Ascension Through Skills

The Giant Rat.

As its name suggested, it was an enhanced version of the Big Rat. A monster the size of a robust young man, its speed was also slightly faster than the Big Rat. It had a strength the Big Rat did not have, and its claws could easily break through a wooden shield.

‘Lee Taeyeon used a trick to defeat it.’

Her method was simple. She kept hunting Big Rats on the first floor, then used the money she accumulated to buy oil and fire bottles.

Then she set the whole room on fire and ran out.

A boss monster could not leave the boss room. When she came back in about an hour, the boss monster was nicely roasted.

If she had enough time, it was a fairly reasonable method. The Giant Rat wasn’t a monster that a player could defeat on the first floor, so Lee Taeyeon’s method was the closest to the correct answer.

But Taesan had no intention of doing the same.

To fill the room with oil, he would need to stay here for at least two more days. There would also be a significant loss of money, and since it was a trick to defeat the boss, he wouldn’t be able to receive the rewards he should receive.

First, he observed the space.

The room was about the size of two gymnasiums.

There was plenty of room to run away.

The distance between him and the Giant Rat was about 150 meters.

First, he would keep his distance.

Taesan set his feet.

The Giant Rat roared and lumbered after him.

“Screeeech!”

While running, Taesan looked at the Giant Rat.

Despite its lumbering movement, its speed was not slow.

As an enhanced version of the Big Rat, its speed was considerably fast.

However, there was no significant difference between it and Taesan. It would take quite a while for it to close the gap.

‘Good.’

Taesan spun his body around. He placed his shield into his inventory and pulled out the flame staff. The tip of the staff glowed red.

[You have activated Fireball.]

Whoosh.

The flame gathered at the staff’s tip, then a fireball about the size of a baseball was shot toward the Giant Rat.

Boom!

[14 damage to the Giant Rat.]

“Squeeeek!”

The Giant Rat let out a pained squeal. Rage glimmered in its red eyes, but Taesan didn’t care. There was something he needed to verify.

[Burn status check in progress……]

[Check successful! The Giant Rat is now in a burn state.]

“That worked.”

Abnormal state, burn. The effect was simple. It dealt 1 damage to the enemy every 10 seconds.

The effect duration was around 10 minutes.

1 damage every 10 seconds in these early floors was not insignificant at all. His intention was to inflict the burn abnormal state even if he had to fire two or three times, but fortunately, it worked in one shot. Thanks to that, he could conserve his mana.

“Now then.”

It wasn’t over yet. Taesan put away his staff and pulled out his bow. He had acquired archery skills before coming in by using the Big Rat as a target. It was immediately integrated into the Airak Martial Technique. Still, the skill itself didn’t disappear, so there would be no problem with shooting arrows.

Taesan took out a poison arrow and notched it on the bowstring.

The bowstring was tautly pulled back.

As he looked at the Giant Rat lumbering towards him, Taesan released the arrow.

Ping.

“Squeeeek!”

[7 damage to the Giant Rat.]

[Poison status check in progress……]

[Check failed! The Giant Rat is unaffected.]

It didn’t work.

Unflustered, Taesan began to run away again. It was normal to attempt this multiple times. Success on the first try was rare.

As Taesan ran, he pulled out another arrow. This time, it was a paralysis arrow.

Ping.

[8 damage to the Giant Rat.]

[The target is paralyzed. It cannot move until the next attack hits or until 10 seconds elapse.]

“Squee, Squeeeek.”

The Giant Rat stopped as if it was a machine.

Confusion shimmered in its red eyes. Taesan made more distance between them and shot a poison arrow.

[8 damage to the Giant Rat.]

[Poison status check in progress…….]

[Check successful! The Giant Rat is in a poison state.]

Abnormal state, poison. Like burn, it dealt 1 damage every 10 seconds for 10 minutes. Damage and duration time increased with level and skill, but with nothing to extend it, it was the basic duration for now.

“Squeeeeeeeek!”

The Giant Rat, inflicted with two abnormal states in an instant, let out a roar of rage and charged. Taesan, unbothered by this, pulled out another arrow. It was a paralysis arrow.

[7 damage to the Giant Rat.]

[The target is paralyzed. It cannot move until the next attack hits or until 10 seconds elapse.]

There was a gap of strength between the Giant Rat and Taesan. Still, it was not enough to automatically cause the paralysis abnormal state to fail. Taesan put away his bow and pulled out his shield. Gripping it with both hands, he charged toward the immobilized Giant Rat.

Kuwoong!

“Kiiiik!”

[Giant Rat is in a weakened state. It receives increased damage.]

[Giant Rat has taken 13 damage.]

The shield pushed the Giant Rat away. As soon as it took damage, the paralysis state was broken, but the shock made the Giant Rat stagger. Taesan didn’t miss the opportunity, quickly created some distance, and pulled out his bow again.

Ping.

“Kiik!”

The Giant Rat was paralyzed again. He pulled out his shield once more.

Kuwoong!

Then, he pulled out his bow again.

He shot a paralysis arrow, struck with his shield, and then shot another paralysis arrow. He repeated this series of actions, and the Giant Rat had no choice but to be pushed around like a toy.

‘As expected, this is good.’

Taesan thought this as he drew his bowstring.

Both the paralysis arrows and poison arrows were expensive. Each cost about 30 gold, which was difficult to get on the first floor. Thanks to what he obtained while going for the secret room box, he was able to use them relatively comfortably.

But there was also a limit to this. It wasn’t impossible to get them, even if they were expensive. You could work for a few days on the first floor, buy paralysis arrows and poison arrows, and then clear the floor. Of course, the labyrinth also had prepared countermeasures.

The time for that was coming slowly, and Taesan began his preparations.

“Kiik, kiik…”

The Giant Rat was staggering.

Its head was shaking. Its skin, scorched by fire, was hurting. The poison coursing through its body made it feel hot all over.

All of this was due to the human in front of it. The Giant Rat let out a sharp cry.

“Kiiiiik!”

[Giant Rat is furious. It has entered Berserker mode.]

“It’s begun.”

The so-called Second Phase, Berserker mode.

Its effects were the nullification of incapacitation and increased speed. Now, paralysis arrows were ineffective. It would be impossible to run and shoot arrows.

However, there was no change in Taesan’s expression.

He had also conquered the Giant Rat before. He knew this would happen. He was running out of paralysis arrows anyway, and they had served their purpose well enough.

Berserker mode was activated when the health dropped below 20%. From this point, it was a direct battle.

Taesan raised his tower shield.

“Kiiiiik!”

With a cry, those monstrous claws struck down. With a grating noise, the shield was pushed back. Feeling the force from the other side, Taesan grimaced.

[You take 8 damage.]

‘As I thought, it’s impossible with my current strength.’

His strength stat was only 11. Even blocking with a shield resulted in taking damage. It wasn’t a battle of strength but of whittling the boss’s hp down with his high agility.

Once again, the claws aimed for him, and Taesan raised his shield. The moment those claws made contact with the shield, he changed direction. The claws scraped the shield with a sharp sound and impacted the ground.

[You take 4 damage.]

The Giant Rat’s body was left defenseless, with its claws lodged into the ground. Taesan collided into it with his shield.

Jeoeong!

“Kiik!”

[Giant Rat takes 6 damage.]

Staggering, the Giant Rat swung its claws, and again Taesan blocked with his shield.

[You take 5 damage.]

Now their turn was switched. This time Taesan struck with his shield.

Jeoeeong!

[Giant Rat takes 7 damage.]

[Your proficiency in Battle Continuity has increased by 1%.]

His breathing quickened.

His muscles began to tire.

He was pressing hard, but the situation wasn’t good.

The fight has already lasted nearly thirty minutes.

Although it was one-sided harassment, the continuous movement had exhausted him.

Without Battle Continuity, he would have been fatigued much earlier.

He needed to quickly end it. Taesan dashed into the Giant Rat’s range.

[You have activated Breathless Attack. You have free breathing for the next 10 seconds.]

The restriction of his heavy breathing disappeared. The body that had been demanding oxygen also gained freedom. The Breathless Attack was similar to a full recovery for these precious seconds.

Koong!

[Giant Rat takes 8 damage.]

“Kiik!”

The Giant Rat didn’t simply stand there to endure it. It held its staggering body and lunged using its claws and teeth. While Taesan blocked with his shield, there were limits when simultaneously attacking and defending.

[You take 24 damage.]

24 damage. He could withstand a total of five more attacks. He could last for another eight attacks if he included Endurance and Evasion. He then calculated the Giant Rat’s remaining health.

It was enough. Taesan gave up on defense, and multiple damage points appeared as he charged the Giant Rat.

“Kiik!”

The Giant Rat also counterattacked.

[You take 25 damage.]

[You take 23 damage.]

[You take 22 damage.]

Both parties traded attacks as the Giant Rat struck Taesan with its claws.

[You activated Evasion. The next attack is evaded.]

The claw abruptly veered off course. The skill, Evasion, ensured that it would only barely graze him. As the Giant Rat became flustered by this sudden change in movement, Taesan struck it with his shield.

“Kik, kiik!”

The Giant Rat swung its claws, but it didn’t hit. This time, Taesan dove under to avoid and whacked the Giant Rat’s neck with the edge of his shield.

[You succeeded in a Counter Attack. Great damage is dealt to the opponent. You have obtained the special activation skill [Counter.]

[Giant Rat takes 20 damage.]

“Ki, kiik.”

The Giant Rat staggered. It fell into a critical state, and the berserker effect wore off. Taesan then struck the finishing blow.

[Giant Rat takes 8 damage.]

“Kiik……

The Giant Rat fell, its massive body slamming into the ground with a thud. Then its breath also stopped.

“Hoo.”

It wasn’t that difficult. His stats were not low. Even if he had gone for a direct confrontation, he had a chance of winning. He also dealt with it much more easily than expected since he was able to paralyze it with the paralyzing arrow. He had won.

A long system window appeared.

[You have won against the Giant Rat.]

[You received a large amount of experience points.]

[Your health has recovered by 10.]

[You obtained 153 gold.]

[You obtained the skin of the Giant Rat.]

[You obtained the meat of the Giant Rat.]

[You obtained the claws of the Giant Rat.]

[You have achieved victory against a challenging opponent single-handedly. Your Agility permanently increases by 2. Your Mana permanently increases by 3.]

[Your Strength Surge has been activated. Your Strength permanently increases by 2. Your Agility permanently increases by 3.]

[Your level has increased.]

[You are now in top condition.]

[As a reward for leveling up, your Health increased by 15.]

[As a reward for leveling up, your Agility permanently increases by 3. Your Strength permanently increases by 1.]

[You defeated the boss of the 1st floor. You received the basic reward [Random Stat Increase Potion.]

[You identified the hidden element of the 1st floor. You received the reward [??].]