VRMMORPG: Dragomancer Reborn

Chapter 217 Climbing The Mountains And Armadillos

The path that Arthur and Brambles had taken to the mountains could no longer be followed now that they were at the base.

"Let's go Brambles, the route we need to take is further ahead," Arthur spoke to the beetle.

"Ki!" The beetle responded and flew towards Arthur leaving the river behind.

The two went along the base of the mountains and moved southward. They couldn't follow the river up as it had simply turned into a large waterfall at a certain point.

Even Brambles couldn't fly that far up with his body, and Arthur did not see a viable path he could take on foot. Besides, the quest that they had come for wasn't here.

To get to the Rock Bees, they needed to go through the southern area.

'From what Guild Master Caleb said the Rock Bees were spotted by a few messenger scouts that were passing through the southern edge of the mountains. The path they took should allow us to see them too.' Arthur thought to himself.

This was a path that he hadn't been on himself in the past, but could very well find it on his own.

Still, it took Arthur and Brambles around an hour before they found the path that could take them up the mountains. The path itself was made from collapsed rock and rubble that had made a natural way up through the base of the mountain.

One merely needed to take a winding route up and continue through the broken rock ledges until they reached the top.

Thankfully the trees growing along the mountainside weren't too big and allowed them to move with a decent pace. After all, they didn't want to be slowed down too much by the trees when the path was already tough to take.

Arthur didn't have to encounter any enemies on this path though, likely due to the fact that it wasn't exactly conducive to the habitats of the beasts that lived here.

As such, they managed to travel for another half an hour before they finally encountered a new beast.

A beast the size of a dog rolled into their path, and blocked their progress.

"Ah, an armadillo?" Arthur gazed at the beast.

>Dragon's Insight has been successfully activated!<

~DING~

——

——

Target: Small Mountain Armadillo

Rank: Common

Level: 15

Type: Beast

Info: An omnivorous beast that lives in the mountains and also feeds on the smaller animals that pass through it. It is also territorial and would not let other creatures pass through its territory.

It uses its tough carapace as both a defensive as well as offensive measure.

***

HP: 100%

MP: 100%

Stamina: 90%

***

<Physical Stats>

Strength: 15

Toughness: 18

Agility: 15

Dexterity: 15

Vitality: 16

<Non-Physical Stats>

Wisdom: 3

Intelligence: 6

Will: 5

——

<Skills>

1. Carapace Roll

Info: The user curls and rolls out, using its tough outer carapace as a defensive armor.

Cooldown: 10 seconds

Cost: 5% Mana for every use.

——

The Small Mountain Armadillo was the normal enemy that one would find here and was able to traverse the area with ease. While it may only have one active skill, its body was still adapted to living in the mountains.

It could use its long claws to cling on to the rocks and climb directly. At the same time, these same claws could be used to attack others.

Of course, its main skill was the Carapace Roll, which not only raised its defense but also allowed it to move fast and attack at the same time.

It would utilize the sloping mountains to increase its momentum without using any extra energy on its own.

As such, one could tell that the Small Mountain Armadillo was a perfect beast for this area.

Of course, for Arthur and Brambles it may as well be a normal mob.

"Brambles, time to toss!" Arthur ordered.

"KIKIKI!" Brambles responded with joy and swung his large horn at the Small Mountain Armadillo.

[-3% HP]

The attack didn't do much damage, but still managed to toss the beast into the air.

The rolled up armadillo flew towards Arthur who was ready to end its life.

"Skewer!" Arthur used his strongest spear skill, and struck the rolled up beast.

~CRACK~

~SLICK~

Dietrich cracked the carapace of the Armadillo and pierced into its soft red flesh.

>Small Mountain Armadillo has been inflicted with bleed!<

>Small Mountain Armadillo will lose 2% HP every second!<

[-58% HP]

[Critical hit!]

[-2% HP] [ Bleed]

The Armadillo was skewered onto the Key Spear and was unable to move due to the spear's design. It was also just the right distance away from Arthur's hand to further damage it.

"I'll end your suffering." Arthur said as he swung the spear and hit it against a rock.

~CRACK~

[-6% HP]

[-2% HP] [Bleed]

The Carapace of the Small Mountain Armadillo hit the tough rock and cracked further. But Arthur didn't just stop there and kept on hitting the rock again and again.

The Armadillo had become a knocked, while the rock was now like a bell.

[-6% HP]

[-2% HP] [Bleed]

[-9% HP]

[-2% HP] [Bleed]

[-12% HP]

[-2% HP] [Bleed]

[Fatal Hit!]

After a few more hits, the armadillo was unable to bear anymore damage and ended up succumbing to its injuries.

>Player Arzhur has killed a Small Mountain Armadillo!<

>Player Arzhur has obtained 1% experience<

'Guess I need to hunt stronger beasts than this.' Arthur reckoned.

After all, the level difference between the beast and him was about 8 levels now. That was more than enough for him to be unable to grow.

Thankfully the experience gain from the Small Mountain Armadillo was just enough to add a singular percent even now. But this didn't mean that it was unless to the others.

>Dragon Horn Beetle has assisted in killing the Small Mountain Armadillo!<

>Dragon Horn Beetle has obtained 3% bonus Experience<

While the bonus wasn't good enough for Brambles, it was still a positive gain that Arthur would not deny the beast.

"We should be able to kill a few more along the way. These are common here after all." Arthur said as he continued onwards.

~BUZZ~

The buzzing of Brambles' wings echoed from the narrow walls of the pass making it seem louder than it was. This signaled the other beasts to think that there was a dangerous and large beast passing by, and made them uncertain about appearing.

'This'll speed up our travel.' Arthur reckoned seeing that there weren't many beasts daring to come close.

Still, after about another hour they encountered a small group of armadillos again.

"Hoho, looks like it is time for you to learn juggling Brambles." Arthur said seeing the three large Armadillos that seemed to be very pissed with them entering their territory.

Of course, the lesser creatures had no idea of knowing that Arthur would soon be eradicating them.

~THUD~THUD~THUD~

Brambles used its large horn to toss three Small Mountain Armadillos into the air, making them unable to react or do much. Instead, it only made the beasts even more scarred and forced them to hide in the shell.

[-3% HP]

>Small Mountain Armadillo's Carapace has been cracked!<

[-5% HP]

>Small Mountain Armadillo's Carapace has been cracked!<

[-6% HP]

>Small Mountain Armadillo's Carapace has been cracked!<

>The Small Mountain Armadillo's defenses have been lowered<

The cracked carapaces obviously made the Armadillos weaker, which allowed both Arthur and Brambles to finish them off at a faster pace wham usual.

>Player Arzhur has killed a Small Mountain Armadillo x 3!<

>Paley Arzhur has obtained 5% Experience!<

>Dragon Horn Beetle has obtained 3% experience!<

While Brambles did not get as much of experience as normal player would get, it was still better than normal as expected.

Arthur and Brambles faced more Small Mountain Armadillos, but were easily wiped out by the collaboration of the two. Brambles would

>Player Arzhur has obtained 12% Experience!<

>Dragon Horn Beetle has obtained 18% Experience!<

The experience for Brambles was further pushed and the duo continued on wards.

It took him around two more hours, before they finally reached the top of the mountains!

~HUALA~

As expected, chilling cold winds could be felt and it would make all those without a strong mind to fall asleep. Of course, it had no effects on beasts and the same could be said for Animals.

But for Arthur, it was still a bit of a trouble.

"Thankfully the Ember Bellow set still provides me good enough cold resistance." Arthur muttered to himself.

~HUU~

"We're here though… Finally." Arthur let out a breath and gazed at the vast scenery that could be seen behind him.

Arthur could see the entirety of the Trunel Woods along with the distant Roran Town. He tried to look for Kestrel Village, but was unable to do so, either due to being too far or there not being enough light.

The sun was already setting and the sky was a deep orange.

'We are now close to the night… But we still have plenty of time to continue the search.' Arthur thought to himself, spurring his mind.