BXBX NOVEL Chapter 26: Boss raid
Chapter 26: Boss raid
Name: None
Level: 139
Strength: 215
Dexterity: 311
Endurance: 175
Wisdom: 223
Skills:
{Gravity Control} (B-Rank)
{Wind Magic} (Tier-3)
Description: Peak predator of this mountain range, not even the overlord of the wyverns ever managed to stand up against her.
Currently, a mother defending her soon-to-be-born children.
Evaluation: Can compete with middle-Rank B beasts thanks to its rare skill of gravity control.}
Since Brick Garrison remained in place without countering, the beast immediately grasped its adversary\'s inability to harm her and started targeting the others without holding anything back.
While the human tried his best to block it and minimize the damage to his allies, the rest of the group didn\'t just stand there and sprang into action, assisting in any way they could by throwing arrows and spells at the monster.
Meanwhile, the not-so-bright third team leader, upon spotting the monster\'s nest, reckoned it a wise move to target it, so that the beast would panic and get in his way while taking damage from the other members.
According to him, this plan would work, after all, it was written in, "Twenty Unusual Ways to Defeat a Monster.", written by a renowned European A-Rank awakened.
He was sure it would work.
His life, however, was not scripted, much less part of a movie.
The monster, preoccupied with the intruders, failed to notice the fireball that was hurtling towards its nest until it was too late, igniting the dried branches and causing the nest to collapse in flames which finally caught the eagle\'s attention.
The only thing she was holding back for was to guard her baby and not create too much destruction near its nest, now that both reasons to keep the humans away from her nest had vanished, the monster abandoned the restraint and fought to the extreme, bringing out power way over its usual limits.
Casting a vast gravitational field upon all the awakened, the eagle left its adversaries to float defenselessly in the air before ascending high up, preparing for her last suicidal attack by imbuing herself with various weight spells to augment her descent.
The bird now descended at a terrifying rate, causing the air around them to whistle once again.
Everyone\'s eyes were fixed on the incoming bullet beast, filled with fear, and sorrow while some were feeling angry.
In this dire moment, the hidden personality of some of the hunters, especially the crafted personality of the refined and dignified second team leader, shattered as she cursed.
"That sh*tty kid can\'t do one single thing right, can he?!"
In what they thought would be the last moments of their lives, the people showed their true selves; some tried to protect the others, while some, like the third team leader, tried to use others as shields.
However, just moments before the monster could impact, something streaked in front of everyone\'s eyes, striking the monster\'s flank.
When something moves at a really fast speed, though difficult to stop, it is really subject to deviations.
Just a slight movement could redirect a bullet, with that in mind, Hans activated his skill {Ice Armor} and used the spell {Breeze} to throw himself at the enemy, redirecting its trajectory, thereby averting the catastrophe.
The monster was smashed against the rocky mountain before falling to the ground.
Once again, all the witnesses remained astonished by the scene that unfolded before them.
"Is this the level of an A-Rank?" Hans asked, eliciting a mix of irony and disappointment.
He wasn\'t the one to bully the others, but considering the fact that many people entrusted their lives with Garrison, he was hoping for the fellow to do something better.
No one expected him to one-shot the elite mobs or easily clear the gate since he was known for his defense, but they at least expected him to keep them safe and away from any danger.
Indeed, he would\'ve survived even the monster\'s last attack, but he would\'ve been the only one. He wouldn\'t have been able to protect a single one of his companions, and since he didn\'t have any way of fighting back, Garrison would\'ve eventually exhausted himself before succumbing under the eagle\'s claws.
If it hadn\'t been for Hans\' actions just then, no one would\'ve ever been able to leave that place alive.
Even though he heard Hans\'s comment, Brick Garrison remained silent, feeling an unbelievable amount of shame.
The people now freed from the monster\'s spell because of its unconsciousness, though grateful to Hans, didn\'t forget the matter at hand, and under the orders from their almost crumbled leader, the group soon assembled once again, forming a true battle formation, ready to fight and defeat the boss.
The battle resumed as soon as the eagle got back in the air, concluding with the victory of the hunters who took the bird\'s head as their trophy.
Following his first intervention, Hans opted not to participate in the fight anymore, since he didn\'t want to turn more people against himself than what he already had.
Also, his mere presence was enough for the beast to feel threatened and deterred it from using the same suicidal attack again.
By the time they were finished, a total of one day and fourteen hours had passed since the time they entered the gate.
They brought the spoils outside before coming out themselves and were welcomed by a sea of flashlights on the other side, especially covering Brick Garrison, who seemed a little out of spirit.
The first interviewer asked hurriedly, "Mr. Garrison, would you mind telling us what happened."
The other reporters soon followed.
"Mr. Garrison has something bad happened"
"Mr. Garrison, what\'s with the long face?"
"Mr. Garrison..."
"Mr. Garrison..."
"Mr. Garrison..."
The tumultuous chaos overwhelmed his already weakened mind, and after taking a long breath, he finally spoke, silencing all the reporters momentarily.
"Dear citizens of America, I have reflected on my shortcomings and concluded that I may not yet be ready to lead a great group like the association in this city. From now on, I will step back for a while to regroup and return stronger than before. Until then, I\'ll appoint someone to fill my role."
The other members of the group were as surprised as the crowd, sparking whispers and commentary, and since it was on broadcast, many people watching the TV from home also commented and bid farewell to the protector of Chicago city.
Unfazed, Hans discreetly slipped away using {Stealth}.
Meanwhile, the arrogant and dumb third team leader was enjoying the spotlight, and boasted about his noble actions inside the gate, belittling all the fellow members, apart from Garrison obviously, since he was eager for a promotion, and the now vacant seat of the branch leader required that person\'s favor.
The fellow boasted so much that many of the reporters moved over to the other team leaders, asking them about what had happened.
The two talked about the team leader of the fifth team, and his brave actions which stirred up clamor among everyone, prompting headlines like, \'An Unknown Savior for the C-Rank Gate!\' and \'America\'s Benefactor Keeps His Identity Hidden!\', to floor Chicago newspapers for the following few days, embarrassing Hans to death.
However, despite the gossip and the interviews, there wasn\'t a single person who had heard or knew anything about this famous fifth team leader.
Feeling exhausted, Hans let himself drown in his bed, closing his already heavy eyelids.
[You have contributed greatly in clearing the C-Rank gate: Mountain\'s Chain.]
[You have been rewarded with the rare path tome: {Gravity Control}(Tier-5).]
[Because of your higher affinity with mana and its repetitive use, the skill {Breeze}
(Tier-0) has evolved into {Wind Gust}(Tier-1).]
The next morning, when Hans woke up, he remained a little quiet and tried to lay low, just as advised by Emily.
When she met him for the first time after the famous gate raid, Emily made fun of him calling Hans with names like, "America\'s Benefactor" or "Mr. Unknown" while trying to hold her laughter back as hard as she could.
This made their bond a bit stronger, evolving into friendship.
Hans also visited the kid many times and made stops at the blacksmith.
He decided to utilize the dragon\'s scales he had obtained from the previous raid, thinking that they were too good of a material to be left collecting dust on the shelf, and requested for the blacksmith to craft an armor out of them.
Also, during the last gate raid, Hans realized how physical protection and endurance could prove useful in critical situations, he almost considered requesting a sword, but ultimately decided not to after finding out the exorbitant price he had to pay for the chest plate.
If he had decided to request a sword to be made on measure for him, Hand didn\'t doubt that he would need to borrow money once again.