117. Hidden Boss + Mimic = ? (3)

After leaving the dungeon, I jumped up into the air by kicking the ground below my feet.

Even for a simple jump, it was important that I controlled how much force I outputted.

Anyone could probably tell from the amount of strength stats I had, as a lack of control could cause me to waste a lot of time coming back down to the ground.

Just as Ho Yeong said, the level 39 portal wasn't that far away.

It was a distance I could cover in a single leap.

I looked towards Jong Ho and spoke.

"Ah…. It can't be helped. Don't misunderstand."

"Huh? What?"

"Hey! You sure I won't fall?"

"No. It can't be helped though. Just stay still for a bit?"

"Why are you hugging me tight! It's creepy! Go away!"

"Oho! Are we not brothers! Bro! It'll only take a second."

"What do you mean brothers! Siblings aren't supposed to be this affectionate towards each oth… AHH!"

Hugging Jong Ho tightly, I jumped up into the air.

I was able to move quickly thanks to my 3 million strength stat, but Jong Ho could not.

It was to be expected, since he invested most of his stats on stamina.

Jumping like this to move around was the most efficient method of travel to hunt.

I didn't really like this method though.

Since he had never traveled this fast before, he let out a strange scream.

His strange cry for help didn't last long, however.

It was because we had arrived at the level 39 dungeon in the blink of an eye.

"Whew! Hey, before you pull a stunt like that, let me know first."

"Time is?"

"Gold."

"Okay. Let's go in."

"Are we going to do the same thing to get to the level 40 dungeon?"

"Is there another way?"

"Ah…. I have gooseb.u.mps."

****

"Yeah! That's right! This is a real dungeon."

Unlike the level 38 dungeon where I felt claustrophobic due to the narrow pa.s.sage, the level 39 dungeon's interior made me cheer out loud.

Out of all the dungeons I've seen so far, this dungeon was the largest.

Like cracks in an iceberg, the floor had crevices here and there.

If I did fall into the crevices between red ground, I had a feeling that it would lead to the demonic realm.

That's how deep and dark each crevice was.

The walls had rocks that glowed in many bright colors embedded in them.

If these stones were processed, they wouldn't lose to any precious gems found on Earth in terms of the beautiful colors they gave out.

I was lost for a moment in the beauty the dungeon had.

Jong Ho spoke.

"What do you mean it's good that the dungeon is large. It just means that it'll take longer to clear it."

"Even so, the last dungeon was too much. It was so cramped, I felt trapped."

"Is that so? Well, how do you wanna go about this? Like usual, from the direction of 9 o'clock to 12 o'clock?"

"Hm… No. I can see everything from here."

"Ah, is that so?"

"Will hyung-nim wait here?"

"Are you gonna draw all their aggro and bring them to me?"

"Yes. There aren't that many monsters here. About 20 or so?"

"Then go ahead. But you know that magical attacks don't work on them? Before you draw all their aggro, kill one or two before you do so. There's a possibility that these monsters are different from what we've faced before."

"As expected. You really are a pro. Understood!"

"Stop teasing me and get going!"

"Yes!"

****

"Kirick! Kiririck!"

"Kirick. Kirick."

"Huh?"

I ran towards where they were.

I could immediately see their forms.

There were two of them.

However, I felt as though I've seen them before.

Eye of Insight skill informed me that they were called Jewel Goat.

It also allowed me to see their weaknesses, which was their head and two legs.

"Where have I seen them before…."

"Kiri!"

The Jewel Goats did not give me much time to think, as they charged at me with drool spilling out as soon as they saw me.

When the spittle hit the floor, it gave off white smoke.

'Is it the same poison as the one that the Poison Naga gave off when I defeated it?'

Just in case, I casted Mana s.h.i.+eld, Iron Skin, and Holy Block.

Unless my enemy was a hidden boss like the archmage Lich King, they could not get through my Mana s.h.i.+eld.

On top of that, since I was wearing t.i.tan Boots, I was immune to all forms of status effects.

Being poisoned was included in the list of immunities.

However, by some unknown instinct, I wanted to avoid that toxic liquid at all cost.

The Jewel Goat came close and exhaled black smoke out of its nostrils.

Afterwards, it raised a halberd roughly 2m in size above its head.

The halberd was similar to the walls of the dungeon, with many gems embedded in it.

I could see great destructive force that was hidden behind its beauty.

"KIRIIICK!"

A crevice opened up where I stood due to its attack.

It was only 1m wide.

It seemed that all those crevices were caused by these Jewel Goats.

The new crevice was smaller than the others though.

The two Jewel Goats began to charge me again once more.

Looking at them, I immediately remembered.

"I remember! You arrogant goats that walk on two legs!"

"Kiri!"

It was in the level 1 dungeon.

They looked identical to the Black Goat that I met in the first dungeon I entered after becoming an Awakened.

They were of the same size, and even the weapons they used were halberds.

The only differences were that it had greater destructive capability and spat out poison.

Using Eye of Insight, I was able to see that those two legs that were far too weak to support the rest of the body was their weaknesses.

I had felt instinctively that their legs were the weak points when I fought against the Black Goats as well.

Using Frost Orb, I had prevented them from moving by attacking their legs.

I felt that despite them being monsters from the level 39 dungeon, they would be easy to face.

"Walking on two legs don't suit you monsters. Walk on four!"

I used Formless Sword Aura with my Butcher's Sword and swung at their legs.

After swinging my sword, it sounded as if the air was being cut.

It meant that I swung the sword faster than the speed of sound, breaking the sound barrier.

"KIIII!"

The monsters had raised their halberds to attack me when I had gotten near them to strike with my sword.

However…

They weren't able to even perceive their legs being cut off.

With that kind of attack, it was to be expected.

Their ma.s.sive bodies fell to the ground.

With their legs that had supported their ma.s.sive weight gone, they couldn't help but fall.

They also dropped their halberds next to their heads.

The only thing left to do was to smash their heads in.

"Kind of a let down for being a dungeon level 39 monster. Isn't that so?"

"Kirick!"

"Right…. Even the look in your eyes are the same as what I saw before. It was a look that made me hesitate for a bit."

"Kirick!"

Despite falling on the floor, they swung their halberds to try killing me till the very end.

But…. I am a bit weaker now. A lot weaker!

Their eyes were strained red, and the air that came out of their noses were enough to shake the ground.

I swung down my sword onto their heads without a moment of hesitation.

I thought to myself that they were a lot easier than what I had expected.

However, as if to prove me wrong, things became more complicated immediately.

The Jewel Goat's body exploded all of a sudden, covering the area nearby its corpse with green thick smog.

It was too flashy to just call it a visual effect caused by their deaths.

I distanced myself and observed the effect from far away.

After the brief moment, the smog began to melt both the walls and floors that it came in contact with.

It even melted the gems embedded in the walls, melting down into a pool of colors.

On top of that, it melted a hole in the ground, similar to the other crevices already there. The hole seemed go down without end.

"So it's trying to deal damage even after death? That seems quite dangerous."

The corpse exploded, expelling toxic liquid in roughly a 10m circle.

Due to two of them exploding near each other, I couldn't tell the exact distance each explosion covered separately.

Leaving their corpses behind, I ran towards the red dots.

I had said that I would bring the monsters to Jong Ho, but after finding out that they explode, I couldn't do so anymore.

I did not have any skills that gave s.h.i.+elds to others.

I used the same method to take down another Jewel Goat and confirmed that the poison smug covered a 10m distance.

That made me conclude that it was the best to grab all their aggro and take them out in one go.

And just in case, it was probably best to not get them anywhere near Jong Ho.

Before I drew all their aggro, I headed to Jong Ho to let him know of the current situation first.

"Oh. You came back?"

"Yes."

"What. Are the monsters here stealthed as well? Why don't I see any?"

"No. You know the Black Goats that appear in the level 1 dungeon?"

"Of course. That's obvious. I think I spent two entire months hunting them."

"It seems that enemies called Jewel Goats that look exactly like Black Goats appear in this dungeon."

"Yeah."

"But when they die, they explode, expelling toxic fumes."

"….."

"The reason why the floor has holes is because of that poison."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. I think it's better for me to solo clear this level 39 dungeon."

"Yeah. Doesn't matter to me. As long as I'm in the dungeon, I get experience either way."

"Yes. Since there aren't that many monsters, it won't be of much help to you in gathering stat points."

"Alright, I get it. Go ahead."

"Yes. If you see any green smog, cast s.h.i.+elds on yourself. It's poison. And use spells like Meteor with ma.s.sive spell effects to signal me."

"Okay."

"I'll be going then."

"Alright."

****

"Kiii." "Kirick!"

I gathered all the remaining Jewel Goats in the dungeon.

I tried to cut apart one of their bodies to prevent an explosion of their corpse, but it was impossible.

No matter the method I used to defeat them, they would explode regardless on death.

If magical attacks worked on them, I would at least be able to encase them in Iceberg.

However, thanks to their special pa.s.sive, hunting them was easy.

When I grouped them up, I just had to kill one of them to take the rest out.

After all, exploding one of them would melt the rest.

After they perished, they would behind a huge hole where they once stood.

"It's the same with the level 38 dungeon. Are these dungeons not going to drop any bloodstones? Or do I have to travel down this hole to pick up the stones?"

For some strange reason, both Iron Golems and Jewel Goats did not drop any bloodstones.

This wasn't the case with all the monsters I've met up till this point.

The drop rate wasn't high, but they did drop at a certain rate.

Since money wasn't really important to me, it didn't matter that much.

However, it did leave me a bit disappointed.

After taking down all the monsters I've grouped up, I spun around on the spot to see if there were any I had missed.

"I think I've got them all."

Just like that, I was about to head to the entrance where Jong Ho was.

Before I jumped up into the air, I heard a sound that sent s.h.i.+vers up my spine behind me.

It was the sound of hooves.

The sound of a gem embedded halberd dragging across the ground could be heard.

"What. Are there still Jewel Goats left?"

I turned around and saw that a Jewel Goat was standing there.

No.

A ma.s.sive hidden boss named Goat King was before me.

"Guess I'll be setting up a tent in front of this dungeon."

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