—-
Bastion quickly grabbed ahold of the battle montum by defending against the lead Stone Scorpion. However, he activated a self-protective skill to preserve the durability of his shield. The scorpion’s acid was lethal to equipnt.
Thus, Bastion’s shield was encased in a thick aura that increased his damage reduction from the innate 5% to 10% for the next 20 seconds. As ntioned before, Bastion’s class design strictly adhered to achieving the most sound defense.
This ant he gained Damage Reduction, but it was a fraction of what bosses possessed. But, considering he was only Lv.32 at the mont, a 5% Damage Reduction increase was quite valuable.
And, it was different from Kieran, who could only mitigate 10% of the damage inflicted upon him thanks to the Crystalline Ring’s Hardened Skin ability. However, its duration was limited compared to Bastion’s skill.
Skill effects tended to be more effective than item abilities because they could grow based on the user’s preferences. An item was limited the mont its paraters were established. Of course, there were so exceptions, but the minimum rank required for those exceptions was absurd.
Kieran, Nean, and Altair moved swiftly, targeting a single Stone Scorpion after Bastion gained ahold of its aggro.
“We have 30 seconds to act, go!” Kieran used Bastion’s skill duration as a baseline for killing each monster. He didn’t want Bastion’s shield to suffer irreparable damage, so this battle needed to end quickly.
The excess Stone Scorpions were removed from the fight when Kieran planted his hand on the ground and launched a Wrath Eruption on a designated point. The eruption of blood energy sent them flying away while he sacrificed a charge of Blood Wave to knock them even further away.
The utility of Kieran’s skills left the others montarily stunned, but they were ultimately thankful that he was on their side and not an enemy. He truly made their lives easier when he entered combat.
Afterward, Kieran activated Sanguine Slashes while noting the gaps in the Stone Scorpion’s rocky exoskeleton. It wasn’t a monster purely made of stone, so his ability to compound Bleed stacks remained viable.-.
Once Kieran confird this, he no longer worried about a reduction in his effectiveness. Kieran handled the Stone Scorpion’s large movents while informing the others when to dodge.
The Stone Scorpion indicated a corrosive poison attack by the sudden change in its tail movents. It beca easy to dodge once they knew what to look for.
As a result, none of the party’s attackers were hit by the poison.
More importantly, their training just hours before severely impacted how useful they were in combat. Bastion sotis neutralized the Stone Scropion’s pincher attacks by grasping a mont where the damage calculation should happen.
It was only possible because the Stone Scorpion’s inferior attack speed seed laughable compared to the attacks Nean and Kieran unleashed. It gave Bastion enough ti to understand this monster’s rhythm.
Eventually, the team overwheld the Stone Scorpion without suffering too much damage. Sera barely consud any of her Mana, unleashing less than ten heals when she was used to activating 100 at the very least.
〈System: You have gained 7,266 Experience.〉
“Aatrox truly understands how to whip them into shape. Their combat isn’t as rough as before. They’re even moving in a similar rhythm now,” Sera comnted beside Alice, who rained down a fiery hell upon the near-death Stone Scorpion.
“Yeah, he understands what needs fixing and addresses it. The more they spar with one another, the more they’ll understand their habits and, eventually, their thought process. It’s unthinkable how soone our age seems like a seasoned commander,” Alice muttered.
Her eyes remained on Kieran, trying to understand him. At tis he was quiet; other tis, he joked around with his party mber, and sotis his shoulders seed incomparably heavy. Alice felt there were many layers to this relatively unfamiliar individual.
However, the more she experienced his actions and guidance, the more compelled she felt to know his story.
“Do you think it will always be like this?” Sera suddenly asked. Her expression was complex as she gazed at the rest of the party. It was unknown what went through her head, but her clear, usually cheerful eyes seed anxious.
“I think it’ll be fine if Aatrox stays the sa. He is the adhesive holding everything together.
“But… he wants to form a guild. That ans there will be more of us, more of his attention spreading thin. What if our relationship distances and we’re no longer the sa party?” Sera muttered. She seed downcast as her eyes drooped.
“You’re overthinking it, Sera,” Alice said. She consoled Sera by lifting her chin and caressing her cheek with a tender touch. It was evident these two shared a close bond. Alice wasn’t this warm with the others. “We can’t let him carry the entire burden. If we want things to remain the sa, we must also grow to shoulder so of the burdens.”
“Y-yeah,” Sera stamred but ultimately agreed. Her saddened eyes regained their lost joy as she internalized Alice’s words, promising to beco even better than she was now.
Alice retracted her hand while glancing toward the boys. ‘Yeah… we should all take a piece of the burden. Aatrox can’t do it all alone—alone… is never the answer.’ Despondency flashed in Alice’s eyes, but it quickly disappeared as she focused on conjuring a new spell.
Four flas spears materialized behind her as she thrust open her palm.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The spears hit each of the Stone Scorpions seeking to launch a poison attack. The impact interrupted their attacks and gave Kieran enough ti to launch a Sanguinem Tempest that tore through the monsters while a series of dark arcs flashed past.
Altair panted briefly but quickly recovered from the short exhaustion caused by the rapid release of his new C-Rank Skill—Darkness Flash. It allowed the next twenty strikes to beco mid-range attacks dealing considerable damage if the user could unleash the attack fast enough.
Failure to unleash them at a sufficient speed would imdiately cancel the skill. Altair got up to 15 attacks before the skill was canceled, but it still dealt over 20,000 damage to the Stone Scorpion.
〈System: You have gained 7,266 Experience.〉
The sa notification flashed before everyone’s eyes ten more tis. Afterward, Kieran harvested the Stone Scorpion’s body, claiming their entire rocky exoskeleton.
“Oh my goodness, you wiped them clean!” Bastion exclaid. However, Kieran remained focused without answering because he was right on the precipice. Claiming Rautori’s head had left him in a good position.
〈System: Your tradeskill Harvesting has increased to Apprentice-Interdiate.〉
Increasing a tradeskill’s level improved the productivity of the skill. Not only would Kieran’s harvesting speed increase, but there was also a higher chance that the harvested material would maintain its original quality.
“That’s right. From now on, besides the loot that drops, rember to harvest all monsters. Train your tradeskills just like you would train your normal ones,” Kieran answered.
“If that’s the case… you could’ve saved so for us,” Bastion grumbled.
The Stone Scorpions, if they could even be considered that anymore, were all flesh and bones. There was nothing left to extract; the at didn’t have much worth because its poison saturated its flesh to protect against stronger predators.
“We’ll chalk that up as my mistake. I’ll be more mindful the next ti,” Kieran apologized with a sheepish chuckle. He was so absorbed he forgot this wasn’t his past, where he played the beginning stages alone.
So opportunities also needed to be shared with his party.
The team quickly collected dropped coins and the one piece of equipnt that dropped and continued on their way. As they traveled, Nean and Bastion both ntioned the vast decline in equipnt drop rates after coming to the kingdoms.
“I think obtaining equipnt as drops will only beco more difficult. We aren’t affected by the Beginner Zone Handicap anymore, so that increased drop rate doesn’t help us,” Kieran answered. Although he knew that equipnt would soon only drop from monsters bearing such items, he didn’t disclose that fact.
Instead, he made it seem like he too was unsure of the outco. This change was another reason the Forger profession beca indispensable. Rather than drop equipnt, monsters would soon beco more likely to drop equipnt designs.
The most surefire way of obtaining equipnt directly would be from Nad Champion Monsters since they were generally equipped with decent items.
…
anwhile, before the Desert of Crumbling Sands danger zone…
Despot and Horizon Break bore darkened expressions as they frequently witnessed large worm-like creatures diving and exiting the sand. Those worms posed a danger great enough to stall them.
“What the hell do we do? We won’t make it on foot, but Autr said they passed through. It’s far too dangerous and not worth the risk,” Despot groaned in frustration.
Horizon Break also begrudgingly spoke. “I agree. We’ll simply die if we cross through here. Is there no other way?”
“I have no idea!” Despot was helpless in this situation.
Their character maps were essentially blotted out circles. A spot on the map would only beco visible once visited or if a cartographer plotted the terrain and gave the created map to a player. The system would then assimilate the map and highlight the newly revealed area.
But, it was unfortunate that not a single cartographer existed. So professions, also known as Lifestyle classes, had stringent requirents to obtain them. Obtaining the cartographer profession required the player to visit a befitting library and expand their knowledge of maps.
Because it detracted from leveling, no player was currently willing to do so.
“Fuck!” Despot shouted in frustration. “Let’s just go around or sothing!”
Horizon Break smiled wickedly and raised his hand. “Wait… I have a better idea. Why not wait until they return? They’ll have to return to Aeredale City, and we know what they look like now. Let’s plot a better revenge sche or at least wait until these worm things are longer an issue.”
Despot revealed a similarly sinister smile because the idea excited him. “Yes, let’s return and create a better plan. This works for us because we can kill monsters on our way back.”
Surprisingly, these two just saved themselves from a rude awakening. However, all they did was prolong its inevitable appearance.
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