The Stone Golem Mini-Boss

[Stone Golem - Level 15 - Mini-Boss]

"How do I check the HP with the new perk?" Leon asked.

[Just think about it, and it will automatically appear,] EGO replied.

"Alright…" Leon opened his eyes as much as possible, thinking about the golem in front of him, and about how much health points it could have.

And then…

~FWISH~

[Stone Golem - Level 15 - Mini-Boss]

[HP: 3000]

"Nice!" another panel appeared right below the one that gave the most basic information about the monster, meaning that Leon was now perfectly capable of checking an enemy's HP each time he hit them.

If he was fighting an enemy that wasn't taking any damage no matter how much he hit it, then it would mean either he should run, or switch his strategy based on its level.

[Alright, just beat its ass now!] EGO positioned himself on Leon's head.

The golem's rocky fists clenched, and its eyes glowed brighter.

"Let's see what you've got," Leon muttered, determination surging through him.

The golem was the first to lung forward, its fist swinging down like a boulder.

But Leon just dove to the side, rolling to his feet just in time.

"Rock Smash!" The golem's fist collided with the ground, sending shockwaves through the arena.

He took a breath and charged at the golem, aiming for its midsection.

"ALRIGHT," and so he delivered a powerful jab, feeling the impact resonate through his arm.

[HP: 2943]

The golem barely flinched, and so it immediately countered.

"Stone Wall!" It raised its arms, summoning a wall of rock from the ground that blocked Leon's field of vision as he attempted to attack again.

"Huh?" he was forced to back away as he couldn't see.

But before he could even think about anything else… the golem retaliated.

"Golem Rush," the golem charged against the stone wall it had created, destroying it and sending debris over to Leon, all the while not stopping in his assault.

~SLAM~

Leon avoided some of the debris, and even tried to jump to the left to avoid the golem, but there were too many things to avoid, and so he was hit.

~CRASH~

The impact was powerful, sending him crashing toward the invisible walls of the arena.

But not wasting time, Leon immediately dashed toward the golem again, avoiding two swings from its stone fists and punching it in the chest.

[HP: 2869]

But still, Leon wasn't doing any damage.

"GOLEM SMASH," the golem regrouped its two hands, then tried to smash Leon using them.

[That thing is too powerful and tanky, using your fists isn't gonna work,] EGO said the most obvious thing in the world with that same smile on his face.

"No way, really?" Leon rolled his eyes as he rolled to avoid the smash attack, then immediately countered by uppercutting the golem's head, yet again dealing almost no damage.

[+1 progress for "Basics of Countering"]

He backed away shortly after that as it tried to kick him.

"What can I do…" he wasn't speaking to EGO, but to himself, his hand against his chin as his eyes burned with a powerful crimson color, analyzing every movement from the golem.

Punches did nothing, neither did kicks, hitting its head doesn't increase the damage, and one or two more strikes from that thing and Leon was as good as dead.

What could he possibly do?

[…] EGO didn't speak.

Leon turned his head to the right, observing one of the nearby fights.

It was a young-looking lad with long green hair and a black robe, carrying a staff in his hands as he kept throwing blue magic arrows at the golem, who was tanking most of it.

Yet… that thing had cracks on its body, and the more the boy attacked, the more cracks appeared.

"…" Leon's eyes widened, almost as he had gotten a vision, then he smiled, "Alright, EGO, get ready."

[Oh?]

"You're gonna be useful for once," Leon's smile grew even more as he focused his entire aura around his body.

His desire to 'devour' that golem and his excitement made it much more powerful than before.

And then…

~FWISH, DASH~

[Strategy or not, I'll follow what you say, partner,] EGO smiled as he stayed on Leon's hair, the boy reaching the golem in less than a second;

"GOLEM SMASH," immediately, the mini-boss tried to stop the human, but he easily slid down under the golem and jumped to smash its back before it could react.

And the result of that attempt was…

~CRACK~

A crack formed in the spot he had hit with his entire aura: it was small, but it was a good start.

To be honest, every time Leon struck the golem, his hand hurt like fucking hell, and there were already some traces of injuries and blood on his knuckles, that thing was made of solid rock after all…

But the human didn't care.

~FWISH, SWING~

The golem turned around instantly, straightening its arm down as it swung, trying to send the human away.

But Leon just crouched down and avoid the attack, readying himself to smash the golem's chest this time.

But…

"STONE WALL," actually sensing the danger for the first time, the golem attempted to raise the stone wall again to restrain the human's vision and stop him from attacking.

And yet… Leon didn't stop smiling, "NOW, EGO!" he shouted, "USE DEVOUR!"

[On it!]

EGO left Leon's hair and while using his host as a distraction, he bit the arm of the golem.

And so…

"Knew it," Leon's eyes were full of excitement as he noticed that the 'creation' of the wall had MASSIVELY slowed down since EGO was basically devouring all the energy it needed to be created by the golem.

And taking advantage of that opportunity, Leon decided to give the final blow.

While the golem was still confused as to why its wall didn't rise, Leon dashed toward the monster, and using its body as a stool, he focused his aura in his legs and jumped upward.

~FWISH~

Leon was now around three meters above the golem, watching it from above as it was still confused.

And then… he did what he needed to do.

~FWISH, SLAM~

He spanned around thrice before positioning his leg in a way that it perfectly lands on top of the golem's head, a massive amount of crimson aura around it.

This was Leon's plan: try to take it down with one powerful attack, as creating a crack big enough would mean it would instantly die as its body would crumble.

And so…

~BOOOOOOOOOM~

The back of his foot connected with the golem's head, the impact so strong that it actually resounded in the entire clearing, a flash of crimson aura visible from everywhere, even within the forest.

And after that… Leon stepped back, going back to his original position far from the golem and taking his fighting stance again.

He didn't know if that would be enough to take down the mini-boss, but oh boy would he be fucked if it didn't.