at the side of a cliff with shallow waves of water entering from the ocean.
hisssss...
He heard a low hiss resounding from it. It was rhythmic as if the monster was sleeping.
Noah walked to the cave entrance but didn't enter. He sensed the cool wind coming out from it as well as the explosive amount of aura and mana being throttled out from it.
He was able to ignore the pressure it gave because of his armour, he stood unfazed, "An S Class monster, it seems to have a lot of Mana. Its overall aura is weaker than the Devil Incarnate."
A strong magic S Class monster was something he could fight.
He walked in. There was enough land to enter the cave then the entire ground was covered.
Splash! Splash!
His footsteps sent ripples as he walked in the inch deep water. The sound of the waves breaking on the shore got lesser as the hiss got louder. The sunlight which was lighting the cave from the entrance got dimmer.
He then stopped. The hiss had gotten louder as if warning him, one more step and the monster would awaken.
An expansive space was in front of him. A lightly wet floor covered with a mixture of cerulean, cyan, turquoise and aquamarine tiles. There was even some beige and white in places. The walls were rocky while vines hung near the top corners. The whole space had a feel of a ruined temple.
The area was completely flat, it was also very large. He noted that halfway into the hall the floor stopped and turned into a pool of water that went till the back wall. The water followed the hiss as it rippled.
Noah took a deep breath and entered the monster's territory.
Hisssssssss...
The pressure on him increased exponentially, he resisted it with his passive skill Intimidation Immunity and walked forward.
Shing!
He unsheathed his sword and drew the Helleborus in his left hand.
SPLASH!
The surface of the pool broke as a blue scaled dragon-like body moved out with speed. Its body curved into an 'S' As it looked down on Noah with its unfeeling yellow eyes.
Hisssss...
Even with its body bent it was still more than 20 meters tall. Its body was intricately patterned with all types of blues but was mostly a lighter shade. It gave off this magnificence and arrogance as it watched Noah.
[Ancient Water Serpent]
S Class
Level 100
'Investigate.'
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[Ancinet Water Serpent] (S Class)
Level 100
HP 25,00,000/25,000,000
Mana !@,$&0/!@,$&0
Attack Power 7#,%$0 Magic Power 1&$,#@!
Skills(??)- [Aqu% S@e$rs], [W$%er ar^#ws], [W@#er L!2k], [W*&ter J@&], [Hy$ro C&%non], [^#(@ %ing], [W3$e! cha$*&]...
_____
Even Investigate didn't work properly on it. Other than HP everything was unstable and constantly changing. Its HP was more than three times the Goblin King's and The Goblin King had already pushed him to use everything he had. This monster was not only more defensive, but its attack was also much higher.
Noah pointed his gun, Blind, Evil Glare, Curse of Weakness, all instantly applied as he used the multicast effect of his Firearm Mastery. Boosh! He then burst off the ground towards the serpent slashing with his sword.
Water Spear! The serpent had two spinning spears of water shoot at Noah. Both spears hit him midair.
Pulling his sword forward, Noah cast Mana shield with Multicast and blocked both. He then arrived at the serpent and slashed his sword straight beheading it. The head of the serpent separated from its body but lost colour as it turned into water and fell to the ground.
The water that fell combined again and swiftly rose up behind Noah into a serpent with an open mouth. Hydro Cannon!
Now falling, feeling the mana gather, in less than a second Noah cast Mana Screen under himself. His feet touched it and he disappeared. High-pressure water shot through the place he was standing and hit the pool of water underneath. The serpent changed the direction of its head to behind itself.
Seeing it coming again Noah avoided by teleporting around. Knowing it wouldn't work, it formed four blue magic circles around its head. From them came spinning spears of water, they shot out towards Noah.
Mana Shield! Through Multicast Noah formed six of them, he layered them to block two as for the other two he brought his sword up. The tip of both spears hit the blade and pushed back. He came to a stop as he deflected both to his sides causing mini explosions.
The Ancient Water serpent pulled back then struck forward at Noah with its mouth open. The moment it noticed Noah was gone it used mana to sense where he would appear and changed direction.
Cold Mind, Death's Dance! Getting faster Noah was able to keep using Flash Step and stay a second away from being swallowed whole. The jet black gun shot rapidly, the black bullets bouncing around as they hit the serpent from various angles it couldn't dodge.
The Water Serpent was getting faster with time. Noah was running backwards as he shot, the serpent with its mouth open and sharp fangs were in his view. It chased him relentlessly. Casting magic as well.
Noah changed direction moving in closer, he appeared above the Water Serpent and slashed down.
His sword smoothly went through its body, knowing he failed Noah disappeared and appeared at a distance. The serpentine body which had turned into flowing water rematerialised as its fangs reached Noah.
CLANG! Noah blocked with his sword as he was carried back by the Water Serpent. The Ancient Water Serpent pushed him back and slammed into the wall. Just before he was pressed in his feet touched and he Flash Step Out.
The Ancient Water Serpent burst into water as it hit the wall and reformed with its head on the opposite side. Its body swiftly slithered towards Noah, reaching him immediately.
Noah had already activated all other buffs he had (Speed Boost, Strength Boost, Bulk Up and Wild Swordplay).
He moved erraticly weaving the serpent around. He teleported across its body but it transformed into water and passed through itself and reached him. Noah used the moment it reformed to get a hit. CLING!
His sword left a scratch as he retreated back. Water arrows attacked the place he had been. He looked at the Ancient Water Serpent's body and noticed the corruption wasn't spreading, even if it was, it was too slow to be any help. The corruption power had gone much stronger after attaching the Diamond of Darkness to the Cursed Requiem, yet it was useless against an S Class monster.
The serpent stopped and raised its head, hissss. Dozens of magic circles formed, Water Arrows! Each magic circle formed multiple of them. Noah had hundreds of arrows rain down on him. Invicible! With no way to dodge he activated the skill and raised his arms.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
All arrows hit, the Serpent followed with a larger attack, water rose up to form a tall wave it then crashed down on Noah washing him away.
...
Flash Step! Noah appeared at the cave entrance unharmed he looked back, The water that filled the cave turned back to mana. the Serpent had already noticed its attack had missed it was looking at Noah as well. The two held eye contact for a while until the serpent slithered back into its pool, as its tail entered it left a light Plop!
Noah sat down with his back against the wall. The Ancient Water Serpent wasn't going to attack him since he had left its territory. This was a characteristic almost all S Class monsters showed.
"Is faster than me. Can instantly cast all kinds of water spells, can multicast, has a body that cannot be injured by normal means. Is also smart and calculating. The list goes on..." Noah said as he took out potions and drank them.
He then smirked, "it looks like I've found the right opponent for me. I haven't felt such an adrenaline rush for a long time."
The first fight was just a trial run to probe the Ancient Water Serpent. However, it seemed like the Serpent had done the same to him.
"Tsk." He couldn't help but think of how arrogant the serpent looked as it left. As it had seen through his plan. At the moment he still had quite a few cards to use. Naturally, the Acinet Water Serpent was the same.
Noah took out the communication crystal and called Alice, he had been doing this regularly since he got it.
Alice in the carriage with the others answered travelling to a dungeon answered, "Noah good you called, we just had a D Class ring dropped. Its of the nature element so everyone has agreed to give it to you."
'A D Class ring?' Noah thought of his earrings of contradiction. D Class accessories were extremely valuable it was unlikely that anyone other than him was wearing D Class accessories in the Guild. "No, you should keep it, even if the skills aren't great you can help someone increase their attributes."
"We have thought of that, but we wouldn't be able to bring out its potential, so it's best to give it to you. Don't mind taking it, your part of the guild too."
"In that case where are you at the moment? Are you near a Teleportation Hall? I have a few things to give you guys as well."
"We'll be passing OrangeCloud Town in around 30 minutes."
"Wait for me there, I'll call you when I arrive." Noah put the crystal away. He then got up and left the cave, moving to the nearest town.