Cyberserk & Vampiress

Fighting the Tyrant Minotaur

The hobbits supported the idea of attacking the monster.

"Master Dan is a powerful mage and a great warrior. If the master uses magic to weaken this bull, we can deal him a lot of damage. We are willing to die for the master. Then the master will be able to destroy the dangerous bull with an ax," one hobbit said at once.

"In case of danger, the master can call for a fearsome dragon! I am the best and I think of the master's safety. We don't need nasty swordsman Tom. Tom is always laughing at us," another hobbit reminded Dan of the possibility of getting out of a dangerous situation. Then the hobbit scratched his head and added in a quiet voice. "Swordsman Tom is a very strong ally. But he mocks us."

"He has a wicked tongue but a good heart. He cares for you as much as I do. Thank you for reminding me of our formidable ally. Let us not disturb Swordsman Tom. He's busy with important matters at the forge," Dan decided. He wanted to test his abilities.

The young man squinted and thought for a moment about the most unpleasant outcome. What if he died? Spending almost a week in a creepy place was a disgusting continuation of the adventure. Now he wouldn't be able to cover himself with evil gnomes. On the other hand, he didn't care about the citizens' problems. He had a right to life and death. He owes no one anything and does not have to care about his appearance as an aristocrat. The opponent does not look particularly dangerous.

Dan decides to do battle without his trusty assistant.

"Spread out on different sides and start the attack. I'll cast a spell of slowing down and the monster won't be able to come at us quickly. Let's kill this mutant," the swordsman ordered.

The hobbits nodded and rushed into the boss cave. They managed to run to the middle of the cave when the mutant responded to the presence of the enemies.

Mooooooo!

The tall monster mooed loudly and raised his ax to kill one of the smaller enemies. Stones and the mage's first spells flew at the mutant's head. The slowing proved to be excellent. Thick stalks of green grass surged around the mutant and the minotaur nearly fell from the unexpected obstacle. His feet got caught in the tangle of stalks. The boss shifted into step and was able to overcome the magic of the earth. But suddenly he lost his concentration.

The vile little foe was doing negligible damage. But the bites of this wretched insect annoyed the minotaur. And the unpleasant target was very close. But a more dangerous foe had already shown itself in the distance, and its powerful magical attacks were hurting the Tyrant Minotaur badly.

Dan saw with admiration that each magical attack dealt at least 200 points of damage to the boss. My Precious ring gave 56% amplification to all of the young mage's spells. He didn't hesitate and immediately applied the skill Lord of Elements.

Lord of the Elements. All magical attacks have a chance to activate this skill, increasing the player's magical damage by 56% for 15 seconds. The skill does not stack.

Cooldown: 30 seconds.

For fifteen seconds his spells can do double damage! In the tower of mages, Dan was able to redeem several attack-type spells. Fire magic was of little value in the city. This magic was not loved. Fire spells did a lot of damage but they didn't differentiate between enemies and allies. The fireball was available for purchase. This hideous fire spell damaged all creatures within a meter of its victim! Its cost was incredibly high. Ten mana points to injure your enemy and allies? Only the most brutal mages of the Grossroads were capable of such tricks.

But now the fearsome mutant met an opponent who was not afraid to harm his allies and spared no mana. A fireball slammed into the mutant's body and the pitiful mooing of the injured monster erupted in the cave.

[Fire Ball. School of Fire Magic.

Level 21.

Required level: 15.

Requirement: None.

Damage: 147-177.

Cost: 10 mana points.

Cooldown: 0.5 seconds.

The mage collects around himself a large amount of fire energy. He concentrates it into a fireball and directs it at enemies. When encountering a monster or obstacle, the fireball explodes, inflicting fire damage in a small area]

A red number with a damaging reading flew above the horned head.

-328.

Dan didn't hesitate and struck the enemy again with a terrifying fire spell. The fireball was the size of a basketball. But when this creation of magic crashed into the monster's body a flash of fire enveloped half of the enemy's figure. Tyrant Minotaur paid no more attention to the hobbit stones. He turned and walked toward the dangerous mage.

The young man saw how the magic of this world was playing its own obscure game. The flames were causing unpleasant effects. The cave reeked sharply with the disgusting smell of roasted meat and burnt hair. Smoke surrounded the figure of the monster. Its leather armor smoldered and stank. Yet fresh and bright green plant shoots continued to contain the enemy. The Slowing spell seemed to show its intelligence. A small path of tall grass stalks instantly grew in front of the monster. The spell immediately restricted free movement toward the mage. The Minotaur walked in steps. And he had to take about twenty steps to hit the mage with his unstoppable ax strike.

Unfortunately for the monster, this opponent was too rich in mana. Dan had 690 mana points. He could launch fireballs at the enemy almost instantly. And even minimal damage from spells guaranteed Dan Raven's victory.

The young man applied a dangerous fireball spell nonstop and was ready to meet the ax attack with the Kornelius Wing shield.

But suddenly the boss fell to his knees and dropped the huge ax. Dan couldn't stop himself and launched a fireball at the minotaur's corpse. Only a message from the game system brought the player to his senses.

[Congratulations! You have defeated the Tyrant Minotaur! Reward: 3200 experience points! Warning. Level difference 3. Multiplier applied. Reward reduced to 2240 experience points! Special reward for defeating the Tyrant Minotaur boss: the Gloves of the Skillful Blacksmith. The player improves the Boss Killer Rank 2 achievement. All boss damage increased by 142%!]

"We are the best!" Raven could not contain his delight. For the first time, he was able to obtain a useful artifact to develop a peaceful profession.

Together with Tom, the young man was able to destroy 142 bosses and received a huge number of different valuable prizes. But only twice did they see artifacts to improve the peaceful job. Once they got a valuable Apothecary's Cup, which increased the success of creating valuable potions by 5%. Friends also got the Magic Pickaxe, which increased the chance of obtaining a valuable resource by 7%. Both artifacts were hidden in the bank vault. Such things never showed up at auction. They were the greatest treasures in the city.

Dan immediately grabbed the leather gloves and didn't even notice the boss's head and the glitter of gold coins on the cave floor.

[Gloves of the Skillful Blacksmith. (Clothing, rank 6 - epic).

Durability: 390.

Weight: 0.1 kg.

Required: Profession Blacksmith.

Properties: Increases chance to produce a valuable item by 5%]

"Tom will kill himself with a blacksmith's hammer with envy," Dan chuckled and hurriedly gathered his trophies. He could move right into the clone room and pay a surprise visit to the hardworking blacksmith Humhum.

The best individual forge gave a 25% chance of producing an item. There was a full set of 8 artifacts in the world that didn't just increase the chance of successfully making an item. Two items from a professional's set gave a chance to produce a rank 1 artifact. A red rank added a property to a valuable artifact.

Dan quickly moved into the establishment of an old mouse he liked. This master made beautiful things. The young man especially liked the shoes that master Sharp-Eyed Weepy was made.

Dan cautiously entered the strange column of light that illuminated the walls of the phantom's small room. He immediately heard the familiar and pleasing ear beats of the blacksmith's hammer. Tom didn't pay attention to the world when he was busy forging things. Dan acknowledged that he was inferior to the phantom's mastery. The clone knew how to give himself completely to the process and used his abilities as a cold-blooded specialist.

The young man waited for his friend to finish tapping his hammer and was pleased to see that the clone had once again wasted no resources in vain and had managed to create a valuable artifact.

"Tom I have a gift for you," the young man diverted the phantom's attention from studying the object.

"Why are you here? What happened? You're supposed to be in the dungeon," the phantom asked several questions. He hadn't expected to see his friend in the forge.

"The hobbits and I handled it without you," Dan smiled and immediately stopped the flow of indignation. "Magic rules! I didn't even let him get close to me. Just four seconds of fireball attacks fried the boss. It was a gruesome sight and the nauseating smell of those fire spells."

"What kind of damage did you do?" Tom immediately questioned the details. He quickly realized that in four seconds a fast monster could overcome a couple of dozen meters and catch up with his opponent. But by all appearances, Dan was using Slowing.

"Averaging at least 250 damage per spell. Terrible advantage against weaker opponents who are inferior in level. He had all his defenses blown away. I don't understand why monsters don't have magic protection. The creators didn't work in that direction."

"Resistance to magic is the highest level of defense. Level 19 players have no resistance to magic. You have to become an apprentice in a tower of mages and then you get 30 points of protection against magical attacks. Normal warriors have no protection from magic at all. Artifacts with this property are rank unique and legendary and mythical. There are no such artifacts on our auction. There are probably some cool things in the treasuries of the old clans. Our level in this place is epic artifacts. Like this one," Tom smiled and held out a short sword to his friend.

Raven took the weapon and swung the beautiful blue blade several times with pleasure. The light sword seemed to him a strange variety of a long dagger. The swordsman no longer felt comfortable handling weapons other than the one-handed sword.

[Eternal Sword. (Short Sword, Rank 6 - Epic).

Damage: 30-42

Durability: 210

Weight: 0.5kg

Requirement: Level 19

Property: Eternal Support. Permanent restoration of 1 point of durability for 1 minute!]

"A fine toy for a princess. She's practicing with the short blade. Why don't we give her a gift?" Dan held out the blade to the clone.

"There is no need to pamper children. She's nothing but trouble. Look at her behavior tonight. She won't give you any support during the court shark banquet. She's a strange person. Very murky and unbalanced. Don't mess with the princess!" Tom looked seriously at his friend.

The clone still hadn't figured out the issue of royalty. The royal family was not identifiable. There was no information in the city's library about kings. Aristocratic titles in the city meant ownership of a valuable resource. But the royal family of humans was held in absolute esteem by the most important citizens of the city. Overlords could not do without a member of the royal family. It was a strange property of the world. Other creatures could not rule each other. Gnomes never lost power over gnomes. Even the appearance of the orcs in the Grossroads was met with restrained respect and tranquility. Never did the seven tribes of orcs lose the right to rule their unbridled nation of warriors and utterly mindless shamans. Orc shaman was the most dangerous and terrible threat to all allies during the battle. The shaman's attacks affected all members of the battle group who didn't have time to dodge the attacks of the fanged mages.

"I won't argue. That sword is definitely worth a hundred gold coins. We need a lot of gold," Dan shook his head.

The young man remembered the unpleasant evening he would have to spend in King Arador's palace.