Ronan held onto the shaft of Thurg's Razorspear with both hands. The barbed tip of his weapon was buried deep in Magriz'al the hobgoblin champion's eye.

Hanging in the air, he could only watch in disappointment as the monster's mouth snapped shut around his waist. He had given it his all, put every moment of training and pain into this fight, but it seemed he would still die here.

At the final moment, before victory could turn into despair, he saw the light fading from the monster's eyes. His mouth curled upwards, a sorrowful smile.

He had won this time, but at what cost? Even death could not stop Magriz'al's final attack. Ronan screamed as the rough edges of its teeth sheared through skin, flesh, and bone.

You have been hit by [Magriz'al the Crazed Lv.40]!

-137 Health [Piercing]

You are [Bleeding]!

-21 Health / second

His health points plummeted, but his mind could only focus on the horrible sensation of his body being torn in two. The moment stretched into an agonising eternity.

Then, he felt his stomach lurching. He first wondered if it was because it was falling out of the bottom of his torso, but the monster hadn't bitten that far.

Instead, the creature's corpse was tumbling forwards, with Ronan locked in its mouth. He braced for the impact, but at the last moment he felt himself thrown to one side. "Ronan! Are you still alive?" he heard Keith yelling, though his voice was faint.

With every passing second his mind slipped further and further away. He saw two shadows looming overhead, but his vision was blurry and their forms indistinct.

Dancing the line between life and death, he heard a hateful chime that reminded him of the prison his life had become. Yet the sound he had grown to hate most was what saved his life.

A wave of rejuvenation flooded every cell in his body. He felt the pressure on his waist lessening. His thighs burned.

So this is what it feels like to have your limbs regrown, his jumbled mind connected the dots. Usually leveling up was a comforting warmth, but this time it was a searing sea of needles that tore through his flesh.

He didn't even dare to guess how many levels slaying the boss had earned. At least half a dozen at minimum. The flood of stats caused his body to cannibalise and reforge itself during the healing process.

It was a double edged sword that he did his best to ignore. Only by focusing on the words floating in his vision, reading them one at a time, could he stop himself from fainting. Although this pain would be easier to handle unconscious, Ronan inwardly joked.

"I think you're the first man I've met who's lived through being bitten in half," he heard Keith's voice as though he were underwater, interrupting his focus.

Ronan blinked twice and looked towards the sound. "Have you met many guys who were bitten in half?" he rasped in reply.

Keith chuckled and held out a hand, which he gladly took. Even though the pain was gone, the mental scars left by the battle remained. Every time he blinked Ronan felt the hobgoblin biting through his flesh and bone.

The only silver lining to the whole situation was that they had finally won. They had killed that unkillable monster.

Of course, the rewards for that were equally satisfactory—it was that notification which had kept Ronan sane. He looked through it once more now that he had recovered a little of his faculties.

You have killed [Magriz'al the Crazed — BOSS][Lv.40 Hobgoblin Champion]!

Experience has been split among your party members!

Party Experience Bonus has been applied!

+3 Bronze Credits

+84 Copper Credits

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+13 [Pain] Mastery

+14 [Spear I] Mastery

+13 [Stamina] Mastery

+9 [Stamina I] Mastery

+Hobgoblin Fingers (Uncommon)

+Bone Charm Lv.40 (Uncommon)

+Boss Shard Lv.40 (Body)

You have leveled up to Lv.28!

You have leveled up to Lv.29!

You have leveled up to Lv.30!

You have leveled up to Lv.31!

You have leveled up to Lv.32!

You have leveled up to Lv.33!

You have been restored x6!

+6 Vitality

+12 Endurance

+12 Strength

+6 Resistance

+6 Tenacity

+6 Charisma

+12 Free Stat Points

Now that he wasn't overwhelmed by emotion and pain did he realise there were quite a few more blinking messages screaming for his attention. Before he bothered to read them however, there was a far more pressing matter.

"Are Dana and Terry alive?" he asked Keith, grabbing the man's arm hard enough to make him wince.

Ronan loosened his grip and apologised when he realised what he'd done. He needed to know if the others had survived.

In the chaos of the battle he hadn't been able to tell if they lived through the monster's strikes. Keith's sordid expression told him everything he needed to know.

"Dad, he-" Jackson began from beside them, before choking back a sob and glancing towards the side of the room.

Ronan rushed towards the giant, limp body without a second thought. However, the moment he drew close he realised it was too late.

The truth was, as soon as he laid eyes on Terry he had known. If the man was alive, then defeating the monster and leveling up would have healed him from whatever wounds he'd suffered.

"He wasn't as lucky as me," Dana said, appearing beside him. "Your suicidal heroics killed that big goblin bastard right before it pulped me. I only ended up losing a leg. It's fine now, obviously, but it didn't feel great when it was, y'know."

"Yeah, try regrowing both at the same time. Stings like a bitch," Ronan replied with a dry chuckle.

A soft slap echoed through the silent room. "If you want to know what a bitch's sting really feels like, try saying that again," Dana warned him with a cold smile.

I'm not sure if I deserved that, but at least I could feel it. After that… Damn it, Terry was the kind one. Why did he have to die? Ronan cursed.

He thought back to the moment before the dungeon, thinking he'd jinxed it by asking what Jackson would do without his dad. No, that's a dangerous line of thought. It wasn't my fault. Even so, he didn't quite believe himself.

Jackson knelt down beside his father's corpse. His tears dropped onto the big guy's shirt one after another, staining the fabric.

"He was the only reason I survived the first few stages," Jackson said, choking back his tears to speak. "I was so useless. It was only when I could do this," he spat, throwing a mana bolt against the wall in a shower of dust and shards of stone, "that I wasn't dead weight holding him back. Guess I'm still a useless piece of shit."

Ronan's heavy hand fell on the boy's shoulder and he hauled him to his feet. He turned Jackson's head to face him. He winced at the burning self-loathing and fury in the boy's eyes.

"Without you we'd all be dead and that ugly son of a gun would be standing over our corpses with a shit-eating grin," he said firmly. "Don't disrespect your father's sacrifice by calling yourself useless ever again."

A flash of realisation went through Jackson's eyes. Ronan could see that it would take time and perhaps more life experience for him to truly understand the sentiment, but for now it would do.

After releasing the kid back to his mourning, he turned to Dana and Keith. "Did you both get the shard?" he asked.

"Shard? Was that one of the boss drops?" Keith asked with confusion. Ronan couldn't believe the man's ignorance until he heard the second part of his sentence. "I couldn't focus on anything else once I read that this damn tutorial was over at last."

Ronan immediately opened the notifications he'd ignored earlier. The first one was, yet again, the boss kill message. The second was equally satisfying, but of less immediate concern.

You have reached the mastery cap for [Stamina]!

Stamina has evolved to Stamina I!

All stamina costs are reduced infinitesimally. Whenever you expend stamina to activate a skill or item, regain 2% of the expended stamina.

While he could appreciate the incredible utility that reaching tier I in stamina mastery provided, it paled in comparison to the next series of messages. Ronan had to pinch himself to make sure it was real.

Congratulations, you have cleared Stage 4 of the tutorial!

All basic system functions have been unlocked! Access will be restored once you exit the tutorial.

+2 Bronze Credits

+Myriad Skills Tome (Common)

+Endless Treasury Token (Rare)

Congratulations challenger, you have completed all stages of the tutorial! Your accomplishments ring out through the reaches of the system and you have been deemed worthy.

Tutorial Assessment — [Ronan Steele]:

Difficulty: Normal

Kill Rating: B-

Speed Rating: A

Boss Rating: B

Accomplishment Rating: A+

Overall Rating: B+

For clearing the tutorial at [Normal] difficulty with a [B+] rating, you receive the following rewards:

+10 Free Stat Points

+5 Bronze Credits

+Endless Treasury Token (Common) x2

+Rift Key (Common)

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