The creature in question was none other than the legendary harpy, known across the old world as a humanoid creature resembling a young woman. Its body, however, only retained its shape but none of the detail.
Feathers covered its entire body, a sickly like lime green tint with brown edges at the end of the feathers. Its arms were the wings that let the harpy fly around more deftly than any avian creature Zeke faced. It was due to the fact that not just its physical body gave it flight, but it also used a form of wind magic that kept it aloft and fast despite their efforts to shoot it down.
While the speed was formidable, it was the harpy’s sharp talons used for legs that really proved its danger. Each claw tip was suffused with so much acidic mana that it nearly burned Zeke’s eyes from how bright and potent the mana was. It was completely packed full to the point that one scratch could easily lob off an entire arm if they weren’t careful. The harpy was definitely magic-based, but its physical strength and speed was nothing to sneeze at either.
Considering its level range, it’s no wonder why it’s considered a mini-boss of the dungeon.
Catastrophic Harpy, Level 84.
A High Journey Rank monster, according to the experts at their side. Just like people, the monsters also follow the same set of stages depending on their level range. However, unlike people, the higher level the monster, the more powerful they were in comparison.
In other words, if someone who was raised in levels grows stronger additively, then monsters at the same level grow stronger multiplicatively. Of course, this was due to the fact that in return for pure power, a person could gain more options and versatility in combat.
It was definitely a high hurdle, but it wasn’t anything they couldn’t handle as long as they had teamwork.
Before the fight, after giving the otherworlders a proper burial and getting some rest for the night, they spotted the Harpy and realized the level at an instant. It was made clear that its six-foot size was a clear indicator that it was an important, stronger foe of the dungeon–the mini boss.
So of course they decided to ambush it rather than face it up front like the earlier runs. In the last towers, they often faced traps right before facing the Mini-boss of the towers. But this time it looked like they hadn’t gotten to it. It was possible that with this new kind of tower dungeon, it was more of an open field than a structured dungeon, disregarding the trap.
It was also possible that the trap was the dozens and dozens of acidic rivers where one mis-step can lead you to melt entirely.
In this case, they finally used Mikella’s normally unused tactic of using her Cloak of Darkness and charging up her Bow of Farsight with her lighting attunement.
Her bow was made to perfectly use Mikella’s abilities. The unique feature Arrow Forge allowed her to just make up a new arrow on the spot using her electrified mana. The other enchanted feature, Energy Conductivity, increases its power and accuracy dependent on how many skills Mikella had. Since she maxed out her skill list, the arrow was shot with such force that it was equal to a thunderclap.
That made a clear hit, but rather than dying immediately–it got pissed off. Hence the battle assumed with both Saang and Hamil acting as the vanguard with Mikella and Kote dealing damage directly. As for Zeke, he held back and observed to best use his runes. Of course, he would buff himself to run and heal the injured users, then return back to see the situation at hand.
There were several reasons why Zeke couldn’t do much else. First, his fists can’t really hit flying targets. Second, casting spells wasn’t really his forte. He was a Runist, so he had to first make spells with runes. Due to that, mana expenditure was higher than normal spell-casting, and he prefer not to waste unnecessary mana if he can use it to use Restoration instead.
Lastly, without a barrier, he really can’t do anything else. He hated feeling so left out, but he recognized that it was better for the entire team to have his Mana nearly topped off to ensure no emergencies happened. That didn’t include the giant harpy recognizing him as the support and thus wisely headed after him to kill him off first.
The harpy screeched as it lunged at him with its talons raised, ready to gut him. Zeke managed to avoid it with a sidestep. The claws were brimming with acidic mana, making it easier for him to dodge those things that acted like headlights to his magic eyes.
In that moment, Zeke’s fist flew right at its torso. But despite its huge size, it maneuvered out of his punch with such adeptness that it stumped him for a second.
It used its wings and nearly limitless Dexterity to avoid the quick punch. Then wind magic suffused its body as it struck at him with talons. Zeke was left stunned after his punch, putting too much weight behind it to get away safely.
He fueled his Dexterity buff with more mana, enhancing it farther than usual rather than maxing it out like before. He jumped back before those sizzling claws slashed, barely missing him by an inch.
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The harpy continued its onslaught, furious at the prey that got away from it. It kept swinging its talons, using its wings to deliver wind slashes that were as sharp as blades, but Zeke avoided each one. He felt his kinetic energy surge as he fueled his body with the aid of Unarmed Mastery, missing each strike.
All the while, his stamina was draining by leaps and bounds. In the next few seconds, he would be too tired to even stand, let alone dodge.
Thankfully, that’s the reason why he wasn’t alone. His face riddled with sweat, he saw that the talon was aiming right at him before the harpy screeched in panic and flew off when an axe was ready to decapitate it from the back.
The harpy flew straight to the air, flapping its wings and using whatever mana it had left to get away, but not before getting bombarded with an array of literal blood bullets that managed to singe off a part of the talon. The quick shot of the bullet scraped off quite a bit of the tip of one talon, causing the harpy to screech out in pain. It continued to dodge the blood bullets, only to once again get pelted with several other objects that weren’t made of blood.
A sharp piece of bone resembling a knife met its mark by plunging straight at the feathery body while several sharp stones dug deep into its calves and back. The harpy kept avoiding the attacks, using not just wind slashes to the incoming attacks and potential threats, but even shooting sonar-like screeches that made a wide berth across the field, blasting the trees covering the land apart.
That was barely used throughout the fight, which showed that it carried a lot of power but cost quite a bit to use. With it distracted, Zeke took the chance to take a breather, regaining his Stamina back. But a quick glance revealed that one of those wind slashes took Saang off guard, giving her a long gash across her right shoulder and torso.
He flared his buffs and rushed towards her, touching her shoulder and letting Restoration do its thing. Mana coursed through her body, instantly repairing the mangled flesh and restoring it to its firm skin in a matter of a heartbeat.
“Gah, thanks Zeke,” Saang hissed, the restoring of her wound still a bit too much for one’s senses. “Guess I used up a bit too much blood there.”
Zeke nodded in affirmation. It wasn’t all that surprising considering Saang’s attunement. Rather than the normally used Mana, Saang’s blood aspected attunement actually relies heavily on life energy, her health.
It gives her a different attack style than the normal mages, and can be a powerhouse as she can also last a lot longer with her specialized Vitality based build. However, that earlier blood bullet barrage took a toll, and even with someone like her, losing a lot of blood all at once made her a bit off and dizzy.
So while she could normally handle the wind slashes, her current state put her off track and let her end up in this situation.
“Take it easy and let us handle it,” Zeke said, getting Saang to nod. He wouldn’t normally tell an expert like her what to do in battle, but as a healer he had the right to ensure she doesn’t take it too far.
Besides, even after healing wounds, for someone in her case, it was better to have her head on straight than to instantly jump into battle blurry and dizzy. He looked over to see the Harpy desperately flying around, using whatever means necessary to keep the random attacks from trying to end it.
That’s when Zeke realized that out of everyone here, Mikella was missing. He kept trying to look for her, but found no hair nor trace at her. But then he felt a similar twinge of energy at the back of his mind. He turned around to find that a bolt of lightning flew straight across the field. A powerful wave of electricity exploded from the bolt, nearly shocking the two.
The bolt, which was actually an arrow infused with intense electricity, flew straight at the distracted harpy and plunged right through its chest. The harpy screeched louder than before, now using its sonar like attack all around it. But the electricity coiled around its body, resulting in a massive spectacle of bolts and lightning that scattered around its entire vicinity.
Being that the arrow was lodged straight at its chest, it was pretty obvious that it reached its heart. Being an electrical attack, it only took a few moments of explosive lightning before the harpy finally stopped moving. Its wings left limp, its body fell to the ground, singed and smoking which left black trails of smoke from it. It fell to the ground and resulted in a loud thud that made a small crater for its body to rest in.
A burst of system energy passed through Zeke’s body as well as everyone else, marking the end of the fight. Zeke let out a soft breath before turning around to find Mikella rushing towards them. With her bow in hand, she was smiling giddily and waving at them.
“Zeke! My Bow Mastery finally leveled!” She shouted with a bright smile.
Zeke couldn’t feel any better than he was now. Earlier, Amber’s death really put a damper on her spirit. Zeke wouldn’t even be surprised if that ended up making Mikella more dour and serious when fighting was involved.
To see her cheer up rather than trying to act professional put his heart at ease. He saw the notification himself when Mikella basically pushed the prompt to his vision as everyone else gathered around.
Bow Mastery Level Up! It is now Level 3.
You have gained +2 DEX (x2) from your skill.
You have gained +1 END (x2) from your skill.
Zeke wondered whether the levels increased faster when facing a powerful enemy. No matter how often one used it, it only increased when used in a situation where it was put to the test. Considering the crazy stuff they went through, it wasn’t surprising to find Mikella raising skills like mad once more. Then again, even Cloud and Val recognized that it was an inborn talent of hers, making her into some sort of skill prodigy.
Even the other journeymen around them remarked on her ability.
“It really makes me wonder if you’re really just a low journey,” Kote said, a hint of amusement in his tone.
“That last shot was so good!” Saang shouted, plopping her arm around the giggling Mikella. “Seriously, what kinda monster are you!?”
“Even for us, that would’ve been a tough fight,” Hamil said with an approving nod. “You don’t suppose you wanna join us for regular quests after taking this tower down, right?”
“That depends. How much are you willing to charge?” Mikella said with a devilish grin.
“If you can do that,” Hamil gestured to the now downed Harpy with a thumb. “I’m willing to negotiate!”
The group had a good laugh from that, Zeke joining up with a grin of his own. He wished he could do a lot more than just being a target dummy, but at least he did his duty and healed everyone.