‘It’s not over!’ Almond’s pupils shrank to the extreme as the Blade Mantis’ blade arms swung at him, glowing with a red aura as it was about to hack him into four pieces.
Naturally, the Shield was precisely for this. It was a rectangle shield almost a meter long.
‘Now!’ Almond’s eyes flickered as he stacked 5 Spirits right below the Mantis the moment its blades were about to strike him.
Usually, this Blade Mantis was sharp enough that it would easily dodge out of Spirit Explosion’s range since it had a delay of one second, which was plenty of time for this agile monster to react.
But how would it dodge while it was attacking him?
Almond was dragged back a few meters as the shield blocked the attack while his powerful Strength boosted by Physical Enchant allowed him to stand his ground with his shield as he remained uninjured except for a minor shock due to the impact.
But on the other hand…
*BOOM!*
A loud explosion rang in a colored spectacle of green smoke and dust, obliterating the Blade Mantis that was already injured by the accidental sword blast. But even if it wasn’t injured, this stack of 5 Spirit Explosions hitting at point black range right below it was enough to kill it.
[Congratulations. You have killed the level 10 Blade Mantis, the Field Boss of the lower area of Fairy Mountain.]
[100 Gold coins to all participants in the battle.]
“W-We did it!” Natalia ran towards them as she shouted with excitement.
Lily smiled and nodded, looking at the smoke and dust where the explosion occurred. “The plan was perfect. Paralysing daggers are great, though they wouldn’t have survived that explosion,” she wryly smiled.
Almond walked toward the dead Mantis, his attention on the drops, if any.
[You have reached level 10. Please check out the specialized class tab and rank advancement tab for more information.]
He had the highest contribution, and since the Field Boss gave higher EXP, he filled the big progress bar from level 9 to 10, successfully reaching level 10!
Natalia reached level 9, while Lily remained at level 9.
But most importantly, a faint blue glow could be seen as the smoke and dust from the explosion settled!
Almond’s fist clenched as he took a deep breath, his mouth stretching into a grin as he picked up the black-bladed sword with sharp red patterns on its blade edge.
Grabbing the exquisite dark green wooden handle, Almond instantly felt powerful upon holding it!
[Preying Hunter’s Sword]
-Grade: [Rare / Low]
-Durability: [1000/1000]
-Attack: [100 + 100% of user’s Strength.]
-Effect(s):
—> If you are chasing someone, your movement speed increases by 30%.
—> Slash-type attacks of this sword have 35% higher penetration power.
—> Preying Sense: Infusing 50 Mana in the sword will allow you to sense all living beings within 50 meters of yourself for 10 seconds.
Almond’s hand trembled as he read the weapon’s details.
The chance to get this sword as a drop was usually low! It had only dropped 2 times in 10 years!
Even though it was a Rare-grade low-tier, it was still powerful. Moreover, rare-grade items were something that usually Gold-rank monsters dropped, who only appeared on the 5th floor and onward!
Lower floors had a chance to grant such items at a very low rate or by meeting some conditions. Field Bosses were such monsters that had those drops at a low rate.
Moreover, just like how stronger people would be suppressed with a penalty if they entered lower floors, it was also forbidden to enter the lower floors with items gained from higher floors.
Otherwise, Lily could easily bring more powerful items since her parents were higher floor adventurers and they had tons of items.
‘This is a chance. If we kill the other two Bosses while being lower level than them, we might also get their rare drops. Even if one of them drops, it will be worth it.’
“How’s the sword?” Lily asked as she and Natalia walked towards Almond, looking curiously at the sword.
“See for yourself,” Almond grinned as he shared the sword’s details.
“Holy cow!” Natalia spluttered, her mouth wide. “This is going to be so deadly in your hand!”
Lily’s eyes glinted, “You mastered Physical Enchantment in Arms and Legs, so your Strength doubles, and adding that to this sword’s offense…Almond, I think you can instantly kill the second Field Boss with this if the attack lands properly.”
“Yeah, possibly,” Almond nodded as he swung the sword masterfully around him for a couple of seconds before putting it in the sheath.
“Let’s continue moving,” Almond looked west, where the Nest of Willowbee area was about to end. “One more hive and you two will reach level 10 as well. I’ll check out my specialized class stuff and rank-advancement quest while walking.”
The trio began moving towards the west while slowly going higher up in the mountain. They were already a bit higher and once they crossed the Nest of Willowbees area, they would enter the middle part of the mountain where Silver rank monster would start to appear.
‘Interesting…so I can choose how I want this to proceed, eh?’
[You are now qualified to build your specialized class. Please choose how you want this to proceed.]
[Option 1: Analyzing your journey in the Labyrinth so far, you can have the S-rank class: Runic Spellsword, after completing the specialized class quest.]
[Option 2: Selecting this option will allow you to build your own specialized class and each of its aspects through a series of quests that will test your capabilities to determine the class-building options.]
[Once selected, you cannot change the option.]
‘S-rank class and it’s even sword-related,’ Almond was tempted.
But as he looked at his current class, his eyes glinted sharply, ‘I have an SS-rank class…and a class above S-rank cannot be naturally obtained.’
There have been cases of people building an SS-rank class after they chose option 2, and he wanted to do the same!
Heck, the Guild leader of the globally No.1 guild had an SSS-rank class he acquired after choosing option 2!
And he was sure there was more than one person with an SSS-rank class after choosing this option. They just didn’t disclose it to the public.
‘Option 2.’
As Almond selected option 2, a thought drifted through his mind.
‘Is there a class rank that’s above SSS rank?’
[Please select the Suffix you want for your specialized class from the options given to you.]
[The first quest will be generated afterward.]
[ ———— {Suffix}]
[Options]
-Slayer
-Swordsman
-Warden
-Hunter
-Spellsword
-Grimblade
‘This…is a bit tricky,’ Almond frowned. ‘Swordsman is ideal. I don’t want to brag, but I feel like I am a genius with the sword.’
‘But that last option is making me feel that itch I want to scratch…’
“What’s up, troubling to select your Suffix?” Lily elbowed Almond upon seeing his frown. “Ultimately, it’s just a name. The real determination will be the rating you achieve in your quests, which will determine the skill options you will get.”
“That’s true…” Almond looked at the options thoughtfully and decided to dissect the names logically.
‘Swordsman will likely present me with sword-related options, though this will be influenced by the Prefix I select later as well.’
‘As for Grimblade, which is Grim plus Blade…well, swords also have blades. It can be said that Blade is a broader term and can include all bladed weapons, including swords.’
Almond entered a thoughtful state for a while as he just walked alongside Lily and Natalia before he finally concluded after a minute.
‘This is it.’