Chapter 123 - Luna's Gate Clear (2)

As Luna stepped through the gate, the fresh, thin air of the mountain hit her immediately.

But, she paid no mind to that, instead, she took in her surroundings.

The ground was almost completely stone, only a few patches of grass were scattered around. They were so high up, Luna could see the clouds at eye-level. The ground was uneven, some of it was sloped and some was flat. There were some steeper slopes that looked impossible to climb easily. And there were even some points where the ground just stopped, if someone wasn’t paying attention they could fall off the cliff without even realizing it.

There were no enemies in immediate vicinity.

Everyone got into their pre-arranged position. The main tank, Martin stood at the front, and the mixed tank, Larry stood at the back.

Robert, the explorer, was directly behind Martin. It was his job to find the correct path and make sure they don’t get lost. He was basically the scout for this gate.

Behind him were Jean, the party leader, Mary the melee damage, and then the supports, Pearl, the priestess, and Kaela, the cleric.

Finally, at the very back, just in front of Larry were the ranged DPS: Amelia, the archer, and Luna, and Water, the mages.

They weren’t in a tight formation, everyone had the space to move freely.

“All clear.” Jean said, “Supports any buffs to add?” She asked.

“Yes, hold on.” Pearl said, closing her eyes and clasping her hands, “Oh, heavenly lord above, please bestow grace upon our adventuring souls.”

Everyone’s body glowed slightly before returning to normal.

Luna felt herself become lighter and more agile.

“For me, nothing useful at the moment.” Kaela said.

“Got it,” Jean nodded before turning to Robert, “Explorer, lead the way.”

Robert nodded. He crouched down and activated one of his skills, [Pathfinder]. This skill did as the name implied, allowing him to find paths that would lead him forward; It’d never lead him to a complete dead-end.

In the tower, on higher floors, having someone with this skill was essential if they wanted to clear it in a reasonable time.

Mana surged in Robert’s body as his hand started to glow. Thin threads of orange mana spread out like an infection on the stone ground.

After a few moments, Robert stood up and said, “Let’s go.”

…

It didn’t take long for the group to come across the first pack of monsters. There were Toxic Spitting Goat’s. Six of them stood on the high ground, grazing what little grass there was. There were to far for the melee DPS to reach without them noticing.

“Ranged DPS, can you handle them without wasting much resources?” Jean asked.

“I can snipe the two ones in the back,” Amelia replied, “Can the mages deal with the four grouped up?”

“Let’s synergize our attacks,” Water said to Luna, “I’ll douse them with water and then you electrocute them.”

“Affirm.” Luna replied.

“Ranged, execute the plan in five seconds.”

With that, Luna started to draw mana from her core. She didn’t want to waste mana, so, synergizing her attack with Water’s was perfect.

3…2…1…

Amelia shot first. The bowstring snapped into place as two crystal arrows flew through the air; The arrows glistened as the sun reflected off the crystal surface.

While those arrows were in motion, Water lifted her staff and a bubble of water shot from the tip of it. It flew through the air and as it flew over the pack of four, it popped, raining all over the four goat’s.

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At this point, the goats were alarmed and looked up.

But it was already too late.

The two goats in the back were already laying on the floor motionless with arrows in their head.

And before the remaining goats could do anything,

Luna had activated her skill, [Shock].

A small but powerful burst of lightning zigzagged through the air erratically before slamming into the goats.

“Baaaa!” A screech sounded as the goats twitched uncontrollably.

The screech faded into thin air as four thuds echoed out.

“Battle over.” Jean said, “Explorer, leave a mark here for the association and let’s continue.”

“Got it.” Robert nodded, crouching down.

With the battle over and no other enemies in sight, they were fine to start talking again.

“Nice shots!” Martin said to Amelia.

“Yeah, you pinpointed their brains so skillfully!” Mary added.

“Thank you.” Amelia smiled, “The mages have a nasty combo going on as well, mixing water and electricity.”

“Agreed!” Mary nodded.

“We can thank mother nature for that.” Water said with a smile.

Luna shrugged. She also liked working with water-based mages; They made her attacks way stronger and more effective.

Before the group could continue on, Luna felt her senses tingle. As she did, Martin immediately lifted his shield and yelled,

“Enemies!”

Eight large eagle-like creatures with stone bellies were in the air. Two of them were diving towards towards the group with their talons out.

“On me!” Martin’s body glowed and the eagles suddenly shifted from diving at the ranged DPS to him.

They screeched with anger as talons connected with his large kite shield.

As soon as the talons struck, Jean and Mary each dashed forward, both of them using a movement skill to appear within weapons reach in an instant.

Jean thrusted her rapier while Mary swung her blade. The rapier pierced through one eagle’s neck while Mary’s sword slashed a large, bloody gash in the other’s.

Amelia nocked her bow and shot a crystal arrow high in the sky, the arrow disappeared as the sun backdropped it.

The eagles flew in a circle over the party. They were waiting for their chance to attack but, everyone was already on guard and prepared.

After a moment of waiting passed, suddenly, one of the six remaining eagles jerked down as it stopped flying. Seconds later, it struck the ground with an arrow in the top of its head.

“CAAW!” An eagle screeched.

“Luna!” Water said as a bubble of water shot towards the sky.

“On it!” A small burst of lightning zigzagged right behind the bubble of water.

As the bubble struck an eagle, the lightning followed. The eagle’s wings locked into place as it fell to the ground. When it crash landed, Jean was already there to thrust her rapier into it’s head.

With the ambush failed, the remaining eagles weren’t a threat. And they knew that themselves, so, they started to fly away.

But, arrows targeting their wings stopped them. Crystal arrows pierced their large wings. As the arrows embedded themselves into their wings, heavy white crystals started to form on the struck eagle’s bodies, weighing them down.

As the eagles crashed into the earth, the melee DPS were on them like flies.

And within only five minutes of the surprise attack, all the enemies were wiped out and the party unscratched.

“Battle over.” Jean said, clapping her hands, “Status check?”

“No injuries.” Someone replied.

“Good,” Jean nodded, “Explorer, mark it down and then let’s continue.”

“Affirm.” Robert nodded.

…

They continued through the gate, dispatching packs of monsters one-by-one. There were no close calls nor did anyone get injured.

Eventually, after two hours of moving, Robert stopped and turned to the group,

“A powerful monster lives just up ahead, I think it’s the mid-boss.” He said.

“Mid-boss…” Jean nodded, “Any info you can get from here?”

Robert didn’t respond for a moment, crouching down to touch the ground and using one of his skills.

“Large, avian-type, venomous.” He said.

“Flier and venom?” Jean asked.

“Yes,” Robert nodded, “It primarily targets toxic spitting goats as its food source. I’m just guessing, but I’d imagine it’d have tough enough skin to be unaffected by the goat’s corrosive poison.”

“Hm…Do we think it’s a mutated rockbelly eagle or something similar? It could also be the stoneskinned eagle’s mate.” Jean said to the party.

“Has to be, no?” Martin said, “All this place has got are eagles and goats. If it’s something else I’d be surprised.”

“In any case, it’s some type of bird. I don’t think knowing what it specifically is matters much.” Larry commented.

“Hm…Well, you have a point.” Jean nodded, “Ranged DPS, I think this might be all you; Melee DPS keep watch and prepare to attack anything on land.”

“How fast do we think it is?” Water asked.

“Not too fast,” Robert said, “The rockbelly eagle’s are faster than whatever it is.”

“Got it, then, Luna, should I get it wet first and then you unleash a strong strike?” Water asked.

Luna thought for a moment and then nodded,

“That sounds fine.” She said, “My strongest strike has a ten second charge-up time though. Can you match the timing?”

“Yes.” Water nodded.

“There’s also a strong aftershock,” Luna said, “Can someone block that?”

“Leave that to me!” Martin chimed in and Luna nodded.

“Okay, so, mages start off the attack. Tanks, you know what to do. Archer, you prioritize any add-ons that fly in.” Jean said, after everyone nodded, she continued, “Supports, maximize buffs and if your buff potion has ran out, drink another.”

Pearl clasped her hands together and started to pray,

“Oh, heavenly lord above, please bestow your strongest grace upon us and bless our hunt.”

Luna felt her body become significantly stronger all around. Even her mana had strengthened.

After Pearl casted her buffs on the party, Kaela casted hers.

[Run Within Wind], [Strength in Solidarity], [Grace Turned Spirit].

Luna also activated a skill, [Charge] and let the mana course throughout her body. What [Charge] did was basically empower her next lightning attack.

With that done, all that was left was for them to commence the attack.

“Everyone ready?” Jean asked.

Receiving affirming nods, Jean nodded as well and said, “Let’s go.”

They didn’t have to walk for long until they spotted it.

Perched on top of a ledge was a large, sleeping bird. The bird—No, vulture, was easily close to three meters tall. It had a long, thin neck and sharp beak that looked like it could swallow Martin whole. Its claws were dug into the ledge it slept on. The vulture had a dark body with tanned feathers.

It naturally exuded a deathly aura that made Pearl’s face twitch with displeasure.

The party looked at each other, communicating nonverbally. Water looked at Luna and they nodded to each other.

Luna put both hands on her staff and drew mana from her core. The mana naturally converged into her staff. As more mana was put into the staff, it glowed brighter and brighter.

A blue magic circle formed underneath Luna, rotating rapidly. On the outer edges of the circle, symbols of clouds and lightning spun the other direction.

Everyone’s hair started to lift upwards and a slight tingly feeling prickled everyone’s skin.

When seven seconds had passed, Water launched a stream of scolding water at the bird.

“CAAAAH!” The vulture screeched out in pain, but, before it had the chance to look at its attacker…

The flash came before the sound. It was as if heavenly retribution had come. The vulture was lost into the light.

BOOM!

Cracks formed in the ground as debris kicked up.

When the light cleared up and everyone could see again, many people couldn’t hear anything for several moments. All Mary knew was that she was behind Martin’s shield.

Mary blinked once, then twice and then her jaw dropped.

What she saw wasn’t the mid-boss injured and preparing to fight back, but instead. The mid-boss lying motionless, dead.

Luna confirmed the kill and then reached in her bag for a mana regeneration potion. Seconds later, that sweet, delectable taste flowed down her throat as the potion comforted her body.

“…Mid-boss down. Check for reinforcements.” Jean said after a moment.

“Wow…Both halves of that couple is scary.” Martin mumbled under his breath.