The Strongest Wizard

Screechers Skeleton Warrior With Willow Leaf Sabres...!!!

28th December 1018 / 2018 0518hrs

*CLANG*

*CLANG*

*BAAAAAASSSHHH*

"H H H U U U A A A R R R G G G H H H..." Why are these monsters are hard to kill, Captain? Their movements are so sluggish, but it seemed that I have a hard time to get through them. Any pointers?" ShadowDancer was calling out in the far end of the catacomb as he faced with one of the Screechers Skeleton Warriors which was screeching incessantly and wielding the willow leaf sabre towards ShadowDancer.

Everyone had no problems handling the rest of the monsters here in this level; however, ShadowDancer was having some difficulties in handling this one. Then I realised that it must be due to the daggers that might have a slight disadvantage in tackling the monsters on a one-on-one battle.

Every time ShadowDancer got near the monster and was able to land a strike at it, the Screechers Skeleton Warrior was able to evade even though its movement was considered slow and its strikes were easy to be predicted.

Suddenly it dawned on me that this monster was different from the rest of the members that we're handling. I saw a red coloured bandanna around its skull while the rest does not have any. It seemed that ShadowDancer was actually going against a mini Boss all by himself...!

"Withdraw from its aggro, ShadowDancer. Fall back...!!!" I screamed at ShadowDancer after realising about the mini Boss since there would be 2 Bosses to fight over in this catacomb level.

"Alright, Captain. I try to get rid of myself from here first. It seemed to lock on to me as I am locked on to it as well. Give me a minute before I could detach myself from its target zone...!"

Suddenly, it was as if the mini Boss had predicted ShadowDancer's movements and was able to block the escape route. The mini Boss Screechers Skeletal Monster suddenly swung its willow leaf sabre around, and it caught Shadowdancer right across the chest. The momentum brought him to the edge of the catacomb...!!!

"S H A D O W D A N C E R...!!!"

"Healer...get to work!"

"Magehunter...support fire to keep the mini Boss away from ShadowDancer...!!!"

"Answer me, Shadowdancer...! Are you alright?!" I hollered out since I had never had a teammate to suffer a direct hit from a mini Boss before and not ever in the earlier stages of MMORPG - The Lord Of The Red Dragon...!!!

"Yeah...! I am OK. But my HP is dropping fast. It had a short DPS and its a life steal effect. Where's my healer? I just took a health potion, and it is stabilising, but I need a heal quicker than this...!!!"

As soon as ShadowDancer was feeling exasperated at being in this vulnerable position, he received healing from WarPriestess and soon his HP had stabilised back to normal.

He stood up from where he had landed earlier after being bashed by the mini Boss of the Screechers Skeleton Warrior. The mini Boss walked away like as if nothing had happened when it had struck ShadowDancer and swatted him like a nuisance fly.

"Hey Captain, how come it is so hard to get close to the monster. Is it some kind of special mutation that just popped out?" ShadowDancer asked as he squatted down and was pondering on how he would have dealt with the mini Boss earlier.

When the rest of the monster walked away since no one was attacking them, the HP that was slowed shaved away from the monsters slowly regenerated. This surprises the rest of the members, as it never occurred before. None of the monsters in the other two levels of the catacomb could regenerate its own HP.

"Well...that is a mini Boss and the only way to get round to it is to........."

I explained the new strategy to the members of the party, and they understood. Even WarPriestess was involved in aiding the gamers as the enemy was the Undead kind. It would need all types of barrage attacks coming in from all angles since everyone was Level 8 and the monster was a Level 22 mini Boss.

After listening to the new set of instructions, the members all proceeded to try to out the tactics. In an hour, the mini Boss was able to be subdued.

"Oh My God...!!! This is a poor mini Boss that I had ever seen. Even the minions would drop some 50 credits or so, but this pathetic motherfucker does not even drop a single thing...! This is the sorriest assed mini Boss we had ever encountered...!!!" one of the members called out, and the rest cannot help but laugh along. The important thing is that we would be receiving EXP equally among the 8 of us. That was one of the reasons we had come to grind where the monsters were double the levels than all of us...!!!

Crusader, the Guardian Knight who rarely speak, finally voices out when he found out that the mini Boss did not drop any spoils. The mini Boss Screechers Skeleton Warrior simply dissipated into thin air when it was felled by one of the members. But they received a sweet surprised when everyone received 20,000 EXP inside their system and would only be activated once they leave the Bowels of Stoughlin.

"Alright guys, before we descend to the next level, I would once again wish to highlight to you the difficulties of these levels. We would be facing Trolls, Kobolds and Gnomes on the fourth, fifth and sixth level of the catacomb and the mobs are level 23, 24 and 25 respectively. Their Bosses, however, would be level 25, 30 and 35 respectively and their HP would be 20,000 right up to 40,000."

"They have the same type of attacks and Berserk Mode, but they come in waves, alright? There would be at least 5 waves of them with at least more than 24-36 monsters per wave and so what you need to do is............"

I explained to them the battle tactics, and it would be tight and would have little changes in them. It is already past 6 in the morning, and we had been in this Bowels of Stoughlin since 2330 hrs last night. We would need about 4 to 6 hours more to clear the rest of the three levels of this catacomb based on our current levels of competency. If we are Level 15 or more, it would be a breeze...!

After the briefing, the spoils were arranged on the ground according to their types. Then Snowball distributed the loot according to their classes.

Since most of the armour and weapons cannot be utilised yet, they stored the items back into their spatial storage space.

They wished that they would be able to use the new weapons and pieces of armour that they had gotten but not at this moment since their levels were too low to use them. But seeing their attributes on the armour makes them anticipate in acquiring the whole complete set upon reaching the surface. It would be where everyone would level-up after grinding in this greyed out area of the map.

The quest items that need to be collected on the third level of the catacomb was the Skull of Murloch which everyone had gotten one each. Atop of that, the two-handed willow leaf sabres was also part of the sellable loot, and everyone gathered as much as they could handle.

At least there is a loophole where there is no need to head down to the catacomb for every single quest. What we would do is to receive the quests according to the Lich and complete it there and then.

"Come on guys, once we are done, we can go down to the next level already. We had spent 6 hours, and there would be another three more levels and another 6 more hours to clear. You are all at Level 8 and have done exceptionally well. We take a rest for a bit and then we would proceed, would that be alright?"

I highlighted and informed Snowball that the change of commands would be under Snowball next. I would be just the tactician and would make changes to the battle tactics if need be. Snowball reluctantly accepted it since they had accepted me as their leader or Captain, and a sudden change of leadership might raise some disruptions.

"Don't worry, Snowball. The other three levels had been explained clearly to everyone. I had already arranged the battle formation, and how to handle the waves and the bosses within. I am still around, ain't I? Hahaha...!"

I laughed and slapped Snowball on his back, and he regained back his composure. "Alright, ladies. You all heard the Captain. There are 3 more quests items to be collected and a whole lotta loot to be gathered for credits. Let's go then. We have enough of dilly-dallying already and now its time to meet the trolls...!"

Snowball took control of the situation well and then we all went down the ladder to the 4th level of the catacombs.