Chapter 41: Bosses of an ancient city
Early in the morning, the hunters went hunting. They killed a few monsters that came out of the crossroads and walked down the street towards the shelter. A figure of a strange boss stood in front, surrounded by a pair of Abysses and Knights of the Swamp.
"I wonder how you'll notice my silent attack if I'm in the Shadow?" asked the burglar.
"Based on the boss's reaction," replied Kate.
"Are you suggesting that I start a fight?"
"Nick, the subject is interesting and important, but why didn't you kept quiet last night?" asked Richard. "Go and attack! And may Dexterity be with you."
The redhead smiled and came to the wall of the house. It wasn't raining, but there was little light outside. The burglar disappeared from view immediately, and some of the hunters went ahead to intercept Diguar.
Dan took the form of Draugr and maximized his characteristics. He felt just great. Richard could apply his excellent skills to reinforce his squad, now the Commander was walking just behind him to apply the skill of weakening the enemy. Almost every class of hunters had the skill to weaken the enemy or to amplify the characteristics of their character. When a full group of hunters began to work, each player turned into a strong fighter.
Dan saw that Diguar shuddered and shook his jaw in a silent hissing. And the soft light of Kate's new skill immediately flashed.
'Execution'. Diguar took a step towards the players. He could not resist the curse. Dan took advantage of the last seconds of peace and looked at the boss.
Kate was unlucky and didn't block the enemy's fighting skill, but his immunity to damage dropped to 20% and damage dropped to 2000-3500.
Kate was retreating back down the street. Alexander and the sinner were on their way to Diguar. Suddenly he was hit by arrows and Anna's spell. Anna had prepared for battle and warned everyone that she would use the Ice Spear spell. The spell froze the enemy for 1-2 seconds, although it did not cause much damage. 2000 damage was a small amount of damage in the sorceress's mind. At this point, two fighters rushed against the enemy. Dan blocked the boss's way and attacked with the 'The Singing Blade' skill.
[You caused 10300 damage]
At this time, a figure covered with red smoke of Blood Lust skill hit one side of the street, and the berserker also went into battle. Werewolves ran behind the boss's back and grabbed his legs, one side of which was struck by a stone figure of Elemental. Suddenly almost half of Diguar's hand fell to the rocks of the street. John was very lucky, his strongest attack came with critical damage, and he was able to inflict a strong wound on the enemy and inflict a bleeding effect. Dan didn't notice the details of the battle, he fenced with his boss, and he even managed to strike at vulnerable points on the enemy's hull that flared up for a few moments and were clearly visible. But his main goal was to capture the enemy. The hunters had many duels. The girls were in shock! There was no way they could understand the need for duels to die. But the men did not explain their point of view and just found out that the best master of the sword is Dan. But in terms of damage, he was inferior to Alexander. This fight to be the main test of the two players' interactions. Dan did not much damage but did not let the enemy pass, Alexander interfered in the course of the battle and did a lot of damage and retreat so that the attention of Diguar again captured the sinner. The boss couldn't react to the pets' strikes and arrows when the two scoundrels were around to keep him from reaching the one that challenged him.
[You caused 6200 damage]
Dan managed to hit the chest hard and got ready to repel another Diguar attack. But the enemy made a low growl and fell. His icy sword fell on the rocks of the street.
*
[Congratulations! You have discovered the location of Nazgor Ruin. Type: normal.
You've received a new quest: "Cleansing the filth."
Quest Type: Normal
Reward: Variative. +50 Glory points
Attention! By clearing the desecrated location, you can get a unique quest]
*
"Dan, Nick, trophies! The others blocked the street. Everybody stays cool! Always wanted to say that," said Richard.
There were joy and relief in his voice. It wasn't his first fight under his command, he'd already gotten the position of group leader, but it was his first real fought as commander.
The players stood up for the trophy boys. The monsters could react most unexpectedly to the changing situation in the city. They smiled because everyone understood that the reward for passing the location is increasing and now for each monster, they will get more experience.
Dan pointed out that they got a strange book from their boss and didn't look through it, but immediately gave it to Nick, who was engaged in animal breeding. The sinner himself sat down by the corpse and cut off a piece of meat from the left paw of the monster, where he was perfectly wounded by an assassin. The sinner raised his head and noticed that Kate was watching him with interest.
That's no way to live! there's no privacy, thought Dan.
"Kate. Don't look, I'm shy!"
"Come on, Pussy, let's not watch your boss eat cats. Yes, your master eats cats, I'm not deceiving you," complained to the sinner executor.
Pussy snorted a sniffle and defiantly jumped into Diguar's corpse. She was evil. She was very angry. Because the stupid master wouldn't let her fight! She was guarding a stupid female who understood nothing about a good fight and could only retreat from the enemy.
"Pussy! Stop eating all that crap! Go and work, it's a madhouse of some kind," said the sinner and threw a piece of meat in his mouth.
*
[Attention! 'Cannibalism' +1]
*
"Did it work, brother?"
From invisibility, John came up with his question.
"Yes. I was right! Characteristics have grown," confessed Dan.
"How does it taste?"
"The wolf's meat tastes better, and the river monster is delicious."
The guys chased the other hunters. Who had finished guarding their prey collection process and retreated to the shelter. Now the whole squad was walking along the edge of the ruins and started fighting monsters in the new street to meet the new boss.
The clan chose another warrior's boss as its second enemy. Marlog could cause damage in the square and it was dangerous. But he remained a warrior, a type of enemy with whom players were already used to fighting.
For almost three hours, the players had been killing monsters. Even the Abyss was a weak opponent, her skill to call the Larvae was constantly blocked by the executor. Hunters relaxed and allowed themselves to split into 4 combat groups. Betty attacked the enemy with two Elements. On the streets of the city well-showed fire Elementals, he had no defensive abilities, and he inflicted less damage than his earth colleague. But for each damage, the Fire Elemental's hull reacted with a backfire and dealt a little damage. Two of the Elementals could deal with level 30 monsters. Kate was pulling enemies under Nick and Emma's attack. Alexander was working with John and Red Nick. Dan called the monsters into the fight that Jack helped him with. Richard kept a close eye on the situation and occasionally attacked Elementals' opponents. He needed to improve his sword skills. Jane felt superfluous but rarely remembered it. She was fully drawn to the spectacle of continuous fighting in the streets of the ancient city. Bella was dissatisfied with the barbaric violence, but smiled condescendingly, at times applying common healing to all participants in the battle. Applying this skill cost 240 mana, but treated 120 health. The Rescuer's intellect was modest, but a large stock of spirit almost instantly restored the entire stock of mana. Bella could apply the skill of general healing almost without interruption, but she preferred to restore the Blessing and increase the players' defense.
When Marlog's figure appeared ahead, everyone calmed down sharply. The squad began hunting carefully and thoughtfully. They stopped and Kate and Dan started provoking monsters to fight.
Marlog wasn't like a man, but it was clear that he was a man. Now it was a mountain of muscles, huge height. Wide shoulders. Thick hands with a big hammer in them. The naked body of the monster was wearing a leather apron, but on his belt he was decorated with disgusting ligaments of dried severed hands. Marlog's face was gone. Instead of his face, he froze the face of evil and mad waiting for blood and battle. The red hair was gathered into several thick short plaits. The boss instilled respect and everyone realized that this opponent would be stronger than an overgrown jaguar. "Marlog. Elite. Level: 40. Life: 180000. Damage: 3000-5400. 'Fall of the Hammer'. A powerful blow to the ground damage to all enemies at a considerable distance. Cooldown: 240 seconds," slightly but clearly reminded Dan of the main details.
He felt great again. Immediately after the battle with his boss, he reversed Draugr's transformation and realized how much he was losing when he turned into a strong and skilled dead warrior. It may have been the effect of an 80% increase in the characteristics he received from Richard's skill, but the feeling was very pleasant. The commander was quite a clever transformation, next to him wanted to play in the style of Fight, Kill, and Win!
Red Nick was pleased with the way he participated in the battle. Richard had already told him that the burglar had to get used to the first attack. It's the burglar and no one else who's going to be the first to strike the magician. And then the whole fight, Nick must silence the warlock with silence. Anna said it's true, maybe local magicians don't use the gesture to activate spells.
Dan saw Alexander holding the dead boss's two-handed sword.
*
Ice Heart
Type: unique.
Damage: 1500-2500 [Critical damage: 3200-6500]
Durability: Indestructible
Weight: 3 pounds (1.36 kg)
Combat skill:
'The Ice Blade'. It causes additional damage with Water Magic and freezes enemy units for 3 seconds. Cooldown: 240 seconds. [10/10]
"Drinking Life. 4% of the damage done in HP restores health. 10/10
*
"That's a good sword," he said.
"A good, better than Singer, though a bloodsucker. The main thing is that he's indestructible and the damage he's done is just mad," said a warrior smiled.
"Two-handed, unique, it'll last," agreed Dan.
"Guys tonight will definitely break their heads about how to share trophies. There's a book falling out with Master of the Sword skill. It's a skill in my class. And a soldier and a knight need that skill."
"They flip a coin, as always," smiled Dan.
"Jack's already learned the book, no coins. Alas, I don't belong at the point of attack, and our paladin will soon catch up with you on the damage," said Richard calmly. "Shall we begin gentleman hunters?"
Everyone nodded and got ready for a new fight.
The burglar went forward, Kate stepped out into the middle of the street and froze, watching closely the figure of the huge blacksmith.
The boss shuddered and raised the hammer high above his head and ran in a lighted circle towards the girl. He ran only a few steps and flew into the mire that Anna had organized for him. And at that moment the fight turned into a strange battle. Marlog fell face forward and hit the ground with a hammer with all his might. He was a very cunning and insidious monster and made his most powerful attack.
[You took 2200 damage. Attention! You have received damage with the Stunner skill! You cannot move and apply skills and abilities for 2 seconds!]
Draugr is frozen in place. A stupid resentment slipped through Dan's head with lightning:
It's not fair! What's the Stunner? It wasn't mentioned anywhere!
Next to him, Alexander fell to the rock on the street. Dan was terrified to see what was going on behind his back. He has heavy armor that absorbs 90-95% of the damage! The girls are completely naked! They had an endurance rate of 30-35. Before this fight, everyone was wearing heavy armor. The girls barely moved or got tired, but still the thought of them made them want to jump up to the monster and hit him very hard.
And the blacksmith was already on his feet and walking towards Dan. But the sinner saw that Marlog was ready to hit him with his hammer on the way. The blacksmith's eyes were filled with blood, and he looked outside behind Dan's back.
'The Singing Blade'.
[You caused 12100 damage]
The blow of the cursed sword pierced the blacksmith's side. Dan took a step back and turned, the sword struck the boss's back again.
[You did 6400 damage]
The blacksmith leaned a little forward from the punch, of course, it was impossible to knock an ordinary player off his feet, even with a two-handed sword. And at that moment the sinner activated his second powerful skill, and with all his might, with all his fury hit the wound on the boss's back with a powerful push of the handle.
'Pressure'.
[You caused 13700 damage]
The smith swung the hammer. He almost fell, but held on his feet and turned around, facing an annoying enemy who was distracting from the main enemy. Dan ducked down and missed the hammer's blow above his head, and struck a simple blow with the blade's point forward. Once again, the sinner's mind was at peace and a cold-blooded desire to destroy the enemy.
[You caused 6100 damage]
Step back, hitting the hammer throw, mistake, and hands pierced with pain, parry hits of the two-hand hammer is a mistake, Draugr smiled and slipped:
"That's gut leçon, spasibo."
The smith didn't understand the words, he didn't have a chance to answer. A two-handed sword struck his back and Marlog froze. On the bloody skin of the monster appeared a thin transparent film of a bluish color. Dan began to strike quickly before the monster hit the frostbite skill. And at this time, an icy, thin, long icicle crashed into the blacksmith. Anna's spell didn't look scary at all, but the effect was good. From that moment on, the blacksmith just started chopping like a huge piece of meat. Werewolves roared at his feet, arrows and spells flew into his body. The fight didn't last a minute.
*
[Congratulations! You defeated Marlog.
Reward: 3 points of Glory. 1500000 points of experience. +1 point Spirit.
Congratulations! You have destroyed 12 Elite level opponents. Achieved the 'Threat to Titans'. Your damage to the opponents of the Elite level is increased by 5%. Got 5 points of Glory. +3 Strength]
*
Dan was a little surprised at this new achievement. He didn't count any elite opponents. The first thing he did was pick up the trophies from the smith. He didn't consider the unique hammer and gave it to Nick immediately.
Next to it, a redheaded burglar was screaming:
"I couldn't make it! I ran with all of my legs, but I didn't make it! You filthy bastard!"
And Nick kicked the monster's body. The burglar suffered the most from the boss's attack. That crook only had 1500 health! He didn't care at all about power, endurance, spirit, and intellect. Huge stock of dexterity very good helped in fights with ordinary monsters. 400 dexterity points gave him a 40% chance of dodging a blow! Nick was fast, but not at all ready for powerful attacks across the square. On top of that, he was wearing rare leather armor that took 40% of the damage. The hammer hit sent the burglar back to life in no time, and he rushed to the battlefield. But he ran only a few hundred steps and realized that fatigue prevented him from continuing his run. It was too late! And 100000 points of experience and Glory and 1 point of Spirit flew past his clinging hands.
Bella was able to save Jane, who, too, had not pampered herself with health enhancement. The girl almost died of pain shock when she lost two-thirds of her health at once. Bella used several strong treatment spells and Jane watched the fight with tears in her eyes. The pain went away quickly, but she left a strong reminder.
The other girls survived, though they had lost more than half of their health. The men were not so angry with the damage, but with the insidious blow of Stunner.
The hunters returned to the house with a revival point and decided to eat.
There was no book with a new skill in the trophies. The unique hammer was good! Indestructible, with average damage 3000, with the skill of striking the area, and the ability to Stun. But this weapon required special skill to be fully proficient. Players thought that Turin could give some lessons to the new hammer owner. But no one wanted to fight the hammer in their hands. All men liked swords, there was something high, magical and honorable about this weapon. Daggers and clubs didn't cause that much excitement.
Gold, a set of strange powders for a blacksmith's craft, and an apron.
When the disgusting bloody apron got into Nick's inventory, all the disgusting jewelers were missing from him. And the ranger pulled a modified item out of his inventory. The item turned out to be a unique artifact, which had good protection and added 30% to the chance to create a product of rare rank. Everyone knew the dwarf would be happy.
The hunters chose the magician monster as their next opponent. Darramar was intimidated by his abilities and everyone realized that if he could curse the hunters with Blindness, then the whole squad would go to the rebirth. In one minute, this monster would destroy all the helpless hunters.
The skill of the 'Chains of sins' remained in stock and everyone decided to use it against the most dangerous enemy. Then, they will somehow be able to deal with the alchemist, and the morning will just kill the monsters until Dan has restored the skill of the 'Chains of sins'. Then, it will be possible to carry out the final part of the operation, and Anna will use the scrolls with the 'Shiver of the Earth', and then the sinner will use the 'Chain' on the boss with the whip.
The stock of trophies from ordinary monsters grew rapidly in the corner of the big room. How to carry back into the castle such a mountain of weapons no one imagined, the veterans tried not to think about the future problem. Ranger aloud expressed indignation at the lack of the game auction and the opportunity to send things to the package. Emma had helped the clan a lot and had already sewn eight large bags out of solid material. These bags could be hung on pets. The pets weren't offended by being used as cargo carriers. Werewolves constantly carried large pieces of meat in their teeth as they accompanied scouts on the hunt. Even Pussy didn't mind carrying the cargo. But there were too many weapons and armor piled up.
All the way to the street with the warlock players quietly discussed the new city, new monsters and new bosses. Achievement of Dan caused a tide of enthusiasm, the future fight seemed easy and simple for everyone.
The fight with the warlock was quick, the hunters showed maximum insolence and impudence. Red Nick and Dan was the team's main weapon. When the whole street was cleared of monsters and the figure of the warlock was already well-visible. The sinner lay on his stomach and crawled towards the warlock next to the wall. The burglar went into the Shadow and also moved towards Darramar. All the players entered the building and only Kate was left on the street.
Dan froze against the wall and signaled to Nick that it was time to start. And the burglar cursed the warlock with silence. Kate lit the street with the light of 'Execution' and started walking down the street. The warlock went to meet the executor, suddenly he threw some spell aside and Dan realized that the burglar had been killed. The picture of him immediately became gray. Dan waited for Darramar to get away from a cluster of monsters. The sinner was counting seconds. At eight seconds, he threw 'Chains of Sins' at the warlock.
Dan jumped off the ground and threw himself at the warlock who fell on the rocks of the street. Strange disgusting chains did not prevent the cursed sword from cutting the lying enemy, when Pussy jumped to the place of battle, she jumped up and hit the sorcerer with all her paws. Then, Alexander ran up, and the hunters struck only a few blows and killed the boss. But this time the battle did not end there, a few dozen monsters approached the players from the side of the crossroads. The warrior and the sinner didn't even think about winning or trophies. They parted a few steps on different sides of the street and began to fight off the monsters. The dumpsite was creepy! There were two Abysses among the monsters and Dan was too keen on fighting to activate 'Autodafe'. The situation saved Kate and was able to redirect the aggression to her. Disgusting dog-like monsters jumped in her direction and slowly poked around the Abysses themselves. Next to Alexander roared with Teddy's rage, Pussy fought next to Dan. They successfully fought to back the Lords of War and the Knights of the Swamp. Monsters walked past them, intent on attacking most of the squad.
Richard's team had reached Dan's consciousness. He was ordering two idiots to retreat. Dan saw that Alexander had long been ready to retreat to a dense line of hunters, but waited for an adequate response from the sinner.
"Fall back!"
"It's about time!" shouted the berserk.
Players cautiously began to retreat, there was no need for that anymore because the squad led by Richard was able to destroy a group of monsters and began moving towards the two fighters.
Richard spoke loudly:
"Retreating sometimes means running very fast. Sluggish barbarians. One Dead, the other Conan. We get to the boss's body. We got to get the trophies."
The trophies were unusual. Great set of rings with increased intellect. 400 gold coins and a book with the skill of 'Pure Mind'. Archimage staff was allowed the dark spell of 'Rotting' to be used. Anna decisively refused to take this nasty, though the staff added +7 to the intellect and dealt good physical damage with a chance of Stun. The book made her happy, she got the clan's consent and learned a skill she could only count on at level 60, provided she was ready to become an Archimage.
The burglar Nick wasn't very upset that he didn't have much experience, he even admired that the nasty old man turned out to be such an insightful and observant opponent.
The squad went into battle with the alchemist Rinaldo. Most emotions were shown by Anna, who was looking forward to very useful trophies. She liked to do alchemy and the sorceress was not against getting a special tool or skill for new successes in a difficult specialty.
The mood of the squad did not spoil even heavy rain. Everyone put on cloaks and walked on the suburbs of the city, along the ruined wall that did not allow the monsters to disperse around. But most likely the monsters were simply bounded by the borders of the ruins of Nazgor, and they did not hurry to go outside the destroyed gates.
"We don't get nervous, we work calmly and everything will work out," said Richard. And the squad began another series of fights with monsters. The calm and familiar game, in which there was no interest and excitement. Each monster was attacked by several players and finished with a few strikes. Hunters collected trophies and periodically unloaded their inventory right on the street near the wall of a house.
Rinaldo boss didn't look scary, but weird. It was a tall man dressed in a black shirt and black pants. He had a black leather apron on his chest and looked much neater than the blacksmith. The sleeves of the shirt were rolled up to the elbows of the alchemist. The face was perfectly normal. Short gray hair protruded in different directions, the alchemist had no right eye, and his face was bandaged. Rinaldo wore a short beard, but he did not have a mustache. He stood there and did not pay any attention to the surrounding monsters. His black figure at the center of the street intersection resembled a monument. He didn't move at all. He was a very mysterious and strange opponent. The guys knew how dangerous mixtures were in battle. They only managed to defeat the first strong opponent when they used a fired mixture. Nobody treated this boss like a light opponent.
Nick scratched his curly head and went to do his business. He wasn't reassured or praised for fighting the warlock, but John winked at the burglar and said that this time he just had to quickly escape from any alchemist attack. Rinaldo doesn't have a weapon, but he does have strange bracelets on his hands. This boss is a master of hand-to-hand combat at worst, but there's not a word about it in the description.
"Run, Nick, run," smiled John.
The fight was hard for Dan. Rinaldo didn't see the burglar and had to step back from the intersection to meet Kate. Dan met the alchemist and immediately jumped into the attack. Two glass bubbles crashed on Draugr's armor and his body was sorely in pain.
[You took 620 damage]
[You sustained 660 damage]
[You took 410 damage]
[You took 480 damage]
[You took 200 damage]
[You have sustained 260 damage]
Dan struck two powerful hits with the activation of skills
[You caused 12800 damage]
[You caused 14100 damage]
The alchemist tried to beat off sword strokes with his bracelets, but sometimes he had time to throw a new vial at the sinner with another crap.
Dan struck quick blows and marked in the head of the enemy, he noticed that the alchemist jumped werewolves and Pussy, who was able to knock down Rinaldo with their powerful attacks. Then, Teddy jumped up and hit the alchemist too, like a big furry ball. The rain couldn't help, the flame was special and didn't stop at all under the raindrops. Dan was calm. He could see the strip of his life moving in both directions. He was receiving damage from the fire, Bella was restoring his health. Dan wasn't in a lot of pain, he was feeling some kind of severe sickness stretched all over his body. He was more irritated by the disgusting smell of burned hair and the smell of burning skin and meat. He was hitting quickly. He saw Emma and Nick's arrows getting into Rinaldo body. He saw that they would definitely kill the bastard.
And when they killed him, Dan immediately canceled the Draugr Transform. But it didn't make it any easier. He reached out and touched his head. After that, he quickly removed his cloak from the inventory, put on and covered his head with a hood. He was afraid to imagine what a creep he looked like now. Players passed by and silently began to guard the sinner and the ranger. Dan pulled out the dagger and froze. It was a human being. It was a monster, but it was a human being. Marlog had been so altered by secret dark forces that he was no longer human. Darramar did a good job on himself, too, and there was nothing human about him. The old warlock's head looked like a snake face with long gray hair. But Rinaldo seemed like an ordinary man. And it was unnatural and horrible to cut a piece of meat off him.
"Dan, I can cut off two tidy pieces of meat. And I can even keep you company. Nasty creature. I almost got gray when I looked at you."
"Nick, this is cannibalism."
"Dan. It's not human. It's not even human by local standards for a long time. It's a monster. Give me your spice and take a piece."
Ranger already cut a thin strip of meat off the alchemist's hand and split it into two. He gave one strip of meat to a sinner.
"Nick. Don't suffer from stupidity. Thank you for your attention, you don't need it."
Dan took a little stripe, sprinkled a spice. He froze and put it in his mouth. Chewed it and swallowed it quickly. He looked at the ranger and smiled:
"You're going to get the skin off him."
"That's not my profile. The game's not offering."
"Weird," whispered the sinner thoughtfully. "And I have a suggestion."
"Sinner," smiled at Nick.
He went up and shouted loudly:
"Richard. We're done, we can go back."
"All right, let's go. Dan, good job," said the commander.
"Keep your mask and hood on, Dan," begged Bella. "Have some regeneration potions."
"Thank you, Bella, you saved me."
"This is my class. But I think we shouldn't have rushed it. What's our hurry? That creature should have been wrapped in your chains and killed like a mad beast!"
"Good and useful thoughts are always late," said Alexander. "Are you all right? How are you?"
"Bella is beautiful, she kept everything under control. You know, it doesn't hurt at all, the smell is nasty and you're very upset about the spectacle."
Players stuffed their inventory with trophies and went to the shelter. Anna was tense and quiet. Dan came up to her and asked her not to be upset, and everyone would be better off if she shared the joy.
The redheaded sorceress said the pair of trophies paid for all the trouble of the tour. To hell with experience and new levels. She got a new skill book and Rinaldo's artifact apron. It's just beyond her knowledge of the craft of alchemist.
The skill of 'Perfection' makes it possible to create a potion or mixture without mana costs and without having to spend on making a potion or mixture of valuable ingredients. Cooldown: 120 seconds. [10/10]
The apron increased the chance of creating a rare potion or mixture by 30%.
"Not to spend on creating ingredients is understandable to me, it's magic, and it's great. But do you spend mana in alchemy?"
"Dan, come into the house, I'll give you a little lecture on alchemy," laughed Anna.
Dan realized there'd be a lot of work to do tonight. He and Betty need to make new notes at the Bestiary about the Nazgor bosses. He'll put Anna's information in the Clan Chronicles.
How are we going to get all of our trophies home? We need horses, we need normal mail, the sinner thought.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone