In the inner area of the Grasslands stood a Baobab tree taller than most of the surrounding vegetation. The tree was so huge that it stood out like a sore thumb and was visible even from the outer area of the Golden Grasslands.
A number of Wild Dog Packs roamed the area around the tree. Unlike all the others we had seen before, these packs seemed to have a fixed pattern of movement, as if they were patrolling the area.
As we neared the packs, I was shocked to see that each pack was led by an Elite monster!
—
Half-Transformed Gnoll
Lv 5 (Elite)
Attack: ★★★★
Defense: ★★★
HP: 600
Skills: Infectious Claws, Rabid Bite, Pack Command.
—
The Half Transformed Gnoll did not look significantly different from the ordinary Wild Dogs and neither had its stats increased by a huge margin. Only skill that might pose trouble was the Pack Command but I was confident that our improved gear could help us defeat it alongside its pack.
I singled out a pack outside the aggro range of the other packs and led our team towards it.
BigSoftie took the lead and charged at the pack with a warcry to attract their attention. The dogs turned in unison to look at BigSoftie and bared their fangs.
Surprisingly, they did not pounce on the leading tanker, like the other dogs would have done. Instead, they held their place while the Elite Pack Leader ferociously barked a warning, threatening us to not come any closer.
I noticed this small detail and instantly raised my vigilance. An elite monster that was unwilling to fight? It was an alarming detail but not enough to forfeit our hunt.
Fearless after equipping his new shield and chainmail, BigSoftie bashed the shield in one of the dog's faces and a huge number popped up from above its head.
-28
For an MT focused on defense, this damage was simply unthinkable. If any of the other MTs in the Village saw this number their jaws would drop down to the floor.
As soon as the damage number floated above the dog's head, one of the adjacent dogs howled loudly. Then all five dogs focused their attention on BigSoftie and activated their skills instead of normal attacks.
Seeing this, BigSoftie immediately changed the direction of his defense and banged the dog on its mouth with his shield. The sturdy shield allowed him to completely block the poisonous attack and he received no damage at all.
"Ha ha ha! This White-Wood grade Shield is on another level!" BigSoftie laughingly said before banging the shield on the stunned Dog's head once again.
BigSoftie ignored the attacks that were continuously draining his health and proceeded to bash each of the Dogs in its face.
It felt weird to see the happy smile on his perpetually constipated face, but I did not have time to laugh. I quickly focused on the other two Wild Dogs sneakily approaching our team.
Before I could take action, Stivi and Zamir jumped on the two sneaky Wild Dogs. Zamir was excited to test his new dagger while Stivi wanted to see the results of her morning training.
-36
-44
Two normal attacks had dealt incredible amounts of damage to the Wild Dogs. Zamir's damage had increased from around 28 to 36 points, thanks to his new dagger.
Unlike Zamir, Stivi did not see a drastic increase in her damage per attack but her moves flowed more smoothly after training, allowing her to increase her attack speed. It had increased her overall DPS in the long run.
BigSoftie then proceeded to bash every Dog, including the Elite Pack Leader in the face and successfully earned their hatred.
In the absence of a dedicated taunting skill, I had found that this was the best method to secure aggro after experimenting a few times with BigSoftie.
Once BigSoftie had bashed every dog at least once in its face, their aggro firmly stabilized on him.
At this moment, HardBro finally finished casting Icy Wind. The area around the pack immediately turned ice cold and tiny frost particles formed around the Dogs, causing damage numbers to float above their heads.
-35
-36
-37
-35
-35
Immediately after, BigSoftie bashed his shield into one of the Dog's faces and drew back their attention to himself. Just as they were about to tear into him, a greenish white light fell on him, restoring his health by 10 points per second.
The timely Heal prevented his health from falling below 70% despite the five pronged attacks of the Dogs.
Stivi and Zamir also jumped into action. Stivi picked a target to the left and started to attack it without holding back.
Triple Hit Combo!
Beheading Slash!
Stivi's last attack actually chopped at the neck of the dog and the force behind it separated its head from its body in one go. It was a Lethal Hit!
On the other side, Zamir attacked the Dog to my right. He began with a Stunning Stab and immobilized the Dog for two seconds. Then he immediately used Throat Slit, causing the Wild Dog to bleed 10 HP every second.
Then he performed a combo of slashes and stabs and brought the Dog's health down to 10%. Finally, I ended the poor Dog's life with a single arrow.
Just as we started to relax a little after killing two dogs, the leader of the pack backed away from BigSoftie and howled.
Awoo Awooo Awooo!
This howl was much different than the previous one and it sounded urgent. Listening to the howl an ominous feeling rose in my heart.
"Guys! Stop holding back and kill these mobs quickly!"
After warning others, I immediately activated my newly received Rapid Shot skill and aimed at the Pack Leader of the Dogs.
-45
-47
–43
-94 (Crit)
-48
A critical hit! It could not have come at a better time as my one skill took away almost 55% of the Pack Leader's health.
Nobody understood why I was shouting a warning but seeing the numbers float above the Pack Leader in quick succession, they knew I was serious.
Stivi and Zamir stopped dawdling and attacked the other two dogs with their full capabilities. Even without skills, their DPS was impressive as they removed nearly 50% health of their targets in a minute.
I also quickly finished the Elite Pack Leader off with another arrow but I still felt something was wrong. Looking at the surroundings, I quickly found out the reason for my unease.
The nearest pack of dogs which was visible from where I stood had disappeared from my sight. Instead, I could see the tall grass near us rustling and swaying.
One might dismiss it as the tricks of the wind but I did not. The movement was too quick for it to be the gentle breeze of wind; it was definitely the dogs!
After fighting for the last few days, I was easily able to guess their target - the smallest person in our group, MamaMia.
"Hardbro, cast an Icy Wind to your left. Stivi, leave your opponent to me and protect MamaMia and HardBro."
Saying so, I immediately shot an arrow at the Wild Dog facing Stivi. It pierced through its abdomen and the dog died on the spot.
Stivi quickly shook herself out of her daze and jumped before HardBro, who was in the process of casting the spell. She was right on time to face the four dogs that had pounced out from the grass into the clearing.
Three of them quickly spread out and surrounded Stivi and HardBro in their midst while one dog rushed towards MamaMia.
Fuck! This situation was so familiar. Only this time, I had weapons and levels to lose. I could not recklessly act like before, trying to sacrifice myself for MamaMia's sake.
I had already studied the movement patterns of the Wild Dogs before and knew they would run in a straight line towards their intended target before attacking. Since I knew their attack pattern, aiming at this Wild Dog was much easier.
This particular Wild Dog was also slowed by HardBro's Icy Wind, so I had a greater chance of hitting it.
Still, I only had 6 seconds before the Dog covered the distance between it and MamaMia and my Rapid Shot needed 3 more seconds to come off the cooldown.
At this moment, I steeled my heart and decided to use one of the limited Fire Rune Arrows. Quickly, I refilled my quiver with six Fire Rune Arrows and notched one of them on the bow.
As I aimed at the swiftly approaching dog, my heart thumped with excitement and apprehension.
150 meters…
100 meters…
50 meters…
Finally the Dog was within the range of my shot and I loosened my grip on the arrow. With a twang, the bowstring vibrated and the arrow quickly turned into a red streak of light that penetrated into the Wild Dog.
-60
The huge damage number did not surprise me but the effects of the arrow did. The arrow pierced through the back of the dog and turned both its hindlimbs useless.
It also put the dog in a severely wounded state, such that it could no longer continue its attack on MamaMia. Though its legs could no longer support its body, the Dog still hobbled and dragged its body to try and bite our Healer.
Since it was disabled, there was no need to use the rest of my precious Fire Rune Arrows. As such, I quickly switched to ordinary arrows and emptied its health, not giving the Dog a chance to achieve its goal.
An instant later, a bright light beam shone upon me and I leveled up to Lv7 but I did not have time to celebrate. As soon as I finished the Dog off, I realized that we were still not out of danger.
Another pack of Dogs had arrived. However, I already knew how to handle the arriving waves of dogs.
I assigned Stivi and Zamir to protect MamaMia, who was their chief target. BigSoftie was to attract their aggro and HardBro would slow them using his Icy Wind.
Lastly, I alone was enough to deal lethal damage to the arriving Wild Dogs.
The party worked like a well oiled machine as we dealt with waves after waves of Wild Dogs using my strategy.
Unfortunately, I was not able to secure the last hit on every dog.
We missed out on much of the exp and loot but nobody cared and our fight for survival continued.