The battles continued from there.

  Battle 29 – Spear Roc

  Battle 30 – Amora Boar

  The Roc was a giant bird that basically had a spear for a beak. It was long and pointed, and apart from using its giant wings to create strong gusts of wind, its primary attack was diving down with the beak aimed straight at me.

  Unfortunately for it, the space we were forced to fight in was very confined, and it really didn’t have room to build up enough speed and make use of its advantage of flight. It only got worse for it when the massive bird failed to strike me and instead struck the ground but was unable to immediately pull itself back out.

  It wasn’t completely stuck per se, and I’m sure a couple of seconds would’ve been all it needed to free itself and soar once again. Though a couple of seconds is all I needed. All in all, the battle was simple enough.

  The Amora Boar on the other hand took quite a while.

  It was a brown-bear-sized boar that was covered in what kind of looked like its very own leather armor, only it was made of its own hide and muscles. The boar never managed to hurt me or anything like that, but even with Piercing Tide, it took more than a few exchanges to kill it once and for all.

  So apart from the length of time it took to kill it, the battle itself wasn’t that hard.

  If I had to assign a corresponding level to these last few beasts, it would probably be something around level 40-ish. Still strong and would be a life-and-death battle for most around level 40, but the few stats I got on the way to level 50 are the difference makers.

  Well, until I ran into Battle 31.

  The difficulty went up again.

  Battle 31 – Glacier Bull

  As the name implied, this was a big bull that was clearly loved by all things ice. It was a light greyish-bluish color with hooves the color of snow. Everything from its shoulder down to the mid-section of its body was further encased in a thick layer of baby blue ice that seemed to move as one with its muscles.

  Then came the horns.

  They were pure white in color, and even I, who was clearly not a mage, could feel the mana that gathered within them.

  I didn’t need to guestimate this one. I had no doubt in my mind that this bull was likely at the peak of F Grade just like I was.

  Gripping my spear tightly, I dodged to the side as it charged at me, and it was a good thing I dodged as far as I did because the places its hooves touched were slowly turning into ice. Hm.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  So I was on a time crunch.

  The bull, as if knowing that, quickly pivoted without missing a beat and was once again on a bull rush toward me. Ice again formed beneath its mighty hooves, and it roared out loudly as it lowered its horns in my direction.

  Even though I was moments away from being speared through my chest by the massive horns of the bull, I couldn’t help the fact that a small smile found its way onto my face. For no other reason than the fact that I felt like a matador at the moment.

  Just when it looked like the bull was going to get me, I activated Surging Step and dashed to the right once again, only this time I made sure to swipe at its hind legs with my spear, managing to draw blood as I did so.

  The wound was shallow, but I wouldn’t let that deter me. I was the first to draw blood, and I would be the last.

  From there… I learned a lot more about the durability of the Glacier Bull. I had no intentions of striking at any part of its body covered in ice if I didn’t have to, but at one point that’s where I managed to strike and quickly learned not even Piercing Tide was going to be able to cut through that ice.

  So I continued to focus on its hind legs and backside as a whole, but even with Piercing Tide I wasn’t cutting very deep. It took me a long time. I mean a very long time of dodging and slashing to finally make it bleed enough to have its movements be slowed, and then even longer after that to get to a point where I could kill it once and for all.

  By the end of the battle I hadn’t suffered a single wound, but there was not a single ounce of mana remaining in my body. I was haggard and exhausted from using all of my mana, and I knew right then and there this was where my current run in the Dungeon would end.

  There simply wasn’t enough time for me to gather enough mana between now and the next battle if I chose to move forward.

  Plus there was also the problem of my feet kinda-sorta being covered in ice, which in part made the battle longer since I couldn’t move them as freely. It was already melting, which was good, but it still hurt like shit.

  Anyway.

  Time for a decision.

  Considering the restriction on number of Skills and Traits, and the fact I didn’t want to waste this reward, the most logical option would be to take the Armor/Weapon option or even Money. XP wouldn’t make too much sense since I was as far as I could go, and I had no idea if it would carry over once I reached E Grade. Plus even if it did, it wouldn’t help me right now.

  Though despite knowing what the logical decision was here… I couldn’t help but linger on the Skills or even Traits option a bit longer than the others. The possibility exists that I waste the reward, but I don’t believe there’s a 0% chance that I get something better than I already have.

  And honestly, that’s a risk I was willing to take. Which then made the decision either Traits or Skills, and honestly that one was easier than the previous decision. My Traits are more than solid at the moment with great cohesion between them.

  Not to say my Skills aren’t great either, but I would be much more open to changing them versus the Traits.

  So I made my decision.

  “Haha.”

  “Hahahaha.”

  “HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!”

  Reward Granted – Skill

  Ocean’s Maw (Unbound) – Summon the wrath of the ocean in the appearance of the maw of its favored beast.

  System Alert: Maximum number of Skill slots has been filled. Please discard a Skill to accept a new one. Otherwise, the new Skill shall be rejected.

  Reading the Skill’s description and the fact it no longer said Rooted, I couldn’t help but laugh like a madman to myself.

  My very first Unbound Skill or anything else for that matter. And even if I didn’t understand the scope of power that meant, which I technically didn’t, the description alone would be enough to make me happy.

  The wrath of the ocean?!

  Ah shit man.

  How couldn’t I laugh like a crazy person?