Eternal Empire Online: The Rise of the Mythical Detective

Chapter 8: The Kings Of The Forest And The World’s Mightiest Disciple 4

Grimm made it back to the training ground with 20% left on his Health. Though the Cait Sith ceased chasing him when he entered the Dusk Panthers’ territory, he unluckily run into a group of four Dusk Panthers on his way back. He managed to defeat them but it was a fight of 4 against 1, so his Health was badly hurt.

But thanks to that, he levelled up twice, putting him at Level 20 now.

“There’s no time to waste,” Grimm said, analyzing the numbers of his stats.

Though he was forced to run from the Cait Siths, he has no plan of letting that defeat go. He had invested valuable capitals, and yet, he gained no profit.

The businessman in him is running amok right now.

“I must find a way to deal with all of them at once.”

Base on the information he gathered regarding the Black Cait Sith, it is in possession of 2 additional skills, the Fury Swipe and Cat Taming.

The Fury Swipe is surely an attack skill, that’s easily manageable. The bigger concern is the Cat Taming. By the skill’s name alone, it’s obviously a Rally Skill, a common skill among the boss types that has the ability to call forth minions or allies.

Therefore, if he desires to confront the Black Cait Sith again, then he must eliminate the minions first.

He’d found a method to defeat the Cait Sith despite the inadequacy of gears and levels but that’s only effective in a one on one fight. If he’s going to deal with 15 to 20 of them at once, that kind of strategy won’t be applicable.

‘I guess unique and special monsters can only be dealt with a party.’

Grimm shook his head on that thought. No, he refused to accept that. His intuition is telling him that that’s not the only solution. Like everything else in the world, there’s always one question and one answer, but there are limitless methods to connect the two. There’s something else that can be done here. He can’t just pinpoint what it is yet.

Grimm’s head throbbed. The situation is like failing to solve a simple math problem just because one variable is missing.

‘Static Fur……Cat Taming……Wooden Sword……’ Grimm closed his eyes and dived into deep thoughts. ‘Durability………wooden sword……..twenty……no, twenty-one…….damage……paralysis……..paralysis……wooden sword….’ Grimm shook his head. He can’t still find what’s missing.

Aside from being dark and beast types, Grimm also noticed that Cait Siths love to collect items.

Grimm shook his head again. ‘That’s not going to be helpful.’

He succumbed into thoughts again. ‘Number…..wooden sword…..number….defend and hit….collecting items….collecting items…..delay…..wooden sword…..wooden swords!….reequipping….timing…..no penalty?….’ 

Grimm’s eyes shot open. “That’s it!”

The method might be a bit irrational and the success rate is next to nil but it can be done.

With that in mind, Grimm immediately gathered everything that he will need and spend the entire night preparing.

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So now, with just a few minutes left before dawn, and while carrying more than 50 wooden swords against his shoulder and 50 more inside his inventory, Grimm is once again back to the area he’d just flown a few hours ago in order to demand a rematch against the Black Cait Sith and its kin.

Upon his arrival, they immediately surrounded him per the Black Cait Sith’s command.

Grrrrrrr!

Excluding the black one, 20 of them encircled him, blocking every escape path that he might use to ensure that he won’t be able to flee like last time.

“It’s sink or swim now.”

Meow!

The Black Cait Sith ordered and upon that command, its minions simultaneously jump towards Grimm.

Grimm, also with that signal, scattered the wooden swords he was carrying to the air. Some of the suspended swords bumped towards the attacking Cait Siths, causing a number of them to fall and has to reorganize themselves.

Thanks to that, the approaching attackers were reduced into a manageable number and Grimm then began equipping himself with the scattered wooden sword, striking the looming Cait Siths several times until the durability reaches zero.

When they got staggered and lost their ability to paralyze, Grimm unleashed his combo kicks and bare-hand attacks to deal damage and then equip a wooden sword again to defend and to disrupt them.

This strategy being utilized by Grimm is called ‘Punch and Clutch Tactic’. A term used in boxing that describes a tactic of punishing the opponent without giving them a chance to counter. It’s a boxing tactic that is highly effective especially when fighting against a boxer with a much higher offensive power.

Grimm came up with this method when he remembered that the loading time for equipping armors and weapons does not apply if it serves as a replacement for the equipped gears that had broken down.

Exploiting this exemption and pairing it with the length advantage and low durability of the Wooden Swords, he was able to create the perfect defense against the Cait Siths and their Static Fur.

However, this strategy is overwhelmingly risky. Just one wrong move or split seconds of inattention will surely lead to his demise.

But Grimm being Grimm was able to pull it off. He utilizes everything that he got including the usage of his real life strength and agility despite the penalty and the imperfect sword apparitions just to increase his attacking power. He doesn’t know how much damage it can deal but even a 0.00001% damage increase is still a damage increase, and any damage increase in his situation is very welcome.

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WARNING! 

You unleashed a power beyond the limit of your strength. 

You received a damage recoil, [Health (-50)]

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WARNING! 

You moved in a speed beyond the limit of your agility. 

You received a stat penalty, [Defense (-100) for 30 minutes]

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He sustained this combination of attack and defense while red Alert Windows continuously flashed from all sides.

And after several minutes of the continuous display of swordsmanship, power, precision, and most of all, recklessness, the Cait Siths began to plummet one after another. And every time one of them perishes and drop items, the surviving Cait Siths’ item-loving nature would kick in and cause them distractions, thus, giving Grimm wider openings to efficiently deal higher amount of damage.

Noticing that his minions are being shredded one after another, the Black Cait Sith finally jumped in and joined the fray. And as expected from a Miniboss, the Black Cait Sith displays the speed and the power that is several times more superior compared to a normal Cait Sith. Its Fury Swipe can destroy the Wooden Sword in 2 strikes, forcing Grimm to move even faster and receive more penalties in return.

However, nothing among these is beyond Grimm’s calculation. And in truth, when he formulated the solution for defeating the Cait Siths, he had estimated it in a situation where the Black Cait Sith is going to attack from the very beginning.

So when it didn’t attack immediately and had waited for its minions to decrease first, it actually gave Grimm a breathing space.

“Now it’s just you and me,” Grimm declared, kicking the Black Cait Sith on the chest when the last of its minion finally faded.

Grrrrr!

The Black Cait Sith growled in frustration. It obviously wants to make a strategic retreat and reorganize another attack but Grimm had cunningly surrounded himself with the loots dropped by the fallen Cait Siths, making it impossible for the Black Cait Sith to just let him go.

Due to the damages he’d received and the penalties he’d suffered, Grimm is now left with only 12% on his Health while the Black Cait Sith on the other hand, still has 35% remaining on its life.

Defeating it is still attainable. However, now that its minions are gone, it had become cautious and Grimm can’t find a solid opening to deal the finishing move.

‘I must find a way to make it let it get guard down.’ Grimm thought while reviewing his Stats and Skill Tree.

When he found what he was looking for, a moan immediately escape his lips. “You can’t be serious!”

But he’s running out of time and option. The sun is almost up, and the Cait Siths being nocturnal hated the daylight. With or without the loots, the Black Cait Sith will surely run away once the light of the sun reaches them.

‘I really hate relying on luck but here we go!’

Grimm rushed towards the Black Cait Sith and swung his sword. The Black Cait Sith opposed with a Fury Swipe and their attacks clashed.

The impact of their attacks created a shockwave that blasted the two of them. The Black Cait Sith with its feline nature was able to maintain its balance and manage to immediately execute a second attack. While Grimm, on the other hand, had loses his foothold and almost tumbled to the ground.

Grasping this opportunity, the Black Cait Sith used the opening and s***h Grimm with a Fury Swipe.

Grimm, who was caught off-guard, failed to defend and received the full extent of the attack.

However, much to the Black Cait Sith’s surprise, Grimm didn’t fall down.

During the clash….

Grimm received a red alert message.

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WARNING! 

You unleashed a power beyond the limit of your strength. 

You received a damage recoil, [Health (-50)]

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That was immediately followed by a notification.

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Your Health dropped below 10% 

Unbreakable Body Activated 

Immunity to Physical Damage for 10 seconds

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Back to Now…..

So when the Black Cait Sith attacked Grimm with its finishing move, Grimm didn’t receive any damage.

‘Now to finish this off!’

He attacked the surprised cat with the Wooden Sword until its durability perished and then succeeded it with the most menacing combinations of kicks and punches until the Black Cait Sith breathe its final breath.

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Your Level has risen

Your Level has risen

Your Level has risen

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“Raaaaaahhhhhhhh!” Grimm roared in triumph as the darkness fades around him.

For defeating the Black Cait Sith and 20 of its minions, he levelled up for a total of 8 times, tying him now with Gambit as the highest levelled user among the disciples.

Ding!

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You have unlocked the Cult of Illusion’s Ultimate Sword Technique

New Skill Acquired 

Nine Headed Naga Strike [Active: Beginner (0.00%)]

Summon 8 Astral Swords that will stab the target from all 8 directions after successfully executing a sword attack.

Each Astral Sword will inflict 70% of the damage your sword had successfully inflicted to the target.

Mana Cost: 500

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