Chapter 66 - Elven Forest Battle (3)

Along the way, Suzy stayed really close to Arthur, practically glued to his side. He wasn’t really sure why she was doing it. Maybe she missed him, or maybe it was jealousy. Either way, his mind was focused on the battle, not on petty things like that.

The trip that should have taken around 2 hours took longer than usual. With so many players to lead, and several of them lacking agile classes, it was only natural that it took longer.

Len, the general, was up front, making sure everyone was heading in the right direction. Orin was with him, along with Thalindra, since both of them knew the camp’s location well.

Night was already falling, which helped keep everyone hidden in the middle of that forest, but at the same time it made navigating in there pretty tough.

Arthur didn’t have any problem with that thanks to his dragon bloodline. His vision was excellent.

"How did you find this place?" Suzy asked. "It seems so hidden."

It was rare for a player to stumble across the elves by chance this early on. Arthur had to lie.

"Ray gave me a quest, that’s why," he replied, looking at Suzy and smiling. "One of the perks of having a good reputation."

"Oh?" Suzy teased. "While you get good quests, I’m stuck with that idiot over there, having to kill monsters and grind out basic quests."

Tower didn’t seem as aggressive toward Arthur anymore. Maybe he was controlling himself since they were surrounded by so many players, or maybe he had finally dropped that senseless anger.

"Idiot, my ass," he fired back. "If it wasn’t for me getting beaten like a dog by those monsters, I’d like to see how you’d level up. The tank needs some respect."

Pretty much every tank player believed they were the most important member of a party. Arthur didn’t really see it that way. Sure, the tank was important, but in a high-level dungeon, every member had to play well. If the healer was bad, or the DPS was bad, clearing the dungeon would be impossible.

Every class had its role. Tower was just looking for attention by saying that.

Arthur smirked and said, "I play without a tank and I’m leveling up just fine. I already passed you, and soon I’ll be at the top of the rankings. So what about that?"

Simple and direct. Tower opened his mouth to say something but he didn’t. He just closed his fists.

Shadow Cloak quickly jumped into the conversation.

"Top of the rankings? Hold on, I’m right here, you know? I’m number 1, and I’m staying number 1."

She wasn’t going to give up her rank 1 spot that easily. Arthur respected her dedication and drive to get stronger, but he really was aiming for that number 1 spot.

They chatted along the way, with Suzy briefly mentioning the quest she had received to raid the Rashk Kingdom fortress. It was the same quest Point Blank had talked about. They really wanted Arthur to come with them.

And he wanted their help, too.

"I might have a dungeon for us to explore," he commented, keeping his voice down so nobody else would hear. "I’ll let you know when it’s for sure."

Arthur wanted to try clearing the dungeon with just him and Point Blank first. It was risky, and practically impossible for ordinary players, but he wanted to try. If they could pull it off, well, the rewards would be even better.

’And if I clear the dungeon solo, I’ll get extra rewards for being the first.’

As soon as they got near the camp, Len signaled for everyone to stop moving. This was the part of the plan where the mages went into action!

Before pushing forward with everyone, Len wanted to organize the mage teams, both players and elves, to hit the camp with a series of long-range spells.

The damage was usually high, but it also required a longer cast time, so the mages would cast their spells and run back into the forest.

At that moment, the rest of the players and elves would charge in, and the battle would begin.

They had already discussed this whole plan back inside the elven settlement, so everyone already agreed with it.

Arthur walked over to General Len, who was surprised to see him there. After all, only the mages were moving up.

"Len, I think I can help with this part too," Arthur said.

"Oh? And how would you do that?" Len asked, curious to hear what Arthur had to say.

"I can launch a stealth attack on their captain, who is the strongest enemy we’re going to face. I think I can weaken him before the battle even starts. What do you think?"

Any soldier would die on the spot from Arthur’s Sniping Shot plus his Stealth. The damage was simply too high.

Now, the captain was level 30, the same level as Len. He was the strongest enemy they would have to face. Shaving off any amount of the captain’s HP before the battle even started would be simply perfect.

Len’s gaze shifted to the bow on Arthur’s back. He quickly figured out how Arthur wanted to attack the captain.

"A shot with a bow? Tough. He usually stays well hidden right in the middle of the camp, surrounded by tents. No way you’ll get that close. They’ll spot you."

Arthur just smiled, and Len remembered something.

"Right, you can turn invisible. I almost forgot about that. Let me think..." Len placed a hand on his chin.

He had to think things through before doing anything, as messing up could ruin the whole attack.

"Here’s what we’ll do," Len said, explaining his idea. "Get into position, but don’t shoot yet. As soon as the spells are cast, the captain is bound to come out of his tent to see what’s going on, and that’s when you take your shot. I don’t want you getting spotted beforehand and ruining our mages’ attack."

"Got it," Arthur agreed with a nod.

Len then pulled something out of his pocket. It was a vial filled with a nearly fluorescent white liquid.

"Use some of this poison," he said. "I brought it specifically to help me fight their captain. I think it’ll be useful for you."

Arthur took the poison and quickly checked its details. The poison Len had given him was powerful.

[Moon Herb Extract]

[Type: Poison]

[Effect: Deals corrosive damage once it enters the target’s bloodstream, dealing 5 damage per second for a total of 5 minutes]

The damage was solid. It wasn’t raw burst damage right off the bat, but adding up the damage per second over that duration, the total came out to 1500 damage. That was a really high number.

Even though the captain was a level 30 enemy, it wasn’t like he had an absurdly high HP pool. Between the damage from Sniping Shot, the poison, and the chaos of the battle itself, Arthur was growing more confident in their victory.

"Just be careful," Len warned. "If he decides to chase after you, I don’t think you’ll get away in time. So as soon as you shoot that arrow, run immediately. Don’t stick around."

Arthur knew that full well, but it was nice to see that Len cared about his well-being.

"Come on, we can’t drag our feet," another elf said.

This elf was one of the few mages in the elven settlement, and he was the one leading the mage groups to coordinate the joint attack on the camp.

Arthur went with them, walking slowly through the forest and doing his best not to draw any attention.

They looked for a spot that wasn’t too close to the camp, but still had a great view. And the best spot was right at the top of a tree!

The elven mage was skilled in nature magic, so he easily created a platform for all the mages to stand in the tree without any trouble.

Arthur watched it all, but soon split off from them. His mission had to be done alone. From that tree, hitting the captain would be practically impossible.

The angle the mages were aiming for was meant to hit the camp as a whole, not target the captain’s exact location. Besides, dealing damage to a larger number of soldiers was better than hitting just the captain.

Anyway, Arthur kept circling through the forest, moving around the camp. He had already sneaked inside before, so he knew exactly where the captain stayed.

He activated Stealth to make sure he wouldn’t be spotted. The MP cost to maintain the skill was very low, and it wasn’t like he was going to keep it active for an absurd amount of time.

The camp was much more heavily guarded now. Several soldiers were patrolling, checking every corner of the camp.

’That’s because of the soldiers we killed.’

Arthur found a good spot. He could see the tent entrance where the captain would come out, and at the same time, the vegetation gave him cover.

Right then, he felt something. A chill.

Instinctively, Arthur drew his sword from its sheath and activated his guard skill, spinning around.

A metallic clatter echoed through the forest. An invisible assassin had been waiting for him...

"I knew you’d come," the assassin said, grinning.

At that moment, several soldiers in the camp began blowing their horns, signaling that the camp was under attack.

The plan had failed.