A Middle-Aged Man Becomes the Strongest in Another World: The Physical Specialized Awakener - Chapter 13

The next day, I went back into the Great Tree Dungeon.

When I reached the 4th floor, I encountered a new monster I hadn’t seen yesterday, the Killer Worm. It was a disgusting, worm-like creature about 3 meters long and 30 centimeters thick. Its mouth was a ring of sharp teeth that could easily make someone faint from sheer horror.

The thing slowly slithered toward me, then suddenly coiled halfway before springing at me like a slingshot. But movements like that are nothing for my boosted Dynamic Vision and Reflexes.

I dodged on instinct, regained my stance, and slammed my mace into its midsection.

“GYUURRGH!” The Killer Worm let out a twisted shriek. Before it could turn its face back toward me, I crushed its mouth with a second swing of my mace. The body went limp and sank into the dungeon floor.

From the remains, I picked up a magic stone and a fist-sized chunk of metal. “Why the heck does a worm drop metal?” Yeah, better not to think too hard about it.

On the 5th floor, I started running into two Killer Worms at once. But as long as I could isolate one from the other and avoid getting surrounded, they weren’t a threat. If you break their midsection, they get significantly weaker, so I imagine these would be easy for a party to take down.

Eventually, I reached a large wooden door. No surprise, this was the boss room. “Please don’t be another rare boss…”

I almost said it out loud, but caught myself. Don’t want to jinx it. Luck, good or bad, isn’t something you tempt before a battle. I double-checked my gear and opened the door. Like the boss room in the Boulder Dungeon, it was about the size of a basketball court.

The door shut behind me, and black mist began rising at the far end. Just like before, except this time, there was a lot more of it.

Emerging from the swirling fog were two massive hornet-like monsters the size of medium-sized dogs. These were Killer Bee Soldiers, not rare bosses, but stronger versions of the basic Killer Bees.

“…Why are there two of them?” Yeah, no one told me about this. Could this be the first time it’s ever happened? “Welp, guess I just have to deal with it.”

I dropped my backpack and drew my mace and buckler. Twice the number, but they’re standard bosses, not rares. Their attack patterns should be predictable. As I edged forward, the two Bee Soldiers split off, one to the left, one to the right, keeping their distance from me.

Then both of them arched their tails high and fired.

“Whoosh!” Their poisoned stingers flew at me like darts, ranged attacks meant to catch newbies off guard. I dodged to the side and immediately closed the gap with one of them. I knew from the guides that their stingers can’t be fired in quick succession.

But pinning one down while it focused on dodging was hard. My mace kept swinging through empty air. Meanwhile, its stinger reloaded. Second volley. I dodged again. The wind-up for their shots is pretty big, so it’s not that tough. But no matter how I swung, I couldn’t land a solid hit.

Dodge. Swing. Miss. Dodge. Swing. Miss.

After seven or eight repeats, I realized, this was a loop. An annoying, endless loop. “Damn it. If they just tried to charge me like regular Killer Bees, I could land a counter…” That’s when it hit me, if they won’t come to me, I’ll force a counter.

I noticed one had just finished reloading. That meant it was about to fire again. Perfect.

I focused on that one and started moving in slowly. It raised its tail. This is it.

I sprinted forward at full speed. There’s a brief moment when they’re completely open while firing. That’s my chance. The stinger launched, my buckler deflected it and I brought my mace down.

“SWISH.” It missed. “Gah!” Pain shot through my thigh. Another stinger had embedded itself in my leg, must’ve come from the other Bee Soldier.

Did it read my movements? That’s the only way it could’ve hit me… Gritting my teeth, I yanked the stinger out. It was about the size of a pencil. The pain flared even worse, yep, that’s the poison kicking in.

I fumbled at my hip for an antidote potion. But just then, both Bee Soldiers surged toward me, clicking their jaws. The sound was like bones grinding together, awful. So now they rush me, sensing weakness? These damn bugs…

Everything in my vision turned red. Blood? No… this was the Berserker skill activating.

“RAAAAHH!” I roared and brought my mace down on one of the Bee Soldiers. Its head exploded on impact. The second one clamped its jaws around my right arm. The pressure was insane, it felt like it was trying to crush both flesh and bone.

“You want a piece of me, huh?!”

Instead of pulling back, I shoved forward, slamming the Bee Soldier into the ground, again and again, over and over until its head caved in completely. When I came back to my senses, both Bee Soldiers had vanished into the dungeon floor. All that remained were their magic stones and two pouches filled with premium honey.

“…Whew. Man, this Berserker skill is insane.”

I think I even shouted stuff I normally never would’ve said. But hey, can’t blame a guy for losing it a little during a full-on adrenaline surge. A wave of exhaustion and chills hit me, and I quickly downed the antidote potion. Meanwhile, the wounds on my arm and thigh were already beginning to heal, Regeneration was kicking in.

“Well… with a fight that crazy, I better get a decent skill out of it.”

After standing still for a bit, I felt that familiar sensation, knowledge pouring directly into my brain. “Okay, this one’s called Stability.”

It’s not super rare, but it’s one I’ve had my eye on. Basically, it lets you ignore gravity and physics to stabilize your footing. Very useful in certain situations. Kind of underwhelming after that brutal fight, wait, what’s this?

Another wave of knowledge flowed in. “Iron Body… Wait, I just got two special skills at once?!”

Iron Body does exactly what it sounds like, it toughens your body like steel. A solid defensive buff. Not ultra rare either, but paired with Regeneration, it’s a huge boost to my survivability.

With a grin, I gathered up the materials and left the Great Tree Dungeon, feeling pretty damn good. Naturally, I used the rest of the day to get in a solid training session, of course.