Those not of my race cannot be trusted!
Having lived as a human in his previous life, Elliot knew this better than anyone. Humans would never truly accept other races as equals. Heck, humans of different skin colors still hated each other; how could they possibly accept non-humans?!
Down here in the Great Elroe Labyrinth, aside from the really high-level monsters, humans were the biggest threat to him.
Plus, there was another reason Elliot didn't want to leave just yet.
Killing humans... gave a ton of EXP!
"Big Guy, maybe we should just go," Kumoko pleaded, feeling scared. She knew humans were smart, not like other monsters. They used tactics! That alone made them much harder to deal with than any regular beast.
But Elliot shook his head, a sharp glint in his eyes.
The humans were burning everything here, driving away the monsters. Amidst the flames, he saw them they already had the half-meter tall Earth Dragon egg, the one with the beautiful patterns. The one hatching Mirei Shinohara!
So, he was going to make his stand right here. Ambush the humans.
These humans ranged from Level 5 to Level 15, about a dozen or so of them. There was actually a Level 30 Archmage with the main group further back, but these guys were just scouts, not the strongest ones.
Seeing Elliot wasn't planning on leaving, Kumoko was astonished.
"Big Guy, no way! You're going to fight the humans...?"
"But they all have skills!"
Humans were different from monsters. They apparently started with skill points, which was crazy unfair. Most humans probably had at least basic combat skills like [Heavy Strike], [Sword Thrust], [Lunge], [Slash]...
They might seem like basic skills, but having skills versus having no skills was a world of difference.
Then, Kumoko glanced at Elliot's skill list again and fell silent.
Skill Points: 0
Somehow, the Earth Dragon had spent all his remaining skill points to learn a new skill. He was really going to fight the humans!
In place of the points, there was a skill Kumoko had never seen before.
[Tendo Bansho (Planet Befall)]
LV 5!
And the skill name was written in red text! Like an Ultimate Ability in other games!
Yep, the Earth Dragon had just learned an absolutely terrifying skill.
"No way," Kumoko breathed, her mouth hanging open. This Earth Dragon dude was seriously hardcore!
She watched as the Earth Dragon took a slow breath. His MP bar instantly dropped by a huge chunk. He had to act fast. If that Level 30 Archmage from the back caught up, both he and Kumoko would be toast.
"Look over there!"
"It's an Earth Dragon!"
"A Level 5 young Earth Dragon! Hiss... If we can capture it alive, we'll make a fortune! Those nobles in the capital love Earth Dragon pets."
The humans quickly spotted Elliot. They weren't blind, after all. A creature his size was hard to miss. One of them apparently had an Appraisal skill and instantly identified him as a young, not yet adult, Earth Dragon.
Young Earth Dragons were prized pets for the rich and powerful. Many nobles would pay huge sums just to own one. Capturing this one alive would make their trip totally worth it.
However, the human with the Appraisal skill suddenly shouted a panicked warning to the others.
"Watch out! This Earth Dragon looks like it's going to attack us! Everyone, defense!"
"Are you kidding me? That thing actually has the nerve to attack us?"
The adventurers quickly raised their shields. Humans were a race capable of crafting equipment, which provided extra stats.
[Simple Wooden Shield]: Defense 49, Durability 300. Doubles defense against ranged physical attacks. Weakness: Easily burned by fire.
This basic shield was standard gear for adventurers. The Durability was like the item's HP, basically giving them an extra 300 health buffer. Against most monsters, it made it hard to kill a human in one hit. Equipment was always humanity's ace in the hole. Even an Earth Dragon would have trouble smashing through their shields to kill the person behind it.
However, what they saw next was utterly terrifying.
The Earth Dragon's blue mana bar was draining rapidly.
"What's happening? This Earth Dragon actually has skills?!" the Appraiser exclaimed in shock. And judging by the mana cost, this wasn't just some basic skill!
When he focused his Appraisal on Elliot's skill list and saw the description for [Tendo Bansho LV 5], his blood ran cold.
Summon a giant meteor from the heavens. Petrifies all enemies within range upon impact, dealing massive damage based on 33% of the caster's Max HP!
How?! How could a mere Earth Dragon have such a monstrous skill?! It was only a Level 5 hatchling!
"RUN! That Earth Dragon is casting its ultimate!" he screamed.
"What? Are you kidding me?"
"How could an Earth Dragon have an ultimate?"
"You gotta be joking!"
All the other adventurers thought the Appraiser was pulling their leg.
But before they could finish laughing, a colossal meteor materialized high above them, plummeting down like a rock from outer space.
BOOM.
Elliot's HP at Level 5 was 921. 33% of that was 307 damage. But that didn't even include the skill's base damage or the bonus from his Attack stat. And these humans weren't Elite monsters; very few of them at this level had over 500 HP.
In an instant, more than half of the adventurers present were vaporized.
"Killed Human, Gained Experience. You have Leveled Up!"
"Killed Human, Gained Experience. You have Leveled Up!"
"Killed Human, Gained Experience. You have Leveled Up!"
The level-up notification chimed three times in quick succession. The massive EXP boost from killing humans shot Elliot straight up to Level 8.
….
Seriously, humans gave so much experience. Killing a dozen of them boosted him three whole levels instantly. No other monster type would give that kind of EXP. Humans really were the favored children of this world.
"You have successfully slaughtered humans above your own level. Achievement Unlocked: Butcher"
[Butcher]: Increase EXP gained from killing humans by 20%. Gain 1 bonus skill point for every human killed. Inflict 'Deterrence' on humans (effect strength varies).
Whoa, killing humans actually gave him another title skill? And this one boosted human EXP gain by 20%? Since human EXP was already high, a 20% boost was insane.
Even crazier? Killing humans now gave him skill points! Skill points were incredibly valuable. The temptation to farm humans for points was almost irresistible!
"Got the Butcher title, huh? Guess I can kiss any chance of joining the human faction goodbye," Elliot mused. With this skill, hunting humans was vastly more efficient for leveling and gaining points than hunting anything else.
Once you got used to the rapid progress from killing humans, grinding slowly on other monsters would feel like torture. This title basically forced him into opposition with humanity.
Not that Elliot ever planned on joining them anyway. Humans constantly fought amongst themselves; they'd never tolerate an Earth Dragon stronger than them existing peacefully in their midst.
Imagine if a monkey somehow gained human-level intelligence and abilities, became a CEO, dated human women, and was better than humans in every way.
How long before that monkey mysteriously 'fell' out of a window? In human society, humans were supposed to be at the top.
Anything challenging that authority was seen as a threat. When a monkey's abilities surpassed humans, that itself became the ultimate crime, punishable by death. That was why Elliot could never truly join them.
Back to the scene. All dozen or so humans were dead. [Tendo Bansho] hadn't even needed its petrification effect; the raw damage alone was enough to wipe them out. The damage really was high.
And this wasn't even its full potential. Since the damage scaled with 33% of his maximum HP, later on, when his HP reached hundreds of thousands or millions, a single [Tendo Bansho] would deal truly catastrophic damage. Not to mention, it was also an incredibly powerful crowd control skill.
In this world, the duration of its petrification likely scaled with his HP too. At 1000 HP, maybe it was 4 seconds. But even 0.1 seconds of hard CC was more than enough time for Elliot to unleash devastating follow-up attacks.
Two words: Un-beatable! If even the gods comes and show their health bars, he felt like he could kill them as long as they have lower hp than him!
Kumoko watched the carnage unfold. Strangely, she didn't feel shocked anymore. More... numb. So many impossible things had already happened around this Earth Dragon. She just felt incredibly lucky he was on her side.
….
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