Chapter XVII: Save Lady Beauvale! Kill the Bandits Part 2
The Bandit Leader boss started to grow bigger. Red light poured out of his skin as his muscles enlarged. This boss must have had the Berserker Seed Skill. Damn, he was going to be a problem.
"Sage, what spells do you have equipped?" I asked as the animation continued. The bandit boss's eyes turned red and the white of those eyes became back.
"Firebolt, Lesser Heal, Lesser Cure, Ripple Flow, and Scorching Fire."
For a moment, that didn't add up. Until you reached level five, you were only supposed to have three skill slots. No, he equipped the Seed Skill Sorcery, turning his skill slots into spell slots. He would have five spell slots as opposed to three skill slots. Unlike the rest of us, he didn't take Acrobatics either, freeing up another slot.
"For now, we'll rely on our potions," I decided. It was a shame we only had Tier 5 potions, but we'd have to make due. "When he charges, cast Ripple Flow! After that, light him up with firebolts!
"Namikaze, this time I want you to move around. He has throwing weapons and if you stay still, he'll hit you. The same goes for you, Sage. Try and stay away from him."
"Yes." "Right!"
"Ghost Lantern, you're with me. We're the frontal assault."
"Okay!"
As soon as Bandit Leader started running, I charged.
When he was in range, I yelled "[Slash]" and my glowing cut through him. A moment later, Euphie yelled "[Slash]" and brought her scythe down.
At the same time, a white arrow struck him. The boss roared and agro was established.
I could hear Amos chanting, though Striking Ripple was at such a low level right now, the chant couldn't be TOO long. Sure enough, he yelled "[Ripple Flow!]"
A blast of water shoot out of his wand, but instead of hitting the enemy, the water floated around him.
Bandit Leader pulled out a wicked dagger and slashed at me. As he attacked, the floating rippling water moved, forcing him to cut through it, reducing his damage.
I guarded with my shield, reducing it even further.
"[Blessed Whirlwind!]" Euphie yelled. The animation of the skill created a miniature tornado around her. It flung her at Bandit Leader, trapping the boss in the tornado. For ten seconds, she was being thrown up and down by the wind, left to right, side by side, flips, and spins as she was vaulted. While she was moving uncontrollably, the wind kept her near the boss and her scythe glow. She slashed and slashed at him.
The boss's health was being cut down fast. It was a shame Blessed Whirlwind only lasted ten seconds when it was so low level. And it had a high cooldown time.
Then the animation and the skill stopped, Bandit Leader was bombarded with a firebolt and an arrow. Not to be outdone, I flanked him and used Slash. Amos had to cast it again twice, but Ripple Flow cut down the boss's attack.
Bandit Leader had two bars of health and when the first one was cut down, he jumped back. He was already in [Rage], but he used the skill again. At a higher level, increasing his stats even further.
Instead of coming at me, or even Euphie, Bandit Leader jumped away. He was far enough in the air that he could use Flowing Waterfall. The animation for the skill made him appear at the top of a rushing waterfall and he jumped into it, being hurled down with force.
He cut right through Amos, taking out two-thirds of his health. Before he could cast heal, Bandit Leader used [Slash] and cut Amos in half. It was a good thing there was no pain in this game.
"Why me?" Amos complained before both halves of his avatar shattered.
Because this was PvE instead of PvP, Amos wouldn't necessarily lose any of his experience. He was part of our party and if we won, he would even get his share of EXP. Since he did die, that was all he was going to get.
Bandit Leader focused his attention on Namikaze. "Ghost Lantern, has Blessed Whirlwind's cooldown time ended?"
"It just did!"
"Use it now! Before Bandit Leader attacks. When your attack ends, see that tree over there. You have his agro, so make him follow you! Keep him under that tree!"
Right now Namikaze was up in one of the trees, but Bandit Leader had a very high acrobatic skill. Couple that with his augments strength skill and he might reach her.
"[Blessed Whirlwind!]"
The attack diverted his attention. My strength skill wasn't high enough to jump all the way up to the branch she was out, but I could make it to a lower branch. Then like a monkey, I swung myself up in a feat of acrobatics I never would have been able to replicate in the real world. There was a reason I kept my Acrobatic skill high.
When I got to Kanade's branch, Ghost Lanterns ten seconds were up. She was retreating and thankfully, Bandit Leaders' attention was on her.
"Namikaze!"
"Yes?"
"Grab hold of me and use Feather Light!"
She didn't ask questions. Feather Light was a skill that at low levels, allowed you to float without falling. It only lasted twenty seconds, and it only affected the avatar who used the skill and anything they were touching.
So when we were above Bandit Leader and Ghost Lantern, I ordered her to drop me. "Keep going to the tree and find a place that you can shoot! Just in case."
I was planning to end this encounter here.
Without saying a word, she dropped me. As soon as I wasn't touching her, I was under the effects of gravity once more. "[Slash]!" I screamed as I fell to the earth.
My momentum picked up. Right when Bandit Leader looked up, my sword cut straight down through his body, eliminating the rest of his health.
Bandit Leader shattered.
REWARDS
EXP: 120
ITEMS: 3
LYRE: 280
EXP and LYRE would be shared evenly between all members of the party, but items were different. Bosses, no matter what kind, dropped multiple items. All items the boss dropped were not created equally. There was a hierarchy, with a lower tier and a higher tier.
Above both was the highest tier item, the Last Attack Bonus. It was the most valuable item that boss could drop and it was always given to the player who killed them.
I clicked on the items on the reward screen. The first thing to appear was a simple Bandanna. It increased speed by one, but other than that, it was pretty worthless to me. I considered my teammates, but it wouldn't do them much good either. I resolved to sell it.
The second item was the Cloak of Nightengale. It wasn't too impressive, but with the materials, I've collected, and Attea's crafting skill, I think there was something I could do with it.
The last item was the Last Attack Bonus. It was a bow called Great Bow. It was in the second month that Great Bows started to hit the market, but that was only when we cleared the first labyrinth. One labyrinth cut France in half. The second labyrinth cut France off from the rest of Europe.
And I would deal with them in time. As it stood now, a Great Bow this early in the game was perfect for Namikaze.
I send her a trade request, offering Great Bow and asking for nothing in return. Naturally, she accepted. "Wow. Calixte, are you sure this is okay?"
"One, don't use my real name here. My avatar is Chevalier Phénix."
"Right. Sorry."
"Secondly, of course it is. I don't have the archery skill and I didn't care for it when I tried it in the beta. Go for it."
"Thanks."
"Anything for me?" Ghost Lantern asked.
I shook my head. "Sorry. Nothing as impressive."
"Oh well."
"If Bandit Leader dropped a scythe, I would have given it to you."
"Well... I don't know what to say. Thank you?"
"Save it for when I get you a scythe."
"You can always buy me one."
"Scrape Iron Scythe is the only scythe available right now."
Scrape Iron Scythe was a very good weapon for the opening stages. It would even stay relevant with basic upgrades, though there was always the option of using it as a base for weapon customization.
A telephone icon appeared in front of me. It was buzzing like someone was trying to call me. Under the icon was the name, Sage. If I wanted to reject the call, I would hit the telephone icon. To accept the call, you hit the word below it.
I hit Sage's name. A box appeared in front of me. Sage's avatar was staring at me. Behind him, I could see the cathedral. And of course, he was eating.
"Yo. Stuffing your face I see."
Sage quickly followed. "Don't be a dick. I have to consider the hunger effect, don't I?"
"You've eaten three times in this game. At your level, you only need to eat once a day to stave off that hunger effect."
"I want to find something good to eat."
"How is that meat?"
Sage shrugged. "It seeds more seasoning."
"Just hurry up and get back here. I'll put out location on a map for you to follow."
"What's the hurry?"
"Lady Mireille is the hurry. She's still here, waiting for us to come to speak with her. This isn't a one-off and done quest. This might be a quest line. And if you're not here when we accept it, you can't be involved. Now hurry up and get back here."
"Roger that boss."
I closed the window.
"Is that true?" Ghost Lantern asked.
"Yeah. If this was just a one and one quest, she would be over here thanking us. Maybe giving us special information or rewards. The fact that she's waiting patiently over there..." I looked over at the NPC. "Whimpering. That means this is a quest line.
"Quest lines give you a little time in between quests to let you catch your breath or make any changes. It allows you to heal. Most of the time. Certain quest lines are time sensitive, but for the most part, that's true.
"It becomes a problem if we don't speak with her soon enough. If we wait too long, the quest line closes and it could reappear anywhere on the map."
Euphie looked over at the sniveling lady. "How long do you think we have?"
"Long enough for Sage to get his butt back here." Hopefully. "If not, we'll have to take the quest without him."
Kanade was testing out her new bow, so I decided not to bother her. She might as well get a little bit used to it while we wait for Sag.
"I heard you say something about potion tiers?"
"Yeah. We're in the starting area, at the very beginning of the game. The potions aren't going to be very good. Not only are they weak, but they have a timed effect."
"Time effect?"
"If you drink a health potion that restores 20 HP, it might take 20 seconds to fully restore. The same goes for a mana potion, a cure potion, and pretty much all low-tier potions."
"When do we get better arrows?" Kanade asked, rejoining us.
"In the next town or city. There's going to be this important quest to establish trade routes between cities, towns, and villages, which will increase the qualities of the items."
Which I needed. The Short Sword wasn't very good. It could only be restored once and its durability was shit.
It wasn't much longer before Sage joined us. "Hey! I'm here."
"Well it's about time," Kanade shot back.
***
*Going forward, when skills or spells are used, they will be in these brackets [ ]
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