Chapter 318

Roar of a King (I)

“Move to the flanks!!” Emma called out with a shaking roar while stepping back. Right then, Kramer rushed forward in front of her and raised his shield, blocking a void-fused strike of a massive, forty-feet tall creatures.

At the same time, six others fanned out, with Daniel and Ethan taking the rear, the two shadows gliding and slashing away. Senna positioned herself on the creature’s left, sending an army of weapons to rain from the sky at it, with Lek shadowing her, summoning an array of skeletons to act as her safeguards.

On the other end, Jamal, Sigmund, and Elypso rammed at the creature from the right flank, unleashing a barrage of high-damage skills, nearly ripping away aggro from Kramer who desperately tried to keep it.

At the far rear, two new additions to the party stood, lamely firing off a barrage of skills. Both were Elementalist, a bid to replace the raw magic damage that Cain was responsible for. Despite the fact that this was already the third boss they’ve fought with Emma and others, they still weren’t able to adjust to the sheer level of raw brutality and fearlessness.

The arena around them was a platform suspended inside a dark-dimmed void, with the solitary forms of light being the effects of skills, and the creature’s eyes. Though this made coordination slightly more difficult, under Emma’s leadership, the fight progressed smoothly into the second phase, as soon as the creature hit 50% HP.

It shed its outer layer, almost like a snake, but unlike the expected skeleton, what appeared was an ethereal form of purple-dyed smoke and shadow, an apparition floating and slinging out void-charged strikes over and over again.

“EVERYONE WITH HIGH HP TO THE FRONT, THE REST BEHIND,” Emma roared, ordering around immediately. “Delilah, give us the shield!”

“Aye, aye,” a golden shine exploded soon after, cradling the group in a gentle embrace and alighting the platform. The void strikes that blew toward them instead glanced off of the shield, disappearing into the mass of nothingness behind them.

“The timer’s expiring,” Senna said. “In fifteen.”

“We rush it?” Kramer asked, taking a sip of water.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just have you and Emma tank it while we whittle it down slowly?” Daniel proposed. “It probably has a final phase. If it’s a DPS check, we’re fucked.”

“Tsk, you’re so cautious,” Jamal grumbled. “We rush the bitch!”

“I concur!” Sigmund exclaimed. “Rush and beat it up!”

“Senna, Jamal, Ethan, and Ayna will save their cooldowns,” Emma said after a brief deliberation. “The rest of us will go all-in. The first phase was so boring I’m halfway asleep. Let’s just speed it up and have those four as the insurances.”

“... WHY ME, THOUGH?!” Jamal cried out suddenly.

“Five seconds,” Senna said.

“’cause I don’t like your face,” Emma grinned.

“Tsk, I hope Cain returns with six chicks at his side.” Jamal was quick to regret his words at her deathly stare, but she couldn’t say much as the shield began to expire.

As per the plan, everyone except the four called out started burning their cooldowns, causing the boss’ HP bar to drop faster and faster. It went from 50% to 40% in a few seconds, and seemed to be ramping up as the finishers came into question.

Thirty seconds later, the group stood sighing around a corpse, having killed it without many issues. The notification popped up, alongside the numerous rewards, while the Tower-wide announcement rang out that they’ve cleared the 14th floor of the Tower.

Few cheered here, though, as they’ve grown numb to it. Ayna and Gary, however, still hadn’t; before joining the group, they were just one of the many trainees under Rick, prospects at best. They had their own pride, especially as they were considered quite talented even among the prospects, and were likely to become a part of one of the main groups in the future.

However, one day, seemingly out of nowhere, they were called to the main offices and told that they’d be joining one of the vanguard groups by Mr. Garcia himself. What struck them beyond that was the pitiful look and the ‘just try your best’ that they didn’t truly understand at the time.

Two Elementalists joining a party, especially two of their caliber, seemed moronic, but as they were given amazing gear and the opportunity, they weren’t about to complain. Some eight months has passed since then and they still deliberated in a strange, hollow delirium.

Both recalled their first time meeting the group--despite the fact that they were in the Tower, in a hostile environment where they could be attacked at any moment... nobody was on guard. In fact, they were joking around, taking naps in the middle of nowhere, reading books, drinking, having barbecues, and all around doing everything except what the two of them were taught.

In time, though, they naturally understood why. This tiny group that nobody seemed to be aware of at the time was made up of monsters that broke the norm. Even today, they were still stunned. The limit for the boss was 80 people. Every, every other group in the world would have taken all 80 people to the raid and prayed they succeed, possibly even sending a scouting party to learn the boss’ mechanics.

They, however, just entered the moment they found the boss’ room with a party of thirteen people, as though it were the most normal thing in the world. And Emma’s words of the ‘boring first phase’ would have buried all other parties and forced a completely different tactics. After all, the two of them were 100% certain there were no other tanks in the entire world besides Kramer and Emma who could face-tank that monster.

Additionally, while most other parties had at least two healers, with the averages actually going up to four and five in boss battles, this one had... well, just one. Yuki. A young, awkward-seeming lad who complained incessantly about being the only healer of the party while still easily keeping everyone alive through abhorrent nightmares.

While all of that would have been enough to awe the two of them, what was by far the most depressing aspects of their experience in the party thus far hurt far more. After all, they were Elementalists, both Awakened as raw spellcasters, primed for damage output. And yet, they were at the bottom of DPS charts, all the time, standing just above Yuki and Kramer. Even Emma, the supposed tank, often dealt more damage than them, not to mention the rest.

Even in terms of burst damage, Daniel and Ethan were above them, while they stood no chance in drawn out averages against Senna who consistently topped the charts alongside Jamal. The two of them, beyond just raw numbers, also seemed to have optimized the way their classes fought perfectly, never wasting a second, dealing damage all the time.

“Guys, seriously, I’ll quit this fucking party!” Ah, here we go... a consensus thought ran out as a voice began to speak. Yuki walked to the front, airing out his grievances. “Do you know how hard I have to work each and every time to keep you alive?!! Plus, you two idiots! You didn’t have to face-tank every single goddamn skill! YOU CAN DODGE STUFF! I had eighteen panic attacks seeing you just casually stand in the path of a skill with no intention of dodging it!”

“We had faith in you,” Emma said casually.

“Faith my ass! You’re just bullies! You just bully me! I demand a second healer!”

“If we get a second healer, you’ll just slack,” Emma said.

“So what?! Don’t you think I deserve to slack a bit?!”

“You’re the best healer in the world,” Senna said suddenly, grabbing his shoulder. “There’s nobody else who could do this. Take pride in that.”

“... you guys have absolutely no intention of finding another healer, do you?” Yuki asked, disgruntled.

“It’s not that,” Emma sighed. “But do you really think good healers are that easy to come by? Most already have steady groups. Not to mention that healers are the fewest in number among the classes seeing as few people enjoy having the fate of everyone in their party in their hands. So, trying to filter out the awful, the psychotic, and the greedy doesn’t leave us with many options. Rick’s been lookin’ real hard for one, and I’m sure he’ll find him or her in time. Until then, just keep us alive.”

“Tsk, easy for you to say. I hope Cain comes back with six chicks at his side.” yelping lowly and hiding behind Jamal, he looked away from the deathly stare, not daring to meet it head-on.

“Anyway,” Senna spoke out suddenly, breaking the awkward atmosphere. “That was fairly easy. I’d argue that bitch-ass fish was even harder.”

“The only reason you think it was harder ‘cause you couldn’t do any damage to it,” Daniel scoffed. “Personally, by far my favorite boss.”

“Of course it is. You get hard at the very thought of beating me in a DPS race.”

“Better than using it as an excuse for not doing literally anything outside of DPSing.”

“Oh, please, pot and kettle much?” Senna rolled her eyes.

“Alright, alright, pipe down,” Kramer said, noticing a portal opening at the center of the platform. “We’ve been at it a while. Let’s take a three-months break.”

“Yup,” Emma nodded. “I just hate that I know the boss won’t be discovered in that time. I hate the numbness of looking for the Guardian.”

“We all know Cain’s laziness rubbed off on you, you don’t have to mention it all the time,” Jamal said.

At the same time, Ayna and Gary remained silent while the rest of the group bickered loudly. The two pondered on the name ‘Cain’, having heard it many, many, many times before. From what they gathered, the two of them were brought in as a replacement for him, and considering the level of respect everyone in the group showed toward him, as well as the implication that was by far the strongest member of this party... there could only be one, they realized. The inspiration for all the Elementalists and the reason why many selected that class in the first place. The name and the picture long forgotten by the world. All they could do... was pray to meet him one day and simply ask ‘How?’.