〈Battle Logs: You have been affected by «Plague of Death»〉

〈Battle Logs: You have been affected by «Aura of Death»〉 ​​

〈Battle Logs: You have been affected by «Hand of Darkness»〉

〈Battle Logs: You have been affected by «Restless Souls of the Undead»〉

〈Battle Logs: You have gained the temporary passive skill «Blessing of the Living»〉

Izroth took a quick glance at the battle logs and the first thing that caught his eye was the temporary passive skill he gained, Blessing of the Living.

Skill Name: Blessing of the Living

Skill Level: MAXED

Skill Rank: Unique*

Requirements: Living Being

Passive: +50% damage to creatures of the Netherworld.

Special Note: This skill can only affect a creature of the Netherworld.

"It looks like we got a free damage boost." Guan Yu commented as he read over the battle logs.

"Yes, but the fact that we received such a skill most likely means that the other four skills we've been affected by are troublesome." Zi Yi stated.

"I agree. I doubt the system is simply feeling generous today and lending us a hand." Mariposa said as she studied the rare boss.

At the moment, Nekrostis had yet to move and was still at the center of the chamber out of aggro range. Therefore, unless Izroth and his party made the first move and stepped into its aggro range, it would not begin its assault. It was like this for most boss fights.

After discussing a few things, everyone took a brief moment to make sure that everything was in order. If there were any stat points or skill points that were sitting around had to be used, or any new skills they had yet to acquire from their skill crystals, now was the time to do it.

As for Izroth, he chose to use all 15 stat points he had on his agility. He felt that without his Flickering Steps active, his base agility was too low. With an epic weapon in hand, Izroth did not have to worry about his damage output suffering, therefore, he decided to invest his points into agility.

However, when it came to skill points, Izroth did not touch any of them. Every skill he possessed was either already maxed out or had to be improved upon by consistent usage. Even though he was able to level up his sword forms using skill points, he felt that it would be a waste given that it only required natural effort on his part to better the skill, and so, his skill points remained untouched.

Once everyone confirmed that they were ready, the battle had finally begun.

Halls charged forward at an incredible speed and appeared before Nekrostis with his shield leading the way.

Bang!

Halls' shield crashed into the skeletal body of Nekrostis. Since the boss was stationary at the beginning of the fight and Halls had become more comfortable with the skill itself over time, he engaged the fight using Unimpeded Rush.

"You dare attack a loyal servant of the Netherworld?! Even your death shall be insufficient!" Nekrostis roared.

Skill Name: Unimpeded Rush

Skill Level: 2/4

Skill Rank: B

Cast Time: 0.2 seconds

Active: Charges forward in a straight line for 1 second. The first enemy target they come in contact with is «Stunned» for 2 seconds. During that period time, the user has their movement speed increased by 1,000% and is immune to all forms of crowd control. If the user does not make contact with a target during that period of time or has their charge evaded, the user becomes «Staggered» for 0.5 seconds.

Cooldown: 1 minute 15 seconds

"Just a pile of bones!" Halls replied as he did not let up on his assault. His main goal was to build up as much aggro as possible on Nekrostis.

The skill Halls used when his shield collided with the body of Nekrostis was Shield Slam. Due to the knockdown effect of the Shield Slam, the skeletal boss trembled as its boney structure fell to the ground. It also caused his threat level on the boss to soar.

-3,400

Of course, Nekrostis did not stay stunned or knocked for long thanks to the natural resistance boss monsters had against certain forms of crowd control. Therefore, even though it was supposed to be stunned for two seconds, that time was reduced all the way down to 0.5 seconds. That was only 25% of the time it was supposed to remain stunned!

However, Halls acted fast once the rare boss was knocked down. He immediately followed up with Shield Smash, once again increasing his threat level. Also, thanks to the boss being knocked down when he used Shield Smash, its damage was tripled!

Since the skill had already been maxed out, it would normally deal 150% of Halls' attack damage. However, after being used in combination with Shield Slam, its damage soared to 450% of Halls' attack damage! He then swiftly followed up with a Ferocity Slash. In the end, Halls managed to establish a solid threat level on Nekrostis.

-5,474

-772

"This damage increase feels so nice!" Halls said with a large smile on his face. He actually felt like a damage dealer instead of a tank when he witnessed the strength of his own attacks. With the damage increase provided by the Holy Blessings and the Blessing of the Living, he felt as if this fight would take no time at all.

Woosh!

An arrow left the void and pierced through the bones of Nekrostis just as it got back on its feet. Not too long after, two more arrows made their exit from the void crashed into the skeletal boss monster. Each arrow contained more force and power behind it than the last.

-3,156

-4,133

«Critical Hit»

-10,968

Swoosh!

Nekrostis swiftly rotated its body as it swept its tail made entirely of bones towards Halls, but its attack was successfully blocked by Halls' shield. Even though it was only a simple attack with its tail, Halls was surprised by how little damage the skill itself actually did.

«Blocked»

-1,295

14,713/16,008 HP Remaining! (Halls)

Even though Nekrostis damage was lacking, Halls would not let his guard down for a second. After all, he would be foolish if he believed that there was not anything more to this rare boss. Also, there was still the question of the four skills they had been affected when Nekrostis first appeared.

95%...

93%...

91%...

'Its attacks are fast, but its attack patterns are predictable. However...'

Woosh!

Izroth slashed in a downward arc with his blade and caused the bone structure of Nekrostis that was struck to fracture. It was a basic attack, however, it seemed that Izroth had managed to find a weak point within Nekrostis skeletal figure in a short amount of time.

Immediately after his first attack connected, a second attack flew out instantaneously with the stance of the first sword form. The attack using the first sword form had been infused with a small portion of Izroth's Essence as it swept across the already fragmented bone structure where Izroth previously struck.

«Critical Hit»

-4,466

«Critical Hit»

-8,640

Izroth noticed that he gained 10 stacks of plague. However, as the stacks rose, there was no noticeable benefit or consequence. All he knew was that the more he attacked, the faster he would gain stacks of plague. Based on the name alone, Izroth assumed that it was something unpleasant and most likely had to do with the Plague of Death he, as well as, his entire party were affected by.

'Well, it's not as if we can stop attacking and do nothing. We'll have to deal with any problems as they arise.'

"Those who defy the tomb of the envoy shall perish. Beings of flesh, be no more!" Nekrostis roared as soon as its HP hit the 90% mark. Its bones turned deep purple in color and any previous fractures it suffered mended themselves.

At the same time, its skeletal structure collapsed before quickly forming a purple sphere made out of bones. It was almost as if Nekrostis had completely called off its offensive and went on full defense mode.

"Careful, we still have no idea what the skills we've been affected by are doing to us." Zi Yi warned as she witnessed the sudden transformation of the boss monster. It was safe to say that nothing good usually came from such things.

"These stacks of plague are troublesome. Then again, the unknown is always a bit dangerous." Mariposa commented.

"Got it." Halls responded as he became a bit less aggressive with his assault after the abrupt change in form from Nekrostis. However, even if he was a bit more cautious, he would not let up on his attacks altogether. He rushed towards the deep purple sphere of bones and lashed out with his sword using the skill Ferocity Slash.

Ding!

-772

Halls felt as if he was striking a steel wall with how hard the bones of Nekrostis had become, however, his damage, as well as, the defensive capabilities of the boss monster remained unchanged. But, almost instantly after Halls' attack successfully landed on the sphere of bones, a flash of violet light exploded throughout the chambers.

Oooooooom!

As that violet light passed by everyone, a burst of unavoidable damage soon followed after.

-500 [Luna]

-750 [Mariposa]

-1,250 [Guan Yu]

-2,500 [Izroth]

-3,000 [Zi Yi]

-7,500 [Halls]

〈Battle Logs: Player Izroth has been touched by the «Aura of Death» and healing from all sources has been reduced by 50% for 12 seconds!〉

Izroth was not the only one to receive that alert from the system, but Zi Yi and Halls got the same alert as well.

"Group!" Luna said as everyone halted their assault and quickly grouped together within ten meters of Halls. Since they had already discussed a few signals beforehand on their journey to his place, no one delayed their movements as they knew what Luna planned to do. Less than one second later, a light green mist appeared around the entire party that was now grouped together.

+695

+348

...

+695

+348

Every one second that ticked by, everyone who stood within the mist was being healed. By the time Luna's Healing Mist skill ended, everyone was back to full HP, except Halls who was still missing a few points, but Luna cast Cure a couple of times to get his HP back into a safer area.

"What was that skill?" Halls said with a frown on his face. He received the most damage out of anyone present. On the other hand, Luna and Mariposa who probably possessed the weakest defensive capabilities within the party took the least amount of damage from the attack.

If it was HP based, then it should have been Guan Yu who took the next most damage, however, it was Zi Yi instead so that was out of the question.

At the moment, no one was attacking Nekrostis because they were afraid that the boss monster would unleash another violet light. After all, if it released that violet light every time it was attacked while within that purple sphere state, then their party would be wiped out in no time at all!

"The stacks of plague have disappeared." Izroth stated. He had been keeping a close eye on those stacks since it was an unknown variable, however, that violet light and the plague stacks were definitely linked to one another. It would be too much of a coincidence that the stacks just happened to disappear right after they received damage from the boss.

"You're right! It's not there!" Halls said in a shocked tone of voice. The last time he checked his plague stacks was all the way at thirty. But now, they were no longer anywhere to be found.

"Well, it looks like we've figured out at least what two of the skills do." Zi Yi said as she let out a sigh of relief. Out of everyone present, she had been the one in the most danger just now.

She then continued, "The stacks of plague seems to be linked to the Aura of Death. Now the question is, how are we accumulating stacks?"

Nekrostis bones returned to their normal color and scattered across the ground. A few seconds later, the bones connected once again and Nekrostis returned to its original form. However, it did not take long for Nekrostis to take aggressive action as soon as it regained its form.

"Rise servants of the Netherworld and vanquish those who dare disturb our eternal slumber!" Nekrostis yelled as the chambers shook violently and multiple hands made out of bones shot from out of the ground.