As he reached the team, they were almost done collecting the loot and fruits. The team had few doubts as soon as he came back. The first was why he was in such a hurry. Rudra and Slaine knew that Balthazar had just lost his uncle and thought that he was going wild with rage in the game. They wanted to calm him down as they thought it wouldn't be good for his mental health.
The others who didn't know Shadow's identity and recent events weren't that concerned about his behavior but wanted to know if there was any specific reason. Especially Merlin and Tetsujin couldn't understand his sudden change in the person who was peacefully at the forging association making armaments.
"Oy! Shadow, I noticed that the fruits don't fill up the HP bar when in combat. Why were you gobbling them up?" asked Roll who already tried to do the same as Shadow.
"You feel tired when you are using manual mode. If you move according to skill action you would create the corresponding effects of the skill in manual mode even before cooldown. You feel tired at that time. Eating those fruits relieves that feeling," explained Shadow describing the effect of low stamina.
"How come you are so good at all those skills and moving?" asked Roll. Though he was Slaine and Rudra's friend, he had no idea about Balthazar.
"I have had a lot of practice," said Shadow.
"He seems to be some sort of expert fighter or hunter in real-life," said Merlin. "I agree, it is a weird thing for someone in those occupations to actively participate like this in a game."
"Ok. I found the lion pride. Come with me. I intend to finish up this quest within the hour. I need to get back for practice by 5 p.m.," said Shadow as he led them through the forest.
The monkeys were easy because of Shadow being able to drop them down the trees. But the lions aren't that easy to kill quickly. For the lions and lionesses, they don't have any tricks. Luckily, the number of lionesses weren't large. If he manages to lure the lionesses up, he could speed up the process. He knew the best way to lure any monster was to attack its cubs.
He would need to reach the end of the path and fight the main boss after the lion in order to reach the city. Killing the lions and monkey leader would halt the reinforcements, the boss would have at the end of the quest making it easier to kill him. With him at level 12, he would have a definite advantage over the boss at the end of the quest. So, killing the lions would assure his completion of the quest.
[Forest Lioness] (Common Monster)
Level 8;
HP: 3000/3000;
[Forest Lion] (Elite Monster)
Level 9;
HP: 4000/4000;
[Forest Lion Cubs] (Common Monster)
Level 6:
HP: 1500/1500;
The lionesses were mostly roaming around the entrance of the cave with the cubs. The two lions which were elite monsters were inside the cave. These would only come out once they managed to kill a decent number of the lionesses. This behavior of the lions was similar to the monkey leader.
Shadow had the team already placed nearby where he could lure a few of the lionesses. He moved close to a cub at the edge of the monster group and kicked it hard enough for its cries to be heard by the nearby monsters gaining their aggro.
About 5 lionesses which were nearby, and a few cubs immediately ran towards Shadow. He couldn't lure all 5 of the lionesses toward his team. It would probably cause casualties among the team with that high a number. So, he picked up the cub which he kicked and ran into the forest.
Before he came to the team, Roll came and took the cub and ran further away while holding it. This caused all the lionesses' aggro to be changed to Roll. But Shadow didn't want them all to follow Roll. He let two of the lionesses to run by him and began to attack the remaining to regain their aggro.
In this manner, two of them followed Roll who led them away so that the Shadow and the team will be able to take down the remaining three. Roll was already at level 9 and had enough agility to outpace the lionesses for a short while.
Shadow's high attack had already caused the lionesses which the team were fighting to retreat during his first confrontation with them as soon as he came back from the barracks. He can't have the lionesses retreat this time. That is why, he had decided to fight at most three of them at a time so that they wouldn't retreat and return with reinforcements.
A retreat from them would be follow by an attack by larger number of lionesses possibly including a lion or both. That could cause a loss of life of the members, but it will most definitely delay the completion of the quest.
The lionesses weren't like the cougars which were also members of the cat family. Unlike cougars which were lone fighters, these monsters had a sense of teamwork like wolves. This would allow them to easily retreat if the team attacked a larger number of the lionesses at a time.
That is the main reason that Shadow had Roll to lure two of the lionesses away. The remaining three were controlled by the team. The team had three tanks and a martial artist. These close combat classes were very useful in controlling the lions. With Shadow's high damage, he was the main damage dealer while the other physical combat classes mostly involved themselves in controlling the lionesses. They managed to kill the lionesses quickly.
They continued with this strategy till there were only 10 lionesses and the lions remaining. At this time, the lions came out of the cave and began to prowl alongside the lionesses. During this time, they managed to kill over 20 lionesses. The loot of the lionesses was also very useful, especially since it provided another leather armor set.
The lion's pride set also had four parts like the leopard skin set. It had a plain ochre color and had no designs on it. Its helm had a mane like that of a real lion. Though it was a leather set, it wasn't much popular among assassin and ranger players. That is because, all the parts of the set only provided strength as attribute. But it was quite a popular choice for martial artists.
[Lion's pride helm] (BlackIron head gear)
Level 8;
Requirement: Endurance: 15;
Strength +7;
Set effects: Set contains 4 pieces, helm, gloves, boots and chest armor.
2 piece set effect: Endurance +12%;
4 piece set effect: Intimidating roar: A shout which puts all enemies in range of 5 meters in a state of fear for 4 seconds; Cooldown: 3 minutes;
Durability: 25/25;
[Lion's pride gloves] (BlackIron gloves)
Level 8;
Requirement: Endurance:15;
Strength +6;
Set effects: Set contains 4 pieces, helm, gloves, boots and chest armor.
2 piece set effect: Endurance +12%;
4 piece set effect: Intimidating roar: A shout which puts all enemies in range of 5 meters in a state of fear for 4 seconds; Cooldown: 3 minutes;
Durability: 25/25;
[Lion's pride boots] (BlackIron boots)
Level 8;
Requirement: Endurance: 15;
Strength +5;
Set effects: Set contains 4 pieces, helm, gloves, boots and chest armor.
2 piece set effect: Endurance +12%;
4 piece set effect: Intimidating roar: A shout which puts all enemies in range of 5 meters in a state of fear for 4 seconds; Cooldown: 3 minutes;
Durability: 25/25;
[Leopard skin armor] (BlackIron armor)
Level 8;
Requirement: Endurance: 10;
Strength +5; Vitality +2;
Set effects: Set contains 4 pieces, helm, gloves, boots and chest armor.
2 piece set effect: Endurance +12%;
4 piece set effect: Intimidating roar: A shout which puts all enemies in range of 5 meters in a state of fear for 4 seconds; Cooldown: 3 minutes;
Durability: 25/25;
With over 20 lionesses dead, they had managed to get multiple pieces of the set except for the helm. Shadow heard a rumor that the headgear of the set would only drop from lions, but he didn't actually know if it was true or not. It was a minor thing and would be revealed in a few moments, so he really didn't care.
"The lions are out, and it might change the difficulty of the fight. I will try to lure them again, but if the lions follow me, I will take the lion away from you. After that it is your responsibility to clear any lionesses that are behind me," said Shadow as he went to lure a few more monsters.
This time instead of attacking a lioness or a cub, he went behind a lion in stealth used cheap shot on it. Due to the level-difference between them, the lion stumbled back a few feet and would definitely be stunned for more than 4 seconds.
Seeing its companion attacked the other lion immediately ran after Shadow. A few of the lionesses also followed. Shadow controlled his speed so that he was fast enough for the lion to follow but the lionesses would lose him. The other lion was stunned and didn't follow him.
Shadow soon led the lion to the team where the entire team started to attack a single lion. Even though it is an elite level 9 monster, it couldn't escape nor put up a fight against 12 players and was easily killed in 15 seconds.
With over 20 lioness and a lion dead, the remaining weren't much of a challenge. Moreover, they needed to only take down the lion. Without the leader of the lionesses, these monsters wouldn't come as reinforcements at the entrance of the city.
So, Shadow went into stealth and used cheap shot against the lion which was the signal for the others to attack. As the rest of the team attacked Shadow began to beat up the lionesses to get their aggro onto him. With most of their focus of the 11 players on the lion, it didn't have much of a chance to escape and succumbed to their damage within the minute.
It was during the fight they realized that the rate of damage Shadow dealt was a lot above them. It wasn't just the high attribute and level-difference, he had the technique to injure and inflict high damage by striking vital points and causing bleed effect.
As the lion fell down, the rest of the lionesses immediately scattered away from the cave. It was the same behavior as the monkeys in response to their leader's death. If not for Shadow already telling his team that this would probably happen, and they would need to block a few lionesses before they scattered, they would have lost the experience provided by the monsters deaths.
The lion also gave out the Lion's pride set headgear finally completing the set. It was decided that Tetsujin would be wearing that temporarily and later they can sell it. Rudra being a berserker could also use the strength increase from the set, but leather armor would have low defence and he didn't want to sacrifice his defence for strength completely. He also didn't like the headgear which had a mane like that of a lion.
After they killed all the monsters, they could a few cubs remained, but no one could actually use tame skill on them. Without the option, they just marked the location to see if they would still be there after they reached the city. There was a high chance that they could get the tame skill in the city market. Shadow already knew that once the reached level 10, the city would have pet shops where they would sell the skill. A lion cub if grown properly would be a great pet.
With the lions cleared, they only had to reach the city and kill the boss monster which would always be a different species. One could only guess. It was always different for different groups even in the same village. But it wouldn't be above level 10, and it could be killed by them if they properly coordinate.
But there was another problem. Though he was at level 12 and he hardly received any experience. He selected equal allocation for all the 12 members of the group, but they were still at level 9. He couldn't really promote them to level 10 if he directly moved towards the city.
Moreover, he had only an hour left. So, he decided to let them kill a few more beasts in the forest before they walked along the path to the city. He also messaged Robert to inform Lucius that he is in a business activity and might be delayed by 15 to 20 minutes. This was true as the workshop could actually be considered his business. This would gain him another hour in the game.
But Robert's reply was much more confusing to him. "Lucius already told me that you have a meeting with the Patriarch," replied Robert. "Lucius know about it. Don't worry, take your time with it. If Winston has a meeting with you, Lucius wouldn't hold it against you."
"Grandpa has a meeting with me?" thought Balthazar in shock. He immediately checked his email from the console and found that Winston indeed scheduled a meeting with him and sent a mail to approve it. Apart from that, he found that he received another mail from Sophia.
This one was much more confusing. Sophia told him in the mail that she was appointed as the Colonel at the PK-170-B base. The confusing part was she also told that it was decided that Brixton would continue as the Brigadier General and from her contacts in the military headquarters, she heard that Balthazar would be a colonel of a special unit directly under Lieutenant General Xander Drake. It was also confirmed by Rodrigo Banderas according to her.
Xander Drake was one of Rodrigo's friends. He was the one that took over Rodrigo's position after his retirement. He had the reputation of being an exceeding aggressive in his plans for the military. His fame was so high that some higher authorities frequently thought that they should have let Rodrigo continue as his successor was much tougher to deal with.