BXBX NOVEL Chapter 131
Chapter 131
“It’s a typical cave-type dungeon where you have to dive down to the deepest level and then go back up to the upper level on the other side. The dungeon boss, the Flame Golem, will be waiting for you near the exit, and although it is the first flame attribute boss monster, it is not very strong. The dungeon itself is the test, so the bosses here and in the World Tree Cave aren’t that strong.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Sure, it would be pretty heartbreaking if after you spent almost five hours to get to the boss, but then everything you did up to that point was in vain because the boss is too strong.
There’s still a lot more to explore beyond Griffith. It’s not your final destination or something.
“The Volcano Golem appears in the deepest, most scorching part of the dungeon. Perhaps you can call that as the core of flaming zone.”
“Uh, do I need to use a more effective resistance item than tomaton?”
“Yes, you do. However, since this is my request for assistance, I have prepared that as well.”
The cold tomatons I had this time were not very effective in increasing my resistance to the heat, and their duration was not that long.
And not long after that, Meguru then handed me a higher quality fire resistance potion he had prepared.
“Now, as I mentioned earlier, the Volcano Golem’s attribute is [Hellfire].”
“You want to emphasized that it is different from fire and flame.”
“Yes. It is a higher attribute than fire. It does not have to activate the damage bonus from water or ice. Instead, it completely nullifies lower attributes that are not its weakness, and it absorbs flame attacks. In order to fight against it, you have two choices: use the same upper attribute attack or fight it with a pure physical attack.”
“Ohh, I get it… that’s where I’m needed.”
That’s the main reason my Meguru chose me.
My high level, of course, one of the reason, but it would be better to have a player that specialized in physical attack while using a blunt weapon.
Since the proto-golem roaming around the area had slash resistance, it was hard to imagine that the Volcano Golem did not have one.
I guess it would be hard to find a player in Griffith that could bypass that resistance and have firepower appropriate for this boss.
The popularity of bladed weapons in WLO is high.
As you can see, most of the attackers in the last raid battle were swordsmen, the most used weapon currently is the [One-handed sword], and the second-most used weapon is the [Two-handed sword].
Of course, this was divided by category, so the term [one-handed sword] includes all types of one-handed weapons, such as short swords, curved swords, and rapier. Two-handed swords, likewise, have weapons such as Greatsword and Katana.
These two weapon categories are the most popular, with a usage rate of 60% of all players, excluding magicians.
The third most used weapon was the bow, with another 20% of the player base using it, and the rest seemed to be a rivalry of mixed sorts, with eccentric people using their favorite weapons as they saw fit.
Suppose you ask me why swords are so popular. In that case, I can give you any number of reasons, such as the fact that they have a wide variety of attribute attacks that make them easy to use or the fact that there are so many users of swords that the template for stat allocation for those weapons is already established.
And the biggest reason is… because they’re cooler than anything else.
Some of them have defensive mechanisms built into them, and there are no obvious flaws that could be found—there are also plenty of guides on how to deal with bosses with those weapons.
It’s obvious when it comes with all that advantage, those types of weapons are bound to be popular.
By the way, the usage rate of blunt weapons is currently less than 10%. The next most popular category after the bow is the spear, and blunt weapon users are a minority in all categories, not just in one-handed and two-handed.
Especially for the two-handed weapons category, there are too many clubs, maces, and other weapons that are difficult to use, and there are so few people that could use it, and it was not an exaggeration to say they’re more than a minority.
Sadly, it seems that my stream was not very useful for promoting this weapon type.
But surprisingly, I might have a chance to do just that today.
Yes, Meguru is a blunt weapon user, just like me.
“Meguru uses blunt weapons, right?
“Yes, I got a new one for today. Would you like to see it?”
“By all means!”
<Finally, a comrade….>
< the First person to use a blunt weapon in her stream.>
< It’s amazing.>
< There’s so few of you out there.>
<Sukuna, I’m so happy for you.>
“I’m happy too!”
I’m honestly thrilled. It’s nice to have a new weapon of your own, but it’s also fun to be shown someone else’s weapon.
Especially this time, since it’s a blunt weapon. It was probably a player-made weapon that wasn’t sold in a store.
Meguru played with her menu and pulled out a one-handed mace with an extremely sleek form.
In contrast to the bat-like form of my Kanabou, the handle is divided into two parts, head, and base, with a beautiful jasper at its center.
I don’t know what kind of metal was used, but I was impressed by its dim metallic blue color.
“I call it [Ice Mace – Mk.III] It’s a one-handed mace with the ice attribute.”
“Ice attribute! Then you can go and strike the boss weakness, right?”
“Yeah, the attribute damage still passes normally. But since I don’t have a high number of STR like Sukuna, it’s broke my armor before I could finish the fight. Though it certainly effective to raise the attribute attack to a certain point.”
“Oh, I see. Doesn’t that mean that attribute damage itself is nullified?”
Physical damage is the damage calculated by using only weapon attack power, while attribute damage is the additional damage calculated separately.
For example, let’s say you have a weapon that deals 10 physical damage when you hit it normally. If the weapon is given an ice attribute value that allows it to deal 10 attributed damage, it will deal a total of 20 damage.
Against an enemy whose weakness is the ice attribute, this ice attribute damage will be twice as powerful, and the total damage will be 30.
On the other hand, against monsters that nullify the ice attribute, only the physical damage will be taken away, so the damage will only be 10.
I guess what Meguru meant earlier was that water and ice attributes won’t get amplified against this boss. However, water and ice attributes themselves still can be used normally.
If you want to gain an effect from an attribute weapon or an attribute attack, you need to prepare higher-ranked water or ice attribute.
By the way, blunt and slash resistances affect the calculation of physical damage, and they fall into the physical resistance category.
On the other hand, these resistances are not affected by attribute attacks, so it is very effective to use attribute attacks against monsters with physical resistances.
I don’t have the means to use attribute attacks, so I have to use the brute force method.
“Attribute weapons are beautiful…”
“It’s a specialized weapon that has an attribute value. Mine was created using attribute crystals based on ice metal. It becomes a bit fragile as side effects, but it won’t be so weak that it would break from using it normally. So, it’s fine as long as you’re not using it as a defensive weapon.”
“My [Yoiyami] also has gravity attributes, but that one only will increase or decrease physical damage… so it’s fresh to see an element attached to a weapon.”
The crimson jewel that Meneas gave me was used as a material for the [Yoiyami], and I also have a water dragon crystal I got in Trillia, but I haven’t used that one.
“It’s rare to see a gravity attribute. Where did you get such an item?”
“It’s from the rewards of Stardust event’s monster house. It’s a type of item that requires MP to use, and I’m currently cursed, so I can’t use it.”
By the way, the gimmick of [Yoiyami] is not its gravity attribute. Haruru had used many rare materials for this gimmick, and I think it could play active parts against the Volcano Golem.
“I see… by the way. I heard that you headed to oni village to break that curse?”
“I don’t know if I can break it, but I guess that’s what I’m planning to do.”
My MP, magic attack, and magic defense were almost nonexistent from the start, so the curse gave me practically no penalty.
But as my viewers mentioned, my looks are rather pitiful, and I can’t bring the full potential of [Yoiyami] like this.
“If we can defeat the boss, the demon village is going to be frenzied.”
“I’m also looking forward to meeting everyone.”
“And that everyone is for sure were waiting for you to Sukuna. Well, for now, let’s focus on this. Please take a look at the bottom of the valley.”
“Valley?”
As I was talking with Meguru around the bridge, I followed her advice and looked down to look at the bottom of the valley.
There was nothing special about the valley except the magma flowing about 100 meters below.
“There’s a hole that looks like it could be something.”
“You see it? That’s the hidden passage that leads to the Volcano Golem.”
“I see, that’s a cool hidden passage.”
I wouldn’t normally think of going there, but there’s a passageway in a place where there’s definitely a hint of something. There is a foothold that you can just about land on, so if you can land there, you can probably get inside without any problems.
There are no tricks. It’s just a hidden passageway that any careful person can find.
And I love this kind of thing.
“By the way, how are we going to get there? At this height, you’ll die from falling damage, right?”
“There is an item called a [Float Crystal] that is sold in Griffith. It is a disposable item that can nullify falling damage during non-combat situations. We’ll use that this time.”
“That’s convenient, but it sounds like an effect that could be abused.”
I took the crystal that Meguru handed me and looked at the hidden passageway below me.
“So, let’s do this!”
“and kill the boss!”
<Let’s go!>
<Pyon!>
<Don’t hesitate.>
<Hiee, it’s scrary!>
After watching Meguru jump into the valley floor without hesitation and land on the platform of the hidden passage, I also jumped into the valley depth.
The hidden boss, Volcano Golem.
I smiled, unable to contain my excitement at the perfect opponent for my current self.
======.
The recommended difficulty level for defeating the Volcano Golem is four or more level 70 players. The average level of players in Griffith is around 55, so Meguru had difficulty gathering companions to fight with him.