8 The Power of a Lord
Alden quickly recollected himself. The loot that dropped was simply too shocking.
Even though no equipment dropped, a potion recipe did! Aside from that, there were two common skill books. But, that was expected.
'These team dungeons were originally put into place for players to grind basic skills. But this potion recipe is a real boon. It's actually the recipe for the rare poison resistance potion!'
While Alden was grinning over the potion recipe, the other players celebrated.
After all, each and every one of them gained a level!
"I went all the way from 1% of level 2 to 20% of level 3!" OurLordOlympus said excitedly.
Baron chimed, "I leveled up too, is it supposed to be this easy?"
Only now did he realize that Alden was serious about carrying him. With this, he already caught up to the higher-level players.
Alden heard them and chuckled. Level 5 players were supposed to fight this boss, not them. Obviously, the experience multiplier from the level gap was the source of their level-ups.
In fact, he himself was only around 70% of the way to level 5 after defeating the boss.
'Whoever got the last hit bonus is definitely close to level four... it should be Baron? I think TrulyDo tried to get a few hits in at the end though... despite orders.'
Then, the team noticed Alden collecting the loot, and they ran over.
TrulyDo looked at the items curiously and was shocked, "Two skill books?!"
The others quickly became excited after hearing that and waited for Alden to distribute the drops.
"Yeah, one for Clerics, and one for Wanderers. Here you go, Olympus. I'll be giving the wanderer skill book to MouseAndCheese, they contributed the most to this raid. Sell it and earn a good buck from those grimy guilds," Alden said as he distributed the loot.
No one cared when he kept the slip of paper that seemed to be a recipe, Alden's leadership is what allowed this victory to happen.
Upon the boss's death, Alden was actually a bit disappointed. Although the explosion was powerful and especially hot, he felt that the heat resistance potions were wasted. 'The mini-boss only got the opportunity to use a single fire element skill, and it didn't even hit us before we made it kill itself...'
"Olympus, please learn that skill. You should have 150 job experience, right? With that skill, you'll instantly become the most sought after Cleric in the Sorus Empire."
OurLordOlympus looked down at the skill book titled "Revival" and instantly decided to learn it. Upgrading his holy power root skill would be useful, but the revival skill actually allowed him to revive dead players and lessen the death penalty!
"I've learned it, Leader."
MouseAndCheese, TrulyDo, and Baron could only hope that the next boss dropped something good for them.
Then, once everyone was ready, the system automatically opened the entrance to the boss room. It was much less intimidating than the mini-boss's door. It was only another cave, but the pressure that radiated from beyond that cave immediately weighed down on the entire party.
A drop of sweat fell from MouseAndCheese's chin, "Faceless... are we really going in there?"
Everyone else nodded, showing they were just as discontent with the situation as MouseAndCheese.
TrulyDo said, "Faceless, that pressure is simply too much. If I'm intimidated by the mere presence of this boss... it might be best for us to accept the levels and leave."
Alden simply handed out more heat-resistance potions. "You all still have at least one recovery potion, so we can beat it. Although the naga ahead has a poisonous bite, it still mostly attacks with its flames."
If Alden could craft the poison resistance potion, he could even solo the upcoming boss. Sadly, that required a specific kind of rare herb, which he didn't have on him.
"You said that about Servanheat and we basically wasted those potions..." Baron sighed.
"Don't worry, Servanheat is weaker, so it needed to rely on its strength."
Although reluctant, the party downed the potions and headed into the cave. With TrulyDo at the front, they inched forward.
Before long, they arrived in a giant chamber. There were torches lining the circular, dome-shaped area's edge. It was mostly made out of dirt, but the floor was some sort of stone.
"Where's the boss...?" OurLordOlympus questioned.
A voice suddenly echoed throughout the chamber. "Ssseems like some humansss killed my ussselesss son..."
Every member of the party immediately got into position, a serious look dawning upon their faces. Even though sweat dripped from their foreheads, and the smell of smoke affected their senses, they seemed ready to raid the boss at any moment.
Alden commanded, "According to the origin of that voice, the Naga is on our left. He's probably camouflaged..."
The team's stress immediately worsened.
"How are we supposed to fight a boss with camouflage?! How can it even get that?!" TrulyDo shouted. Most of the stress was placed on him, the tank, to handle any sort of sneak attack situation.
Alden walked ahead of TrulyDo, and told the party, "I'll handle it."
The voice from before continued, "Sssuch a confident human... but you're too weak!"
'Crap! That came from the back of our party!'
But before Alden could respond to the boss's sneak attack, the boss appeared behind TrulyDo!
[Exsslor: Lv. 5, Lord, HP: 5000/5000]
The giant naga somehow drove itself in front of everyone besides Alden and TrulyDo, appearing directly above the guardian!
An orb of flame appeared in the half-snake's mouth, and flames immediately spewed out from it!
The flames enveloped TrulyDo, with damage numbers constantly appearing above the guardian's head.
-1
-1
-1
-1
Alden grinned and commanded the party.
"TrulyDo, get the aggro! The boss is smart and wants you dead first anyway! I'll act as the main damage dealer, Mouse and Death Knot will support me! Olympus focus all of your efforts on TrulyDo!"
As Exsslor's flames dispersed, the boss reeled back in shock, "How did you survive my flames!"
It was simply inconceivable for such a weak human to survive its flames, yet, that same weak human was still standing there, dusting off his clothes!
"No matter!" Exsslor said, rushing toward TrulyDo.
Then, TrulyDo activated his taunt skill, and released a roar of challenge at the boss! With taunt activated, the boss's aggro would be thoroughly forced upon TrulyDo.
Exsslor quickly arrived at the future chief-tank's neck, ready to bite down!
But sooner than the boss could react, Baron arrived in between it and TrulyDo!
Alden too, didn't see it coming, 'Stealth is a truly useful skill...'
Stealth not only hid a player's presence but also increased that player's agility. With such a skill, sneaking up on this low level boss was a simple matter.
Baron sent a slash at the naga's left eye, thoroughly blinding it from the left side!
-100!!!
Exsslor writhed in pain, holding his hand over the damaged eye as its charge was forced to a stop, "You... damn... humansss!"
Before the boss could switch aggro, Baron retreated! Sprinting toward Alden as TrulyDo quickly reacted, sending his own slash at the naga's snake-body!
-5.
Alden shouted at his team "The scales are practically a rare armor! Try to copy Death Knot!"
Every 5 seconds, the boss would regenerate 1% of its max health, so that critical hit to the naga's vitals would be canceled out in only 10 seconds!
Like this, the team of 5 continued to chip away at the boss's health. With Baron's support and Alden's expertise, the boss was soon whittled down to 50% of its max health!
"Second phase incoming!" Alden shouted.
Everyone on the team quickly drank their last recovery potions, since some risky maneuvers resulted in them getting hit.
Exsslor quickly slithered toward the center of the dome-like cave, and used its long snake-like body to force its torso into the air. At a height of nearly 20 meters, the naga seemed to be looking down on their party.
"You all have thoroughly impressssed me... but you die here!"
The boss's attack patterns quickly changed. He formed an even larger than normal orb of fire in his mouth, and spun his torso as he spat it out!
'The fire-based team wipe skill!'
Alden was shocked, but even a high-damage, outer-rim AOE couldn't bypass their heat resistance.
Just as the ring of fire was about to reach them, Alden quickly realized something.
"Shit! We're about to run out of fire resistance! Run toward the boss!"
The other players on the team were shocked and hysterically sprinted toward the boss. Since this AOE skill only affected the edge of the arena, it wouldn't affect them if they were closer!
After arriving at a safe location, Alden immediately retrieved 5 sun's tears from his bag, "I can't believe I forgot about the time limit! You all delay the boss while I make more potions!"
Baron went wide-eyed, 'He's a creator?!'
Still, knowing that this was an urgent situation, he pushed that thought to the back of his head. The now four-player team rushed to defend against the boss.
"We can only do this for 15 seconds!" TrulyDo shouted.
The giant naga rushed at TrulyDo, ready to bite.
'15 seconds for 5 potions?! Is that even possible?'
Alden's heart was racing!
"Wait, can't I just...?"
