MM - Chapter 176 - NOT ALL GOOD DOGGO’S GO TO HEAVEN

“I have grown weary of that response…” Selena drolled, head on a swivel, scanning for the alpha as she padded after Raine.

“If you want to amend our agreement to include education, I wouldn’t decline.” Raine tapped his chin, crouching over a large paw print embedded in the soft soil. “One million gold sounds about right.”

Selena scoffed, squatting beside him to run her fingers through the inner edges of the print. The beast that left it was heavy, ran on four legs, and was moving quickly with the way the front of its paw had sunk deeper than the rest of the print. “That’s more than the palace tutors for all my siblings combined.”

“Obviously, I’m worth more than them. If you can’t see it, then that only reveals how much you still have to learn. Told you there was nothing abnormal about the tracks. C’mon, we’ve wasted enough time.” Hustling after the beast, Raine checked his quest timer, finding they had a little over a day to reach the Mystic Realm. According to Selena, the Morkit's canyon marked the halfway point, and that was after using the teleportation platform. “At this rate, I'll have to carry you the rest of the way.”

“Oh, you would indeed make for an exceptional mount. Now that is worth paying for. How does fifteen copper sound?”

“Touche.” Raine chortled, acknowledging the rebuttal.

Selena tilted her head before releasing a satisfied hum. “Touche? Ahh, a point. I see. I was correct. You Travelers are simply brimming with innovative notions. Though, nothing worth a million gold…”

“And what if I told you you were using Cannon Thrust completely wrong?”

Selena rolled her eyes dramatically, “Then I would remind you that one should not inhale cheeka grass smoke daily, lest they develop psychosis.”

Raine fully expected the lack of confidence in his capabilities. The Celendine Dynasty wasn’t the oldest on the continent by a large margin, but it still had a rich history to draw on. For a random stranger to insist that one of their trademark skills was being misused was an insult at best, a declaration of war at worst. Selena’s lack of fury only demonstrated that his master plan was progressing smoothly.

By the end of their journey, she would be begging for any scraps of wisdom Raine dropped for her. She would tell her mother all about their adventure, and the royal family would insist Raine give lessons at the palace. Not only would his vast depository of knowledge empower the kingdom, but he would draw in a tidy profit for little effort or risk. There was no rush; the less he pushed Selena, the more valuable his secrets would appear.

Raine knew they were getting close. The tracks were growing fresher with each hill they crested, and the packs of Plummus Dogs were swelling in size and frequency. Unfortunately, they were only four levels above him now, dropping the Superiority multiplier to 250%, and that included Sky Catcher’s 50% bonus.

A short burst of speed brought them another kilometer west, and Raine spotted their quarry. The beast’s back was equal in height to the tips of the scraggly trees dotting the landscape. The majestic monster was already looking their direction, golden fur rustling in the wind. It scented Raine, hackles rising as its jowls pulled back to reveal razor-sharp canines.

[Plummus Alpha (Noble): (Level 49) (HP ???/???)]

Raine released a held breath, glad the monster wasn’t level 50. If it were, he would have grabbed the princess and fled. The gap between each level was nothing compared to the one at each evolution of tier. Being a noble on top of that would have put the beast far outside his current capabilities. Thankfully, the alpha wasn't the type to fight with its lessers. It stood completely alone on its chosen battlefield, waiting for those who dared track it down.

Aegis could get me through one stun, but that's too risky to count on alone. Besides, I really don't want to reveal Plutus's versatility to the princess. She'll for sure realize it's not an ordinary item.

Raine stood between Selena and the deadly predator, voice firm and lacking its usual joviality. “Do you have any throwing weapons?”

The princess’s nerves were betrayed by a slight quiver in her voice. “Yes. Why? Did someone not come prepared?” The forced attempt at returning to their humorous discourse fell flat.

Raine bent his knees, preparing to launch toward the beast. It did the same, squaring up with him from afar. “When it comes after me, I need you to throw one of them at me.”

Taken aback, Selena retreated a step, thin sword appearing in her grasp, “At you? Why? And do not dare say it is a Traveler thing!”

Raine shook his head sternly, tone turned to smelted iron. “Either you throw it at me with the intent to kill, or we both die. This is a great time to work on that trust you were talking about. I'm trusting you by sharing this much. You, by doing as I say, no matter how outlandish it sounds. I'll leave our fates in your hands, princess.”

Then he was gone, Discipline addictively coursing through his blood, bones, muscles, and nerves to send him careening forward. The ground exploded behind Raine, thinned air smoothing his course. The alpha leaped, and its body was surrounded in a bright blue glow an instant before it turned into a bolt of lightning that shot forward.

Raine had less than a second to respond. Between enhanced perception and a body that could react just as quickly, he managed to turn his torso enough for the massive bolt to sail past. Except that would lead the beast directly back to Selena. Raine wasn’t ready to draw a weapon yet, as that would begin the countdown on Prominence of the Fool. Fist sheathed in flames and body flooded with Discipline, he firmed the air and twisted. Withholding the killing intent that would trigger the cursed ring, he unleashed a punch containing all his Potency.

Lightning met fire-coated knuckles in a blinding clap of released force. Raine and the alpha were blasted away from each other and shot to the ground. They crashed, releasing equally-sized eruptions of dirt and dust. [-812] Raine was on his feet in a flash. Stepping out of his cloud, he wiped the blood from his split cheek while sending a stern glance in Selena’s direction.

The smoke across from him was ripped apart as the alpha appeared. It rocketed toward him nearly as fast as before, despite its lightning skill being on cooldown. The beast had changed drastically after returning from an immaterial explosive light. Utilizing another skill, it had shrunk to match Raine in size. However, it was no less threatening as its base speed had at least doubled. The next time it turned to lightning wouldn’t be so easily dodged. 

A head-sized paw, tipped with thick, ridged claws, ripped through the air as it arrived before Raine. He bent at the waist, narrowly avoiding. Right on queue, Selena’s dagger—a Lustrous Blue HeartSeeker—punched through the air, unerringly tracking Raine’s chest. Connection solidified the air, slowing the blade enough for his wild evasive jump to barely outdo its built-in tracking. 

As the weapon sailed past, the potent killing intent of a Noble beast slammed into Raine, though it failed to penetrate his skin. At the same instant, the alpha reversed directions with a Bestial Pounce. Its other paw crunched into Raine’s extended forearm. The gauntlet of fire he’d summoned at the last second combined with Physique-boosting Discipline to negate a decent chunk of the damage. Still, he was sent hurtling into the ground hard enough to bounce. [-1,337]

Should have let the damn dagger hit.

Nursing a bent, very broken arm, Raine used Lunge to send himself to the side as the alpha tore through where he’d been. As its paw barely interacted with the ground, it flipped around as though physics were a joke. Bestial Pounce sent it toward Raine at blistering speed.

Tracking its every move in advance by observing its musculature, Raine bent at the waist and spun, weaving out of the way with millimeters to spare. The beast sped past. Frustrated, its maw opened wide. The Ruthless Howl it unleashed caused the air to undulate, stunning anyone unfortunate enough to hear it. Even Selena, a hundred meters away, was locked in position for nearly five seconds.

Yet another Bestial Pounce was stopped cold as Raine’s flaming fist crunched into its lower jaw. [-2,139] The wicked uppercut was beyond satisfying. The beast flipped, head tilting to find its human prey grinning madly.

Everything was coming together. There was zero lag between how Raine wanted to move and his body fulfilling the command. Decades of combat experience allowed him to read the alpha’s attacks before it even began to move. Despite having a significant advantage in attributes, the beast would never land a blow without help. Raine didn’t even need martial techniques to stay a step ahead. Each of his evasions was tight and controlled, lacking wasted movement or excess motions.

This is it. I’m back.

Bloodlust exploded from Raine, pushing the alpha’s killing intent back. His field of mental energy overwhelmed the beast’s, stopping only centimeters from the monster’s durable fur. Outraged, the alpha turned to lightning. Its form wasn’t even a streak; it simply went from being several meters away to reaching Raine’s chest in the same moment.

Bloodlust did more than piss the alpha off. It also summoned a large, yet feather-light mace into Raine’s outstretched hand, allowing him to activate Parry just as fast. Typically, the skill would be useless against an elemental attack. With his mace coated in the Soul Flames of Amanesh, a considerable portion of the damage was mitigated in a detonation of elemental energies. Unfortunately, his outdated mace paid the price.

[Immaculate Damascus 2-H Mace: Durability -250]

The weapon shattered explosively, showering Raine with electrified shrapnel. [-3,441] If not for Parry sending the beast careening to the side, he would have died on the spot. Raine’s vision strobed orange, announcing his arrival below a quarter health. Growling through the blinding pain of having his lungs and guts exposed to open air, Raine’s free hand slapped the bolt of lightning as it shot to the side. [-2,042] [+2,042]

[Life Drain: (Adept) Lay arms or hands upon a target to absorb health equal to 250% Celestial Power (Cost: 15 Celestial Power) (Cooldown: 5 seconds)]

Raine’s gaping wounds partially recovered in a flash of green energy. Due to the Ring of Nine Arm’s 4th passive, a replacement mace from his inventory appeared.

[Ring of Nine Arms - Cursed]

[Cursed trait 4: Upon destruction of a (roulette) weapon, replacement will be randomly selected from inventory. If no suitable weapon exists, wielder will suffer an excruciating death]

Unfortunately, it was another level 15 weapon, this one a Common Grey that wouldn’t fare any better than his old mace. He banished it with a thought, teeth gritted as a large chunk of his recovered health was undone. [-901] Another level 15 weapon appeared, covering his knuckles in spikes. Suddenly, Raine regretted more than ever not fighting level 20 monsters. Skipping straight to the 30s was blowing up in his face. Sure, they gave more Superiority, but the gaping hole in his equipment was a deadly shortcoming that he’d never experienced in the past.

Unwilling to rely on Greater Aspect of the Werewolf when the alpha was hitting so hard, Raine triggered Healing Burst, bringing his health to just above 50%. The monster returned full-force, now even smaller and faster. Raine was no longer interested in testing his new capabilities. He’d underestimated the alpha and paid the price.

Rupture and Debilitating Crush comboed, turning Raine’s fist to a flaming star that blinded the beast while neutering its defenses. Spiked knuckles crunched into its eye, dealing the first solid chunk of damage. [-42,783] Before it could recover its sight, Flurry of One pulverized its snout, striking twelve times in the span of a single, blistering-fast punch. [-21,340] Even with its defenses cut to a third, the level 49 noble was no slouch. With over half a million health and 5% regeneration, Raine was barely making a dent.

[+26,750] When a green indicator popped up above its head, Raine didn’t care. There was no room in his thoughts for pesky details like math, and if he could win with his current damage output. The spiked knuckles boosted his Attack Speed, and the soul flame empowered his punches, turning his arms to flaming streaks of light that relentlessly slammed into the alpha’s snout and throat. It retreated, shrugging off the blows while waiting for the blinding status to fade. Raine Lunged after it, and the instant it cracked a glowing eye to glare at him, Debilitating Crush fired off again, the skill's cooldown reset by constant uses of Lunge and Flawed Conversion.

Blinded anew, the alpha howled, completely incensed. Its killing intent flared, but was relentlessly denied by Raine’s palpable will to kill. Giving up on having access to sight, it flailed wildly, teeth and clawed paws striking chaotically. Raine was right at home, bobbing and weaving while relentlessly hammering away. All too soon, the cooldown on Life Drain finished, letting him know he was halfway through the allotted time before Prominence of the Fool forced him to swap weapons again. The next punch was loaded with a nasty addition of life-draining energy. [-2,067] [+2,067]

Raine swapped weapons early, hoping to get something that had a chance of blocking the next Lightning Burst. The comfortable, hefty weight of a long dagger appeared in his grasp, and a distracting wave of relief attempted to invade his pristine mental focus; Raine knew its skill was coming any second. Lacking a blunt weapon, he would be unable to blind it again, which was likely the only reason it hadn’t used the ability yet.

Lunging forward, Raine grabbed its snout with his free hand, pulling himself closer. Its eye cracked open, only for a devastating stab to sink deep into the sensitive ocular organ. Final Gambit created an expanding ball of crackling power that erupted inside the alpha’s head. It couldn’t even howl, the pain so great that no sound emerged as the monster was blasted back. [Critical hit! -83,579]

The critical hit triggered Explosive Ambuscade, igniting the noble’s stored Elemental Power. Its body glowed with an inner light as it was torn apart from the inside. Blood geysered from every orifice, and it stumbled to the side, devastated by not only the damage but also the side effects of having a resource pool completely drained in one go. [-241,699]

The shock caused its killing intent to flutter. Bloodlust relentlessly tore into the weakness, plunging its attributes by 20%. The alpha barely registered the next Final Gambit coming for its throat. Its attempt to avoid Raine was a pitiful failure. Uncanny Acceleration, Guardians Bane, and Guillotine Slash followed up in a devastating barrage that rapidly drained the last of its health.

With little fanfare, the once mighty alpha crashed to the ground.

[Obtained 3,584,000 Superiority (2,700% bonus for defeating a Noble monster 18 levels above you)]

[Obtained 196% Attunement (2,700% bonus for defeating a Noble monster 18 levels above you)]

As the quick but intense fight came to an end, Raine cast his gaze to the bright afternoon sky and allowed the thoughts he’d held at bay to roam free.

I’m strong enough, but my equipment isn’t. Lesson learned. Spot on about not being ready for a level 50 Noble. With higher combat standards and tripled attributes, I would have been toast in seconds.

Silver lining, the cooldown on Prominence of the Fool was fully reset when my mace broke. Hope I’m never desperate enough to have to use that option.

[Uncanny Acceleration: (Beginner) With any melee weapon, ignore momentum and force while accelerating attack speed by 600% for one attack. Additionally deals 300% physical damage (Cost: 25 Discipline) (Cooldown: 18 seconds)]

[Guillotine Slash: (Beginner) With any melee slashing weapon, cut space for 3 seconds, pulling enemies within a 2 meter radius at 600% force. Slashes 5 times at 700% physical damage. Reduces users Defense and Resistance by 45% for 10 seconds (Cost:18 Discipline) (Cooldown: 18 seconds)]

[Debilitating Crush: (Beginner) With any melee blunt weapon, create a powerful blinding light. The next hit lowers armor by 55% for 12 seconds and deals 600% physical damage (Cost: 18 Discipline) (Cooldown: 18 seconds)]

[Guardians Bane: (Beginner) Stab with any melee piercing weapon to ignore 91% armor and physical resistances. Additionally deals 550% physical damage (Cost: 18 Discipline) (Cooldown: 18 seconds)]

[Last Chance’s Gambit: (Marvelous Gold - LVL 30 > 31) (SP 0/70M) (AP 270 > 279) (EP 270 > 279) (AS +2.0) (FNS 90 > 93) (CNC 90 > 93) (Durability 200/200)]

[Innate Skill - Final Gambit: Convert 25% maximum Elemental Power into a single target non-elemental attack. 180 > 186 damage per EP converted. No cooldown)]

[Innate Passive - Explosive Ambuscade: Critical hits ignite a target’s Elemental Power, triggering a violent, internal chain reaction. Deals 180 > 186 unresistable internal damage per Elemental Power ignited]