Difficulty of Boss Battles

Staring back at the boss monster in front of him, Kirou didn't back down but grew excited instead. A monster that could cause the hairs on his skin to rise was something he hadn't experienced fight in this game yet. Kirou didn't plan to back down after finding this beast but he didn't immediately attack it. So far the creature itself hasn't attacked Kirou and that told Kirou he hadn't drawn its ire just yet.

Kirou and his clones retreated a few meters from the beast and the beast gave Kirou a wary look before closing its eyes once again. Once Kirou was sure his actions wouldn't cause the beast to rush him instantly, he looked inside his inventory. After searching through all the materials he's found, he found what he was looking for and took them out. What he took out was a set of leather armor he bought from Elderwood Village. He wanted to use it as a model for the armor he would later create but the boss monster in front of him gave him the feeling that he would need to wear it instead of his beginner gear.

After he equipped his leather armor, Kirou then did a check on supplies that could be used in battle and ammo for his gunblade tonfas. He didn't originally make much ammo when he created the gunblade tonfas with Bladesmith back in Elderwood Village but he did stock up before he left. Looking at the amount he had now, he wasn't sure if it could last but he would have to make do with it. After looking over these, he allowed himself to transform into his werewolf form, which caused a slight change to his stats. With the addition of his armor, his stats now look like this:

{Name: Kirou}

{Race: Werewolf(Lycan/Human)}

{Class: Weapon Master}

{Subclass: Crafting Master}

{Level: 8}

{HP: 288/288}

{MP: 240/240}

{Str: 22.5 (+4.5)}

{Int: 8 (-8)}

{Def: 17}

{Const: 24 (19+2+3)}

{Dex: 16 (14+2)}

{Agi: 19.5 (14+2+3.5)}

{Luck: 55/100}

{Skill Points: 27}

Lycan Transformation always results in a drop in intelligence by 50% and an increase in agility and strength by 25% each. As for the armor, they didn't increase his stats much but they were better than nothing in Kirou's eyes. Kirou still didn't touch his skill points as he didn't believe this Crocodile King was strong enough to warrant his usage of them, at least not now.

After doing some final checks and making sure everything was ready, Kirou gave both his clones a nod before all three attacked the Swampland Crocodile King together. Their sudden movement in its direction caused the already wary boss monster to roar in response at the three Kirous approaching it. When both sides got close enough, they started a battle that resulted in their immediate surroundings trembling from the various clashes both sides engaged in.

*********************

The fight had been going on for more than twenty minutes so far. So far, the Swampland Crocodile King had only lost 20% of its health. This didn't come without a price as both of the clones Kirou had with him at the start of the battle had already died and was now replaced by another two he summoned just before their respective deaths.

Besides the death of his clones, Kirou managed to take a few hits as well. They didn't manage to land any critical hits but Kirou's health was currently below the halfway mark. If not for the fact that his destroyed clones had given him back some of his missing health, Kirou would either be lying dead on the floor or be not far from it.

After chugging down a bottle of health potion which basically only restored another 10% of his total health, Kirou rejoined his clones in attacking the boss. At that moment he could stop the smile that had formed on his lips from covering his face.

'Yup, it's only monsters like this that makes me enjoy the fight.' That thought flashed through Kirou's mind as he narrowly dodged a tail whip attack from the boss monster. He was too close to the attack so the sharp wind from the strike shaved off 10 HP from his health.

In return for taking that 10 HP reduction, he used the blade end of his gunblade tonfa to slice into the underside of the monster's hide. Kirou's clones made sure to dish out similar attacks to other parts of the Swampland Crocodile King as well.

[-75]

[-42]

<Crit>

[-85]

So far that's how the exchange between the boss monster and the three Kirou's have been going for most of the battle. After going at it like that for another twenty minutes, the boss monster's health finally hit the 50% mark. At that moment the Swampland Crocodile King stopped attacking the three Kirous with its tail and mouth and instead started to lift its body high.

Kirou wasn't sure exactly what to expect but he had a feeling that the boss monster was about to use one of those skills it's been keeping a secret for a while now. Instead of facing it head-on, Kirou instantly used his shadow teleportation skill to retreat over 30 meters away from the boss monster. The clones followed this plan a step later but only made it back 15 meters. Unfortunately for them, they were still within range of the boss monster's tremor attack.

<Crit> [-50]

[-30]

[-30]

[-30]

[-30]

...

Like that, both clones were hit with the boss monster's tremor attack which dealt 30 points of damage per hit per second for 15 seconds. One clone was smart enough to make use of the gunblade tonfas' charged shot's recoil to blast itself above ground to avoid most of the damage while the other was too slow in its operation and got caught in the tremor attack's full power, resulting in its death.

Kirou received the 10% health recovery and the 3 second slow while watching these events take place. His eyebrows immediately furrowed when he brought up the damage log to see what just took place.

'That is not an attack I can take head-on, even with the boost to my health from this armor' was Kirou's thought as he summoned another shadow clone. After the tremor ended, the boss crocodile resumed its former actions of chasing down Kirou and his clones while firing off a few water bullets when it's distance was too far from them.

With the threat of the tremor attack it had just released, Kirou wasn't in as much of a rush to deal damage to it. Instead, he allowed his clones to fight up close while he kept his distance, opting to observe the fight itself.

Just as the boss crocodile got to 41% health, Kirou immediately had one of the clones back off. When the clone was 20 meters away from the huge crocodile, he had the other clone attack the boss monster in a suicidal frenzy. Just as the boss monster's HP dropped to 40%, again the giant crocodile stopped its attack and instead lifted its upper body from the floor. When its body was at it's highest point, it immediately dropped it, which resulted in the same tremor skill going off once more.

Needless to say, the clone never survived the attack as it was too close but its death did give Kirou the answers he needed. Like before, he summoned another clone, and this time all three Kirou's attacked the huge crocodile together.

Besides being wary of that tremor skill that went off every time the Swampland Crocodile King lost 10% of its health, Kirou and his clones held nothing back in their attacks and they spent another twenty minutes or so like that fighting this boss.

******************

The Swampland Crocodile King was now down to 11% health. Just like before, Kirou backed off more than 20 meters to avoid the tremor skill he's come to expect from the boss. This time, however, things were different. Instead of lifting it's upper body off the ground to initiate the tremor skill, the Swampland Crocodile King started to glow red and it's body size doubled. Not only that, but the Swampland Crocodile King also got faster in its movements.

This reaction caused Kirou's eyes to narrow. Before he could even move, the Swampland Crocodile King had already grabbed one of his clones.  It bit into the clone then raised its body high in the air. Kirou wasn't sure why but he immediately sensed immense danger. This caused him to use shadow teleportation to move back another 30 meters. The moment he appeared he witnessed the Swampland Crocodile King slamming its body and the clone in its mouth on the floor. This created a tremor that extended from its original 20 meters range to 40 meters, doubled in an instant.

Kirou's other clone managed to escape the danger zone after taking two hits from the tremor.

[-70]

[-70]

Looking at the damage done to his remaining clone, Kirou realized that whatever that red glow was, it caused the Crocodile King to gain an increase in speed and attack damage. Looking at its rampage after it slammed on the ground, Kirou guessed that this must have been the last skill he saw for the Swampland Crocodile King, Berserk Mode.

It was unknown when, but if one was able to look at Kirou's face currently, they would notice that while his smile from finding the boss monster never changed, there was a blazing fire of excitement within his eyes. It seems that the Swampland Crocodile King's berserk mode stimulated something inside of Kirou.

'Berserk mode huh. Let's see if it's similar to the type I know.' After that thought flashed in his mind, Kirou ordered his remaining clone to attack the boss monster via shadow teleportation. The clone nodded and disappeared into the nearby shadows. Not long after, the clone appeared behind the boss monster and delivered a splendid sneak attack.

<Critical Hit>

[-350]

That was the highest damage value done to the swampland crocodile king during the entire fight. Immediately following that hit, however, the clone was delivered a heavy hit with the boss's tail. The clone died instantly.

The death of the clone gave Kirou his health back and the three-second speed debuff. During this time Kirou had some thoughts flash through his mind quickly.

'Just like what I know, it gained speed and damage at the cost of defense. I'm the only target left and I lack the MP required to create another clone. Not just that, I'm also out of items to restore myself with. Seems like this will be a no holds barred match where either it dies or I do.' After the thoughts flash through his mind, Kirou was already running towards the giant crocodile while it was rushing towards him. He only had 43 MP left and he was saving it for now.

When the two combatants got close to each other, the crocodile king tried to bite Kirou, only for Kirou to slide underneath it with the bladed end of the gunblade tonfas cutting into its soft skin.

<Crit> [-150]

<Crit> [-170]

The beast was now left with less than 5% of its health but Kirou's attack didn't go unpunished as before he could get up, he was slapped with the crocodile king's tail. Kirou was fast enough to use the gunblade tonfas to guard his vitals.

<Guard>

[-275]

Kirou glanced at the damage he received and could only laugh. Had he not been fast enough to guard against that attack, it would have been enough to instantly finish him off. Kirou and the Swampland Crocodile King were currently a few meters apart. In his hands were a pair of gunblade tonfas that looked like they were about to fall apart. Even if it's a game, the fact that the damage represented on his weapons is to this degree points out that they are about to fall apart.

Kirou couldn't stop the sigh that escaped his lips. It seems that it's time to end his fun with this boss monster. Instead of putting them away as a normal person would in that situation, Kirou rushed towards the raging Swampland Crocodile King. Just like before, both combatants met in the middle.

Instead of going for a bite as it did previously, the Swampland Crocodile King opted to jump and flip over, aiming to maim Kirou with its tail. This action would have startled anyone else, but instead caused a big smile to appear on Kirou's face.

Just as the Swampland Crocodile King's was about to land its attack on Kirou's head, Kirou disappeared from that spot. The attack missed and the raging Swampland Crocodile King landed on the ground heavily, looking around in confusion.

Before it could register the fact that something appeared underneath its raised head, it was inflicted with a strike from a small knife swiftly and cleanly.

<Critical Hit>

[-950]

The moment the hit landed on the underside of the Swampland Crocodile's mouth, it's entire body stiffened and it just felt down. The person underneath its body panicked as the body started falling and he immediately rolled away to safety.

Naturally, that person was Kirou. At the moment he was covered in sweat while staring at the corpse of the Swampland Crocodile King, not realizing that he was enveloped by a ring of light twice.

'To think, it's not fighting this thing that scares me but the corpse itself nearly falling on me.' That thought was accompanied by Kirou slumping down unto the floor.

While slouching on the floor, Kirou noticed a few messages sent to him by the system.

[System message: You have slain the world boss <Swampland Crocodile King>]

[Fame +500]

[300 gold]

[Skill Book: Tremor]

[Title: Ruler of the Swampland]

[Since you have slain a world boss, a system-wide message will be displayed. Display name?]

[Y/N]

As with the crafting master announcement, Kirou refused to display his name.

<Server Announcement: Player ***** has slain the world boss <Swampland Crocodile King> solo. His record has been recorded. Player ***** has been rewarded Fame +500, 300 gold, a skill book, and a title.>

<Server Announcement: Player ***** has slain the world boss <Swampland Crocodile King> solo. His record has been recorded. Player ***** has been rewarded Fame +500, 300 gold, a skill book, and a title.>

<Server Announcement: Player ***** has slain the world boss <Swampland Crocodile King> solo. His record has been recorded. Player ***** has been rewarded Fame +500, 300 gold, a skill book, and a title.>