14 Grinding Goblins
Meanwhile, Aliyah and her companion safely set perimeters. And while doing so, they count the Goblins and their level present on their campsite.
There are a total of five Level 2 Goblins and two Level 1 Goblins.
They are now starting to strategize and check their inventory.
"Lex, make sure to protect Angel no matter what happens. After you taunt the three Level 2 Goblins nearby, use your [Skill: Earth Splitter] and seize the opportunity to defend Angel. Then I'll use my skill and attack the two Goblin with everything I got." Aliyah reminds Lex.
The latter nodded his head in agreement.
"During combat, receiving damage from the enemy is inevitable so Angel, please heal us simultaneously. But focus on healing Lex."
Angel nodded her head and gripped her Staff tight.
"Okay, let's go."
Lex slowly pave his way through bushes towards the 2 Goblin that was remotely away from the rest of their group.
The two beauties slowly followed Lex.
Their strategy is the standard there is but quite effective. If they can successfully lure out the two Goblins, the higher the chance they can finish the quest as soon as possible.
When the distance is only 5 meters away, Lex took a deep breath.
He then made a stance suitable for the Guardian. He positions his shield upfront and knocks it using his Level 1 Basic Great Sword.
Instantly, his skill [Taunt] has been cast.
Taunt is effective in luring out monsters and players in guild war or any type of war. It will instantly lure the enemy in a 5-meter radius, making the guardian the target of the affected enemies.
The effect of skill quickly affected the two Level 2 Goblins just 5 meters away, the Goblin turn around and lowly growled seeing the Guardian.
They lifted their weapon and waved them in the air while running.
The two Goblins attack Lex simultaneously, fortunately, his shield is there to block it. Although it was successfully blocked, he still received damage, prompting above his head.
-12 Damage
-14 Damage
Guardian has 200 HP, 80 MP, and 100 Stamina with the following attributes below.
10 Attack Damage
5 Defense
2 Agility
4 Strength
1 Intelligence
While the level 2 Goblin has 70 HP.
18 Attack Damage
1.5 Defense
1.5 Agility
1. 5 Strength
1 Intelligence
So blocking at least 4 damage from them is expected.
Seeing the Goblin's attack land on Lex's Shield, Aliyah quickly brandished her swords and use her available skill [Slash] to one of the two Goblins which made the goblin shriek in pain. Aliyah didn't stop there, with her movement so nimble she was able to cast her second skill [Sword Stab] to the other Goblin which scream as blood gushed out from its open wounds.
The damage report prompted on the Goblin's head, drastically decreasing their HP threshold.
-11 Damage -17 Damage (critical strike)
-18 Damage
Aliyah lose 35 MP instantly while her skill start to cool down
[Slash] 10 seconds cooldown
[Sword Stab] 7 seconds cooldown
Due to her sudden attack, the Goblin becomes distracted but unable to attack her due to Lex's skill [Taunt] is still in effect.
"Aliyah! My skill still affects them for at least two seconds, don't waste time and attack them!"
Aliyah heard Lex quickly jump and swing her swords as fast as she can and landed a successful hit to Goblins "I know, you don't need to tell me!"
The Goblin shrieked in pain again but cannot do anything due to their circumstances. Aliyah landed a hit again on them before backing out.
-8 Damage -8 Damage
-8 Damage -10 Damage
Her continued attack earned Aggro but that is not enough to dispel the effect of [Taunt].
Angel didn't waste any second and started to cast her healing skill [Revitalize] to Lex who incurred enough damage. Instantly, a streak of light shrouded his body, and his HP started to regenerate from 146 HP to 186 HP within a fraction of a second.
Not only that, but she also used her other skill [Fortify] on Lex, increasing his durability by adding 3 armor to his base armor.
[Revitalize] is the basic skill of the healer. As Healer, there are many types of skills the Healer can cast, whether it is a healing skill or a supporting skill. One is instant healing which is [Revitalize], and the other is [Inspire] which slowly heals the HP of the ally for the duration of time. This skill can give more HP than the latter, but depending on the situation, each skill has its own advantage.
The other skill she cast is [Fortify], which has a support effect to ally, increasing the durability by increasing the armor.
The first three skill available to Healer is taxing regarding MP. That is why it's important not to nonchalantly use healing skills when in combat, or else, the chance of getting wiped out is high.
Angel's mana instantly drained to almost half. From 150 MP to 80 MP.
Lex's [Taunt] effect diminished and he quickly use his other skill [Earth Splitter]. Lex brandished his Greatsword and plunge it to the ground, creating a crack that travels to their enemies. This skill is an Area of Effect, inflicting damage to enemies, and has a staggering effect for 0.5 seconds that is within the radius.
The Goblins staggered on their ground and were halted from their continuous attack on Lex, thanks to his skill.
Aliyah saw the HP of their enemies drastically falls down to 26 HP and 34 HP.
Party is indeed helpful in killing higher-level monsters. Instead of being happy, she was bitter about the damage she can deal.
Meanwhile, when the Goblin was able to hold their ground, their eyes become bloodshot. Getting free from the Taunt skill, their gaze falls to Aliyah who dealt great damage to them, earning enough Aggro for them to ignore Lex in front of them.
Aliyah expecting this turn of events, quickly hide behind Lex.
The Goblin dashed forward and menacingly attacked, luckily, Lex is there to block them once again. But this time, Lex received more damage than earlier.
Lex saw in his view, one of the Goblin run roundabout, completely ignoring him. He swings his Greatsword hoping to land a hit but his weapon didn't reach the Goblin.
Aliyah readies herself and brandished her sword and dashed forward. She went head-on and swing her sword with all her might.
Aliyah was able to land a direct hit, inflicting -9 Damage to the Goblin. However, the Goblin was able to land a hit on her.
Her left shoulder was hit heavily by the Mace and she wail due to pain throbbing in her left shoulder.
Hearing her wail, Lex pushed his shield forward which made the Goblin in front of him stumble on the ground. He quickly turns around and plunges his great sword into the back of the Goblin, dealing -7 HP.
Seeing the HP of the Goblin down to 10, Aliyah ignores the pain she felt and stabs the Goblin in the head which deals critical damage.
The Goblin turns to particles of light while the Mace drops to the ground.
Meanwhile, the remaining Goblin jumped and was able to land a hit on Lex's head which made him groan.
When Aliyah saw her skill finish the cooldown, she quickly dashed forward and perform her skill [Slash] and [Sword Stab] consecutively, dealing damage and instantly, 34 HP down to 0.
The Goblin turn to particles of light and dropped the Mace on the ground.
Lex picked up the Maces and give them to Angel.
On the side, Angel started casting her healing spell. She used [Inspire] since there is no enemy around.
Aliyah's HP slowly regenerates while Lex stops Angel from healing him.
"It is okay, Guardian's passive regenerative ability is quite fast compared to the rest of the job. Besides, there are no enemies around. Let's just save your mana for the upcoming battle."
"Understood."
Aliyah heaved a sigh of relief.
"This game difficulty is too hard. Just Goblin alone took an effort from us."
"Hahaha! It cannot be helped, if this game is easy then the government will not set their eyes on this game."
Among many virtual games available, Kingdom without a doubt holds the title of the hardest game there is.
In other virtual games, Goblin is just a fly compared to Kingdom's Goblin.
"Let's go, we don't have much time left. There's a high probability that Goblin's main force is on their way."
Lex and Angel agreed. And without further ado, the party slowly and carefully heads over to the remaining three Level 2 Goblins.
Meanwhile, inside the West Town. Gerard is currently wandering in the Central Plaza. He just finished the remaining dishes to wash so Mel, the store owner let him wander.
To his surprise, the Central Plaza is fully packed of players.
Just what is going on?
The reason for his going to Central Plaza is to find a shop that buys Mace. He is expecting to get good coins from the two Mace in his inventory.
But it seems he needs to pass this one for now. No matter what he does, he cannot pass through to this swarm of players. So once again, he asked himself. Just what is going on?
Oblivious to him, these players are still waiting for the Healer to appear.
His issued quest sent an uproar to players in West Town and gathered in the Central Plaza.
If he knew this, his view about the difficulty of this game will skyrocket. Although he read about the difficulty of this game before its grand launch today, it is a different story when you experience the game firsthand.
Gerard sighed and turn around.
"Well, whatever. Let's head to other places as well. I am yet to explore the whole West Town."
Gerard opens his System Menu Interface and proceeds to look for the Map Menu.
He can say that he covered almost 20% of West Town. But he is yet to find something interesting available for Special NPC.
If he wants to enjoy the sole purpose of being a Special NPC, then he needs to be rich. But how? Even if the Exchange System takes effect today, he cannot exchange real-world currency for in-game currency because he is already dead.
As he ponders and wanders about, Gerard bumps into something hard which made him stumble on the ground.
He groaned when he felt the pain in his rear.
He stood up while mumbling the pain he felt "Ouch. Ouch." Then he brush the dirt accumulated on his rear pants.
After brushing the dirt, he went straight ahead to look at something that bump on him.
Gerard saw a stomach pack will abs.
Abs?
Wait?
He then look up and saw a towering masculine man looking down at him.
Gerard gasped!
He almost slumps on the ground again.
Why?
The reason being is he knows this masculine man with a towering height in front of him!
A hidden expert! Rather a hidden NPC who likes to live lowkey. This NPC has a terrifying power that can make Mel pale in comparison!
His name is Kurosawa! But using a different name to hide in public.
This NPC didn't want to be in the spotlight and only a few who knows his real name, those in the upper echelons of the Edo Kingdom!
If he remembers correctly, Kurosawa will appear when the West Town is under siege by monsters. The majority of the Players' Levels at that time ranged between Level 15 to Level 20.
Is this fate? He cannot help but inwardly mumble.
