The Boundless Necromancer

Chapter 10: Growth (3)

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I entered the third challenge as soon as the cooldown of the Assassin’s Cloak was up.

There was nothing more I could do to prepare.

In order to survive and return to Earth, I had to do this now.

「 Entering Tower of Trials floor 3.
」

「 Difficulty – Hard 」

「 The objective of the following trial is ‘battle.’ 」

「 We wish the challenger a satisfactory ending to their choice.
」

A wet atrium appeared as I stepped into the portal.

“…”

It was a seemingly normal-looking cave with small puddles of water.

A small hole in the ceiling let a glimmer of sunlight into the center of the cave.

「 The 3rd-floor trial is starting soon.
」

「 Trial success condition – Kill the sentinel of darkness」

「 Trial fail condition – Challenger’s death 」

「 Trial success reward – Elixir of Steel (C) 」

「 Trial fail penalty – Death 」

I looked around my surroundings after looking at the message.

I can’t even begin to imagine what a sentinel of darkness is.

There wasn’t anything with that name in the hunter association’s database.

Another thing—

‘I don’t see anything that could be called a sentinel of darkness.’

That meant…

‘It could be hiding.’

I held onto my shield tightly as I walked to the center of the cave.

I didn’t know where it would be coming out from.

My guard had to be up at all times.

Then—

「 The sentinel of darkness will spawn in 10 seconds.
」

“…?”

I stared blankly at the message.

‘I’ve seen this somewhere…’

I just remembered where I last saw the message.

‘The Tutorial Trial.’

It seemed like that was forever ago.

That meant the enemy hadn’t spawned yet.

That was more psychological pressure for me.

It would be one thing if it was hiding but…

Now it’d be spawning someplace totally random.

‘This is much more precarious.’

But there wasn’t much I could do about this situation…

I kept my guard up and waited patiently for 10 seconds.

「 The sentinel of darkness is spawning now.
」

A shriek pierced my eardrums as the message popped up.

Swaah!

The sound of air shredding approached from the left.

I twisted my body and put my shield up.

Crang…!

The shock paralyzed my arm even through the shield.

“Ugh!”

The attack was strong enough to lure out a groan from me.

I panicked for a second, but I got back into my stance.

Then—

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「 Defeat the doppelganger, sentinel of darkness.
」

The sentinel of darkness that the system was talking about finally showed itself.

A dark shadowy figure wavered in the stream of sunlight.

Shhhhh…

It was similar to a person.

“…”

Like a black mass clumsily attempting to resemble a human.

And the shield and the sword in its hand…

‘Is it copying me…?’

The figure without eyes, nose, and a mouth creeped me out a little bit.

This was the first time I was up against something I had no information on.

‘That means no other hunter has faced this monster before.’

That alone made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Going up against an unknown enemy was a big handicap.

I lowered my body and hid it behind the shield.

I would be at a disadvantage if I made the first move.

But—

“…?”

The doppelganger also stood in place.

As if it was not a living being.

Is it an intelligent monster?

‘That’s not good.’

Most monsters act purely based on instinct, but monsters above C-rank start to gain intelligence.

“The second floor even had a magician…”

It really hit me that this was the hardest difficulty.

After each trial, I could feel myself inching towards death.

This must be what it’s like to walk on a tightrope.

“Krr, krrrrr.”

The doppelganger’s dark facial area opened up and revealed a mouth.

When its low pitched growl exposed the irregularly-placed fangs—

Whoosh!

The doppelganger’s right arm extended towards my face.

The ability to close off distance without moving a step was frightening.

I bent my torso backward in a hurry to have its arm graze over me.

Crrrrrrrrr—!

The arm scraped the walls of the cave and the crash echoed throughout the cave.

An absurd amount of strength.

“…”

For a second there, I gazed out into the void.

‘A battle… I have to kill that monster…?’

It wasn’t limited by range and was physically superior to me.

This was completely different from the second trial.

My strategy of isolating the stronger opponent wouldn’t work here.

One-on-one.

A one-on-one with no strategy involved.

My head filled with despair as I realized this was the only way to clear this trial.

But—

Whoosh…!

I didn’t get to revel in my feelings for too long before his arm shot at me again.

The attack was too strong for me to block with my shield.

I had to dodge this with a minimal amount of movement if I wanted to react to its next attack.

I had to shake off my doubt and hesitation.

I tilted my head to the side as I barely managed to dodge the attack.

Chaaack!

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As the doppelganger’s dagger darted past my face.

Drip.

My cheeks burned as I felt my blood drip down.

I wiped the blood off my face and ran toward the monster.

‘I have to close the distance if I want any chance at winning…!’

At this rate, I’d tire out just trying to stay alive.

If I could close the distance, its shapeshifting wouldn’t be as useful.

But…

The doppelganger seemed to welcome the close combat.

I don’t know why it willingly gave up its advantage, but this was my chance.

Taking advantage of the distance, I took a jab at the doppelganger’s heart.

However, the doppelganger did not take this lightly.

Kunng!

“Krr, krrrr.”

It blocked my dagger using the shield in its left arm.

This must be why it allowed me to get so close.

But I expected this from a monster taking my form.

I didn’t hesitate to take another shot.

Whoosh…!

I made a wide swing, forcing the monster to take a step back.

I continued with a vertical slash.

Clang!

It blocked it again with the shield, but it didn’t matter.

The point of the attack wasn’t to get a hit in.

Bang!

I kicked the doppelganger’s leg while it was distracted by the dagger.

Most monsters would lose their balance at this point…

The doppelganger’s leg wavered but quickly regained its form.

‘What kind of bull…’

I aimed directly at the joint but that didn’t even matter.

I assumed that it might not be the most effective, but I didn’t think physical attacks would be completely useless.

This was just unexpected.

Clang!

After our short exchange, I gave myself some distance and stared at the doppelganger.

“…”

Its abilities were crazy, but it was also starting to copy more clearly.

‘It even has the same stance as me now.’

I guess it’s not called a doppelganger for nothing.

The longer this exchange went on, the stronger this doppelganger would get.

‘I’m already at a disadvantage.’

The ability to transform and strengthen its body parts.

And the intelligence to copy their opponent’s techniques.

It may have more abilities, but this was enough information.

‘If this drags on, I lose.’

I had to finish this as fast as possible.

I’d have to throw everything I could at it.

I swung my dagger again as that fact settled into my brain.

Clang!

The doppelganger blocked it perfectly again.

Seems like it finished learning my shield techniques.

But…

Clang! Kang! Tang! Clang!

I didn’t stop and continued to swing my dagger.

There had to be a limit to how much impact it could handle.

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If I could put continuous pressure on this guy, it could show an opening…

Tung!

My theory soon proved itself correct.

The shield fell back after countless slashes.

I quickly stabbed it in the heart as soon as my chance came.

A clean jab.

Puashh!

Muddy liquid poured out from the newly formed hole.

The doppelganger stumbled back for a second but regained its stance.

It seemed a little shocked but not to the extent where its life was in danger.

“…”

The hole in the doppelganger closed itself already.

It didn’t seem completely useless though.

The doppelganger definitely felt threatened by me now.

That means the dagger was effective.

And—

‘It’s not immune to all physical attacks.’

As long as my attack was strong enough to get past its defenses.

An attack to the neck or the head might be able to kill it.

Of course, it didn’t react as well as I wanted to the attack in the heart…

But the neck and head are different.

‘Not many monsters are unphased by decapitation.’

A doppelganger shouldn’t be an exception.

That’s good enough for me to give it a try.

‘I need an opportunity to get one good attack in.’

That meant I’d have to use everything I had.

Concentrating on the energy in my stomach, I spread the mana into my body.

I moved my mana with ease, just like I practiced in the waiting area.

In the past, doing this took all my energy and concentration.

Mana’s my lowest stat after all.

But now…

「 Using the Assassin’s Cloak(C)’s active ability.
」

「 Movement speed +15% 」

「 Activation time left – 00:00:59 」

It wasn’t as exhausting after my mana stat increased.

Just the feeling of something leaving my body.

‘It takes a bit out of me… but nothing unbearable.’

This could shift the tides back in my favor.

I moved some mana into the cloak and started moving.

Koong!

I lightly pushed off my foot and my surroundings dashed past me.

An agility over 30 with a 15% boost.

A little out of balance.

I barely managed to regain my balance while zooming through the air.

This was only possible through the fruits of my training.

‘I just have to do it like I did it in the waiting area…!’

I focused all my attention on the tips of my toes and held my shield up instead of the dagger.

I wasn’t arrogant enough to aim directly at its neck.

Although if I was used to this speed, I would have tried to slice his neck open.

Not only was I not used to this speed, but it was also holding a shield.

Not to mention that it stole all of my shield techniques.

So…

This is the best I can do for now.

Crannng!

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When the impact from the crash hit me.

Piiiiii…

An unfamiliar ringing noise filled my ears and shook my brain up.

But I didn’t even have time to scream.

Crash!

My entire body shook and my vision phased in and out.

The recoil was so much worse than I thought.

“Uughhh…!”

My vision was blurry and my head was killing me.

I couldn’t move my body either.

「 The skill ‘Pain Resistance’ is activating.
」

「 All pain induced to the user is reduced by 15%.
」

This skill was the only reason I was still conscious.

‘Damn it, what’s wrong with me…!’

I propped myself up on the cold gravel.

Shudder…

My arms were shaking and blood was dripping down to the floor.

I must have hit something when I crashed.

I was too dizzy to even tell where the blood was coming from.

The pain seemed to be coming from everywhere.

But it didn’t matter.

「 The skill ‘Accelerated Regeneration’ is activating.
」

The skill activated and I started to gain some clarity back.

Although, it felt like time was passing extra slowly.

This should have left an impact on the doppelganger.

The chances are, it was also debilitated now like me.

I hobbled my way up to look around.

Then—

“This crazy son of a…”

I saw the doppelganger trembling in the corner of the cave.

Looking at its formless legs and arms, it took a good beating.

Even that seemed to be repaired now though.

It was at least still struggling to move around at the moment.

I didn’t have a moment to lose.

I gripped my shield and dagger and ran towards the monster.

It was recovering pretty fast but…

I was confident that I could decapitate it before that.

「 Activation time left – 00:00:27 」

I still had some time on my buff left.

「 Deadwood Shield(D)’s effect is activating.
」

「 Strength increased by 2 temporarily.
」

「 Attack speed slightly increased temporarily.
」

‘Nice timing…!’

Spending all those points on the shield ended up being worth it.

Strength flowed through my body, as opposed to the barely alive doppelganger.

It was now or never.

Craaaaack-!

When I shoved the dagger into the doppelganger’s neck.

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「 Congratulations, you have cleared the 3rd floor.
」

Finally.

 

____