His whole torso throbbed with agony, and he felt something wet and warm trail down his side. Blood.
"Damn it…" Riley muttered, coughing.
His HP had dropped dangerously. If his Vitality hadn't increased thanks to all the spiked rat he had devoured, that hit would have killed his outright.
'Add two points to agility… and two to endurance.' He thought, quickly allocating his attribute points.
He blinked quickly, forcing the pain away with clenched teeth.
There was no time.
The monster wasn't going to stop.
Sure enough, he heard it—the thunder of the monster's hooves smashing into the ground, and its furious roar.
It was charging again.
Riley immediately activated [Stealth].
A faint shimmer wrapped around him just as the boar closed in, and he suddenly dashed towards the monster boss.
The boar roared angrily when it saw its prey suddenly disappear, and it briefly sniffed the air, trying to figure out Riley's position.
The beast quickly discovered him, and ita immediately charged to the side with another furious bellow.
However, Riley had already expected this, and the edges of his lips curled up slightly.
He made sure to run in the beast's blind spot, and with his skill active, he was faster than ever.
Though his lungs burned, and intense pain courses through his body, he didn't let that slow him down.
This was nothing, compared to what he had faced in his past life!
Besides, his opponent was still injured, and he wasn't foolish enough to let such a chance slip by.
Riley's lips curved into a grim smile as he steadied his breathing. 'Let's try this again!'.
His foot slammed into the ground—
[Spike Shot] — Activated!
A glowing spike quickly formed from his palm, and he hurled it at the beast's forelimb.
SCHLUNK!
—42! Critical Hit!
The spike tore into the same leg he had targeted before. Blood sprayed, and the monster stumbled once again, releasing a frustrated roar.
It didn't relent in his pursuit of Riley, and continued chasing him, smoke oozing out of its nostrils.
Its blood kept spraying around the grasses as it ran, the spike still embedded in its flesh.
Riley simply smiled, swiftly dashing to the side, letting the beast chase him all it wanted.
With one of its forelimb gravely injured, its speed was greatly reduced, but since it was still in a frenzy, it couldn't even feel the wound.
All it was focused on was getting his prey, and tearing off his flesh with its massive fangs.
But all that this gave Riley was a chance to turn the tides around.
The moment Spike shot cool-down was finished, Riley spun around, activating spike shot once again.
Swoosh!
The brown spike whooshed through the air at rapid speed, piercing into the same gaping wound on the monster boss' forelimb.
—45! Critical hit!
This time, the spike completely tore through the limb, searing out from the other side.
Roar!!
The boar roared, trying desperately to pursue Riley, however, its limbs gave out, and its massive body fell to the ground.
Riley smirked smugly to the beast, brandishing his daggers before swiping them through the air.
Though the chances of landing a critical hit were only ten percent, that was only if one landed a normal attack.
The chances of a critical hit increased when one strikes at the same place consecutively, or at a monster's weakness.
In this case, the chances of landing a critical hit didn't just increase, the amount of damage also increased along with it!
"You're nothing but a crazy beast, you were never a match for me… hehe." He said, his eyes glinting coldly. "Now… it's time to eat."
Growl!!
The monster growled, its eyes burning red in fury.
However, despite how hard it tried, one of its legs was already severely damaged, and it couldn't stand back up on only three legs.
Since it was still in a frenzy, it couldn't even use any of its other skills, only limited to pure brute power.
That was another weakness of the Fanged Boar, which Riley made sure to exploit.
His stomach suddenly rumbled again, and his face squeezed into a slight frown.
He immediately dashed towards the boar, spinning his daggers in hand.
With fluid motion, he stabbed one deep into the beast's shoulder, using it as leverage to climb halfway up its side.
—18!
The beast growled angrily, but with its legs rendered useless, it could barely move, talkless of fight back against Riley.
He plunged his second dagger into the beast's neck again, aiming just below the jaw where the hide was thinner.
—28!
Still not enough damage.
But he didn't stop.
He yanked the dagger out, leapt higher, and drove it straight into the top of the boar's head—
SQUELCH!
—35! Critical Hit!
The beast howled, shaking its head violently. Riley was flung off its back, tumbling again—but this time, he landed on his feet.
'Who would have thought toying with a monster boss… will be this fun!' Riley thought, swiping off the blood on his daggers.
In truth, he could have finished off the beast by just releasing a barrage of spike shot, but he wanted to use this chance to level up his stealth skill.
Roarr!!
The beast roared in fury, trying its best once more to lunge at Riley.
But all it could do was limp pathetically, it's frenzy skill already fading off as the grave injuries on its body started catching up to it.
The monster was bleeding heavily now. One eye destroyed. A leg crippled. Its head and neck riddled with stab wounds. Blood soaked its fur like paint.
'Spike Shot.' Riley thought, deciding to finish this fight once and for all.
Swoosh!
A spike immediately shot from his hand, piercing into the beast's forehead.
The boar's eyes widened, before closing shut. Its body went still, and finally, the monster boss was dead.
[Mutated Fanged Boar Killed!]
[+70EXP]
[Spike shot level up!]
[Skill "Spike shot" now level 2!]
[Stealth level up!]
[Skill "Stealth" now level 3!]
Riley smirked at the sight of the system notifications, and he walked towards the monster body.
He started at its massive frame for a few seconds, a strange glint flashing across his eyes.