Chapter 94 - Yuki for the Save, and Bloodline Changes

Being close to the central part of the kingdom meant the monsters in this region were a lot stronger.

’My gear is way behind... I need to reach level 25, switch to the magic classes, and sort out my equipment.’

Arthur’s items urgently needed an upgrade. He hadn’t done it for the exact reason that he was already planning to switch to a magic class.

Arthur walked into the forest and looked for monsters to kill. First of all, he activated his Stealth to make sure he wouldn’t be easily spotted. His bow was in his hands.

The forest looked empty, with no monsters in sight on the ground. Arthur knew that place well, and he knew what kind of monsters he could find there. Monkeys.

Looking up toward the treetops, Arthur spotted one of them. It was huge, with golden fur and enormous teeth sticking out of its mouth. The creature had 6 eyes and multiple arms, a fusion of a monkey and a spider.

[Climbing Spider Monkey]

[Level: 28]

Level 28 was already well above what Arthur was used to fighting. The difference was starting to weigh on him.

Before, since his items were so much better than normal for his level, Arthur had been able to take on stronger creatures with relative ease. Right now, it wouldn’t be that easy.

Invisible, Arthur activated his Sniping Shot and aimed straight at the monkey, which was hanging from a branch, motionless, almost like it was sleeping or waiting for prey to walk by.

The arrow shot out fast and powerful, hitting the monkey’s fur and piercing its body. It wasn’t the kind of piercing that tears a hole through. The fur on that monkey was tough.

[860 damage dealt]

The arrow stayed lodged in the monkey’s body, and it roared in pain the moment it felt the arrow hit. All of its eyes turned toward Arthur. His invisibility had ended as soon as he attacked, so he was completely exposed.

"Yuki, slow it down!"

The monkey beat all of its arms against its chest and started rushing down the tree, jumping between the branches.

"Leave this monkey to me!"

Yuki opened his mouth at a very wide angle, normal for a serpent like him, and a freezing breath came out.

"Frost Breath."

The Frost Breath dealt 480 points of damage, which impressed Arthur. As Yuki leveled up and his attributes went up, he was starting to get really strong.

He gained more attributes per level thanks to the passives of Arthur’s Soul Artisan class, and since Yuki was already a creature with great potential, the difference was starting to have a snowball effect.

Anyway, the monkey kept coming toward them, but slower than before. On top of dealing damage, Frost Breath also greatly reduced movement speed.

Meanwhile, Arthur kept shooting arrows at it. Basic attacks that did less damage, but it was something.

By the time the monkey got close to them, its HP had already been reduced to about 45%.

Arthur switched to his sword and activated Sword Guard to block the monkey’s first attacks. It arrived throwing several powerful punches that knocked Arthur backward, unable to hold his ground against the monkey’s brute strength.

[130 damage taken (50% blocked)]

[170 damage taken (50% blocked)]

If it weren’t for Sword Guard, the damage Arthur would’ve taken would have been much higher, and it would have taken a big chunk out of his total HP. Fighting monsters many levels above the player was very punishing because of the increase in the damage they dealt. It was the way the game kept players fighting monsters closer to their current level, with a maximum difference of 2 to 3 levels, and not 6.

After taking the hits, Arthur used his Phantom Slash, cutting in several quick successive strikes across every part of the monkey’s body, at a surprising speed.

But just like with the arrow, the damage wasn’t as high as he expected. That monkey’s fur really was very tough.

[180 damage dealt]

Each hit did that much damage, which in the end brought the monkey’s health down to about 25%.

With that, Arthur had used most of his highest damage skills, and he didn’t have Sword Guard active to protect himself from the next attacks, which meant the situation was getting complicated.

’If I take a punch without blocking anything, I’m going to suffer a lot of damage. What now? What do I do?’

His thoughts were racing. The monkey punched at him again, just as fast as before. Arthur tried to dodge to the side, moving his body at angles he didn’t even know he was capable of, and to his surprise, it worked!

His passive had helped him!

[Swift Stalker - Passive Skill (Lv. 1)]

[Description: Improve body coordination and footwork, increasing movement speed and reflexes.]

[Effect: Increases Movement Speed by 10%, Attack Speed by 12%, and Dodge Chance by 8%.]

The Dodge Chance had gone up by 8%. Pure luck. With that, he got the opportunity to attack again with his sword, landing several vertical slashes on the monkey’s arms.

It wasn’t enough to kill it. Yuki, who had been hiding inside Arthur’s clothes, did something Arthur wasn’t expecting.

"Freezing Ground!"

Yuki opened his mouth, but nothing came out of it like with his Frost Breath. Instead, magic runes appeared on the ground at the monkey’s feet, and then, right after, the whole ground froze!

The monkey’s legs were trapped in ice, making it impossible for it to move from the spot.

"It’s going to be stuck for about 10 seconds! Make it count!" Yuki shouted.

Arthur kept attacking nonstop, and little by little, the monkey’s HP kept going down, and down, until it hit 0. The creature had finally died.

[+16000 EXP]

The experience was really high, even higher than from the monsters he had fought inside the castle with Leonard. The reason was that Arthur was now killing alone, without an NPC doing everything for him.

An NPC helping like that made the player receive less EXP. After all, there was no telling when a player might somehow convince a powerful NPC to help them kill monsters. Of course, the game’s developer had tried to find ways to reduce that, since it would break a lot of things in the game.

Besides the EXP, the monkey had another drop for Arthur: its hide. He crouched next to the creature, took his skinning knife out of his inventory, and started peeling the hide off.

It was a kind of disgusting process, sure, but it didn’t bother him. While he collected the useful parts of that creature, Yuki, who looked pretty tired, was waiting for his praise.

"I didn’t know you had already learned another spell," Arthur said. "If it weren’t for you, I think I could’ve died."

"Right? As usual, me saving your ass."

"..."

After collecting the creature’s hide, which would be worth a good amount when sold, Arthur kept looking for more monkeys to kill.

He killed one after another, resting in between fights to recover his cooldowns and restore his HP. Each fight against those monkeys was deadly, bringing him close to death.

And being on that edge ignited something in him. Something related to his bloodline.

[Dragon Bloodline Maturing]

[Time for completion: 7 days]