Chapter 362

Raiding the Star of Hegon (VI)

Cain yawned, feeling somewhat sleepy and tired. Even the numerous explosions intermixed with shouts and screams as well as rips of the many cast spells couldn’t undo the fact that he’d only slept for three-four hours the night before. After all, Lana and Senna had both come looking for him, and he kept them awake deep into the night as it has been some while since he’d last spent some time with them.

Furthermore, ever since he made a ‘contract’ with U’nul, he’d noticed something: though she was far more savage when they were healthy, leading to quite a few early exits from the raid as nobody was prepared for such an uptick in difficulty, she was also far more careful as to not kill anyone. It was kind of funny, really, since nobody in the raid except for Cain noticed. Though he still paid attention ‘just in case’, it was likely that he was entirely unnecessary.

Following yet another unceremonious leave before even reaching the second phase, the atmosphere in the raid was glum. Even Emma seemed disheartened; after all, their very first attempt was still by far their best. They’d managed to get into the second phase once afterwards, but in a far worse condition. Rather than improving, it felt as though they regressed.

“It’s not strange,” one of the buffers they’d accepted into the raid explained as, supposedly, before the whole Tower business appeared, he was a psychiatrist. “Our first attempt showed just how large of a rift we had between the start and finish line. We, collectively, realized that it would take months, at minimum, to defeat the boss. Not to mention that there was always a risk of dying. As such, everyone became more timid and careful--affecting us all on a subconscious level.”

Cain mulled over it and realized that the failures were the combination of those two factors: U’nul’s increased difficulty, as well as the self-conscious factors of every raid member. While Cain’s main group could perform somewhat optimally, even they were struggling. And this was with years upon years of experience raiding the hardest fights in the Tower. But there were far more people in the raid that didn’t have their experience--and they struggled mightily to catch up.

As such, it all started from the individual level--everyone would have to start performing much better in isolation rather than as a group. The polishing of the group performance always comes last--no matter how good of a group it is, after all, if the individuals are dropping the ball every other second, it was difficult if not outright impossible to cover for them consistently.

“It’s probably pointless to continue like this,” Emma proposed in the main tent while everyone was resting. Besides her and Cain, others who were present were Kramer, Senna, Ethan, Yuki, Daniel, Jamal, and Chriss, the 3rd tank they recruited. The man appeared to be in his late fifties and was recommended directly by Rick. “Every time I look back, someone’s fumbling. Healers are wasting far more Mana than they are supposed to. Even if we do get to the second phase like this, they’d all be running on fumes.”

“Noticed it too,” Jamal said, sighing. “To be honest, even I’m struggling a bit. The fight seems much harder than it did before.”

“’cause it is,” Daniel commented. “It feels less like a scripted fight and more like a PvP duel. Boss’ behavior became sporadic and unpredictable. As such, we can’t hide individual shortcomings by predicting how the boss will behave. Ergo, performance suffers.”

“So, bottom line is,” Senna said. “Everyone just needs to get good?”

“Yea, pretty much,” Jamal nodded as well, stretching.

“Remember early days of MMOs?” Chriss suddenly asked. “We struggled mightily to gather 40-50 people, most of whom sucked cherry ass and were carried by 10 ass-competent players into believing they were somehow good? Are you saying that not only do we need 80 people to be really, really, really good, but also cooperate with each other for probably hours? Yeah, there’s a higher chance of my ex-wife giving me a BJ on Time’s Square than that.”

“Who knows? Maybe your ex-wife opened up to public kinks since you last saw her?” Kramer joked.

“Would be hard,” Chriss said. “Seeing as she’s dead.”

“...”

“...”

“Man, I just killed the atmosphere harder than the Tower killed her,” he added.

“Y’know,” Jamal said. “For an old man, you have none of the, what’s it called, sagaciousness about you.”

“Sagaciousness shitciousness,” Chriss shrugged. “All I know is that we may as well go swimming and breeding with the fishes since there’s a higher chance of us creating mermaids through that than conquering that boss.”

“They don’t have to become good,” Ethan suddenly spoke. “Just... good for this fight, specifically.”

“He’s right,” Emma nodded. “Though the boss is sporadic, she hasn’t used any ability outside the ones from the description. As long as everyone can react to those, even if they suck literal ass outside the boss fight, it should be fine.”

“Problem is that the morale is dropping,” Daniel said. “’cause we keep getting our ass kicked. Cain--”

“--no.”

“A’right. Then, I suppose, we just keep banging at it?”

“... I may have a proposal,” Yuki raised his hand timidly. Though he’d gotten some confidence over the years, he still struggled to voice himself in group settings. Largely because he was usually surrounded by very expressive people.

“Well, spit it out?” Senna arched her brows. “Or do you want us to choke it out of you?”

“What if... what if some of us,” Yuki took a deep breath and ignored her as he replied. “Simulated the boss fight and got them used to it?” everyone, except for Chriss, immediately shifted their heads toward Cain who was lazily lying down on a nearby bench, sipping wine.

“Hoh...?” he mumbled, looking up and stroking his chin. Though it’s still interference... it’s not that bad. Of course, he had no desire to actually follow what Ethan suggested--to make the raid group good enough just for the fight. Even if it takes years, it’s better that the average skill goes well up before stepping into higher floors. One way or another, the Tower would grind people into becoming much better. “Go on,” he egged Yuki on.

“We can slowly groom them both individually as well as in group,” Yuki continued. “In a controlled environment. It doesn’t have to be just Cain--skills themselves need not be of the fire, just similar in their execution. This way, their fear of dying likely won’t influence their decision making.”

“What would be the point of that, though?” Chriss immediately saw the possible shortcoming. “Wouldn’t they shit themselves still when the actual fight started? If anything, they should be consistently beaten an inch away from death so that they can get used to it. That’s probably the only way their fanny-packed asses can make any progress.”

“They?” Emma suddenly grinned. “Old man, you suck harder than a veteran porn star. You’ll be right there, on the frontlines, getting beaten with them.”

“... fuck, I forgot you were in the tent,” Chriss mumbled. “Fine, I guess. These old bones will set an example for the stupid youngs.”

“It’s always nice to see the older generation set an example,” Senna rolled her eyes while Chriss’ eyebrows twitched. “Don’t you agree, dad?” she glanced at Cain who seemed disinterested in their conversation once again.

“No,” Cain fired back. “Old people are stubborn and petty. We don’t change our ways. That’s why we should be left alone by the ambitious youngs who want to be trendsetters.”

“Will you help us, at least?” she grumbled.

“Well, I’ll do it,” Cain smirked. “I don’t know whether you guys will see it as helping, though.”

“... what do you mean?” Emma immediately asked, picking up on a bad feeling.

“I will make you guys stronger,” he said. “But not so that you can defeat U’nul.”

“... ah, I’m getting a really, really, really bad feeling about this,” Jamal sighed.

“From tomorrow onwards,” Cain said, taking a sip of beer. “You guys will be raiding me.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“And get better, naturally,” he grinned.

“You’ll hold back, right?” Emma asked.

“Nope.”

“You won’t kill us?”

“Define ‘dying’.”

“It will be nothing like the U’nul fight, huh?”

“Well... there’s gonna be some fire, I suppose,” Cain said, standing up and stretching. “But I guarantee if you ever defeat me, there’s gonna be nothing that’s gonna stop you from climbing the Tower!”

“... defeat you?” everyone groaned collectively, with the exception of Chriss who was confused. Though he’d seen Cain hanging about, he mostly thought of him as Emma’s husband and Senna’s father. However, from the sounds of it, he was far more than that.

“Yuki,” everyone suddenly shifted to the young man who hung his head low, understanding that he’d messed up. “How will you fix this?”

“I--I... I’ll buy everyone their favorite ice-cream,” he said. “T-twice.”

“... a’right, good enough,” Emma shrugged. “Inform everyone else we’re retreating to the 14th floor. There’s a nice, spacious valley there we can use as the training grounds. Ethan, you go and see Ricky. Have him ship all the necessary supplies to build a temporary town. We’ll also need to drag some smiths--so it’s time to get Tamia out of his hermit lifestyle, since our gear will be consistently on the brink of being broken. Set up cameras around the valley’s perimeter, as well; we’ll review the footage after every fight and slowly improve. Forbid every other recording and have everyone sign NDAs. I don’t think it’ll be necessary after Cain whips their asses once, but just for the hell of it, I suppose. Dismissed.”

“Aye, aye!” everyone except for Emma and Cain quickly left the tent. She looked at him and sighed.

“How bad’s it gonna be?” she asked, sitting next to him and ripping away the bottle of beer.

“Based on the raid’s performance?” Cain mumbled. “Abysmal, for a while. Rather, there’s gonna be some shifts.”

“Shifts?”

“I’ll hand out a few ass-whoopings initially,” he said. “But it’s counter-productive to improve individually as well as a group at the same time. I’ll have Quinn and the twins take some burden on themselves. She’s gonna take you, Kramer, and Chriss, and teach you how to tank. After all, you three are still the key to success.”

“How long do you think it’s gonna take?” she asked.

“I don’t know, honestly,” Cain shrugged. “At minimum, I expect you guys will need some fifty-sixty heavily competent people. It’s not a fight that can be carried by a few.”

“Unless you join us.”

“The only place I’m joining anytime soon is your bed.”

“... a’right,” she shrugged, finishing off the beer. “I’m feeling a bit itchy too. Let’s go.”

“... I should disappear for a few years every now and then,” Cain mumbled. “I’ve never seen you be hornier.”

“Quit yapping and pipe me, boy.”

“... the fuck does that even mean?”