When I set my gaze upon the Blood orb, an arrow began to appear and started to point towards the Plains of Gauder, where the supposedly evil being is hiding.
We take a step forward in its direction and, before us, a message appeared.
- You are the first adventurers to enter the Plains of Gauder!
+200 Fame
You are the first adventurers to step foot on these plains and will gain the bonuses until the following month.
+5% Movement speed
+10% Stamina regeneration
"Hoho, the movement speed will be useful in reaching the creature which we are tasked to slay" I said a bit happy from the bonus, these plains were huge!
The arrow was signaling towards a mountainous area which means that the monster's lair must be secluded somewhere among the granite. There are not many monsters in sight; however. Those that are able to be seen are incredible huge… around four times the height of John.
As we moved towards to the far away mountains, we readily encountered monsters which had us as their targets, as if they could sense our intruding presence. Some came in groups while others came individually. While they were not all strong, they were able to reach us in an instant—which made us change our actions and be even more cautious. The ones who came by themselves were monsters whose appearance was similar to Big Foot. They had either a one or two white dots on their foreheads, the latter being extremely formidable. Arksen even died once while trying to parry one of its attacks, which caused us to waste some time because we had to wait on his revival.
I wonder if there is a Bigfoot boss, and if so, how many dots it might possess.
Another type of creature that we encountered was a kind of reptile. It was about 2 meters and possessed the characteristics of a rhino. When we finally reached the mountainous area, we had no difficulty finding the entrance to the supposed lair, of which was merely a rather normal-looking cave. What was guarding it, however, was far from normal. Its appearance was that of a giant knight, one equipped with a sword and armor to match its size. It seemed that we had to kill it to be able to pass.
It looks like the boss of this place has an affinity for subordinates who possess gigantic sizes.
- Armored Giant Knight Level: 250
Health: 280,560
Its higher leveled than John, but its health is less. Even so, this one has a weapon and seemed to be far more agile than the Colossus.
We couldn't just blindly charge in, perhaps coming back after killing more monsters would be the best choice at the moment, but something is telling me that we should hurry to charge inside.
Suddenly, an idea pops into my mind, an idea that, while I think would do us more harm than good, is one that is worth the risk.
"Guys, I have an idea, but I will need you to distract the Knight. Peko, you will be crucial for it, do you have a communication spell?" I asked Peko who seems to be listening attentively
"Yes, but it has a 200 meters radius limit"
"That's enough. Now, everyone, listen up…"
Upon finishing my explanation, it seems that I am now met with only blank stares.
"You know if we fail, you will die a horrible death" Said Arksen
"I know, but even so we should try it. I think there is something dangerous inside and we should hurry"
"Good for me, we can distract this thing here for a bit" Said Zenith
"If it's just defending, then we can hold for a while" Isa answers confidently
"My rapid fire will come in handy in distracting it, but you sure about it?" Vladi asks with a hint of concern.
"I am sure. Let us begin--Peko, be careful" I said as I give the signal to initiate.
We are now backtracking and the type of monsters which we encountered on the way begin to now approach us again. The one that we are looking for, however, has not yet shown itself.
-Found it! It's alone, and there is no other monster nearby, it is to the west where you guys are at about 160 meters.
- "Good job"
"Peko found one, it is about 160 meters, I am going ahead. You guys go for the Knight and entertain it for a bit"
"Ok, be careful, we don't want to die too" says Arksen as he joins the group in running back towards the knight.
"Don't worry" I said while running the opposite direction towards the monster that Peko had earlier signaled.
After running for a few seconds and internally thanking my Sprint skill, I found it. The two dot Bigfoot, it is a monster that gave us an incredibly difficulty time, even while we are in sync. Its physical strength and speed were terrifying.
Suddenly it notices me and starts to charge. I swiftly evade the attack start to run back towards the knight where my friends are currently at.
Our plan is simple: Peko scouts the area and looks for monster. One group will distract the knight and wait for Peko to arrive and weaken it with her curse. Along with Vladi's rapid fire, the knight would hopefully start to lose focus. I would then arrive and along with me would be the Bigfoot monster, whose agitation should be extremely high from my provocation. The other group then backs off while I start to also provoke the knight and attempt to deceive it into thinking that the Big Foot monster who is following me from behind as its opponent.
This is why we needed to have two groups with two separate tasks. If we did not first cause the knight to rational thought then I would also be attacked without discrimination, which would only lead to death.
I am currently running from the fast mother-woah a wind gale just seems to have went by my side.
'I am getting close to the place'
- "Vladi! Tell them to back off, I am joining the fun!"
-Okay!
At her answer I form a spear of fire in my hands and upon seeing the group retreating, having cover fire by Vladi, I let it fly.
'Elemental enhancement: Earth, Fire spear!'
*Bang* my spear resounds on the Giants armor. He seems to now notice my presence and begins to charge.
'Do or die, time for the truth!' At this, the Bigfoot throws at me another Wind Gale while the knight simultaneously slashes at me.
'Elemental enhancement: Wind', my concentration increases and before my eyes lays the correct path to take.
I make a mini spin to the right while minimizing the space I was using to evade the Gale along with the Sword, making them clash. I slash the Knight's shin with my two swords with rapidity, slipping by the attacks of the two beasts, whose ferocious attacks are now colliding with each other.
At the sudden attack, the Knight seems to now be focusing on the Bigfoot whose presence it deems to be an eyesore.
The Knight starts attacking the Bigfoot who responds with attacks of its own. Nevertheless, it seems even with the knight having been weakened, it still possesses greater combat abilities than the Bigfoot.
While the monsters continue to weaken each other, we also join the fray to finish them off.
The battle was extremely long. The bigfoot had died while the knight was victorious; yet its condition wasn't that much better. Its armor was heavily damaged, and its shoulders were slumping.
I evade one of its sword slashes and I stab my swords in the same place I first slashed, the Giant in response seems to fall but didn't.
Arksen and Isa begin a full-frontal assault to its sides and its body crumples from a final full buster which pierces its head and a thrust from a broadsword.
The Knight finally dies.
- Levelled up x2
You have killed the Guardian of the Lair!
+100 Fame
With the Guardian now dead, we decided to rest before going to the lair tomorrow. It seemed that Peko and Zenith also felt uneasy about the ominous aura which resided inside.
The next morning, we marched towards the cave
You have discovered the Lair of Mader!
-Your Fame has increased by 200
-Double experience for a whole week
-Item's drop rate has been doubled for a week
-The first drop of items of any monster will be of high quality
Inside, the monster we found were Golems, their shape was round, and they towered 2 meters high. Their defenses and attacks were high, and their mobility was fast too. Added to this fact they were never alone.
Vladi's guns were totally blocked by their bodies, so she only could use Full Buster against them.
As we kept advancing, we realized that the place was huge, normally, a lair consisted of merely one floor. It didn't really have much space, and normally the boss monster was not far away. Contrary to the norm, this Lair and the Kobold's den were enormous.
We realized that when we killed Golems, some of them had different color eyes, if you can say that an empty spot on their faces are eyes…
We were able, with some time, to realize that they were of different elements as we tried hitting them with magic. This weakness allowed for Arksen and Vladi, who both had elemental versatility, to be able to attack their weaknesses.
Continuing to move forward and fight all that oppose us,
It took an entire four days in the game to arrive at what appears to be a huge door.
From the looks of it, it seems that the door is able to detect intruders…
We check our status again and make sure that we are rested before entering. After all, without any information to go on, we have to be absolutely certain that we are as prepared as we possible could.
I push the doors open and see a man on a throne; his expression seems like from a man who had anticipated our arrival.
"Welcome" The man says with a chilling voice, one with such a dread that forces us to take out battle stances.
"Thanks for the warm welcome, are you Mader?" I ask
"Yes, I am" The man says as he stands up.
"And may I ask, who are you?" He says as he begins to ready himself. For some reason I could not attack.
I feel as if I have to wait for this man to make the first move, less something bad will happen.
"I am Ardha, and I have come to fulfil the mission of the warriors of Gardan" I yell out loud while taking out the blood orb.
"Hooo… that blood orb…" The sight of the blood orbs seems to change his attitude, and his expression now shifts to one of seriousness.
"Give it to me" Mader commands with a voice of authority.
"If you want its pieces, then it's all yours"
"Then, die" He makes a gesture with his hands and a dark ball fly toward us.
My heart thumped as I watched that, the destructive force inside that ball was frightening.
'This is going to be a difficult fight' I think as all of us respond to his attack, inching forward to win with all our might!