First Waves: First Area Boss

"So, do you know where the boss is?" In-Su asked as he walked side by side with Alya, eyes scanning around the street as the girl led them deeper into the city.

"Yup. I stumbled upon it when I was looking for food." Skelly suddenly grabbed Alya's sleeve and pointed to the left when the girl was about to go to the right. "Well, mostly Skelly because I still don't remember the road."

"This skeleton is quite useful. Is he your first undead summon?" In-Su asked curiously.

"You can say it like that. Skelly... actually a weird monster. He jumped in to save me when I got attacked, so I used my power to bring him back."

"A monster saving a human?" In-Su muttered confusedly, not expecting that Skelly was not the first monster the girl killed but instead a monster that sacrificed himself for the girl.

"That's worth investigating...." In-Su suddenly stopped walking when he realized something weird. Looking around, In-Su noticed that Si-Woo was nowhere around.

"Si-Woo?"

Alya and Skelly looked at each other before at the older male. "Skelly said he saw that guy turn to the left street when we were at that store."

"He what?!" In-Su covered his face with one hand as he sighed heavily. "A straight road. We've been walking on a straight road and he managed to get lost even when he followed us?!"

In-Su gave the two a sheepish smile. "Sorry... we need to find Si-Woo...." Skelly and Alya shrugged. "Sure, Skelly can find him."

In-Su blinked in confusion. "Find him? How?"

"Holy magic and dark magic are the opposite. Skelly says Si-Woo's holy magic is strong and different, so he can sense it."

"Heeh, that's actually useful—"

[EXP Share Activated: Si-Woo sharing 179 EXP with In-Su]

"Is he fighting?"

Alya leaned toward In-Su and tried to peek at the notification screen. "What is EXP Share?" In-Su looked down to see Skelly and Alya looking up at him, making him smile softly. "Oh, this? It's a perk of teaming up. Every monster Si-Woo kills, I get my share of EXP."

"So, you munch off him?"

"Ugh, you don't have to say it like that..."

The three started walking back to where they had come from and took the left turn where Skelly saw Si-Woo turn. Monster corpses were scattered around the road, and In-Su kept getting EXP Share notifications. "This guy... does he ever stop slaying monsters?"

"Isn't it good? We're about to fight the Area Boss. So, it's better if we level up."

In-Su just glanced at Alya. 'Or letting off steam... Si-Woo really hates feeling helpless. Meeting that Ancient Dragon and not being able to do anything must really bother him.' In-Su suddenly stopped walking before he let out a sigh. "Let's leave him for a bit." In-Su ignored the confused looks he got from Alya and Skelly before he suddenly walked toward the bakery shop, kicking the broken door open. "Do you think this shop still has food?"

Skelly and Alya looked at each other before shrugging and following In-Su. "Skelly says he wants a fruit sandwich."

"Can a skeleton even eat food?"

"Haah... haah..." Si-Woo pulled his sword out from the goblin's head. 'Not enough...' He stepped over the corpses scattered around him, hand gripping his sword as he hazily walked down the street. 'I need to be stronger... Need to level up...' Si-Woo remembered his encounter with the Ancient Dragon. He remembered how he trembled in fear, and it made him angry at himself. "Damnit! Stop shaking!" He pushed his hair away from his face as he sighed heavily.

"I can't protect anyone like this..." He slashed the goblin that lunged toward him without even looking at it. "...We now have a kid on the team... I need to get stronger... I need to be strong enough to protect In-Su...."

Si-Woo raised his free hand and caught the object thrown at him. He blinked a few times as the mist lifted from his mind. He looked at his hand and saw that it was a sandwich. "What?" He then heard footsteps and a rattling of bones behind him, making him turn around to see In-Su approaching him, munching on a donut while Alya and Skelly followed behind, the girl eating a muffin and the skeleton... eating a cake?

"Hey, you cool now?" In-Su asked, making Si-Woo look at his best friend. He watched the brown-haired male walk closer before wrapping his arm around his neck.

"In-Su...?" Si-Woo blinked slowly as he looked at the male's grinning face. "Where did you get..." Si-Woo looked at the sandwich with a confused expression.

"There's a bakery that still has food. Don't worry, it's safe." In-Su pulled the male closer to him. "Hey, you know that we just got here, right? The words made Si-Woo stop halfway from unwrapping the sandwich. "I know your feelings, but pushing yourself won't solve the problem. It's okay to work together. That kid doesn't need protection; she needs guidance."

Si-Woo's eyes flickered toward Alya and Skelly, who were watching the two interact with each other, the skeleton eating the muffin that Alya offered.

"...Hold up! Is that skeleton eating?!"

"That's what you just realized?!" In-Su slapped the back of Si-Woo's head in frustration, making the other male laugh. "I'm just kidding!" Si-Woo smiled softly as he looked at In-Su. "....You're right. To survive, I can't work alone."

Skelly rushed toward Si-Woo, bony fingers holding onto the cake before he held it out toward the male, the sound of bones rattling coming from the skeleton monster.

"You want to share this with me?"

Skelly made another rattling noise, and the black fire seemed to grow larger as he held the cake higher toward Si-Woo, making the male's smile widen slightly. He reached out to grab the cake but stopped when he felt a dark aura coming from Alya. Looking at the girl, he saw her giving him a look that resembled a protective sister ready to jump in to protect her brother.

In-Su and Si-Woo sweatdropped at the dark look they received from Alya. "Uh... Maybe next time, Skelly. I have my sandwich." The skeleton seemed dejected at first but then turned around toward Alya, seeing the girl smile brightly at the goblin skeleton.

"Okay! I think we've been here enough! Skelly, where is this Area Boss?"

Skelly looked at In-Su before pointing his bony finger at the road behind him, then moving his hand to the right, and then pointing back forward. When he saw the confusion on the two males' faces, he just shook his head and started to lead the group toward the Area Boss location.

After a few minutes of walking, In-Su noticed that they were heading toward Myeongdong Cathedral, making him wonder what kind of monster was waiting for them.

"...Damn, that's so creepy..." Si-Woo muttered as he looked at the cathedral from a distance. Under the red sky, the church seemed scarier and gave off an unsettling aura. But then they saw it, the Area Boss.

In-Su thought that the boss was going to be a troll or some kind of ugly monster, but what he saw was completely different.

It was an angel statue with a pair of large white wings covering the statue, which was kneeling on the ground, stone hands covering its face.

"Weeping Angel?" The two males looked at Alya with confusion, but the girl raised her finger and pointed at the top of the statue's head.

[Area Boss: Weeping Angel (LvL 10)]

[Hp: 1,000] [Shield: 24,000]

"Shield?" Si-Woo furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Basically, we can't deplete her health unless we break the shield." In-Su crossed his arms over his chest.

"In simple terms, we break the stone to kill it." Alya added.

"...Both of you suck at explaining in simple terms."

Si-Woo stepped forward as he unsheathed his sword. "Anyway, I just need to hit her harder." Before he could approach the Weeping Angel, Alya stopped him.

"Wait, what level are you?" the girl asked.

"Uh, level 7."

Skelly started rattling as he stepped forward, walking toward the monster. Holding out his bony hand, a large hammer materialized out of thin air. The weapon was made out of black bone with golden accents around the handle.

"We break the shield; you deliver the final hit." A black fire burst out from Alya's left eye as well as Skelly's left eye socket. The goblin skeleton grabbed the hammer handle before easily lifting it up and placing it over his shoulder.

[Entering Area Boss Arena]

"Is that a boss song?" In-Su muttered in confusion as he could hear a song blasting out of nowhere as soon as Skelly stepped inside the boss arena. 'It's kinda catchy... wait, damn that guitar tho.'

The Weeping Angel started moving slowly, fingers cracking and twitching as she pulled them away from her face. The statue's face resembled a calm woman's face, with her eyes closed. The statue's wings shot open before flapping around, raising the Weeping Angel up, hovering above the ground.

The Weeping Angel parted her lips before she started to sing, an opera song in a language that In-Su couldn't understand. A group of gargoyles appeared and flew toward Skelly.

[The Weeping Angel summons Gargoyles For Two Minutes: Survive until the timer runs out.]

"Ah!" Si-Woo took a step forward, about to join the fight, when Skelly suddenly disappeared and appeared behind one of the gargoyles. He easily swung the hammer, slamming it against the monster and shattering it to pieces.

Skelly didn't give the gargoyles a chance as he moved to another monster, smashing each one of them with one swing.

He landed on the ground at the same time the pieces of gargoyles showered down on him.

"...Wow...." In-Su breathed out in awe as he watched the fight. His green eyes then landed on Alya to see the concentration on the girl's expression, her eyes narrowed sharply.

Alya's dark eyes snapped toward the Weeping Angel, who was still singing, summoning more gargoyles. Skelly didn't bother to turn around as he jumped into the air, twirling around with the weapon and hitting three gargoyles in one spin. Skelly didn't stop. When he landed on the ground, he jumped back into the air and spun around again. He stepped on one of the gargoyles to jump higher so he could spin around longer.

'Wow... How does that skeleton know where to hit?' Si-Woo gripped his sword handle tightly, his eyes glancing at Alya to see that her eyes landed on the gargoyles before Skelly smashed them. 'Is she... leading the skeleton? I can see it. Her eyes move to the monsters first before Skelly hits them... The skeleton reacts to what the kid sees!'

[Two Minutes End; The Weeping Angel is vulnerable]

Skelly landed on his knees before lunging at the now quiet Weeping Angel. He swung the hammer at the statue monster, but the wings covered the blow, hiding the statue behind the large pair of white wings.

[Shield: 23000]

'One hit is 1000 damage?!' In-Su clenched his fist tightly, wondering what level Skelly and Alya were.

Skelly landed back on the ground before he started attacking the Weeping Angel again, smashing the wings repeatedly without stopping.

[Shield: 22000] [Shield: 21000] [Shield: 20000] [Shield: 19000]

"Skelly." Alya threw out her hand as the fire in her left eye grew bigger. "Skill active: Fire Hammer."

Skelly landed on the ground, raising the hammer above his skull. The fire coming out of his skull grew bigger before it traveled up the handle and covered the hammer. Skelly jumped high into the air, hammer still raised over his skull, before he started spinning around until all he was was a big ball of fire.

"Meteor Strike."

Skelly slammed the hammer hard against the Weeping Angel's wings, causing the fire to spread over the white feathers.

[Shield: Broken]

The Weeping Angel let out a shriek as the wings turned into stone before crumbling to pieces. "Skelly, fall back! Now, old man!"

Si-Woo rushed past Skelly as he jumped into the air, yelling out, "I'm not that old!" He raised his glowing sword. "Holy strike!!" Si-Woo landed on his knee behind the statue, the tip of the sword scratching the ground before the Weeping Angel sliced into two and exploded, stone pieces raining down on Si-Woo.

[Weeping Angel Defeated: 30,000 exp received.]

[In-Su Raised To LvL 5]

[Si-Woo Raised To LvL 9]

[Alya And Skelly Raised To LvL 15]

'LvL 15?!' In-Su and Si-Woo looked at the notification window that appeared in the middle of the arena.

[Si-Woo Received Ring Of Saint]

In-Su blinked in surprise when a ring appeared in front of him, and he quickly caught it. "Item?" He then saw another window appear on top of the ring.

[Ring Of Saint: Raise Holy Magic And Mana by +3000.]

"3000?! That's a huge boost!"

[Si-Woo Received Holy Choker]

"There's nothing holy about a choker." Si-Woo sweatdropped as he raised his hand just in time to catch the choker. It was a normal black choker.

[Raises Charisma +18 and Stamina +30]

"Weird choice of fashion but actually useful." Si-Woo wore the choker around his neck with a smirk.

[Alya And Skelly Received 400 Gold.]

"Huh, seems like those with holy attributes can receive holy items."

Skelly raised his hammer over his skull in victory before the weapon disappeared in the fire.

[Safe Zone Unlocked; First Village Is Available.]

"Okay! Let's go there, I'm so tired!" Si-Woo sheathed his sword before starting to head in the opposite direction, with In-Su grabbing the back of his collar before dragging him in the correct direction.

"You're right, let's go Alya, Skelly."

The Necromancer and her undead goblin looked at each other before shrugging and following the two males. "Okay~"

[Alya And Skelly Automatically Join The Team.]

[Synergy Activated: Not So Holy]