Yuli's eyes widened as he beheld the towering boss, a mixture of awe and excitement dancing in his gaze. "That boss looks sick!" he exclaimed, his voice echoing through the arena.
Velt adjusted his stance and began his explanation. "Bosses follow different rules, you know. Usually, if you face a boss, they're five levels stronger than their actual level. So this level 15 boss has the strength of something level 20."
Yuli grinned, his excitement undiminished, and tightened his grip on his hammer. "Still light work," he declared confidently.
Without warning, the Black Knight surged forward with a predatory grace. In one fluid motion, he slashed downward, unleashing a torrent of red lightning that raced toward the two combatants. Yuli met the charge head-on, swinging his hammer with such determination that it clashed violently with the electrified wave. Sparks of red electricity burst into the air, and in the chaotic display, one stray spark struck Velt squarely, shattering him completely. Almost immediately, Velt reformed, as if he were nothing more than a trick of the game.
"Hell yeah!" Yuli shouted triumphantly. But before he could fully celebrate, the Black Knight materialized in front of him. With a brutal, unrelenting strike delivered by a bare fist, the knight landed a solid hit to Yuli's stomach. The impact sent Yuli sprawling backward; he coughed up blood as he hit the ground hard, his hammer still clenched tightly in his grasp.
"Yuli!" Velt cried out as he sprinted to his fallen ally. Yuli lay on his back, a cascade of blood flowing from his mouth, his shirt completely ripped away, and his eyes glazed with dazed confusion. In a silent thought that echoed the grim reality, Velt mused, That's what zero defense does for you...
Coughing and gasping for breath, Yuli finally managed to speak. "B-Because... there are... two of us... the... revive... system... is... on...."
For clarity, the revive system was simple: within a party, as long as downed teammates remained relatively intact, one could be revived. This mechanic prevented one-hit failures; however, it could only be used once per day for each fallen comrade. In this case, since both were part of the same tutorial party, they were eligible for its benefits.
Velt's tone carried a note of dark humor. "So that would have definitely killed you."
Yuli groaned, "God... that hurts..."
"I can't quite heal you—" Velt began, but Yuli interrupted him.
"It's fine." Yuli's hand began to glow with a warm, yellow magic. As he pressed it to his chest, the vibrant energy reversed the damage, mending him as if nothing had occurred. He stood upright with an air of nonchalance.
"Don't forget I'm a paladin," he declared.
Velt eyed him in disbelief, "Did you just use lay on hands on yourself?"
"Heals 100% of my max HP. I only have two of those left until the next day."
Velt laughed, "Oh yeah, right—you're a paladin!"
Almost instantly, the Black Knight lunged again, his sword gleaming as he swung it down toward Yuli. The clash of steel and hammer rang out as Yuli met the attack. For several seconds, the sound of their battle filled the air until the knight, as swift as lightning, blinked upward.
Now suspended above them, he began to rain down multiple waves of red electricity. Velt dodged each bolt with careful precision, while Yuli summoned a gust of wind with his hammer to dispel some of the onslaught.
In a brief moment of banter, Velt asked, "You have a shield, right?"
Yuli scoffed, "That would just slow me down."
"A lot of things slow you down!" Velt retorted.
"I also have a shield-conjuring ability, but that's useless because it scales off of my defense."
Velt chuckled, "And your defense is zero... At least now I don't feel like the only dumbass who made bad choices when building a character."
With a dramatic drop, the Black Knight descended from the air toward the duo. Velt managed to dodge swiftly, but Yuli was a fraction too slow. He raised his hammer in a feeble attempt to block the impending attack.
As the knight landed, he unleashed a powerful pillar of red electricity. The force of the shock sent Yuli reeling backwards, toppling him to his knees and forcing more blood from his mouth.
"Dammit," Yuli cursed under his breath.
"Dude, start dodging more!" Velt urged.
"I'm not fast enough to do that!" Yuli protested.
"If you can't dodge, you'll die!" Velt insisted.
"I'll be fine!" Yuli vowed, struggling to his feet once more. In a surge of determination, he swung his hammer, sending a potent shockwave directly at the Black Knight. The knight attempted to slash through the energy barrier but ultimately cleaved it perfectly in half."Great, now it's useful to my pattern," Yuli remarked with a mixture of astonishment and satisfaction.
"Try to stay at a range, I guess," Velt advised dryly.
"Hey Velt, you're an acrobat. Got any skills?" Yuli challenged.
"Watch." Velt declared before launching into an EPIC front flip toward the Black Knight, shouting, "NIMBLE FLIP!!!" Though his acrobatic maneuver was impressive, he was immediately cut in half by the enemy—only to reform moments later next to Yuli.
"I see what you mean," Yuli said with a wry smile.
"I have that, and an action that allows me to triple my speed for 10 seconds," Velt added.
"So we're both in deep shit, huh?" Yuli laughed wryly.
"You could say that," Velt replied.
"It's about time I lock in then." Yuli pulled on his headphones and charged toward the Black Knight.
"What the—REMEMBER WHAT I SAID ABOUT STAYING BACK?!" Velt shouted after him.
The Black Knight swung his sword down hard, slamming it into the ground. This unleashed several more waves of red lightning that surged along the terrain toward Yuli. He managed to intercept two of these ominous streams, yet a third caught him directly.
A sharp cry of agony erupted as searing pain exploded across his face—blood streaming from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. In that single, excruciating moment, Yuli healed himself fully and slammed his Warhammer onto the ground with a force so tremendous it shook the very earth. The impact destroyed the incoming waves and even knocked the Black Knight slightly off balance.
"Full force!!!" Yuli roared, planting his feet firmly on the trembling ground. Swinging his Warhammer with both hands, he carved through the air. A massive crack appeared overhead, from which a nearly unbreakable beam of compressed air hurtled toward the Black Knight. The knight tried to evade, but the beam found its mark—piercing through his arm (the one not wielding the sword) and cleaving it completely from his body.
"Home run!!!" Yuli cheered triumphantly.
The Black Knight's eyes flared a fierce, violent red as his sword shimmered with potent, pulsating red lightning. With a sweeping motion, he sent a massive wave of red energy hurtling toward Yuli. Despite his best efforts to block, the impact sent Yuli flying far from the boss. He stumbled along the ground before finally coming to a screeching halt on his stomach, yet still clenching his hammer. Although his body bore the marks of brutal burns and savage scrapes, he rapidly healed, standing tall once again.
"And there goes my healing..." Yuli muttered with a blend of annoyance and irony.
Velt jogged over, concern etched into his features.
"You might have just screwed yourself over," Velt warned.
Yuli removed his headphones, meeting Velt's gaze.
"And what kind of headphones are those? They're like invincible."
"Special ones, don't worry about it," Yuli replied, a hint of secrecy in his tone.
They observed as the Black Knight sat back upon his throne, his sword plunged deep into the ground, and with an eerie calm, he began to regrow his severed arm.
"I see now," Yuli said quietly.
Velt nodded, "We seem to be out of the boss's range."
"Then how about we talk about a plan?" Yuli proposed.
"You... a plan? Something ain't right," Velt replied skeptically.
"Who said I had a plan? WE just need a plan!" Yuli insisted.
"Right, right... entering this world might have taken a lot from me, but one thing hasn't changed: my intelligence. Yuli, what was that shield-conjuring ability you mentioned earlier?" Velt inquired.
"I can conjure a magical shield out of thin air anytime I want. Its durability is my defense multiplied by three," Yuli explained.
"So it has no durability," Velt quipped sarcastically.
"I can use it as a hat weight," Yuli joked, manifesting one of the shields. It was about the size of his body—equal in width and height—and devoid of any mana cost.
Velt lightly jabbed the ethereal shield, shattering it instantly.
"But I can still make contact with it..." he mused.
"Ya-huh," Yuli replied with a smirk.
"And what about that shield of yours that you don't have equipped?"Without hesitation, Yuli conjured a large iron shield—a bit larger than himself, gleaming with promise.
"Perfect! I have the perfect plan!" Velt declared, a spark of hope igniting in his eyes.
In a breathtaking moment of tension, as the plan was freshly discussed, Yuli gripped his conjured shield in his off-hand, while Velt took up a poised starting position. With a confident glare and an infectious burst of energy, Yuli bellowed, "All rush, all blitz, HUT!"
Velt immediately lunged toward the looming Black Knight. Sensing the incoming assault, the massive foe slowly rose from his seat and retrieved his sword from the earth. Mid-stride, Velt's inner voice echoed:
One of the perks of being an acrobat is that the faster I approach a target, the mightier my attack becomes. For every 10 feet of speed per second, my damage output surges by 1.5 times. Right now, I'm tearing along at my maximum—20 feet per second!
Before his eyes, multiple rows of shimmering magical shields materialized in midair, forming a precarious path leading directly to the Black Knight. Gathering every ounce of focus, Velt vaulted onto one of these ethereal platforms. He whispered to himself,If I use my acrobatic flair precisely, I should be able to land on this without snapping it apart.
But the moment he dismounted, the shield crumbled into nothingness. Undeterred, Velt repeated his daring leap again and again. With each bound, he ascended higher until he hovered several feet above his imposing adversary.
"Go time," Yuli murmured, his tone husky with excitement. In one fluid, well-practiced motion, Yuli hurled his shield several feet ahead, perfectly timing its arc above Velt as he sprinted along the row of magical barriers. At that critical juncture, the Black Knight unleashed a violent surge—a searing torrent of red lightning barreling toward Velt.
Inside Velt's racing mind, alarm flared:
That thing is moving way too fast! One hit and I'll lose all momentum; this plan goes to hell!His eyes locked on the thrown shield.
Yuli... you might be a rare genius. That shield is exactly nine feet above and nine feet ahead of me. I may not be a scientist, but I know the precise moment to...
As the crimson tendrils of lightning neared with lethal intent, Velt bellowed, "Nimble flip!!!" and executed a breathtaking maneuver, vaulting from one magical barrier onto the shield Yuli had sent his way.
In that split second, Yuli took advantage of the chaos. With both hands gripping his Warhammer, he leaped while swinging it downward, generating a forceful burst that etched delicate cracks in the very air. The ripple of energy flung Velt hurtling down at breakneck speed along the shield toward the Black Knight, shattering the shield into fragments upon impact.
Now my speed has reached 30,000! Velt's thoughts raced as he felt the flames of his own momentum beginning to sear his skin.
I hope that this fire doesn't actually burn me before I land my kick. There's no way I can let myself lose to my own velocity!
With determined fervor, Velt prepped a vicious kick as he dove toward the Black Knight. The foe, anticipating the assault, angled his sword to block. Yet Velt's speed was overwhelming.60,000 feet per second! he calculated internally as his kick collided with the Black Knight's blade. His eyes widened in astonishment as an electrifying surge raced through his body.
"CRIIIITICAL HIIIIT!!!" Velt roared triumphantly. The critical damage multiplier—boosting his meager five attack to a devastating force—became apparent as the Black Knight's blade began to fissure under the relentless assault.
"ENOUGH DAMAGE TO WIPE OUT AN ENTIRE SOLAR SYSTEM!!!" he declared, his voice echoing across the battlefield as his kick landed squarely on the Black Knight's chest, shattering the ominous blade.
Before any further consequence could befall the titanic enemy, a sudden, fervent cry split the air.
"I WANT IN ON THIS TOO!!!" came Yuli's battle cry from above. With his hammer clutched in both hands, he descended in a decisive strike aimed at the Black Knight's head. The simultaneous impact of their assaults unleashed a shockwave of such monstrous power that it resembled a swirling black hole—obliterating everything in its path as if erasing reality itself.
High in the shadows, the Purple Knight surveyed the mayhem with a grim smile.
"They actually beat the boss," she mused quietly, her eyes glinting with a mixture of admiration and apprehension. "And as I speak, they're in the process of wiping out every version of the tutorial. I simply cannot allow that—my pride won't let it." With one determined grip upon the hilt of her sword, in the blink of an eye, Yuli and Velt found themselves abruptly back on their backs in the center of the starter lobby.
Yuli sat up, massaging his throbbing head. "Ugh, what happened?" he groaned.
Velt followed suit, his eyes growing wide with sudden clarity. "I... I don't know...." he stammered. "Wait, didn't we beat the tutorial?"
"I believe so, and we beat the boss, so..." Yuli trailed off as they both turned to look ahead.
Before them, two radiant ruby treasure chests glimmered enticingly.
"Loot?!" they exclaimed in unison, voices filled with equal measures disbelief and giddy excitement.