Chapter 25: 【Feats: The First Solo Kill of a Boss Monster by an Uninitiated Player.】
Just before, the crippled earth dragon had not even exerted its full strength against the elite player squad. Now, in a rage to reclaim the guarded Star Egg, it launched an attack with its true might, which could be described as cataclysmic!
Despite being unharmed, Sterl still swallowed hard, easing his tense mood...
Then, he quietly sat aside, waiting for his energy values to recover.
Under the state of Divine Descent, his energy replenished quite swiftly. About five minutes later, he was ready to go again!
Sterl charged towards the giant dragon once more with a Bloody Charge, followed by a Flame Storm!
This time, Sterl even daringly attempted to scorch the boss's eyes, hoping to blind it.
However, although the flames successfully hit the earth dragon's eyes, it merely howled in pain without getting blinded.
Instead, it roared even more furiously!
The next second.
The ground shook violently!
Magic radiance shimmered on the crippled earth dragon, illuminating the mine as bright as day.
Sterl realized that the opponent was about to use its third powerful move, which had been kept hidden until now.
Although he didn't know the specific name of the move, he could see countless rocks in the mine transforming into blades, with rock spears swiftly piercing and intersecting.
In just a few seconds, the mine, which was originally scorched by lava and looked like a human purgatory, has now turned into a sword mound composed of countless swords and spears.
Fortunately, Sterl was quick to react... or rather, he didn't need to react, having already planned his escape.
Using Bloody Charge, he once again reached a safe area.
And this time, the boss saw that the ultimate move failed to take effect and screamed in extreme anger and pain. It not only uses its skills but also unleashes its physical strength to wreak havoc within its attack range.
The sharp blades made up of countless rocks were directly smashed by the beating.
Unfortunately, it couldn't harm Sterl, who had already fled.
The flow of the battle remained consistent after that.
Familiarity comes with practice. Sterl repeatedly used a combination of Bloody Charge and Flame Storm, while the injuries on the crippled earth dragon gradually accumulated.
Initially, only its head was somewhat charred, but then its entire body was ravaged by flames, its cries growing more wretched and its movements more frantic.
Although it seemed like the boss was now trapped in a desperate struggle.
Sterl didn't relax for a moment. He could tell from the dragon's resentful gaze that it was waiting for Sterl to make a mistake!
And its wait was not in vain.
The boss's health was simply too vast for Sterl's damage output, which was limited to a single Flame Storm per attack.
The battle of attrition was far from over!
The crippled earth dragon had plenty of opportunities!
And indeed, after several rounds, Sterl encountered a problem—
He was running out of stamina.
Activating Divine Descent consumed stamina, and the temporary increase in constitution due to his physical talents did not bring about extra stamina recovery efficiency. Otherwise, it would have been like having a perpetual motion machine.
So, Sterl could only sit down, take out some instant food from his backpack, and start cooking.
In the absence of specialized stamina recovery potions, the best way to regain stamina was to have a full meal and rest for a while.
Sterl's actions infuriated the immobilized crippled earth dragon even more, sending it into a terrifying frenzy.
It was bad enough that Sterl would hit and run, leaving it in such a wretched state.
But to stop for a meal in the middle of the fight?? Was this not a bit too contemptuous... even for a dragon??
The crippled earth dragon rolled around, spewed dragon breath, created rock blades, and even emitted roars with a fear effect.
Unfortunately, only the last skill had some effect on Sterl. But after the boss roared a few more times, Sterl gradually became immune.
Next, as Sterl's stamina slowly recovered, he began a new round of attacks.
[Bloody Charge], [Flame Storm], [Bloody Charge]—an unexplained combo of three consecutive hits.
Then again, Bloody Charge, Flame Storm…
Initially, the crippled earth dragon maintained high vigilance, constantly retaliating in anticipation of Sterl's mistakes.
But not only did Sterl not make any mistakes, his performance improved as the fight went on. He had thought he might need to use the power of blood to create a shield or consume the revival armor of Divine Descent, but during the battle, Sterl felt he had entered the state of "flow" described in psychology in his previous life.
He was fully immersed in the battle, his movements becoming more precise. Sterl could even perfectly time the first half of Bloody Charge at just the right speed, complete the two syllables of Flame Storm. When he arrived in front of the crippled earth dragon, he even had a moment to aim at the part he wanted to attack.
Sterl ignored the notifications constantly coming to his ears.
[You have used Bloody Charge, currently in a state of insight, gaining four proficiency points.]
[You have used Flame Storm, currently in a state of insight, gaining four proficiency points.]
[You have used…]
Sterl's skill proficiency increased rapidly.
Unfortunately, he soon felt at a loss!
Because Sterl was forced out of the state of flow, the proficiency had barely increased a few times before it was over.
His stamina was depleted again.
Sterl could only sit cross-legged and rest, unable to replenish his strength through eating because he was already full.
He had to rest for a longer period before re-entering the battlefield.
It's worth mentioning that the combat in[Transcendence]is quite realistic. Without healing abilities, bosses cannot auto-regenerate health either.
But the [Transcendence] system doesn't leave loopholes for players to exploit. Once it determines that a boss monster has disengaged from combat, it automatically refreshes its status back to full.
Therefore, while Sterl rested, he couldn't completely let his guard down. He had to intermittently, without activating Divine Descent, use a basic version of the combo of Bloody Charge and Flame Storm.
It didn't do much damage, but it was mainly to keep the crippled earth dragon engaged in combat.
Sterl was quite relaxed, even joking about his inability to continue increasing his proficiency.
But the boss was far more miserable. Soon, the crippled earth dragon realized a fact: no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't harm this little bug that had taken the Star Egg it was guarding.
Initially, the crippled earth dragon launched retaliations full of vigor. But eventually, the boss even started to give up.
Sterl found that sometimes, even when he used Bloody Charge to rush in front of the crippled earth dragon, the creature didn't attack immediately. Instead, it was slow to react, only attacking after Sterl had already moved to a safe area using Bloody Charge, its attacks arriving too late.
Sterl remained very cautious, constantly reminding himself in his mind—
Acting! It must be acting!
This boss must be pretending to have lost the will to fight. If I let my guard down, it will seize the opportunity to take me out in one fell swoop!
So Sterl kept mumbling to himself while continuously reducing the enemy's health in front of him.
Until—
Sterl himself was somewhat distracted, mechanically repeating the output process ...
Flame Storm!
The intense flames struck the crippled earth dragon, which was on its last breath and barely responding to attacks, for the last time.
And after Sterl ran away with Bloody Charge...
He suddenly realized that the boss behind him, as if rallying with the last of its strength, suddenly raised its head and launched a frenzied attack. Dragon breath surged wildly for nearly 10 seconds, even nearly melting through the ceiling of the mine with lava.
Finally, the massive dragon suddenly stiffened, emitting a deafening roar. Then its body twisted, and its once vibrant flesh slowly turned into stone, solidifying into a massive statue.
And a notification came to Sterl's ears.
[Congratulations! You have killed the boss, the crippled earth dragon!]
Then, as if the system had glitched, it delayed in informing him of the experience gained.
And Sterl was speechless to discover... Where's my reward for defeating the boss?
It was outrageous that the crippled earth dragon seemed to have dropped nothing at all.
What's going on here? Could it be I've encountered one of those legendary bugs in [Transcendence]??
Sterl complained to himself.
The next second, he got it. It wasn't a BUG!
Another sound rang in his ears.
This time, it wasn't the familiar system notification tone that Sterl was used to, but a very solemn and serious male voice, speaking deliberately.
[Congratulations! Player Sterl, you have accomplished a feat!]
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Whisk92
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Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone