The small village of Amrah was bombarded as waves of players warp into the town. In the middle of town was a makeshift bazaar set up to sell anything a player could want or need for running a world boss, raid, or even an all-out PVP war. A slew of news reporter stood at the town’s perimeter aiming their camera towards the group of thirty or so odd players bunched up at the edge of town.
“Melina, Melina,” one of the reporters shouted with a large floating sign above her head which read “Daily ARchive.”
“What’s going on?” Rachel asked.
“Reporters,” Don said loading a cart full of iron bolts.
“Why are they here?”
“A noob saw us and probably told every streaming channel that would give him credits. I'm sure they are just curious about why there are so many high ranking players in the middle of nowhere.”
“What are we going to do about this? We can't just let them follow us.”
“This happens quite often, we have a plan set out for this type of situation,” Harriet said. “Once Cassius gets back with the cake, we will start the operation.”
“Hi Melina, I’m Cassey with the Daily ARchive. Can you tell me and our thousands of viewers what is happening here?”
“Nothing really, we are all here to exchange items, share raid stories, just a small get together.”
“Oh, C'mon, I know that's a load of pixels. You want us to believe that you're all here to have a picnic,” Cassey said, pointing to a jaunty Kain who was sitting in the back crafting a literal cart load of iron bolts.
“Yes,” Melina said, a sly grin stretching across her face.
“Melina,” a suited warrior said, running up to her form the group. Without a bit of hesitation, Cassey sent one of the small camera orbs flying overhead, its lens zooming in on the man. “Cassius is back and he brought the cake.”
“Oh, what kind did he bring?” Melina asked.
“Chocolate.”
“Fantastic, that my favorite,” Melina said, clasping her hands. With a flick of her wrist, a small bolt of electricity shot out, arcing towards the small floating camera like a lightning rod.
“Hey, that cost me a fortune,” Cassie shouted.
“All’s fair once you're outside the safety zone,” Melina replied, pointing to the faint glowing line surrounding the town. With a wave, she made her way back to the group, heading towards Cassius. “Fill me in, what did you find.”
“It’s a bit of a cliche but it’s behind a waterfall,” Cassius said.
“If it was that obvious wouldn't someone have found by now?” Kain said. “There are still thousands and thousands of player searching for it, you can’t tell me it’s just behind a waterfall.”
“Well, your right. It not just behind a waterfall, it’s behind a waterfall in the water.”
“What?” Don, Kain, and Melina all said in unison.
“Yeah, a few of my guys died several times traversing it, but it's definitely there. Once you hit the rapids, you go straight down following a heavy current, after getting ejected about a thousand meters down, you have to swim towards a huge waterfall flowing upwards. I haven't made it pass, but I did a quick scry and there is definitely something big behind the waterfall. Also, not to bury the lead or anything, but if you don't make it across you will either die of drowning or being eaten.
“Eaten by what, small fishes?” Kain said, stowing his sword for a trident.
“No, a leviathan, one with a black skull over its head.”
“Describe it to me,” Sen said, running up to Cassius.
“Uh… It was big and had red eyes.”
“She said to describe the monster no my mother in law,” Kain said with a slight chuckle.
“How big was it? Did it have a back fin?” Sen berated, her hoodie glimmering in the early morning sun.
“I was too enamored by its giant teeth to notice any of that. Why are you so interested in this monster anyway?”
“Have you forgotten that every portal during the expansion was guarded by a unique world boss.”
“Oh yeah,” Cassis said scratching the back of his head. “They were all weak though, not even worth the time.”
“Well let me propose a question, do you think world bosses level up like regular monsters?”
“Huh…, I honestly don't know?”
“Are you telling me that thing could be over a thousand levels?” Melina chimed in.
“Quite possibly, but I won't know until I see it for myself.”
“Is everyone ready to go?” Harriet asked, making her round across the small camp.
“What do we do about the carts?” Kain asked.
“Leave them, take what you carry in your inventory. From the information Cassius relaid, not all of us will make it through the barrier. Sen I want you to stick with Rachel, you're the only one with high enough mana regen to keep a stable barrier for two people. For the rest of us, make sure you drink your water breathing potion. I have divided everyone into six teams, stay within communication range and do whatever your group leader says.”
“Yo, I'm not in a roster,” Kyle said, raiding his hand.
“Since Rachel is joining us, I had to push you out of Sen group to make room for her. Just pretend you are your own group leader and stay with the team.”
“Yes ma’am,” Kyle said, giving her a salute.
Sen and the five other members in each group all cast the same spell as a shimmering wave of light drifted across the group like a nice breeze. “What was that?” Rachel asked looking to Sen.
“Glimmer, it's a spell that cast an illusion of us for a few minutes.
“Sixteen,” Harriet shouted as the glimmering wave cascaded over the group. With a precise and simultaneous response, everyone in the raid opened their UI and scrolled down to server sixteen. Like the fading wind, the group all vanished leaving only the glimmer illusion. Sen, being the first to arrive by mere seconds started to cast a spell causing a moderately sized bubble to surround the area. “Invisibility up.”
Melina and her team followed Sen up by casting a buff, this one granting everyone the ability to fly for a short duration. “We have ten minutes,” she said, downing a mana potion.
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“I have updated everyone's map, It should only take eight minutes to get to the destination,” Cassius said, already jolting towards the marked location.
“Don’t let go,” Rachel said, grasping tightly onto Sen’s hand. “Don’t tell anyone, but I don't cope too well with heights.”
“It’s fine,” Sen reassured. “Look were already here,” pointing towards the river. With one hand, Sen began casting a spell. A force bubble formed around the two as they lowered towards the water. With a resounding splash, the bubble submerged, giving them the full view of what looked like an underwater whirlpool.
“We're supposed to go into that?” Kain said.
“What, you chicken?” Cassius remarked as his team entered first.
Each member was thrown into a long winding funnel leading them deeper and deeper into an unknown depth. Like a pinball machine, they were all eject into a large vast ocean with no sense of direction.
“Lights,” Cassius yelled, as everyone pulled out a small orb, gave it a slight smack, and threw it in a random direction. The multitude of the small orb cracked and radiated a bright yellow light giving the group vision of a giant underwater waterfall the size of a skyscraper. The waterfall, which flows upwards, ejected anything that got within a fifty-foot radius dragging it along with the current.
“Your six,” Don yelled, swimming towards the waterfall. The sound of gnashing of teeth could be heard as a large monster swam past, its red eyes reflecting off the orb’s light. A bubbling noise reverberated across the water as the monster opened its large snake-like mouth. Like a hurricane, the monster let loose a concentrated burst of water blasting two of Don’s crew into oblivion and scattering several other members, some of which floated too close to the waterfall and was sent flying upwards.
“Five down,” Don shouted, looking at the raid party screen. “I’ll try to pull aggro.” Bringing out a spear, Don hurled it at the beast, aiming for one of its large glowing eyes. The Leviathan, moving like a jet, easily dodged the toothpick and dove down towards the dark abyss. Coming up, the beast whipped its tail causing the water to rapidly spin forming a giant whirlpool. Three members instantly died as they were pulled into the massively rotating death trap.
“Pillar of flame,” Melina yelled, pulling out her staff. A huge surge of fire erupted in the middle of the whirlpool which swiftly evaporated the surrounding water causing a huge air bubble to form. The rapid collapse of the bubble caused a large explosion that ripples across each player pulling them back and forth. The Leviathan, after being hit by the massive shockwave, writhed back and forth before curling up into a tight ball.
“It’s stun,” Kain yelled, swimming towards the enormous beast at full force. Holding firm to his trident, an electrical arc forming across the three prongs, he slammed it into the monster’s side. With a dull thud, the weapon bounced off its thick hide like hitting a rock with a twig. Without giving it a second thought, Kain let go of the trident and pulled out a Spear that was twice his size. Kicking off the monster’s scales, he drifted back twenty feet before gripping the spear with both hands. The spear burned a bright red as tiny bubbles formed around the edge, the water instantly evaporating as it made contact with the heated metal. With another push, Kain plunged the molten spear into the monster’s hide, jamming it between two scales. An explosion blasted out from between the scales as the monster let out a deathly roar.
System: You have identified the monster
System: Creature: Grand Leviathan
System: Type: World Boss
System: Level: ???
“I got agro,” Kain yelled, as a health bar popped up at the top of everyone’s UI.
“I was right,” Sen said, still concentrating on the force bubble surrounding Rachel and herself.
“Where the damage?” Kain said, looking at the health bar.
“Mate, you got it down to ninety-nine,” GJ replied.
System: [Great Leviathan] Health: 99%
“Fuck me dead, that things got auto,” G.J. added.
“What?” Kain shouted in confusion.
“It’s got auto regen, and it back up to full,” Don replied.
System: [Great Leviathan] Health: 100%
The monster, unfurling from the stun, let out another roar causing everyone to be affected by fear. Giving Kain a death glare, the monster grasped at the lance in its mouth. With the sound of cracking metal, the lance shattered into large chunks.
System: [Midgar’s Lace] durability 0
System: [Midgar’s Lace] has been destroyed
“Fuuuuuck,” Kain yelled, unable to move due to the fear. “That was one of my favorite legendary weapons.” The Leviathan, swimming back away from the group, charged at Kain like a derailed locomotive.
“Guardian’s Heart,” Don yelled debuffing the group from fear. “Stack Guardian’s shield on Kain.” Don, as well as four other members, all started chanting as a bright crystalized bubble formed around Kain. “Brace for impact.”
Before getting close to Kain, the monster made a quick u-turn, lashing its large tail at him like a whip. Upon impact, nothing happened, the lack of a reaction giving everyone a moment of confusion. The pause which was brief was broken as Kain was sent flying back, the force of the attack breaking the stacks of Guardian’s shield surrounding him. Kain flew past the several members in an instant. Reaching out his hand out, he was unable to grab onto anyone as he was sent careening into the waterfall.
The monster, not giving anyone a second to process, swam in a large circular pattern creating an even larger whirlpool, this one the size of a soccer field. Like pieces of litter, everyone was pulled into the swirling vortex.
“Fountain of the Goddess,” Harriet yelled, watching the mass of life bar quick dwindle. Her, as well as the other healers, were quickly running out of mana as the whirlpool drained everyone of their health. “I got twenty seconds worth of mana left.”
Cassius, shadow stepping next to the monster, threw a grappling hook at it. Catching one of the scales, he pulled himself towards the rampaging beast. With his dark obsidian dagger, he jammed it in between the scales of the monster while keeping a tight grip with his other hand.
System: Unable to poison the [Grand Leviathan]
“It's got poison immunity,” Cassius shouted.
“Noted,” Sen answered, forcing Rachel to down her sixth healing potion.
“I'm not feeling so good,” Rachel said, feeling the first signs of potion poisoning.
Stowing the obsidian dagger, Cassius pulled out a glass dagger, the interior of which arced with lighting. Like with the first dagger, he plunged it into the beast waiting for the dagger’s effect to take hold.
System: Unable to paralyze the [Grand Leviathan]
With the sleight of hand, another dagger fell onto the monster, thing one made of a hazy fog like exterior. The blade, which oozed smoke like a cascading show, slid under the monster scale like a parasitic virus. The monster stopped its circular swimming as it swayed its body back and forth like a worm strung on a metal hook.
“What did you do?” Sen asked.
“Blind,” Cassius replied, jumping off the monster.
“Guys, can you hear me?” A voice said, echoing across the water.
“Kain, you still alive?” Cassius shouted.
“Why would I not be? It’s going to take a lot more than a fish to kill me.”
“I mean you did have a stack of bubbles on you.”
“Cut the chatter, Kain where are you?” Harriet said, attempting to down a mana potion.
“I’m on the other side, and man, are you guy in for a surprise.”
“How did you get back there?”
“The fish, It threw me so hard I just passed through it.”
“We got about twenty more seconds before the debuff fades, anyone got ideas.”
“Yeah, I got one,” Kain said, letting out a loud huff. A two-handed axe came tumbling out of the waterfall, the rope behind it immediately catching the current and sending the whole thing floating upwards. With another shadow step, Cassius grabbed at the end of the hilt.
“Unholy might,” Don shouted, as a red glow enveloped him and several other people swimming towards Cassius. With a chain line forming, the group desperately swam downwards fighting the heavy current.
“How the hell are you holding it on your side,” Cassius said.
“I’m not, I've tied it to something. Just grab on and let the current take you, I'll pull you guys in.” Everyone promptly grabbed onto the rope, Don, as well as several other strong individuals took the area closer towards the waterfall.
“Ready,” Don yelled, as he stopped swimming, the current grabbing onto the group like a piece of seaweed. Slowly, Kain hoisted in the group, Don being the first one through.
“Whoah.”
“Yeah, no time, help me pull.”
Don, shaking his head, grabbed the end of the rope. With another cast of Unholy Might, the two pulled through several other, who after a short glance at the gate, join in the line. Sen, being the last to go through, gazed at the two apartment sized statue in the shape of a mermaid, but was knocked out of her amazement as Rachel let loose a deep and guttural belch.
“I’m.. I’m not feeling,” Rachel began to say as a thick purple haze of vomit ejected from her mouth.
“Eww,” Sen said, dragging Rachel lifeless body away from her own cesspool of puke.
“What the hell,” Cassius yelled.
“Can it,” Sen said, bring Rachel towards Harriet. “Can you do anything?”
“What happened?”
“I kinda forced her to drink about twenty max potions.”
“Jeez, are you trying to kill her,” Cassius said. “You know the limit for that is eight, and that's with a high constitution.”
“You have to keep in mind she has less than a tenth of our life pool and all those attacks do quite a lot of damage over time. My Arcane Sphere can only block so much of that damage.”
Opening up Rachel's status screen, Harriet gave Sen a slow shake of the head. “The only thing keeping her from dying is my regen aura, Once that runs out she will succumb to the potion poisoning.”
“What's the big deal, just let her die,” Cassius said.
“No,” Sen quickly replied. “Harriet, can you maintain the regen?”
“Not really, the amount of Mana that would take would have me downing mana potion just as fast.”
“How about until we reach the inn?”
“Sure, but I won't be casting anything for a while and we only have two healers left.”
“None of us are in shape to be fighting another monster like that,” Melina said. “We should rush to the inn, rest and regroup for the night and tackle the wyvern tomorrow.”
Walking into the portal, the once strong thirty seven man raid party was cut down to measly thirteenth, one of them being an unconscious Rachel.