Chapter 76 - Crouching Tiger (4)
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You are using [ENHANCEMENT] on lv. 85 Undead <Asterios>
ENHANCING...
ENHANCING...
ENHANCING...
[ENHANCEMENT] SUCCESSFUL!
All attributes have been increased!
HP : 7500/7500
STRENGTH (STR) : 92
STAMINA (STA) : 78
INTELLIGENCE (INT) : 35
AGILITY (AGI) : 68
ACCURACY (ACC) : 78
EVADE (EVD) : 82
BUFF : Level and rank of <Undead> increased.
LEVEL : 89
RANK : A+
Bonus effect :
DEFENSE (DEF) increased by : 10%
HP increased by : 15%
Duration : Temporary buff. Lasts for 1 hour.
<User's rank is too low. Effect of the skill will be adjusted accordingly. >
<Duration of the buff reduced.>
<Overall rank increase in rank has been limited.>
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"Tsk. I Couldn't even increase the rank of a single summon. At least they are all at A+ for now." Arnold turned around to face everyone, "This is going to be a tough battle, so don't hold yourselves back at all. Do what you do best and let's slay this walking blob of fat together!"
Arnold had thought that maybe after using [ENHANCEMENT] on his summons at least a few of them would be able to reach S rank which would've evened up the ground a bit, but unknown to him the system had already placed some restrictions on the ability which indirectly told Arnold to level up his rank or else his summons won't be able to reach a higher rank.
At least the bonus effects granted by the enhancement were a bit useful. Asterios, being a tank and a brawler got a defense and HP boost, Bad-Breath got a bonus which increased his strength and other physical abilities, while Talos who was transformed as Jake, got an intelligence and mana boost, and lastly, Cerberus' strength and agility were significantly enhanced. Arnold took out his battle gears and quickly equipped them. His equipped gear was still the same except his new, [Phoenix cloak].
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• [PHOENIX CLOAK] : A cloak made up of ashes left behind by the last Phoenix as a blessing to all beings.
Grade : A+
Defense : 69 (Physical and Magical)
Armour Type : Cloak
Weight : 0.56 kg
Additional effect : [TITAN'S BLESSING] - Reflects 15% of damage received as physical damage to the attacker.
Additional effect : [BLAZING PHOENIX] - Boosts the effect of fire affinity by 25%.
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It was the same cloak that Arnold wasn't able to afford due to unavailability of <Red Soul> crystal, which wasn't easy to obtain as it was dropped by rank A monsters only. He had obtained it after slaying Asterios.
Needless to say even this 'Phoenix cloak' had undergone a lot of upgrades which were both done magically as well as physically by Arnold and Talos. Thanks to these upgrades, Arnold was able to increase the grade of the cloak from B+ to A+.
"START NOW!" Arnold yelled and his summons immediately went into action.
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Your summon <Talos> has used the skill [DANCE OF THE DEAD] lvl. 5.
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A horde of skeletal warriors rose from within the earth. They were equipped with various weapons made of bones and upon Talos' command, charged at the Dreadnought who had finally noticed his new opponents and prepared to engage them. But something else was waiting for him instead.
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Your summon <Asterios> has used the skill [BATTLE CRY] lvl. 3.
The skill was successful.
The target has been aggravated at <Asterios> for the 35 seconds.
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Your summon <Bad-Breath> has used the skill [THUNDER PUNCH] lvl. 4.
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Bad-Breath went ahead and started raining thunderous punches on the Dreadnought, while it was fixated on Asterios.
The skeletons and Bad-Breath kept attacking it relentlessly and to no one's surprise, it only had minimal effect on the the Dreadnought.
All of them had been working with each other like this for an year. They knew very well about each others strengths and weaknesses, they're teamwork was flawless. Arnold didn't need to give them a single command after the battle began, everyone knew exactly what they had to do and played their part well. In fifteen seconds they managed to chip off a good amount of Dreadnought's HP, even though their attacks weren't having their maximum effect due to the Dreadnought's immunities and resistances.
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Dreadnought's remaining HP : 10170/11700
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'Since, Piercing type weapons aren't effective against it, so using vindicator is out of question.' Arnold thought, 'It's a good thing, I know just the spell that would work against you.'
"Don't have much time left... Gotta make this count." Arnold mumbled as he got on Cerberus' back and raised a ramp in front of him, using his earth elemental control ability, "Climb this ramp as fast as you can and try to jump over that thing's back with all your might, got it?"
Cerberus, who was in the <Black Centaur> form, nodded and began climbing the makeshift ramp in front of it.
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Your summon <Cerberus> has used the skill [SONIC BOLT] lvl. 4.
Movement speed increased by 25%
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Arnold held tightly onto Cerberus, as he raced towards the ramp, rising higher and higher.
"NOW CERBERUS!" Arnold yelled as Cerberus jumped off the ramp.
Arnold used his momentum and jumped off Cerberus' back, and aimed his spell right on Dreadnought's back.
"No matter how tough your skin is or how much defense you've got, even you're not immune to true damage... FROST FLAME!" Arnold bellowed and threw the balls of ice at the Dreadnought's back.
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Damage dealt after reduction due to target's defense : 88.
The target is in a [FROZEN] state for : 14 seconds.
The target is immune to the effect, [FROZEN] effect has been cancelled.
The target is in a [BURNT] state. Additional damage of 79 HP/ second would be inflicted on the target for : 10 seconds.
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The damage wasn't much, just like Arnold had suspected, but this wasn't the only effect this skill had. The ball of ice contained the power Arcane flames within them.
The flames wouldn't have managed to burn away the beasts skin on its own, but thanks to Phoenix cloak, the skin on Dreadnought's back was melted away, exposing it's spine. This was Arnold's one and only chance to take down the Dreadnought.
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YOUR SUMMON(S) :
<Cerberus> and <Bad-Breath> have been destroyed by [DREADNOUGHT].
Time to resurrect : 1 hour.
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With the corner of his eyes, Arnold saw his summons getting one-shotted by the Dreadnought's club, just like the system had warned him.
"No time to waste. ASTERIOS!" Arnold shouted and pointed towards the monster's exposed spine. Even the thick brained Asterios knew what he had to do and used the ramp to climb over the Dreadnought's back with lightning speed.
Arnold's plan was simple, if he couldn't use any weapon to break the Dreadnought's spine, he'll just have to smash it into bits, thanks to the effects of his new title, he and Asterios were capable of doing that.
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Title bonus activated : [Crouching Figure]
Please select a summon whose attribute you would like obtain temporarily :
• [Duke] : Accuracy (ACC) +85
• [Talos] : Intelligence (INT) +80
• [CERBERUS] : Agility (AGI) + 70
• [Bad-Breath] : Stamina (STA) +60
• [Asterios] : Strength (STR) +100
• [Natasha] : Mystic (MYS) +??
<User's rank is too low. Effect of the skill will be adjusted accordingly. >
<Only half of the amount will be given to the user>
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'Asterios!' Arnold selected the attribute in his mind and felt like a jolt of electricity ran through his body, his strength had increased a lot but he wasn't done yet.
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You've used the skill [BERSERKER'S RAGE] lvl. 5.
All attributes have been boosted by +150%
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Arnold formed a fist with both of his hands and slammed them down on Dreadnought's spine with all his might. Asterios followed his master and did the same.
Arnold heard a loud cracking noise as the monstrosity, who destroyed 3 of his elite summons, fell on his knees and took it's last breath.