Arrival of the Final Boss

A Boss or Mini-Boss's Weakened State signified their increased susceptibility to more damage due to natural DEF suffering some debuffs.

Unlike before, where skills were the primary source of large amounts of damage, one could inflict ample damage upon a weakened opponent with simple basic attacks.

Furthermore, these monsters couldn't generate additional aggro value while in a weakened condition.

Because of how helpless they became, the duration of this state was fleeting, ranging from 5 to 30 seconds, which was dependent on the monster's rank.

Guraha's Health plummeted like an open drain faucet as the team unleashed a steady, overwhelming damage output. However, due to Kieran and Altair's accelerated actions, the Stamina drained quickly.

Since dungeons usually lasted a considerable amount of time, players were granted reduced consumption, but it wasn't enough to offset the consumption of players that performed exhaustive movements.

Fortunately, Kieran, Altair, and Aspaira's attacks emptied Guraha's Health Bar before it could recover from its weak condition.

〈System: You have gained 9,200 EXP.〉

〈System: You have leveled up! [Lv.13 → Lv.14]〉

〈System: You have received 5 Unassigned Attribute Points and 2 Skill Points.〉

〈System: You have leveled up! [Lv.14 → Lv.15]〉

〈System: You have received 5 Unassigned Attribute Points and 2 Skill Points.〉

[Experience: 520/9,200]

Because Kieran was higher than the others, Guraha's EXP Value was lower, amounting to 4,600. Altair and the others received 6,000 EXP.

Considering that he possessed the Medallion of Growth, Kieran didn't stress this situation.

Guraha dropped plenty of loot, but it couldn't be gathered because of Shibak's presence. After Guraha's death, Shibak released a deafening roar.

Kieran recalled that if players killed one Mini-Boss, the other would receive a moderate boost in their attributes because they were mates.

Once this information was made public, all players chose to deal with Shibak in the end because if Guraha grew faster, it would be a pain to overcome. In Shibak's case, his DEF would increase accordingly.

Following Shibak's roar, the crystalline armor covering its body expanded to cover most of its body. Its joints and other areas were left vulnerable to promote mobility. 

So, Kieran readily chose Shibak as the last one to face. Subsequently, the crystal armor covering Shibak's body grew further.

Although leveling up twice returned a decent amount of his Stamina, Kieran understood that Shibak's increased DEF meant the battle would be drawn out, even if he could use Savage Break often to reduce it.

All of a sudden, Shibak targeted Kieran with a quick charge. The outcome made Kieran furrow his brows before quickly recalling what was wrong.

'Although Altair delivered the fatal blow, Shibak is chasing me due to the previous aggro value,' Kieran thought.

Aggro values within Zenith Online were a tricky subject that took some time to understand. It wasn't the value themselves that were tricky, but how to reset and manipulate them. Every monster was different, but aggro generally began dissipating after 30 seconds and vanished after 2 minutes.

However, Shibak's aggro wouldn't vanish or dissipate if Guraha was killed and vice versa. 

After recalling this information, Kieran stepped back and avoided Shibak's smash while retaliating with a spinning slash. Unfortunately, the outcome made everyone's expression darken. 

-1

"Oh! What the hell? Why are you dealing one damage?!" Sithik shrieked in fright. 

Kieran's damage was the team's driving force! If his high Attack Power couldn't penetrate Shibak's current DEF, was this even clearable?!

"Calm down," Kieran uttered coolly. "The run is salvageable solely because of my presence and hers."

Kieran pointed at Aspaira, who returned a blank gaze. Unlike Kieran, Aspaira was privy to the varying types of DEF in Zenith Online.

"Me?" Aspaira muttered.

"Yes. As I said before, your Magic Power is pivotal in this run. If it weren't, I wouldn't have spent hours looking for a suitable Mage."

After speaking, Kieran executed three more slashes that ranged from 1 to 4 damage.

Again, Kieran slashed his sword.

The test confirmed that Shibak's DEF and Damage Reduction were the only things that increased because Shibak failed to match Kieran's AGI. If he had limitless Stamina, Kieran could easily solo Shibak, but he didn't, so that possibility didn't exist.

"Altair, ignore AGI for the time being. We need to increase our damage to assist Aspaira," Kieran said.

"Ah… you're suggesting I dump it all into STR?! I can do that, my good sir," Altair said excitedly. The high AGI playstyle was fantastic, but Altair began to feel the drawbacks of lacking STR, which was unacceptable for all physical classes.

Different from Guraha, Shibak didn't possess any troublesome skills; its redeeming quality was its DEF. Players chose Shibak as the second opponent with a 100% selection rate for this very reason.

"Aspaira, you'll lead with your spells while Altair and I act as the distraction to deal assistive damage. Understood?"

"Understood, Aatrox," Aspaira expressed, gripping her staff. 

Once he gave the order, Kieran and Altair split apart, targeting Shibak's left and right side while keeping its front clear for Aspaira to aim her spells. Because she kept Kieran's advice in mind, she saved her SP and didn't use it to level up her spells.

As such, Aspaira's damage only skyrocketed when she managed to land a Critical Hit with a Fireball or Aqua Bullet. But, her constant spell usage forced her to drink another Beginner Mana Potion.

One Fireball cost four times the Mana of Kieran's Force Slash.

Fortunately, a Mage's primary stat was Intelligence, so their Mana Pool eclipsed a Warrior's.

Once Kieran used Savage Break, the string of -1 to -4 damage increased to -9 to -15. This further increased when either Kieran or Altair used a skill.

By employing a tactic where they constantly moved, Kieran managed to bring the team's average DPS above 30. But there were times when Shibak was unapproachable due to its frantic fits.

Roughly ten minutes later, Shibak's large body fell with a mighty tremor before rewarding a decent amount of EXP and generous loot.

〈System: You have gained 8,700 EXP.〉

〈System: You have leveled up! [Lv.15 → Lv.16]〉

〈System: You have received 5 Unassigned Attribute Points and 2 Skill Points.〉 

[Experience: 20/15,000]

Aside from curiousness regarding the loot, everyone sighed and deflated. Ten minutes of constant fighting was enough to exhaust anyone. Kieran and Altair, especially, took the time to recover their Stamina.

Due to Shibak and Guraha's identity as Mini-Bosses, their loot surpassed Hrulhar's. Although Kieran didn't see any skill books within the haul, he noted several Uncommon Items and a few Rare Items based on their luster.

Aside from the equipment, there were a few materials and approximately 13 Silver Coins.

A majority of the items were geared toward a tank since Shibak was an opponent that dropped tank-based loot. It was similar to how Hrulhar dropped Thief-exclusive loot.

Fortunately, aside from a Rare Shield and pieces of Plate Armor, Shibak also dropped Heavy Armor Top, Bottom, and Shoes that were much better than Kieran's current equipment.

When he changed into it, the color of his suit became much brighter, and some of his attributes received a respective boost.

Next, Kieran found the last Rare item—a ring.

「 Crystalline Ring (Accessory)

Item Rank: Rare

Item Level: 15

Health +60

Defense +15

Item Ability «Hardened Skin» - Allows the user to obtain a 10% Damage Reduction for 20 seconds. This ability can only be used once every 30 seconds.

Description: A ring chiseled from a crystal material that promotes stability, improving the user's solidity. 」

The ring was primarily gray in color, but it possessed dark yellow engravings throughout the inner space. Overall, Kieran grinned because this ring made it so he wouldn't need to dump an insane amount of Attribute Points inside Vitality and Endurance.

"Take it," Altair shrugged.

"Yeah. I think that item is best in your hands since there isn't a tank on the team," Sithik agreed.

"You deserve the items since despite being the most valuable party member, you've changed your items the least," Aspaira voiced.

Since the party agreed with the notion of his taking it, Kieran didn't stand on ceremony.

「Name: Aatrox

Lv.16 (Experience: 20/15,000)

Class: Warrior

Title(s): None

----------------------------

[«Stats»]-

Health: 325/325 (0.2 HP regen/sec)

Mana: 155/155 (0.16 MP regen/sec)

Stamina: 69/119 (0.1 Stamina regen/sec)

Attack Power: 142

Defense: 135

-----------------------------

[«Attributes»]-

»Strength: 55 (43 + 12 + 0)

»Intelligence: 25 (25 + 0 + 0)

»Agility: 50 (42 + 8 + 0)

»Endurance: 33 (13 + 20 + 0)

»Control: 30 (30 + 0 + 0)

»Vitality: 33 (18 + 15 + 0)

»Perception: 50 (50 + 0 + 0)

[Unassigned Stat Point: 20]

[Skill Points: 8] 」

Kieran's stats were outstanding for his level, but he knew that feeling joy over a Starter Character's inferior parameters was in vain.

Perhaps only after he could promote his class would he feel some satisfaction. 

Following the loot distribution, Kieran remained in place and recovered. Not because he didn't want to visit the dungeon boss, but because this boss was unique.

Ten minutes later, numerous towering trees fell and sent intense quakes through the entire forest. Amidst the earthquakes, thunderous steps resounded throughout the forest.

Except for Kieran, the party's expression paled after catching wind of an enormous shadow cast by a bear over 4 meters tall.

The dungeon's final boss had arrived!