Boss

It's been a while since the two took down the four goblins, yet they've traveled quite a good distance in this long and dark hallway. Kim's sword was sitting quietly in its scabbard, but his hand was still resting on its hilt – just in case. Felix, however, was feeling somewhat mixed emotions. He barely avoided death, and he wasn't sure he could do it a second time. It was just like the first time he met Kim in that void – he was weak. And he had to change that if he wanted to make it all the way to the end of the Line.

As Felix was deep in thought, he didn't notice Kim's hand extending over as to stop him, and he bumped into it. He stopped and looked at him, with a "What are you..." but stopped halfway through his sentence as he looked forwards. His eyes widened and his teeth clenched... as more goblins stood in front of them. Or, at least, that was what was probably happening. It was dark, and he couldn't actually see them... but he could hear small footsteps – lots of them.

Not wanting to repeat history, Felix immediately takes on a more flexible stance and tells Kim, "Watch out for—!" but before he could even finish, an arrow is already flying at the two – this time hurling at Kim. In the blink of an eye, Kim cuts the arrow right down the middle, and is already charging forwards. Felix didn't even get to see him unsheathe his sword, but nevertheless, he too starts following after him. As Kim dances alongside his blade, his hands steady and precise, he cuts down two goblins swiftly as he moves on to the remaining ones.

{"Hmm... There's more than four this time around..."}

Kim became suspicious, but either way, he kept slaying the goblins as he saw them. Eventually, as he was pulling his sword out of the head of another one of his goblin victims, his instincts started yelling at him – danger. He could only move his head to the side, as he saw an archer goblin ready to shoot him in the head with its crossbow. He had no time to react – his sword was still stuck in the goblin's head, and his knife? That was on Felix's hands. 

{"Damn... I think I was... too careless..."}

A small step and a flicker sound played somewhere where he couldn't see, and—

["Not. Yet!"]

Right behind him, a blue spark from the dark emerged, coming from nobody else but Felix – specifically, his eye. He was already in position as his foot hit the ground with tremendous force, and his whole body jerked forwards.

[Skill Activated - Clear Vision!]

["Got you, ugly."]

Immediately afterwards, Felix's knife flew from his hand, headed right for the goblin. It passed by Kim's head perfectly and stuck in the archer's head – yet it didn't finish it off. He had the dexterity for this, just not the strength. Not wasting even one second, Kim immediately twisted his whole body around, finally pulling his sword out and slashing at the goblin with a spin attack. As the goblin's head flew away, he stabbed it midair, catching it. He brought his sword closer with a disgusted face, and pulled the knife out – without much trouble.

He then swung it, causing the head to detach, and kept swinging it in the air for the blood to scatter off of it. After he was done, he sheathed it and walked over to Felix, handing him the knife back. He tapped him on the shoulder as he spoke, "Thanks." to which Felix nodded his head, grabbing the knife and putting it back in its sheathe – after he swung it in the air too, to rid it of some of the blood. After walking past all of the corpses left behind, and gaining a bit of distance, all of a sudden they both hear a small sound and their Blanks open up – in a tiny window that looked different for both of them.

[Felix Fox - Level Up!

Currently Lvl 2.

Stats Increased!]

{Kim Jaehyun - Double Level Up!

Currently Lvl 3.

Stats Increased!

Stats Increased!}

Felix glanced over that tiny window of his with a semi-excited face. He nodded a bit, then looked over at Kim as he asked "Did you level up too?" to which Kim responded with a "Yes. Twice."

"Huh? Twice?! This is... uh, discrimination...!"

"No, I think it's called being useful..."

"Don't you dare try to pull this off, again!"

During their – apparently quite common – argument, another window opened up over the previous one. Finally, the Plot had changed, meaning they were definitely getting closer and closer to the end of this God-forsaken hallway.

[Plot - Escape The First Floor!

Requirements - Defeat the Boss guarding the exit, and make it out to the Second Floor! Godspeed!

Reward - ???]

Before the two could even discuss this new Plot, yet another window popped up right in front of their eyes, different than the other two.

[Rewards Granted - Beginner's Guide; Line Pass!]

After they waited in silence for a few more seconds – waiting just in case another window would pop up – and seeing that the coast was clear, Felix opened his mouth just to immediately be shut up by another window.

"It's doing it on fuckin' purpose!"

[Reach the (Resting Grounds) to view the Beginner's Guide! Godspeed!]

After, once again waiting patiently, Felix opened his mouth, without actually saying anything. After a few more seconds, he finally spoke up, "...I think that's all." Now, finally being able to converse normally, the two started walking once again, while talking at the same time.

"So, we have to beat a floor boss, huh?"

"Seems like it. We'll just have to get on with it."

"Yeah... Though, what's it gonna be? I'm guessing we won't get lucky and just fight an orc or something?"

"Let's kill it and confirm its identity later."

"Sheesh, Kim, somber as always..."

"It's a necessity."

Felix shook his head and sighed, and then continued walking as usual. Though, it was definitely strange – they've been walking all this time, and yet he wasn't feeling tired at all. Neither was Kim, probably, by his expression. The only time he felt his energy draining was when fighting the goblins... He started thinking about what could possibly cause this, and eventually, he had a few ideas as he muttered "Combat dependent...?"

"What's combat dependent?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm just thinking... Are you, uh, tired at all?"

"No, not really. Why?"

"So... I think we won't get tired, like, ever – unless we fight. Or, y'know, we're in combat."

"...Hmm. That certainly explains it. But... why?"

"Well, we have a Stamina stat, right? And that's basically how much effort we can physically do, shown in numbers... and it only depletes when we're in active combat."

"That's... rather convenient, I believe."

Felix nodded, as Kim was right – it definitely was. Suddenly, he stopped, and Felix looked back at him, asking "What's up?"

Kim responded, "We don't get tired."

"...I know, yeah... And—"

Before he could finish his sentence, the words echoed in his mind – they won't get tired. As nothing else was spoken between them, they both started booking it down the hallway, running full speed ahead. Kim had to pace himself down to stand close to Felix, but it was still better than walking. Along the way, they ran into a few more lone goblins which Kim properly disposed of by speeding up and killing them before this 'stamina combat-draining' affected Felix. At one point, the hallway finally started widening as they reached a big, round room. Right opposite of where they came from stood a tall, big metal door, guarded by what seemed to be two... boars?

Kim was the first to step forwards, Felix soon following behind. As they were walking towards the big door, the boars also approached them... as they stood up on their back legs...?

"Ugh... What the...?"

The boars were wearing armor, and they pulled out some spears from a window they created, one similar to Kim's and Felix's Blanks. The boars took on battle stances, ready to defend the door behind them with their lives. Kim slowly unsheathed his sword as he kept stepping forwards with a strange grin on his face as he spoke, "Ah... Finally, a challenge...?"

Felix, however, wasn't feeling as brave, as he sat back and watched Kim do his magic. The boars simultaneously raised their spears and swung down on Kim, full force, only for him to block them both with his sword by intercepting them. He swung upwards, leaving a blue blur wherever the blade was going, and knocking back the two boar warriors. He chuckled as he began slashing at them relentlessly, "What's wrong, piggies! Weren't expecting anyone strong?!"

In less than five minutes, Kim had took down one of them and claimed one arm of the other one. The boar, seemingly drained of both energy and will to fight, took a step back – though that was a grave mistake. Kim slashed its head off, no hesitation, the second it was off its balance. As he sheathed his sword, he looked back towards Felix and spoke, "Oi, Felix. Let's go see the big bad wolf, no?"

Felix nodded and made his way over to the big door, next to Kim. The two start working together to get the heavy door open, and while it certainly wasn't any easy, everyday task, at one point they managed to make it move. After a bit more struggling, the door started sliding across the ground as it fully opened. Inside was dark and weirdly hot, as Felix couldn't help but take off his jacket and throw it randomly on the floor. The second they stepped in, the doors slammed behind them, and lights started flickering open.

In the middle of the room, in all its "glory," stood a humongous boar, with red lines all over his body and steam coming out of them, with both sharp fangs and horns – it reached at least 35 feet in height. Felix took a step back, shocked, and he couldn't help but chuckle nervously at the situation, "More like big bad boar..." and suddenly, a Blank window flickers above it, one they both could see simultaneously.

[First Floor Boss – Qaart

Demonized Boar - Lvl 5.

Class - Demon King's Pet

Affinity - Beast/Fire

—

HP - 1218/1218

ATK - 219/219

ACN - 24/24

LUC - 0/0

AGL - 52/52

STM - 75/75

DEF - 129/129

DEX - 33/33

Skills - Wild Boar Dash; Demonic Slash; Beast King's Rage.]

The two of them remained basically speechless as they read the Boss's stats and abilities, as Felix's mouth hanged wide open. Kim reached over and closed it for him, and soon after, Felix yelled out "What the fuck! That thing's the size of the damn Titanic!"

"You ever see the Titanic with your own eyes?"

"No, but I imagine it looked a bit like that! It's level five, how are we supposed to beat it?! Are at least your stats similar to his?!"

"Not even close."

"Fuck!"

Suddenly, the Boss – or, by its name, Qaart – rubbed its hoof against the ground as a lot of steam came out of its nose. Felix took another step back and gripped his knife tight as his hand couldn't help but tremble, and Kim once again pulled his sword out of its scabbard. Kim sighed, "This is the first floor's Boss, huh?" He then readied his footing, and started holding his sword pointed right at Qaart. "C'mon then. I'll put you on the grill by the end of this."

Kim, as usual, charged straight ahead at the Boss. It still wasn't moving from its spot, but it was obvious it was ready for combat as well. The closer Kim got, the harder Felix's heart was pounding in his chest, as he was yet to move from his original position.

["Shit... My legs aren't... aren't listening to me...!"]

He tried to take a step forwards, but as soon as he lifted his foot from the ground, Qaart let out a loud, obnoxious roar that Felix didn't even know boars could produce. He immediately froze, and instead, took a step back, tears forming in his eyes.

["Fuck! We have to kill that?! No, no way!"]

His knees started trembling, and the hand that was holding the knife couldn't sit still either. He didn't know what to do. He was scared. He was terrified. He kept stepping backwards until he finally hit the hot metal doors, which surprised him as he let out a small yelp. Meanwhile, Kim, who was fighting the boar to the death, got another message notifying him of Felix's state, yet he didn't have the luxury of checking on him or cheering him on. He just kept fighting.

{Teammate [Felix Fox] is in a state of fear and anxiety! Stats reduced by 25%!}

Kim's sword kept swinging left and right, up and down, endlessly cutting away at the boar's thick hide. He didn't know how much damage he had done to it, and he didn't exactly had the time to check either. Although, eventually, after parrying an attack from one of its long horns and jumping back, he quickly glanced up.

{Qaart –

HP - 923/1218}

{"Not bad, but not good either.}

Kim sighed, and got right back to it. After jumping above one of its attacks, he used his horn as a literal stepping stone, spun around in the air and landed the slash right in the center of Qaart's head. Kim could hear a small "Ding!" followed by another small, fuzzy {Critical Hit.}

And so... he found it. The weak spot. Kim was slashing away at the center of its head like there was no tomorrow, again and again and again and again until his arms were sore. At one point, Qaart let out another weird roar and Kim couldn't hold on as it started going berserk. He jumped down and kept a bit of distance, as he fell on one knee from exhaustion, and he saw a window pop up somewhere to his side.

{Qaart has entered "Second Phase" Mode! –

HP - 609/1218

Activating the use of Qaart's Skills!

Activating (Beast King's Rage)!}

"Huh... That means I'm close, then... Not bad!"

Kim stood up, still gripping his sword as it glowed a violent blue. If he was able to do so much damage to it normally, what was this 'King's Rage' or whatever supposed to do? He had it in him to defeat this thing. Kim trusted himself. He started walking towards it once again, his sword prepared and his will unfaltering. The second Qaart moved, Kim jumped high, higher than ever before, and slashed at its head. The hit landed, as he then safely jumped away.

{"Good. Keep this up. Get his health down, slowly but surely. Hit and run."}

And so, he kept doing this for a bit. He would keep jumping up, hitting him, then jumping away whenever he got the chance. And it was working. Kim gripped his sword tight, as it started glowing a more bright blue than before. He prepared himself, and began sprinting towards the boar, ready to finish the job. He jumped up, a blue aura surrounding both him and the sword as he swung down at Qaart's head, full force... only for Qaart to move his head out of the way – he dodged.

{"Wha—?!"}

A loud sound followed, and blood splatter everywhere. Kim let out a big yell of pain and grabbed tightly onto one of the boar's fangs, as he let out more quickened breaths of both pain and annoyance. He hissed at the boar, "Fucking bastard...!" and the boar, in response, did nothing but chew... on the leg it just obtained from Kim. He was trying his best to hold on, as he couldn't do anything if he was on the floor while missing his right leg – he had to stay airborne. Eventually, Qaart started violently shaking his head, with one goal in mind – finish his meal.

{"Shit...! This guy's persistent as hell, huh...!"

Even though Kim did everything he could to stay on, eventually he started slipping. Before he could stick his sword in the boar's fang, it managed to shake him off, as Kim flew upwards. The deal was sealed. Kim was boar food. Right as he was headed for Qaart's mouth, the boar was hit in the head ever so slightly, causing it to flinch. And so, instead of getting eaten, Kim only got impaled by one of the boar's horns. The boar, now clearly having much better things to do, shook him off – as he flew across the room, hitting a wall then sliding down it. His sword flew off as well, sticking randomly in the ground somewhere.

The boars attention was now pointed at Felix, who just threw his knife's scabbard at the boar. He was still trembling and scared shitless, but he wasn't gonna stay still and no nothing... Not anymore! He gripped his knife tightly and pointed it at Qaart, and he took in a deep breath before yelling, "Hey, you fucking boar! Over here!"

Kim, lying down against a wall, couldn't help but cough some blood, annoyed. When looking down at his stomach – and the huge hole in it – he chuckled a bit as he spoke with all he had left, "Hahah... No wonder there's... fluid in my lungs..."

His attention diverted towards Felix and the boar that was slowly walking at him. He coughed blood once more, and looked around for his sword, though unable to find it. He blinked heavily, feeling his consciousness slip away from him more and more by the second. He sighed, and leaned his head against the wall, looking up at the window displaying Qaart's health points.

[Qaart (Beast King's Rage) - Berserk Mode –

HP - 169/1218]

Kim couldn't help but chuckle at that, as his head slowly fell down, "Heh... That's... so fucking... childish... Good luck... Fox..." and soon, his eyes closed and he collapsed over, as his blood spread all throughout the small area where he was lying. Felix, on the other side of the room, held his knife high. He didn't know what the hell a small butter knife was going to do against a gigantic demon, but he was more than okay with finding out the hard way! Qaart was getting closer and closer with each step, as it made the room shake, and Felix was already breathing heavily. All of a sudden, he got a message, and a window popped up near him.

[You're in a deeper state of fear and panic! Stats reduced by 30%!]

["Like I didn't fucking know already...?! Shit! My stats are already low as they are normally, why bother...!"]

The boar kept closing in the distance by the second, and Felix couldn't do anything but watch as it did so. He kept trying to think, trying to find a solution but he wasn't getting any real progress in. He couldn't do anything to stop this... He couldn't kill it. Back home, he barely got rid of cockroaches and spiders, what made him think he can take down a huge demonic boar...?!

"Fuck... Okay, okay... I have one thing I can try... right? So.... c'mon, Qaart, let's... Let's dance!"

Felix started focusing all that he had, trying to reenact what he did back when he saved Kim, or when he dodged that arrow. What was it that triggered his skill? How could he do it again? He didn't know... but he had to find out, and soon! He thought and thought as his time slowly ticked down, unsure of what to try... So, without any other options, he readied himself. What has he got to lose? He fixed his footing, leaned back while holding the knife like a spear, and jerked forwards.

And he could feel it.

[Skill Activated - Clear Vi—

Before the knife could leave his hand, the boar suddenly got a lot closer – it charged forwards and crazily swung his head around, right in Felix's face. Because, Felix had forgotten... Qaart could use skills as well. Though, it was too late now. Qaart was headed straight for him, and Felix was still mid throw. He was out of options. His time... was up.

Qaart made contact with Felix and right afterwards, the wall behind him, creating a dust cloud all around them. Soon enough, Felix flew out of it at incredible speeds. He hit a random wall, breaking it, as he was now in it, slouched down and speechless from pain. His left arm was gone, his knife was still somewhere in the dust cloud, yet he still he tried to take a step forwards – but the wall crumbled slightly and he fell face first. As he was on the ground, annoyed and sad, he got another window right in front of his eyes.

[{(Congratulations on unlocking 'One Shot, No Kill'! You're the first person to survive a Boss attack on 1 HP. Rewards will be granted after Boss Fight! Godspeed!)}]

To that, Felix couldn't help but chuckle, which soon turned into full on laughter. He was laughing like he never had before, even if it wasn't showing as his chest was still barely moving thanks to the shock from before. After all, that was good. They got him good!

"Hahah... ahahaha... These assholes... are making fun... of me...!"

He kept laughing in his breathless state, as the ground kept shaking and rumbling. The boar was approaching him once again. Yet he hardly cared, he was still laughing as lively as ever, like he didn't have a single care in the world. On the other side of the room was Kim, still uncounscious, and over on Felix's side, a huge demon was coming straight at him.

"Hahah... These assholes... have been making fun... of me... all along...!"

His fist hit the ground, annoyed, kicking up a bit more dust around him. He slowly, barely, and pathetically got up from the ground. His whole body was pushing itself to limits it wasn't aware of. His face was cut up, his body was trembling, dirty, and hurt, and his left arm... was in that bastard's stomach by now.

"Looks like... we at least gave you a good meal, huh...!"

Instead of just staying there and dying because of his injuries, Felix started walking closer to Qaart. He was barely walking, staggering every other step, but he was getting closer. His face looked annoyed, and mad even, as his right arm was holding whatever was left of his other, attempting to stop the bleeding. As he kept walking towards the boar, he saw a glint in the corner of his eye – a glint from Kim's sword, stuck in the ground.

"...Heh... You know, Qaarty..."

The boar stomped his hoof on the ground for a bit, before activating another skill, as his fangs started glowing a deadly, blood red. It prepared itself, and launched a huge fiery vertical slash right at Felix.

"...Your biggest mistake..."

Felix leaped across, dodging it just in time. He landed pretty roughly, but he did just by Kim's sword. He chuckled, as his only remaining hand reached out for its handle.

"...was eating my left hand!"

The second Felix touched the handle, the whole sword started fiercely overflowing with a blue aura. He pulled it out of the ground, and held it high above his head. It wasn't heavy. It wasn't weird. It all felt... okay. Natural. He pointed it at Qaart, as his own eyes started glowing a bright blue, overpowering their original color of brown.

"Guess what, you damn overgrown pig."

Felix swung the sword at his side, in the air, and the blood that was built up on it from Qaart all scattered on the floor, over his own. Once again, the sword was pointed at the boar and Felix locked eyes with it.

"I'm right handed."

The sword started glowing more alongside Felix's eyes, and he heard a "Ding!", meaning a window popped up near him somewhere – yet he didn't have time to check. He didn't care. And so, he didn't look, his eyes not moving from the boar's. However, even if he didn't read it, the message was still there, not any less true.

[Skill {Sponge} is resonating with {Kim Jaehyun's} nameless Mana-Sword! –

Enhancing Mana-Sword by +3!

Temporarily giving the user 'Skill - {Sword Dance} - Lvl 5'!

Temporarily increasing the user's Stats by 225%!

All the user's mana is traversing through the Mana-Sword yet to be named! Slay down your opponents with it and unlock its true glory! Godspeed!]

Felix could feel the sword move ten times lighter than before, as he swung it in the air a few times, leaving a blue blur behind where the blade was traversing. His wounds didn't sting anymore. His left hand? Unnecessary. He had everything he needed. He took one step forward, and from Qaart's view, Felix vanished into nowhere as only a faint blue trace of his eyes and sword passed through – moving in behind him.

Qaart – despite his huge size – jumped back and turned around, preparing another {Demonic Slash}, but Felix was still nowhere to be found, to its surprise. Suddenly, when he landed, Qaart could barely see in his peripheral vision another blue blur coming straight at his head. It barely dodged in time, as it cut through one of his fangs with ease. Below it, Felix landed with a "Ah— I missed."

When Felix looked back and into Qaart's eyes, the boar couldn't think of any other words than 'Blue Demon.' And that's – probably – impressive coming from another demon. It jumped back, knowing damn well that if it hadn't, he'd be dead. Qaart was scared. For the first time in his life, he was scared. When checking for Felix, he had once again disappeared. Where to? Where is he?! Qaart looked all around him, and even with his great vision that could see through the darkest of smokes, it couldn't even catch glimpse of Felix.

"Oi, Qaarty."

Qaart heard that from the one place he wished the hardest he wouldn't hear it from – below.

"Ain'tcha too big? Let's fix that."

Suddenly, right before his very eyes, Qaart's legs kept getting surgically shorter and shorter until he couldn't stand up anymore because of the pain. He fell on one side, genuinely scared for its life. He was gonna die. This blue demon was gonna kill him! As Felix slowly approached his head, he raised Kim's sword high, way above his head. Felix was gonna finish this the way he started.

"...Rest in peace."

"Ding!"

Blood splatter. Broken flesh.

[Critical Hit.]

After a few more seconds, Felix started walking, now barely holding onto Kim's sword. He was hearing "Ding!" after "Ding!" meaning he was getting countless notifications, but he didn't care. What's it mattered? As he was walking, right behind him flashed a huge screen.

[First Floor's Boss – Qaart, The Demonic Boar - Defeated!

MVC - Kim Jaehyun

LVC - Felix Fox

Reward - Soon To Be Handed Out.]

Then, after that one, more screens were all around Felix, but he didn't check them. He just left them be – not interested in the slightest – as he kept walking.

[Nameless Mana-Sword successfully absorbed enough of the user's mana to begin Transformation! Awakening in progress. Please keep feeding your mana into it!]

[Buffs offered by the Mana-Sword expired. Cooldown until next use: 743 hours, 59 minutes, 59 seconds.]

[Title 'The One Who Lived' successfully awarded for achieving the 'One Shot, No Kill' achievement!]

[Boss Room cleared while HP and Mana are below 10%! Additional rewards will be granted!]

[{(Congratulations on unlocking 'Early Bird Gets The Worm'! You're the first player to defeat The Demonic Boar, Qaart! You achieved the 'First' title!)}]

As all of these notifications kept coming and coming at Felix, he just tiredly waved them away with the sword. He was closing in on Kim's unconscious body... or worse. He wasn't sure yet. And, even though he was ignoring everything, a window was forced in his face.

[{(Godspeed!)}]

"Shut up, so annoying..."

He waved that one away too, as he finally reached Kim. He crouched down next to him, glancing at his missing leg and stomach. He sighed, and tapped him on the shoulder softly with the sword's hilt.

"...Sorry. I borrowed your sword."

He sat down next to him, without bothering to check his pulse. He just sighed again, looking down at the sword in his hand, which stopped glowing blue at some point. Though, he starts chuckling. He just kinda laughs at it all, not taking anything serious. He looks up, at the ceiling.

"Haah... I think we... we did okay..."

Felix glanced over at Kim, and stops laughing as he speaks, "Though you didn't get to see it to the end..." He looks down at the sword in his hand and nods – ready to return it to its rightful owner. As he reaches over to his hand, suddenly, the same static as always returns, giving him a terrible headache. He closes his eyes and fights it, but it disappeared by itself soon enough. When he opens his eyes... he was surrounded by a white, clean room.

"...Huh?"

He looked around at everything – the room was packed, with a kitchen, training area and a toilet, and even some sleeping bags. Felix was... confused... Finally, he looked up somewhere above a door at a Blank window.

[First Floor's Resting Grounds.]

"Resting... grounds... Ah, wasn't that... something... Shit, man, I don't remember..."

Felix sighed, and looked down at the blood on his hands, except it was gone...

Hands.

Hands?

Hands?!

Felix's eyes widened, as he took a good look at his left hand. He started chuckling as he looked down at Kim, only to see his limb restored as well – even the hole in his stomach was completely patched up. No, even the clothes were okay! Felix looked at the sword in his hands, teary-eyed.

"...I did it...?"

He raised it high, way above his head. It was heavy now, way heavier than before, but he hardly cared. He kept it high, took in a deep breath, and shouted, as hard as his lungs ever let him in his life.

"I FUCKING WOOOON!"

The next second, his vision went blurry and he dropped the sword next to him, as it stuck in the ground, and he fell to his side. As his eyes were closing, he heard one final message notification.

[Mana levels dangerously low! Beginning mana restoration.]

And after that... everything went dark.