Chapter 206: True Warrior 1

Chapter 206: True Warrior 1

TL/Editor: Raei

Schedule: 5/Week Mon-Fri

Illustrations: Posted in discord.

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Even if there were over a hundred healthy and robust goats and sheep gathered together, they would be powerless against a predator.

And if that predator happened to be not just a hungry fox but two furious tigers, the outcome would be even more inevitable.

Surrounded by over a hundred mid-level Naga, hissing and shaking their snake-like lower bodies while contorting their ugly human faces, this was the extent of their resistance.

Every time the dark blue aura of the trident stirred the air, the bodies of the Naga within a five-meter radius would snap like overstretched rubber bands, dropping to the ground like lifeless marionettes.

Those who collided with my shield were flung about like bouncing balls.

This clearing seems alright. And the passage leading down... it's not dark and looks the same as the others.

Now that you mention it, I remember realizing something was off last time because the passage leading down was darker, unlike the clearing.

Exactly, if it was meant to be dark, the clearing should have been dark too.

-Definitely, this place strange, something's off.

After sweeping away the black Naga and turning them into a mass production of fodder, resembling eggshells, the process felt more like routine house cleaning than a life-threatening battle.

Occasional desperate punches or tail whips would come heavily flying in, only hastening their own demise.

Ignoring the reflective damage passive, it was inevitable given they exposed their bare flesh to the flickering bright blue aura.

To an ordinary person, the fierce punches and tail lashes might be deadly, but against a body enhanced with mana and rippling with aura, they were futile acts of desperation.

The presence of even one superior Naga would have made for a comfortable situation, but with two of us, it felt like being a tiger in front of a flock of sheep, no, a tank in front of riflemen.

Let's head down now that we've cleared this area.

We don't know what's hiding down there, but hopefully, it comes out soon. This passage is too long.

Indeed, it is long, isn't it?

Despite clearing the first open area, the ceiling remained stable, reassuring us that this place would not collapse.

Fortunately, the gently spiraling passage was only for the entrance.

The initial passage, a lengthy path serving possibly as camouflage, led to a more straightforward path.

Unlike the gentle slope that took us several minutes to traverse initially, the downward sloping dirt path took less than five minutes to reach the next clearing.

-If I were here for tunnel-walking content, I would have hit the subscribe button three more times.

-Virtual reality games are fun, but it being live can be kind of annoying.

-I used to skip these parts in games by spending money.

-Han Se-ah doesn't skip even if she spends money.

-Can we fight the boss today? If not, are we going to spend the night underground and fight it tomorrow?

Hey, this seems like it was originally designed as a monster wave content. The creatures here look a bit bigger than the ones on the first underground floor. Of course, they're still smaller than Manaashi.

A minor issue was that this cavern too was filled with hordes of the dark Naga.

They seemed to have grown slightly larger.

Manaashi is 2.5 meters tall, the Naga on the first underground floor are roughly 2.1 meters, while those on this floor are about 2.3 meters tall a noticeable half-head difference.

Unlike the first floor where the Naga huddled together like newborn snakelets, here they are lined up in rows and columns like soldiers, each holding a long trident.

Considering its snake lower body stretched out on the ground, it might be 10 meters long when fully extended.

The black Naga giant, occupying the clearing alone, had a more intense presence than the hundreds of Naga.

I could feel its formidable aura.

-This one, new level.

"A new level? You mean, this giant can use aura too?"

It's just at the threshold of high-level.

Due to its darkly tinted scales, it looked more like a statue outside a Southeast Asian temple than a living creature.

Although it was motionless as we stood at the edge of the passage, it was natural for it to snap its eyes open the moment we entered the clearing.

It seems my guess was right, thinking 4 was the minimum.

It's almost like a signpost saying you need to reach the high-level realm before moving from the 40th to the 41st floor.

-This will be tough, alone.

Manaashi's muttering supports my conjecture.

In fantasy classifications, whether it's wizards, knights, or even monsters, they are divided into three stages: low, mid, and high-level.

Of course, NPCs don't have the ability to see levels as numbers like players.

Born with human average physical abilities are considered low-level.

Developing magic or martial skills to an expert level is mid-level. And when accumulated mana manifests outside the body, that's high-level.

Even if there are cases, like in some novels, where a mid-level with exceptional skills can defeat a high-level, the standard classification is as such.

The problem with this classification is that a high-level monster can't be taken on 1:1 by someone who has just reached the high-level.

Low-level monsters can be handled solo by low-levels since they only fight with human-level physical strength.

Mid-level monsters can be handled solo by mid-levels, as martial arts exist to overcome physical disparities.

High-level monsters cannot be handled solo by high-levels, as the difference in magical power can't be overcome by mere skill.

"So, we have no choice but to cooperate and fight together."

"Phew, hunting a high-level monster. I've only seen it when I was with the mercenaries."

A Taekwondo red belt might beat a black belt, and a Gold player in LoL might beat a Diamond with a surprise mid-lane attack.

But asking someone who learned Kendo to cut a steel pillar with a wooden sword is physically impossible.

Since high-level monsters are filled with mana, it's only logical for several high-levels to take them on, though there's a small number of extremely powerful beings who can overpower them.

If it were possible to overpower a high-level with the sheer number of mid-levels, I wouldn't have been able to live these past 10 years in this otherworldly reincarnation, munchkin-like novel as Roland's body.

High-levels must be confronted by matching their class and amount of mana.

Manaashi is high-level, and so is this giant.

What's left is the difference in their innate physical abilities and the level of their mana.

Perhaps if the player doesn't help, Manaashi is set to lose to the giant.

Instinctively sensing this, my companions show their enthusiasm, raising their fighting spirit.

-...Grr, Roland, can't you handle it?

"Uh, Roland? ...Can you handle it alone?"

But Manaashi seems more intent on passing this cumbersome burden onto me and is entirely focused on finding the source of the corruption.