Surviving the Game as a Barbarian-Chapter 535: Rainbow (2)
From Grade 1 to Grade 9.
Thanks to the characteristic called ‘Persistence,’ all kinds of monsters appear on the island. The chief literally spent an almost eternal amount of time on this island.
In simple terms, it meant infinite farming was possible.
However...
“Not all of them can be high-grade essences.”
What kind of game is [Dungeon and Stone]?
It’s a game where you have to steadily gather lower-grade essences first to grow and only then can you farm high-grade essences.
There must be low-grade essences mixed in each range. There isn’t a priest on this island who erases essences either.
The problem is...
“The highest grade being Grade 1 is just too high.”
From here on, it all depends on the chief’s capability.
If he carelessly ate the early essences and just piled up high-grade essences later, he’d just become a trash character with clear limits...
“His weaknesses would be obvious too.”
Of course, the opposite is also possible.
If he filled his lower essences with ones that are low grade but still usable late game, like my [Giant Form],
“Hm, but it probably wouldn’t be that different?”
It would only make it slightly harder to find weaknesses.
No matter how much I think about it, that’s all there is.
There’s no invincible character in [Dungeon and Stone].
“Well, except for my shield barbarian.”
Anyway, which side is the chief on?
I meticulously observe all his actions and effects for exploration purposes.
So far, what’s confirmed is the ‘Tol-Lafupa’ [Cosmic Protection].
And...
“Looks like he has just one mobility skill.”
At the moment they faced each other, weapons drawn, the chief’s body split into two and moved.
Like a game lagging and frames overlapping.
Ta-dat!
But since I was deliberately observing, I could quickly synthesize the information seen with my own eyes.
Steam rising from footsteps.
A body wrapped in electric currents.
And...
Pew—
A yellow wavelength blossoming at the arrival point.
“That’s [Lightning God Step].”
The skill is Grade 2.
Though it’s hard to classify it strictly as a pure mobility skill. It’s characterized by a quick dash like a blink...
Zzzzt-!
Upon arrival, it spreads a wide-area attack with paralysis effect.
Whoooosh-!
Greatly increased movement speed.
And...
“Ugh...!”
“Ma, block... huh?”
It also temporarily grants damage immunity bonus.
Just like this.
Whooosh-!
A nearby melee dealer flailed his weapon in panic, but it passed through the chief’s body.
“Is he going after Elwen?”
Ugh, disgusting chief bastard.
He really just wants to keep us stuck in this village no matter what.
Of course, I had no intention to leave him be.
“The invincibility of [Lightning God Step] has two conditions to break.”
The first is to land the first hit.
Probably why the chief ignores all other explorers and rushes straight toward Elwen.
The second is...
“Three seconds.”
You have to wait for the 3-second duration.
Of course, 3 seconds seems enough time to plunge a knife into Elwen’s neck.
“Well, it wouldn’t matter anyway.”
Though the chief charged at Elwen with fire in his eyes, my mind was calm.
That’s because Elwen is in ‘Focus’ state right now.
“During Focus, all damage received is absorbed using soul power.”
Elwen in that state is invincible.
But...
“We are currently investigating your weaknesses.”
Since this is a key ability that might be used as a trump card someday, there’s no reason to show this trick now.
Therefore...
“The character has cast [Eye of the Storm].”
“By the power of the transcendent form, the inherent abilities of this skill are unlocked.”
I cast [Eye of the Storm] linked with [Transcendence].
Coincidentally, this can counter that skill.
Because...
“It grants damage immunity, not CC immunity.”
For reference, [Eye of the Storm] does no damage.
It’s not even a projectile.
Swaaaaaaash-!
A gust of wind blew toward me as the chief, running at Elwen, flew toward me in that pose.
And simultaneously.
Zzzt-!
As the 3 seconds neared the end, electric waves containing current spread around the chief.
Meaning the damage immunity ended.
Since I just used [Transcendence], I used [Swing] again.
“The attack range is tripled.”
The hammer, extending like Yeouibong, crashed into the chief’s body.
However, the chief’s body defied physical laws.
Instead of being blown away, it stuck to the hammer due to the gust blowing toward me.
“This combo hasn’t happened in a while.”
I smoothly twisted the hammer’s trajectory.
Then, like riding a ride, I spun the chief once around on the hammer.
Kraaaang-!
And slammed him down on the opposite ground.
Not only was he grabbed, but he also ended up much farther away...
“...!”
The chief slammed into the ground coughed up blood like he was vomiting.
Though his high regeneration would let him recover quickly.
For now, the shock seemed big and his getting up was a bit slow.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“Oh, did you hear it from someone? I don’t remember telling you.”
“...”
The chief didn’t answer.
He just glanced once at Elwen far away after passing me.
Tch, looks like he still can’t let go.
“Wake up from your dream.”
“...”
“You will never get there.”
“Until I defeat you?”
“Tha—!”
I was about to say ‘Yes’ when the chief’s form disappeared from my sight.
With my lacking agility stat, I searched for the chief’s body again, only to see he had already taken a stance to swing a sword at close range.
Kraaaang-!
The sword strike hit the shield I barely raised in time.
From fighting with a shield every day, I knew immediately.
The damage to the shield was much greater.
Before, it was just some scratches.
“This almost feels like a dent.”
Of course, I didn’t question this phenomenon.
It wasn’t that the chief used a new skill, but that I had just gotten weaker.
“[Transcendence] will have a cooldown of 1 minute before it reactivates.”
The passive [Evolved Exterior] grants 50% sword resistance.
Using [Iron Fortress] raises it to 75%.
If the passive effects increase 1.5 times due to [Transcendence], it’s almost immunity...
But sadly, sword resistance has a limit.
The maximum sword resistance any character can have is 85%.
Simply put, for the next minute, 85% was reduced to 75%.
“In other words, damage that was coming in at 15% is now coming in at 25%.”
Though it’s a simple 10% difference, the actual perceived damage increase is nearly double.
Kraaaang-!
As I blocked the chief’s fierce sword swings, reinforcements arrived from behind.
“From now on, I’ll help too.”
“Ah! Ah! Me too...!”
“...Me too! Me too!”
Our clan’s melee trio consisting of Amelia, Misha, and Ainard.
“Be careful. He’s not an easy opponent.”
I was a bit worried but we didn’t retreat and kept fighting together.
Because there are things you can’t figure out by just taking hits.
“Amelia Rainwails cast [Abyssal Power].”
“Misha Kalstein cast [Glacial Soul].”
“Ainard Fnelin cast [Wild Control].”
I was the main tank, and the melee trio used me as a wall, swinging weapons carefully like walking a tightrope.
During this, we discovered a new essence of the chief.
Kuruuruung-!
Dark mist spread around the chief, releasing electric currents.
[Thundercloud]
A Grade 2 skill that deals wide-range lightning damage around the caster and reduces skill cooldown proportionally to the number of hits.
“...Ugh, ugh!”
Still, only four of us, including me, were hit by the lightning, so the cooldown probably didn’t reduce much.
But...
“The cooldown on [Lightning God Step] must have fully reset.”
“Everyone get as far away as possible!”
As soon as the decision was made, I hurriedly pulled the melee trio back.
Sure enough.
Ta-dat-!
The chief’s body dashed forward, wrapped in electric current, and entered damage immunity state.
And the chief’s target this time was...
“Ainard!!”
Since the distance was close, using a grab was impossible.
But...
“Ainard Fnelin cast [Crouch].”
“All resistance stats increase 20 times for 3 minutes.”
“Natural regeneration increases 20 times for 3 minutes.”
Right, that was it.
“All resistance stats increase 20 times for 3 minutes.”
A shining sword slashed Ainard’s torso, carving deep enough to show bone.
Still, it’s not a problem unless it’s instant death.
“Natural regeneration increases 20 times for 3 minutes.”
The real strength of [Crouch] is in regeneration.
“Still, one of us is out...”
Ainard was down early after only a few seconds of fighting.
But we gained something.
“Now I roughly understand the concept.”
The chief is a lightning swordman.
Even if [Lightning God Step] is obvious, the just-used [Thundercloud] confirmed it. [Thundercloud] can be used publicly, but its attached passive is not.
[Conductor].
A passive skill that stacks when using lightning-type skills and grants additional bonuses to all lightning skills.
Anyway, finding this out was pretty important.
If the chief is a lightning swordsman, I could reasonably guess about the shining sword.
“Surely it’s [Extreme Charge].”
A weapon enchant-type transformation ability, classified like [Abyssal Power].
Uniquely, it receives synergy from lightning but deals physical damage.
One thing leads to another.
More new information was added.
“If he has [Extreme Charge], he must have that passive too...”
It was like discovering four essences already.
“Why are all four above Grade 2 already?”
Is there a way to erase essences?
The average grade level is much higher than I expected.
But summing up to give a rough score:
“Five points.”
Oh, of course, out of ten.
Even if the lightning concept is decent, the synergy doesn’t look good.
“Well, just with [Thundercloud] alone, there are so many skills you could chain and cheat with.”
Still, thanks to high-grade essences, the overall value is very high. But I wished the remaining essences were also high grade.
A character with broken balance also has many weaknesses.
“Okay, then let’s call it a day for today...”
One.
As I silently counted the last seconds alone,
Whoooooosh-!
The whole world was dyed in light with a roar.
At the same time, Versil in the rear announced the good news to everyone.
“...It’s, it’s open! The entrance really opened!”
It was time to leave this cursed village.
The burning village and the shattered village entrance.
And the empty square in front of it where the explorers swarmed away.
Behind the chief watching over it, the village warriors appeared.
“Chief, all fires attached to the village have been extinguished.”
The warriors reported on the damage scale and number of casualties, but the chief’s expression showed no change.
It was natural.
It didn’t matter if a few monsters died.
Only one thing mattered to the chief right now.
“I still don’t understand how they figured it out.”
Bjorn Yandel.
The most famous explorer of this era, chief of the Barbarian tribe — one of the six major races.
And a baron of the kingdom.
“...If only there was a little more time.”
Like a mountain slowly worn ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) down by the wind, a ripple arose in his dulled emotions battered by time.
It was regret.
But he quickly shook off this rare human feeling.
“Chief, we’ll form a pursuit team.”
“Enough.”
“...What? But...”
“Right now, we must fix the village first. That will... be safe, right?”
“Yes. As you confirmed earlier, it’s safe.”
Good, then that’s settled.
Nothing has changed yet.
Though things got a little complicated, that was still the only thing.
The chief closed his eyes and recalled the fierce barbarian he had just fought.
“Bjorn Yandel, huh...”
In many ways, he was a beast.
In some aspects, more so than the monsters in this village.
“When we meet again, you’ll be stronger.”
But in the chief’s quietly muttered gaze, a faint emotion surfaced.
It was joy.
