Chapter 17: Trial by Fire

“You will stand here with Elly. You will be the main tank while she will cover you as the secondary tank. And she will tag you once I give the order and not before. Got it, pretty boy?” I then looked at Miranda. “You will always be on the blind side of the Boss, together with Rose. And you Sophia, will stay near me since we are the team’s support.”

My plan for the Boss was simple. The tricky part was to actually kill the pack wolves that surrounded it. Eight of those wolves with the Dire Wolf acting as the Alpha was not going to cut it for us if we attacked it head-on without a proper plan.

Two things might happen to us. One, the Alpha could act like how I did – a leader of a sort that would most likely order the pack to attack the weakest of the group; me or perhaps Sophia. The second and what I feared most was that they would scatter around and attack us at our blindside. Any attacks that came from all the direction would be hard to fend even by those who were well trained and experienced.

To overcome both of the possibilities, the flame wall trick was a must as we could separate the pack from the Alpha. Once they were in the position, I would light up the flame wall surrounding those wolves, preventing them from reinforcing each other or worse working together and taking out any one of us.

Of course, it was always easier said than done.

The battle this time needed both our tankers; Alviss and Elly to play their role perfectly. The pretty-boy will tank the Boss and Elly will tank the mobs. Rose, Miranda and up to a certain point, Sophia would help to clear the mob first. I would personally concentrate on healing the main tanker. The key here was all our aggro must never exceed the main tank, especially Elly.

“Sophia, always watch your healing, alright? Remember what I tell you earlier?” She nodded at my words. The girl looked enthusiastic. The other two were quite apprehensive about my plan but without a choice, the means and time, they finally relented.

“Ready?” I asked the whole group after I was done creating two circles of 20 radius feet each and one at 30 radius feet. The Dire Wolf tripled the size of the normal pack and I had no doubt would be a very tough opponent. I was not sure how the flame wall would work on it, but my concern was on the pack for now. Since everyone else had understood their roles – I hope – it was now the time of truth.

“Let’s do it!”

Once I was done casting Stone Skin and Sophia with Protect on all of us, Alviss then led the charge. At level 45 with more than 8,000 HP and a high defence rating of 500, he could be a good tanker. However, he lacked the wisdom and the rotational tack of using his skills. Instead of focusing to maintain his hate and enmity at a high level, he was more interested in becoming the DPS himself. This time, he was not allowed to use any offensive skill at all, though he had the second highest attack rating after Miranda. If he could not do that, I would not heal or cast buffs on him. Such was my conditions to each and every one of them. Failure to heed my warning, I would leave them to their deaths. Without a proper healer, they would be dead before they knew it.

Miranda had a high critical rate but lousy bow technique and skills. I had no choice but to place her at the blindside of the enemies. That would double her critical damage due to backstab damage effect and would balance out between her miss and hit ratio. Since Rose was with her, she could cast Vine Hold and make the wolf an easier target to hit. Besides, those two girls would complement each other with high attack rating and ranged attacks. They needed to take the mobs down fast and hard.

Meanwhile, Sophia would be the secondary healer, focusing her heal on Elly while I focused on Alviss. The reason why I was his dedicated healer was due to Sophia’s inability to manage her healing and support skills. She would just simply cast her skill without knowing when would Alviss needed the heal and when would he not. In another word, she got panic easily and that would have gained her the unnecessary aggro.

As the whole wolf pack charged towards our main tank including the Dire Wolf itself, immediately he turned around and ran towards the circle I had made earlier. He casted a few of his skills that raised his hate and enmity solely on the Boss. Once the pack had reached a certain point, it was Elly’s turn to aggro but just the mobs only. The whole pack was then divided into two, with four of those wolves charged towards her. Once all the wolves were inside the circle I’d made earlier, I came out of our hiding place and lighted it, creating a nice and huge flame wall.

“Go!!!”

I shouted at the top of my lung and thus my plan was in motion. Rose, Miranda and Sophia came out from their hiding place and began to attack relentlessly. Alviss had to tank 5 wolves, including the Alpha while Elly was with four. The flame wall had separated the mobs and they could not come to each other’s aide over the flame wall.

Elly’s mobs were quickly put down by our attackers and it took just 4 minutes to do so. Being tangled in Rose’s Vine Hold did Miranda a world of good as her attacks kept hitting the enemies with critical backstab hits. It was quicker than I expected. Once done, she went towards Alviss’ side immediately and tanked the remaining mobs. Pulling the aggro away from him, he could now concentrate on the Boss himself.

The plan was going smoothly and I was quite happy with it. Weeks of preparation was finally bearing its fruit. However, there was something that had been bothering me for the duration of this fight.

Although Alviss was able to tank the Dire Wolf quite comfortably without his HP went below 75% at all times, I could only see ‘????’ on the HP bar of the Boss. Not only did I not know how much its HP, but the Boss level was at 55. At night time, I was sure as hell it would be way stronger than that. Perhaps equivalent to level 80 or more. The Poison skill that I managed to cast on it returned in no less than 2,000 HP damage per 3 seconds and it did not even do 1% total damage for the first 120 second of the skill. If my hunch was right, then we would be in a long night indeed.

*****

“Look out!!”

I ran towards Sophia and pushed her away immediately from the onrushing skill used by the Dire Wolf. Once it reached 75% of HP, the Boss attack patterns suddenly change. It did not just used its claw and bite attacks but now casted a few special skills in quick succession. The flame wall did not stop it either as it jumped out of the wall easily and then adjusting the hind legs, dashed and pounced on the unlucky Sophia.

The Dire Wolf used the skills, Fierce Wind as it bared its fangs and claws at the same time towards the girl. Fearing the worse, I pushed her away to safety but in doing so, I had been grazed by the attack, losing 80% of my HP immediately. Luckily it was not a direct hit or else it would be game over for me. This Boss was no joke.

“Miranda, give some cover fire for us. Rose, cast Vine Hold if you can and Alviss, raise your enmity further!!” I shouted my orders to them. Immediately they did as they were told before the Dire Wolf decided to end my night earlier.

Picking up Sophia on my arms, I dodged to the side from the same attack. Like its namesake, Fierce Wind enabled the Dire Wolf to move and attack as fast as the wind. Fortunately, it was a linear attack. Rose’s Vine Hold did manage to slow it down and that helped tremendously.

Now, what should I do? The same flame wall trick won’t work twice and I did not have any more plans for now. I was the weakest link and now with the lowest HP. The Boss now knew that I was the one controlling the party. Killing me was its priority. Attacking Sophia earlier was a way to actually gauge my reaction time and also to disrupt my healing skills. Seemed like Alviss and Elly could not tank the Boss for now. Locking into an imminent staredown, the Dire Wolf and I made our calculated move. The rest just stood still, waiting for my orders.

I eventually let Sophia off my arms. “T-Thank… you…” She immediately ran towards Miranda after saying her thanks.

But I could not avert my eyes. The moment I did so, that would be my doom. Whoever moved first, loses. I sweated profusely and my hands trembled. I was getting excited and my adrenaline was now pumped up properly. I gave off a smirk as the Boss growled at me non-stop. Looked like it was finally my turn to tank. I re-equipped myself without letting go of my eye contact. With a round shield and a sword and proper light armour, I now had to do what I was good at; close quarter combat. NPO had no class systems and anyone could use anything or become anything provided they knew how in the first place. This was more like it. I smiled gleefully at the imminent face of danger.

“Everyone, listen well!” I barked my next orders as they listened attentively for their lives depended on it. “I will now tank this bloody arsehole. And all you need to do now is to blow this whoreson of a wolf into the orbit with your best skills. Get that?!”

Before I could even get their response, the Dire Wolf launched its attack one more time. However, it was a normal attack this time. This clever bastard of an AI was trying to gauge my movement pattern once more and if there was any weakness at all, it would surely attack me with its skill.

But I was not about to let it have its way easily. I received its attack heads-on, surprising it since I was just dodging its attack earlier. I sidestepped the claw attack to the right, ducked the incoming tail lash and then I jumped on its back and slamming the shield onto its head.

Spurred by my action, the rest began to move. Immediately, both Alviss and Elly came and disrupted its movement, striking from the side. Rose and Miranda continued to attack the blindside and Sophia healed me as much as she could. Being level 43, she could heal me fully at one cast since my HP was just shy of 2000.

“Keep your healing to the minimum, Sophia. I got this motherfucker locked into me, so showered this fellow with your offensive magic instead!”

After 10 minutes of futility attacking me head-on, the Dire Wolf was now behaving wildly. Everyone had slammed their best attack on it and now, at a little more than 50% HP, it randomly attacks anyone of us with its skills and normal attacks.

But every time it did so, Alviss was there to receive the blow. After the earlier attack, it did no longer just focused its attack on me or Sophia. I was like the elusive cockroach that escaped the jaws of death every time it attacked and I would always be there to whisk Sophia away from any imminent danger.

Our attack and defence pattern had now changed a little. Still attacking its rear, Miranda and Rose now stood opposite each other and would always keep their distance while attacking. Sophia became our dedicated healer and the three of us; Elly, Alviss and I became the melee fighter.

The pretty-boy Holy Knight would receive the blow head on, while the two of us would slash and hack it from the blindside, maximizing our damage output. I then ordered Rose to cast a continuous round of Vine Hold around at the leg of the Boss, or more specifically at the knee while we took its attention away. Once I was satisfied that it could not be torn apart easily, I ordered her to constrict the vines immediately. It caught the Dire Wold by surprise and it tried to wriggle free.

However, unlike the time when we first did it, the vines now proved too strong for the Dire Wolf and it fell down to the side, exposing its belly. Immediately, we attacked it and the hind part relentlessly, pushing the Boss’ HP lower. Rose continued to cast Vine Hold per my instructions to lock the jaw, claws and the tail away. Or any other moving joints. We were not giving it any quarter at all. Even at level 80, the vines locking it at the joint would give us much needed time to land our attack without worry. With my Mad Rush skill and all the debuffs, I was like a madman hacking a log.

*****

FATE: A Dire Need in Help! Completed!

You have successfully defeated the Dire Wolf and its pack thus returning the peace and serenity back into the forest.

Rewards:

+ 20,000 EXPs

+ 15 Fame for first time completion.

The Dire Wolf’s lair is now had been left empty. You can plunder the lair if you want to. The location of the lair had been marked on your map.

Finally, the moment that all of us had been waiting for. The system message appeared with 10 minutes left on the countdown timer. The six of us fell to the ground, gasping for air. It was a long and arduous Boss battle.

The Dire Wolf was no pushover. But because of that fight, I now understood something about the night buffs properties. The level, HP and Mana would be increased many folds during the night time but the attack and defence rating would still be maintained. I managed to deduce that this was the case from battling the Boss for a prolonged period of time. The level 55 Dire Wolf might have level 80-90 HP and MP boost but the rest was maintained at its initial level. If this was a proper level 80-90 Boss fight, we would be long dead.

“Papa… did I do good?” Rose climbed on top of me and as usual caressed my cheeks. I just patted her for a job well done. I then stood up and walked to Elly and gave her a pat on the back.

“Well done Elly. Now, let us go back to the city.” The other three who heard what I said were shocked. Miranda was the first to speak up. “Y-You don’t want the loots from the Boss?”

I just shook my head.

“That’s all yours. I’m not interested in those loots. Besides…” I looked at the three of them before walking away. “I knew that this FATE had nothing to do with your job quest. I’ll not ask what makes you deceived me but honestly, I don’t care for craps.” From those who had told me prior coming to this FATE, the rewards from the Dire Wolf was abysmal. The lair had nothing but littered with bones and some coins.

“I-I’m sorry, Ghost.” Sophia came and apologized to me profusely. I looked at her with a stern expression. “However, I did expect you of all people to be a little honest. I still would help you even if this was a suicide mission.”

Alviss and Miranda was too shocked to say anything else. They just looked down onto the ground and kept their silence. Sophia was crying as she understood the deeper meaning of my words. I hated this sort of scene. A win should be celebrated with jubilancy and cheers, not some depressing shits like this. Not wanting to stay here any longer, I made my way towards the city with Elly and Rose in tow. I could do with some good drink down my dry throat.

*****

Sophia did send me a private message later. According to her, they were looking for crafting items from the Boss drops as a requirement to enter a guild. A trial or initiation of some sort she said. Not that I cared but I could not just ignore her. She was the most likeable one from the trios. I just answered her with a single word; “OK”.

“Thanks, Ghost for helping them.” Elly spoke as we entered the city’s main gate. I pulled her waist closer to me and whispered into her ear, “I’m doing it for you and no one else.” And then the most unexpected thing I could ever see on NPC happened; she blushed like a little girl. I flirted her a little just to see a reaction but I never knew that her AI could respond in such a way. However, it was short-lived. While I was having some fun teasing Elly, I was suddenly disrupted by a shout coming from a crowd of people on the main streets.

“Are you Popo’s student?!” Suddenly, I saw guard ran towards me. He was in such a rush that he nearly tripped himself a few times from barging into the people. Once he stood in front of me and caught himself the much needed breath, he repeated his question.

“Hmm… I do not consider myself to be his student and him my Master.” The guard looked at me as if he did not believe any of my words at all. “Aren’t you with the title Popo’s Student?”

I looked at him dumbfounded. Guessed he got me there. “Alright, so what now?” I asked him nonchalantly. Suddenly, he grabbed my shoulder and looked me straight into the eyes, “Y-Your Master, Popo and his wife had been attacked!”

“What?!” This turn of event was unexpected. I thought they were travelling with a bunch of knights and escorts from the Royal Capital.

“They and the others were on their way to the Royal Capital when they were ambushed by a group of kobolds. A-All of them, including Popo and Mimi, had been taken into their lair!”

Elly could not believe her ears. Looking at me, I was sure she wanted to save them. Well, she did not have to look at me like that. I would save them regardless. I still owe those couples some thanks for helping the three of us, especially Rose.

“B-But you cannot do it alone. You need to form a party before you could go there.”

“I have my party here.” I pointed to Elly and Rose. But the guard was having none of it. “No. You don’t understand. You need more than just 3 of you. You are talking about the kobold’s lair and their numbers are in the thousands. The three of you could not even make it into the entrance.”

“T-Then I’ll help.” Suddenly a girl came to my side. As she looked up at me, I saw her face from under the hood. She was Sophia. I turned my back and then saw the other two; Alviss and Miranda who ran toward us. Seemed like all of them were done with their stuff.

“Ghost, I wanted to apologize to you. I mean… we all are.” The pretty-boy explained to me. Miranda just nodded.

“Apologies accepted.” I answered them without a fuss. My mind was still thinking about the situation at hand. It came out of nowhere and now, I needed to look for PCs to join me in this quest. I had not made any friends, unfortunately.

“I-I wanted to apologize to you properly. Allow us to join you, please.” I looked at Alviss when he blurted out those words. Convenient but I was quite sceptical about his real intention and all.

However, Popo and his wife were in danger. I could not let my emotions and previous experiences got the better of me. Despite what they looked like, those three could be very valuable assets. Only if they were more coordinated and complement each other better.

“Please… Ghost?” Sophia looked at me, hoping that I would agree. I let out a sigh. “Alright, you three could join us, but this time, I’ll lead. Is that arrangement acceptable?”

All of them nodded rather enthusiastically. Looked like the unlikely party was formed. I invited them to the party and for the first time, I saw how a real party worked in NPO. Having PCs as party members differed a little than having NPCs. Their names were highlighted differently from Elly and Rose’s.

Save Popo and Mimi (1)!

Your Master and his wife had been attacked during their travel to the Royal Capital by a large band of kobolds. As his dearest student, you must now rescue them at all cost.

Quest Rank: Event Special

Time left: 23:59:35

Completion Requirements:

You have 24 hours of real time to complete this quest. The quest will fail if you exceed the time limit or get yourself killed at any point while this quest is still active.

You must form a party of no less than 3 PCs to help you with the quest. Find them fast and best of luck. Elly and Rose must survive.

Quest Reward:

None.

I was surprised to see Elly and Rose’s name appeared on the quest. Now, the HVT or High-Value-Transport had increased twofold. In any case, we must protect them at all cost too.

“I’ll mark the place where they were last seen. Godspeed and take care. Please save them, people.”

After selling all our loots and procuring all the necessary items, we made our way. The location was northeast, a few maps away from the City of Asgardia. These were the areas where players at the level 60 and above would farm. All of us however never travelled that far yet and the monsters that awaited us were in the late level of 50-60s. To make the matter worse, one of the area; albeit a small one was marked as a Player-Killer or PK zone. Unfortunately, time was not our side.

We would need to train, levelled up and learn how to cooperate with each other during our journey. And most important of all, learn to trust one another. In one way or another, this was a trial by fire.