The Great Thief

"Keep looting – it’s just a few monsters," Azure Sea Breeze said as he held up his shield and began swatting at the monsters.

A normal player’s Shieldstrike could only hit one target, but this attack could hit all the monsters within his attack range. The title of Dawn’s number one Main Tank was no joke. Of the five monsters, the three that got hit were Stunned, trapping the two behind them. They were then greeted with a Blizzard from Lonesome Flower, which was followed up by attacks from the others.

Remnant Dream looted a rare material, which had quite the repugnant name – Ramstein the Gorger’s Liver. Lu Li had to believe that this was some kind of joke inserted by the game company, because it was supposed to be a cooking material.

Although there was no official description, it was generally agreed that players who completed the ’Dark Cuisine’ quest became Dark Chefs.

Although their official title would only appear in some documents, these players would lose the ability to cook normal foods like bread. Instead, they would cook items like pickled peaches, ogre ears, C’Thun Fried Chicken, and so on.

Ramstein the Gorger’s Liver was one of the items required to complete the ’Dark Cuisine’ Quest.

Even if it had no current use, it could still be sold. There were many players who wanted it for its unique characteristics.

"There’s a Strengthening Stone as well. My luck isn’t too good today," Remnant Dream sighed, expressing her dissatisfaction with Ramstein the Gorger’s drops.

"Don’t beat yourself up over it; I’ll give you a red packet later."

Azure Sea Breeze was actually quite satisfied with the ring, especially after Lu Li confirmed its value. He had no lack of money and was willing to give her a few coins.

The Xin Xin Mercenary Group gave all the equipment that they didn’t want to the guild warehouse, so they weren’t poor at all.

When players took the First Clear for a Boss and submitted their strategies, they would receive guild points for it. Azure Sea Breeze was the main tank and received more points than the others. He had no need for the points and didn’t intend to exchange them for real money, so he often bought gold coins instead.

"The next wave is coming! Pay attention!" Lu Li shouted, forcing those who were beginning to relax into action.

"Surely this is too soon..."

Azure Sea Breeze didn’t quite understand the mechanism by which these monsters were refreshing. Although they weren’t hard to defeat, it still cost them Mana.

"Stop chit chatting and use fewer skills. Be prepared for a drawn-out fight," Lu Li commanded. He knew better than anyone else where these monsters were coming from.

The first wave was just some small skeletons, but within the next wave was a group of Carrion. In addition to having higher Defense, they also had a number of poison attacks which made them more difficult to kill.

Even so, the second wave was no match for the Xin Xin Mercenary Group.

However, Azure Sea Breeze and the others had a dark look on their face. They had no idea how many waves were left and what monsters were coming. If they continued to stream in endlessly, they would eventually be wiped.

In Dawn’s Instance Dungeons, many players thought that the game company would sometimes intentionally wipe some parties.

Psychologists had attempted to provide some insight into this phenomenon. They believed that with a moderate amount of frustration, a player’s subconscious would be activated to produce an emotion that sought conquest.

They knew that Stratholme would wipe them a few times – everyone was mentally prepared for it. But, to be wiped by monsters was just insulting.

"Wandering and Hachi, you will be the first to leave the fight and regenerate. Find a safe spot and come back after 15 seconds. Everyone else, take your potions as soon as you can," Lu Li said, watching as monsters continued to pour out of Baron Rivendare’s Castle.

Since the monsters were coming out in small parties, why couldn’t the players do the same?

For the sake of dealing with the monsters as quickly as possible, Lu Li tried to reduce the amount of time each damage output player spent in battle. Otherwise, if two groups gathered together, they would be even more likely to get wiped.

He quickly found the correct rhythm and balance to extend this fight for as long as possible.

After fighting for a while, Abominations began to appear. Ordinary players didn’t stand a chance against them.

Even the five-man party had no hope of resolving a fight against them quickly.

As such, all ten players in the Xin Xin Mercenary Group had to fight together. Their HP wasn’t in any danger because of March Rain, but their Mana was starting to run out.

"Keep it up. I’ll revitalize," Lonesome Flower said before falling back to start channeling a Revitalization skill.

This was a Mage Mana Regeneration skill that could recover up to 45% of their Mana. However, it took ten seconds to channel and would fail when interrupted. It also had a cooldown of four minutes.

Of course, if you had the opportunity to strengthen it, then not only would it regenerate 70% of mana, but also 60% of the user’s HP.

Warlocks also had a Mana regenerating skill, but it was not as powerful.

March Rain had cast her Shadow Demon, slowing down her rapidly depleting Mana Bar. As for Lu Li, Moonlight and the others, they didn’t have the same problem.

Lu Li used Energy while Moonlight used Rage, which were both regenerated over time. The only thing they needed to keep in check was their HP so that they could keep fighting.

"Go harder – another wave is coming."

When he saw that the current wave hadn’t died yet, but the next wave had appeared, Azure Sea Breeze started to become anxious.

It was wave of Venom Belchers.

Venom Belchers were considered a type of Abomination; they were also large monsters with sutured

bodies.

The difference was that they attacked with long-ranged venomous arrows. These had high damage and a poison effect, which would place more pressure on the healers. They also had a chance of applying a slowing effect which was so potent that the afflicted player would be unable to run away.

Against such strong foes, even a powerful elite group like this one couldn’t be blamed for being wiped.

However, these were also the earliest mobs that could drop "Codex: Prayer of Fortitude". This book allowed a Priest to learn Prayer of Fortitude, which increased the health of all teammates.

The amount of healing was determined by the skill level, the Priest’s level and the Priest’s Attributes.

If they could get this book, it wouldn’t be a waste to die to these monsters.