Return of Aegis

Chapter 10:

| Rodent King (Lv 10) : Area Boss |

| HP: 1,500 / 1,500 |

| MP: 200 / 200 |

| King among rodents, a champion warrior of the rodents |

| Tail Whip - Stuns for 10 seconds | 

| Bite - 400 poison damage over time | 

| Thick Hide - Immune to physical and magical damage below 20 STR or 20 INT |

“God damnit, the stupid idiots fed the Rodent King till it leveled up! Not only that, it’s now officially an Area Boss!” cursed ZeRen. 

The previously level 8 Rodent King was just a normal boss monster. But now it had evolved into an area boss. There were different tiers of boss mobs. Usually pack leaders were just normal bosses, and much easier to deal with. Area bosses on the other hand were a whole other story. They could go into enraged mode, increasing damage output at the cost of zeroized defense. 

That {Thick Hide} ability was such a pain in the ass. Even with 37 STR, only 17 STR would register as damage. Effectively halving ZeRen damage. 

ZeRen decided to try anyway. He estimated that he could eliminate the Rodent King with 2 cycles of {Spiral Shot} and {Precise Shot} combos. Both skills having 100% chance of dealing critical hits was definitely a plus point.

Making up his mind, ZeRen drew his bow, then cast {Spiral Shot} and {Precise Shot} back to back.

- 510

- 425

| Rodent King (Lv 10) : Area Boss |

| HP: 565 / 1,500 |

| MP: 200 / 200 |

Two thirds of the Rodent King’s health evaporated in that instant. If anyone else was watching, their eyes would have popped out and jaws hit the floor.

Sudden loss of two thirds of its HP, the Rodent King went against norm and went straight into enraged mode. As it could not climb the tree ZeRen was perched on, it began attacking the tree. ZeRen nimbly jumped from his tree to another, he was trying to get another angle to pull off a {Precise Shot}. He had decided to end it quickly as he had heard footsteps coming. 

It was probably the four idiots coming again, and he did not want the kill to go to them. So instead of waiting on the 5 minute cooldown for {Spiral Shot}, ZeRen decided to use another {Precise Shot} instead. 

- 425  

- 170

[Ding! Congratulations on being the first to kill an Area Boss! Would you like to announce your achievement to the world?] 

“No.” decided ZeRen, it wasn’t time to announce that he was back in the game. 

[Would the player like to name his party instead?]

“I guess I should start promoting our new guild, even though we’ve yet to make it.” 

[World Announcement! Congratulations to Yggdrasil party for being the first to kill an Area Boss of the Mal Continent! Player XXXXX awarded with 200 Aegis Reputation Points]

The announcement rang thrice across the game. 

Players around the world were stunned! The game had only been out for 5 hours and already someone had cleared an Area Boss!

A new post soon appeared in the forums, who is this Yggdrasil! Never has there been a famous guild in Aegis called this.

[Ding. You have a message from ZeLin]

“That was unexpected. Easy or stolen?” 

ZeRen chose not to reply. He knew his brother was joking. In the previous expansion, Holy Empire would not steal a boss first kill. Dark Empire on the other hand, stole a few here and there.

[System Announcement: Congratulations to ZeRen for being first player to kill Rodent King (Area Boss) | Player rewarded with: 500 EXP | +1 Luck | 1 Skill Point | 1G | 200 Aegis Reputation Points]

ZeRen dived the Rodent King’s body, grabbed what he could then used {Dash} and {Roll} to escape. The sounds of people could be heard getting closer. 

He didn’t stay to meet those who were coming, but he did hear a scream way behind him. 

“DAMN IT!! Our first kill got stolen!! Find out who that Yggdrasil belongs to! We’re going to make them pay!” cursed one of the four. They had died so many times, there were back to Level 2 or 3.  

ZeRen took the long way back, he headed East, then entered the village via the South gate. Although he could technically kill the four, he chose not to. The penalties for player killing (PK) we harsh in Aegis. But there were benefits also, for those of poor reputation. Thanks to ZeLin’s experiences, ZeRen knew too the benefits of being on the other side. 

Slyph was waiting for him at the fountain in the middle of the village. 

Before ZeRen could say anything, “Thank you for ridding us of this menace. Now new players will be able to level up in peace.” Slyph thanked him first.

[Ding! Quest Completed. Rewards: 1000 EXP | Scroll to City of Choice | 1G ]

“Before you leave, please find Sif. She has a gift for you.” said Slyph.

ZeRen wasn’t in a hurry to look for Sif, he wanted to see what loot he had gotten from the Rodent King. He had grabbed the loot in such hurry, that he hadn’t yet checked what he got. 

Opening his inventory, he saw 3 items which he got from the Rodent King. 

Mystery Egg (???) (Soul bound)

{Thick Hide} Skill book

Rodent King’s Core

ZeRen only heard about Mystery Eggs back in the last expansion, some people got monster mounts and some got monster pets; neither he nor ZeLin had the fortune of getting one for themselves.

As for the {Thick Hide} skill book, it could only be learned by warriors and their subclasses. At level 1, it would negate 10 STR or 10 INT worth of damages done to the user. 

Monster cores were new, in previous versions, Aegis monsters did not produce cores. The description said that it was a type of food for pets or mounts.

Happy with the loot he got, ZeRen begun his search for Sif. 

Along the way he stopped by the NPC that assisted players in expanding their inventory. Rates were more or less the same as previous expansion. First 10 slots were free, to expand another 10, the first time would cost 1 gold coin, the second time would cost 10G, and the third, 100G. The more slots you opened up, the more the price would go up. ZeRen spent 1G to increase his slots to 20. 

The extra space would be important to store the items he needed to get for ZeLin. 

ZeRen finally located Sif, she sitting below a large tree on the North East part of the village. “Hi Lady Sif, mister Slyph said you wanted to see me?” quirried ZeRen.

“Hi there, hero of the new players! Yes, I’d like to give you a reward for helping to keep the area safe for new players. Thank you.” Lady Sif said as she handed over a bow.

Lady Sif’s Intermediate Bow (Level 10)

Rarity: Unique (Soul Bounded)

Requirement: 20 STR and 14 DEX, Level 10

ATT: Normal attack + 50

Range: up to 900 meters

ZeRen sent a message to ZeLin, telling him that he was going to log off and get some food, before heading to sleep. Having played for almost 6 hours, ZeRen was exhausted.