The weight of the massive greatsword was crushing. Zack's forearms screamed under the pressure, his bones grinding together as the Death Knight bore down on him. The icy blue eyes burning behind the helmet's visor weren't just intimidating; they were a promise of an eternal, frozen end.
"Weak," the Knight growled again, its voice like a tomb closing.
The frost from the blade was spreading. Zack could feel it biting through his sleeves, numbing his skin, stiffening the muscles he desperately needed to explode into motion. His Agility, his greatest asset, was being sapped away by the second.
I can't push him off, Zack realized, his mind racing despite the pain. He's stronger than me. If I try to overpower him, I lose.
He didn't push up. He let go.
Zack suddenly dropped his guard, relaxing his legs completely.
Gravity took over. He collapsed flat onto the cratered stone floor.
The Death Knight, expecting resistance, stumbled forward, the greatsword smashing into the ground where Zack's arms had been a millisecond before.
BOOM!
Stone shards exploded outward like shrapnel.
Zack didn't wait to see the damage. He activated [Shadow's Cloak Lv. 2].
A veil of smoky darkness wrapped around him. The 10% Movement Speed buff kicked in, fighting back the lethargy of the frost.
He rolled backward, a blur of black motion, putting ten feet between him and the Knight.
He sprang to his feet, shaking his numb arms. The frost fell off his clothes in flakes.
"Not weak," Zack panted, his breath misting in the freezing air. "Just... warming up."
The Death Knight pulled its sword from the stone with a grinding screech. It turned to face him, the blue runes on the blade flaring brighter. The temperature in the room plummeted another ten degrees. The torches on the walls flickered and died, leaving only the icy glow of the Knight and the purple aura of Zack's hands.
The Knight raised its sword. It didn't run this time. It charged with a burst of speed that defied physics for something so heavy.
WHOOSH!
It was on him instantly. A horizontal slash aimed at his ribs.
Zack's 46.7 Agility—dampened by the cold but boosted by his cloak—was pushed to the limit. He ducked, feeling the wind of the blade slice the top of his hair.
He stepped inside the guard.
He drove a fist, hard and fast, into the Knight's midsection.
CLANG!
It felt like punching a bank vault. The black plate armor didn't even dent. The force reverberated back into Zack's wrist, making him wince.
The Knight didn't even flinch. It brought the pommel of the sword down, aiming for Zack's skull.
Zack twisted, taking the hit on his shoulder instead.
CRACK!
Pain exploded. His 46.1 Defense saved his arm from being shattered, but the bone cracked.
Zack grit his teeth, suppressing a scream. He lashed out with a kick to the Knight's knee, forcing it back a step, and leaped away.
"[Heal]!"
The emerald light flashed. 15 Spirit vanished from his pool. The crack in his shoulder knit together instantly, the pain receding to a dull throb.
He flexed his arm. Good as new.
The Death Knight tilted its head, observing the healing magic.
"A priest..." it rumbled. "Who fights like a rat."
"I'm a rat with a bottomless stomach," Zack snarled.
They clashed again.
This time, Zack didn't try to break the armor. He changed tactics.
The Knight swung a vertical chop. Zack sidestepped, the blade grazing his arm, slicing deep into the bicep. Blood sprayed, freezing in the air.
Zack ignored it. He slapped his hand onto the Knight's armored wrist.
"[Energy Drain]!"
Two thick, purple tethers latched onto the Knight.
Zack felt it instantly. It wasn't like the goblins or the zombies. The energy inside this armor was cold, ancient, and massive. It rushed into him like a glacial river.
The Knight jerked back, feeling its strength being siphoned. It roared and swung its free hand, backhanding Zack across the face.
Zack flew backward, crashing into a pile of skulls against the wall. His vision swam. His jaw felt unhinged. The cut on his arm was bleeding freely.
But he was smiling.
He stood up, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
"[Heal]!"
The jaw snapped back. The arm closed.
And his energy... his Stamina and Spirit were full. The drain had worked. He had traded damage for fuel.
"Again!" Zack roared.
He charged.
The fight became a blur of high-speed violence.
Zack was a whirlwind. He accepted that he couldn't block the sword. He accepted that the armor was impenetrable to his fists.
So he stopped trying to win the physical trade. He fought to touch.
The Knight swung. Zack dodged by a millimeter, taking a cut to the cheek.
He slapped his hand on the Knight's pauldron. [Energy Drain].
He siphoned for one second before being forced to dodge.
The Knight thrust. Zack twisted, the blade piercing his side.
[Heal].
He grabbed the blade itself with his bare hand, ignoring the slicing metal, and channeled the drain through the weapon.
[Energy Drain].
The Death Knight was getting sluggish. The Frost Aura, sustained by the Knight's magic, began to flicker. The biting cold receded, inch by inch.
As the cold faded, Zack got faster.
His Agility, no longer suppressed, began to overwhelm the boss.
The Knight realized what was happening. The blue lights in its helmet flared with rage.
It stopped swinging. It held the sword with both hands, planting the tip into the ground.
"[FROST NOVA]!"
The runes on the blade screamed.
A shockwave of solid ice exploded outward from the Knight in a perfect circle.
There was no way to dodge.
Zack's eyes went wide. He crossed his arms over his chest, channeling every ounce of his Defense.
BOOM!
The ice wave hit him like a freight train. It lifted him off his feet and smashed him into the far wall of the chamber.
The impact cracked the stone wall. Zack fell to the floor, gasping.
He was encased in ice. His legs were frozen to the ground. His chest felt like it had been crushed by a vise. His health was critical.
The Death Knight pulled its sword from the ground. It walked toward him, slow and inevitable. The frost had returned, stronger than ever.
"Die," it said.
Zack struggled. The ice held him fast. He couldn't move his legs.
He looked at his Spirit. He had enough for maybe two Heals. The Nova had drained him too, or maybe he had just used too much.
He coughed, blood splattering on the ice.
"Not... today..."
He looked at the Knight. It was ten feet away. Five feet.
It raised the sword for the execution.
Zack closed his eyes. He reached deep into himself, past the Healer, past the fear, into the hunger of the God-Eater.
He didn't cast Heal.
He waited.
The sword came down.
Zack threw his upper body to the side. The blade smashed into the ice trapping his left leg, shattering the ice—and grazing his calf.
He was free.
He didn't roll away. He lunged forward, staying low, dragging his bleeding leg.
He slammed into the Death Knight's legs, tackling it.
The Knight, exhausted from the Nova and the constant draining, stumbled.
They crashed to the floor, the heavy armor clattering loudly.
Zack scrambled up the Knight's body like a spider. The Knight dropped its sword, trying to grab him with its gauntleted hands. It caught Zack's throat, squeezing.
Zack's vision went black at the edges. He was being choked to death.
He didn't try to pry the hands away.
He reached out with both of his own hands and grabbed the Knight's helmet.
He poured everything—his remaining Spirit, his Stamina, his rage—into his hands.
"[ENERGY DRAIN]! MAX OUTPUT!"
The purple tethers didn't just appear; they exploded from his palms. They wrapped around the helmet, drilling through the eye slits.
The Death Knight shrieked. It was a sound of pure, metallic terror.
Zack felt the energy pouring into him. It wasn't just mana. It was life. He was drinking the monster's soul.
The grip on his throat loosened.
Zack's muscles swelled with the stolen power. His wounds healed instantly without him even casting the spell, simply from the overflow of vitality.
"OPEN!" Zack roared.
He didn't just drain. He used his 46.0 Strength, boosted by the stolen energy.
He ripped at the helmet.
The metal groaned. The leather straps snapped.
With a final, wrenching tear, Zack ripped the helmet off the Death Knight's head.
Beneath the helm, there was no face. Just a floating, blue ball of magical fire inside the neck of the armor. The core.
Zack stared at the naked soul of the monster.
The blue fire flickered, exposed and vulnerable.
Zack smiled. A terrifying, blood-stained smile.
"Thanks for the meal."
He plunged his hand directly into the blue fire.
[Devour].
The fire turned black. The Death Knight's body arched, the armor rattling against the stone floor. The blue light was sucked into Zack's arm, swirling like water down a drain.
The armor went still. The red cape settled into the dust.
The Death Knight was gone. Only an empty suit of armor remained.
Zack rolled off the armor and lay on his back on the cold stone floor.
He gasped for air, his chest heaving.
The room was silent again. The frost began to melt, turning into harmless puddles of water.
He felt... full.
Incredibly, impossibly full.
The energy from a D-Rank (Advanced) Boss was potent. It buzzed in his veins like caffeine.
He sat up, wincing slightly as his leg knitted the final tissues together.
He looked at the empty armor.
Lying next to it, where the core had been consumed, were the cubes.
They glowed with a deep, rich purple light.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.
Six Purple Cubes.
Zack started to laugh. It was a breathless, slightly manic laugh.
"Six," he wheezed. "Six points."
He crawled over and scooped them up.
[You have killed D-Rank (Advanced) Boss: 'The Death Knight'.]
[Hidden Achievement: 'The Ice Breaker' - Defeated a Frost-attribute boss without cold resistance gear.]
[Reward: Bonus Stat Cubes generated.]
[Loot Obtained:]
[Strength Cube (Purple) x1]
[Agility Cube (Purple) x1]
[Stamina Cube (Purple) x1]
[Spirit Cube (Purple) x1]
[Defense Cube (Purple) x2]
He held them in his hands. This was it. The final push.
He didn't wait. He didn't hesitate. He crushed all six cubes at once.
The power didn't rush in; it settled. It felt like a heavy weight landing on his shoulders, grounding him. His bones felt like steel bars. His muscles felt like woven cables. His mind felt like a calm, deep ocean.
He stood up.
He didn't feel tired. He felt absolute.
[Stats Updated.]
Strength: 46.0 -> 47.0
Agility: 46.7 -> 47.7
Stamina: 46.7 -> 47.7
Spirit: 46.0 -> 47.0
Defense: 46.1 -> 48.1
He frowned.
He checked the numbers again.
47.0 / 47.7 / 47.7 / 47.0 / 48.1
He was close. Agonizingly close. But he wasn't at 50.0.
He was still short by 2 or 3 points in everything.
"No," he whispered. "I need 50. I need to be D-Rank before Monday."
He looked around the boss room. It was empty. He had cleared the dungeon.
"System," he asked. "Is there anything left?"
[Dungeon Cleared. No further hostiles detected.]
[Reset available in 24 hours.]
He cursed. He couldn't reset it. Monday was in 36 hours. He had one night left—Sunday night.
But he wanted to be ready now.
He looked at his storage.
He had 245 Shop Points.
He opened the Shop window.
[SHOP - STATS (PERMANENT)]
Random Stat Cube (Blue) (1.0) - 10,000 Points
"Useless," he spat. The prices were insane for stat cubes.
He looked at the rest of the shop. Potions. Useless skills.
Wait.
He scrolled down.
There was a tab he hadn't checked in a while.
[SHOP - SPECIAL CONSUMABLES]
Monster Lure (E-Rank) - 50 Points
Monster Lure (D-Rank) - 200 Points
(Description: A consumable item that emits a frequency irresistible to monsters of the specific rank. Summons a 'Roaming Boss' to the Host's location within the Parallel Dimension. Warning: Boss difficulty is random.)
Zack stared at the item.
Monster Lure (D-Rank). 200 Points.
He had 245.
It summons a "Roaming Boss."
A Boss meant a Purple Cube drop. Or maybe Blue cubes in high quantity.
If he summoned a D-Rank boss... and killed it...
He could get the last few points he needed.
But he was alone. He had just fought a Death Knight. His Spirit was full thanks to the drain, but his mind was tired.
A random boss. It could be anything. It could be stronger than the Knight.
Zack looked at his hands. He clenched them into fists.
He remembered the look on Frank's face at the warehouse. The fear. The respect.
He remembered Emily's hug.
He remembered the feeling of being weak.
"I'm not stopping," he said.
"System. Buy Monster Lure (D-Rank)."
[Purchase Confirmed. 200 Shop Points spent.]
[Item: 'Blood-Soaked Totem' (D-Rank Lure) has been added to inventory.]
A small, ugly wooden totem appeared in his hand. It smelled of copper and rage.
Zack walked to the center of the boss room, right where the Death Knight's throne stood.
He placed the totem on the floor.
He stepped back.
He took a deep breath, centering himself. He activated [Shadow's Cloak].
"Come out," he whispered.
He smashed the totem with his foot.
The totem shattered. A pulse of red light rippled through the room.
The air grew heavy. The shadows in the corners of the room began to lengthen, twisting and writhing.
A low, guttural growl echoed from everywhere at once.
This wasn't a Knight. This wasn't a Spider.
This sounded like a beast.
[Roaming Boss Summoned.]
[Warning: High Danger Level detected.]
[Spawning: 'Twin-Headed Cerberus' (D-Rank Intermediate).]
The shadows coalesced.
A massive, two-headed hound stepped out of the void. It was the size of a truck. Its fur was matted with fire and shadow. One head breathed frost, the other breathed corrosive acid.
Two heads. Two elements.
D-Rank Intermediate.
Zack smiled. His eyes glowed with a faint purple light.
"Two heads," he said, raising his fists. "That just means double the drain."
He charged.
[Reader's Note: Zack's Stats ]
Rank: E (Peak) / (System Rank: D (Beginner) - Unofficial)
Class: Healer / God-Eater (Mythical)
Strength: 47.0 (+1.0)
Agility: 47.7 (+1.0)
Stamina: 47.7 (+1.0)
Spirit: 47.0 (+1.0)
Defense: 48.1 (+2.0)
(Status: Summoned a Bonus Boss using Shop Points. Final grind for 50.0 stats initiated.)