Boom!
The Orc Fighter stomped his feet.
Zzzzzzt!
Kaw!
The steel gauntlet clashed with the sword.
Gah!
I managed to block the Orc Fighter’s powerful punch, but the force behind that steel gauntlet was something else.
In a split second, my blocking stance faltered.
Eek!
I quickly rolled to the right, narrowly avoiding the Orc Fighter’s follow-up left-side strike.
“W-what the?”
It was my first time seeing a swordsmans’ ‘Block’ skill get canceled by a monster’s attack.
Still, the damage wasn’t much, but the usual tactics against the Orc Fighter were no longer working.
Block, then immediately counter with a slash and a thrust to chip away at the monster’s HP.
This solid victory formula of the swordsmans had finally been broken.
Without having a moment to collect my thoughts, I had to face the incoming attack from the Orc Fighter once more.
Ka-kang!
This time, my block didn’t break. I immediately followed up with a thrust attack.
Pak!
Green blood splattered as I landed a small wound on the Orc Fighter’s upper body. A valid attack had hit.
Squeak.
The Orc Fighter stepped back slightly, repositioning himself, and threw a few more punches.
Kang, kang, pak!
I calmly blocked the attacks while steadily wearing down the Orc Fighter’s HP with my single-target thrust skill.
The Orc Fighter, having stepped back, clenched his fist tightly.
I widened my eyes.
It was the powerful punch that had come flying during the first attack.
If I blocked it head-on, my block would get canceled, leaving me vulnerable to follow-up hits.
[Backward Evasion]
Quickly leaps 8m back to avoid incoming attacks (Invincible while casting)
Cooldown: 8 seconds
The skill I obtained upon reaching level 15 as a swordsmans, ‘Backward Evasion.’
If a Named monster’s attack can’t be dealt with using just the ‘Block’ skill, it meant I had to use this technique to dodge.
Whoosh!
Paf-paf!
The Orc Fighter’s punch sliced through the air.
Using the ‘Backward Evasion’ skill, I swiftly distanced myself from the Orc Fighter.
“Oh.”
So this was it!
I thought if I leveled up more, my agility would increase, allowing me to execute similar movements without the skill, but the ‘Invulnerability while casting’ effect couldn’t be achieved with mere speed.
Each attack dealt near-death damage; this was a key skill for clearing Elite Dungeons.
I understood now why it was learned at level 15.
I smiled to myself.
It didn’t seem like it would take long to clear this Named.
Having roughly grasped the Orc Fighter’s patterns, I continued to block his attacks and chip away at his HP.
[1 Named]
[Level 16 Orc Fighter]
[HP 8214/10500]
About 5 minutes had passed since the battle began.
While I hadn’t dealt an impressive amount of damage relative to the time passed, I felt confident that if I kept this up and maintained my attacks, I’d clear the Named without issue.
I rhythmically maneuvered my sword, blocking the Orc Fighter’s attacks while avoiding his punches and responding to his patterns.
Finally, the Orc Fighter’s HP dropped below 80%.
Nothing particularly changed.
I continued blocking light attacks and delivered a thrust to the Orc Fighter.
In that moment, I suddenly thought I saw a glint in the Orc Fighter’s eyes.
Chill.
An icy chill suddenly washed over me.
My instincts screamed at me.
This thrust attack was dangerous.
But I couldn’t stop the skill that had already been activated.
Clang!
I thrust, but the Orc Fighter’s gauntlet smoothly deflected it.
A change in the Orc Fighter’s pattern; I was encountering something new.
And then—
Pernk!
“Gah!?”
The Orc Fighter’s gauntlet moved like flowing water and struck hard against my abdomen.
Rollrollroll, boom!
My small body rolled several times backward until it finally slammed against the wall.
Hack, hack!
The world spun around me.
What just happened?
Whoosh.
Without a moment to comprehend, the Orc Fighter dashed toward me.
Eek!
Rollroll.
Bam!
I rolled to the side to dodge the Orc Fighter’s stomp.
The ground where the Orc Fighter’s gauntlet struck caved in.
[Drizzle Rain]
[Swordsmans]
[Level 15 (1.17%)]
[HP 114/617]
In a situation where it was hard to gather my wits, I couldn’t help but panic as I checked my remaining HP.
Just one attack.
Just one attack cost me 80% of my HP.
Hii, hii!
Rollroll.
Tears streaming down my face, I rolled backward to escape the Orc Fighter’s onslaught.
After sipping three potions and taking a brief moment to breathe, my HP was fully restored.
Pat pat.
Sitting down on the ground, I gently rubbed my soft belly where I had taken a hit.
Now that my HP was full, the pain had vanished, but it had hurt so much at the moment it had knocked the breath out of me.
It must have been due to the high synchronization rate.
But I was fine.
When I was a Hero on the Continent of Astria, I had endured worse pain.
Without the Saintess to treat my wounds, it would have been unsurprising for me to have died long ago.
This wasn’t even painful.
I stood up and boldly shouted.
“Hero Rain, revive!”
Then, I took a sneak peek at the Orc Fighter’s location.
[1 Named]
[Level 16 Orc Fighter]
[HP 10500/10500]
If I retreated from the battle, the Named’s HP returned to its pre-fight state.
The conditions were the same.
Both the Orc Fighter and I had recovered, but I had learned a lot about his patterns.
It was time for my second attempt.
Alright, I’ll clear it this time.
*
After going through four more battles and retreats, I finally figured out the identity of the pattern that had deflected my thrust.
The Fighter’s ‘Counter’ skill.
The Orc Fighter, just like the combatants in ‘Astria Online,’ was also able to use the counter skill.
The counter pattern of the Orc Fighter activated when his HP dropped below 80%, and it required keen timing and stance observations to identify.
The solution was simple.
Just don’t attack when the Orc Fighter takes on the stance to activate his counter.
In other words, ‘Damage Cut.’
As long as I refrained from attacking while he’s in the counter stance, the Orc Fighter would quickly revert back to his basic patterns.
Pak pak pak!
I diligently blocked, dodged, and thrust.
With the countering tactics understood, the Orc Fighter was no longer a match for me.
“Hehehe! Die already!”
[1 Named]
[Level 16 Orc Fighter]
[HP 5301/10500]
I had already chopped his HP down by half.
If I could repeat the same tactics for just a little longer, I could take down this Named.
The massive rewards I envisioned danced before my eyes.
Accessories, swords, pretty outfits, and chicken!
Hehe! Hehe!
I couldn’t help but grin as I jabbed at the Named, relieved that no one could witness my antics.
This was the perk of solo play, after all!
But the Named of the Elite Dungeon wouldn’t go down easy.
Kyaah!
As the Orc Fighter’s HP dropped below half, new monsters emerged from the caves on the left and right sides of the battle area.
[Level 15 Elite Orc Soldier]
[HP 1000/1000]
And two of them, no less!
Kang, kakang!
I became dizzy as my limbs were bombarded.
The powerful blows of the Orc Fighter mixed with the relentless jabs of the Elite Orc Soldiers.
If I were playing in a party, there would have been a dedicated tank for the adds.
But I had to handle it all on my own.
‘What do you do when monsters swarm you while fighting alone?’
‘Simple. Just dodge, block, and slash.’
‘What if they’re monsters that don’t go down easily?’
‘Hmm. I guess you just have to learn through a lot of fighting?’
‘Haha! If you have a sturdy body like a Dwarf, you can probably withstand most attacks barehanded!’
‘Haha, the Dwarf’s toughness is definitely an advantage. But don’t imitate that, okay, Rain?’
‘What’s the use of fighting alone when you have comrades? Rain, I’ll always protect your back, so don’t worry about a thing.’
Suddenly, memories of conversations with my party members, the Heroes, rushed back, and I couldn’t help but smile even amidst the tense battle.
Honestly, they were all no help at all.
I am Rain.
A Hero of the Continent of Astria.
A Hero who had deftly navigated countless battles against the Demon Race.
I made the most of those battlefield instincts.
Whoosh!
I dodged the punch with a backward evasion.
As the distance widened, the Orc Fighter rushed in almost instantly.
Maintaining just the right distance to avoid the Orc Fighter’s diving attack, I blocked the attacks of the Elite Orc Soldiers and immediately counter-attacked with my slice.
First, I needed to deal with the Elite Orc Soldiers. Once the adds were down, I could focus solely on the Named again.
Whaaack!
Kiiying!
I maximized my avoidance of direct combat with the Orc Fighter while targeting the adds, and after a short while, I managed to take down both Elite Orc Soldiers.
In a one-on-one scenario against the Named, it would be problem-free now.
I took a deep breath and grinned.
“Alright, now it’ll be easy.”
*
Contrary to my expectations, what followed wasn’t as simple.
Every time the Named’s HP hit 40%, 30%, and 20%, new Elite Orc Soldiers kept appearing.
With each new Elite Orc Soldier, I could only frown.
I finally managed to take down the Named Orc Fighter only after clearing all the added Orc Soldiers.
Boom!
Thud!
As the Orc Fighter collapsed to the ground, I also sank to my spot.
Haaah…
I felt utterly drained.
But still, I managed to smile and raised my victory sign.
“1 Named, cleared!”
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