This was the pain of exploring new dungeons. Because the monsters’ skill sets were unknown, it only took a little carelessness for a squad to be wiped out.
Soulsmith and Greenstone who had been keeping their distance the entire fight quickly escaped from the tornado’s range.
Among the melee fighters, Drako Yau was the quickest to react as he started fleeing the moment the tornado appeared. Zephyrwolf and Hades, however, were caught in a tough spot. Their main role was to protect Soulsmith and Greenstone, but they would still send a few hits at the boss whenever the opportunity arose. Seeing that the skeleton king had been pinned down by the demon wolf king’s Lunging Bite, they were about to join the fray after killing off a nearby wave of skeletons when the boss went berserk.
Hades had a bitter look on his face. He noticed that a skeleton was approaching him from afar, and an idea popped up in his head. He vanished from the spot and reappeared in front of the skeleton—he used Shadowstrike as a teleportation skill to escape! Even Drako Yau applauded his outstanding move which reflected his quick wits and thorough knowledge of his own skills.
“Damn!” Zephyrwolf could feel his Health plummeting. Even though he had used Dash to increase his movement speed, it wasn’t enough to outrun the expanding tornado.
“Boss, avenge me!” Zephyrwolf’s legs left the ground and he was sucked into the tornado. His Health reached zero in no time.
Despite knowing that Zephyrwolf could resurrect, Drako Yau was enraged nonetheless to see his comrade die.
Soon, the tornado came to a stop, revealing the exhausted skeleton king who held its claymore while gasping for air. Drako Yau charged at the skeleton king along with Hades who used Shadowstrike to backstab it. It was the aftereffect of going berserk, and Hades the assassin was obviously going to kick the boss when it was down.
The skeleton king scurried to parry the incoming attacks with its weary body, yet its reaction and movements had gotten noticeably slower. Drako Yau seized the chance and thrust Moon Gazer to entangle the boss’ claymore with the pointy hook on his spear. Taking a step forward, he snapped a powerful front kick at the skeleton king’s chest.
Soulsmith silently notched two arrows and drew his bow, the arrows radiating a bright glow.
The two arrows whistled through the air, one before the other, and shot straight at the skeleton king’s chest. As if he could predict the future, the two arrows landed on their target the moment Drako Yau disarmed and sent the skeleton king staggering backwards with his kick.
The impact made a deafening boom.
Level 18 hunter skill, Repelling Shot!
Heart-Piercing Shot!
Before the skeleton king could recover from Drako Yau’s kick, Repelling Shot had already landed and knocked it back even further. Heart-Piercing Shot connected the next moment, puncturing its bones and piercing through its body. The second arrow robbed the boss of its final bit of Health.
“New team record for clearing Demon City (Hell). Do you wish to make your squad name public?”
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Everyone let out a long sigh together. It’s finally over… The skeleton king dropped a large pile of gold onto the ground, and on top of it lay three pieces of equipment. Zephyrwolf wasn’t present, but that didn’t stop the four of them from having a peek at their stats.
“Level 20 rare set: Skeleton King Leggings. Not everyone could wear it due to the demonic energy imbued in it.”
“Level 20 epic torso equipment: Robe of Cleansing. A robe blessed by a powerful cleric, it imbues a miraculous power of faith onto its wearer.”
“Level 20 epic torso equipment: Raging God. A chestplate designed for wild warriors back in ancient times, it came with first-rate attributes without being excessively heavy.”
Much to their joy and surprise, two epic pieces of equipment dropped on a single run. Part of the reason was that they set a new record though.
Robe of Cleansing belonged to the cloth armour category, so it was naturally given to Greenstone. They decided to give Raging God to Zephyrwolf for his sacrifice, and upon hearing the news, he laughed heartily without minding about having just lost a level.
The final piece, Skeleton King Leggings, was a piece of heavy armour, which meant Drako Yau and Zephyrwolf were the only ones who could equip it. With Zephyrwolf politely refusing it because he had the chestplate already, Drako Yau gratefully received it.
Hades checked their clear time: 38 minutes, 52 seconds. It was close to ten minutes quicker than Age of Scholar’s record. Breaking a record by minutes was difficult enough, let alone almost ten whole minutes. Hades could already imagine their twisted faces after they saw the announcement.
“Team ‘Dual Coalition’ has set a new team record for clearing Demon City (Hell). The new record is 38 minutes, 52 seconds.”
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The Age of Scholars squad was currently resting in the wilderness. They wasted not a single second; even after clearing the dungeon to its daily limit, they still headed out to farm experience. Having just returned to their farming spot from the starter village, the announcement was made visible globally.
Booksy Swordsman had a bitter look as he slammed his fist into a nearby tree. Apart from Handsome Scholar and Idyllic Poet, the squad’s complexion was no better than Booksy Swordsman—the dungeon expedition didn’t go well.
After clearing the dungeon plenty of times till they reached the day’s limit, Bookstore Clerk had levelled up once to Level 18 while Thousand Scrolls got to Level 17. However, when they challenged Hell, Bookstore Clerk died after getting outnumbered by monsters. The squad decided to quit the dungeon after his death and started a new run instead.
Their next attempt was smoother, at least until they met the skeleton king. Bookstore Clerk died again when the skeleton king summoned its minions, and Thousand Scrolls also died to the skeleton king’s berserk tornado at the very end. If not for Handsome Scholar who dragged Booksy Swordsman away just in time, the guild master would have met the same fate as well.
That was the cruelty of exploring a new dungeon. They had little knowledge of the dungeon’s details and the boss’ skillset, and things only got more difficult when Real World spawned players at random locations whenever they challenged Hell difficulty. Different paths had different enemies, which only spelt more trouble for players.
In fact, the Level Rankings had been rapidly changing these days. Not that players were levelling up quickly, but because they were losing levels, which was of course due to exploring the new dungeon. There were a handful of other squads that managed to clear Demon City in Hell difficulty, but Age of Scholars had always been the record holder… until now.
Handsome Scholar furrowed his brows and said, “Guild master, calm down, it’s just the first day.”
Booksy Swordsman abruptly turned around and yelled at his guild member with veins popping on his forehead, “How can I not be nervous? This will determine our guild’s future! It’s all or nothing! You tell me how I’m gonna stay calm!”
Handsome Scholar simply looked at him with an unbothered look. After a while, Booksy Swordsman took in a deep breath and patted Handsome Scholar’s shoulder. “Sorry, I’m too anxious. That’s it today, we’ll continue tomorrow.” He immediately logged off and morphed into a streak of light which quickly dissipated.
Thousand Scrolls and Bookstore Clerk were in a fairly bad mood after losing levels as well. After receiving their guild master’s instruction, they also logged off quickly, leaving behind Idyllic Poet and Handsome Scholar who made wry smiles at each other.