Chapter 228: A Life Lesson
After a few hours of rest, the majestic sun was back in the sky, watching over everything as though a sovereign looking down on its subjects, illuminating the land beneath and marking the beginning of another hopeful day.
It was a good day, and it started great for Shye.
But for some reason, he was currently unhappy as he marched solo along a safe path toward the exit/entrance near Balkrow City.
By "safe," it implied that taking the path would likely result in encountering fewer hostile creatures.
It would be in one's best interest to raise one's vigilance as he/she advanced towards his/her destination.
However, it did not guarantee complete safety. It would be prudent for one to remain vigilant as they advance toward their destination.
Luckily for Shye, even after two hours of nonstop walking, no creature attacked him.
It appears that the creatures are aware of the danger posed by encountering adventurer parties, so they tend to avoid the safer path as much as possible. They likely only attempt to attack adventurers when they are hungry and have been unsuccessful in hunting throughout the day.
Except for the apex creatures of course, however, those creatures had their own domain inside the zone, hence, encountering such beings was also unlikely.
His peaceful walk didn't last for long though as sounds of an ongoing fierce battle resounded a few hundred meters away from his location.
'Ohh? It seems like an adventurer party is hunting a monstrous creature nearby…' Shye mused, turning his head in the direction of the hunt. 'Well then, let's take a quick look…'
Walking alone was boring so he opted for a slight change of pace.
Nimbly jumping from time to time as he sprinted through the trees, Shye took out his sword just in case something suddenly attacked him.
He was inside an advanced adventurer zone after all so he could never be too careful.
The occurring hunt wasn't far, hence, after a few minutes of sprinting, Shye arrived at the location. He then climbed a nearby adult birch tree for a better view.
'What in the flying f*ck is that thing?' Shye thought upon seeing the creature the adventurer party was up against—his brows furrowed.
The creature had the head of a wild boar, the body of a tiger, and... the wings of a dragonfly; only, there were three pairs of wings instead of two.
Shye had never seen such a crazy-looking creature before.
'Appraisal'
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[Name]: Winged Boarger
[Creature Rank]: B-
[Description]
A [???]-type creature with the fierce charge of a boar, the agility of a tiger, and wings resembling a dragonfly's. Although it could only fly for short periods, the creature is extremely deadly—the bane of solo adventurers.
[Strength: 160]
[Intelligence: 20]
[Agility: 130]
[Dexterity: 110]
[Stamina: 100]
[Vitality: 110]:
[Wisdom: 10]
[Back] [Exit System]
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'Crap…that thing's bad news…' thought Shye, looking around for a safer place to watch.
After all, if that... thing... comes after him, those adventurers would probably not help him, especially considering how they looked at him with mocking smiles earlier in the lobby.
Climbing at a farther, safer birch tree, Shye keenly observed how a professional adventurer party operated.
'Hmm…they're pretty much doing the standard formation…' he mused, checking the stats of the adventurers when there's not much action going on.
What he found out was that these adventurers were probably not of the same rank.
Based on their attributes, probably two or three of these guys are ruby-ranked while the rest were platinum-ranked.
Meanwhile, the freaking…Winged Boarger…was probably on the lower ranks of (B-) creatures so Shye thought that the adventurer party had a pretty solid chance of slaying it without suffering any setbacks.
Little did he know, the average intelligence and wisdom attributes of a Winged Boarger were around ten for intelligence and five for wisdom, making the creature in front of him quite intelligent for its species.
Since the battle has been ongoing for around a quarter of an hour now, both sides more or less already determined a few weaknesses of their adversaries.
Unfortunately for the adventurers, they underestimated the intelligence of this Winged Boarger.
"Kelly! It's weak against [Lightning]-type elemental attacks. I'll cast my strongest lightning spell, you and Burrson contain it for at least three seconds!" The mage, who seemed to be a ruby-ranked adventurer and the leader of the party, ordered.
Since the two warriors, Kelly, and Burrson, were only platinum-ranked, they felt inclined to listen to their party leader's orders, hence, hard as it may be for the two of them, they charged forward to face the flying monstrosity—like true warriors.
Seeing that everything was falling into place, the mage closed his eyes and started casting his ultimate skill, [(Lightning)Thunder Fury Lv.3(Uncommon)], which took eighty percent of his focus.
Although the two warriors were a fair bit weaker than him, the mage chose to trust his party members
If they could stall the Winged Boarger for at least three seconds, then this hunt would be over.
However, who would have anticipated that the Boarger would disregard the two warriors, opting to endure one slash each from both of them in exchange for charging directly at the mage?
Realizing what was happening, the other party members called out to the mage with utter urgency, worry, and horrified expressions.
"ALAN!!! WATCH OUT!!"
*SPURT*
A blood-curdling scream reverberated through the forest as the Winged Boarger's sharp, thick tusks pierced Alan's body, causing him to expel alarming amounts of blood while a nauseating cracking sound of his ribs being crushed echoed afterward.
The winged creature's charge was so fierce that it demolished two birch trees before the Boarger managed to come to a halt.
At the tip of its tusks was Alan, the mage and party leader—lifeless; his corpse, slightly mangled.
Such a horrifying scene made Shye's heart race and breathe heavily as he smelled the familiar scent of blood—cold sweat emerging from his pores.
During the Adventurer Academy Competition, whenever his teammate was killed, they would simply transform into azure rays of light before reappearing outside the stage, alive and well.
Hence, this harrowing sight of an adventurer's actual fate reminded him that as talented as they were, they were mortals, and that such a fate could befall him, his friends, his girlfriend, and his little sister should they underestimate their adversary or not take preparations seriously.
[Congratulations! Your Wisdom attribute increased from 28 to 35!]
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