Tanks and Taunts

"I take it we've got a big fight on our hands?" Tim slipped off my wrist and landed as a chest on the rocky ground.

I nodded. "Yes, about forty players. Over ten died to the geysers already, and we just killed three more, so their numbers are already almost halved."

"I'm bored. I'm going to slip out and have a bit of fun."

I raised an eyebrow. "What kind of fun?"

Tim's little face grinned up at me from the chest as he morphed his body into a fractured log. He looked like a random piece of debris that belonged in the area. "I'm gonna go fuck around a bit."

I paused for a moment and looked down at Tim. Everyone's attention was directly focused on me, so there would be no one expecting him to be lurking around in the area. Tim was also strong enough to be considered a mini-boss monster, so he shouldn't have any trouble dealing with two or three level 10 players all at once. If he came across more than that, or perhaps ran into a level 20 player like Gillion, he would have trouble getting away.

I laughed. "Alright, Tim. Have your fun; I'll be around this area going between the three safe zones."

Tim slipped away into the natural mist that had filled the area, courtesy of the geysers. Once he had gone, I began to cycle to the next safe zone. Every so often, I heard a scream of terror, and I could tell that Tim was having fun. Knowing that Tim had my back really helped me feel safe while I was preparing for my next move. I knew that this was probably just going to be the first wave of attackers. Gillion was probably only a couple minutes out, maybe less.

I felt the numbers thinning even further among the players as I moved from safe zone to safe zone. In my experience, small changes on a hazardous battlefield, such as the location of your target, could easily lead to accidental deaths. I knew that as I changed from one safe zone to the next, the Alorae who were chasing after me had to map out their path through the geysers again and again. Every time I changed zones, there would be another one or two auras that would disappear.

Things were going smoothly until I sensed over 20 more players entering the area. One player I recognized immediately as Gillion, the level 20 shadow mage. I felt his presence, along with the other players with him, coming from the south. I had succeeded in drawing him out, which meant that Punisher must have entered the mines by now.

"Alright, Pun, you better get that shit done within the hour. I'm going to be going through hell out here."

As I continued my rotation, a squadron of four Alorae from the earlier group of 40 finally reached me. One was missing an arm and looked to have been magically healed in a hurry. The other three looked to be in good condition. This was a stronger group than the one that had reached me earlier. I took up an offensive stance as they started their attack.

Notification

You have resisted Wind Binding.

Notification

You have resisted Burden of Earth.

Notification

You have resisted Darkness of the Void.

That fucking mimic had it this good? I didn't know that this was why legendary summons were so overpowered in my past life. Of course their stats were tied to their summoner, but it felt like you were unable to land any debuffs on them. Nothing in their skill set explained why, but I guess now I know the secret, and now I have the secret.

I examined my attackers to see which ones were the spellcasters. It was easy to find them, as they were being protected by the one-armed swordsman while the healthy tank was rushing to get into close combat with me. I attempted to dash past the tank when I finally received a notification that I didn't want to see. No matter how good of a resistance I had picked up, it wasn't as good as immunity.

Notification

You have failed to resist the effect of Taunt of the Red Titan. All damage dealt to any target other than Kalvos Liarven will be reduced by two tiers for the next 30 seconds.

Taunting skills were very common among tanks, and they were very annoying because they didn't force you to attack the tank but rather reduced the damage you would deal to other targets. The only three ways to get rid of the taunt were to wait until the duration had ended, to remove the effect with another skill, or to kill or knock out the tank.

Thirty seconds was a long time, and I didn't want to fight with the rest of them handicapped for so long. I turned my attention back toward the tank. I did not recognize the name Kalvos Liarven, so I wasn't worried about any of his other skills. I recognized the Red Titan taunt because there were several Titan-related classes that circulated among players. The colors determined their rarity, with green and yellow being the lowest at Uncommon and gold being the highest at Legendary. Red was one of the three colors that were rare classes.

Kalvos took up a defensive stance and bunkered down. I could tell that he was under several buffs that were probably boosting his vitality stat. I activated telekinesis to pull him towards me only to receive another unwelcome notification.

Notification

The player you have targeted has resisted Telekinesis.

"Shit... Why do you have to be so difficult?"

Kalvos smirked and activated another ability. I didn't know what it was, but he was surrounded by a spherical red energy that looked like a protective dome. I turned to see that the same protective field was surrounding the two mages and the one-armed swordsman. One of those fuckers had some kind of mirror or bond skill. I really wanted to get my hands on it.

Notification

You have resisted Wind Binding.

Notification

You have resisted Burden of Earth.

Notification

You have resisted Weakness of the Void.

I couldn't help but feel impressed by the amount of work these players put into preparing for a fight with me. Too bad they weren't prepared for everything. Within the red dome of energy, there was a splatter of blood.