Everyone took out a few recovery food on their backpacks and started eating. Its already five minutes since they have rested but I still made them rest. I made Leona scout around with Lina and luckily, there are no more enemies left around, leaving only the first boss. I sat down with them on the cold jungle floor.
Just like a real jungle, insects crawl on the ground and big roots from the massive trees erect from the ground. The trees also covered the entire canopy, making the sky entirely covered, causing the place to be darker due to the absence of sunlight. Still, it was still a jungle and life still lingers beneath those thick leaves. As I was observing around Harmless Sparrow approached me and sit besides me.
"You really are something are you," Harmless Sparrow smiled as she sips the beverage on the cup in which I have no idea, but from what I can smell, it smells like cocoa.
I did not respond, I just stared out of the canopy, looking for anything to look.
"We never expected that this dungeon run is so dangerous that we almost felt like we are really facing death here," Harmless Sparrow look on her comrades before sighing.
"If I have not relinquished the leadership to you, we would have not lasted here. Those enemies are just too dangerous," she looked at me before creasing her brows, "But still, you didn't panic and instead, saved us from all of those phenomenas that was really unexpected. How did you grasp the things that fast?"
I frowned but that is not revealed since I am wearing a mask. Still, that made me troubled, she really is able to perceive that slight things.
"I just adapted to the situation of course, I never taken the dungeon I entered lightly like most of you do," I said seriously.
"Of course, you are confident. Your class is a Versatile. Many already knows your class and your name but no one have seen you personally and talked personally except us. I don't know if you made contact with other players but from the way you work, I guessed that you didn't have much interactions to the players," she said calmly.
I smiled wryly. That is one of the reasons. The second reason is due to the god tier weapon of mine. I know that my class is a Jack of All Trades so naturally, to avoid being called "Master of None", I have to be Master of All Trades instead.
"Oh yeah, from the battles earlier, you are using a Magic Knight play style accompanied by Magician skills right? I also saw a few skills from Swordsman class earlier. I never knew you could use it like that!" Harmless Sparrow perked up.
"Yeah, I was indeed more on Magic Knight play style right now but since Swordsman and Magician skills are very useful too for a Magic Knight, I decided to use that kind of playstyle instead," I said though from what I said, it only contained half the truth due to the reason that I have been using all classes for my own though that will remain a secret. No players can know this since I work alone.
"I see, I wish I could also do that but I know being a Versatile also suffers from EXP reduction. That is too hard for me and I might stagnate. If I have your skills, I might reconsider becoming a Versatile," she said as she sighed.
After that, Harmless Sparrow was silent and did not speak anymore. I stood up and unsheathed my sword before facing the road where the door made out from vines are located.
"Finish all of those snacks you are eating, we need to proceed to the boss room," I said to them.
Everyone perked up after hearing "boss room". I just chuckled. In my perspective, those enthusiasm is not enough to beat up the first boss. However, I can see from their movements earlier that they can do better as long as there is a guide. I am currently their guide for now but I am not sure if they can quickly follow my instructions for the first boss.
Everyone walk with large strides. Bosses were easy to find in the wild but you would be competing with other players. Dungeon diving is the best one to find bosses without fear of stealing your loot. Before we opened the door, I looked at everyone first. Everyone has been giddy and already held their weapons tight, afraid that they will act late. I nodded before pushing the door made with vines. I have no idea how these vines became a door in a jungle. The boss room was made by a big cave-like structure but from what I can see, it was really big to be considered as a normal cave, it was like a rock being hollowed out purposely. And just as expected, the boss was staying in the center of the hollowed out cave.
"Illusionary Poison Flower Sprite"
Level 45
HP: ?/?
Attribute: Darkness, Plant, Poison
This boss was rather hard to deal with. But I already made arrangements to that with the players I wanted to have played with. All of those skills will work until the last boss in this dungeon which made me want to clear the dungeon as soon as possible.
Though the name of the boss mentioned a sprite, it won't appear until its HP fell to half. If the Sprite Appears, this means that the boss has already entered the Half HP state. The boss is a huge flower that almost looked like a Rafflesia Flower that was only in its closed form and budding version. Its roots are all around the the dungeon so that means, this boss" entire domain is the boss room we are in right now. Since our only tank is Ferventure who is a Holy Knight, he is the one leading the team forward as he steeled his body. Though Holy Knights are considered tanks, they are still inferior to Paladins which could be considered as the "wall" of the party.
"Ferventure, cast Holy Iron Body and prepare to cast the Sanctuary of the Sick skill. Leona and Lina prepare for support! Disrupt any attacks that are aimed at us besides Ferventure. Be sure to avoid too much aggro when attacking. Everyone else, stand behind Ferventure and prepare. We will launch our attacks once Flaming Cutie throws the Smoke Bomb. After that, unleash all of your range skills!" I commanded.
Everyone nodded. I already planned out everything. Since I am the party leader, I was the one holding the liberty to check the skills of the party members though your party members can't check what is your skills. I already memorized all of their available skills so I won't mistake and voice out a skill that they have yet to learn.
Around one meter on the Aggro range of the boss did I signal Flaming Cutie.
"Throw it!"
Flaming Cutie swiftly pulled out a small bomb about the size of a tennis ball and throws it on the ground that produces smokescreen and covers us. The purpose of the smokescreen is to delay its reaction after entering the Aggro boss range. That way, a few seconds of the delay is enough to deal a decent amount of damage that can help out for later use. Ferventure quickly postured himself hard and quickly shouted with a wild expression.
"Holy Iron Body!"
His whole body shines grey before he returned to normal but he is now radiating the buffed out person. Holy Iron Body resists all of the status effects inflicted and also adds huge amount of Defense that can help tank out. This skill has a duration of 10 minutes but that is already enough to tank out.
"Now!"
I shouted and everyone unleashed their skills. Pooshy is a cleric but that doesn't mean that she can't attack with magic. She cast Holy Meteor, a tier 2 skill of Cleric that is used to attack. Its a pity she had yet to learn the tier 5 skill, Might of Caduceus otherwise, it was a already strong enough to inflict lots of damage. Izzzie used his skill to call Plant Eater Bees, a skill specifically used against plant type monsters. Moreover, it was long range so it was very effective. Flaming Cutie used Knife Shot, a throwing knife skill. Though it was considered as long range, it was very limited so it was only used for stealth kills, but since I want all long ranged attacks, she also used it without hesitation so that she can contribute. Harmless Sparrow used Flame Wave. Though it was considered as a long range skill, it was still an AOE skill and since its target only amounted to one, its damage was reduced. Great thing is, it still made a decent amount of damage. I shoot a few Fireballs skills on the boss and since Fireball only has 5 seconds cool down, I can spam Fireball very fast after its cool down but those damage is considered very measly. I don't want to rely on it. The only thing we do is for it to attack.
The boss shook and it quickly raised its tentacles and lash out to everyone. But since Ferventure stands in the way, he is the one being hit by the attacks.
"Urgh!" Ferventure endured the pain. Even though it was considered as Virtual Reality, pain is still something available in the game and the Alternate World emphasize pain with 50% pain amplification making it more dangerous and hard for players who are cowards in pain. The most troublesome fact is that the Tanks always feared this path so many tanks are increasing their defense in order to endure the pain of the lashes. They had no choice, this is the job of their classes.
Pooshy quickly cast heal on Ferventure. The damage was big due to the gap of level. Anyway, I never expected them to bring huge damages into the boss. Me and my followers can do the job, they will focus on support.
The attacks hit the boss but it was really evident that their damage are so measly.
"Okay, everyone, just support once in a while, your level is so miniscule that the damages you made is so small and cannot beat up the boss. Let me handle on dwindling the HP and all of you deal the final blow!" I ordered.
Everyone nodded. They already know that their level is so small that their damages will just contribute very small. I ordered Leona and Lina to prepare for attack while I go on stance to kill.
"Prepare for support!" I shouted before I rushed towards the body of the plant alongside Lina and Leona. I swipe my hand on the Terraform Blade in which allowing myself to burn its blade into flames before hacking the boss' body with successful hits.
The boss retaliates and attacks me with 12 quick hits in my body by poison vines. Luckily, I was not inflicted with Poison but my HP fell almost half. Pooshy can't heal me since her Heal Skill is still on cool down. But I did not rely on that.
Blood Greed!
My sword quickly dealt lots of hits on its body and every successful hits, my HP healed slowly and the Blood Greed Bar slowly filled. I plan on testing that skill but that can be only available if I filled the bar full.
Leona alternates her attacks with Iron Wing and Tornado Blades in a fast manner while Lina quickly made her whip dance on the enemy. Its HP bar slowly dwindle down from full bar.
99%
98%
97%
96%
Harmless Sparrow and the others just had their mouths wide agape. Those damages are insane and the HP of the boss slowly fell. Though they still defended themselves from the vines that occasionally attacks, they are usually free to look at the spectacle before them.
"Monsters..." Pooshy gasped her breath. The battle was quick. They can't usually follow my movements and Lina and Leona are also incomprehensible to them.
"All followers of Bladeheart are monsters! If we also have Bladeheart on our party, will we became as strong as his followers?" Thunderfire wondered.
Harmless Sparrow also wondered but she quite knew that Bladeheart will surely decline her invitation for guild entry. However, she quite knew that Bladeheart would be considered as a Game Changer and the Blue Sky guild will benefit a lot on it. She quickly nodded, once the dungeon was done, she would ask Bladeheart again.
Meanwhile, I was busy with the attacks. The Boss was so swift and I can't deal a slash attack on its vines that keep on attacking me. Though Pooshy's healing is sufficient, she can't sometimes heal me due to the cooldown. Luckily for me, the Blood Greed effect was so handy for battling against these guys. I noticed that the boss released a lot of spores. I also saw greenish powder in the air.
"Lina! Leona! Fall back! Everyone! Do not inhale that green spore! That is confusion poison spore!"
Confusion Poison Spore already tells the effect. Anyone who inhales it will get inflicted with Poison and Confusion. I also back away from. the attack while covering my nose.
The attack is not that wide range. Allowing us to attack again after the spore dissipated.
Su!Su!Su!
I didn't use any magic skills except the Flaming Sword alone so that I can build up the Blood Greed Bar full.
94%
93%
92%
91%
90%
The HP of the boss already dwindled to 90% which is still quite good. But all of a. sudden, the flower, shook before it lay its tentacles on each side. Now that I think about it, this one is an AOE attack!
"F*ck! Fall back! Stay away from the tentacles!" I shouted.
Everyone backs away from the boss. Lina and Leona manages to get away but for me, I failed to escape on time and got hit on my leg by the tentacles when Leona flies up. Blood oozes out on my leg.
"F*ck!" I groaned.
-Bladeheart was inflicted with Severe Bleeding! Will lose 100 HP for 1 minute.
Ugh! I groaned in pain. That was painful! I cast heal immediately allowing my HP to recover while Ferventure cast Holy Recovery on me allowing me to recover from the Bleeding Debuff.
I looked at the boss. The reason I got hit is due to its AOE attack, Razor Vine Top. The Illusionary Poison Flower Sprite will spin like a top with the vines on its side that rolls around, damaging players and NPCs on its range. The boss is still spinning. I roared before casting Fireball on the boss.
Fwoosh!
The fireball was destroyed before it can even reach the boss. It was one of the effects of the Razor Vine Top. The boss spins for at least two minutes before it stopped. Harmless Sparrow and her team quickly attacked ye boss by sending Range attacks on the boss. I also jumped and quickly attacks the boss.
Ting!
Blood Greed Bar is filled!
I can now use Blood Drain!