"Does this dungeon really have to be so long?" Mythryll asks as they reach the third boss, a huge, bloated demon with a collection of small demons around him.
"How else would we get a level every boss?" Char jokes, resting a friendly arm over the little Elf's shoulder.
They look to Cain very much like mother and daughter, relaxing like that, despite their dramatically different appearances. Char just has that neighborhood mom sort of vibe to her, a young version of that friendly lady that makes sure everyone's kids are doing alright when she sees them and always has the best Halloween treats.
"Listen up everyone. This demon is tricky, he poisons the area around him at regular intervals, so we need to know who has [Cure Poison] " All the healers plus Char put up their hands.
"Do you have it as the spell or the totem?" Cixelcid asks Char.
"The totem. I've focused on getting them all, so I can be useful all the time."
Cain smiles at her reaction, she really is the neighborhood mom. Maybe that's exactly what she was before she ended up here? Mythryll was a student, though he didn't know how old, and Misha was a waitress for at least a few years, so the age of people who come here doesn't have to match their characters.
"What all totems do you have?" Cain asks while the leaders think up a strategy.
"Healing, mana, Cure Poison, hex and stone skin so far. I need to make level 50 to get any more." She answers, waiting on the battle plan.
"Hex is like that cripple debuff your Lich Golems cast, but it doesn't stack. Stone Skin increases armor for allies, but both cost a lot of mana. With the lightning attacks I don't have a lot to spare most of the time."
"Alright troops, here is the plan. All the ranged group around the Cure Poison totem. We will pull the boss so the melee at his back are in totem range, but face him away, so his sweeping attacks don't hit everyone. That means we will need regular cures, but everyone else should be protected." Cixelcid instructs them.
"The golems are on miniature demon duty. They don't do much damage, but they can curse on hit. So it's best if the Golems get them, as they can be replaced. If the curse spreads to the others it will be bad, so try to pull them away from the main fight." Cain nods, that he can do, no problem.
"At half health, he will create a group of large insects, If the Golems can get them it would be best, if not we will take them with the boss."
This is a truly nasty boss. Cain wonders just how many groups have died here, trying to get it down, and how many were forced to give up.
It's decided that the Golems will start, as they don't have any abilities to easily pull the small demons away from the boss. In tank form, they easily pick everything up, moving to a side of the room while Red Beard Taunts the boss and drags it in a circle until it's perfectly positioned to his liking. The small demons are actually dying more easily than expected. They're likely to be down before the main boss reaches half. The first of them is down now.
[Cain Has Received An Ability Book]
[Book of Exploding Arrow] has dropped.
Perfect, that is exactly what he needed. An area attack to help him damage all the monsters his Golems were capable of gathering.
Cain learns it immediately and switches his attack method. Like Poison Arrow, it only costs him 10 mana, so he can use it a lot. It's also compatible with [Multi Shot] sending 3 Exploding Arrows at the same target. But that uses a full fifth of his mana, which takes him 6 seconds to regain, so it's a very slow attack method, as he needs to save mana in case the Golems start dying. Best to stick with single explosions.
The last few small demons die just before the boss reaches half health and Cain takes a second to survey the rest of the fight, having let himself get lost in the battle with the little demons. The [Cure Poison] totem is a life saver, up for 30 seconds at a time, and creating a big enough effect to get everyone except the tanks, without too much crowding.
The melee fighters definitely aren't making big swinging attacks though, it's all about the thrusts.
The healers are all around three quarters mana, and the mana totem is up, so no worries there. With the imbalance of mages, the damage side of things is looking good too.
And now the second wave of adds are up, pushing up through the floor on the far side of the room. Cain sends all his Golems over and they're quickly picked up before they can get near the rest of the group.
"Good job Cain. Keep them well away, they hit really hard and Poison, so they might kill the Tank Golems." Red Beard huffs as he chips away at the putrid flesh of the boss.
The healing crew is excellent today though. Not only do the golem tanks not die, nobody gets below half health the entire fight.
[Level Up]
"Look at this, I got a book." Char whispers.
[Book of Summon Insects] Rank C, usable by shaman.
"Congratulations, you got a Summon skill." Cain smiles, looking at his screen.
[New Form Learned: Lesser Golem Plague Demons]
[New Form Learned: Greater Golem Nox Bees]
"If you want it, find me something good to trade. You specialize in summons, I like cute things and kittens." That explains her love of the little winged lion looking gargoyles.
Cain looks over the drops he's gotten in the past month. One in particular catching his eye as being useful to Char.
"How about this?" Cain asks.
[Vest of the Guardian Spirit] Legendary chain vest. Adds 2 minutes to totem Summon times. Reduces totem cost by 50 percent.
"That is too good not to be cute. Let me see." It is a short, double skull bone bikini chest plate with a natural brown leather vest over the top, tied shut below the chest. Dangling chain mail over the shoulders and down the back adds some appearance of armor and hanging white fur pelts adorn the bottom when she wears it. It fits in great with her chain over leather, fur trimmed skirt.
"This is good. Not so much cute, but very good. I like it, you've got a deal." Char trades over the book and Cain quicky learns it, finding that he can Summon either Two [Giant Beetles] or ten [Poison Wasps]. They last until they die, but even the giant beetles have less health than his lesser Golems.
Squishy little Poison Wasps it is.
Nobody seems happy to see them though, except Cixelcid, and he's probably thinking of the experience buff. After level 50 he's higher level than all the bosses now, despite their strength, so his experience gain has slowed. Ten more summons will fix that.
"Hey Char, I've got a cloak you might like." Cain says, noticing she's not wearing one. He produces a Yeti Fur Cloak and she laughs, dragging it over her shoulders where it becomes an actual miniaturized Yeti Fur, sized to fit her, not entirely white, but a mix of white and brown, like a rabbit in the spring. The top forms a hood, the legs removed and the cloak ending above her knees, but the arms draped over her shoulders and dangling down to below her chest, claws still attached.
"Haha! I've got a hat!" She cheers, raising and lowering her hood, and everyone laughs.
"I picked the Random Creation and got a regular Shaman, but the Spirit Folk race. They're a hidden fae race, with high dexterity, but a very tribal vibe to their outfits. Every other hat I've tried becomes a feather or string of beads." Char explains to the curious group.