Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It seemed like the Kobolds were vassals enslaved by the Gnolls, and the Gnoll standing in front of Chu Ge must be the representative of the Gnolls to supervise and oversee the Kobold’s mining of ore. Chu Ge quickly analyzed the relationship between the Gnolls and Kobolds. At the same time, he also ran a critical eye over Gruff Swiftbite’s appearance.
The Gnoll was about 1.5 meters tall. Compared to the average one-meter height of the Kobolds, it could be considered abnormally big-built. Most importantly, although the Gnoll was a head shorter than Chu Ge, it had a thickset body build. Judging by its appearance, it would not be weak.
Gruff Swiftbite wore a tattered and worn leather armor on its body. Compared to the tattered linens that the Kobolds wore, its defense looked much more durable. Gruff Swiftbite’s weapon was a massive club. It was blackish, so it was hard to tell what the material it was made of, and it rested on Gruff Swiftbite’s shoulder.
Chu Ge swept his eyes over the Boss sizing it up for quite a while. He felt that defeating it was still within his abilities. The crucial point was that if he did not defeat the Boss in front of him, he would not be able to continue clearing the Instance Dungeon. And since the monster was the first Boss, he imagined that it would not be too strong.
He looked at the zanbato he held in his hands and hesitated for a moment. Chu Ge switched weapons, changing to the combination of a bomb shield and a Tang sword. The Boss’s defense was a blunt weapon. Although his bomb suit was sturdy, it did not mean that it could ultimately withstand the force of a blunt weapon. It would be more assuring if he equipped himself with a bomb shield.
He was still going to trigger the battle from a distance. But now, Chu Ge was going to go with the compound bow.
The recurve bow was only 40-pounds, but the compound bow was 60 pounds. Thankfully, the compound bow was not too taxing on the strength of the person drawing the bow, as drawing a compound bow was relatively easy. The only downside was that it would be impossible to shoot targets quickly.
Chu Ge had no intention of shooting at the target quickly. He was looking to cause instant damage to his enemy. In theory, if an arrow hit a vital area of the target, there was even a possibility that he would be able to kill the Gnoll Boss instantly.
Taking the bow out, Chu Ge nocked the arrow and then aimed the shot towards the Gnoll’s chest.
“Here we go!” With a swooshing sound, the arrow shot off with great power. After being hit with the arrow, Chu Ge even had a clear view of how the Gnoll tilted backward from the force of the attack. However, unfortunately, the arrow did not hit the Gnoll’s chest. It landed below the rib cage. And the Gnoll proved its title of a Boss, for its HP bar had only reduced by about one-fifth. It let out a roar and came charging in Chu Ge’s direction. Chu Ge shot out another arrow hastily while retreating backward.
This time, by a stroke of luck, the arrow had hit the Gnoll in its right chest. The HP bar had reduced by another section, close to half of the HP bar remained. However, within the blink of an eye, the Gnoll had already charged close to where Chu Ge stood.
“Heavens! It was so fast!” Chu Ge could not help but exclaim in alarm inside his mind. When he was fighting against the Kobolds previously, if he was shooting at them while retreating, he would be able to shoot at least three arrows at the target, sometimes even four. But the fast speed of the Gnoll was astonishing. He had managed only to shoot two arrows, and it had already reached him. Although, he had to take the slow release speed of the compound bow into consideration, too. But, that also proved that the Gnoll’s speed was still vastly superior to that of the Kobolds.
He quickly stowed the compound bow. Then, in one hand, he held the bomb shield, and in the other, he kept his grip on the Tang sword.
The Gnoll was ferocious, and without notice, the large club in its hands came crashing down.
Looking at the force and momentum of the movement, Chu Ge did not doubt that if he were to be hit with the club, he would be heavily injured even if he was wearing the bomb suit. Thankfully, he had already switched weapons to the bomb shield and the Tang sword.
He hurriedly pushed the bomb shield forward, bracing for the force to come. With a loud bang, the shield and the club collided together. Chu Ge immediately felt a tremendous force traversing through his body, and his whole arm went numb the instant it felt the impact of the force.
“Godda*n! Did it have to be so strong and fierce?” Chu Ge thought. He silently felt that the situation wasn’t going too well for him. The opponent was not tall, but its strength was astonishing. If it came at him with the same force another two times, he would most probably not be able to withstand it any longer. That couldn’t happen, so he had to defeat it quickly.
He swiped at the Gnoll with the Tang sword quickly.
The Gnoll might look ferocious and strong, but its movements weren’t dull either. The moment it saw the sword-swinging at it, it dodged to the side. It was Chu Ge’s first encounter with a monster that could dodge an attack. Originally, Chu Ge’s intention was to hack at its neck, but the sword landed on the Gnoll’s shoulders and only managed to draw just a thin line of blood.
Chu Ge rushed to give the Gnoll another swing, but the Gnoll also swung its club at Chu Ge. The sword and club collided, and the Tang sword’s blade had broken from the force of the collision and flew away. Chu Ge silently voiced, “Thank goodness. I still have other back-up weapons.”
As he retreated backward, he reached out towards the Leather Black Pouch and took out the battle-ax from the pouch. The opponent’s skin and flesh were thick, so it was more suitable to use a weapon that could easily break through armor.
Chu Ge spied the Gnoll trying to swing an attack with its club again, and he had nowhere to run, so he could only raise the bomb shield to defend himself. There was another loud bang. The strength of the attack didn’t feel as exaggerated as the previous time. Although the force was still significant, he was able to fend off the attack. Chu Ge was very puzzled, but he had no time to consider or think. Seeing the head of the Gnoll wide open for an attack, Chu Ge swung the ax at the Gnoll. Because the Gnoll was smaller in size, the trajectory of the ax was at an advantage, and it came from high up. With a bursting sound, the ax landed right on the head of the Gnoll. The HP bar of the Gnoll emptied quickly. But it was undoubtedly the Boss. Even after sustaining an attack by the ax on its head, it still clung on to a thread of life. With a shove, Chu Ge was knocked to the ground, but the battle-ax that Chu Ge had used to attack was stuck on the Gnoll’s head.
Chu Ge watched as the Gnoll raised the club in its hands, with all the intention of striking at him.
Chu Ge was at his wit’s end. He had no idea how much HP he had but felt that he was no Boss material. If he were to sustain an injury to the head from the Gnoll’s attack, he would most probably be dead. Reaching out frantically to the Black Leather Pouch, Chu Ge grabbed the last weapon kept inside—the spear. Then, he quickly raised the spear and held it in a stance in front of him.
The Gnoll was currently leaning forward with full force. In the end, its whole being took the brunt of the spearhead. With a slicing, bursting sound, the Gnoll had been pierced entirely with the spear. It was finally killed.
The corpse was hanging from the spear and was emitting light and a dim white glow.
Chu Ge looked at the corpse as his whole being was stuck frozen on the spot. His heart was pumping and beating furiously from the pressure of toeing the fine line between life and death. It took a good long while before his heart calmed. He was still quite severely shaken when he pulled himself up from the ground, telling himself that it was such a close call. Thank goodness he had prepared more weapons. Just now, if it weren’t for the spear stored in the Black Leather pouch, he would most likely have perished. It had been too easy killing the Kobolds previously, so much so that he had gotten complacent with a feeling that he was indestructible. It was now that he realized if he wasn’t careful, there was still a possibility that he would be killed.
Now that the battle was over, he turned to look at the Gnoll, still a little traumatized from the fight. He thought the Gnoll was undoubtedly and unmistakably a Boss.
But he had to admit, the feeling of being so close to death got his adrenaline skyrocketing. Even defeating the World Boss in games did not feel so thrilling, exciting, and awesome.
After resting awhile, Chu Ge finally got over the agitated excitement that had been running his heart on overdrive. Now that the battle was over, it was time for the highly anticipated search for loot.
Speaking of which, the Gnoll was his first Boss kill. Previously, the low-leveled monsters had already given him so many useful items. The Boss would definitely be able to provide him with even better treasures. As he thought about it, Chu Ge felt anticipation bubbling in his chest.
Then, Chu Ge reached out towards the Gnoll’s corpse with anticipation and excitement.
The first was…six silver coins. “Oh? It had even dropped silver coins,”
Chu Ge looked at the silver coins in his hands that he had obtained.
“Item Introduction: Silver Coins (Currency)
Item Introduction: Coins made from silver. It is much more valuable than bronze coins. There is some value to it.”
The second item was an armor.
“Item Name: Gruff’s Protection Armor (Chainmail)
Body Defense: 18
Leg Defense: 6
Durability: 19/26
Item Introduction: An armor made from leather and chainmail of differing sizes, combined. Although it looks rather ugly, its defense is still pretty good.”
“Holy sh*t! You still have the cheek to say the defense was pretty good?” Chu Ge ranted in his mind that his weapons would be able to pierce the armor easily. However, judging from the item drop, the equipment dropped in a noob-level difficulty Instance Dungeon would not be able to compare to the equipment purchased in real life, even if the Boss dropped it.
However, that seemed reasonable too. If the Gnoll had worn a precious armor that was impenetrable, then the one lying on the ground dead would be him.
His current strength was akin to that of a level ten character that had no skills, wearing level 20 equipment, and challenging a level five Instance Dungeon. He was relying on the dominance of his equipment to clear the Instance Dungeon.
Chu Ge looked at the bomb suit that he was wearing, then he looked at the dirty thing he held in his hands that looked like trash, and he just threw it on the ground in distaste.