"Make sure all of you are in the same party to maximise your XP gain from the boss's summons, then I will invite you to a raid party."
In Caelus Online, to be able to freely form a raid party a player needed to reach Lv 50, however there are exceptions to this rule. Raid bosses like Square Jaw can be encountered before level 50, so the game allows players who are within the boss's proximity to create a Raid party irrespective of the player's level. In addition, large scale dungeons and world bosses which require a large number of players also have this feature.
Seeing Ash's name disappear from the left of her vision, Astaria waits for an indication from Tyrell who was leading the other party before using the system to invite them to form a Raid party.
[[Server Announcement: Player Astaria is the first Immortal Warrior to form a Raid Party. Astaria has been awarded a unique title]]
After seeing this announcement, Astaria's lips form a beautiful smile. System announcements are messages from the game that appear in every player's vision and have their own specific log in the system menu that can be accessed at any time. This is the first server message about a player's achievement in the log which will undoubtedly give her a major boost in fame, something that she requires for her plans to gain the best outcome.
Seeing a notification in her menus indicating a new mail, Astaria quickly checks to confirm what the message is.
[{New: Congratulations for First Raid Party Achievement}
{Sender: System}
{Congratulations on becoming the first player to form a raid party in Caelus online. You have received the unique title 'Raids Harbinger' and have been rewarded with 2 free attribute points and a 'Raid Party 30% XP increase for 1 hour' scroll. Received items will be placed in your inventory.}]
Reading this mail, Astaria swiftly applies the 2 new Attribute Points to her WIS and checks her inventory, pulling out the new scroll.
The others just watch Astaria, clearly waiting for her to finish what she is doing before speaking. Seeing the scroll appear in her hands, Roxanne asks the question they all have.
"Congrats on the new title, I assume that scroll is the reward?"
Showing a jubilant smile, Astaria unfurls the scroll, causing it to disappear in a golden light that floats around all the party members.
"This is a 30% XP increase scroll for a raid team. It seems that this Boss fight will provide us with more rewards than we first planned."
Seeing Astaria's motivation rise, everyone expresses their excitement with various comments expressing their thanks towards the conveniently timed buff as they all make their way into the cave.
The group draws their weapons as they enter, walking into the cave that's dimly lit by a few crude torches planted into the walls. After a short time walking, the passageway opens up into a large cave easily over 40 metres in diameter, with a large campfire a metre high at the centre lighting the entire room up.
Sitting next to the fire eating some unknown meat is a brawny goblin covered in scars. His height is easily able to reach 3 metres tall while standing and his large jaw is square-shaped as his name implies. Astaria found out in the past that the goblin's name was apparently due to a fight it had with a paladin who had used a war hammer to smash the boss's chin, deforming it from the goblin's traditional pointy shape to a mangled square.
Astaria also notices that the room was filled with various boxes of cargo, the occasional chest, and a few empty cages. Astaria's heart fills with rage seeing empty cages and what it insinuates, causing her fighting spirit to soar as she checks the Boss's information.
[Raid Boss: Square Jaw Lv 35]
[Mutated Hobgoblin]
Seeing the large Goblin's info, Astaria gestures to the party to move into position as she bursts forward sprinting at Square Jaw who is sitting with his back to her. Astaria uses her [Evasion] skill to increase her speed and close the distance to the brawny goblin before the boss has a chance to stand up. The boss, noticing that someone is approaching it, looks around to see Astaria merely 3 meters away, her sword flashing in the light of the fire as she swings at the goblin's neck with all her might.
Seeing that Square Jaw is unable to respond in time, Astaria uses all her force and momentum to slice into the goblin's neck, barely making a cut an inch deep.
Leaning back, Astaria dodges Square Jaw's left hand that is initially going to block her sword, but instead moves to grab her, and swings her sword at it, creating a small cut on its wrist.
Enraged at her actions, Square Jaw roars, thankfully not screaming unlike its smaller brethren. Responding to the boss, Astaria summons her staff to cast earth spike, followed by using evasion to create some distance.
Seeing that the earth spikes barely damage the boss, Astaria follows her attack up by casting lightning and its add-on, residual burst. Two lightning bolts strike down onto the goblin's head, the first bolt slightly pauses Square Jaw's movement as it starts to stand, while the second makes the goblin stagger, using a hand to support itself.
As soon as the second bolt of lightning hits, an arrow surrounded by energy hits Square Jaw's shoulder and a ball of black energy explodes as it hits its knee, causing the boss to growl in rage. It looked up, staring hatefully behind Astaria at Ben and Roxanne who just launched their attacks.
The rest of the group are in positions behind Astaria, with the corner of the cave that was previously mentioned at their backs with Ash, Tyrell, and Russel all positioned in-front of Ben and Roxanne to stop the boss if it comes for them. They keep a distance away to prevent getting in Astaria's way as she fights, meaning they have little to do until the boss summons more goblins to help it.
Astaria continues her barrage, following up with a fireball and blast which hits alongside a black spear and a flaming arrow sent from behind. With her current skills now on cooldown, Astaria moves closer to Square Jaw who is staggering back from the explosion.
Using the boss's momentary imbalance, Astaria swiftly steps in and makes another slash at Square Jaw's neck, slightly missing where she had previously hit, creating another shallow gash. With the large goblin now roaring in pain, Astaria continues to attack the boss with her sword, her elegant steps moving her behind the goblin as she slashes at the back of its right knee, once again causing a shallow wound.
After dodging another lunge from Square Jaw who has turned and is now facing her, Astaria moves to the goblin's right side, ducking underneath its hand that fails to grab her and swings her sword again at the goblin's knee as she passes.
Seeing that she has accurately struck the same place this time, she turns to face the goblin, slamming down her staff as earth spikes shoot out, all accurately stabbing into the wound she has just created.
Having bought enough time for her skills to come off their cooldowns, Astaria evades back to create some distance again, repeating the same barrage of skills that are backed up by additional attacks from Ben and Roxanne.
After repeating the same series of attacks for around 4 minutes, the wound at the back of Square Jaw's knee grows to be quite large, spurting out blood whenever the boss tries to walk forward. However, the wound on his neck has only grown a little larger since Astaria has been unable to get many hits on that spot.
Seeing the goblin's health bar above its head hit 75% of its health, Astaria shouts out.
"Incoming, get ready!"
Hearing her Astaria's shout, the rest of the group retreat backward, ready to face the incoming goblins as the boss raises his head upwards and lets out the loudest roar yet, its volume causing the cave to shake.
After a few seconds, the sound dies down and rapid footsteps can be heard from the 5 passageways that lead into the cave, eventually spitting out a group of goblins from each.
Astaria, taking the opportunity of the boss recovering from his roar, rushes forward and manages to slice the wound behind Square Jaw's knee twice more before the boss retaliates, causing Astaria to move back and begin casting her attack skills.
The new goblins seeing the current situation split up into 2 groups, one group rushing for Astaria while the others rush towards the party of people currently in a defensive formation in the corner of the room.
Russel and Tyrell who are in charge of getting the attention of all of the new goblins can see that a number of them are heading towards Astaria. Using a skill called [Taunt], they bring their weapons and shields together, the metallic ring of the collision enhanced by mana draws the attention of every enemy in the room.