Chapter 77 - Dungeon Run (5)

[+5150 EXP]

[+1 gold coin for both party members]

[+1 Old Rusty Key]

The monster had given far more EXP than any of the others they’d faced so far.

"That was almost like a mini boss," Arthur said, letting out a relieved sigh after finally killing the creature. "That’s why we got better rewards this time."

Point Blank was ecstatic after reading those rewards. The amount of EXP and money was pretty significant, and she couldn’t help but smile.

"Is this the key we need to open the door?" she asked.

"Yep. Let’s get out of here and head to the next spot where the other key is. We can’t waste time."

The two left and went to another specific house in the city, and there, just like before, there was a mimic chest waiting for them.

Same type of monster, same level of power. This time Arthur remembered to use Stealth before Sniping Shot, doubling his damage, which made the fight far less tense than it should have been.

"Another 5k EXP and 1 gold coin. Let’s go to the last one."

After finishing off all 3 mimics and collecting all 3 keys, Arthur and Point Blank headed to the location of the dungeon’s first boss.

The boss was in a castle near the abandoned elven city. It wasn’t that far, and there weren’t many enemies along the way. Just a few dark elves, nothing more.

Arthur and Point Blank were more than used to dealing with those enemies by now, and Arthur also knew about several traps he could take advantage of, just like he’d done before with that explosive mine on the ground.

Point Blank opened her mouth, looking up at it. "It’s huge! This castle is really imposing."

Not only that, but it also looked remarkably well-preserved, unlike the houses in the city.

The surrounding wall was in perfect condition, with no holes or missing pieces. The two watchtowers near the main gate were the same.

There was no one in the towers, though, and no one guarding the gate. The castle was completely empty.

A magical barrier surrounded it, making it impossible for anyone to get in.

Getting in required the 3 keys, which Arthur had already collected from the 3 mimics. He walked up to the gate.

The barrier in front of it had 3 locks, one for each key.

"Let’s rest here for a bit first," Arthur said, sitting down on the ground in front of the castle. "The first boss will be right at the start, in the castle courtyard. So we won’t have much time to rest after we open this gate."

Point Blank sat down beside him.

He didn’t just want to rest and recover his HP, MP, and most importantly his stamina before the fight. That was necessary, of course, but what Arthur really needed to do was talk to Point Blank and tell her exactly what the boss did.

"I’ll walk you through every phase of the boss and his attack patterns," Arthur said. "It’s not that hard. His mechanics are fairly simple, but there are a few specific things that can get you killed if you don’t know about them."

He then went on to explain each phase of the fight. The boss was a mage, the same one controlling all the dark elves. Yes, those elves were already dead, being controlled by a powerful mage.

And this mage had specific spells he used at certain HP percentages, and to dodge them and survive, you needed to know a few things.

Point Blank listened carefully to every detail. It wasn’t that much information, but it was enough to confuse her, making her scratch her head.

"Man, how do you remember all of this? Seriously..." Point Blank sighed and decided to lie down on the ground, staring up at the sky with her arms spread out. "And there’s no chance the boss has changed? You only saw it during the beta, after all."

"I don’t think so. Everything else has been the same," Arthur replied, lying down beside her.

He turned his head, his eyes fixed on her face.

"Don’t worry. It’ll be fine."

They shared a different kind of moment. Just looking at each other. Point Blank turned a little red and looked away. They were so close she could feel his breath on her face.

"I’ll do my best. Could you go over the important parts again?" She gave an awkward laugh.

Arthur explained it to her again, without rushing. It was better to know exactly what to do than to end up dying and have to restart the dungeon from scratch. That would be much worse.

"Ready?"

"Let’s take down this boss."

They both stood up. Arthur inserted one key at a time. Each one made a bright light flash, and once all 3 had been placed, that section of the barrier deactivated. They could now enter the castle.

Even before stepping inside, they could already see the boss. A tall mage, nearly 13 feet high, with a wide, muscular body.

He wasn’t human. His head was that of an animal, a kind of deer, but only the skull of one.

In his hand was an enormous wooden staff, taller than Arthur himself.

[Animalistic Necromancer (Boss)]

[Level 20]

[HP: Unknown]

The boss was channeling his magic even before they entered combat. He was not only controlling the dark elves but also creating that strange mist that hung throughout the dungeon.

"As soon as we step into the courtyard, the fight starts," Arthur said. "He’ll say a few things, but don’t lose focus."

The moment they stepped into the courtyard, the barrier closed behind them. They were trapped inside, and the only way out was to kill the boss.

"Who are you, and how dare you enter my domain? Prepare to die!"

The fight began. Since the mage had already aggro’d onto them, Arthur couldn’t use Stealth to boost his first attack’s damage. Unfortunately, to pull that off on this boss, he would have needed someone using taunt to tank the monster.

But he immediately started channeling Sniping Shot. Point Blank did the same. That was the plan they’d agreed on.

The mage began moving his right hand, channeling his mana and swinging it in circles, while holding his wooden staff, with its ornamental skull on top, in the other hand.

When they both released their arrows, each one carrying concentrated energy, the damage numbers appeared in the system log.

[930 damage dealt]

[600 damage dealt]

Arthur stuck with his bow this time. He didn’t have another strong attack skill available, and Arrow Rain, which was focused on AOE, wouldn’t be ideal right now, so he kept to basic attacks.

Point Blank used her other skills and was dealing more damage than him at that moment, which made her happy.

"I’m finally dealing more damage than you," she said as she nocked another arrow. "How long do you think that’ll last?"

"Get your Arrow Rain ready too," Arthur told her, then called out to Yuki. "You know what to do, right?"

When the Animalistic Necromancer finished channeling his first spell, dozens of skeletons rose from the ground, dark energy swirling around each one.

These skeletons wielded various weapons. Some fought up close, others from a distance. There were even skeleton mages among them.

Arthur already knew how to handle them. Their HP wasn’t high; the real problem was the sheer number of them.

That was exactly why he wanted to use his Arrow Rain, Point Blank would use hers, and Yuki would help with Frost Breath.

That was the AOE combination he had in mind, and by his calculations it would be more than enough to wipe out all the skeletons.

As soon as they rose from the ground, the team launched the combination.

[102]

[87]

[105]

[83]

[450]

Each "wave" of shots from Arrow Rain dealt less damage on its own, but added together it was solid, not to mention it covered a wide area. Yuki’s Frost Breath dealt a massive burst of damage right on the spot, and it was enough to kill every last skeleton.

Without the skeletons, the boss was vulnerable for at least 20 seconds. Arthur knew that well.

He switched to his sword and sprinted toward the boss, activating Blade Dash to close the distance faster.

A quick slash loaded with his ice elemental damage.

[298]

Right after the Blade Dash, Arthur activated Sword Guard.

Since he didn’t have much time, he needed to use every second to deal as much damage as possible before the boss summoned more creatures.

The boss, now close to him, attacked with his staff. Arthur blocked the hits, taking 60 damage with each strike.

That was relatively high, considering he was blocking 50% and still taking 60 damage. If the boss’s physical attack already hit that hard, his spells would be something else entirely.

Either way, with Sword Guard’s bonus active, Arthur activated Phantom Slash and slashed repeatedly from multiple angles, so fast it was almost impossible to follow with the naked eye.

[1720 damage dealt]

That was his total damage from that attack. As he landed each hit, Arthur kept counting the seconds. After 20 seconds, he ran away from the boss before any of its spells could connect.

So far, the first phase of the boss was going exactly as planned.