[-1554!]
Despite the powerful damage reduction of [Meditation], Watchful Eye suffered serious damage. And this wasn't all, as whirlwinds spread from the boss, dealing further damage.
Watchful Eye anxiously looked at his status, anticipating the regeneration of his QI.
>>> <<<
Name: Watchful Eye
Level: 33
Race: Original Nephilim
Class: Monk of Ah'zann
Primary Attributes:
STR: 85
INT: 41
AGI: 10
HP: 6553/8828
QI: 813/1095
(show more)
>>> <<<
"Hahaha!"
General Basset let out an ugly laugh as the adventurer was frozen in fear of his might. The winds surrounding him only increased as he continued his skill.
The players felt incredibly annoyed as they were given little chance to fight back. Meanwhile Basset attacked freely, slowly stacking up damage. His leap attack could still be dodged but escaping the randomly spreading whirlwinds was quite difficult.
This went on for a while until the boss finally calmed down and commence his attacks against Radiant Shield. Under the general's powerful slashes, the holy barrier was used up bit by bit.
But the friends weren't idle, dishing out their skills. Soon, General Basset's HP approached the half-way mark. The boss's eyes narrowed as he huffed angrily:
"Bunch of fledglings! I will let you feel the might of a general!"
Suddenly Basset flashed to the centre of the square. The party watched him in surprise as the old man showed off completely unknown moves.
"Die!"
The general shouted loudly, his voice carried through the entire cave by the wind. The party members made a quick judgment and decided to distance themselves first.
Under everyone's apprehensive eyes General Basset raised his blade high before suddenly stabbing it into the ground. The conjured weapon shattered.
Instantly a terrifying tornado formed around Basset. It surged towards the heavens, slashing against the cave's ceilings. Rocks and plants were ripped apart all the same.
The powerful winds tore on the party's bodies, trying to drag them towards the centre.
"What is this?!", shouted Cyclone, her eyes betraying her uneasiness.
"Run!"
"Can we dodge this?!"
"Are we safe at a distance?"
The friends spoke chaotically. Liam watched the spectacle, thinking of countermeasures. He saw how his friends tried to run but were slowly dragged towards the tornado.
However, the distance was still far. Just as everyone thought they might be able to last until the storm dissipated it began slowly moving towards the outside.
"My friends, any ideas?!"
Radiant Shield dug his feet into the floor, racking his brain for a solution.
Balm, who was the furthest away, clung to a lamp post like a monkey. Her face was pale as she used all the strength in her body.
Others tried to get away but were too slow due to the fierce winds. Soon the tornado had expended enough to reach the first melee players.
The surging storm grabbed Radiant Shield. Despite his heavy armor he was as light as a feather in front of it. Winds carried him through the air and hurled him against the wall.
[-5500!]
Again, the boss dealt a fixed amount of damage causing everyone to shiver in fear. Watchful Eye smiled bitterly. Just as his QI had finally recovered and his [Meditation] ended did the tornado reach him.
"Ah!"
"I'm about to vomit!"
"Ouh that hurt!"
The friends let out all kinds of shouts as the tornado threw them around. Although Liam had a guess for a possible solution it was too late to implement it now. Thus, even he was grabbed and slammed into the wall.
Balm's lamp post didn't save her either.
Finally, the tornado reached the edge of the square and slowly dissipated. Only General Basset was left standing. Instead of feeling weak his eyes shone invigorated as he exclaimed loudly:
"Yes! That's the feeling!"
Liam dragged his body up and looked around. All of his friends were seriously injured, and Bloody Edge had already been sent back to the dungeon entrance.
The party members shivered from the shock of being thrown around. But as they attempted to recover physically and mentally, Basset didn't grant them this luxury.
The general slashed out with his sword and shot white arcs in all directions.
"No! Unfair!"
Cyclone's complaint fell on deaf ears as a white arc reached her. Fortunately Balm reacted at the last moment, saving her with a heal.
But this only saved one person. Silent Acacia had an unlucky landing and was entangled by some plants. He was not even able to move when the boss's attack arrived and devoured him.
A couple of seconds later the boss stopped his skill. Only now did he appear out of breath. The cave fell silent as the party took in the aftermath.
Bloody Edge, Silent Acacia, and Fortune had died taking away three powerful sources of damage from the party.
"Don't give up now, guys! We can still win this!"
Silver Blade did her best to encourage everyone. As long as the boss wouldn't repeat his tornado skill, they still had a chance.
The friends adjusted their minds and rushed towards the boss for revenge.
Cyclone had to restart casting from the beginning, but the rest immediately brought out all the damage possible.
Liam's was the first to reach the boss. His swords flashed as one. Instantly a sacred light erupted from the boss.
[-422!]
The veteran was not entirely happy. The boss was seemingly blessed with a strong resistance against holy magic.
But this was not all the party had to offer. Watchful Eye, his QI refilled, attacked with a staff burning in mysterious purple flames dealing more than 600 points of damage.
General Basset recovered his breath after enduring a round of attacks from the players. The fierce battle continued in an orderly manner.
But the influence of the missing party members couldn't be hidden. The boss's HP decreased at a slow pace. As Balm's important cooldowns were used up more players slowly died under the boss's skills.
Eventually only Silver Blade, Radiant Shield, and Bleary Mirage were left. The three held on surprisingly well as they dodged the boss's skills.
Ironically it was the normal attacks, which Radiant Shield couldn't block due to his depleted stance, which soon took his life. Silver Blade suffered a similarily cruel fate.
Seeing all his friends leave one by one, Liam took a deep breath. He locked eyes with the boss and engaged in a prolonged battle.
With the help of [Holy Tempest] he managed to recover stance a few times. However, its recovery still couldn't hold up with its depletion since Liam was the boss's only target.
He tried to hold on, dancing around the boss, ducking below lightning-fast swords and attacking well-protected weak points. His only goal was to let General Basset use his tornado skill again.
Unfortunately, the boss didn't grant him this wish. Eventually the veteran's skills were on cooldown and his stance was depleted. He couldn't escape the fate of dying under the general's sword.
General basset lowered his hands. The conjured sword disappeared. A few additional wrinkles were added to his face.
"My prince, I hope your revenge comes soon or I might not be able to experience it."
A wind blew washing away his words as he knelt down in the once so secure dwarven city.
The players didn't get to listen to General Basset. They gathered at the entrance of the dungeon, sighing melancholically.
It wasn't that bad to die to the old man. But having to repeat the whole dungeon affected everyone's minds.
Finally, a light flashed and Liam appeared in the storage room, his heaving chest expressing fatigue.
"Expert, what took you so long?"
Just as Cyclone spoke, more lights flashed. Fortune, Bloody Edge, and Silent Acacia suddenly found themselves back in the storage room.
After dying against the general they had optimistically entered the dungeon, waiting until the rest of the party finished the boss.
Being forcefully sent back to the entrance they looked dumbfounded for a second before understanding what had happened.
"Welcome back.", chuckled Balm, causing the three to smile wryly.
Meanwhile Liam sat down on a create and explained what he tried to achieve:
"I wanted to last until the boss fires another tornado."
Silver Blade raised her brows, looking at him curiously:
"Do you have a solution to the skill?"
"I hope so. We should be able to hide in the houses around the square. But we need to move instantly when the boss uses his skill, or we won't be able to reach them."
"Great. Guys, you heard the expert!", said Cyclone while smiling at her friends.
"Hey, I can't guarantee anything this time. I never heard about this skill before.", explained Liam. He didn't want everyone to be blindly confident. If his solution didn't work, they still had to come up with other ideas.
"Nope. You already said so. Therefore, this is the solution!", answered Cyclone confidently but in a joking manner, uplifting everyone's mood.
Only Liam rolled his eyes as he replied:
"Are you treating me as some kind of god? Something happens just because I say so? If this were the case we would already be back at the general's place, right now!"