Jack watched with disbelief as the ladder he was holding onto suddenly lost its hold. He fell back down at the same time as he felt a second impact on his Barrier. The energy barrier burst apart on this second impact. Jack had lost all its protection as he landed back onto the ground, trapped with a special elite boss who completely over-leveled him.
He quickly jumped to the side and rolled on the ground, in fear of the boss' follow-up attack. He turned to look back at the end of his roll, and found that the Ice Troll Sentinel remained under where the rope ladder used to be. He was sure now that the monster's weird mouth was grinning. He looked up and saw that there was nobody anymore up in the opening, Walter had gone away.
That prick! Jack cursed him in his mind. He had known that the NPCs in this world are unlike his previous games. He had always treated them as if real people, but he never expected them to be capable of bearing a grudge for such a small issue, and actively putting players in harm's way just because of their mood swings.
The Ice Troll Sentinel was in front of him, watching him with ridicule. But what Jack felt at the moment was not fear, but anger. He swore he would pay that stupid NPC back for what he had done. He forced himself to calm down, what he needed to do now was finding a way out of this cave. It was impossible for him to defeat this boss at his current level.
But this boss gave a different feel compared to all other monsters he had met in this world. Actually, it was different from all monsters he had fought in VR games. There was something different with it. Was it intelligence? Jack thought at first, but no, it was different from intelligence. He had met monsters that possessed high intelligence in past VR games due to advanced AI, but this was different. It was more like a simple emotion from the monster. It felt slightly arrogant, other monsters would simply pummel intruders on sight, but this typical one seemed especially enjoyed gloating.
Jack cleared his mind and looked around the place. It was not the time to ponder about the behavior of the denizens of this game world. He looked around with half of his attention still on the Ice Troll Sentinel. He was trying to see if there was any other way out. However, the only opening from this space was the hole above where he came in from.
The Ice Troll Sentinel took a step. Jack's body tensed up, a shield made of light materialized at the tip of his staff. He expected the boss to move with its super speed towards him, but on the contrary, it simply took normal steps slowly towards him.
He didn't get the sudden fright as he did the first time the boss attacked. However, the sight of the boss taking its slow walk towards him was instead more dreadful. He calmed his nerve down. He reminded himself that he had encountered such a dangerous situation as well in previous VR games. He knew the key to dealing with such precarious circumstances was to maintain his calm. Panicking would not help. Even though he had the Immortal Soul skill to help him mitigate the death penalty once, he didn't intend to simply give up.
Better to take the initiative! Jack thought, and fired a Mana Bullet directly at the Ice Troll Sentinel.
The Mana Bullet spell traveled in a straight line, Jack directly ran behind the speeding bullet with all his speed. His objective at the moment was to force the monster to move away. Its body was currently below the exit hole. Jack needed it away before trying to climb the wall. He hoped to rush past as the monster was dodging his Mana Bullet.
However, to his alarm, the Ice Troll Sentinel rushed straight at him, completely ignoring the spell. The Mana Bullet burst like a pitiful bubble as it touched the boss' body and caused 68 damage. The damage number alarmed him a second time, under normal circumstances this spell of his would result in over 200 damage, but against this boss, it got badly nerfed.
The boss' speed was already very fast, coupled with his surprising approach, it was already in front of Jack before he could stop his forward momentum. A cold blue fist stretched out towards him. Luckily he had prepared Magic Shield right after he cast Mana Bullet. He kept the spell on as he ran behind his Mana Bullet. The fist collided with the magic shield and sent him flying another time. He now could sympathize with his enemies who he kept sent flying by exploiting his overpowering attributes. He had now experienced himself when he was at the receiving end.
He tumbled on the ground but quickly got back up. He had only a quarter of his life left. The monster wasn't staying in his place any longer, it probably was done playing. Just as it disappeared from its position, Jack activated Dragon's Eye. The Ice Troll Sentinel figures could be seen again after the skill's activation. The monster's movement was still fast but not as extreme as when he was facing the possessed Winston.
The boss made a sideway move before making a beeline towards him, trying to catch his prey from the side. He activated his Recovery Ring's ability, which recovered half of his total HP, stamina, and MP, bringing his health back to a safe level.
He then immediately activated Life Burning Art, bringing his HP to half again. Then used Heal scroll to replenish his life again. All three actions were done at the speed of thoughts, and due to the slow-motion effect of Dragon's Eye, he managed to complete all three actions which didn't require movement, before the Ice Troll Sentinel reached him. He had to use everything in his arsenal that could keep him alive, he couldn't afford to hold back anymore.
The Ice Troll Sentinel threw a fist again at him, but he could see it clearly now. The boost from Life Burning Art allowed him to match speed with the monster even just barely. He ducked away from the punch and slashed his sword horizontally with a Power Strike. The attack hit, yet there was no usual knockback effect from Power Strike. The Ice Troll Sentinel's feet firmly stayed in its place. The damage, however, was 122, which was still much lower than what he usually inflicted, but the reduction was not as extreme as when he hit the monster with Mana Bullet. He deduced that this boss' magical defense was much higher than its physical defense.
Jack was in fact not trying to damage the boss, he was expecting to have his Power Strike pushed the monster back and staggered it for a bit to allow him some space. Seeing that his intention had failed, he kept the Ice Troll Sentinel in front of him and tried to sidestep around it to get closer to the exit hole.
The Ice Troll Sentinel was rather surprised that this low-level human had managed to dodge his punch. It paused for a bit, but quickly regained its composure. It sent another punch as the human was trying to move around it. The human dodged the punch again! It was not a coincidence. Feeling humiliated by having this ant dodging its attack twice, it opened its mouth and roared. Its eyes shone with a deep blue glow that radiated outward.
The glow's shockwave crashed onto Jack's head. He felt a heavy mental pressure that pressed into his mind. The pain was almost unbearable before a warm feeling came from his Purifying Pendant and dispelled his headache. His pendant had saved him again from a mental status ailment.
Jack looked at the Ice Troll Sentinel and realized this was his chance. The monster had halted due to performing that mental attack. His Dragon's Eye active skill only lasted for ten seconds. He could not rely on it indefinitely. He had prepared a plan and this could be the only window available.
He took out a magic scroll from his inventory and activated it. A rope of pure light lashed out as the scroll disintegrated. It snaked around the still monster and started entangling its body. The long rope wrapped around the Ice Troll Sentinel rapidly and bound its body, preventing it from moving.
The monster was dumbstruck. It was supposed to be the prey that was immobilized by its mental attack. But not only its mental attack ineffective, the human had even made use of the pause at the end of its attack and sent a spell that constrained it.
Jack quickly turned his back to the Ice Troll Sentinel. Considering the monster's power, the Magic Bind spell wouldn't last long. Peniel had informed him that spell was only advanced class grade, not elite class, so he didn't put much faith in it.
He looked at the hole above and took out the last Wind Jet scroll from his bag. He activated it, the propulsion of the wind pushed him up and forward. His body shot at a high speed towards the opening on the wall.
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