The Tarasque
1st Floor of the Tower of Storms, 1st Layer Tower of Storms, Unnamed Dungeon
After preparing everything, Archaon went to the 1st Floor of the Tower of Storms, which was the 1st Layer in the Unnamed Dungeon that he was in control of. His target was to subjugate the Tarasque, which acted as the Guardian of the Dungeon for the 240 days of the Beginner's Protection Period.
With this, he would not only complete his last task before the Beginner's Protection Period has ended entirely.
Obtaining the High-Class Creature was the priority.
He went directly to the entrance of the Dungeon, and he passed through the cold stone corridors of the Tower of Storms while being navigated by his knowledge of the layout of the Dungeon because the Tower of Storms was a small labyrinth.
If not for this capability, he would have long ago lost in this place because he designed the Tower of Storms as a labyrinth that was supposed to be extremely hard to get out. And he had to admit that he did a hell of a good job with that because even with the map, he was almost getting lost several times.
Fortunately enough, he soon enough arrived at the entrance to the Dungeon, or rather exit?
Depending on your point of view on this one.
But what was easy was discovering the Tarasque. The Creature was an enormous abomination, roughly the size of a smaller dragon because it was still juvenile, but it could eat Archaon in one gulp several times over and over.
It had two long horns extending from its forehead, a thick carapace, a mighty tail, many spikes covering its large body, and a wide, toothy maw. Its hide was extraordinarily thick and was almost impossible to penetrate with normal weapons or means; one would need considerable force to wound even young Taraque.
The Tarrasque also had two small eyes, but it did not rely on these for its primary method of sensory perception; if they were blinded or removed, they were effectively unhindered.
The Tarrasque was impossible to frighten or charm and had resistance to every kind of damage imaginable. According to the Dungeon Fairy, it was the innate ability of the Taraques as their species; they had some certain racial immunity towards the Charms, Mind Manipulation, and other similar types of Magics, Spells, and Abilities.
While the younger tarasques moved at a speed roughly half that of a human, either while walking on the surface, climbing a height, or burrowing through the earth, once they were stronger, their speed also increased tremendously.
Despite their large physical builds, these creatures were rather fast and dangerous, even from this point of view. He stood several tens of meters away from the Tarasque as he used the [Mind's Eye] onto the High-Class Creature to see its stats.
[Mind's Eye] was an especially useful Skill because it allowed one to see the exact status of the target, including all of the Physical Dimensions, its strengths and weaknesses, all abilities and skills that the Creature had, and even its power to a certain degree.
One could even use the [Mind's Eye] to detect the Uniqueness of the target, if there was something special about the target on whom he was using the [Mind's Eye].
[Name: N/A
Race: Tarasque (Juvenile)
Type: Monstrosity
Sub-Type: Titan
Rank: Level 3
Element: Earth
Stats:
Strength - 25, Vitality - 25, Agility - 25, Endurance - 25, Magic Power - 25
Potential: (125/500)
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Arcane - 0, Insight - 2
Potential: (2/200)
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Magic: Geomancy (Ex R) - 42
Uniqueness: Legendary Resistance (EX Legend), Magic Resistance (Epic), Reflective Carapace (Epic)
Skills: Siege Monster (Ex U)]
As Archaon looked over the skills and Uniqunenesses that the Tarasque possessed, he wanted to curse himself because while he was delighted that the strength of the High-Class Creaure was capped at Level 3 for the time being, there was another set of problems with it.
Afterward, he used the [Mind's Eye] on the several skills and Uniquenesses that the Tarasuqe had because those were not really included in the Yihi's "teachings," if it could be even called such.
The Tarasque even had one Exceptionally Legend Uniqueness and two Uniquenesses on the Epic Level, which was downright staggering. Aside from that, it also had [Geomancy] Magic on the Exceptionally Rare Level and one Skill called [Siege Monster] on the Exceptionally Unique Level.
This was really beyond anything logical or expectable, but it was a High-Class Creature, and according to the Yihi, the High-Class Creatures often served as Dungeon Masters, Dungeon Guardians, or in many cases, they were the Overlords themselves.
Even at the low stages of its growth, most of the High-Class Creatures were very powerful, but it seemed that the Tarasque was on the top of the High-Class Creature, only one shy step away from the Supreme-Class Creatures.
[Uniqueness Name: Legendary Resistance
Grade: Exceptionally Legend
Description: The resistance of the Tarasuqe against all types of the Magical Damage and Physical Damage is exceptionally high. Due to this, the Tarasque can ignore all damage that is below its own Level of raw power. If the attack is weaker by 1 Level, it would be weakened by 50%; if by 2 Levels, it would be weakened by 90%. If the attack is on the same Level as the Level of the Tarasque, the attack is weakened by 25%.]
As he read through the description of the Uniqueness [Legendary Resistance], he felt a sting of defeat in him because this Uniqueness was really, but like, really overpowered too much.
Now he could understand why the Tarasque was so feared because when it reached a certain degree of strength, then it was completely invulnerable to all attacks that were weaker than itself, and even those who were not really that would be weakened by a considerable degree.
Considering the fact that then there was a very serious need for powerful individuals to fight the Tarasque so they would have enough raw power to fight the Creature, it went unsaid that in most of the cases, the Tarasques could rampage unhindered where they wished and when they wished.
Obviously, the following Uniquenesses were similarly ridiculous and overpowered, as was the entire existence of the tarasques themselves.
[Uniqueness Name: Magic Resistance
Grade: Epic
Description: The Tarasque is immune to the all Magic Spells of the Earth Element of the same Level and weaker. The Tarasque also has certain resistance towards the Magic in nature and it's Magical Effects. The Tarasque is entirely immune to Illusion Magic, Charm Magic, and Mind Magic regardless of the Level or power of the Magic Spell cast on the Tarasque.]
[Uniqueness Name: Reflective Carapace
Grade: Epic
Description: Any time the Tarasque is targetted by a Spell that cannot be resisted entirely, a Line Spell, or a Spell that can be resisted mostly, there is a stable chance that the Tarasque is unaffected, and the Spell itself is reflected back at the caster as though it originated from the Tarasque, turning the caster of the Spell into the target of the Spell. If the Spell that is being reflected is weaker than the Tarasque by a significant margin and gets reflected, there is a stable chance of the Spell being boosted by the Reflected in power by 100%.]
[Skill Name: Siege Monster
Grade: Exceptionally Unique
Description: The Tarasque is a living siege machine that enjoys destroying things. The longer it keeps destroying things, the stronger it becomes by assimialting the negative emotions generated during the destruction of everything around itself and in its path.]
All of the Uniquenesses of the Tarasque that was guarding his unnamed Dungeon were overpowered as heck and would, for certain, discourage others from even attempting to tame the Tarasque due to his crazy idea this was for sure.
But Archaon was even more motivated because the Tarasque was already strong as heck, and this was just a juvenile one; he couldn't wait to obtain it for his Dungeon and let it grow.
Then it would be an absolutely unstoppable war machine that would crush everything in its path; this would come in handy for sure, especially in the more powerful worlds. If the list of the worlds that was on the System was anything to tell him, he would be all of his money, and the next world after the ASOIAF would be the Dragon Age.
Which was a significantly more powerful world than A Song of Ice and Fire.
"We should get going... using Magic won't result in anything; most probably, the only usage of the Magic would be to use it as a distraction. The resistance of the Tarasque is not something that I can break through with my meager mastery over the Pyromancy and its low potency. Considering all of its abilities, I would need to reach Level 4 in the Magic Power stat at least..."
Fortunately enough, the Burial Blade was powerful enough to break through the hide and scales of the Tarasque for sure. It was the weapon of the Gehrman the First Hunter, and he had used the weapon to hunt for far more powerful Beasts and Creatures than the Tarasque.
As Archaon approached the Tarasque, the High-Class Creature noticed him almost immediately and instantly growled at him. The High-Class Creature was able to recognize him as the Overlord and Dungeon Master, so it didn't really attack tonight.
But it was making sure that if he made one or two steps, it would attack and kill him without any mercy at the moment. Archaon realized that the Tarasque was preparing to fight and would most probably kill him if it had the possibility, but at the same time, he had already gone this far, so there was no possibility of going back.
Once he had decided to subjugate the Tarasque, then there was no other possibility.
He held the Burial Blade firmly in both of his hands, as he had it in the form of a Scythe; it was the form where the weapon was the strongest because, in its blended form of a curved sword, it couldn't showcase all of its power.
Archaon planned to go full out from the very start.
There was no need for hesitation or anything.
Because he had inherited the combat instincts of the Gehrman the First Hunter and some of his experiences from the assimilation of the Template; he could fight very well.
Unfortunately, though, he wasn't that far in his assimilation of the Temple, where he would start inheriting and learning the Techniques of the First Hunter.
Those combat techniques were the most precious, but he could imitate a few stances and strikes from it, which was already better than nothing. If he learned at least one-fifth of the combat techniques used by the First Hunter, then he wouldn't really take the Tarasque that seriously right now.
But now, that wasn't the case, and he needed to depend on his own style and experiences, which wasn't the most ideal situation.
Still, he looked at the Tarasque that was looking at him warily; he knew that while the tarasques were not using their eyes as the primary method of sensing things, their eyesight was still very, very sharp.
Archaon appeared in front of the Tarasque in a flash, as he used the [Pyromancy] to cast a [Fireball] beneath his legs, to give him even greater explosive speed as he appeared in front of the Creature and lashed the Tarasque with the blunt side of the Burial Blade.
As he expected, the Tarasque just shrugged it off, leaving no injuries over its scale, but he sensed that the High-Class Creature let out some growls of pain because he had hurt it. The strike from the weapon hurt the Tarasque to some degree.
Seeing that, he grinned as he flipped in the air as he, dodged the incoming tail strike from the Tarasque, and struck the huge monsters once more, this time with the edged part of the Burial Blade.
This time, the results were a bit different, if one could say it like that, as he managed to tear several scales from the Tarasque. The very moment it happened, the Tarasque shrieked in pain and grew enraged that the opponent in front of it managed to wound it.
According to Yihi, the tarasques were rather proud creatures, like very proud and arrogant creatures that were very confident in their strength. They were considered disgraceful when someone whom they perceived as much weaker and smaller managed to wound them.
And when the Tarasque was enraged, it didn't end well for the most.
But Archaon was specifically trained to deal with such kinds of enemies, because the enemies that were enraged lost their sanity. When the enemy is losing his mind, he cannot think rationally, and when the enemy cannot think rationally, they would be making the mistakes.
And he was very good at exploring the mistakes.
The combat style of the Hunter of the Workshop was all about exploiting the mistakes of the enemy and turning the weakness against him. Aside from many, many other aspects of the fight that the Hunters were fighting in.
He dodged the engaged Tarasque who had a rather problematic time fighting in the Tower of Storms because the place wasn't really that large. When Archaon designed the 1st Layer of the Dungeon, the Tower of Storms, he divided it into 13 smaller Floors, so the Tarasque was rather constrained.
It was a large monster, and fitting an extremely fast enemy was problematic in the closed space. The terrain was greatly to Archaon's advantage because the huge size of the Tarasque was constraining it, and he had a much easier time moving around and hitting the Tarasque in its vital spots.
Because he had learned everything that he could have learned about the High-Class Craeutrre, he had already long ago devised the most effective plan on how to defeat the Tarasque.
Defeat.
Not kill.
Defeating and subjugating the High-Class Creature was much harder than killing it.
In fact, if he wished, he could have killed it in something under half an hour because everything that was needed was to slit its throat and deliver enough fatal stirks in the vitals with the edges side of the Burial Blade.
With the advantage that he had in terms of terrain and speed, it wasn't that hard thing to do.
[Congratulations! Stat: Pyromancy has been increased by 1.]
[Congratulations! Stat: Pyromancy has been increased by 1.]
[Congratulations! Stat: Martia Art - Skill has been increased by 1.]
He dismissed some of the notifications from the System as he focused on the Tarasque that already sustained enough injuries after fighting for half an hour or so. The strikes of the Burial Blade, which was for sure a Divine Weapon or something, hurt it a lot.
Really lot.
And he was fighting smart, nullifying the advantages of the treasure, and because of the [Mind's Eye], he was aware of all of its strong and weak sides. He knew very well that every attack he executed must be made with the full power to render the Resistances useless, and he also avoided using the Magic directly against the Tarasque.
With the effects of the [Mind's Eye], he saw that the High-Class Creature tarasque was becoming more and more tired, and the chase of the cat and mouse was far more effective than he thought it would be.
Due to the memories and experiences of the First Hunter, he knew that some types of prey required more effort and delicacy. Sometimes, you can't just fight the prey or do anything, sometimes you need to create proper condition for the prey to be hunted and tired it out where it won't be dangerous for the Hunter.
Like he was doing right now.
Everything was set in place, and because the Tarasque was still juvenile, it lacked the fearsome vitality, stamina, strength, and developed combat instincts of its elders and adult tarasques.
Basically, everything that made it so dangerous.
Soon enough, the Tarasque charged on him once again, like the enraged bull would be charging on the toreador, but unfortunately for the Tarasque, this place was too small for a proper charge that would be using the speed and gravity to enhance its power, so after twenty meters, the Tarasque hit the wall of the Dungeon when Archaon jumped over the rushing Tarasque and hacked with the Burial Blade in a full force.
Hitting the Tarasque in its back with the blunt side, the Creature received and its legs fell down a bit because of the pain as Archaon hit it in its spinal cord, which was very, very painful and also caused it partial temporal paralysis.
When the Creature was partially paralyzed, there was no more fight, as he watched the Tarasque struggle to turn around because large parts of its body were not listening to the mind, which was problematic.
The Tarasque growled at him and tried to hit him with its tail, but he was very good at dodging and counterattacking, so it ended rather painfully for the Tarasque. However, he needed to be careful because he didn't wish to sever its tail, which could be done rather easily with the Burial Blade.
"Submission or death. If you submit, you will be able to grow even more powerful than your ancestors ever were."
Archaon stated simply as he looked at the Tarasque, knowing that the Creature could very well understand him and awaited its decision. If it came to it, he would not hesitate to kill the Tarasque if the complete subjugation was absolutely impossible.
After several minutes of silence, he noticed that the Tarasque was putting down a bit its head as the showcase of submission to its new master.
[Congratulation! The host has subjugated the High-Class Creature Tarasuqe, that was summoned as the Dungeon Guardian during the period of the Beginner's Protection Period.]
Seeing the notification from the System, Archaon grinned as he patted the Tarasque over its head.
The tutorial was finally finished.
The real game could start now.