Read MMORPG: Rebirth as an Alchemist - 113 At the end of the Lair online free - Novelfull
It was bright inside the Tieflings' Hidden Lair coming from the torches hanging on the wall. A thick layer of dust and sand coated everything with a pale fuzz. Piles of stones and crumbled walls lay slumped at the corners.
A patch of the stonework here had decayed and crumbled, leaving fragments scattered on the ground. A charred crescent of metal was all that remained of a pair of broken manacles.
From a distance, Ren and Lily heard a faint noise that could be a growling creature, or something, scraping across the floor. It resonated through the halls.
There were also faint sounds of stone tapping on stones, and a sharp, clear patter noise suddenly jolted down the hall coming from the decaying ceiling above. It seemed like any moment, the place would cave in.
Ren walked the main hallway that could fit at least ten people side by side, and he knew that what he'd face was going to be in numbers. That was how COVENANT was designed. The narrower the path, the lesser the enemies they would face at every meter or so. And the broader the path, the many enemies they would face at specific distance.
Ren was a little worried because the Tieflings Level might not be the same as aboveground.
However, his worries were unwarranted faced with his first Tieflings bout. Ren used [Probe] on one of the four Tieflings before he sighed in relief.
The Tieflings were on the same level as above, but Ren wasn't complacent. The Tieflings he would face near the Boss's room might be a whole new level.
Without wasting any more time, Ren fought the Tieflings while Lily just took a step back. She didn't want to do anything with those humans with devil skin and horns. If she had a chance, she would snatch Pii right off Ren's shoulder and run for it.
Or better yet, log out from the game?
Lily believed that once she had Pii, she would automatically acquire it as a Pet, not knowing that the game didn't work that way. She only just arrived in the game at its opening, so she and her friends were just noobs.
A pet could never be stolen from another player. But it could be given to another Animist or Hunter as a gift. However, it could be stolen if it was just an egg since the system considered it an item.
Ren swiftly moved to the side at the incoming Tieflings. Back against a wall, he made sure that the Tieflings couldn't land a critical hit against him while he simultaneously cast water balls at the horned humans.
Lily just watched Ren fight the four Tieflings in awe. She forgot once more that it was Pii she was here for and not admiring Ren fight.
But there was something about the man that Lily's eyes kept coming back to him. It was either how he fought and killed his opponent within seconds or how he moved gracefully like his every step was calculated.
It was mesmerizing from an outsider's point of view, especially since he defeated his opponent within minutes without even breaking a sweat.
Lily only recovered after Ren journeyed forward without a word.
"H-hey wait . . ." Lily immediately went after Ren and stayed a meter behind him. She was uneasy because the scenery suddenly changed into something like vast abandoned halls, giant pillars supporting the ceiling, and bones scattering at every corner.
There were even vermin running to and fro, and Lily froze when something ugly and hairy went passed through her boots. Then and there, she wanted to log out, but . . . her green eyes strayed at Pii, and her hesitation disappeared.
If she logged out now, she would never have this chance again. She would never meet Pii again.
Lily's face brightened when she thought of something.
In comparison, Ren's face crumpled when a notification pooped on his screen. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
[Player Lily is sending you a Friend Request]
Ren didn't have to turn back to know that the girl was looking at him with expectant eyes. He felt her heated stare piercing his back.
Ren really underestimated the desperation of the woman to own Pii. He really thought that she would give up after a minute or two and scurry back to her friends.
However, he didn't care and didn't have the time to babysit anyone right now.
Lily's lips curved into a charming smile as she waited for Ren's reply. She was confident that Ren would accept her invitation. She personally sent one, and he should feel special and honored right now. He was the first person she ever sent a friend request while dozens lined in her list for her to accept their invitation.
With a notification popping on her screen, Lily's smile fell right off her face. Not only did Ren declined the request, but he also blocked her like he knew that she would spam the request nonstop if he didn't accept.
Lily's cheeks puffed, and she felt her body heated. She was consumed with the emotions of anger, shock, frustration, and something that she couldn't put a finger on . . . a foreign feeling that she realized was amusement.
Why she felt like that was beyond her. Maybe because there was finally someone who wouldn't succumb to her charms?
"Why didn't you accept?" grumbled Lily, voice like a whisper. But with all the silence, she was sure that Ren heard it.
And she was right, Ren did heard her, and he chose not to answer while Lily complained some incoherent words.
Ren tried his best to ignore the girl who was still tailing her nonstop. He was only glad that Lily was quiet though her silence was piercing. It made anyone feel uncomfortable.
Pii was just staying close around Ren's neck, so the latter thought that the cave was just a straight path with no hidden rooms. If there were rooms, they were visible, and in those rooms were regular chests guarded by low lever dessert beast.
After traversing almost an hour in the Tieflings' Hidden Lair and defeating a bunch of Tieflings and some beasts along the way, Ren and Lily finally rounded a corner towards a giant arch where they heard faint whispers. And with it, they saw figures of statues made of stones along the way in different poses. One thing in common with these statues was their horror-stricken eyes.
Ren stopped while Lily bumped against Ren's back when the latter suddenly paused. She took a step back and rubbed her nose.
"What is it? Are you finally going to give Pii to me?"
"Hush." Ren hissed, and Lily immediately clamped her mouth shut at the sudden brash action, and she stomped her feet when Ren didn't even spare her a glance when he walked ahead.
Come to think of it. Ren hadn't even looked at her once the moment they entered the Lair.
This man . . . Lily thought but didn't finish her sentence when Ren walked forward and checked what was going on behind the giant arch.
Upon inspection, Ren's eyes bulged at what he saw.
Inside a large hall enough to fit ten Hogs, where the only light was coming from the twin moons above a large hole in the ceiling, dozens of Tieflings were surrounding an altar. And on that altar was a massive beast in chains while the Shaman Tiefling was chanting and feeding it [KangKong Balls].
The shaman had skin like amethysts, and its two horns were bigger than the rest, curling on his forehead before twisting upward. His long dark hair was braided while his eyes were obsidian black.
Oh . . . so that's why they stole those [KangKong Balls]. Ren mused to himself before he used [Probe] on the Shaman Tiefling and the Serpent like Beast.
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—-
ǁ A M O L
S H A ‖
Location: Ada's Ruined Temple
Description:
"The Spiritual World is but a sentence away."
Born in the slums and poorest country in the desert, Amol Sha quickly adapts to his environment to protect himself. A Master Shaman took him in as a student after a faithful encounter.
Using his shamanic knowledge, he became a leader of the Tieflings in the desert. With his lead, he pillaged, stole, and killed all for the sake of building his Kingdom one day.
His evil deeds earned him a spot on the bounty list and Daily Jinx. He is a wanted Criminal sought after by bounty hunters and soldiers alike.
As of now, he plans to control a Greater Basilisk to wreak havoc in all cities and kingdoms in the desert.
‖ A T T R I B U T E ‖
HP: 7 000
MP: 1000
STRG: 20 5 [Domain Bonus]
DEF: 25 10 [Domain Bonus]
MDF: 100
INT: 200 50 [Domain Bonus]
AGL: 70 5 [Domain Bonus]
LCK: 20
‖ D A M A G E
R E S I S T A N C E S ‖
All Magical Attacks
‖ D A M A G E
I M M U N I T I E S ‖
All Status Effect
‖ C O N D I T I O N
I M M U N I T I E S ‖
All Status Effect
‖ W E A K N E S S ‖
Physical Damage
‖ S K I L L S S P E L L S
Passive Skill:
Spirit Protection
No status effect is effective against Amol Sha.
Racial Advantage
Amol Sha is immune to fire and burn. And due to his race, he can see in the dark and is nimble on his feet.
Active Skill:
Spirit Call LV.5
–– Amol Sha can call any elemental spirit to aid him in his fights, dealing magical damage to a single target.
–– Damage is equal to INT
–– 5 seconds cooldown
–– Cost –50 MP
Shamanic Ward LV.4
–– Amol Sha can summon a spiritual barrier around him to defuse both physical and magical damage
–– 20% reduction in Physical and Magical Damage
–– 10 seconds cooldown
–– Cost –100 MP
Spirit Conjuration LV.4
–– Amol Sha can cast multiple spirits to aid him in battle, dealing AoE magical damage to his enemies.
–– 10 seconds cooldown
–– Cost –150 MP
‖ E N D ‖
ǁ G R E A T E R
B A S I L I S K ‖
Location: Ada's Ruined Temple
Description:
"Wherever this beast crawled, lines of statues followed."
A century-old serpentine basilisk that lived through time. One of the most fearsome and dangerous creatures a traveler might encounter roaming the desert. It is feared not only for its terrifying size and petrifying gaze but also for its potent venom.
Captured and bound by Amol Sha, this beast follows all the evil Shaman's every command.
For Amol Sha to continue bind the beast to him, he needed the famed [KangKong Balls, which is a known favourite to many creatures, and continually feed it to the beast.
‖ A T T R I B U T E ‖
HP: 20 000
MP: 5 000
STRG: 400
DEF: 250 ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
MDF: 170
INT: 100
AGL: 200
LCK: 40
‖ D A M A G E
R E S I S T A N C E S ‖
Piercing [Non-Magic]
Slashing [Non-Magic]
‖ D A M A G E
I M M U N I T I E S ‖
Poison
Burn
‖ C O N D I T I O N
I M M U N I T I E S ‖
Sleep
Petrify
‖ W E A K N E S S ‖
Water
Ice
‖ S K I L L S S P E L L S
Passive Skill:
Tail Attack
The Greater Basilisk can deal damage with its tail after a successful hit.
100% Poison effect if DEF and LCK is higher.
Nature Advantage
The Greater Basilisk can burrow underneath in the desert for a surprise attack.
100% Critical damage upon a successful hit.
Petrifying Gaze
–– the Greater Basilisk can turn anyone into a statue if its enemy meets its terrifying gaze.
Active Skill:
Bite LV.5
–– the greater Basilisk can deal a lot of damage on a single target, and its bite might inflict Poison
–– 50% success of Poison if LCK is higher
–– 5 seconds cooldown
–– Cost –50 MP
Crunch LV.4
–– the Greater Basilisk can deal true damage to a single target
–– 40% success of Critical Hit if STR is higher than DEF of enemies
–– 10 seconds cooldown
–– Cost –100 MP
Spit Poison LV.7
–– the Greater Basilisk can spit a large ball of Poison on an area dealing Poison damage and status effect upon a successful hit.
–– 15 seconds cooldown
–– Cost –200 MP
‖ E N D ‖
Ren replaced [Snuff Light] and [Shadow in the Night] in his mind palace with the Shaman's [Shamanic Ward] and [Spirit Conjuration].
[Petrifying Gaze] was good and all but it required him to remove his cloak and show his eyes. It was useful in his other identity but most of the time when he's hiding in his cloak, it was useless. And he couldn't afford to erase anymore skill in his Mind Palace at the moment.
He then swallowed hard as his gaze drifted once more in the hall.
If it was the Shaman alone, he was confident he could defeat it. However, faced with dozens of Tieflings and a Greater Basilisk, Ren would definitely die a horrific death. And he was sure that the EXP penalty for that was huge.
Ren already got the information he needed. There was no need to stay here any longer. He would go back to this place after he was better prepared. He deduced that he needed at least ten members or so to clear this lair.
Ren was about to turn back as quietly as he could when he didn't expect to find Lily blocking his path, extending a hand at him.
"Give me Pii, or I'll scream and get their attention," she demanded. It seemed like Ren was about to turn back upon the face of so many Tieflings, and she took advantage of it. She didn't care if she died since she was just starting anyway.
". . ." Ren was silent for a moment before he released a deep breath. He had enough of the girl. He took Pii and handed it to her extending hand.
Pii just looked at Ren with its big eyes and chirp. Its head shifted from Ren to Lily like it didn't know what was happening.
Lily caught her breath when she finally felt Pii in her arms. It was soft and silky to the touch, like the most expensive silk.
Lily face brightened into a wide smile. Good thing that she persisted until this part. Now she had her own pet.
Without turning back, Lily immediately logged out with a big grin on her face while hugging Pii close to her.
Ren just smirked while he crossed his hands upon the sight of the disappearing girl. He shook his head when Lily even stuck out her tongue at him.
And before Lily could thoroughly disappear, Ren called Pii to him, and the creature immediately flew to his neck.
Lily was stunned before she checked her hands and found that Pii was really gone. What happened?! She thought that she had already acquired it!
Wasn't it how it was supposed to be?
When the only thing left of Lily was her head, Ren grinned and said, "Let me tell you this. A pet can only be given as a gift to an animist or hunter. Best remember that in the future."
Ren's tone was mocking, and it was enough to make Lily scream at the top of her lungs with a vengeance just as her mouth disappeared until she fully logged out from the game.
However, short as it was, Lily's scream was heard by the Tieflings, and their piercing eyes zeroed at the archway where Ren was standing.
That girl . . . Ren cursed under his breath.
[WARNING! The Tieflings have spotted you!]
[Engage!]
There was no other option and Ren could no longer log out or flee. The only thing he could do was die a horrific death.
Ren gritted his teeth.
That girl was nothing but trouble. If he knew this would happen, he should have fed her to the Tieflings!
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When Lily got out of her Pod, she screamed into her pillow so loud her entire body shook. She was never this frustrated and angry in her entire life. To the point that she didn't even know what to do with her emotions but cry in anger and irritation.
The last time she remembered crying and screaming her lungs out was when her parents refused to buy her a tea cup kitten and a pug. She got sick for days until her parents finally did what she asked. It was so long ago. So long but she remembered it vividly like it just happened yesterday.
After that, it never happened again . . . until today that is.
All her life, she was never faced with a setback. All her wants and needs were given to her and so much more with just a simple dimple smile on her lips.
Never did she expect that there would be a point in her life that she would face someone so rude, so unsympathetic, so unfeeling, and so . . . cold.
Was he even human?
She just wanted Pii! What was so wrong with that?
It was not like he couldn't get another one of those.
Lily bit her bottom lip. "Ren," she hissed through the gap of her gnashing teeth. Why was he so stingy? And why wouldn't her charms work against him?
Was he even human?
The big ball of blazing anger never dissipated no matter what Lily did, so she messaged Zach and the others.
Ignoring their hundreds of messages and calls and their insurmountable worry for her, she typed.
[Lily: I was killed by Ren]
Lily smirked. Let's see if he wouldn't have a hard time now. She bet that all her friends would go against Ren now.
Better yet . . . why don't she just post it to her legions of fans?
Too bad that she didn't have a picture of Ren. There were no camera features in the game which she would complain later to the developers.
[Zach: WHAT?! That asshole!]
[Kylie: What happened?]
[Josh: Where are you? Are you okay?]
[Zach: What exactly happened?]
[Kylie: Are you in your house? I'm coming right now]
Lily didn't reply and turned off the message box. The more her friends didn't know what happened, the more they would become furious at Ren.
Lily released a deep breath and somehow calmed down and regained her bearing. After she did that, she left her room and went to the next room beside hers.
She knocked on the door and waited for a few seconds before she heard a baritone tone ushering her to come in.
"Brother, are you busy?" Lily asked the moment she opened the door and stumbled upon a man with clean cut black hair, a sharp jaw, piercing eyes, and an unblemished handsome face. He looked like a strict military man even though he was just wearing a simple shirt and pajamas. His hair was still wet while he was studying something on his table.
"Brother Scar?" Lily called. "Are you still studying that cave?"
Scar lifted his head from the papers on his table and looked at his little sister. "Lily. Did you just get back from the game? How's Salty Pink Desert?"
At the memory, Lily pouted, and it didn't escape Scar's notice.
"I see that something happened?" Scar knew his little sister, and no one could make Lily pout like that but him and their parents.
Something must have really upset her. Scar thought and braced himself.
It was only a moment that an emotion slipped on Lily's face before she said in a low and slow voice, "I met a player named Ren."
At the mention of the name, Scar's eyelid twitched. For some reason, his mind drifted to the man together with Mike and Saya. The Ren who was an Arcanist.
And then, he suddenly think of the Ren that Nikolai told him. The one he was about to call.
Was it just a coincidence?
Scar shook his head and huffed a laugh. That couldn't be. There were so many Ren in the game, and he couldn't be the man his little sister said. Such would be too much of a coincidence.
"And?" Scar urged for Lily to continue.
"That man had a pet. Like a really cute pet. A very cute pet. A very, very adorable pet."
"Alright. Alright. I got it." Scar stifled a laugh. "And let me guess. You really wanted his pet, but he didn't give it to you?"
Lily's eyes went wide, and she nodded her head vigorously. Leave it to her brother to know everything.
"Yes. Please go to this man and ask him to give his pet to me."
Scar looked Lily in the eyes before he shook his head a little. Since young Lily was spoiled because she was so cute and angelic, even the coldest heart would melt upon her smile and charming, innocent face.
Their parents and even he succumb to her every whim with just a cry from her lips.
"Are you sure this Ren isn't an NPC?" Scar asked, amused since no one could resist her little sister's charms.
Lily immediately shook her head. "I watched him fight ten Tieflings alone."
That got Scar's attention. "Ten Tieflings?"
"Scary human with horns."
"I know what they are. I'm asking if those Tieflings were strong. Did you fight one? What numbers are their ATPs?"
If this Ren turned out to be a player whose ATP was already high to solo those ten Tieflings, then . . . he might recruit him to his guild.
However, Lily elegantly shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't fight one. They're scary."
Scar sighed. "And you want me to convince this Ren to give his pet to you?"
Lily nodded. "You're the leader of Black Lion. You can do it, brother. Everyone follows your orders."
"What's he even look like? Do you have his game number so I could call him?"
"No. He didn't accept my friend request. And his face is hidden by a hood. But his pet is so cute."
Scar's eyes widened upon hearing that. There was actually a man who declined Lily's friend request?
Scar wanted to laugh, but his sister's cheeks were already pouting evident that she was very upset.
"I can't help you if you don't even know his face or have his number."
"But . . ." Lily's eyes shook, and her chin crumpled, while Scar's heart melted.
"However, I will have someone look for this Ren you speak of," Scar immediately said so Lily wouldn't burst out crying.
Though that would be hard without any lead but the man's pet. Scar thought to himself.
Lily's downcast face immediately brightened. "Thank you, brother. You're the best!" she jumped into Scar and circled her arms around his neck while rubbing her cheeks against his.
"Tell me the appearance of his pet at least."
Lily tried to recall, finger over her chin as she said, "Hmm . . . it's black. It has a beck like a bird but has a body of a dragon or serpent and . . . it has fluffy ears, tail and . . . it has wings . . ."
Lily sighed. "And It's so cute . . ."
"I see. I will look into it as soon as I can." Scar rubbed Lily's head while he thought of something. A hunter or animist that already has a pet?
That's interesting. Scar's urge to rope this Ren into his guild intensified even more.
"Oh, and by the way," Lily added, "I think he is a mage."
". . ." Scar was silent, processing what he heard before he asked with an unsure voice, "Mage . . . that had a pet?"
Lily nodded. "Yes. I saw him use Water spells so many times." She didn't know anything about the game, so she didn't realize that what she said was unusual. She just entered it because she wanted to see mystical and fantastical cute beasts.
Scar's interest in Ren intensified. A mage that had a pet. Or he must be a dark mage like him that already managed to level his class into a [Conjurer]. A Conjured Beast?
Scar shook his head. That wasn't possible this early in the game. The [Conjurer] was the final evolve class of a Dark Mage. There was no way that the man had already reached that amount of ATP to upgrade his class.
Then . . . a rare class perhaps?
Scar's eyes shone.
Lily was still talking nonstop about her experience in the desert, but she might as well be invisible since Scar's entire focus was on this man, Ren. He even momentarily forgot about his problem with Vulcan's Cave.
If Ren indeed had a rare class, then Scar wanted to find him all the more. If he recruited a player with a rare class, his guild would surely benefit from it.
"Tell me, where is this Ren going?" Scar asked, eager to find out that he even cut Lily from her speech.
Lily was shocked that her brother suddenly butted in while she was still talking before she thought for a moment.
"Hmm . . . if I heard it right . . . I think he asked that pig about going to . . . Kar . . . lol . . ."
"Kartacol?" finished Scar.
Lily immediately nodded. "Yes. That's the place."
Scar's smile widened, and he called the guild to have someone go to Kartacol and find this Ren, a mage with a strange black pet.
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—-
Shit!
Shit!
Ren cursed nonstop in his head. He heard a rattle of hinges and a loud thump of a massive stone against the ground, shaking the earth, and he knew that his escape route was no more.
There was no escaping his death.
Shit!
Ren was thinking overtime. He was frying his brain for a solution to his current predicament. He was sure that he would die, and the EXP penalty would undoubtedly wreak his ATP.
The only advantage he would have was the information and firsthand experience of fighting Amol Sha and the Greater Basilisk.
If he were going to die, then at least he would die fighting. He would try his best to know Amol Sha's pattern of attacks and, if he could, reduce its HP enough for it to enter berserk mode.
Sweat ran down to the side of Ren's cheeks before he pressed engaged and he immediately casted [Multiattack, and two Tieflings disappeared at the single strike.
At least the Tieflings were still low-level. Ren released a breath and held his ground when dozens of Tieflings swarmed in his direction.
But since Ren's back was hugging the wall, they could only face him head-on and couldn't target him from behind, avoiding any critical attack.
As he braced for the little damage, the Tieflings gave him, Ren cast [Spirit Conjuration] at the same time. The spell casting time was longer than the rest of his spell, but the effect would surely kill those dozens of Tieflings in no time.
After seconds, Ren was enveloped with a faint white light before those light particles concentrated on the end of his staff and burst into tiny balls of energy. This energy sought its target like a bullet, and any Tieflings who were hit instantly blasted into particles.
Ren's face brightened when he thought that he could actually do it until he saw a bright red light at the corner of his eyes, coming his way fast.
He was about to evade when his [Long Staff] suddenly broke. His weapon's durability instantly went zero at just casting that spell. His [Long Staff] only had 20 weapon durability left, but he thought it would last him until his fight with Amol Sha.
Ren never knew that the [Spirit Conjuration] would steal so much durability from his weapon. He should expect that and used a [Grinding Stone] before the start of the fight, but he was consumed with so many thoughts that it totally slipped him.
With the interference of his broken weapon, Ren got side-track and didn't have the chance to move from his spot, and he was hit straight on by a blazing inferno.
â" 240
Ren was shocked at the damage, and his eyes shifted to Amol Sha. The Shaman's INT was high than his MDEF. Way higher. Two hits from that, and he would say goodbye to his ATP.
Ren gritted his teeth and drank numerous [Health Potions] to recover his HP before he moved towards the spacious hall.
There were only four Tieflings left, so they didn't pose any threat anymore. The wider area gave him so much free space to avoid Amol Sha's attacks. Ren didn't have to fear the Tieflings' damage but Amol Sha.
Ren was only glad that the Greater Basilisk wasn't attacking. But he wasn't complacent and avoided his eyes at the beast no matter what happened. Least he wanted to turn into stone.
"I see that we have a rat snooping around here," Amol Sha said. His voice was hissing like a lizard, and its obsidian black eyes were piercing straight to the soul.
"A puny little sprite dares to enter my lair? Tell me, vermin, how did you enter this place?"
"Through the entrance."
Amol Sha's lips rose before he grinned, showing his fangs. "No matter. You won't escape from here alive. Finish him!"
At Amol Sha's signal, the remaining Tieflings all surrounded Ren and attacked from all sides.
Ren summoned his spare [Long Staff, and this time, he would pay attention to its durability.
While avoiding Amol Sha's [Spirit Call, Ren focused his attacks on the four Tieflings. He would clean the bugs first before facing the main Boss, and everything would start from there.
Ren released another round of [Spirit Conjuration] when the Tieflings got close to him, and before they could damage him with their weapons, a burst of hazy light pierced them like an arrow. The Tieflings released an angry cry before they ruptured into particles.
Ren immediately used a [Grinding Stone] on the [Long Staff]. Since the [Long Staff] was just a standard weapon, it could only withstand high-level spells at least two to three times. That was how the equipment in COVENANT works.
Sometimes, there wasn't any information on how much durability a spell would cost a weapon, and the players would just curse out loud when their equipment suddenly broke, like what happened to him a while ago.
There was only one rule regarding weapons and durability in COVENANT. The rarer the weapon, the lesser the durability, but in return, it could withstand more high-level spells compared to common items.
After all his minions were killed, Amol Sha was so angry the veins on his neck and face bulged, and he roared, "Greater Basilisk, kill that annoying rat!"
The Greater Basilisk's eyes shone with killing intent before it slithered to Ren within a blink, wreaking destruction in its path. Its massive body felt like a feather before its enormous jaw took a bit at Ren's shoulder.
And since Ren was avoiding the Greater Basilisk's eyes and not to mention Amol Sha's barrage of attacks, he didn't manage to avoid the large incoming fangs his way.
The Greater Basilisk dealt a massive blow to Ren's HP, leaving it only to 14.
Ren was about to consume [Health Potions] when another wave of spell came his way while the giant serpent made of rocks didn't allow him to rest or make any counterattack. Its tail was already whipping in his direction, and Ren knew one hit from that, he would die with an enormous ATP reduction.
Ren gritted his teeth. He didn't even manage to reduce Amol Sha's HP to even one, much less have it enter Berserk mode.
As he thought, even with his high ATP, he couldn't face two Bosses alone. He at least needed two Tanks. One for Amol Sha and one for the Greater Basilisk and preferably five DPS, five Magic users, and three healers.
Ren smiled bitterly at himself. Even faced with death, he was still strategizing what he should do in the future.
In that small window of time, Ren continued to struggle until his last. He used [Teleportation] just in time that the Greater Basilisk's tail hit his after image before its massive end smashed against the ground hard that the floor quake, creating a deep fissure from where he stood just a fraction of seconds ago.
However, Ren wasn't out from death's grip just yet.
At the corner of his eyes, a ravaging gust of wind was approaching his way, and he knew that his struggle had come to an end.
He just chose the one he knew that wasn't painful and gruesome. Being hit by a magic spell was better than being squashed by a heavy giant tail. He thought.
Ren knew he couldn't escape this while Amol Sha's grin widened in triumph.
Ren was about to close his eyes at his impending doom when a ball of dark light shot forward, blocking the attack that was supposed to end him.
Pii?!
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Pii?
Ren was shocked when little Pii took the hit. It gave a loud, resounding cry while its HP went down fast, and Ren thought Pii would burst into particles and return to his [Pet] menu to rest.
But against all odds, its HP steadied at one before its tiny body was enveloped with faint glowing dark hues.
Ren's eyes widened, and he shouted in alarm when Pii's body cracked like it turned into an egg before a blinding light consumed the whole area.
The ground quaked when massive four paws struck the floor, followed by a resonating RoOaArR that shook the place.
When the dust settled and the light dissipated, Ren gasped when another giant beast graced the battlefield.
The titanic beast was dark in color that its shadows paled in comparison. Static of bluish electricity sparkled on its two massive wings, whip-like tail, breasts, and limbs. It has a frame of a reptile and has four paws that have four sharp talons each. Its head was like an adorable fox, but its jaws were like a dragon. Two long curvy horns were protruding at the side of its fluffy ears.
It was both adorable and scary at the same time. The contrast really made anyone's heart beat a hundred times more.
But what shocked Ren that his jaw even drop was the name on top of the beast's head.
Pii?
Using [Probe, Ren immediately checked Pii's stats.
Ç P I I 's
E V O L V E F O R M â–
The evolved form of Pii once its HP reaches 1.
It took the accumulative ATP of its present enemies and doubled it, making it the most fearsome and adorable pet in Arcadia.
This form only last five minutes.
â– A T T R I B U T E â–
HP: 54 000
MP: 12 000
STR: 850
DEF: 570
MDF: 540
INT: 700
AGL: 700
LCK: 120
â– D A M A G E
R E S I S T A N C E S â–
â¶ All Magical Attacks
â· All Physical Attacks
â– D A M A G E
I M M U N I T I E S â–
â¶ All Status Effect
â– C O N D I T I O N
I M M U N I T I E S â–
â¶ All Status Effect
â– W E A K N E S S â–
â¶ None
â– S K I L L S S P E L L S
Passive Skill:
â¶ Wings
â"â" Grants the ability to fly and ignore all terrain restrictions.
â· Revenge
â"â" Upon successful hit against Pii, Pii can launch a counterattack of its own
Active Skill:
â¶ Pii's Breath MAX
â"â" Pii can deal a massive blow to enemies that would surely BLOW them away if their DEF is lesser than its STR.
â"â" Damage is equal to STR
â"â" 1 minute cooldown
â"â" Cost â"1000 MP
â· Rampage MAX
â"â" Pii entered berserk Mode and wreaked havoc in a large area dealing massive damage to its enemies. Damage is equal to its STR.
â"â" 100% Critical hit if STR is higher than enemies DEF
â"â" 1 minute cooldown
â"â" Cost â"1000 MP
â Lightning Charge MAX
â"â" A massive hurricane of thunder and lightning charge from Pii's core before launching its full power on its enemies with a vengeance.
â"â" 100% Critical hit if INT is higher than enemies' MDEF
â"â" 1 minute cooldown
â"â" Cost â"5000 MP
â– E N D â–
Ren couldn't get hold of his shock, and he turned into a statue. The little pet, who he thought to be just an adorable little bird who was a master of finding things, turned out to be a God.
Not only was Pii's spells were AoE damaged, but it had a hundred percent success rate of critical attack if its ATP was higher than its enemies. But since it took the ATP of its enemies and doubled it, it was like a hundred percent sure that a critical hit would happen.
It was really a broken pet, and Ren thanked the developers for once. They weren't kidding when they said Pii was COVENANT's most powerful pet.
And this pet was his.
Ren doubled over in laughter.
So this was what it meant by Evolution. Though it only triggered once a day and lasted five minutes, it was enough to defeat even a [World Boss]!
Ren couldn't hold back his grin. The disadvantage was that if others saw what Pii could do, they might kill him for it.
Ren was sure of it.
Pii was more than a very rare or even a piece of artifact equipment at this point.
Whoever his master was, he would sure to dominate COVENANT.
Ren decided to hide Pii until he really had no choice.
Pii would be his very last resort.
He would only summon the little creature to aid him in battle if only the two of them were fighting a Boss or a difficult enemy to defeat.
Ren didn't bother to save Pii's spells and skills to his [Mind Palace] because of the enormous amount of MP it required. His MP didn't even reach 500 yet. He would do it later when he had achieved the required MP for it.
RoOaArR!
Pii, let out another resounding roar that shook even Ren's heart. Though it still looked adorable and fluffy, its eyes were menacing, and its jaws were nothing but scary.
Pii was his pet, but Ren didn't know if it could differentiate enemies and foes at this point as it battled the Greater Basilisk.
Ren got out of the way when the two massive giants began to fight.
The Greater Basilisk coiled around Pii's body and tried to petrify it with its gaze. Pii just blinked before it struck its sharp, long talons against the Basilisk's eyes.
The Greater Basilisk let out a cry of its own, and Ren's eardrum almost burst from the wave. Its tight coil around Pii loosened, and it slithered back while shaking its head.
However, before the Greater Basilisk could take another glide away, Pii grabbed hold of its neck, and from its core, a glowing blue light illuminated the surroundings before a wide concreted beam of electricity shot from its mouth, hitting the Basilisk straight on its head.
The lightning was blinding and the power from it was enough to fling Ren away as well as some debris and shuttered walls. Even so, the Boss's room remained standing. But the Greater Basilisk was no more. Only light particles were flowing slowly, replacing its massive frame.
"N-no . . . t-that can't be! M-my pet!" Amol Sha had a terror-stricken face before it turned back and was about to escape at the newly opened corridor behind its back.
Ren guessed that once the Greater Basilisk was gone, Amol Sha would flee and he thought in order to defeat the shaman, he needed to kill that Tiefling first.
However, Amol Sha hadn't even taken his first step towards the corridor when he was squashed underneath by a giant paw and he burst into white particles without having the chance to scream.
And that was the end of Amol Sha and the Greater Basilisk.
Came with the victory was the resounding announcement.
CONGRATULATIONS on getting first blood from defeating the Hidden Boss, Amol Sha!
REWARDS:
â¶ 10,000 EXP
â· 50,000 Gil
â Crystal Chest x1
â Platinum Chest x1
⺠Gold Chest x2
Do you want to announce your achievement to the world?
YES
NO
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Ren still hadn't recovered when the announcement rang in his ears. His attention was still on Pii, who puffed back into his real appearance before it burst into tiny particles and dissipated into thin air.
Ren immediately checked his [Pet] section before he released a big sigh when he saw Pii sleeping in his pet house. It was curled underneath its paws with closed eyes. There was a warning on top of its head while its HP was flashing 1 in red color.
The warning said that he couldn't summon Pii until it recovered all its HP for at least a day. Ren didn't care if he couldn't summon it. He was just glad that Pii was still there in his [Pet] menu. He would surely go insane if Pii truly had been killed and vanished.
After ensuring that the little guy was still there, Ren pressed NO, and the announcement boomed in the sky.
Ren was doing merchant work, so he didn't need the fame right now. He didn't expect to win this fight, and the [Crystal Chest] came in as a surprise.
[ CONGRATULATIONS to player * on getting first blood from defeating the Hidden Boss, AMOL SHA! ]
Unlike the first time, the notification didn't get the stir it deserved since many notifications were already popping on the horizon, overshadowing the one Rin got.
However, major guilds who were paying close attention to the notifications, already had someone investigated the matter. A Hidden Boss was rare after all and its loots were still valuable. Not to mention the player who defeated it solo. They must recruit him at once.
But Ren didn't mind the commotion in those guilds. He was eager to check his acquired loots. He opened the chest, though he already knew what he would get with the [Crystal Chest].
However, unlike with the [Crystal Chest, he got from the Midnight Phantom, the one he got now only contained a single [Spell Book].
Ren was ecstatic, never the less. He planned to auction the [Spell Book] as soon as the in-game currency was already established in the game. It would definitely be worth a few millions.
The other noteworthy items were the [Basilisk Shield] that granted 40 DEF and 500 HP to Defender and Swordsman, [Greater Basilisk Core, [Shaman's Trinket] that lets Mages temporarily change class into a Shaman and acquired its spells and skills at their current ATP, and [Amol Sha's Staff] which granted 70 INT to Mages.
Ren planned to sell the shield and kept the rest for himself. He then left the underground lair and returned to the Oasis.
The moment Ren went back to the Oasis, he was immediately swarmed by Zach and Josh. Kylie logged out and went to Lily to ensure she was alright, while Ray logged out because his time was over at the cafÃ.
"You!" Zach raised his weapon the moment he saw Ren. But he hadn't taken another step forward when he was sent flying by rows of water balls and smashed on the ground face first.
"Zach!" Josh's eyes bulged, and he didn't know what to do but raised his weapon too. He never expected for Ren to retaliate without hesitation.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Ren warned, and Josh heisted at the seriousness in Ren's voice.
"You killed Lily!" Josh confronted, almost gnashing his teeth. He thought Ren was a good person for saving them yesterday night, but it turned out that he was the worst for killing a girl.
Just the thought of Lily getting killed without any fight was enough for him to tighten his weapon and storm Ren again when the latter said.
"How could I have killed her if PvP wasn't introduced in the game?"
"Liar!" Zach wiped the water off his face and took to his feet. "Lily said so!"
Ren sighed. "The fact that you're still standing here with an HP intact is the proof. And didn't you see those guys from yesterday night when I threw a bunch of water spells on them? Did they suffer any HP loss?"
". . ." Both Zach and Josh couldn't find their voice. Josh even checked Zach's HP and found it still at full. He then recalled that those guys who harassed them all had their HP intact after Ren's spell hit them.
"Then how did Lily die?! And why did she say that you killed her?! Lily couldn't be lying!" Zach sneered.
Ren wanted to smack the kid's head so they could see reason. He guessed that girl Lily must have brainwashed them to the point that they listened to her every word without seeing or hearing anything else.
"She logged out," Ren said simply. "She got mad because she couldn't have Pii and told a bunch of lies."
Ren then flexed his staff. "But of course, if you still don't believe me, we could always fight it out. I'm in a good mood today, so I let you boys go with just a spanking. How 'bout it?"
Josh hesitated while Zach swung his sword against Ren. The latter didn't even dodge and just used the end of his staff to negate Zach's weapon away before slapping his butt with the rod.
Zach yelped, and he flinched forward. He stumbled with his footing and almost slipped face-first on the ground.
Zach's teeth almost turned to dust from how hard he was grinding them. The veins on his neck and forehead were pounding hard against his skin while his eyes were cutting Ren into two.
"Y-you! You'll pay for that!" Zach screamed, face red and spit flying, before he went after Ren again.
Zach's handsome face was like a shadow of his former self as he battled Ren but came out defeated with each strike. The same thing kept happening. Zach attacked, and Ren evaded with his staff before slapping Zach's butt with the end of his weapon.
For a mage, Ren was docile and seemed to be floating as he avoided Zach's attacks. In comparison, Zach's anger was clouding his mind that he seemed to have lost connection with his brain, and he just kept striking his weapon aimlessly, hoping for the best.
Anyone who saw snickered and pointed at Zach's disheveled, panting and unsightly appearance. From the others' point of view, it seemed that Ren was only playing with the poor kid.
Zach saw blood, and his eyes were red from anger and frustration. Like any moment now, he would just slump on the floor and cry.
"Enough, Zach," Josh said and went to his friend, grabbing his shoulder, halting Zach from making a fool out of himself further.
"But! What about Lily?! We have to get revenge for her!" spat Zach.
Josh only shook his head. "Unless you can land a hit at him, it's pointless. He is just toying with you. Stop wasting your energy and embarrass yourself further. Let's just log out. It's pointless to play the game at this point."
At Josh's words, clarity returned in Zach's eyes. He then peeked at his surroundings and found that all eyes were on them. Some even pointed at him and snickered behind their fist.
Zach's face burst red, and he bit his lips and fisted his fingers before he faced Ren and growled a warning, "You're lucky that I have to check on Lily or else . . ."
Ren stifled a laugh behind his hood. A loser's last cry to regain some face but didn't know that it only made him look pathetic.
"Mark my words," threatened Zach and added, "I'll have you investigated andâ"!"
"And what?" cut in Ren. "Make my life harder by using your family's money?"
Zach caught his tongue, especially when the eyes of many started to change, and they began to point at him and whisper amongst themselves.
"You . . ." Zach didn't know how to proceed because that's what exactly he had in mind. But now that Ren pointed it out and the others looked at him weirdly like an entitled spoiled second generation young master while shaking their heads, Zach suddenly felt embarrassed, and this angered him even more.
"Just you wait! When I'm done with you, you'll wish that you have never met me! You'll come grovelling to my feet soon enough!" Zach yelled in an ugly manner, and all poise was thrown entirely out of the window.
Ren smirked. "I'll be waiting."
Zach glared at Ren before he pressed log out. At the same time, Josh looked at Ren in silence before he, too, logged out from the game.
Ren slightly shook his head before he went to Hoggy and gave all the [KangKong Balls] he accumulated. No more wasting time on those kids.
Upon receiving the items, Hoggy gasped, and its crescent eyes went wide in surprise and glee.
[Your Relationship Level with Hoggy increased]
"My KangKong Balls! How did you find so many?!"
"Let's just say . . . I got lucky."
—-
A/N
All BONUS Chapters will be posted on the first day of August. I have something to do tomorrow so no writing, 🣠but we will post a single chapter ğŸ
Thank you and Happy Weekends! ğŸ
CHEERS!
PS.
A/N doesn't consume coins. I posted this after I publish.
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"Let's just say . . . I got lucky."
Hoggy laughed and patted Ren's shoulder. "I think you have found all my stocks with this amount! Great! Great!"
He then snatched the Ox Horn from the side of his belly and blew it so loud that everyone who heard it felt like they momentarily passed out.
At the loud cry of the horn, everyone went back to the Oasis. They were shocked to find that the winner got almost more than a hundred [KangKong Balls] while they barely scraped ten from that amount of time.
And the others were even more surprised when they saw that it was just a solo player.
"How did you do it? Us three have a hard time fighting those Tieflings, and you defeat a bunch of them solo?" a player asked Ren.
The latter only said three words, "I got lucky." Before he went to Hoggy to claim his prize.
"What did he mean that he got lucky?"
"Maybe he found a hidden place or something where the Tieflings all stock their stolen goods?"
"Maybe."
While the others were still guessing with each other at how Ren achieved an impossible fit, Hoggy gave his promised special prize to the one who would give him the most [KangKong Balls].
"Chose one among the special items, Ren," Hoggy said with a smile.
Ren didn't expect that there would be a list of special items. Maybe the quest was some kind of a game, and whoever brought the most [KangKong Balls] would receive a prize from the special prize pool.
Browsing from the list, there were many valuable items in Hoggy's inventory, but the one thing that made Ren's eyes glow was the [Pink Zircov].
It was a rare precious stone that not many knew the value of if they sold it to a regular merchant in town. Even if they auctioned it, it wouldn't sell much.
However, selling it to the land of the elves was an entirely different matter. Those stones were the most expensive accessory material in the continent of the Elves. And the price even reach up to thousands of gil if he auctioned it.
Without a second thought, Ren picked that stone and double check if it safely reached his inventory. After making sure that it did, Ren gave Hoggy a big thanks while the latter nodded his head in glee.
"Alright. Now that my KangKong Balls are back in stocks. Let's hop into the road and resume our travels after thirty minutes!"
The crowd dispersed, and Ren was about to stretch his neck and limbs when someone patted his shoulder. Looking over, he saw a player looking at him with an awkward face while his companions were standing at the side, urging him on.
For some reason, this reminded Ren about those boys and girls, and his mood plummeted. But he guessed he still had to give thanks to Lily. If not for her, he couldn't have known Pii's real strength this early on. And he wouldn't have acquired another valuable [Spell Book].
"Uhm . . . Ren, right?" the player said, looking at the name over Ren's head. "My name is Adam. If you don't mind, can we ask where you get those hundred KangKong Balls?"
Ren was silent, and Adam didn't know why he felt intimidated even though he couldn't see Ren's face, and he rumbled on and on with a nervous stricken voice.
"W-we are planning to attempt this quest again, you see, and we appreciate it if you can share the information."
Ren looked at the man before he said with a straight voice, "How much?"
". . . Huh?"
"How much are you willing to give me for that information? And I mean real money."
Adam's eyes rounded. "You want real money for it?"
Ren only nodded, and this was the time when Adam's friends joined in.
"Can you just share it?" Nika said voice laced in irritation. "It's just a game, why ask real money for it? And you already acquired the special price."
Adam and his friends nodded, and someone added, "Yeah. We just want the information. It's not like you're going to die if you share it. Don't be so stingy and selfish. Help your fellow players."
Ren only smirked. He expected this reaction. He was the one who almost died acquiring the loot, and yet people expected him to just hand it out for free. And if he refused, they had the guts to get mad and call him names — shaming him for being selfish and what not.
"Alright." Ren's lips lifted into an evil smile. "Hundreds of meters north from here is a ruined temple. There's a woman's statue in there. Pressed her eyes, and a hidden lair will reveal before you.
"Inside, there are dozens of Tieflings at the end of the hallway. Each one of them holds ten Kangkong Balls. But don't worry, I'm sure you can defeat them. I defeated them solo as proof."
Adam and the others' faces brightened, and without saying a word of thanks, they turned and left.
Ren even heard them say.
"He is going to say it after all."
"What if he is lying?"
"We'll see."
"He is just playing hard to get."
"The audacity of him to ask real money for just a game?"
"Maybe he wants us to bend our knees and begged?"
"He wishes."
And they laughed.
Ren only shook his head while smiling underneath his evil thoughts. There was no way that those bunch could defeat Amol Sha with their ATP and numbers.
They wanted the information. They could have it. But if they got wiped out, then don't blame him.
Ren laughed to himself. The ATP damage would surely be huge enough for them to restart again.
Ren already got firstblood, and Amol Sha's information value was already much lesser than if he didn't claim firstblood.
And he didn't feel that much need to sell the information since he was occupied with his goal of mining nonstop, accumulating so many gil while levelling his [Foraging] life skills.
Ren resumed stretching his neck and limbs when a notification popped on his screen.
[Player Scar has left you a message]
Ren sighed. When it rained, it poured. Could this really be the day for irritating people to irritate him even more?
Ren pressed Scar's message since he was curious about what he was going to say.
[Scar: This is Scar from Black Lion.
Is this Ren? The one who Silvia employs to take on Vulcan's Cave?]
[Ren: Yes]
[Scar: I've messaged you, as the leader of Black Lion, to ask about the information on how to clear Vulcan's Cave.
Of course, I will compensate you for the information]
Ren knew Scar would ask about that, and he already had an answer.
[Ren: You should ask Silvia. I was merely employed, and my lips are sealed]
[Scar: Silvia said that she also didn't know. She said that you're the one who defeated the Boss.
And don't worry, I already have Silvia's permission to ask you. She said that I am free to ask . . . that is . . . If I can get you to talk]
Ren chuckled. Silvia was confident he would never talk about it since he hid it even from her. She was probably expecting him to do the same with Scar. No. Silvia was self-assured that he wouldn't say anything to Scar.
And that's where she was wrong.
Ren couldn't contain his grin as he replied.
[Ren: Sure. How much are you going to offer for it?]
There was a slight pause before Scar replied.
[Scar: How about ten thousand real money?]
[Ren: I don't know . . .]
[Scar: Twenty, and you can join Black Lion if you want. I'll give you a spot and a favorable contract. I'm an easy guy to talk to]
[Ren: I don't want to enter any guild]
[Scar: Then . . . how much do you want for it?]
[Ren: I think fifty thousand is fair]
[Scar: That's expensive for a Boss that's already got firstblood]
[Ren: Is that so? Then goodbye]
[Scar: Wait]
[Scar: Fine. Give me your account]
Ren stifled a laugh. Scar was really desperate. He could have raised the price, but he wasn't after the money and Scar might back out. His real motive was beyond that.
Ren gave Scar his New Era Account, and not before long a notification rang saying that the money was wired into his account.
Ren smirked while typing how to defeat Vulcan.
[Ren: If you study it, you'll notice that it had a pattern. If you knew how to count, it would stop north at fifteen seconds after it launched]
On the other side of the map, Scar was skeptical of Ren's reply. He studied Vulcan for hours, overnight, and he had to agree that he indeed noticed a pattern but didn't know how or when to attack it since he always missed the timing.
How could Ren have noticed that very small detail on just his first try? Or maybe he already attempted the cave before?
But Scar didn't question Ren further.
[Scar: Alright. We'll contact you again after we confirm what you said]
After that, Ren closed the message box. His grin couldn't be contained, waiting for Scar's following message.
There was one little thing that Ren didn't mention, but Scar didn't ask too. The different difficulties in a cave meant different patterns too. And he knew that Scar was attempting the Hard Difficulty, and if Ren remembered it right, Vulcan would still stop north but only after ten seconds. And if you miss that small window of time, you have to wait again after ten seconds and restart counting from there.
Not his problem. Ren thought. He already answered Scar's question on how to defeat Vulcan. In Normal Difficulty, that is.
Ren laughed before he resumed his life as a player hungry for gil.
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At Scar's end, he suddenly thought of Ren the one that Silvia employed, and the Ren that Lily talked about, the one with a pet.
Could they be the same person?
Ren was even careful enough to give him a New Era's Bank account, which was the top in the line regarding security. Even with his family's influence, there was no way that he could retrieve the name hidden behind those numbers.
Just to make sure, Scar immediately messaged Silvia since she was the most accessible person to contact at that exact moment.
[Scar: Does this Ren's appearance hidden behind a hood? And does he have a small black pet with him?]
A moment later, Silvia replied that confirmed Scar's suspicion.
[Silvia: I see that you've met him]
Scar ask no more, and he immediately messaged one of his commanders to personally ask this Ren to join their guild.
If he guessed it right, Ren might be a beta tester. Knowing how to defeat Vulcan and taking on ten Tieflings solo wasn't exactly a fit that just any regular players could accomplish.
Scar searched through the group chat on who in his commanders was the nearest in Kartacol and ordered them to go to the place and recruit the player named Ren, whose appearance was hidden behind a hood and had a dark color pet resting on his shoulders.
—-
On the other side of the map, the numerous guild searching for the player who got first blood with Amol Sha proved to be a fruitless endeavor.
With no name nor location, it was impossible to investigate that player, much less recruit him into their guilds.
However fruitless it may be, they still took note of the Boss and waited for another opportunity. Another announcement for Hidden Bosses.
—-
Meanwhile, at Leonel's end of the map, north in the Dwarven Continent.
Leonel and Roz were waiting for Isolde to come while the former was recruiting two more to go with them.
Ragnar was in the middle of something, so he couldn't make it. Leonel had no choice, but to find two more players to compensate for their lack of numbers. He was trying to follow Ren's every command to the letter.
Leonel even bought the [Foe Grass] from the little girl who sells matches at the side of the street — just like Ren instructed. He bought a few more just to be safe.
Leonel had been asking players for an hour now, and no one wanted to join his group. He hadn't even taken a meter forward to the others when they hurriedly scurried away from him.
Leonel tilted his head as he looked at the players who were hurrying to get away from him like he had a disease.
"I wonder what's wrong with them," Leonel asked, scratching his head.
Roz's dead eyes looked to the side and muttered in a low voice, "Your fake beard is scaring them away."
"Huh?" A flower sprouted over Leonel's head. "Did you say something, Roz?"
Roz only shook his head and openly stared at Leonel which made the latter feel a bit conscious. It was not like Leonel was scary or anything. But his baby face, small height, and fake beard made him suspicious. Very suspicious.
Roz sighed before he went to the other players in the area to help Leonel recruit two more members.
However, Roz hadn't open his mouth when the two players frowned and jabbed a finger at him.
"Aren't you that guy who stole Lira's table?" Player 1 immediately growled upon sighting Roz's face.
Player 2 looked at Roz up and down before his brows crumpled. "Yeah. It's him!"
"You still had the guts to show your face after what you did?" At this point, Player 1 was already poking his finger repeatedly at Roz's shoulder while the latter took a step back from the force.
"Let's inform the others that the bastard is here!"
Due to shock and unexpected hate and anger directed at him, Roz didn't know what to do but turned and walked away without a word.
Even in this virtual world, he still wasn't safe from that girl's clutches. Roz bit his lip and his fingers balled into fists.
"Hey! Where are you going?!"
"Come back here , we're not done with you!"
The two were about to go after Roz when out of the blue, the two players' shouts were replaced by screams.
Roz looked over at the sudden cries, and he was shocked to find that the two were already on the ground while Leonel's prized shield was raised in front of him.
"Sorry. My hand slipped," Leonel said while grinning.
The two men shot to their feet and swung their weapons.
"Mother-father! You did that on purpose!"
"You'll pay for that!"
The two dashed forward in an attempt to slice Leonel in half with their weapons, but with just his shield, Leonel pushed the two back.
Leonel's grin widened before he flexed his fingers at the two to come and get him. "We can do this all day if you want."
The two seemed to have enough of Leonel's taunt and attacked him in full force while Leonel held his ground, feet planted on the dirt. His shield raised and absorbed all the damages that the two were throwing at him in a fury.
For a time, sounds of metals clashing against metals resounded before Leonel used his skill and dashed forward before slashing his hammer upward. The two players were sent flying from the force, and they both fell on the snow face first.
"Had enough?" Leonel asked, laughing.
On the side, Roz was amazed to know that Leonel was so strong. He didn't look like it because of his silly appearance, but the two players who were twice his size were no match against him.
The two players gnashed their teeth when they realized that they couldn't win against Leonel head on so they used their skill to attack him from a distance.
Midway through their attack the sound of exploding bullets suddenly stopped the two from unleashing their skills. They slowly looked to their side, head trembling slightly, and found smoke rising from the fissure on the ground just inches from where they stood.
When they looked over, they saw a tall woman with intimidating pair of big black eyes in cool all-black armor, holding a shotgun over her shoulder while his long straight hair was tied in a ponytail.
"You boys better scram while I'm still asking nicely."
"Isolde," Leonel's face brightened when the woman had finally arrived.
About time! Leonel thought, and he went to Isolde while Roz was shocked at the appearance of a very tall woman in all black. Good thing that Leonel took the short appearance of the Dwarves, or Roz would be at the center of two towering giants, and he would look like a kid even more though his age was already eighteen.
At the appearance of another player, the two players were outnumbered by three, and they realized that they were at a disadvantage.
"You three! Just you wait! We'll tell Lira about this, and her legion of fans will come after you!" They gave their last bark and scurried away.
Isolde didn't pay them any mind while Roz went over to Leonel.
"Thank you. And . . . I'm sorry. Because of me . . ." Roz sighed. "I never thought that a single girl could ruin my life this much."
Roz was feeling angry and helpless again. He shouldn't have eaten in that restaurant if he knew this would happen. That day was the greatest regret of his life. Because of that, her mother was shunned, and no work came her way while he was bullied wherever he went. Even in this virtual world, he wasn't safe.
Wasn't it enough that life was already hard, and some girl just made it harder?
Roz took a deep breath. He didn't know when everything would stop and life for him and his mother would return to normal, but . . . this world was his last chance.
The real world had shunned them.
Maybe if he became strong in here and became well known, he'd turn their life around, especially since an in-game currency was about to be added.
Roz was determined to make it so, all for his mother's sake.
—-
A/N (This doesn't consume coins)
AUGUST Stretched Goals!
Every 1000 PS = 1 Bonus Chapter
Every 500 GT = 1 Bonus Chapter
Every Super Gift = 1 Bonus Chapter
I know it increased. This is so I can write my other novel [My Evil System]. It's my entry to Spirity 2022 and its so much left behind from the other entries ğŸğŸ‚ğŸ
You can try reading it and please support with PS, GT and Gifts if you like the storyğŸ
A warning though, It has a Harem Tag and the MC is irritating at first, so be warned ğŸ†
We'll try to publish 2x a day if I can.
CHEERS!
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—-
Leonel patted Roz's shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Let's concentrate on the mission at hand."
Leonel winked though he was sweating buckets inside. The said girl was his idol and her biggest fan until that day in the restaurant, that is. And he couldn't help but feel responsible for what happened even though he didn't do anything wrong but like Lira.
Leonel hid his guilt behind his big smile and introduced Isolde to Roz and vice versa. The two just nodded at each other while Isolde shifted her head left and right.
"Where's Ren?" she asked.
Leonel's face crumpled, and he waved his hand over his face. "Forget about that guy. He has something to do elsewhere."
Isolde hid her disappointment behind her confident raspy voice, but it still showed when it quaked a little. "H-he . . . he won't be joining us?"
Leonel only shook his head. "Nope. That guy said that he'd rather level his life skills. Whatever that is. We can join him in Kartacol if you want after we're done here."
Isolde was curious about why Ren would choose to do something so dull instead of fighting a Hidden Boss. Maybe he got bored of fighting?
Isolde admitted that she felt relieved knowing that they would go to Ren after they were done here. And she questioned, "What about Ragnar?"
"Ragnar is also busy doing his own thing. He said he is in the middle of something so he couldn't come." Leonel shrugged. "I guessed everyone is buys. It's just you, me and Roz now."
Isolde stared at Leonel before she shifted her attention to the small kid beside them. Roz only avoided her intimidating pair of obsidian eyes while the latter thought that Roz was just a kid.
She then looked left and right. "Then . . . who's going to be the leader?"
"Me, of course," Leonel jabbed his fist on his chest with a silly grin on his face.
"You?"
"Yes me." Leonel nodded. "Don't worry. With my lead, we'll be safe and come out from this hunt victorious."
Isolde suddenly had an urge to back out. "You're the leader and we're still two members less."
"Tis' fine." Leonel didn't care anymore. "I'll Tank, you attack, and Roz will support us from behind. Easy peasy."
Isolde sighed. "I don't think that's going to work, but whatever."
There was nothing they could do if it were going to be just the three of them. They only wish that the Hidden Boss was a weak one.
"Hey."
Leonel and the others' gaze went to the newcomers. They were three of them, two boys and a girl. Leonel and the others looked at their names on top of their heads.
Ken had beads of gold hair, a lean frame, and a twinkling smile. From his get-up, he was a swordsman. Li was the typical neighborhood boy whose hair was black and eyes crescent with a hunter's garb. And Jenny was the aloof rebellious girl with curls of neon green hair. The one who was constantly chewing something. She was a dark mage based on the color of her robe.
Ken was the one who spoke and apparently the leader of the two. "I couldn't help but hear that you're recruiting members to fight a hidden boss?"
Leonel's eyes shone. Out of all the players he told about a Hidden Boss, only Ken responded. Most players thought that he was only joking or had ulterior motives for inviting them. No one believe that he had found a Hidden Boss.
"Yes. Are you guys interested in joining us?" Leonel asked in glee, but Isolde wasn't smiling the least.
Ken nodded while Jenney immediately questioned, "Before that, what is the distribution of loot?"
"Distribution of loot?" Leonel was taken aback before his smile returned to his lips. Whoever had the perfect class for an item would get it, of course, just like what they did in Gargantuan Cave.
However, before Leonel could open his mouth, Isolde stepped forward and crossed her hands.
"Since we found the Hidden Boss first, it is only natural that we get whatever inside the Crystal and Platinum chest. And whatever inside the Gold Chest, we will distribute it evenly amongst everyone."
Ken and the others looked at each other, and their amiable faces suddenly took a turn.
"That's unfair," protested Jenny.
Isolde raised a brow. "I think it's very fair considering that we all know how hard it is to trigger a Hidden Boss. It's not like a dungeon that you could just find wherever you want."
". . ."
Ken's group was silent while Leonel nudged Isolde.
"Isolde . . ."
Leonel didn't finish his sentence when Isolde raised her hand to stop him from speaking.
Leonel was kind, but she was not. Many think that she had a kind face (only she thought of that) but she wasn't nice the least. Since Ren wasn't here, she wouldn't allow anyone to take advantage of Leonel's kindness.
Isolde was so sure that Ren would have done the same.
Ken shook his head while chuckling at Isolde's serious face, evident that she wasn't backing down.
"Sorry, but . . . we thought that the distribution of loot is equal." He then turned, and his smile dropped while his face darkened. "Good luck with the hunt."
As they went away, Jenny and Li took a quick peek at them while they were whispering amongst themselves.
"Isolde, why did you say that? Now we're still two members low," complained Leonel as he watched the retreating figure of the three.
Isolde faced Leonel and her tight face loosened. "It's only fair, Leo. You and Ren are the ones who knew about the Hidden Boss, so you should have those chests and items. As for me and the others, we should be content with the EXP, gil, and other loots."
"And besides," Isolde added, "You're the one who said that we would be fine. Just the three of us."
Leonel grumbled under his breath before he looked at Roz. His imploring face asked for a friend to help him.
But Roz agrees with Isolde. Leonel was too nice for his own good. "She's right. Those chests should belong to you since you're the one who found the Boss. I'm just tagging along, so I'm okay with whatever EXP, gil, and loot."
Leonel scratched his head, and before he could open his mouth, Isolde asked again.
"Leo, did you go around saying about the Hidden Boss?"
Leonel nodded his head like he was a chicken picking grains. "Yeah. Though I didn't say how to trigger it and what kind of Boss we will face."
Leonel almost patted himself for a job well done. Since he didn't tell anyone how to trigger the Hidden Boss, the Boss was still safe for them to get firstblood. Though he himself didn't know what kind of Boss they would face.
Ren didn't tell him. He could only wish that Ren wasn't pranking him.
But Isolde thought otherwise, and her face darkened a little while she massaged her head.
"I see. . . ," was the only words she said before her eyes wandered to the other players.
Everyone was minding their business, chatting with each other and laughing merely until Isolde's gaze wandered to Ken and his friends.
Their wide grins and strange looks made Isolde suspicious even more.
Ren wasn't here, so it was up to her to make sure their hunt would be a success. She did owe him a piece of equipment because he didn't get one in Gargantuan Cave. And no matter what, Isolde was determined to take home the bacon. Come hail and blood!
"Come on. Let's go." Leonel said, and he walked ahead. He was excited at leading the front while Roz stuck to his back.
Isolde took one last look at Ken's group before she went after the two.
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"You sure this is the right path?" Roz questioned, breath fogging his vision. They were already walking for an hour, and there was no sign of the frozen lake that Leonel talked about. It was just dead trees, snow, and more snow.
They did encounter some ice monsters and beasts along the way but decided not to engage to keep their HP and MP at full until they faced the Boss.
"Yeah. It should be here, before the mountains," answered Leonel.
"Do you know the Boss we will face?" Isolde questioned.
"Nope." Leonel gave a boyish grin. "It's going to be a surprise."
"Or will be the one surprised if it turned out to be stronger than us," muttered Roz in a low voice.
"By the way," Leonel paused and looked at the shotgun over Isolde's shoulder. "Where'd you get that?"
Isolde flexed her gun and grinned. "Oh, you mean Isolde Shotgun 1.0?"
Leonel raised a brow. "Is that its name?"
"I named it that way. I bought it in Erendia town, and it's pretty solid. It even has AoE normal damage, but only if the enemies are beside each other." Isolde's STR already reached 30 after their encounter with the Maiden of Agony so entering towns wasn't a problem to her.
"Cool." Leonel faced forward and resumed cutting the dead bushes and branches their way while whistling.
After a few more minutes, Roz pointed his finger at a spot hidden by foliage. "Look. Is that it?"
When Leonel cut the blockade, what stumbled upon them was a lake trap in glistering ice. It reflected the blood moon high above the sky while no stars were present that night. And beyond that was a mountain covered in perpetual snow.
"I think that's the lake?" Leonel was having cold feet, especially traversing the frozen lake. He felt like when they were in the center, the ice would break just like in the movies.
While Isolde didn't even care and just took a step forward without any hint of fear on her face. "Let's go."
"H-hey . . ." Leonel stretched his hand, intending to grab her, but the latter was already a meter in front, walking like the lake was a red carpet.
And at the corner of his eyes, Roz, too, went after Isolde. His face was stoic, like he didn't care what would happen.
Leonel looked at his companions before looking at the crystal lake. His fear came from the knowledge that he couldn't swim.
"What are you doing?"
Leonel's eyes gaze upward from the Crystal Lake and find Isolde looking at him in confusion.
"Are you scared? Don't worry. I'll rescue you if you drown." Isolde then turned and walked ahead. "Just follow the path where I'm walking."
Looking at Isolde's back, Leonel somehow felt comforted. There was something about her strong and confident stride that gave of a feeling that everything was going to be alright.
Just like with Ren.
Leonel took a deep breath and tiptoed his way to Isolde, making sure that he went wherever she went. Step wherever she steps.
"Good thing that you're here, Isolde. I don't know what I'll do if you aren't. I don't know how to swim, and this ice is giving me goosebumps," Leonel said. His voice was piercing the silence, but the cold winds sometimes made it inaudible.
"You're very dependable. I couldn't even step my shaking legs forward if you're not in the front leading."
Isolde just chuckled while her head rose a little. And then her smile dropped when Leonel continued.
"You're like Ren. Very dependable and brave."
Isolde's happy mood plummeted a little, and she sighed to herself. Ren was a guy? Why was she compared to a guy again?
Isolde face-palmed herself when she did it again. She was supposed to act like a girl. She should get scared and whined and asked for help like Leonel did.
Isolde sighed to the heavens. It was not her fault if there were just a few things she was scared of, and she couldn't act scared even if she wanted to. That was why her ex broke up with her in the first place. She was manlier than him and she wondered if it was going to be an issue with Ren and Leonel?
Isolde grumbled and muttered incoherent words in her mouth at the memory while Leonel was spouting on and on until they crossed the lake and finally arrived at Snowy Mountain.
"Are we going to climb that?" Roz asked, staring at the steep mountain covered in snow.
"No. I think we have to circle around here to find that deer." Leonel looked around. There were still foliage and trees surrounding the mountain's base before he looked up at the red moon.
"It should be here since it is already a red moon and we have numerous Foe Grass with us."
Leonel and Roz were walking here and there while the former was whistling, calling the deer. In comparison, Isolde was looking over the lake.
"Guys," Isolde called, pointing at a shadow shrouded in fog at a distance. "Is that it?"
Leonel and Roz flickered their attention at the frozen lake and found what Isolde was pointing.
When the wind blew, the fog swept away, revealing a hazy form of the beast in the form of a deer. But its size was twice that of a deer, almost like a horse, and it had four horns sprouting over its head, and its body glistened like ice.
The beast was mesmerizing. Especially it's set of bluish eyes like glass. It stared at them with its innocent face, looking at what they were doing.
Leonel and Roz were stunned in place while Isolde took the initiative to approach it with her hand stretched with the foe grass clutched in her palm.
The deer's snout wiggled at Isolde's palm. It was kinda cute and very adorable as it sniffed the girl's hand.
A girl with black hair brushing a mesmerizing ice deer proved to be quite a contrasting sight, and whoever saw the picturesque scenery would surely feel light and at peace. It was a picture coming out straight from a fantasy painting.
Until Isolde aimed her shotgun at the deer's head before pressing [Engage].
The resounding BaAanNg startled Leonel and Roz awake from a wonderful dream.
Leonel covered his eyes and cried, "Isolde! What are you doing?!" he couldn't stomach himself watching as Isolde butchered the innocent deer. It was so beautiful and innocent to hurt. How could Isolde even blow its skull to smithereens?
The Four Horned Ice Deer were easy to kill, and their ATP wasn't that high. However, without a [Foe Grass, they wouldn't appear, and they were only so few of them in the area while their respawn time were slow.
Isolde's ATP was already high after the Gargantuan Cave, and with two critical hits, the Four Horned Ice Deer burst into particles.
"H-how could you . . . ," Roz muttered, and he covered his lips when he thought about the deer. He was reminded of his pet cat, who died a few years ago. Until now, the memory still put a tear in his eyes. The eyes of that deer were the same as his dead cat. Big round, innocent blue eyes that melted any heart.
"How can you be so cruel?" Leonel said, "Didn't you even feel pity for the deer?"
Isolde went back to the men with her face beaming with pride at her kill. "Pity? It's a beast," she said simply. She went hunting with her family every season. The deer was simply another target to her.
"It's so cute. How could you even think of hurting it?" Roz asked with a low voice.
"Cute?" Isolde tilted her head while her eyes went up, thinking before she smiled. "Nothing is cuter than my guns."
" . . ."
Leonel and Roz were like dead statues at the side before they realized they were acting more like a girl than Isolde. And that was when it sunk into their head that Isolde was indeed manlier than them.
There was no way that a girl's soft heart wouldn't bleed at killing that innocent deer.
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—–
At Leonel and Roz's silence, Isolde suddenly thought of something and her big eyes rounded.
She'd done it again!
She was acting strange again that was unbefitting of a girl. She immediately coughed between her fists and acted cutely. But her face was blank while her voice was robotic.
"Ah yes. It is cute. It's such a shame. My heart ached when I killed it, but it's necessary."
"Please stop." Roz looked to the side.
"You're only making it worse." Leonel didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
After seconds, Isolde was back to herself, and she changed the topic. She beamed and showed the [Raw Meat] at the two.
"Anyway, I got the Raw Meat that we need." She raised her hand while dangling a piece of the Deer's thick thigh. Its color was still crystal Ice, but the inside was raw red while the bone stuck out.
Roz's eyes went to the back of his head, and he almost passed out from shock while Leonel covered his mouth while crying, holding his puke back.
In comparison Isolde shook her head in complete misunderstanding.
It was just regular meat. No need to be so happy that you would pass out and cry over it. She thought to herself.
"What are we going to do next? Should we roast it? Skin it? Skewer it or grind it to paste?" Isolde asked with a finger on her chin.
"Agh! Stop! Stop! STOP!" Leonel screamed while he covered his ears. All sorts of thoughts entered her head, and the poor Deer's round innocent eyes pierced his heart.
"T-the . . . The horror," Roz said in a daze.
Leonel and Roz were still wallowing in despair and dismay when, out of the blue, they heard loud rustling sounds, the breaking of dead twigs, and the heavy crunching of snow on the ground.
The three became alert as the sound kept getting nearer from where they stood, and the only light was coming from the red moon above.
Leonel and the others readied their weapons when the sound was almost just a breath away.
RoOaAaR!
At the vibrating roar came a giant six meters tall. It stood on two feet with sharp claws on each hand. It almost seemed human if not for its demonic skull-like face. Its skin was purple like a frozen corpse, while two black goat horns were protruding from where its ears should be. Its eyes were blazing red like an inferno, its noses were just two holes, and a wide, gaping mouth with rows and rows of sharp teeth took half its face.
ǁ H I D D E N B O S S
I C E T R O L L ‖
Location: Snowy Mountain
Description:
"The Hidden Devils in the mountain."
Ice Trolls adapted to the cold climate by embracing the cold and becoming one with the environment. They ran rampant at the Peak of Snowy Mountains. The steep slope, harsh conditions, and dangerous terrain made it almost impossible for anyone to climb the peak in search of them.
However, once in a while, they migrated to the mountain base in search of food. And their favorite meal is the [Raw Meat] of the Four Horned Ice Deer.
‖ A T T R I B U T E ‖
HP: 7 000
MP: 200
STRG: 50 5 [Domain Bonus]
DEF: 30 10 [Domain Bonus]
MDF: 10
INT: 15
AGL: 40 5 [Domain Bonus]
LCK: 10
‖ D A M A G E
R E S I S T A N C E S ‖
Bludgeoning [Non-Magic]
Piercing [Non-Magic]
Slashing [Non-Magic]
‖ D A M A G E
I M M U N I T I E S ‖
Ice
‖ C O N D I T I O N
I M M U N I T I E S ‖
Sleep
‖ W E A K N E S S ‖
Fire
‖ S K I L L S S P E L L S
Passive Skill:
Dark Vision
The Ice Troll can see clearly in the dark.
Freezing Aura
Anyone who stood within the range of five meters from the Ice Troll for five seconds would suffer FREEZE and continuous damage.
Strong Smell
The Ice Troll can smell anything from a distance of hundred meters. The invincibility spell against the Ice Troll is useless.
Snow Camouflage
The Ice Troll can hide its presence in the snowy terrain.
Active Skill:
Multiattack LV.4
–– the Ice Troll can make one bite attack and two claw attacks
–– 40% hit if STR is higher
–– Cost –50 MP
Bite LV.5
–– the Ice Troll can bite a single target with its wide jaw.
–– A piercing damage that dealt a critical hit if bitten from behind
–– Can deal FREEZE if LCK is higher
–– Cost –10 MP
Claw LV.4
–– the Ice Troll can deal damage with its claws on a single target.
–– Critical Damage if LCK is higher
–– Cost –10 MP
Freezing Breath LV.5
–– the Ice Troll blasts freezing air from its mouth within a ten-meter radius.
–– AoE that deals continuous damage.
–– Can deal FREEZE if LCK is higher.
–– Cost –70 MP
‖ E N D ‖
Leonel and Isolde released a sigh of relief. Though the Ice Troll's STR was high, its LCK was low, so its chance of critical attack was also low.
Moreover, the Ice Troll's ATP wasn't far from the Maiden of Agony. The only thing was, there were only three of them who would face the Ice Troll.
But Leonel and Isolde weren't worried since their ATP were already higher since they faced the Maiden of Agony. They were confident that they could take on the Ice Troll.
"Let's go!" Leonel got into position and shouted, "Aggro on me!"
The Ice Troll let out another roar before it dashed towards Leonel and its giant fists pummelled hard against Leonel's shield.
Leonel gritted his teeth when his shield quaked from the force. But thanks to the additional DEF of his shield, the Ice Troll's attacks only did minor damage to his HP. The only problem was the sound and vibration. The force was like massive stones raining from above.
"Roz, you stay from behind and cast Fire at the Ice Troll. If our HP is low, we'll just drink [Health Potions]." Isolde quickly took to her feet and went behind the Ice Troll before she aimed her gun at its chest.
A whistling sound burst from the end of her weapon and pierced the Ice Troll from the back, dealing a critical hit.
– 304 Critical Hit!
Isolde clicked her tongue. This battle would take a while. But then her face brightened as she looked at Roz, who cast [Fire] at the Ice Troll.
However, her hope died faster like her smile when she saw the magical damage.
– 510 Critical Hit!
Ha . . . Isolde got so much used to Ren's explosive magical damage that she was stunned to see typical magic damage for once. There wasn't even a burn status.
Isolde scratched her head before she focused her attention on the Ice Troll. This would really take some time.
In contrast to Isolde's disappointment, Roz was feeling proud. He didn't expect that he could deal that much damage with his low ATP. It wasn't a day in-game time that he played, so his ATP wasn't much.
It was all thanks to the Ice Troll's low MDEF and fire weakness.
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—-
While Isolde, Leonel, and Roz were busy fighting the Ice Troll, they didn't notice another group approaching them on the other side of the frozen lake.
The fog covered their existence, and they tiptoed towards a pile of snow from another side of the mountain's base. From their position and angle, they got a clear view of Leonel's group's fighting the Ice Troll.
Jenney used a monocle and gasped. "It really is a Hidden Boss!"
"Shh!" Li covered her lips. "Not so loud."
Jenny pouted and swatted Li's hand away. "They won't hear us from this far away. Besides, they're occupied with that Troll."
"Good thing that we followed them." Ken chuckled. Amongst the players, their group was the only one who took Leonel's words seriously, and their decision bore fruit.
"I heard that you can KS (Kill Steal) any beast as long as it isn't a beast inside a Boss's room." Jenny's eyes shone with greed. "I heard that getting firstblood from a Hidden Boss would grant a Crystal Chest that contained skill or spell books."
"That's right." Ken couldn't contain his excitement, and his breathing turned ragged. "Would you believe that selling those things online would fetch hundreds of thousands?"
"Really?" Li's eyes bulged before he stared at the Ice Troll like it was a big bag of gold. "Those things are that expensive?"
Ken nodded. "It could even fetch to a million if we auctioned it!" He exaggerated.
Jenny and Li wanted to steal the kill all the more. They couldn't see anything but the prize at this point.
"How do we kite it?" Li asked, readying his bow.
Ken stopped him and said seriously, "Let's wait until the opportunity present itself. The beast will enter Berserk Mode, and after that . . . Jenny, you're a mage, so cast your fire at my signal. The same with you, Li. Since you're a hunter, you can also deal damage from a distance. I want you to fire the most devastating attack on your skill list. We want to make sure that it's us who get the kill. Alright?"
Li nodded while Jenny gave a thumbs up and winked. "Okie-Dokie."
As they watched Leonel's group take on the Ice Troll, they couldn't help but be amazed at their coordination. With a Tank defending the front, the Ice Troll couldn't come close to the DPS and Mage. And little by little, they managed to reduce the Ice Troll's HP to less than half.
"I think we need a tank in the future," Li said without thought.
The other two nodded in a daze.
Jenny shook her head to get out of her stupor and asked, "By that way, how do you suppose they triggered that Hidden Boss?"
They were far away, so they couldn't hear what Leonel and his group were talking about. They were tailing them when they crossed the frozen lake, and the next thing they knew, Isolde killed an ice deer, and a scary, ugly, deadly-looking Troll attacked their group next.
Ken shrugged. "Who cares? The important thing is, we get to KS it before those guys. So the loot would belong to us."
While Ken's group was busy scheming, Leonel's group was busy reducing the Ice Troll's HP.
It was hard because the Ice Troll's HP was high while their damage could only chip its HP a minute at a time. Not to mention that Leonel and the others had to frequently take a step away from the Ice Troll so they wouldn't be frozen by its passive skill [Freezing Aura].
Leonel panted, hot breath rising over his eyes as he took another [Health Potion]. His Health Potions were running thin, just like the HP of the Ice Troll.
Just a little more, and they would kill the Ice Troll completely. Leonel was getting excited at the loots. While Roz drank another [Mana Potion] that Isolde handed to him.
"Brace for another breath!" Isolde warned.
The Ice Troll took large intake of air, stomach bulging at it did so. Leonel immediately sprung back to Isolde and Roz and raised his shield.
"Stay behind me!"
At Leonel's warning came the Ice Troll's [Freezing Breath]. A large gust of wind with sparkles of snow smashed against Leonel's shield, freezing the outer layer of the carapace in the process.
Leonel took a large intake of air and released it through his nose, smog rising over his face before he raised his shield and dashed towards the Ice Troll after that gust of wind settled.
Shield in hand, he hammered it against the Ice Troll before he swung his hammer up, and the Ice Troll was knocked back.
"Isolde, Roz, now!"
Isolde took a swift advancing step before skilfully launching a shot that rattled across her enemy while Roz simultaneously attacked it with his [Fire].
RoOaArR!
The Ice Troll let out an ear-piercing roar before its eyes glowed red while its wide jaws almost ripped its head into two.
[The Ice Troll entered BERSERK Mode!]
"Yes!"
Leonel and the others were in glee. Finally, after almost thirty minutes of expending so many potions and skills just to reduce the Ice Troll's HP, it finally entered Berserk Mode.
Roz didn't know if defeating a Hidden Boss was this easy or not since it was his first time. But he did know that having Leonel, a tank, in a group helped make things easier.
"Be careful!"
At Isolde's shout, Roz was surprised to find that the Ice Troll was already in front of him.
Did Leonel's skill [Aggro on Me] didn't work against its Berserk Mode? Roz didn't have time to think of an answer because the Ice Troll's sharp enormous claws were a meter away from cutting his head from his neck.
"Roz!" Leonel wanted to dash to Roz in an attempt to take the hit since his DEF was high. Compared to Roz who was a goner the moment the Ice Troll hit him only once.
However, Leonel was far from Roz, and his skill [Aggro on Me] didn't work against the Troll's Berserk mode.
Roz turned to get away from the giant Troll, but he made it worse when he showed it his back.
The Ice Troll let out another deafening roar and swiped its claws against Roz with the intent to kill. But at that exact moment, Isolde appeared in front of the Troll, raising her weapon, she attempted to defend herself with the incoming claws.
Yet, her attempt was useless when the impact from the Ice Troll sent her flying a few meters back. She smashed on the snow-covered ground and rolled some more before a pile of snow cushioned her momentum with only a 10 HP flashing on her screen.
"Isolde!" Leonel didn't know which person to help first. Isolde, who was down on the snow, or Roz, who was still not safe from the Ice Troll's clutches?
However before Leonel could even make a decision, a whooshing and whistling sound passed beside him. And he was surprised to find that the Ice Troll let out another roar while Fire and arrow hit it straight on the head.
"Woohoo! We did it! The loot is ours!" Jenney, Li, and Ken all jumped from their hiding spot and went close to where Leonel stood.
"Y-you . . ." Leonel was speechless at the trios' sudden appearance that he momentarily forgot about Isolde and Roz.
Isolde shot to her feet while she drank [Health Potions] to recover her HP. "I knew that you guys are up to no good."
Leonel blinked. "No good?"
"Those bunch wanted to KS our boss and steal our loot," Isolde said, glaring at the three.
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"So what?" Jenny crossed her arms and tilted her hips. "It's your fault for spouting Hidden Boss this and that back in town. You're practically saying to everyone to steal it."
Isolde briefly gazed at Leonel while the latter grumbled.
This was his fault? Leonel didn't expect that his goodwill would be reciprocated with evil intentions. He was too trusting, and he knew it.
In the future, he promised to be careful. It was alright if he was the one who was compromised because of his mistake. But if Isolde, Ren, and Roz were compromised because of his doing, he wouldn't forgive himself.
"Sorry," Leonel said at Isolde and Roz.
Isolde shook her head. "The one who didn't do any wrong should never say those words. It's those guys that took advantage of your kindness that should say sorry for making you feel that it's your fault."
The three shivered at Isolde's piercing eyes when the latter stared at them. They didn't know why, but it felt like they were under the gaze of a beast that were about to hunt them.
"Come on, let's claim our loot and get out of here." Ken took a moment before he realized that there was no loot. Nor was there a notification that said that they got firstblood against the hidden Boss.
"Huh?" Ken and his companions were confused before Li nudged the others and pointed his shaking finger at their front.
On where the white particles should be was the Ice Troll. It was still standing tall with its HP steadied at 1. Its mouth bubbled with its saliva while its menacing red eyes glowed even more like it would cry blood. It took a large intake of air before it roared so loud that it caused the snow on the mountain to fall while the ice on the lake cracked.
[The Ice Troll entered LAST STANCE MODE!
Acquired Skill:
â¶ Cold Adaptability
â"â" As long as the environment is cold and snowing, the Ice Troll's HP will recover 1% every second]
Leonel and the others immediately took refuge at the mountain's base while avoiding the piles of snow raining from the mountain's peak.
While Ken and his friends were shocked at the turn of events.
"What the fuck is last stance mode?!" Jenny screamed while Li pushed her to the side when the snow almost toppled the two of them into the lake.
"What is wrong with this Boss?!" Ken shouted when the Ice Troll locked its eyes on them before it roared towards the sky and came running after them, smashing and clawing everything in its path.
Since Li and Jenny were the last ones who hit the Ice Troll, they stole the Ice Troll's aggro, and the beast went after them in a fury.
"Shit! Jenny cast fire quick!" Ken shouted when the Ice Troll appeared in front of Jenny and Li within a blink.
"Huh?" Jenny hadn't recovered from being pushed on the snow, and she was still slumped on the ground. Her eyes were on Ken, confused and wide, before a single claw swipe erased her existence.
Jenny didn't even know how she died when she burst into particles.
Li immediately got up from the ground and ran away when the Ice Troll's eyes zeroed on him. He screamed for Ken to help him before he stumbled on his feet and fell face first on the snow.
Ken's face twisted in horror when the Ice Troll raised its claws and was about to pierce it against Li's back when right at that exact moment, Leonel came dashing forward with his hammer and swung it against the beast.
The Ice Troll was knocked back, and Leonel took this chance to shout at Roz and Isolde. "Roz, Isolde, now!"
At Leonel's shout came in a blazing ball of fire and a piercing bullet that hit the Ice Troll from behind, dealing critical hits.
It wasn't even fifteen seconds since the Ice Troll acquired its new skill so its HP was still low enough for it to perish in the hands of Roz and Isolde.
The Ice Troll let out another cry that quaked the ground before its blazing eyes dimmed and it burst into particles.
CONGRATULATIONS on getting first blood from defeating the Hidden Boss, ICE TROLL!
REWARDS:
â¶ 2,000 EXP (each)
â· 10,000 Gil
â Crystal Chest x1
â Platinum Chest x1
⺠Gold Chest x1
Do you want to announce your achievement to the world?
YES
NO
Leonel and the others didn't have time to celebrate when they were more pressing issues at hand. And that was Ken and Li.
"Y-you . . ." Li didn't know what to say. "Why did you save me?" he asked Leonel, confused. They were trying to steal their kill, and yet . . . Leonel saved his life.
Leonel scratched his head. "Hmm . . . I just did. There's no reason. I just help 'cause you need it. And we're fellow players, after all." He grinned, followed by a thumbs up.
Isolde shook her head, but her lips were smiling while Roz sighed, ruffling his fringe.
Leonel might be a magnet for trouble because of his good nature . . . but they wouldn't have him in any other way.
Ken and Li just look at each other. Good thing that they had formed a group and that Leonel saved them before they got wiped out, so there was no EXP penalty.
Ken looked at Leonel seriously in the eyes before he turned his back. "Let's go."
Li shifted his attention to Leonel and Ken before he ran after his friend while looking back once in a while.
"They didn't even say thanks." Isolde frowned while shaking her head.
"It's fine." Leonel laughed before his eyes turned crescent. "Anyway, let's announce to the world our achievement to let Ren know before checking our loots!"
Isolde and Roz smiled and nodded before they pressed YES, and their group's name boomed in the sky.
[ CONGRATULATIONS to player Leonel from FREAKING AWESOME PEOPLE on getting first blood from defeating the Hidden Boss, ICE TROLL! ]
[ CONGRATULATIONS to player Isolde from FREAKING AWESOME PEOPLE on getting first blood from defeating the Hidden Boss, ICE TROLL! ]
[ CONGRATULATIONS to player Roz from FREAKING AWESOME PEOPLE on getting first blood from defeating the Hidden Boss, ICE TROLL! ]
"Freaking Awesome People?" Isolde's brows raised.
Leonel laughed. "Ahahaha. I have no time to think of a name so . . ."
Roz just shook his head while a small smile tickled his lips.
The next thing that exploded was the World Chat, not because of the Hidden Boss but because of the group's name.
â– W O R L D C H A T â–
Clueless: Freaking Awesome People? Pft! What the f* is that?!
IamMean: What kind of name is that? Bunch of losers! Retards! Idiots! Fools!
Axes: I am an intelligent person. I know everything. I'm the only person who is right. All of you are wrong! The great depression is real!
IWontJudge: I know it's hard to think of a group's name but what the hell is Freaking Awesome People? They seemed like a bunch of kids.
ImNotJealous: All of you are just jealous because you didn't find any hidden boss!
ShutUp: Shut Up!
IamHandsome: Are these Freaking Awesome Dudes as handsome as me?
EXPisLife: I am EXP. EXP is me. EXP is life
ImPoor: Plz gib EXP
. . . multiple persons are typing . . .
â– E N D â–
While the world chat was in chaos, as usual, the different guild was mobilizing their networks to find these Freaking Awesome People and one of them was Black Lion.
Among Black Lion's wide networks of connection, they easily find out that it was Leonel and Roz who got firstblood. Leonel was telling other players about a Hidden Boss, and there couldn't be two people with the same name as the one in their list that was about to raid Icy Cave.
Black Lion pieced the clues together and immediately confirmed that it was really Leonel and Roz who got firstblood.
In Black Lion's temporary headquarters. A woman with straight, silky black hair, round doe eyes that was black as night with an oval, pretty innocent face was checking the forums and group chat of Black Lion. She was tall and could easily pass out as a model with her lean physique. And she was none other than Black Lion's head manager, Invayne, who was in charge of the guild's inner workings.
"They didn't get in the raid in Icy Cave?" Invayne asked one of her secretaries.
"No. The two of them got left behind in Snowflake Village. Our sources told us that Leonel was recruiting players to go and defeat a Hidden Boos. Though it wasn't confirmed what Hidden Boss it was.
"But, there is a player named Jenny in the world chat saying that the one who defeated the Ice Troll was a Dwarf Defender with gold hair and fake bird together with a dark skin kid with black and violate hair. The descriptions match the two perfectly."
"I see. Contact those two to meet us as soon as possible. I'll tell Scar about this," said Invayne while she called Scar to inform him about a Hidden Boss and how Leonel and Roz got firstblood.
While the others were in an uproar, Leonel, Isolde, and Roz didn't know that what they had just achieved would cause a lot of commotion soon.
—-
A/N
I know a lot of you don't like Leonel but he will grow. Soon.ğŸ†ğŸ
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Inside Icy Cave, Black Lion had finally reached the Boss's room after almost two hours of traversing the snow path and defeating beasts along the way.
They were reduced to no less than forty from their seventy armies strong. The monsters have [Freeze] ability that continuously damages their HP if not treated. What's more, the beasts in the cave weren't just any typical monsters they found outside. Their tough hide was coated with layers of ice, and no weapons could break their armor, but only the Mages [Fire] damage.
All thanks to the Healers and Mages, they kept more than half of their members alive.
From then on, Gerald and Ed decided that the remaining DPS and Tank would protect the Mages and keep the monsters at bay for the Mages to finish them off as they stormed into the Boss's Room.
The Tanks weren't many, which also added to their current predicament. Since not many took the race of the Dwarf and took up the class of a Tank, their Dwarf Defenders were only two, and Ed cursed Gerald in his head when the guy kicked Leonel out of the group just because of a piece of equipment.
Leonel could have been useful at this moment.
Ed sighed and looked over at their members. Their main attacking unit was still full in HP and MP, but that took a lot of [Health Potions] and [Mana Potions] for their bar to remain that way.
They had already requested backup from HQ and were just waiting for them to arrive before they pushed that door into the Boss's Room.
"Let's take a moment to rest here while we wait for the reinforcement," announced Ed the moment that they reached a wide hall before the enormous ice door that could only be the Boss's room. Good thing that the cave wasn't long, unlike with Vulcan's Cave.
Traversing Icy Cave would only take one hour to reach the final Boss or two to three hours, depending on how fast you could clear the beasts in the path.
At the side, Mike was conditioning himself. He was imagining fighting the final Boss inside his head, and he couldn't help but grin at the image of defeating the Boss with his sword. Maybe with his skill, he could finally become a regular member of Black Lion and Roz's contract.
While Mike was basking in his glory, Saya was worried about the raid. Since she was a healer, the pressure was intense. The others immediately shouted at her if she made a single mistake.
She wasn't use to violence, and she was definitely not a fan of games. This was all new to her, and this was her first time in a raid, so making mistakes couldn't be avoided.
Saya was silently crying on the inside when the head healer shouted at her for healing a player that another White Mage had already healed, wasting her MP in the process.
It was not her fault. Saya thought. It was chaos a while back. She got scared at the real-life beasts that came their way that she panicked and healed anyone who suffered HP reduction no matter how little it was without regards to strategy and orders from above.
In the end, amongst the White Mage, she was one of the healers that needed Mana Potions the most. And this got the others eerie.
However, after another three Mana Potions were wasted on her, the Head Healer didn't give her any more, and Saya's MP was depleted, and she was cast to the side.
Saya wanted to leave then and there. Nobody wanted feel useless and a piece of baggage in a group. And that was how the others were looking at her. Like it was better if she logged out.
Saya gazed over at Mike and was about to say that she didn't want to play anymore and hoped that Mike would agree with her. But she knew that was wishful thinking on her part. Mike would never leave and stop playing this game. Not when he was finally one step towards becoming a Pro player like Scar.
But even so, Saya found her voice after thirty minutes and implored Mike, hoping that she could change his mind. "I think this game is too violent. And I'm not good at being a healer. Mike . . . do you think we can leave?"
"Huh? Leave. What are you talking about? We are about to face the final Boss."
"It's just . . . all of this is too overwhelming for me, and I felt like baggage because I couldn't heal properly. My timing is always off, and I always stumbled with the others. I couldn't even find my footing because of the chaos. And I needed constant potions to keep my MP at full," she complained.
From all Saya's complaints, Mike didn't hear anything. His attention was stolen at the sudden arrival of ten Mages accompanied by twenty more DPS. Based from their equipment and the aura they gave off, they looked like experience players.
Could they be core members of the guild?
"Look, Saya! Reinforcement is here! Our names will be carve in the Stone Pillar for sure." Mike was so excited that he didn't even notice that Saya's MP was gone.
Saya could only smile in dismay.
"Alright, gather up," Gerald said. "The newcomers will replace everyone whose HP and MP are low. The leaders of each division, round up your members and check for anyone who needs replacing. And those who are replaced will be removed from the group. You can do whatever you want after that."
"Huh? But . . . we already made it this far."
"What about the tryout to enter the guild?"
The others complained but shut their mouths when Ed spoke in a stern tone.
"This isn't a casual grinding of monsters. Every effort to win and secure firstblood is a must for us. But don't worry, all of your names are remembered by your respective leaders. At the end of this raid, they will submit a spreadsheet of your performance. And those who made it will be message accordingly."
"Isn't this just free labor? I even had to use my potions." The others whispered.
Gerald smirked and chuckled. "At the start, we aren't stingy at giving out potions for all, and all our healers tried their best to keep your health at the maximum. If you even used your potions and still your HP and MP suffer greatly, then it's your lack of skill that you should complain to. Not the guild."
Some looked at each other while the others bowed their head in shame and could only shut their mouth tight.
Saya was all red because it seemed like Gerald was talking to her.
In the end, those with low HP and MP could do nothing but be replaced by the newcomers while they logged out with a frown on their faces. They still felt like Black Lion had used them to clear the path for the core members to finish off the Boss.
"Mike," Saya had tears in her eyes when she talked to her boyfriend. Like what she had expected, she was replaced because of her low MP.
"Mike, can you not go? Even if you don't go in there, we will still belong in the guild."
Surely upon knowing that she couldn't go with him, Mike wouldn't go as well. They didn't need the tryouts or the raid anyway. They were already part of Black Lion – though only on special probation.
However, even with all the imploring and begging she did, Saya was left shocked and disappointed when Mike, without a second thought, chose the raid over her.
"Saya, I need this, so the vice commanders will know how skilled I am, and brother Scar would finally give me a regular spot in the guild. And besides, I really need this raid. I have to itch my name on that stone pillar and leader board as one of the players who got firstblood in a cave. That's one step towards becoming a Pro player. You know how much I wanted to become one, right?"
Saya knew that if she pressed on, Mike would get angry. She was afraid that his patience would run out if she persisted, and he would break up with her because she was annoying and unsupportive.
At this moment, Saya suddenly thought of Ren. In the past, Ren would stop everything he was doing just to help her. She didn't even have to say anything, and Ren would know exactly what she wanted.
If only Ren were here. Saya said to herself and immediately dispersed the thought.
Her parents were against Ren because he couldn't provide everything that she wanted. Her family insisted that she get together with Mike. And everyday, they lectured her to hold on to Mike and not let him go. She'd be happy with him, they said.
And they were right.
She was happy because Mike fulfilled all her wants. . . but her needs were empty as a dry well in the middle of a blazing desert.
However, her parent's voices echoed in her head time and time again. Saying not to let go of Mike and hold on to the man. She was planning to because she really like Mike, and he could give her everything that she wanted.
He could satisfy her wants.
But for now . . . she had to be a supportive girlfriend through and through.
Saya swallowed her indignation and forced a bitter smile. "I see . . . I-I'll wait for you then."
Mike patted Saya's head and beamed. "After this, we'll buy that Hermes bag you always talked about, okay?"
Saya's bitterness disappeared and was replaced with excitement at Mike's promise. "Yes."
Eventually, Saya could only watch as Mike and the rest opened the massive door made of ice.
Saya waved at Mike goodbye, but the latter didn't even look back as the darkness swallowed his silhouette beyond the door.
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Inside the Boss room, Black Lion was transported into a new dimension entirely. It wasn't a room with four walls but a vast frozen lake with snowy mountains in the far north.
They could see nothing but the endless glistering Crystal Lake reflecting the blue twin moons above, twinkling stars, and the mesmerizing aurora over the dark horizon.
They were standing on the snow-covered land only ten meters before the lake, and on the very far end, about two hundred meters or so from them, was a sleeping giant covered in ice.
Its snore shook the ground, and its breath fogged the area. It looked like a giant ape made of frost but had a face of a monster. Its skin was layers of hardened ice while another layer of armor were strapped around its thigh and arms. It had claws and armors of icy spikes on each hand and talons on its two feet. At the same time, spiky frost-like wings adorned its back.
It looked so spiky, sharp, and deadly. But asleep, it looked like a mountain covered in snow.
One of the members used [Monocle, and everyone released a breath when they noticed that the Boss's ATP wasn't high and its list of spells and skills weren't complementing each other too. It was also low leveled. Contrary to what they expected.
ǁ C O L O S S U S
F R O S T G I A N T ‖
Location: Icy Cave
Description:
"A sleeping giant in the middle of snow and ice."
The Colossus Frost Giant radiates cold that could freeze everything when its asleep. It wouldn't open its eyes until its HP decreased in half.
‖ A T T R I B U T E ‖
HP: 100 000
MP: 5000
STRG: 150 50 [Domain Bonus]
DEF: 200 70 [Domain Bonus]
MDF: 70
INT: 100
AGL: 20
LCK: 20
‖ D A M A G E
R E S I S T A N C E S ‖
Bludgeoning [Non-Magic]
Piercing [Non-Magic]
Slashing [Non-Magic]
‖ D A M A G E
I M M U N I T I E S ‖
Cold
Poison
‖ C O N D I T I O N
I M M U N I T I E S ‖
Sleep
Charmed
Frightened
Paralyzed
‖ W E A K N E S S ‖
Fire
‖ S K I L L S S P E L L S
Passive Skill:
Stand Guard
When the Colossus Frost Giant is asleep, its minions stand guard.
Darkvision
The Colossus Frost Giant can see in the dark.
Retaliation
The Colossus Frost Giant can counterattack if it's hit with physical damage.
Active Skill:
Multiattack LV.5
–– the Colossus Frost Giant can perform two fist attacks or one Ice Shard attack
–– 50% chance of FREEZING enemies if its INT is higher than its enemies' MDEF
–– Cost –500 MP
Fist LV. 5
–– the Colossus Frost Giant attack with its fist and hit multiple enemies in an area of ten meters.
–– 50% Critical Hit if LCK is higher than enemies
–– Cost –200 MP
Ice Shard LV. 6
–– the Colossus Frost Giant unleashes multiple spikes that hit a target and explode within a five-meter radius.
–– 60% of FREEZING enemies if its INT is higher than its enemies' MDEF
–– Cost –600 MP
Blizzard LV. 4
–– the Colossus Frost Giant unleashes a hurricane of ice on its enemies dealing massive AoE damage.
–– 40% of FREEZING enemies if its INT is higher than its enemies' MDEF
–– Cost –400 MP
‖ E N D ‖
After everyone had read the information about the Boss, they released a breath. With their numbers, there was no way that they couldn't defeat it. With many mages and healers in their ranks as well as potions, they were confident that they could defeat the Boss no matter how high its HP was.
They could chip it one minute at a time. They have the rotation strategy precisely for this type of Boss with enormous HP. With three units composed of several mages, healers, DPS, and a tank, they could attack it alternately while the other units recover.
It was the best tactic against a Boss with a large HP.
Gerald even stifled a laugh. "That's the Boss? Then this one is in the bag."
". . ." Ed didn't comment. There was something about the place and silence that got on his nerves. And there was something odd about the Crystal Lake that he couldn't put his finger on what exactly. The description of the Boss was also vague.
"I don't know," said Ed. "Its description and its passive [Stand Guard] bothers me."
"You mean that when it's asleep, it could Freeze anything?"
Ed nodded, and Gerald grinned while tapping Ed's shoulder. "We're fine, aren't we? Or unless you mean if we get into the Crystal Lake?"
Ed didn't comment. He knew for a fact that the Bosses in COVENANT weren't the typical Boss that you could just defeat with a high ATP. They were a bit tricky to kill and required planning and strategizing. Just like with Vulcan that even Scar had a hard time clearing it.
Ed ordered the head mage to cast his skill at the Boss. "Try if you can land a fireball over it from this distance."
The Head mage didn't comment and did as he ordered. Within a second, a burst of Fire shot from his staff. It rapidly gained momentum at first launched before decreasing in speed within seconds and flopping onto the Ice Lake.
It naturally didn't hit the Boss but it thawed a small portion of the ice, but not enough to cause a crack.
Gerald found the whole thing funny, and he laughed. "I say that thing didn't even reach twenty meters."
Ed wasn't laughing, though, and his worry intensified. It only meant that to defeat the Boss, they had to cross the lake and close their distance. They had to fight on the slippery ice covered lake and that didn't sit well with him.
Looking at the Crystal Lake, there was nothing harmless about it except that there was some kind of glowing veins sprawling across it. Like the lake was alive and breathing.
"What should we do?" the Head DPS asked Ed.
What else could they do? Ed thought. They have wasted a significant amount of gil to buy potions for this raid to come out empty-handed.
What's more, retreat was never an option. Scar would have his ass if he returned without even fighting the Boss.
"The first unit. Move out," Ed ordered.
At his signal, a group of twenty players with ten mages, five healers, and five DPS all move forward. They were the group that mainly comprised of newbies, and Mike belonged to this group.
Mike was ecstatic to finally have a go at his first Boss that he couldn't control the shaking of his hands. He was itching to fight. He needed the action. NOW!
The first unit took their first step into the frozen lake, and no one breathed. After seconds that nothing happened, symphonies of relief percolated in the air.
The first unit advance at a steady step, being careful with their footing, but still, nothing happened.
Gerald smirked. "I guess you're worried over nothing," he said to Ed.
He raised his hand and ordered the second unit to move at his lead when the first unit was a good twenty-meter distance from them.
When Gerald traversed almost fifty meters and still nothing happened, that was when Ed relaxed a little, and he ordered his third unit to follow ahead.
Black Lion walked at a steady pace on the frozen lake, and after the first unit was almost halfway to the Boss, they noticed something moving behind the sleeping colossus.
"What's that?"
The first unit stopped when they perceived multiple movements that were heading their way. The frozen lake trembled, and the pebbles were rattling on the ice.
Everyone felt the quake, and they panicked when the frozen lake seemed like it was going to crack and they would drown.
"Stop panicking! Get into your positions!"
However, the order went to deaf ears when sudden screams from the first unit resounded in the air.
Just ahead of them were skeletons with spikes of ice as armor, holding a sword or hammer in each hand. They were running towards them at full speed, and their numbers caused anyone to faint.
"Shit!" Ed cursed. It was, without a doubt, the Frost Giant's guard.
"First unit! Hold your ground and attack! DPS protect the mages and healers!" Gerald commanded.
However, faced with swarms and swarms of undead, the first unit froze on their spot. They were a group made up mostly of new players wanting to enter Black Lion, and this was their first raid. Their lack of experience on what to do when faced with a situation like this was apparent on their horror-stricken faces.
Mike wasn't well off from the rest too. His face was white, and his hands were shaking, and this time, not from excitement but fear. He wanted to run, but his feet seemed like it was frozen on the ground. He couldn't feel them, and he was shaking so bad like he was having a seizure, and it wasn't because of the cold.
The hundreds of skeletons was overwhelming that Mike passed out on the spot.
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"What are you doing just standing there?" Gerald shouted. "Bunch of retards!" This was why he didn't want to babysit newbies. They were too much trouble for his liking.
However, they couldn't do anything since that was their protocol.
"Second unit charge! Hammer those assholes' heads while you're on it so they would snap out of it!" Gerald shouted and ran to where the first unit was in an attempt to save them.
They needed their numbers to win this fight. They couldn't afford for the first unit to get wiped out this early on.
The second unit was comprised of experienced players, so their coordination wasn't an issue. Their DPS and Tank all charged with their weapons and clashed with the undead before the skeletons could reach the first unit. At the backlines their mages and healers provided support.
The Frost Skeletons were weak, and with one strike from the players' sword, they broke like glass. The only problem was . . . after seconds, they picked up their broken bones, pieced them together, and they were back a new. Not to mention that their numbers weren't dwindling one bit.
It only took seconds for a single DPS to be surrounded by dozens and dozens of skeletons. Their damage wasn't much, but faced with multiple attacks from all sides, his HP decreased at a rapid rate that a healer didn't even have the chance to heal him.
At this rate, their DPS and Tank would face annihilation. No . . . all of them would face annihilation if this was going to continue!
They had to do something and fast!
Gerald gritted his teeth and ordered, "Mages, what are you doing?! Rain those damn spells on those freaking things!"
Some mages hesitated. None of them have any AoE damage yet. A single target was all they could do. And faced with hundreds of skeletons, their MP and Mana surely wouldn't keep up.
But no matter how hopeless the situation was, they had to at least fight until the end. They had to know the Boss's pattern of attacks and other information they should know so they could re-attempt the cave in the future.
There was no retreat and logging out from the Boss's room. They could either defeat the Boss or get wiped out. It was just either of the two.
At Gerald's order, a rain of fireballs came shooting down at the Skeletons. It was like a mortar, and upon hit, the skeleton melted and disappeared. And since the skeleton was like ants swarming in a single area, a single fireball sometimes hit two. And even just a graze from those blazing balls of Fire could melt the skeleton into nothingness.
Gerald and Ed's faces brightened when they saw a ray of hope amidst their current predicament. But their hope was quickly smashed to pieces when the glowing veins under the lake shone even more. They even felt that the lake pulsated, and with it, the fog intensified.
For a moment, there was a burst of hazy white light that covered the area where the first and second units were situated. And after the fog settled came the resounding cries that made Gerald and Ed's hearts tremble.
All of the second unit's mages turned into an ice statue while their HP rapidly decreased.
"Goddamit!" Gerald was starting to panic now. He didn't know what happened, but it wasn't good for them. "Healers cast cure and heal them now!"
They couldn't afford to lose their Mages! Not when they hadn't even faced the Boss yet.
The healers were about to cast [Cure] on the mages that had turned into ice statutes when the veins under the lake glowed once more, and with it, the area was enveloped with thick fog.
"Stop casting, NOW!" Ed shouted. Something told him that the Freeze only happened when the veins glowed, and they only shone when someone in the group cast a spell.
But his warning came too late. When the fog settled, every healer in the second unit was turned into popsicles.
"Shit! Retreat! Regroup back in lands!" Ed shouted. "Don't cast any spell or skill!"
Ed was having a headache. Without any skill or spells, they were sitting ducks for the skeleton to stab as they pleased.
How on earth were they going to defeat that Boss now?
This cave that was supposed to be an easy raid had turned into a Sadistic difficulty really fast.
"Don't retreat!" Gerald shouted. He noticed that only spells from Mages and Healers were affected by the Freeze. The skills and spells of DPS were okay to use.
"Gerald you . . ." Ed couldn't believe what he heard.
"There's nothing for us but forward! What are we going to do if we retreat? Wait till forever for the Boss to open its eyes and hope that its HP reduced to half when its sleeping? We can't log out, and there's no way for us to escape but defeat the Boss!"
Defeat the Boss?! Ed didn't know whether to laugh or cry. How could they defeat the Boss if they couldn't use spells? Attack it with non-magical weapons? How much damage were they going to inflict it until the Colossus Frost Giant would wake up and stop freezing everyone?
By that time, all of them would turn into nothing but popsicles for the skeleton to stab.
However, as much as Ed wanted to shout back and reason with Gerald, the guy spoke the truth. There was no turning back from this.
Shit! Ed cursed and closed his eyes tight. With that little time, he thought of something . . . a strategy against the Boss. There was no way that there wasn't. Every dungeon had one. Just like with Vulcan's Cave.
There should be a way for them to approach the sleeping giant without clashing with the hundreds of skeletons.
When Ed's eyes opened, he first saw the glistering lake before something clicked in his mind.
"Five mages! Cast fire on the lake!" Ed ordered.
The Mages all looked at each other. They were clearly hesitating because they knew what would happen to them. But under fire from Ed's roar, they could do nothing but obey. Such was a life of a regular member in the guild.
The ice thawed and created a ten-meter radius gap in the water. However, the five mages that casted that spell was turned into ice statues.
Looking at the cold water, Ed took his chance, and he would not go down without a fight. He ordered, "Everyone dive into the water. Let's swim towards the Boss!"
It was the only thing he thought they could do at the moment to reach the Frost Giant. Ed also wasn't sure if his idea would work. And there was only one way to find out.
With his lead, Ed dived into the lake, and much to his surprise, he couldn't breathe underwater, but it didn't hurt. It's just that his HP was continually decreasing, although not much.
Ed smiled in joy. The decreasing HP wasn't a problem since it could be rectified with [Health Potions]. The important thing was to avoid the hundreds of skeletons and reach the Boss.
After that . . . Ed didn't know what to do.
He'd cross the bridge after he was sure his plan would work. He thought.
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BONUS Chapter for reaching 1000 PS!
Thank you!
—-
Hesitant as they were, the others could do nothing but follow their commander. And when they saw that Ed's figure was alright and was quickly swimming towards the hordes of skeletons, they followed suit into the lake.
It was better than being frozen to death or stabbed by a bunch of walking bones.
Gerald saw what Ed did, and he quickly told everyone to retreat and dived into that hole and followed Ed towards the Boss.
Yet those who couldn't swim didn't get into the lake, and they accepted their fate of turning into particles by the swarm of skeletons heading their way.
While the other Mages and healers who couldn't swim also accepted their fate of turning into ice statues. They preferred it that way since they feared the water more than the Freeze status.
Under the water, every member of Black Lion held their breath, and they even felt their hearts pounding hard against their chest. They even heard it in their ears as they passed under the swarms of skeletons.
Everyone closed their eyes in relief when the skeletons didn't attack them underwater. But their relief turned to dread quickly when those walking bones followed them towards the Boss.
Now what?! Gerald signaled Ed.
Ed ignored him and moved ahead while thinking of a plan. When they were near the Boss, and the Frost Giant's shadow blocked what little light was coming from the moon, Ed signaled one of the Mage to cast [Fire] just above the Boss.
Maybe they could attack it from below without turning to ice?
The Mage hesitated. She didn't want to turn into a statue and sink to the bottom of the lake.
But when Gerald and Ed stared at her threateningly, she could do nothing but obey.
Upon casting [Fire, a burst of red light flashed from the Mage's staff, and before it could form into a fire, it doused and sizzled.
Everyone was disappointed and worried about what they saw. They figured that the [Fire] spell wouldn't work underwater.
But the good news was, the Mage was safe. She didn't turn into a statue like what she feared.
But now . . . they were pressed with another problem.
Gerald and Ed looked at each other. From the seriousness on their faces, they already knew what the other was thinking about.
Attacking on land and water didn't work . . . so that meant that the only way to defeat the Boss was attacking in the air.
Realizing this, Ed signaled Gerald to end this raid.
It was an impossible dungeon to complete without the ability [Fly].
And with that, Black Lion burst out from the frozen lake, using their weapons to break the ice. Upon landing on ice, the Tank and DPS took on the aggro and fought the hordes of skeletons while the Mages attempted to decrease the Frost Giant's HP.
However, from their more than seventy strong members, they were reduced to nothing more than thirty plus. And against hundreds of Ice skeletons that couldn't be defeated with physical damage, the Tank and DPS were quickly eradicated. At the same time, the Mages didn't even manage to reduce the Colossus Frost Giant's HP to even ten percent before they were reduced to nothing but frozen statues.
The Frost Giant's HP was simply enormous!
Maybe around a hundred Mages could manage that fit, but the Freeze was an issue. They could bring another fifty more as back up to defeat the Boss once it's awake. But for that to happen, they had to spent trice or even four times the resources. Not to mention that the EXP and gil would lessen because of their numbers. So the only way was really to attack by air which they hadn't tried.
But the question was . . . was there such a thing that could grant them that ability?
—-
Outside of Icy Cave, more than half of Black Lion, who was now reduced as nothing but flying wisps, were waiting with cross fingers at the notification saying that they had won. Despite the odds, they hoped that the others would come out victorious.
Amongst the wisp was Mike, who didn't know how he died. When he came to, he was already outside of the cave as a wisp.
When the others asked how he died, Mike could only lie that he died fighting the swarms of skeletons.
He couldn't afford to embarrass himself and say that he passed out due to fear, and when he woke up, he was already in here.
Mike wasn't worried, though. As long as the other members were still alive and fighting, his name would still be itched in the Stone Pillar and Leader Board.
This was Black Lion they were talking about, and even two commanders were leading the front. Mike was sure that the Boss was easy for them. They were pro players that had advance map awareness and could quickly make decisions regarding strategy and gameplay. Plus, the Boss had mediocre ATP and list of spells and skills. The only noteworthy about it was its enormous HP.
Mike was so sure that the others had already defeated the hordes of skeletons and were on their way to defeating the Boss.
As time went on and as the wisps outside of Icy Cave became denser and denser, Mike still wasn't worried until the flash of notification shook him to his core.
[WIPED OUT!]
You have DIED!
Penalty 10 000 EXP
Insufficient EXP
Proceed to pay 100 ATP for lack of EXP
PROCEED
Mike couldn't react for a good minute. He felt like the world was going in circles at a rapid pace, and his head was hurting. It seemed like he was dreaming and was having a nightmare.
With the EXP penalty, it was better to recreate his account.
He refused to process the reality, and he was about to pass out when he looked over the sky and saw another notification at that exact moment.
[ CONGRATULATIONS to player Leonel from FREAKING AWESOME PEOPLE on getting first blood from defeating the Hidden Boss, ICE TROLL! ]
[ CONGRATULATIONS to player Roz from FREAKING AWESOME PEOPLE on getting first blood from defeating the Hidden Boss, ICE TROLL! ]
Mike didn't know why he felt that it was their Leonel and Roz's name on the announcement when it could just be another player with the same name.
Mike didn't know where he pulled the strength to press PROCEED, pay the death penalty, and get back his body. But confirming whether it was really Leonel and Roz who got firstblood on a Hidden Boss took priority.
He then immediately messaged Leonel.
[Mike: Did you get firstblood on a Hidden Boss?]
Tapping his feet on the snow covered ground, Mike waited for Leonel's answer. It felt like forever that he just stared at his screen. And his vision turned black when Leonel replied.
[Leonel: Yeah *grinning emoji]
Mike's eyes bulged and he was having difficulty catching his breath. Leonel? The Leonel? That idiotic naïve guy?
What?
Why?
How?
HOW did that happen?!
Mike was supposed to show his skills and become a regular member. This was supposed to be his moment to shine, and itched his name on the leader boards. But instead, they got wiped out, and he had to start from scratch again while Leonel got firstblood on a hidden boss.
What's worse, Mike was so sure that Leonel would become a regular member because of that. What's more, Leonel's name was already itched in the Leader Board that was supposed to be his spot.
If only he stayed with Leonel. Mike deeply regretted his decision. Though jealousy got the best of him.
[Mike: Leo, meet me at once. Where are you? I'll go there to you]
All hope was not lost. Frustrating as it seemed, Mike could still become a regular member of Black Lion without needing Roz if Leonel told him the Hidden Boss's information and gave him its loots.
Maybe Scar hadn't caught wind that it was their Leonel who got firstblood. He could use the Hidden Boss's information and loots as leverage to have a spot in the guild, so he also didn't have to pay Roz every month.
However, Leonel's reply made Mike scream at the top of his lungs.
[Leonel: I'm here with Scar, right now]
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In Igor Village, Leonel, Roz, Scar, and Invayne were having a meeting inside one of the rooms in the inn. Since they didn't have an HQ yet, they temporarily held their meeting inside a private room of an inn.
Leonel only felt uncomfortable looking at Scar, and he fidgeted his hands and tapped his feet. Scar was looking at him with a smile on his face. And though he looked nothing but friendly, Leonel felt that Scar was going to skin him alive.
Leonel felt that even though Scar was smiling, there was something about his aura that was angry. Angry at what, Leonel didn't know, and he didn't want to know.
Leonel pulled his gaze and looked anywhere but Scar. His eyes took on the pretty woman with straight black hair standing beside Scar. She was stunning with languid pair of black eyes adored with thick lashes, pouty peachy color lips, and a small unblemished face. She looked like a model with her height and lean frame.
But her expression was cold for Leonel's liking. She preferred Isolde's intimidating but warm expression.
"Ahh . . . Why do you want to talk with us again?" Leonel broke the silence. If it's about the hidden Boss, then he was sorry. He wouldn't tell Scar how to trigger it since it was Ren's information, not his.
Rather, he wanted to finish this meeting because Isolde was still waiting for them outside of the inn. They would go to Ren in Kartacol after he met with Mike and Saya and ask them to join him.
"It's regarding the Hidden Boss, Ice Troll," Scar said straightaway.
Leonel raised his hand and sighed. "Sorry to burst your bubbles, but it's not our information to give."
At the side, Roz was just silently listening with pressed lips. He felt like something terrible was about to happen when Invayne looked at him with dead eyes.
Scar crossed his hands, unbothered. "Actually, I heard that you wanted to enter Black Lion. I can give you a spot in exchange for the information and . . . the spell or skill book that you acquired in the Crystal Chest for getting firstblood. You can keep the equipment. We just need that Book."
Leonel was dumbfounded. They already agreed to give that Book to Ren since he was the one who knew about the Hidden Boss. The three of them were already contended with the equipment.
Even with his kind and naïve nature, he was not about to blindly follow Scar's words. "I'm sorry I can't give it to you."
There was no use lying about the Book since everyone knew that getting first blood would yield a [Crystal Chest] that contained either a [Spell Book] or a [Skill Book].
"I think . . . I won't be entering Black Lion after all," Leonel added with a serious face and voice.
Scar straightened his back on his seat. "I heard what happened, and I already punished Gerald for what he did to you. However, if you still don't want to enter the guild, then that is fine . . . but . . ."
Scar shifted his attention to Roz, and the latter's heart leaped twice over.
"What about him?" Scar added. "Mike had a contract with Roz to serve Black Lion until he gets a rare class. Our contract with Mike and Saya stated that they could stay on probation until Roz gets a rare class. All in all, everything depends on Roz. But . . . if we happen to kick Roz out of Black Lion, then . . . that's the end for Mike and Saya as well."
Leonel saw dark for a moment. "Are you . . . blackmailing us? That's not fair. That's a breach of contract!"
Scar only smiled. "No. Our contract is only with Mike and Saya, so there's no breach of contract on our part. Besides, haven't you heard the news?"
"What news?" Leonel asked through the gap of his gnashing teeth.
Scar looked at Invayne for a moment, and the latter forwarded a piece of information to Leonel and Roz.
"Apparently, Roz here had picked someone who he shouldn't have. Lira has millions of fans, and all of them are shading Black Lion because we accepted him into our guild."
Scar took a deep breath and shook his head a little. "Now tell me that I don't have any good reason for kicking Roz out of the guild. Our reputation is in shambles because of him."
Scare leaned forward to Leonel and Roz, staring at the two with a serious face. "No guild would accept him. But I am willing . . . in exchange for that Book. We will forget that this all happened, and everything will resume like before. Roz gets to stay. Mike and Saya get to stay. You can get to stay if you like."
". . ."
". . ."
Both Leonel and Roz went silent.
Guilt was consuming Leonel again, knowing Lira was still ruining the kid's life even in this virtual world. This was Roz's second chance. What would happen to him if, even in this world, he was shunned?
In comparison, Roz was biting his lip so hard to the point that it bled. His palms were also hurting from how hard he was fisting his fingers.
He then looked at Leo, and forced a smile that only made Leonel feel worse.
"It's fine, Leo. We'll just move to another Zone and start fresh there. Maybe that girl's influence doesn't reach there."
"I doubt it," cut in Invayne. It was the first time that she talked. Her white lotus face didn't go well with how unsympathetic her voice was. "Lira's influence is greater in other Zones. In fact, she has so many fans in Zone B and C compared to zone A. Anywhere you go, you're not safe. The only option for you is here."
". . ."
". . ."
Roz looked at the two people in front of him. He couldn't fault them, for they were also looking for their own interest. It was just that . . . those two had it all.
He knew about them from billboards and magazines. Fancy cars, multiple properties, and apartments and earning seven figures monthly or more. They practically have the world in their hands, and yet . . . why him?
He was only a regular person who earned four digits a month — a typical guy in the neighborhood who couldn't even afford to pay rent on time.
Life was hard for him . . . but why do these guys . . . who practically have it all, want to make it harder?
While Roz was struggling with his emotions, Leonel could do nothing but give up. They were talking about Roz's life, after all. Noting was more important than that.
"Could you give me a minute?" Leonel asked Scar.
"Take all the minute you like," he said, but in truth, he was also in a hurry. He still had to confront Ren about the false information he gave him.
At the memory, Scar's mood plummeted. Not long ago, they came out of Vulcan's Cave unsuccessful for the fourth time now. He announced to the world that he was so sure to defeat the Boss this time but came out defeated again.
He was sure that the headlines for today were his blunder and how he ate his own words.
Scar saw red for a second when he remembered the embarrassment and humiliation he felt. He even had to do damage control, but his effort was useful since the internet didn't care if he had money or not. The news of his fourth blunder spread so fast it was impossible to cover up.
His face even became a meme. Some even ridiculed him, saying to forget about Vulcan's Cave Hard difficulty. At the same time, his team was also advising him to move on to another dungeon.
But this irritated him, and he wanted nothing more than to prove that he could clear that cave no matter what.
It was just . . . Scar's hands fisted . . . that guy Ren!
He gave him false information!
He was about to storm Ren in Kartacol himself if not for Invayne's urgent message about a Hidden Boss.
Scar took a deep breath to calm his nerves. The Book was much more important right now. They had to secure it, especially when it was just within their reach and they didn't have to pay thousands for it.
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While Scar was busy with his thoughts, Leonel messaged Ren, asking for permission to tell Scar about the Hidden Boss and about giving the Skill Book. He explained the whole situation, and it was like he was writing a novel from the length, taking him more than ten minutes to write before he sent it to Ren.
But the guy's reply was so short, like his Dwarven height.
[Ren: I'll leave the decision to you. Do what you think is right]
Leonel breathed a big sigh of relief. He knew that Ren would understand that life was more important than anything else.
They could still get those items again in the future.
Leonel faced Scar before he told him, "Alright. But I want you to make a new contract for Roz that you will not kick him out no matter what happens in the future."
Scar merely shrugged. "Is that all?"
Leonel thought for a moment and immediately added, "And also, can you give him a monthly allowance since he is working in your guild and all."
Scar lifted an eyebrow. "Our contract with Mike stated that he should be the one paying Roz to work for us in exchange for their probation. And once Roz got a rare class that was only when Black Lion would officially offer a contract to him while Mike and Saya would have a spot in the guild."
Leonel blinked and processed what Scar said. "So . . . you can't?"
Scar shook his head. "No."
Leonel sighed. "Then that's all."
Scar smiled. "Done, then. But if he leaves on his own, then it's no longer our concern."
Leonel beamed at Roz. "Everything is fine now."
Roz's chin crumpled. He was definitely not an emotional guy, but he felt like crying at this moment. Why was Leonel so kind to him? They didn't even know each other that long.
Roz held back a tear and fisted his hands tight. He blinked the tears away and choked, "Thank you." He would definitely repay Leonel in the future.
That was a promise.
Eventually, after their meeting, Leonel and Roz immediately left. After Black Lion handed out the contract and signed it, they would surrender the Book.
"What would we say to Lira's fans about Roz?" Invayne asked the moment that the door of the room closed.
Scar stood to his feet and stretched his neck. "Actually, this might turn in our favor."
Invayne's lovely brow rose. "How so?"
"Just post about Roz's current predicament and tell the media how his life was ruined and that no work and guild would accept him except Black Lion. I'm sure most would pity him and applaud our guild for not kicking him out just because of a simple table snatching incident."
"The good Samaritan strategy," Invayne mumbled, and a rare smile blossomed on her face.
"That's right." Scar grinned before he pinched Invayne's chin.
"Now . . . I know that you have been a bad girl behind my back."
Invayne's eyes rounded before she looked to the side. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Scar smirked. "Is that why you're in a bad mood all day? And the reason why your family is planning to purchase Richers Hotels?"
Invayne bit her bottom lip and still refused to look at Scar. But after a moment, under his intense gaze, she melted and said with a pout, "It's you who did naughty things behind my back. Why go to her house so early in the morning? You didn't even mentioned going there."
Scar laughed. He loved it when Invayne was acting cute and jealous. Sumeri never did. She had a mature charm with an adult's mind.
"As I said, I went there to ask about Vulcan."
"Can you just ask over the phone?"
"It's important, and Sumeri might not answer if it's me who's calling."
Invayne sneered. "Oh. She will. She still likes you, you know."
Scar felt his ego burst. Being liked by two different beauties was definitely something to boost about.
"Don't worry. Nothing happened. And as proof that I'm over her, and on your side, you can do whatever you want with her family's hotel and I won't interfere."
Invayne's eyes shone brightly. "Really?" She couldn't believe her ears. She thought that Scar still had lingering feelings about Sumeri. That was why she thought he was meeting her behind her back, just like what they did in the past. They meet each other behind Sumeri's back, so Invayne couldn't help but think that way, because Scar had a history of cheating.
But if he said that he would not interfere even if she stomped Sumeri to the ground once and for all, then . . . he really didn't want to get back to her.
Scar merely tapped Invayne's nose and chuckled. "Yes."
He then hugged her tight while the girl giggled.
Too bad about Sumeri, but Invayne was important to him at the moment. Scar thought, eyes glinting. He needed her for the guild.
—-
Meanwhile, Leonel and Roz went out of the inn and were about to go to Isolde when the sudden appearance of Mike and Saya halted the two.
Mike appeared out of nowhere, and his face was fuming red while Saya tried to stop him.
"Leo, why aren't you answering my messages?" Mike said the moment he was in front of Leonel and Roz. But Mike didn't put Roz in his eyes, and his attention was only on Leonel. He didn't even notice that Isolde was just a meter away from them.
"Oh. I'm in the middle of talking to Scar so . . ."
"What did you and brother Scar talk about? Don't tell me that you already told him the information of the Hidden boss and gave him all its loot without consulting with me first?!"
"Huh? Leonel scratched his head, confused. "Why would I tell you about it first?"
Mike was speechless for a moment before he growled, "Obviously, because I'm your friend! And you know how much I wanted to enter Black Lion. That information and the loots could have given me a spot in the guild! Don't tell me that you already told brother Scar about it?!"
Leonel nodded. "I did. He already found out, so no used in lying that it wasn't us who got firstblood."
Mike gasped, and his face burst red while veins pounded hard against his face. "How could you?! We could have used that as leverage! Leo, I know you're an idiot, but this is crazy! You're a naïve fool!"
Mike was so mad he didn't care if he was garnering attention.
He stomped his feet in anger and if he could, he would have wrestled Leonel on the ground. That information could have landed him a spot in the guild, and Leonel just blew it!
Roz and Isolde were surprised at the sudden outburst by Mike that all they could do was watch with gaping mouth.
While Saya couldn't help but feel unhappy with Leonel, too. It was their chance to enter the guild without employing or paying someone monthly for a probationary status, and Leonel took it from them.
In contrast, Leonel was calm, but his smile was no more. Sure, he was naïve, idiotic, and kind, but he also had his limits.
"Mike . . . I did it to save Roz. He needed it more than you," Leonel said calmly, wanting to explain what happened, but Mike was already blinded with rage.
"What do you mean, Roz?! You didn't even know that kid for a week! While we have been together for years! You chose that kid over me?!"
Mike spat on the ground and pointed at Leonel, his veins crawling on his neck and forehead. "Fine! From now on, forget that we're friends! Don't talk to me or show your face! Our friendship is over!"
He said before he stomped his feet and left while Saya shifted her eyes between Mike and Leonel before she went after her boyfriend without a word.
She, too, was upset and couldn't look at Leonel at the moment. Everyone should cool their heads. That was the best course of action right now. She thought.
. . .
. . .
There was silence for a while, and Roz didn't know what to do. Because of him again, Leonel's life was falling into pieces. Maybe it was better if he distanced himself from him.
"Leo . . ." Roz called out when Leonel just looked on the ground with a dark face. He couldn't see his expression, but he knew Leonel was feeling down. It was apparent with his slumped shoulders and hunched back, and Roz was sure it was not because of his Dwarven race.
"What was that about?" Isolde questioned when she approached Leonel and patted his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
That was only when Leonel looked over at Isolde and Roz. He grinned though his smile didn't reach his sad eyes.
"Yeah. Don't worry about those two. They'll come around." He then hopped forward while simply wiping the tear in his eyes. He didn't felt like explaining further or introducing Mike and Saya to Isolde.
He was simply upset.
"Let's go to Ren in Kartacol and level our life skills or whatever!"
Isolde and Roz looked at each other when Leonel skipped as he walked though they could hear something like a snort after a cry.
In the end, only Leonel went to Ren in Kartacol.
Isolde got a call from her parents while Roz decided to distance himself from Leonel, thinking that he was a burden to him.
Meanwhile . . .
While everyone was facing their issues and drama, Ren was happily mining in Kartacol. Blissfully unaware of the happenings outside of the city gates.
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While Ren was relaxing on the back of a Hog, he received a message from Scar after four hours of traveling.
Did he already figure it out that fast? Ren thought.
It was possible if they ignored the hidden rooms and avoided all the beasts in their path in Vulcan's Cave. The one-day raid could really be finished within hours if they hurried towards the Boss's Room without taking any detours.
Ren stretched his limbs and lazily opened the message box. He expected Scar to throw a fit, but against all his expectations, Scar was so calm about it, adding to his amusement.
[Scar: What you told me is wrong. Vulcan didn't stop at north in fifteen seconds]
On Scar's end, he didn't want to cut relations with Ren since he was planning to recruit him to their guild even if the guy had already said no. Though he didn't care about the money he lost, Scar was still pissed because he felt cheated.
However, he needed to be patient and friendly and not agitate Ren so Black Lion could have a good relationship with him in the future.
[Ren: I didn't lie. That's how we defeated the Boss]
Ren didn't care what Scar thought.
[Scar: Then is it because of the different difficulties?]
Ren smirked. For some reason, Scar still wanted to play nice. He didn't even mention getting his money back or bursting into anger.
No matter what Scar was playing, Ren would play along.
[Ren: Difficulty? We defeated Vulcan in the normal difficulty, of course. I thought that's what you're asking]
On the other side, Scar almost choked from his saliva. How shameless could Ren be? The news was all over the place that he would attempt Vulcan's Cave in Hard difficulty. Even in the forums and [World Chat]!
There was no way that Ren could possibly not know! Unless he didn't read the news or even check online.
Scar gritted his teeth. Was Ren sabotaging him?
He calmed his nerves and took a deep breath. Scar had faults too. He had to admit. He just assumed that Ren was talking about the Hard Difficulty. He was confident that Ren already knew because of the news.
Or was he purposely toying with them?
[Scar: No. We are attempting the Hard Difficulty]
[Ren: Then I don't know. I only know how to defeat Vulcan in normal difficulty. Sorry]
Scar closed his eyes tight. His breathing was turning ragged from anger and frustration. He was a very calm and collected person. But there was something about Ren that got on his nerves that he couldn't put a finger on. Not to mention that he was kept reminding of that guy in the restaurant together with Mike and Saya.
That Ren was so smug because he got a rare class early in the game. But didn't know that the one he got was the lowest of the low. It was neither an attacking class nor a supportive class.
The Arcanist subclass dealt mostly with the crafting side according to his sources. And its skills and spells were mediocre at best while hard to level up.
Foraging was also an issue with that class since it mostly lean on the crafting side. They have to level those skills to make use of their abilities.
Scar sneered at the thought of that guy before he got back to the topic.
[Scar: Is that so?]
[Ren: Yes. So no money back. You can check the normal difficulty if you like]
Scar released a slight groan of frustration and took deep breaths.
[Scar: You can keep it. And I believe you. It just that . . . do you know how to defeat Vulcan in Hard Difficulty]
Ren chuckled. He didn't know why Scar was still being polite. But he got the feeling that the guy was bursting with anger right about now.
[Ren: Sorry. I don't]
With that, Ren closed the message box because not far, he could already see Kartacol just beyond the blazing mirage.
He didn't care of Scar or Black Lion and he was no longer in the mood to entertain that guy for his goal was already on site.
Far south of the Dwarven Continent was Kartacol, the mining city of the Dwarves. The one who runs the town is Ziv, a wealthy and savvy Kobold businessman.
From afar, Ren could already see the flat-roofed mud houses pressed together to form like an anthill. But contrary to the color of mud, the building was white, like dried white clay.
Large Caravans were transporting all sorts of supplies and stones to and fro from the city to the rest of the Dwarven continent. The Kobold's living in there was under the Dwarves' command, and even though the Kobolds were of a different race, they were welcomed in the land of the Dwarves because of their ability.
Kobolds could collect fifty kilos of ores and stones within hours and could sniff them from miles away. What's more, their size was like Dwarves, and they were great excavators that could dug so deep without endangering the land for any potential erosion. That made them great miners and the Dwarves like them very much. Their skills that is.
The city's only notable establishment was the Mine, the Covered Market, the Temple of Duzka, the Cliffside Tomb, and the Egg House.
The Covered Market had pressed houses where everyone can enter and exit to the next house without stepping outside the pathway. Stalls were opened inside the house on market days, and everyone was welcomed inside. Some even offered tea and biscuit, and Kobold women often go there to gossip with the neighborhood.
The Temple of Duzka was where the Kobold offered their prayers. Duzka was believed to be the founding father of Kobolds and was supposed to be alive in every Kobold, connecting them with each other. If a Kobold offered their prayers to Duzka, they dream of their ancestors, helping them in their time of trouble.
The Cliffside Tomb was where the Kobolds buried their dead. But instead of giving off a scary, horror vibe, the Cliffside Tomb was another tourist destination because of the stonework tombs. Kobolds weren't artisans, and it was the Dwarves who carved their tombstones into artworks.
The Egg House was where the Kobold reared their orphans. It was also where the mothers left their young ones to play while they worked their everyday chores and gossip to their neighbourhood.
And, of course, the Mine was where the Kobolds get their livelihood. Players and tourists alike who wanted to visit the Mines would soon find themselves too big for the small holes. Only Dwarves and Kobolds alike were welcomed in the mines, but non-inhabitants of the place had to pay a price, of course.
This city, like any other, had tons of quests, but Ren didn't have time to do those. The quest could wait but the in game currency couldn't. He still have less than a week real time to mine for stones and ores.
Ren went directly to Ziv, the leader of the town. He needed something from him so he could turn into a Kobold and start mining.
That was the only way for him to fit inside those small holes without money.
"Thank you, Ren. Hope you can ride with us again," Hoggy said.
Ren nodded. "Sure."
[Your Relationship Level with Hoggy increased!]
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Chapter 133: The Bug Quest
Kartacol was the last stop, and only Ren got off the Hog. He was the only player in the city since the others were still busy elsewhere, and he was in the far south of the Dwarven continent. And most didn't have the required ATP to enter towns yet, much less waste time traveling overnight to a faraway place.
Ren entered the city without problem when a notification popped on his screen.
It came from Silvia.
Ren was surprised because he thought that Silvia wouldn't ask for his help anymore.
Come to think of it . . . This should be the time to say goodbye to his mercenary job while his face was hidden. As long as he wore the cloak, he would be Ren the Merchant and not Ren the mercenary.
And it would be dangerous to associate his merchant self with players. His plan was to get a middle man to sell his items in the future. Preferably an auction house.
While his cloak was on, less association with players was the safest while he sold his items in the future.
Ren the merchant and Ren the mercenary should have separate lives.
Ren checked Silvia's message just to be sure about what the woman wanted right now.
[Silvia: Ren, I know that I promised not to ask for your help, but . . . do you know of Howling Canyon?]
Ren slightly shook his head. Silvia and the others might be attempting Howling Canyon about now.
They sure had guts. Ren applauded them for that.
Another mid-difficulty cave, just like Icy Cave. They're probably contesting with Black Lion and the other guilds.
Now that Guilds were but days away from incorporating into the game, all of them were working nonstop to put their names on the top, or they'll be drowned by the many guilds who were sprouting left and right.
To maintain their standing in people's eyes, they had to get firstblood left and right in order for their guild to echo in all corners of the world.
The competition was intense even this early on.
Ren could only sigh. That must have been exhausting.
Ren shrugged. Not his problem, and he replied to Silvia.
[Ren: I don't]
He lied and closed his message box before he went to Siv. Even if he told her about Howling Canyon, they still couldn't defeat it like Icy Cave.
Ren thought that Silvia would have gotten by now that Caves in COVENANT couldn't be cleared with just ATP or sheer numbers alone.
Ren slightly shook his head and pressed onwards.
Siv was found standing just outside of the Mine. He was checking every kilo of stones and ores that were transported throughout the continent.
"Hi," greeted Ren.
Siv looked over at Ren, and his face lit up. "Ah! Perfect timing! A player! Do you want a quest stranger? I can compensate you handsomely."
"Sure."
[Your Relationship Level with Siv increased!]
"Good. Here are the quests available."
A notification popped on Ren's screen. There were at least four quests plastered on there, but Ren didn't bother with those and directly pressed [Pest Control] without even checking the description.
"Ah, that. Yes. We've been having problems with Burrowing Rats in our mines recently. These rats are pests. They disturbed our miners and stole our stones. You see, those rodents are attracted to sparkly objects, and they're bad for business! They dig multiple holes and confuse our miners too! They have to be exterminated at once!
"Please kill as many Burrow Rats as you can within a day. The price waiting for you depends on how many rats you killed."
Ren accepted the quest without a second thought, and Siv gave him a [Kobold Trinket] to use.
"That trinket of ours allows you to be a Kobold for a day. You can't fit in those holes after all looking like that." Siv laughed.
"Good luck," he said before he went back to his work.
Ren didn't disturb Siv anymore and went on to his next stop. This quest was the only way for him to become a Kobold and enter the mines without paying a thousand gil to dig for stones.
But of course, he wouldn't be exterminating those rats as he would be busy mining nonstop. A zero Rat killed wouldn't be a problem, and Siv gives that quest without limit.
Ren could just accept that quest again and again. It was a bug that he could exploited. He could enter the mines without paying for a [Kobold Trinket] and the entrance fee without limit.
Ren didn't know when the developers would fix it, but they surely would in the future.
However, right now, Ren would take advantage of that bug. He thought and laughed a little.
Ren shop for a [Silver Hammer] in the marketplace. This was the mining city, so they already sold a [Silver Hammer] for a staggering five thousand gil. It was expensive because it was a Silver Tool.
The [Silver Hammer] was enough to hammer those stones containing jewels like Lapiz Lazuli and Pink Zircov. His loss gill would surely return to him twice or even a hundredfold once he was done in here.
Too bad that Gold and Platinum tools couldn't be bought but only acquired through quest or . . . if he made it himself.
No matter. Ren smirked.
He already had a Gold Pickaxe and it was enough to mine even Orihalcon and platinum ores as well as stones containing jewels.
It was time to start his idle life of doing nothing but mining for money.
—-
After half a day, while Ren was mining nonstop in the Mines, Black Lion arrived in Kartacol. There were only two of them, but both were Scar's right-hand man with a high position in the guild.
That was how Scar gave high importance to recruiting Ren into Black Lion.
Hidey was an Orcish woman with muscles rippling on her arms and legs while her orange hair was tied in a bun over her head clipped with a bone.
The other one was Sid, with beads of silver hair and ashen-colored eyes. He was an Elven Sniper and his cold appearance was the exact opposite of his character.
"How are we going to find that guy here?" Hidey didn't expect that Kartacol could be so huge and so little at the same time. What she meant by little were the houses and their inhabitants, of course.
"That guy could be everywhere or worse . . . he is not even here," she complained and added, "If I knew this was going to happen, we should have bought at least ten members with us to search."
Sid yawned and honestly wasn't motivated to find the player named Ren. But since it was Scar who said to search and recruit the guy, there would be repercussions if they didn't do it.
However, finding Ren in the middle of an enormous city was like finding his chocolate in the Ref that miraculously disappeared without a clue on who took it.
"Should we call for reinforcement?" Hidey asked.
Sid grinned and lazily yawned. "Go ahead and see if someone would come."
Hidey grumbled. All their members were either on a raid or doing some quest for the guild. They, too, were in the middle of a raid when Scar asked them to find and recruit Ren.
"What made that guy so special anyway?" Hidey didn't like Ren already. So much trouble for just recruiting a single player?
"Scar said that he might be a beta tester."
"No wonder he is so arrogant."
"Let's just start searching for him and get this done and over with. I still have a date later."
Hidey rolled her eyes, and they eventually split to cover more grounds.
However, no matter how hard they searched, they just couldn't find Ren anywhere.
Where could he be?
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Thank you to FizzywigHoid for mentioning about the Golden Pickaxe.
I edited chapter 133. Instead of a Silver Pickaxe i change it to Silver Hammer.
Ren already got a Golden Pickaxe and Golden Knife. I thought it was a hammer.
Sorry for the confusion ğŸ
—-
After their successful raid in Vulcan's Cave, Evie passed hours real time before he finally arrived just outside of Illusion Forest. The place lay in the little frequented northern part of the continent of the Sprites.
Evie did research beforehand, and much to her surprise, there was already information about the Forest, and some guilds and groups were already planning to enter it.
Rumors said that there was a Boss inside the Forest, and everyone was rearing to take dominion over the stretched tangle woods, fungus-encrusted glades, and directionless and intentionally disorienting paths.
Evie took in the smell of the trees. It wasn't like wet moss, dump leaves, or rots. Not even the minty, fresh dew of leaves and foliage or cinnamon and the strong bitter smell of barks. It was more of a sickly sweet, vanilla scent. It was overpowering, and upon breathing, could cause fatigue and hallucinations.
Evie blinked.
She didn't know why Ren recommended this place, but she felt that traversing this Forest solo was a bad idea.
Evie looked at the other players. She was not alone, and there were at least twenty people in the area. But all of them were huddled in groups, and she was the only one standing like a broken doll on the side.
She wasn't from Zone A, and she came from a faraway country, so she didn't have anyone here. No family. No relatives. No friends.
Evie didn't know exactly what she was doing here. She only followed Ren's suggestion of going to Illusion Forest, hoping to find something unique to her class and become a sought after mercenary just like him.
Evie sighed, and she clutched the black choker on her neck. An added plus LCK on her ATP at least gave her some confidence. Still, they said that the Boss couldn't be defeated solo. At least five players in a party were needed.
The air was tense as the faces of many. They were competitors, and it was a race on who could kill the Boss first. But since Illusion Forrest was ever-changing, they could breathe easy that the others wouldn't reach the Boss that quickly even if they went ahead.
All in all, it came down to their luck.
"Looking for members to enter the forest!"
Evie's attention was drawn to the voice. It was a voice of a woman with white hair and dark skin. Her beauty was exotic, while her personality was strong. She sported an Orcish Race with lean muscles adoring her frame.
The man beside her was younger-looking and a bit meek. He also had a bead of white hair with dark skin. Based on his attire, he was an elven Hunter.
The two were like siblings, which showed in their facial features, especially their silver eyes.
Evie looked at their names over their head.
Roxy and Rox.
Yep, definitely siblings.
Evie went over to them since they were the only group who seemed friendly. The others simply looked at the others from head to toe, asks too many questions and had too many requirements.
And Evie didn't like how the others looked at her like she was a piece of meat. With her alabaster skin and hair, she was a sight that attracted a lot of attention. As much as possible, she didn't want to enter a group that had too many acquaintances in it. There was a high chance that they were secretly planning something against a player they had just met.
It was much safer to enter a party that was made up mostly of strangers at this point. In that way, less schemes and everyone couldn't do anything bad with each other for the fear of being ganged up.
Evie's attention was straight on her path toward the two siblings when her vision was blocked by a guy with beads of black hair and a happy-go-lucky face.
"Hi. My name's Gilbert. Are you looking for a group? Why not join ours? We're only one member away," he said. His face stretching to its limits with how wide his smile was.
Evie's stoic face remained impassive as she shifted her attention to the group that Gilbert pointed to.
There were two pretty women in the group. One with the name Emerald with straight black hair that cascaded like silk on her back. She had an angelic face, but his character seemed cold, as portrayed by how she batted her eyelids.
The other one was Lyka, who had curls of pink hair tied in a pigtail on each side of her head. She came off strong and unfriendly, especially from how she looked at Evie from head to toe.
Evie was no stranger to that stare. She got it whenever she went, especially from ladies in her age group. And as much as she didn't want any trouble, trouble was always following her because of her appearance.
The only one who was looking at her with a smile on their face was Gilberts and the other guy between the two ladies named Michael. The one with a dimpled smile. His hair was brown, and his eyes were green. He was of mixed descent and handsome as hell. He was the type that ladies would swoon over with just a wink and sweet grin.
And from the glint in his bright green eyes, Evie knew that he was interested in her. It showed. And she was no stranger to those looks of half-closed eyelids, sweet smile, and melting expression.
Evie sighed in silence before she looked at Gilbert. "I have another group in mind. Sorry," she said and left.
Evie could only hope that the others wouldn't make it harder for her. Luckily, Gilbert didn't press anymore, and he went back to his friends and shrugged, saying that he had done his best.
At the corner of her eyes, Evie saw Michael frowned, and his smile dropped.
Evie quickened her pace and went to Roxy and Rox.
If she knew this would happen, she should have chosen an Orc as a race. Just like with that guy who arrived at the two siblings before her.
Evie's eyes squinted a little, reading the name on top of that Orc's head.
Ragnar . . .
He had a lean frame for an Orc. His blue hair was tied, purposely showing his broad forehead, while he even chose to put on two protruding tusks on his lower lips like he wanted to look ugly.
Evie safely arrived in Roxy's group and even heard their conversation as she approached.
"Two Orcs in the team? Is that okay, sister?" Rox asked, a bit worried.
Roxy shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Two is better than one anyway."
"But we need a healer and a mage."
"I can be both," Evie chimed in, and she introduced herself. "My name is Evie. Are you still looking for members?"
Evie really tried to sound enthusiastic so she could build a good impression, but it seemed that she would forever be that dead girl with an ethereal face.
Roxy and Rox's faces lit up upon the sight of her, and Roxy even squatted a little since Evie was short. "Whoa! What a very pretty girl. You look like a doll."
Rox readily nodded his head, and his half-closed eyes were wide awake.
Evie grumbled under her breath. Roxy seemed like she was in her early twenties while Rox was between her age. That explained the big sister vibe she was getting at Roxy. At least they weren't antagonistic towards her.
"Are you still recruiting?" Evie changed the topic.
"Ah . . . Yes! Ahahaha." Roxy pulled her hand and laughed to herself. She almost pinched Evie's rosy cheeks without thought. She couldn't resist. Evie was like a porcelain doll!
While Rox was just staring at Evie unblinking before muttering to himself, "G-goddess . . ."
Evie was starting to think that she had made the wrong decision to enter their group, but it was already too late to back out now.
After the brief introduction with the siblings and showing of stats and GS, Roxy and Rox went back to recruiting one more member.
At the side, both Evie and Ragnar were quiet.
Evie took a peek at Ragnar before she introduced herself. "Evie.
Ragnar just briefly looked at Evie and replied, "Ragnar."
". . ."
". . ."
As they waited for a few more to party with them, Evie peeked at Ragnar from time to time. The guy's height and lean frame reminded her of Ren. And even though Ragnar was intimidating and non-talkative like her, she felt comfortable with him.
It was probably because she didn't sense any malice from him that she often felt from others.
In short, he was not interested in her, which put her in a comfortable mood.
At that moment, Evie's notification popped into her view, saying that she had a new message from Ren.
At the name, her heart leaped twice over, and she even missed pressing the [READ] button a few times because her fingers were shaking.
[Ren: Evie, an in-game conversion is bound to happen. Be sure to save as much gil as you can]
A small smile blossomed on Evie's lips, turning her face from beautiful to divine, and she immediately typed a reply and got conscious because it seemed like she was secretly asking Ren to come with her.
[Evie: Is that so? Thanks. I'm outside of Illusion Forrest right now and about to enter with a group. We are still in need of players]
Evie erased the message and composed anew.
[Evie: Thank you for informing me. I hope we can party again. By the way, I'm about to enter Illusion Forest, and we are still a member short]
Evie groaned and sighed. Why does anything she replies end up secretly asking Ren to join her?
It took her a good thirty minutes to think of a reply, and she had dozens of options before she finally made up her mind of asking if he was free to party with her at that moment.
She was in the middle of typing when she noticed that Roxy and Roz were returning together with four players and she was shocked to find that it was Michael's group.
Evie didn't have any chance to compose her message, and she immediately sent Ren a short [We'll do] before closing her message box just in time for Roxy to introduce the newcomers.
When she was introduced to Michael, and he smiled sweetly at her, asking for her hand to shake, Evie knew that this exploration would turn for the worst.
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Before Michael and the others arrived, Ragnar was looking at the scenery.
Since the continent of the Elves and Sprites were just boundaries apart, after his successful raid in Gargantuan Cave, Ragnar went to the land of the Sprites and ended up in front of Illusion Forest from grinding monsters and beasts.
And since he was here, he might as well enter the Forrest and try his luck with another Boss again. He was tired of grinding anyway.
He looked at the groups present outside of the forest. They were at least five groups that were calling for other members.
Ragnar was thinking of his options, but the only group who didn't look him up and down or raised their brow were two siblings with white hair and dark skin.
Ragnar chose that group and went towards the two. He then introduced himself while the two siblings greeted back.
Roxy welcomed him with open arms while Rox looked over at him with a worried face.
"Two Orcs in the team? Is that okay, sister?" Rox asked, a bit worried.
Roxy shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Two is better than one anyway."
"But we need a healer and a mage."
"I can be both," a girl chimed in and said, "My name is Evie. Are you still looking for members?"
Ragnar looked at the newly arrived woman. She was short, reaching only around his chest but her face was nothing but 'short.'
Ragnar had to admit that he momentarily couldn't react. He just looked at the girl for seconds before he pulled away. Her beauty was striking that it even stole his attention. And this was coming from him, a man who had seen it all.
Her face was small, and her eyes were mystifying. She was short, but her physique was alluring. Probably the only thing he criticized about her was her dead expression.
After the siblings introduced each other to Evie, the two went ahead and called for other players, leaving him and Evie at the side.
She looked over at him and said with a deadpan face, "Evie."
"Ragnar," he replied.
". . ."
". . ."
From the corner of his eyes, Ragnar knew that Evie was peeking at him under her thick lashes. She must be curious about his ugly face.
It was silent, but it wasn't uncomfortable, and Ragnar liked the silence for some reason. He then hovered his eyes around, passing the time by looking at the scenery. Before his gaze went to Evie without a thought, and at that exact time, Evie smiled while looking at her screen.
Ragnar couldn't even blink, and he was hypnotized. Evie had a paralyzed face and seemed like she couldn't make any emotions. Even a smile was so elusive to the point that it wouldn't graze her lips. It added to her charms. Like anyone would want to please her just for that little smile.
But when she did, it was all worth it.
Ragnar had seen plenty of beautiful women. Models. Actresses. Influencers. Heiress. Young Miss. But all of them seemed to pale in comparison to Evie's charisma. Even Silvia didn't have that charm.
Ragnar didn't know that he was intently staring at Evie, who was currently showing all sorts of emotions. From smiling to frowning to trouble to panicky. It was quite amusing, in fact.
She seemed to be messaging someone, and Ragnar couldn't help but think that it was her boyfriend. And he thought that was one lucky guy.
Ragnar shook his head and took a deep breath through his nose. A good thing that he wasn't interested in women. He could have them whenever he wanted. And women were mostly a pain in the ass all his life. So he developed some kind of aversion towards them.
Good thing that Silvia was there. She was her shield against them as he was to her. So far, their relationship setup have worked out quite well for the two of them.
Love or other cozy feelings weren't important in finding their partners. As long as they respected and fulfilled their roles, everything was fine.
After a few minutes, four players went up to them. Ragnar wasn't interested as long as they completed the numbers and started the raid into the forest.
However, when Evie flinched, it caught Ragnar's attention. Her face was still stoic as ever, but something told Ragnar that she was troubled or even irritated.
Ragnar knew why the moment he saw the newcomers. One of them had a very thick gaze directed at Evie, and when introduced to the rest of them, he only extended a hand at her.
It was clear as day that he like her. It was a classic strategy to feel her hands and press them to let the other know his intentions.
Michael didn't have to. Ragnar thought. Just his gaze that wouldn't stray away from Evie's face was enough indication.
Ragnar almost stifled a laugh when Evie didn't accept the handshake and looked the other way. It was clear that she wanted to snub him but had second thoughts because they were about to be teammates, so she said instead.
"Sorry. I'm not used to handshakes."
Michael retrieved his hand with a grin on his face. He was the type that have a cocky macho attitude that didn't back out easily.
"Alright, since this is our first time partying with each other, I think it wouldn't hurt to plan our strategy so we wouldn't make a mess out of ourselves inside there," Roxy said.
"If I may," cut in Michael. "So as not to confused and being complicated . . . we four have our strategy in battle. I think it might be best if we stick to our own routine and don't get in each other's way."
Rox and Roxy stared at each other. "Huh? But . . . why did we even form a party in the first place if we don't coordinate?"
"We are coordinating," Lyka said, "Just not with you."
Rox shook his head. He was confused. "How is that going to work?"
Michael chuckled. "I think you've misunderstood us. What we mean to say that we will party with you is until only when we find the Boss. Meaning, an alliance between two groups until we faced the Boss."
"I see . . . ," Roxy said, thinking.
Ragnar didn't comment. He didn't really care as long as the other group wouldn't leech.
Evie clutched her hand and also didn't utter a word.
"Sister, how would that work?" Rox asked.
"Basically, we're still two groups but would form an alliance to help each other until the Final Boss."
"I think it's great," Gilbert butt in and stretched his hands over the back of his head. "You get to keep your loot, and we get to keep ours while watching each other's back. And we wouldn't have a problem with coordination since we have our own strategy."
Michael nodded, but his eyes never strayed from Evie's face. "What's more, it would keep the other groups from doing something funny."
It was only when Michael pulled his gaze away and briefly shifted his attention to the other party present. "With these groups entering with us, fights could break out at any moment."
". . ."
That was true. Ragnar thought. Michael had a point . . . but . . .
"There's only one problem," Ragnar said, looking at Roxy since she was their leader, "at the end, if we find the Boss, it would be them that we will face."
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BONUS Chapter for reaching 500GT!
Thank you! ğŸ
—-
Evie and Emerald were just quiet. The former was looking at the side, trying her best to ignore Michael. In contrast, the latter was busy capturing Evie's elusive gaze so she could bat her eyelids at her.
There was silence for a moment before Michael smiled and said, "That's right." He didn't deny it. There was no point. It was apparent they would become enemies as soon as they found the Boss.
"Your group has two Orcs while we have one Swordsman and a Fencer." Michael's smile widened when his eyes stopped at Evie. "You have a Blue Mage and a Hunter while our side has a Green Mage and Red Mage. I think we're about even . . . that is . . ."
Michael purposely hung his sentence. He had a penchant for mischief, and his tone was slow and deep, adding to his charms which made Emerald fall for him all the more.
Unfortunately for her, Michael's attention was on Evie. A random girl that Michael saw for the first time and got star struck. While she, a woman who had been with him since high school, was still in the friend zone.
Michael beamed and added, "You're afraid of our little group?"
Roxy's lips twitched before she laughed. "If you're not afraid of us, then fine." She looked at Ragnar and Evie. "Is that okay with you two?"
Ragnar nodded while Evie was biting her bottom lip. She had second thoughts again, but it was already too late to back out and enter another group. Everyone was already leaving left and right, and it seemed like her fate was worse if she joined the other parties.
Evie sighed and nodded in silence. How she wished that she could be strong enough to solo everything.
Michael's smile was so wide while Emerald's face crumpled into a pout. At the same time, Lyka pulled her group to the side in an attempt to change Michael's mind toward joining Roxy's group.
Though her endeavor didn't bore fruit as Michael had already made his decision. And if they still insisted, they were free to leave. He was apparently smitten with Evie, and it was the first time that he felt that way towards a woman. He couldn't explain it. It was like he knew her from somewhere. Feeling like they were connected. And he would do anything to get close to her.
Lyka could do nothing and looked at her friend in dismay and anger. Emerald pursed her lips and didn't react anymore. Michael knew that she liked him, but the man neither denied nor accepted her. She was in between. He was always leading her on and never really rejecting her advance. The feeling was like they were an item but never officially.
But Emerald was okay with that since she could be with Michael. But with the sudden appearance of a new girl, Emerald felt that everything would change.
While Gilbert could do nothing but shake his head and force a laugh. He told a joke to disperse the tense atmosphere between them. But only he was laughing, a dry laugh that eventually hurt his throat.
In comparison, Roxy and Rox were planning their strategy with Ragnar and Evie. Since it was their first time partying together, they needed to assign roles to each one of them so they wouldn't mess up in the time of battle.
"Since we don't have a Tank, I will take up that role," Roxy said, "Rox is our DPS, and Evie will support us from the back. While Ragnar . . . you'll be the second Tank, but for the meantime, your role is to protect Evie and Rox and watch for any potential group that KS our kill. Is that okay with the both of you?"
Evie and Ragnar nodded.
"Good. Now, since I'm not a Tank, everyone could OT the monsters in there if you're not careful with your damage," Roxy said it more to her younger brother than to anyone else, and Rox let out an awkward laugh.
"If that happened, Ragnar will immediately cast [Taunt] so the monsters will come at you. Understand?"
"Understood."
The group talked more about their positioning next and items before they set out into Illusion Forest.
Everyone held their breath as they took their first step inside the forest. No one had ever been there except for the few who told their tales. They said that the forest was alive and that . . . be careful of trees.
Whatever that meant.
Evie momentarily forgot about Michael and the piercing stares at her back when they entered the forest. In contrast with the brightness outside, the inside was blanketed in ever perpetual shades of grey. The air was cold as it was foggy, and the only light illuminating the surroundings was the will o wisp floating in random spots.
"Be careful. Don't touch the wisps. They won't attack you if you leave them alone," warned Roxy.
"I heard the fog in this early part of the forest is thinner than in the middle. You can easily get lost in here," said Rox. Didn't know if he was encouraging or scaring them.
He then looked at Evie and flashed a toothy grin. "Don't worry, Evie. As long as I am here, everything is going to be okay. I'm a hunter, after all."
Roxy sighed and wanted to hit her brother's head. She wished that he was that attentive when it came to her.
At their back, Gilbert snickered. "A hunter who doesn't have his pet yet."
Rox's forehead crumpled. "I have [Perceive]. That at least put us away from traps. You're welcome by the way. You're also safe from the dangers of stepping or falling to your doom. Thanks to me."
Gilbert was about to say something when Michael elbowed him. The former yelped and rubbed the side of his ribs while shaking his head and grumbling under his breath.
"Don't worry. As soon as we reach the area where the thick fog is located, we'll get into the circle formation like as planned. And we should be alright," assured Roxy before she muttered under her breath, "I hope . . ."
Evie understood the uncertainty in Roxy's voice. According to her research, every group who faced the dense fog ended up separated from each other no matter what they did.
Even if they held hands or shouted, to let the others felt their presence, it was useless. It was like the forest always found a way to separate them. And once they were all alone, that was when every beast and monster picked them one by one.
Evie gulped at the thought, and her hands shook a little.
"Scared?"
Evie gasped when out of the blue, Michael's voice was near her right ear. When she looked to her right, the smiling handsome face of Michael dominated her view.
Others would surely swoon at the sight because he was a fine-looking young man with a cute smile, but Evie found it creepy and downright annoying.
Michael should have gotten the cues about now that she wasn't interested, and by that, he should have respected her decision and leave her alone. Pushing himself on her only made her feel like he was a stalker.
Evie ignored Michael and continued walking ahead, but the guy's persistency was a force to reckon with.
"My full name is Michael Abalon, by the way. You probably heard of me. The Abalon chain of hotels and the shipping conglomerate? Our family is also into renewable energy, space exploration, and real estate. We're also looking into mining and technologies. If you're interestedâ""
"I'm not interested," Evie cut in, face impassive, and her voice was as dead as her expression.
At the side, Ragnar smirked over his fist. He knew of the Abalon, but he never once saw Michael. He must not belong to the main branch of the family. Ragnar thought.
Michael wasn't the least bit offended and he was about to say something again when suddenly . . . they heard rattling sounds that didn't come from the wet leaves they stepped upon.
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They heard rattling sounds that didn't come from the wet leaves they stepped upon, and upon closer inspection behind the foliage, they found glowing red eyes that weren't coming from the wisps.
What was more, the many parties that came in with them in the forest were nowhere to be seen even though they were just meters apart when they entered.
It was like the forest was alive and changed with every group.
Luckily, Roxy didn't separated from Michael's group.
The rattling noises were getting louder, like the sound of cicadas in summer, while the glowing red orbs were coming nearer in their location until the sound stop and the silence that soon followed was deafening.
Evie readied her staff, and Michael stepped in front of her and assumed a fighting stance.
"Don't worry, Evie. As long as I am around, you'll be fine. I took up Kendo at school and learned martial arts." Michael winked, flashing his most dashing smile.
Evie groaned. She was short, so Michael easily blocked her view. He was more of a hindrance than helpful at this point.
Evie took a step back to get a full view of the map, and that was when she saw, moving from the bushes and trees, were walking monsters.
Everyone gasped when the beasts came to light.
It was so tall, about two to three meters in height, and lanky. Its skin texture was like a ragged bark of a tree, but it had thick dark hairs all around its body.
However, what was hideous about this beast was its face. It had a face of a sickly old dog with a long protruding jaw containing rows of razor-sharp teeth. The skin surrounding its mouth was peeled off, and its eyes were so round and glowing red. While deer horns were sprouting near its small point ears.
Ç W I N D I G O â–
Location: Illusion Forrest
Description:
"The hungry mutts that ravage the forest for scraps."
"Don't run. Don't hide. The Windigo is coming."
Creatures of the dark that took the form of wood and wolf. The Wendigo is chaotic evil by nature and will eat any living thing in their paths.
They come in pacts like the wolves, and they can perfectly see in the darks. Their nose can even sniff the smell of flesh meters away, and their ears can pick up the tiniest sound. Their speed is also unparalleled, and they are great climbers.
â– A T T R I B U T E â–
HP: 700
MP: 150
STRG: 25
DEF: 20
MDF: 10
INT: 5
AGL: 30
LCK: 10
â– D A M A G E
R E S I S T A N C E S â–
â¶ Bludgeoning [Non-Silver Weapon]
â· Piercing [Non-Silver Weapon]
â Slashing [Non-Silver Weapon]
â– D A M A G E
I M M U N I T I E S â–
â¶ Poison
â· Darkness
â Necrotic
â– C O N D I T I O N
I M M U N I T I E S â–
â¶ Sleep
â· Charmed
â Frightened
â Cursed
⺠Cold
â– W E A K N E S S â–
â¶ Fire
â· Water
â Light
â– S K I L L S
S P E L L S
Passive Skill:
â¶ Dark Vision
The Windigo can see perfectly well in the dark. Invisibility is useless against them as they can see the heat waves of any living things.
â· Keen Smell
The Windigo can smell its prey's scent even from miles away.
Once the Windigo gets hold of its enemies' scent, it will search for it nonstop until the end of the forest.
â Advance Hearing
The Windigo can pick up even the tiniest sounds from its surroundings and detect disturbances from meters away.
â Good Climbers
Using its sharp claws, a Windigo can easily climb even the most difficult of terrain with ease.
Active Skill:
â¶ Multiattack LV.2
â"â" the Windigo can make two attacks with its claws
â"â" 50% hit if STR is higher than DEF
â"â" Cost â"10 MP
â· Cursed Claw LV.3
â"â" the Windigo can inflict curses when its enemies are hit with its claw
â"â" 30% CURSED if LCK is higher than enemies
â"â" Cost â"15 MP
â Consumed Flesh LV.5
â"â" The Windigo bit a chunk of its enemy flesh and regenerated its HP equal to the amount of damage it inflicted
â"â" Damage is dependent on its STR
â"â" Cost â"20 MP
â– E N D â–
Everyone breathed easy, knowing that the Windigo had low ATP and its list of spell and skills weren't that scary. Its percentage was also low, so there was no chance of it inflicting any [Cursed] Status on them.
Though they weren't worried since a White Mage [Cure] could easily remove that status effect.
And then everyone looked at each other, and that was when they realized that they didn't have a single White Mage in the group!
"S-shit . . . ," Rox stammered, "Should we go back and find a White Mage first?" How could they had miss it?
"I don't think that option is available anymore," Gilbert said and pointed at their back.
That path they came suddenly changed, and they could no longer find any traces of their steps.
"This Illusion Forrest quickly turned into a horror forest," commented Lyka, and she stuck close to Emerald while looking at the Windigos in disgust.
It was only the beginning of their nightmare when one after another, Windigos started appearing. From the north, south, west, and east. Everywhere they laid their eyes, these monsters dominated their view.
Rox merely blinked, and all of a sudden, the Windigos' numbers doubled. "There's at least . . . twenty of them?"
"Should we run for it?" asked Gilbert, eyeing Michael.
"M-Michael." Emerald held Michael's hand, but the latter pulled his arm away.
"We can't run. We have to fight it," Michael said with a resolute voice.
Roxy nodded. "Based on the Beast descriptions and high AGI, we can't outrun it. And there's no option to flee in our screen. Only to engage them."
Sweat ran from Evie's cheek. Once one of them pressed the [Engaged] button, the Windigo would automatically attack. There was no longer an option for logging out either.
There was no retreat and no escape. It seemed like this forest had turned into a Boss's Room.
At the side, Ragnar calmly assisted their situation. The Windigo could easily be defeated with their ATP and skills. The only problem was their numbers.
"Let's fight it," Roxy said. "We can win this as long as everyone fights. They're not the only ones who had the advantage of numbers." She looked at Michael's group when she said that.
Michael shrugged. "That's what we've been planning from the start." This was his chance to showcase his skill! No better way to earn a girl's affection than being a hero and saving the day.
"Guys, let's send these hounds back to the pit hell." Michael pressed engage, and the Windigos simultaneously launched their attack.
They were more than twenty of them, and all were coming after Michael's group. If it was a group besides Roxy, that group must have taken advantage of Michael and his friends fighting the Windigos and went ahead. Or thinning the Windigos' numbers before they decided to help to minimize their losses.
Fortunately for Michael and his group, Roxy and Rox weren't those kinds of people, and neither was Ragnar and Evie.
Roxy immediately casted [Taunt, and the Windigos stopped mid-attack before they all chose a different target. "Ragnar, sorry, but can you lend a hand?"
The numbers were too much for Roxy alone to handle, but even if Ragnar took the vanguard together with her, it still wasn't enough to disperse the damage.
True that Ragnar and Roxy had high DEF and the amount of damage the Windigos inflicted upon them was only in the first digit. But times it to a dozen or so, and the damage still reach a hundred each.
"Evie, don't heal us. We'll consume [Health Potions] instead," said Roxy. "Focus on attacking this beast."
That's what exactly Evie had in mind. It was bitter killing the Windigo fast than wasting mana and time on [Heal] that only restored minuscule some of HP.
With one ball of Fire from Evie's staff, a Windigo burst into particles. Her INT had already reached thirty-plus, and the Windegos MDEF wasn't so high that she could kill the monsters in one hit.
She also didn't OT since the one she attacked died. If it didn't, there was a chance that she could have pulled the aggro from the two Berserkers and attracted that single beast towards her.
Roxy and Ragnar were also doing exceptionally well at holding the aggro. Ragnar especially. His STR was already thirty-five from grinding nonstop, so his damage output was also high. This kept the aggro lock on him while the others slowly chipped off the Windigos HP.
The same couldn't be said about Rox, though. Since he was a Hunter and he didn't have any silver weapon with him, he could only deal little damage to the pact of monsters with his [Long Bow].
Not to mention that a Hunter's physical attacks were among the weakest in early games until you could gain a pet, better equipment, and level your skills/spells and ATP.
—-
A/N
Sorry for the fight scenes ğŸ
This isn't a major fight so I just plan to make it quick ğŸ†
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On the other hand, Michael's group dealt the most damage to the Windegos. While Roxy and Ragnar were keeping the Windigos from reaching them, Michael and Gilbert were dealing damage to the monsters and keeping them away from Evie, Emerald, and Lyka.
So they wouldn't OT, Emerald and Lyka only attack those Windegos that had low HP. The one that Michael and Gilbert already chipped away.
So far, the fight was leaning in favor of their group as the battle raged on. But after thirty minutes, Evie felt that something was wrong. They were winning, but everyone was catching their breath while the Windigos numbers weren't thinning the slightest, no matter how many they defeated.
Evie hovered her eyes around, and that was when she caught something. A pair of round eyes beyond the trees that weren't red but blue.
Evie was about to say it to Roxy, but she and Ragnar were busy fending off the non-ending wave of monsters. Both of them couldn't go in that direction and have a look, or the whole formation would crumble. They were needed here to keep the Windigos from targeting the others, while Rox couldn't notice anything but the Windigos in front of him.
At this moment, Evie didn't mind her distaste for Michael. There was no need to keep her personal feelings involved in this time of urgency.
She was going to ask for their help so they could look at that weird blue glow behind the dozens of red eyes. But when she was about to open her mouth, Emerald was already beside her.
"What are you doing just standing there? Don't tell me that you're leeching off?" she said, garnering some eyes to their location.
"Girl, get your ass working. This isn't a free ride!" Lyka seconded.
It was only less than five minutes that Evie stopped attacking because she couldn't take off her attention at the pair of blue orbs. At just that tiny window of time, Emerald and Lyka didn't pass that chance to pick at her fault.
"Evie, don't stop attacking," said Roxy, voice laced in irritation. No wonder the Windigos weren't decreasing. Was Evie conserving her MP or taking breaks, or did she simply wanted a free ride?
Since her back was facing Evie, Roxy didn't know what had happened, and the only thing she saw was Evie standing at the side, doing nothing. This got her irritated, and forced her to raised her voice.
"Sis, the monsters aren't lessening in numbers." Rox attempted to change the topic to save Evie, but it only backfired.
Roxy barked. "It's because one of us isn't attacking."
Evie couldn't say anything but pulled her gaze away. She didn't care what the others thought of her. She searched for the pair of blue orbs again and didn't leave it from her sight.
Emerald and Lyka misunderstood Evie's silence as her being embarrassed, and their lips rose in a smirk.
Ragnar wasn't interested in the drama. His whole focus was keeping the monsters at bay.
While Michael and Gilbert also couldn't bring their attention elsewhere but the Windigos even if they wanted to.
"Calm down. We can win this," assured Michael before wiping his sweat and rolling his shoulders. They were getting heavy for some reason.
"But these monsters' numbers aren't really decreasing," panted Gilbert after he pierced a Windigo and took a step back to catch his breath. Was it only him, or had his eyesight became bad? The Windigos seemed to be multiplying.
"There's a pair of glowing blue eyes there. Maybe it's connected to all of this," Evie finally said and pointed her fingers behind the rows of Windigos.
"What are you talking about? Get back to fighting!" Roxy shouted.
Ragnar looked at the direction to where Evie was pointing and found no pair of glowing blue eyes there. Was she hallucinating? He couldn't blame her. Something in the air made even him see things, like the Windigo, for example. It seemed like they were doubling in numbers.
At that point, Evie was stunned. Couldn't they see it? It was glowing so bright amidst the dark. It was set apart from the glowing red orbs.
While the others were busy, Evie decided to take a look at that pair of blue orbs herself. She wasn't happy with the accusation even though she didn't show it. And that adds up to her guts to take matters into her hands.
Since the Windigos aggro was locked on Ragnar and Roxy, Evie was free to pull away from the group and went after the pair of blue orbs.
"Hey, where are you going?!" Lyka hollered.
"For the love ofâ"!" Roxy cursed under her breath when Evie ran towards the other side of the forest. But she couldn't do anything since she was occupied with the swarms of Windigos that were trying to bite her flesh.
Emerald shook her head though a small smile tickled her lips. "She probably ran away because she was upset."
"Evie!" Michael bellowed and was about to run after her when Emerald blocked his pat.
"Michael, we have other pressing matters to take care of."
But Michael was deaf to her pleas and even shoved her to the side. His gaze was forward, and he didn't care about anything else.
Looking over to where Evie ran, Michael skidded to a stop when he noticed that he couldn't find her anymore.
How was that possible when not even five seconds had passed?
"Evie . . . ," muttered Michael. He was about to storm into the unknown to search for her when Gilbert pulled him back.
"Forget about her, man. If we don't do something about these monsters, we're all going to be wiped out."
". . ." Michael seemed like he didn't hear anything. His attention was still on the darkness from where Evie went.
Another thug on his clothes, and Michael woke up from his stupor. He gritted his teeth before briefly closing his eyes. He then returned to his group and continued fighting the non-ending Windigos.
He'd search for Evie after he was done here. Michael promised to himself.
"Damn that girl," cursed Roxy under her breath. She was so going to kick Evie out of the group after they were done with these monsters, even if she had to threaten her brother to vote for it.
Roxy had nothing against Evie, and she was an amiable person. Just don't cross her. What Evie did was crossing the line. Where the heck would she go at this time that they were in a pickle?
"We are so going to kick her out of the group after this."
Ragnar didn't comment. Maybe Evie did see something. Else she should have left the group already if she was really a bad person. She would have pressed on and search for another party. With her looks, it was a piece of cake to enter a new group.
But since there was no notification of her leaving, it only meant that she saw something like what she said.
Meanwhile, while everyone was busy fending off the monsters, Evie went after the two pairs of glowing blue orbs. She felt they were near, yet she couldn't reach them. She ran with all her might but still couldn't catch it.
She was surprised when the scenery changed, and she found herself in a wide clearing surrounded by trees and a glistering crystal lake at the center. Floating at that lake's edge was a woman who seemed like it was made of water.
Its long hair fell like a waterfall to her waist, moving in waves just like her dress that fluttered gently on her frame. It had a crystal crown on top of her head while its face was ethereal as its body was transparent with eyes of crystal blue. It was the same pair of eyes that Evie saw a while ago.
"You've finally come," she said, voice deep and soothing. "I have been waiting for you."
Evie used a [Monocle] and got confused at what she saw.
Ç E N C H A N T R E S S,
M E R I Y A A H â–
Location: Illusion Forest
Description:
"Beware of the Enchantress's charms."
Meriyaah was a powerful enchantress in her time. Everyone sought her power and charms, but only one succeeded at claiming her heart.
She fell in love with Thomas, a Knight that served the continent of the elves, and life had never been the same since then.
Using her powers, Meriyaah made Illusion Forest her new home together with Thomas. However, one day, Meriyaah died, not knowing how and why.
She believed that it was Regard, her sworn nemeses, who did it.
Since then, the once beautiful and mystical forest had turned into a den for cursed monsters and evil spirits. With Meriyaah gone, a foul creature claimed the forest, turning it into a wicked, twisted place.
â– T R I G G E R
R E Q U I R E M E N T â–
The Enchantress Meriyaah can only be triggered one time by a [Blue Mage] whose LCK is 30.
â– E N D â–
Evie was dumbfounded.
There was no ATP or skill and spell, so that meant that Meriyaah wasn't the Boss.
What's more, an [Enchantress] was the final evolve subclass of a Blue Mage. Given that there was no other hidden sub-class after that.
What baffled Evie more was the fact that it could only be trigged one time and that her LCK so happened to be 30, all thanks to the [Black Choker] that Ren lent to her.
Could Ren know about this?
Evie wasn't sure, but a smile tickled the side of her lips at the thought of the man.
Her attention was then stolen when Meriyaah spoke.
"Oh, hear me, young one. Please find my killer and give light to my murder so I can finally rest in peace."
An EPIC QUEST appeared!
ACCEPT
DECLINE
—-
A/N (Doesn't cost a coin)
We'll wrap up Evie's side of the map at next chapter and get back to Ren.
After which the Festival of Gil and after that ARC 3 is next ğŸ†
I know that i have so many pending storyline. Don't worry, I take notes of all of them.
And Alchemy will start maybe in ARC 4 so . . . still a long way ğŸ
Thank you all for your support! ğŸ
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Evie was stunned. "An Epic . . . quest?"
She couldn't believe at what she saw flashing on her screen.
She heard about that quest, and they weren't easy to accomplish, but the rewards, however, would definitely grant her an edge over the others.
Did Ren knew about this?
If so . . . then she definitely owed him. Big time!
Evie immediately pressed [ACCEPT]. Only an idiot would decline an Epic Quest.
Ç E P I C Q U E S T Ç
â— The Enchantress Meriyaah
Meriyaah was once a powerful enchantress. Her powers and beauty were sought after by everyone, but only one person took her heart, Thomas the Knight of Ereynia.
Using her powers, she built Illusion Forrest, a place of mystique and intrigue that serve as the haven for the lovers.
However, one day, when Thomas went out to get supplies in town, Meriyaah was killed. She believed that her killer was none other than Regard, her sworn nemesis.
Regard was an ambitious man who sought only power and wanted nothing but to claim the title of the greatest enchanter. He was the only one who was powerful enough to combat the traps and illusions set in the forest and kill her without her knowing how and why.
OBJECTIVES!
â¶ Find out how and why Meriyaah died
REWARDS!
â¶ 40 000 EXP
â· 1 000 000 Gil
â Crystal Chest
â Platinum Chest
⺠Gold Chest
Ç E N D Ç
Evie's face brightened. A Crystal Chest!
But her happiness was short-lived as she knew that behind those awesome rewards was a quest that couldn't be completed in a short amount of time. What's more, there was no hint whatsoever on where to start.
The only useful information was the description. Thomas and Regard. Those two were her clues, but only Thomas's location was given among them.
Nevertheless, Evie readily accepted the quest, though her face remained impassive.
Meriyaah's expression was blank though there was a hint of a smile plastered faintly on her lips.
"Thank you. You'll need all the aid you can get in your quest." She closed her eyes briefly. "As for me, in my current state, all I can give you is my blessing. However, if you defeat the current ruler of this forest, you'll get one of my set treasures."
[You have received Meriyaah's Blessings!]
[Your INT increased 40]
[Your LCK increased 10]
Evie was ecstatic. That's 5000 worth of EXP! And just because she was the first to discover Meriyaah. This was the first time that she was so glad that she picked a Blue Mage as a subclass.
She definitely would give something back to Ren after this. It was all thanks to him. Or better yet, maybe they could complete the quest together? An Epic Quest was rare, and her debt of gratitude would surely be repaid by the information and its accompanied loots if they ever succeeded in completing the quest.
"Thank you. But who is the current ruler of this forest?" Evie asked. She thought that it might be the Hidden Boss.
Meriyaah's face slightly changed, and her brows met in one line on her forehead. "It's Rakusha, the former guardian of the forest. It sometimes showed itself, luring unsuspected travelers to the promise of loot they would get upon defeating it.
"However, Rakusha can change the layout and scenery of the forest at its whim. It can't easily be found. It hid in the secret part of the forest, unknown to travelers. Its true aim are the travelers' souls to feast upon. The more souls it ate, the more powerful it became."
No wonder that the forest seemed alive. Someone was controlling it in the dark. It was the Boss and Illusion Forest was its whole lair. No wonder they couldn't log out. They were already inside the Boss's room!
"How do I find it then?"
Meriyaah's gaze shifted far beyond. "Rakusha is everywhere. Its eyes are all-knowing, and because of my item in its hand, it could control the forest to its whims.
"However, there is a way to find it. Follow where the water goes . . . and you will find it."
Evie did notice a small stream of water when they walked in the muddy and damp soil. Only now did she notice that it was odd that she only found a single stream when usually, water created multiple paths.
"I see . . . thank you."
"A warning . . ." Meriyaah looked at Evie seriously in the eyes. "As you are currently now. You couldn't defeat it. But with the aid of five players, all with their main ATP at 40, you could stand a chance."
Plus 40? Evie didn't have a problem in that department. With Meriyaah's blessings, her INT was already in 70.
Evie recalled if her companions' main ATP had already reached that digit. As much as she could remember, Ragnar was nearing that digit. She didn't know about Michael and the others, though.
But their advantage lies in their numbers, so there might be a chance.
Then Evie remembered something. "How about the Windigo? How do you defeat them?" It was worth the shot to ask her. Though Evie wasn't expecting much.
To her surprise, Meriyaah answered.
"The Windigo is non-ending. As long as Rakusha is alive, those beings will continue to exist. To defeat them, you must defeat Rakusha first."
"That would be a problem since they're coming at us. We can't just leave it alone."
Meriyaah looked at me for a moment before she said, "The Wisp is your guide. Those are innocent souls — victims of Rakusha. The Windigos will not attack you if you stay within five meters from the wisp. They will follow you, but they wouldn't initiate an attack."
Evie's eyes rounded. Now that Meriyaah mentioned it, she did notice that the wisps were thinner from where they traveled because they wanted to stay away from those flying balls of fire as much as possible.
Was that why the Windigos attacked in the first place?
They thought that the Wisps were enemies, only to realize it was their saving grace against those Windigos.
"Is that all?" Meriyaah asked Evie after a minute of silence.
Evie couldn't think of anything more and nodded.
Meriyaah smiled. "Then . . . I wish you all the best."
After seconds Meriyaah's form slowly dispersed, and the scenery changed to what it was before. Trees and foliage basked in perpetual grey while fog lingered in the air.
Evie heard the clashing metals, shouts, and cries not far from where she stood. Turning towards the sound, she saw Roxy and Rox's white hair, the only bright color amidst the dim light.
Evie was about to run in that direction when she thought of something.
Should she tell them about what she found? She didn't know much about Roxy's and the others, even more so Michael's. She was afraid they wouldn't give Meriyaah's item to her if she told them.
However, she couldn't log out or exit the forest. That option became inaccessible once they entered the place. So she had no choice but to tell them since she couldn't solo Rakusha. Her only option was either that or let herself get killed to escape the forest and suffer ATP reduction.
The latter choice wasn't an appealing to her.
Evie took a deep breath and continued forward. She would make a deal with the group and hope for the best outcome. Roxy and Rox seemed like nice people, while Michael's group . . . his group was the only problem.
Bracing herself, Evie returned to her group, and upon the sight of her, she was stunned at the hostility that greeted her.
"What the fuck?! You still came back?!" Roxy sneered. She was indeed a nice person, but her emotions got the best of her most of the time.
Roxy, Rox, and Ragnar's faces were haggard, and it showed on their expression. It looked like any moment mpw, they would give up and accept their fate in the hands of the monsters.
Meanwhile, the Windigos' numbers didn't decrease even before Evie left.
But what surprised Evie was that . . . Michael's group were nowhere to be seen.
She didn't have time to ask, though, because another wave of Windigos was hammering their claws at Roxy and Ragnar. The two could barely defend themselves while Rox struggled to kill as much Windigo as he could.
But with his meagre damage, against the dozens of Windigos that were clawing Roxy and Ragnar, it would only took a minute before they got wiped out.
Good thing that Evie arrived in the neck of time.
"Stop fighting and follow me," Evie said in a rush, though her face was the epitome of calmness.
"What the fuck are youâ"!"
Evie turned her back before Roxy could finish her sentence.
"If you want to live, follow me immediately." Evie then ran towards the nearest rows of Wisps that she saw without turning back.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Roxy growled, but Evie just ignored her and didn't even spare her the barest glance.
—-
A/N
Looks like I need two more chapters before i get to Ren ğŸ…
BONUS Chapter for reaching 1000 PS will be posted tom
Thank you! ğŸ
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"Evie! That area is full of Wisps! They might attack you!" Rox forgot about her sister at the appearance of Evie, and he immediately came after the latter.
"Rox!" Roxy couldn't believe at what she saw. Her very own flesh and blood just abandoned her for some girl he had just met.
Roxy was about to open her mouth and shout for Rox to come back when she was left speechless when even Ragnar pulled from his line and went after Evie.
"What the efingâ"!" Roxy cursed under her breath.
Every male was a simp faced with a pretty face!
With only her left, Roxy could do nothing but sprint over to where the others were.
Ragnar had other thoughts, though. Evie could have run like Michael's group, but she returned after a while. She must have found something, and there was nothing wrong in following her. They were just waiting to die anyway before she suddenly showed up.
Hot on their backs, the Windigos went after them. They seemed slow, but their long thin legs allowed them to cross distance in just a few steps. And when the monsters almost reached the others, everyone was surprised that they suddenly stopped and howled. Like it was angry and scared at the same time.
Evie was surprised too. It was not like she was a hundred percent sure that it would work . . . but it did.
Rox, Roxy, and Ragnar were stunned at the turn of events, even more so that they were given a second chance amidst that helpless situation.
"Y-you . . ." Rox looked at Evie, eyes shining in reverie. "How did you do that? How did you stop the Windigos from attacking?"
The Windigos were like statues in front of Evie and the others, growling and shrieking like they wanted to attack, but they couldn't. Their menacing pair of blood-red eyes piercing them even more.
"I didn't do anything. It's something that I learned," said Evie but didn't disclose the secret just yet.
Ragnar raised his non-existent brow. "Learned?"
Evie nodded. "Before I told you. I want you to promise me something first."
"What is it?" Roxy's anger dissolved, and her discontent disappeared the moment that the Windigos had stopped attacking and they were given a second chance in life.
Evie looked at the others seriously in the eyes before she proceeded with a solemn but soothing voice. "I know how to proceed forward without being attacked by the Windigos . . . but in exchange for the information, I want first pick if we defeat the Boss."
There was no other Boss in the Forrest except Rakusha. That's what Evie liked to believe. She have to get Meriyaah's item at all cost. It might be a link to the [Epic Quest] she have.
Roxy and Rox looked at each other while Ragnar only said.
"Done."
"That's fast," Roxy said, frowning.
Ragnar crossed his hands. "There's nothing to think about. We're at a dead end with our numbers. We can't fight the Windigo forever, and we can't advance without fighting them. Unless you want to be eaten by the Windigo, then be my guess."
Roxy caught her tongue while Rox readily agreed too.
"And you won't kick me out of the group," Evie added. Roxy and Rox were siblings, so that was two votes gone already while she didn't know Ragnar. If the three of them decided to kick her out, then that would be the end of it.
"I won't do that," Rox immediately said.
Ragnar shrugged. "I won't, too, and you have my word."
Evie, Ragnar, and Rox looked over at Roxy. The latter sighed and flung her head over the horizon.
"Fine. You can trust my word for it," she said.
"Thank you." Though they could lie, as of now, Evie didn't have any choice but to hold on to their promise. They seemed like they weren't the type of people to go back on their words.
And they had the option to kick her out a while ago when she suddenly left them without warning, but they didn't.
That at least put her mind at ease.
"Alright," Evie said, "the Windigos couldn't be defeated because they'll just keep on coming. But they wouldn't attack us if we're within five meters from the Wisps."
"The Wisps?"
Everyone looked over at the flying balls of fire. They weren't going to believe what Evie said if they didn't experience it firsthand. Just standing near the Wisps made the Windigo back away.
"The Wisps wouldn't attack us as long as we leave it alone," Evie continued.
"How do you know about this?" asked Roxy with a frown.
"That blue eyes I saw before came from an NPC, and she told me how to go over the forest," Evie said. Good thing that her face was emotionless. She could tell a half-lie without giving anything away . . . she hoped.
Evie didn't want to disclose about the [Epic Quest]. She felt that it was dangerous at this point in time. She had to make sure that whoever she told the info was among the people she could trust.
"I see." Roxy didn't suspect a thing since there were really NPCs that help players.
While Rox and Ragnar didn't care as long as they could get out of the forest alive.
"What should we do next?" Rox questioned.
"What can we do?" Roxy sighed. "There's nothing for us except death or forward."
"What happened to the others?" Evie asked suddenly.
Roxy, Rox, and Ragnar looked at each other before their faces dimmed.
"Those ass* left us," Rox said, voice thick with contempt. His face was bursting red and his teeth were grinding hard. "Because our group mostly held the Windigos' aggro, they decided to bail out on us and saved themselves."
Roxy sighed while shaking her head. "I couldn't blame them. I would have done the same if I was them. We're about to be wiped out if not for Evie, who arrived in time."
Rox frowned and growled, "They're still ass* for leaving us."
"At least they said sorry before they left."
Rox looked at his sister and frowned. "Why are you defending them? Don't tell me that you like that skinny white ass man?" He was, of course, pertaining to Michael.
Roxy's face went red before she caught between her fist. "Of course not." You're the one who like a girl who had a deadpan expression and skin like a ghost.
"Anyway, let's go. Let's not waste any more time here on idle chatter," Roxy changed the topic, and with her lead, she went forward.
Roxy was about to make her second step when Evie stopped her.
"Wait."
"W-what?" Roxy looked over at Evie, who was staring at the ground.
Evie pointed at the thin line of aqua that was freely streaming along in a single line. "We should follow this stream of water."
"Huh?"
Roxy, Ragnar, and Rox all looked at the ground. There they found a narrow path of water that was running in a single line. Now that they notice it, it was kinda weird that it only ran in a single line and never really branched out like normal water did.
"Did this NPC also tell you about this?" Roxy asked Evie.
The latter just nodded before she stared at the stream as much as her eyes could see. The water line runs deeper into the fogy part of the forest. The good news was, the wisps were also flying in those parts.
"Let's go."
Roxy took the front while Ragnar proceeded to the back, protecting Evie and Rox at the center.
When they moved, the Windigos moved with them, and Rox stayed closer to the Wisps, shrinking as he did so.
"They're even scarier if they didn't do anything and just watch us while following us around.
"Don't mind them, and pressed on," said Roxy. As long as there were wisps around, the Windigos posed no threat.
Still, they weren't complacent because it was not only the Windigos they should be looking out for.
—-
A/N (Doesn't consume coins)
I know I said two more chapters but it looked like it needs more ğŸ£
I know that you all want to go back to Ren but I don't want to rush the story. I tried, it didn't work so . . . patience is key ğŸ
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BONUS CHAPTER for reaching 1000PS
Thank you ğŸ
—-
Eventually, the group came to the part they almost couldn't see because of the dense fog, and they knew they had come to the middle part of the forest.
Even though he was beginning to get scared, Rox didn't pass the opportunity to score. "Should we hold hands so that we won't get lost?" He was grinning from ear to ear at the thought that he could feel Evie's hand in his.
But his sister just had to ruin it. "What do you mean hold hands? What are you five?"
Rox's lips protruded forward. "Just so we won't get separated."
"We won't," Ragnar chimed in, "just look at the ground, and you'll still see the stream as clear as day."
For some reason, the fog was only dense from their torso to their head. There was no haze at the base of their foot.
"Bummer . . . ," Rox grumbled.
As the group was walking at a steady pace, they noticed something.
"Are the Wisps getting thinner, or is it just me?" Roxy asked, blinking her eyes.
Evie was quiet, while Ragnar had a bad feeling.
"It's not just you, sis. The Wisps are getting thinner."
"What should we do?"
For some reason, all eyes went to Evie. It seemed that without her knowing, Evie became the decision maker in the group.
Evie didn't know what to do at this point. She didn't exactly ask about it from Meriyaah since she didn't expect that the Wisps were going to lessen as they moved deeper into the forest.
"Let's press on." It was Ragnar who said it after Evie was silent for seconds. "We'll run to the nearest Wisps, and if ever, Roxy and I will hold off the Windigos until you two could escape to safety."
Evie didn't expect to hear it from Ragnar. Looking over at the man, she saw him in a new light. He might look ugly, but his personality was dashing.
"I guess that's that." Roxy shrugged.
Fortunately for them, even though the Wisps were lessening in numbers, they were only a few meters apart from the next batch. The farthest they had ran was probably twenty meters.
They continued like that until they heard something — a commotion amidst the cloud of haze.
"What's that?" Rox was trying to fan away the fog so he could see where the noise was coming from. He even blew it with his breath, hoping it would disappear.
Evie listened to the sounds. There was shouting, and metals were hitting against metals. "It looked like there's fighting."
The group was curious and moved forwards once more as the noise kept getting louder. The area also changed, like they were transported to another part of the forest once more.
One second there was thick haze all around, and the next thing, the thick fogs were gone, and everyone could even see the dark sky above the canopies and the little swamp that scattered on the mud.
But Evie and the others didn't have time to admire the new scenery. Their attention was stolen by a group that was fighting a group of . . . trees?
And what's more, that group was Michael's group.
Since they were at least more than ten meters apart and trees and dense foliage mostly hid their presence. Michael's group didn't see them.
How could they?
They were busy fighting creatures that seemed like dead trees. It was walking on its two stick legs, and its arms were so long that they reached until its foot. It had no hands but only whip-like veins at the end of its arms. It also had a hallow on its chest just like an old tree, while it had no face but only an end of a bark.
Evie used a monocle on the strange lanky creature in which Michael's group was engaged.
Ç W A N D E R I N G
W E L T â–
Location: Illusion Forrest
Description:
"Dead Trees came to Life."
â– A T T R I B U T E â–
HP: 700
MP: 100
STRG: 30
DEF: 30
MDF: 10
INT: 10
AGL: 20
LCK: 15
â– D A M A G E
I M M U N I T I E S â–
â¶ Poison
â– C O N D I T I O N
I M M U N I T I E S â–
â¶ Necrotic
â– W E A K N E S S â–
â¶ Fire
â· Bludgeoning
â– S K I L L S S P E L L S
Passive Skill:
â¶ False Appearance
The Wandering Welt remained a tree unless an interloper entere their territory.
â· All for One, One for All
Once an unsuspecting traveler steps into their territory, all the Wandering Welt in the area will come to life.
Active Skill:
â¶ Slam LV.4
â"â" the Wandering Welt hammered its hard body against its enemy, causing Knock Back
â"â" damage dependent on STR
â"â" Cost â"10 MP
â· Hand like Whip LV. 4
â"â" the Wandering Welt can slash its hand like a whip multiple times on a single target
â"â" damage dependent on STR
â"â" Cost â"10 MP
â– E N D â–
The Wandering Welt was like the Windigos. Low ATP and mediocre skill and spells but nonending in numbers. They came in waves after waves at Michael's group, and since no one in their party was a Tank, it was up to Michael and Gilbert to save Lyka and Emerald since they were the ones who were targeted first.
"They shouldn't have moved," said Evie without thought.
Everyone looked at her, and she realized what she had said before she explained.
"The description said that the Wandering Welt attacked anyone who came within their territory. The more you move around, the more of their territory you come across, and the more of those monsters would come to life."
Ragnar thought of that too, and he got to say that he was surprised that Evie thought the same way. There were only a few people he encountered that could connect the dots and think so fast, even under unfavourable circumstances. Others just simply blank out.
Roxy put a finger over her lips, face hesitant. "What should we do? Should we help them?"
"Help then?" Rox's jaw dropped. "Just because he is a pretty face. He isn't interested in you, and he just bailed on us the first thing that their life is in danger. I say we leave them and get going to the Boss."
Ragnar agreed. There was no use in helping those who abandoned them first. An eye for an eye.
When she couldn't get anything from the boys, Roxy looked at Evie with a pair of silver, imploring eyes. She was sure that if she asked Evie, the other two would have no choice but to follow her. She was the reason why they made it this far, and . . . beauty speaks louder than words.
However, there was something that Roxy didn't know about Evie. Though her appearance was ethereal, she was not nice, especially to people who left them to die.
"Let's go," Evie said coldly before she went ahead, still following the narrow path of water. It was also probably the reason why they didn't cross any of the Wandering Welt's territory.
When Evie, Ragnar, and Rox all went ahead, Roxy could do nothing but sigh, ruffling her non-existent fringe.
"How cold."
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As she watched Evie and the others back, Roxy couldn't help but shake her head. She thought that Evie was soft since she was a girl like her.
Roxy admitted that she was a bit on the manlier side, but she was a full pledge girl. Even she had a soft spot for animals and easily pitied someone's unfortunate circumstance. However, her temper got the best of her sometimes.
Roxy briefly looked at Michael's group. For some reason, it felt like no matter how hard she called out to his group, they wouldn't hear her. Even though they were meters apart, it looked like she was watching on a screen, and Michael and the others were on another part of the forest.
Roxy thought it was probably because of what Evie told them. The little stream of water directed them to the safest and true path forward. Without it, she was sure that they would just wander in the forest until they were wiped out by the monsters residing within it.
Or worse . . . They got separated and died a horrific death. The monsters in here could easily give anyone a good dose of nightmare.
Roxy took one last look at Michael and the others before she went forward.
Tough luck. Roxy thought. Their situation was now in reverse.
As the group proceeded forward, Evie and the other noticed that the wisps were almost gone, following the path towards an open grass field where the blood moon hung above the dark sky.
The good news was, the Windigos were retreating as they neared that clearing.
The bad news was, for some reason, this open grass field surrounded by trees and foliage was scarier than inside the dim forest itself, maybe because a scary-looking monster was looming at the center of the grass.
It seemed like a deer. A big deer the size of an Ox. It had two long horns beside its head that were branching out, all of which were pointy on every end. It was grinning like a hyena with its wide mouth with rows and rows of jagged, sharp teeth. One of its eyes was red, while the other was white. Black and white were fighting dominance on its fur, while bits of red were the color of its thick pelt around its neck.
"I-Is that it?" Rox gulped.
"Is that the . . . Hidden Boss?" Roxy whispered the last two sentences, unsure.
Instead of answering, Evie used a [Monocle, secretly hoping that it was indeed the Hidden Boss. They had been in this depressing forest for far too long, and she wanted to get out from here as soon as possible.
ǁ H I D D E N B O S S
R A K U S H A ‖
Location: Illusion Forest
Description:
"Once the guardian of Illusion Forest turned soul eater."
Rakusha was a magnificent deer in its times when its master was still alive. Its horns were like glass, while its fur was the marvelous color of glistering snowflakes. Its two pairs of crystal eyes were so mesmerizing that everyone wanted to see it once before they died.
It was believed that Rakusha could guide souls to their loved ones.
However, one day, Rakusha suddenly changed, and it was the day its master died. Instead of guiding souls, Rakusha ate them until it became powerful enough to control Illusion Forrest.
‖ A T T R I B U T E ‖
HP: 20 000
MP: 5000
STR: 20
DEF: 10
MDF: 150 10 [Domain Bonus]
INT: 100 20 [Domain Bonus]
AGL: 50
LCK: 40 10 [Domain Bonus]
‖ D A M A G E
R E S I S T A N C E S ‖
All Magical Damage
‖ D A M A G E
I M M U N I T I E S ‖
Poison
Burn
Freeze
‖ C O N D I T I O N
I M M U N I T I E S ‖
Sleep
Necrotic
Paralyze
Dizziness
Charm
Frightened
‖ W E A K N E S S ‖
Physical Attacks
‖ S K I L L S S P E L L S
Passive Skill:
Control over Illusion Forest
Rakusha is the guardian of Illusion Forest, and it held most control of the forest when its master died.
Rakusha can change the scenery in Illusion Forest at its whims.
Domain Advantage
Rakusha can blink anywhere within a hundred-meter radius in Illusion Forest.
Can only be activated 1x.
Terrain Advantage
Rakusha can go anywhere without terrain restrictions as long as it is inside Illusion Forest.
Territorial Advantage
When Rakusha is inside its territory, its skills and spells will have a 20% reduction in cooldown.
Counterattack
If Rakusha is hit, it can make one Counterattack of its own.
Active Skills / Spells :
Multiattack LV.6
–– Rakusha can make one Horn attack and one magical attack
–– 50% Dizziness if LCK is higher than enemies
–– Cost –1000 MP
Horn Attack LV.5
–– Rakusha can ram its pointy horns at its enemy. Single target only.
–– 50% Critical Hit if STR is higher than the enemy's DEF
–– Cost –500 MP
Spirit Beam LV. 7
–– Rakusha can shoot concentrated spiritual energy in a single line, dealing massive AOE damage to its enemies.
–– Cost –700 MP
‖ E N D ‖
The good news was. It was indeed Rakusha, and its list of spells and skills was straightforward and didn't complement each other.
The bad news was, Meriyaah lied.
Evie thought it wouldn't take five players with their main ATP in 40 to defeat it. She felt like the Boss was for ten or possibly twenty players to defeat.
And what even stunned them was the fact that the beast just spoke. Its voice was gurgling like an old lady while its grin almost ripped its face into two. It looked hideous and scary.
"My . . . how did you manage to escape the forest and found me?"
When no one answered, Rakusha chuckled, shaking its head. "No matter. There's no escape but death in here."
[You have ENGAGED Rakusha!]
"T-this is bad." Roxy blanked out for a moment and didn't even know what to do next. She just stared at the ugly creature in front of them before Ragnar's voice woke her up.
"You cast Taunt on it while Rox and I chip its HP. Evie, you stay behind and support us as much as you can."
"Roger." Evie got into position at the back. However, she wasn't confident that they could win this fight. She will not leave this forest without trying, though.
Roxy cast [Taunt] and drew the Boss's aggro on her while Ragnar immediately went for the offensive. Four hurricanes of slashing attacks hit Rakusha from different angles.
– 427
– 389
– 445
– 397
Everyone's eyes shone at Ragnar's damage. Ragnar's STR was almost nearing 40, coupled with Rakusha's weakness against physical attacks and low DEF, he could deal significant damage to the beast with a single skill strike.
Ragnar just had to do it fifteen times more or so of that same attacks, and they would claim firstblood!
Evie saw a ray of hope amidst the darkness, but it wasn't the time to celebrate just yet. Rakusha's passive [Counterattack] was activated, and everyone's eyes went wide when it opened its mouth, and a very bright beam burst from its throat.
Its spell [Spirit Beam] would surely kill players in one strike. Rakusha's INT was so high that any magical attacks from it would surely one hit KO its enemies.
Ragnar only saw a blinding light before fluttering butterflies replaced his vision. After that, everything went dark, and when he blinked, he found himself near Evie. From where his position before were only remnants of colorful butterflies bursting into particles as soon as the beam hit them.
Ragnar really thought that he was a goner. He was caught off guard by Rakusha's Counterattack. He knew about it and believed that it would use a normal attack as revenge, and he had already readied his weapon to guard. But against all odds, it used its ace.
Ragnar briefly looked at Evie. He didn't know what she did, but he was still alive thanks to her. "Thanks."
Instead of a 'welcome,' Evie warned, "Butterfly of Deceit has a long cooldown of one minute. And I can only use it on a single target."
Ragnar shifted his stare at the Boss. "Noted."
"T-this could be ugly . . ." Roxy wasn't feeling confident that they could defeat the Boss at this rate. If only they had teamed up with Michael, they might still have a chance.
But they were already in this predicament, so they could do nothing but fight until their last.
Roxy cast [Taunt] again since Ragnar's damage OT the aggro from her just in time that Rakusha made its move and its attack that was aimed at Ragnar went over to her.
However, what Roxy didn't expect, Rakusha would use [Multiattack] against her. The Horn attack didn't deal much damage since her DEF was high. However, the following [Spirit Beam] instantly killed her, and with Evie's skill in cooldown, there was no saving her life.
"S-sorry guys," Roxy said before she burst into particles.
"S-Sis!"
"Focus!" Ragnar immediately took on the vanguard. He was thinking of a way out from this current predicament, but all he could think was that . . . their numbers and ATP were still too low for this type of Boss.
Evie wasn't giving up, though. She was betting that the Boss's skills and spells had a long cooldown since they mainly dealt high AoE damage. Usually, those types have a very long cooldown even though Rakusha had a twenty percent reduction.
Against her expectation, Rakusha used [Multiattack] as revenge again after Ragnar hit it with [Brutal Strike]. It wasn't even a minute yet!
Its skills cooldown was insanely short!
Unable to escape, Ragnar thought that he was prepared to die. He had already accepted the inevitable. But as he thought, he still hated losing after they had gone this far. The only thing he regretted was . . . they might have won this if only there were at least ten of them.
Damn it. Ragnar briefly looked at Evie before he, too, burst into particles. Evie's effort to find the Hidden Boss was useless in the end. He was sorry that they couldn't defeat it and get the item that she wanted as promised.
At the side, Rox was in a panic now and froze under pressure and fear. With just the two of them left and Rakusha's HP still near full, there was nothing more they could do but await their death.
And with another beam of white light from Rakusha's mouth, Evie's paralyzed face cracked a little, and she closed her eyes as the blinding white light engulfed her. The only thing left in her mind at this moment was regret that they couldn't defeat the Hidden Boss. It was so near, but she had to start all over again with an ATP reduction from the death penalty.
The next thing she knew when she opened her eyes, a notification was flashing in front of her face.
[WIPED OUT!]
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Meanwhile, after another failed attempt at Vulcan's Cave, Scar logs out from his Pod. The soonest as he was on his feet, he flung everything on top of his table.
"Argh!"
This was getting out of hand. So much resources and time were wasted on Vulcan's Cave. But if he admitted defeat now, the more he would be ridiculed. There was no redeeming his name than to clear the Hard Difficulty of the Cave.
If only he weren't the one leading the raid, then everything could be forgotten, and they moved on from Vulcan and attempted another dungeon. But since it was him, the leader and face of Black Lion, nothing should be less than perfection.
Scar brushed his hair back with his fingers. He took a deep breath and released it loudly through his nose.
The failed attempt at Icy Cave was adding to his stress, but it was a good thing that the cave was mid difficult, so it was understandable. Other guilds were also struggling against mid-difficulty caves, not just them. He even heard that Golden Phoenix failed Howling Canyon.
That at least made Scar feel better.
A sudden ring made Scar shift his attention to his phone and find that it was Sumeri who was calling.
Scar wanted to ignore it. He knew what Sumeri was calling about. It was probably because of Invayne's family buying her hotels.
However, a lingering feeling made him pick up the phone.
"Yeah?"
"Liar!"
Scar closed his eyes tight and ushered the phone away from his ear upon Sumeri's shout.
"You said that you wouldn't buy our hotels but what is this about Invayne's family bidding for our chain?"
"Sumeri, Invayne's decision is not mine. I backed out from the bidding, didn't I?"
"What do you mean not your fault? I'm sure you're the one who edges her on!"
Scar wanted to laugh. Yes, it was him that edged Invayne.
"You're being unreasonable," Scar said, shaking his head. "I don't influence Invayne's decision. I never ask her to buy your hotels. It's no longer my concern if her family wants to buy your company."
". . ."
There was silence on the other line, and Scar chuckled when he heard Sumeri grinding her teeth.
"Scar . . . if I lost our hotels. I swear that you will regret it . . . you and Invayne."
Scar stifled a condescending laugh. "And what will you do? Darling, you're no longer an heiress. Stop acting like one. But don't worry. If you find yourself homeless, I'll let you rent out one of my apartments. The one we mostly f*."
Scar pressed off and threw his phone on the bed while shaking his head. He was in a bad mood and Sumeri took the blunt of it.
Scar took another shower to cool his head before he called Invayne over. He needed to let off some steam so he could think clearly again.
The cold water gliding against his hair and streaming down to his lean frame was exactly what he needed to relax his tense muscles. The sound of water dropping and splashing made him close his eyes, and his breath turned even.
In the darkness inside his mind, his fight with Vulcan played over and over until all he saw and heard was the Boss. It was like he was there at that moment. Felt the heat and tense air. It's just him and Vulcan. No one else.
Scar didn't know how many times he replayed the fight in his mind so many times over that it kept repeating the same fight in fast forward. Over and over while his lips muttered, counting.
And then suddenly . . . he saw it . . . the pattern!
Scar's eyes opened in shock, and he doubled over in laughter.
So that was it!
It was not fifteen seconds. It was ten!
He finally did it!
He finally cracked the code after a series of tries! After so much thinking! After his numerous defeat against the monster to the point that it even hunt him in his dreams. He suffered so many losses in the hands of Vulcan, enough for him to replay those countless fight in his head.
Scar was ecstatic, and he immediately closed the shower and got out of the bathroom. In a hurry, he put on new clothes and was about to enter his Pod when he skidded to a stop at the knock of his door.
When he opened it, he was surprised to find Invayne in a sexy black strapless above-the-knee dress. Her pretty face was made up but it still didn't hide the natural redness of her cheeks while her eyes were eluding his gaze.
"Is . . . is your parents and sister at home?" she asked, hesitant.
Scar blanked out for a moment before he realized that he had message her. He smiled and changed the topic.
"Sorry. I changed my mind."
Invayne didn't quite get what Scar said, and it took her a while to react. "Huh?"
"I finally decode Vulcan's time! I have to clear it fast. Sorry, but we will have to take a rain check. You can stay here if you want. Make yourself at home."
Before Invayne could react, Scar left her from where she stood and immediately jogged to his Pod in excitement.
All Scar could think about was the game. Nothing was more important than clearing Vulcan and redeeming his name at this point. And not even Invayne's sultry and alluring appearance could change his mind.
In the door frame, Invayne was left speechless. She felt like a fool for dressing herself up and bringing champagne because she thought her and Scar would finally have a quality time together.
It had been days since she remembered the last time they were together – alone.
Invayne knew that Scar's priority was always the game, and she would always be second at best. Or even third because of his sister, Lily. She thought she was prepared the moment that they became lovers.
But slapping on her face that she was never a priority time and time again was beginning to hurt her pride as a woman.
But what could she do? She fell for Scar's charms. And the more he was playing hard to get, the more she was lured in, and the more she wanted to conquer his heart and become his top priority.
Invayne sighed. She left the bottle on the floor before she exited his house and went to hers. Since they were in the same exclusive neighborhood, the distance between them where only meters part.
But Invayne felt like it was kilometers.
—-
Back in Kartacol.
Hidey and Sid were still searching for Ren in all parts of Kartacol with no such luck. It had been four days since, but no player named Ren was in sight.
Other players were loitering around the place but only so few. In fact, Hidey and Sid could remember all of them. A sprite, a human, an elf, and a dwarf with golden hair and a fake beard.
"What should we do?" Sid rubbed the base of his neck. "I'm getting a stiff neck from all the small openings we must go through."
Hidey ignored him and looked intently at the map. Her eyes were focused on a single spot. "There's only one place left that we haven't searched."
The two of them looked beyond the horizon, and into the rocky mountains.
"The Mine?" Sid muttered.
"It's worth the try."
Hidey and Sid went in that direction. Upon nearing the Mines, they had to watch their steps because the place was crawling with Kobolds who were going to and fro, holding multiple tools and a cart full of stones.
However, when the two were about to look inside, the guards stopped them, saying that they had to either be a Kobold or a Dwarf to enter, which neither of them was.
The two could do nothing and stare at the entrance of the Mine. They were too big to fit on the hole anyway, so they didn't argue anymore.
"What should we do now?" Sid asked with a sigh. "Should we ask a Dwarf to come here?"
Hidey shook her head in irritation. "Our Dwarf Defenders are so few already, and all of them are in raids. Honestly, we don't have enough manpower to waste here. Who knows if that Ren is really here?!"
"So you want to abandon Scar's order?"
Hidey grumbled under her breath. "I didn't say that. Let me check the forums and World Chat. There might be useful information there. Something that would let us enter the Mines that are otherwise reserved only for Kobolds and Dwarves."
Contrary to their expectations, the two of them didn't get any information regarding the cave. Most didn't even have the time to explore yet, much less reach a far place like Kartacol. The reply was either negative, jokingly, or downright mocking them.
Meanwhile, inside the Mine, away from the drama and happenings outside, Ren was happily mining nonstop for stones and ores. His inventory was about to reach x999, and when that happened, he would just log out and log-in in Erendia before selling his items. Then come back to the cave to mine some more.
There were multiple save points inside the Mine since it was big, so he didn't need to go all through that trouble of re-entering the town and into the mines again. He could just teleport directly to the save crystal that was near his last stop and continue mining again. There was also a resting room if you were tired and needed rest.
Ren wasn't tired, though. Even he mined nonstop for days. Nothing motivated him like money does.
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"Those two have changed," Leonel said as he grumpily hammered his [Silver Pickaxe] against the hard stone nonstop. "I thought Mike would understand. It's a life that's on the line. Nothing could be more important than that. It's just an item!"
Leonel was sad, disappointed, and angry at the same time with Michael and Saya that he didn't even find Ren's appearance funny.
Ren was turned into a furry black dog walking on two legs wearing mage garbs. It was amazing that he could even hold a tool in his paws. Moreover, he acquired a temporary set of skills from the Kobolds. But all were related to mining. Like fifty percent increase in mining speed and another increase in LCK, so what he'd get from the stones were guaranteed precious.
"I mean, Mike is rich! He didn't have to work a day in his life. Roz needed it more than he. How could he be so . . . so . . ."
"Selfish," finished Ren while he happily stored another batch of stones in his inventory. He was even thinking of buying an apartment if he has his millions. Then save for a property in the Billionaires Haven.
If he was going to dream, he might as well dream big.
"Yes! Selfish! How can he be so selfish? And Saya? How can she even side with Mike when he is in the wrong?"
"Leo." Ren finally faced Leonel and gave him the side eye. "They always had been selfish. It's just . . . we tolerated it in the past because they bribe us. Remember the free lunches, movies, and what not."
Leonel was silent for a moment, eyes over the ceiling, thinking. "Now you mentioned it . . . I guess they have been."
He then stared at Ren with eyes wide. "But this time, it got worse!"
Ren stifled a laugh while he faintly shook his head and returned to mining.
There was a short silence before Leonel asked with a serious voice and face, "Does this mean . . . we're no longer friends? All those years of friendship . . . gone?"
". . ." Ren paused. There was sadness in Leonel's voice. And Ren had to admit that he was sad in the past, too, when Mike and Saya suddenly cut ties with him without rhyme and reason.
Now, however, he was long over it.
"Sometimes, things aren't meant to be," Ren said, "no use in trying to mend what's already broken, Leo. You'll just cut and hurt yourself. If they don't want to stay in our life, let them. Their are many who will."
". . ."
There was no answer, and Ren went back to hammering his pickaxe. He only wished that Leonel would forget about Mike and Saya. But knowing his friend, once those two are in trouble again, Leonel would be there, for sure. Just like what happened to him in the past.
Ren took a deep breath and released it through his nose.
"Forget it. Talking about those two makes me depressed." Leonel then changed the topic and got back to mining.
"By the way, how long will we do this?"
"Until the update, of course. Didn't I tell you that the amount of gil will get will reduce after the in-game currency is established? If we want to be rich overnight, don't stop mining."
Leonel groaned. "This is kind of boring. I even forgot what day it is, or is it day or night in here? Aren't you bored doing the same thing every day?"
"No," Ren answered straight to the point. "Money motivates me, and if you want to buy that pod, you have to mine nonstop."
"Agh . . ." Leonel grumbled under his breath, but he never stopped hammering his pickaxe until his hands turned sore.
On the side, Ren was thinking of apartment hunting within that one week that the game was updating. So by the first month of class, he could move out and have his own place.
Ren was getting excited that he hammered his pickaxe even more like his life depended on it. There was nothing, absolutely nothing that could make him stop.
[You received a message from Evie!]
Watching Ren almost boring a whole till the ends of the earth's core like a lunatic, Leonel shook his head. There was a faint red glow surrounding Ren, and his silver eyes were burning red with enthusiasm. Leonel knew there was nothing that could stop Ren at that moment.
So he was shocked when Ren suddenly paused and looked at his screen. It seemed like he was reading a message. Ren's usual poker face cracked, revealing a small smile, then it changed to a frown.
Curious, Leonel scurried beside Ren to take a look, but only Ren could see his screen.
A short while ago, while Ren was enthusiastically mining, his notification rang. He got curious about where it came from since he had already blocked most of his contact list.
He was surprised to find that it was Evie and a small smile tickled the side of his lips as he opened her message.
But his smile fell right off his face when he read its content.
[Evie: Ren. We got wiped out in Illusion Forest. There's a Hidden Boss there that had a very low skill cooldown, and our numbers and ATP aren't enough to defeat it]
Ren was silent for a moment, and he recalled the timeline in his head. Evie did enter Illusion Forrest but not that early.
He thought it wouldn't matter since Illusion Forrest wasn't that hard. It wasn't even a mid-difficulty area.
Nevertheless, Ren was feeling guilty again because Evie had to start from scratch because of him suggesting to go there. A Hidden Boss EXP penalty must have been enormous.
Ren was thinking of what to reply, but he suddenly had a stomach ache like he was nervous or something. He wanted to make it up to her, but his mind had other ideas.
[Ren: Is that so]
Ren sighed and wanted to hit himself. His unconsciousness probably wanted revenge for her short 'we'll do' in the past days.
[Evie: I'm wondering if you're busy.
If not, can you help defeat the Hidden Boss with us?
I have nothing to offer . . . but I have acquired an Epic Quest. Maybe it can suffice as payment for your service?]
". . ."
Ren blanked out.
When he didn't reply after a minute, Evie followed up her message.
[Evie: If you're busy, then it's fine]
"What's going on?"
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