Sleeping Giant Crossing (2)
"It's time to test our teamwork, guys!" Evan hollered from the left flank.
It was the first time they would be up against level 16 monsters. And it happened right off the bat after entering a new area!
Facebasher raised his giant axe, defending against the claw attacks from the Gargoyles. He'd used {Provoke} which garnered the attention of three Gargoyles.
Arrows flew over Facebasher's head striking the ugly beasts with pinpoint accuracy while Mille chanted {Bolstera Physicalis} together with her new Healer class party buff, {Lux Ferventes}, that inflicted melee range thorn damage with the Light attribute against enemies.
"High physical resistance!" Facebasher shouted. "They've got insanely high physical resistance!"
Evan threw his boomerang with great accuracy and landed several critical hits that ricocheted between the Gargoyles coming from the rear. He activated {Soul Blitz} and bombarded the two closest foes while they were still staggered by his boomerang.
{-59 HP}
{-57 HP}
{-58 HP}
{+33 EXP}
{-56 HP}
{-57 HP}
{-56 HP}
{+33 EXP}
The two Gargoyles shattered into fragments that bounced like split pieces of boulders across the bridge pavements. Dust rose as a result and layered the area in a light smokescreen
Facebasher used {Split n Cleave}, a two-pronged attack consisting of a vertical attack that reduced the target's defenses and a horizontal AoE attack that swiped across the three fliers harassing him.
{Critical! -34 HP}
{-8 HP}
{-30 HP}
{-8 HP}
The Gargoyle in the middle suffered the full combo while his buddies only took minimal damage. Sightseer fired five consecutive shots with her {Rapid Draw} at the one targeted and deteriorated by Facebasher.
{+33 EXP}
New Gargoyles kept spawning from the statues further ahead.
As the party suffered more attacks, Mille spent mana healing the party with her party healing skill {Salus}.
They were circled by a dozen Gargoyles that flew around like opportunists seeking to land cheap shots with their high mobility and high altitude.
Luckily, Sightseer forced the opportunists to lose patience by sending flurries of arrows at them from range.
Most of the Gargoyles were forced to attack Facebasher who continued to spam {Provoke}. Meanwhile, Evan hurled several Makeshift Grenades that usually hit their targets due to the {Steady Hands} passive from the Ranged Explosives proficiency.
Although the grenades dealt pure physical damage, the prior explosions forced the Gargoyles off balance, making them drop altitude. Some also lost a wing which crippled their flight completely and turned them into easy pickings for Evan's party.
Once they had killed several dozen Gargoyles, new ones finally stopped spawning from the statues. The party used this opportunity to quickly rush forward once the path became less obstructed. They couldn't risk new surprises!
Halfway across Sleeping Giant Crossing, a new, much larger statue blocked their path. It was hanging upside down from a suspension at the crown of the bridge.
The remaining Gargoyles that previously chased the party flew past them and knelt down beneath the large statue ahead.
"Holy mac and cheese! That's no normal Gargoyle!" Facebasher exclaimed. "What should we do?"
Coins shone in the reflection of Evan's pupils. Coins that could be converted into real money. "Um, our goal lies past this bridge."
"Meh, I know what this money goblin is thinking. But our Quest is indeed past this point." Mille sighed. "Sightseer, any thoughts?"
"Kinda." Sightseer paused. "We've actually been waiting for this opportunity ever since Azure Lake. If that thing is an Anomaly that is..."
The coins in Evan's eyes were now replaced with precious diamonds. He heaved a long breath. "In all seriousness, we should give it an attempt. Though we do risk losing a couple of levels for the first time in a while. What do you think guys?"
The party unanimously nodded.
Evan held his {Morbid Blade} and {Twig-Leaf Boomerang} at the ready. The whole party recast their buffs.
Thick layers of stone finally started to peel off the potential Anomaly, revealing a set of eyes that emitted crimson red and bone-chilling killing intent.
—
[System warning! Anomaly detected!]
[Name: Wargoyle
Level: 18
HP: ?/?
Description: An evolved Gargoyle that has consumed several Soulstones. It is in the process of mutating to the next stage of its evolution.]
[Time until next evolution: 10 minutes]
—
Facebasher swallowed dry air. "Dangling dingleberry, freaking level 18?!" He had just expressed what everyone else had on their mind, merely in a more unsophisticated manner.
Short on time, everyone began their assault on the Wargoyle before it completely freed itself from its shell.
Evan's Soul-Meter was filled back to 24/24 and fired off {Soul Blitz} bombardments while arrows and {Ice Bolts} peppered the still immobile target.
The Wargoyle shrieked a loud warcry, making everyone cover their ears in a cold sweat of terror. Everyone except Evan had been frozen by the effects of {Fear}.
—
[Facebasher has been Paralyzed by Fear for 3 seconds]
—
Facebasher quickly shrugged off the {Paralyze} while Sightseer and Mille were still frozen. Their resistances against physical ailments weren't as good!
'Damn, that's gnarly.' Evan thought. 'They'll have to snap out of it before we get wiped.'
An idea crossed his mind. What if he lent his weapon to them!
He quickly put {Morbid Blade} in Mille's free hand.
"Huh?" Mille recovered from her enthralled stupor.
"It worked!" Evan celebrated.
"Watch out!" Facebasher cried out.
With its wings retracted, the Wargoyle descended at the speed of gravity. Evan hurriedly activated {Ignore Pain} and tossed Mille away from the incoming Anomaly.
Sightseer had now freed herself from {Paralyze} and caught Mille in midair.
An explosion rang out where the Wargoyle's and Evan's paths had met. A lightly battered Evan was flung out of the resulting smog that the explosion had created.
{-1 HP}
{-1 HP}
{-1 HP}
—
[HP: 130/185]
—
Evan's skipped across the pavement and was eventually cushioned by Facebasher before he fell off the bridge.
"Tsk. Eat this." Evan activated another three Unstable Mines he'd manage to place down before he was sent flying by the Wargoyle.
B-B-BOOM!
{-30 HP}
{Critical! -82 HP}
{-31 HP}
"Damn, even criticals deal no damage." Evan cursed.
The party rearranged their formation while the Wargoyle still suffered from limited {Concussion}.
"Even if he's an Anomaly, he shouldn't possess too much HP. Gargoyles have less HP than other monsters of the same level." Sightseer insightfully voiced.
"That's true, but he's still resilient to physical damage it seems." Facebasher added.
Everyone turned their heads toward Mille. She was the only pure magical class in the party.
"Oh, so it's finally my time to shine?" Mille grinned. "Fine. Facebasher, cover my ass while I whoop his." She pointed her shabby staff at the Wargoyle.
Facebasher buffed himself with {Augment Physique} which increased his damage reduction by 15% and {Stunt} which gave him a +20% to {AGI} and +10% to movement speed.
The Wargoyle lifted itself from the pavement and went for the party's right flank before Facebasher was able to use {Provoke}. Luckily, Sightseer used a newly learned class skill, {Faint Step}, and evaded the rushing Anomaly.
While the Wargoyle turned around, Mille unleashed her new water-based magic skill, {Sanctum Aqua}.
A magical array formed below Mille as her staff gathered energy offered by Aerth. Once her staff was fully saturated with pure water-infused magic, she released the spell.
A continuous stream of icy water shot onward, striking the Wargoyle with fervor.
{-57 HP}
{-57 HP}
{-57 HP}
{-57 HP}
Evan and Facebasher ran toward the staggered Wargoyle. The Wargoyle was still pinned down by Mille's magic but still managed to defend itself against the two incoming Warriors. Evan's boomerang was deflected, his shortsword was parried, and even Facebasher's greataxe lost momentum once it met the Anomaly's hardened claws.
Fortunately, they hadn't banked on their weapons to deal damage. It was merely a show to keep the Wargoyle busy while the icy stream of {Sanctum Aqua} kept pummeling the magically weak monster.
{-57 HP}
{-57 HP}
{Critical! -128 HP}
{-57 HP}
Sightseer imbued her arrows with air magic associated with her Kyanite Guardian and unleashed the newest proficiency skill in her arsenal, {Syphoning Breath}, and released an empowered light blue arrow.
It went as they'd practiced many times before. Evan and Facebasher obstructed the line of sight between Sightseer and the Anomaly.
"Now!" Sightseer shouted.
Evan and Facebasher both sidestepped, and the empowered {Syphoning Breath} swished past their shoulders before striking the Wargoyle's abdomen. Luckily, no visually gross entrails or guts spilled out.
{-83 HP}
{Syphoned!}
Although Sightseer's newly learned {Syphoning Breath} was still E-rank in proficiency, the {Syphon} effect still lowered any target's overall stats by 30% for 10 seconds! It was a considerable skill, hence its longer cooldown compared to her other skills.
"I'm about to get my ass claimed again, guys. I can't keep the spell up anymore. You better finish off that ugly ass pile of slab for me!"
{-63 HP}
{-63 HP}
{-27 HP}
{-27 HP}
It seemed {Sanctum Aqua} was in its last moment of glory.
Mille's attributes had already been halved since her total mana had gone below 10%. The Anomaly's reduced stats were nothing compared to her own penalties.
"Guh, not this shit again." Her face planted itself hard on the cold pavement, unable to move a single straw of hair.
—
[You have been Claimed by Aerth!]
—
"Alright guys, let's finish this!" Facebasher tried to keep the morale elevated.
It seemed it was unnecessary. Evan and Sightseer had already honed in on their target and spammed their weapons and consumables at an inhuman rate.
Evan added one of his precious {Dark Grenades} to the mix, dealing both physical and magical damage while blinding the target for five seconds. For him to toss away such cherished items was like peeling off a chunk of flesh from his bones!
{Critical! -269 HP}
The continuous barrage of attacks kept the Wargoyle at bay. With a couple of minutes to spare before its next evolution could take place, Facebasher performed the last attack with an overhead chop with his greataxe.
The attack skill was layered with earth magic supported by the Turquoise Guardian. "Prelude of the Soil!"
{Critical! -223 HP}
The Wargoyle's head was separated from its shoulders.
As the Anomaly's body crumbled into pieces, several Soulstones and other items began to litter the bridge in the glimmering twilight that would soon turn into night.
—
[You have defeated: Level 18 Wargoyle!]
[+2500 EXP]
[You have leveled up!]
[Congratulations! You've defeated an Anomaly!]
[A personal ranking evaluation is taking place. Please remain logged in!]
—