A Moment To Strike
A Moment To Strike
Izroth and his party were currently fighting against another wave of monsters that attacked the caravan out of nowhere. The number of normal monsters had increased once again, and even more elite monsters had started to pop up in the mix!
Both of the totem creatures that manifested were made out of the same light green energy as the Duality Hare and Gaia Avis totems. While shamans could have as many totems out as they wished, the more totems one had out, and the greater its powers were, the faster the shaman's mana would be drained.
Midnight was comfortable sustaining three totems auras at the same time with his current mana pool. However, just like the large majority of other shamans within RML, he would stick to two totem auras and simply rotate between them, switching totem auras depending on the situation at hand to save mana.
But, at the moment, the current circumstances called for him to maintain three totem auras; Gaia Avis[2], Mighty Magnarvos[3], and Brilliant Regnouda[4].
"There's just too many of them! Besides, I trust in your support abilities!" Mirage replied with a playful smirk on her face.
'The increasing numbers are becoming a bit troublesome. Qi Jiguang's group seems to be holding up well, however, that group at the front is...'
As he assessed the situation, Izroth received a few system alerts after Midnight summoned two new totems.
〈System Alert: You have been affected by the skill «Totem Aura: Mighty Magnarvos». Your attack power has been increased by 15%. Your critical hit rate has been increased by 10%. Every tenth physical attack against a target is a guaranteed critical hit.〉
〈System Alert: You have been affected by the skill «Totem Aura: Brilliant Regnouda». You will heal for 365 HP(increased to 730 HP if you are below 30% HP) every 1 second. Overheal caused by this skill will result in a temporary shield that can charge up to 20% of your max HP. This shield lasts for five seconds or until this skill has ended. (MAX Overheal: 1,634)〉
"Now that's more like it!" Mirage said in an excited tone as her attacks became increasingly bold.
Izroth understood that a shaman focused around granting buffs and auras to their allies, however, knowing about it and experiencing it firsthand was two different things. He also surprised to find out that Midnight's class was actually a rare variation of a rare shaman class. In other words, it was a rare class hidden within a rare class! How much luck did one need to come across such good fortune?
In the end, Midnight ended up with a class called the Seven Chained Sage. While he did not go into too many specific details regarding his class, one thing that he did note was that the totems and casting requirements were "bizarre" when compared to other shaman classes.
Just as Izroth was surprised with him, Midnight was equally or even more so impressed with Izroth. Since he was not on during the Protector of Amaharpe event, he had no idea who Izroth was. It was not until he remembered the name of the person who cleared the first dungeon and world boss on the same day at the very start of the game!
However, that name had long since slipped his mind given that there was no news about him after that took place. Some people thought he sold the items he received from the world boss and first dungeon clear and left RML rich. Others speculated that it was probably just dumb luck or some kind of early game bug exploit that he took advantage of.
But, after seeing him in action today, Midnight was left in awe. A combat master was capable of such strength? A part of him regretted not choosing combat master as his own class, however, he knew that it was ultimately not something suited for him.
To be honest, he was a little skeptical when he learned that Izroth was a combat master. After all, it was a widely frowned up class due to its lacking dependability and unrealistic requirements. But, to think that the class everyone considered to be trash and nonviable was actually capable of so much! It completely changed his view of combat masters! How could he not be astonished?
Woosh! Znnnnng!
«Critical Hit»
-3,160
Name: Maoha'Ki(Normal)
Level: 38
HP: 0 (0%)
Izroth's sword sliced cleanly through one of the Maoha'Ki, a chimera type creature, that tried to jump towards the members of the caravan. Thanks to the tenth strike effect of the Totem Aura: Mighty Magnarvos, he was able to land a critical hit without even trying.
Not to mention, with the 10% critical hit rate added to his own existing 8% critical hit rate, he had an 18% chance to land a critical hit! That was nearly one of out every five hits!
Unfortunately, his First Baneful Sword: Destruction was on cooldown due to a minor miscalculation on his part.
Some of the creatures had strange bodies and he happened to come across a creature whose "head" was not a head at all. Therefore, when Izroth's attack struck its intended target, he did not manage to land a critical hit and the cooldown timer on his First Baneful Sword: Destruction started.
Even though the cooldown timer was only one minute and thirty seconds, he obviously did not have time to wait for it to come up again during this fight. Also, was he the type to rely solely on one skill?
As Izroth fought off the wave monsters, he noticed something peculiar. The monsters assaulting them were even more aggressive than usual. Of course, monsters would usually always attack once you entered into their aggro range.
However, it was different this time around. The monsters in the Tiger's Mouth would come charging at them in a crazed and rampaged state even if they were nowhere close to that monster.
Fortunately, the monsters had not entered into an actual enraged state or else things would be even more out of control.
But, what Izroth noticed was that the monsters seemed to be in some sort of trance-like state. Every time one of his first attacks landed on a monster, the light in its eyes that had dimmed was suddenly restored and it would enter into a momentary state of confusion as if it was not aware of its own surroundings.
A few minutes later, the wave of monsters finally stopped pouring in. While the caravan was still in one piece, there was a certain individual who was in an unpleasant mood.
At the front of the caravan, Qi Jiguang confronted the group of six players with a serious expression on his face.
"The next time you pull a stunt like that I won't be so forgiving." Qi Jiguang said with a sharp look in his eyes.
During the battle, the six players entrusted to guard the front of the caravan had used Qi Jiguang's party as an aggro absorption shield. In other words, they intentionally positioned themselves behind Qi Jiguang's party so that his party members would always receive the large bulk of aggro! This caused the pressure on his party to be increased and one of his party members nearly died!
Not only that but by neglecting to spread out the net of protection, two of the caravan members had actually been killed within the chaos of things! If ten caravan members died, then they could forget about receiving any rewards for all their troubles. It was no small trip traveling to a remote village like this and Qi Jiguang refused to let the entire trip be in vain.
"What stunt? You're talking a bunch of nonsense! If you want to bark at someone, then how about barking at your own incompetent party for failing to protect those two caravan members?! Who do you think you are pointing your finger at us?! Don't go around blaming us for your own shortcomings!" The male player responded in an arrogant and condescending tone.
He was the leader of the party tasked with guarding the front caravan and introduced himself as Switch To Kill at the meeting that was held before they began their trip. He had short black hair, dark brown eyes, an above-average appearance, and he seemed to be in good overall shape.
Switch To Kill was very persistent when it came to making sure that his party was the one chosen to protect the front of the caravan. In the end, since his party had the most members, he got his wish. However, there was an aura of arrogance about him as if he were constantly looking down on those around him, even the members of his own party!
"You dare shift the blame to us for that?!" One of Qi Jiguang's party members shouted in a furious tone. He was the same member who almost died thanks to the Switch To Kill's party. So, of course, he was more frustrated than anything else.
As the argument intensified and the atmosphere became increasingly tense, the members of the caravan had gloomy expressions on their face. Two of their comrades had just died before their eyes and the protection they hired on were at each other throats! Could things get any worse?
Mirage frowned and said, "What are they doing up there? Do they want to intentionally fail this quest by bickering?"
Midnight shook his head and replied, "I can understand the middle party's frustration. In fact, I think they handled themselves quite well given the circumstances. After all, I can only imagine how much control you would have had if we were in the same position as the middle group."
"That's different." Mirage said.
"How is that any different?" Midnight muttered under his breath.
"What was that? Did you say something?" Mirage questioned.
"No, nothing at all." Midnight replied in a calm tone.
As the two were conversing while waiting for the caravan to reorganize itself, Izroth had his attention on the carriage that Robin was in.
Even though two members of his caravan had died, why had he not stepped out? Did he himself not say that the members of the caravan were like family to him? Unless he despised his own family, the least he should have done was exit the carriage. But, after the bandits attacked, he was nowhere to be seen.
All of a sudden, Izroth narrowed his eyes as his gaze shifted towards the forest at the side.
Woosh!
An arrow flew out from the forest at a great speed! It was many times faster than the arrows shot by the bandits that ambushed them earlier.
The arrow was on a direct flight path towards the ground, however, at the last second, the arrow changed its course and shot up towards Mirage who currently had her back turned.
'Odd, I can't sense anyone nearby.'
Izroth arrived next to Mirage which startled her, but before she could ask what was going on, she saw Izroth's sword rushing towards her! Could he be secretly upset about her almost attacking him earlier when he stepped out of the forest?!
However, that was only a passing thought. She knew that if Izroth wanted to eliminate her, then with the skills at his disposal, a surprise attack was not necessary. Then, what was it? There were only two choices that remained.
The first was the Izroth was being controlled, however, she dismissed this thought and that left her with only one choice. She was currently being attacked by something or someone else and Izroth was simply reacting to it.
This all passed through Mirage's mind in a split moment and she did not hesitate to activate a skill known as Deflective Charge, one of the defensive skills of her class. A powerful surge of electricity appeared around her body. Unlike its usual aggressive and wild energy, it was tame and quiet.
Just as Izroth's sword swept past Mirage to parry the arrow aimed at her, the arrow suddenly shifted directions once again and headed straight towards Ying Yue! Its speed had more than doubled after it changed its flight path. It was now like a streak of light that was difficult to see with the naked eye.
"Trying to block my arrow, how foolish." A person hidden inside of the forest said to herself as a look of disdain could be seen in her eyes. Hidden nearby were five other individuals, however, one could tell at first glance that these were not NPCs, but players!
After seeing that the players at the front of the caravan were arguing amongst themselves, now was the perfect moment to strike!
"As soon my arrow hits, we attack. The others will coordinate with us to take care of the others once we engage the rear party." The female player who shot the arrow said to the five individuals next to her. To her, the party at the rear of the caravan was obviously the weakest group with only four players. There was also no tank in sight, so it would be a quick finish.
She then continued with a smirk on her face, "No matter what, we cannot allow that caravan to leave the Tiger's Mouth."
[1] Rabbit totem
[2] Bird totem
[3] Bull totem
[4] Butterfly totem