MM - Chapter 38 - GET BLEAT ON

When a creature was killed in ZionLine, a random roll determined if an item dropped. The item—coming in a variety of forms—would then be selected from a massive loot table, often restricted by the area and type of creature. But not always.

For the case of dungeons and raids, the loot tables were much more restrictive than open world, and especially so for the earliest level ten dungeons. There were thousands of these dungeons, each as varied as the last. The one constant among them was the first boss’s table; every single one of them had a chance to drop Parry, and in the nightmare version, that chance increased to one hundred percent.

Meanwhile, the final boss—which could only be reached on that same difficulty—was designed to teach players how to use their new skill, as nearly every dungeon and raid after would require it as a bar for entry.

Raine had almost no control over his weapon when he Parried the boss's initial Charge and Headbutt. His attributes were unable to overwhelm the system’s kid gloves, and he only managed to slightly alter the angle of his spear. Ultimately his efforts were enough, and the redirecting properties on force sent the ariesilae crashing into a deep crack in the wall. The fissure widened and crumbling stones showered to the floor.

The beast was on him in a heartbeat, its swipes containing the Potency and Finesse to be impossible to evade in a normal fashion. Raine gave ground, circling around the outside of the room with liberal use of Discipline to dodge, despite the hefty difference in their attributes.

He didn't attempt to counter or take advantage of the many gaps in its animalistic assault as the seconds ticked by. The rest of the group arrived, and Raine was quick to snap a command when they angled toward the Bullet Slime he’d dragged in behind him, “Leave it! Stay back for now.”

They nodded, even SolemnRiver not willing to act on her own after the near-disaster with the last boss. All too soon, the slime's eyes glowed and Raine ducked a swipe that would have brought him to death’s door. He dashed closer to the boss, spinning around to hide behind it. The slime, oblivious to its idiocy, shot the ariesilae in the back. Two lances capable of smashing through solid stone struck true, only leaving mild bruises.

The group gasped as the boss jumped backward without a sound. Its wings extended to flap once as it spun midair. Blasting through the air, it crashed into the slime, tearing away chunks of ooze with deadly efficiency. Raine in turn dashed at the boss, spear first. He didn't use skills or boost his attacks with Discipline, merely striking as quickly as he could. [-33]

Unlike the slimes, this boss had above average Defense for an elite creature its level. Raine wasn't bothered by his lack of damage and continued tickling away at its health even though its regeneration would quickly outpace him.

A chunk of slime containing the last absorption stone was pulled from the beast and it died in a single hit. The boss turned, pinning Raine with bloodshot eyes. He retreated immediately, going fully on the defensive once more. 

Parry’s ten second cooldown ended, and exactly five seconds later, the ariesilae Charged again from point blank range. It moved so quickly, even to Raine’s Acuity, it could have teleported. The follow-up Headbutt was just as quick, yet Parry was there, sending its horn off course once more. The beast’s massive Potency sent it hurtling into the same crack in the wall. It widened further, now large enough to trap the horn in solid stone. Raine took full advantage, his spear scratching the beast’s tough hide.

Still in the shadows of the tunnel, FierceFire whispered, “How did he activate his skill in time? That was practically instant. No human has a reaction speed that fast.”

“Gr-I know someone who could do it,” SolemnRiver quickly redirected when FierceFire shot her a wide-eyed glare, “I certainly could not have deflected so precisely. Why did he not take damage this time?”

One of the guys tapped his chin, “He must have known it was coming, and predicted the timing. Makes sense that bosses have cooldowns like we do.”

The other scoffed, “As if that makes it any less impressive. You saw the power behind that attack. Even a slight miscalculation and he’d get one-shot. Then, we’d all get to experience being torn apart by that thing.”

Raine interrupted their powwow with a bark, “Move to the center of the room, only attack from range.”

They hustled to obey, none of them wanting to experience being brutally ripped apart. The boss tore itself free from the wall with a high-pitched scrape. It rounded on Raine who was already backing away. He leaned back, narrowly avoiding a swipe at his throat, then struck the floor of the open-air cavern, driving himself further away. The boss gave chase, circling around the terrified party.

Only SolemnRiver’s eyes were wide with a different emotion, her heart racing for the moment he told her to join. One of the guys tried shooting with his bow, but missed every shot. FierceFire performed better, managing to hit for minimal damage half the time.

Four seconds after its cooldown ended, Raine activated Parry. The boss gave no indication it was about to accelerate, it simply appeared right on schedule, the sharp tip of its horn blurring toward his neck. The attack itself was straight-forward, only dangerous because of its speed and power. Knowing where the ariesilae would aim and what direction it would come from, Raine easily positioned his weapon in time. Once more, the boss flew headfirst into the widened crevice. The entire wall split like a ripe fruit, the fissure proliferating across the ceiling with a horrific rumbling crack.

Amidst falling rubble and a shaking floor, a stalactite broke free, plummeting toward the party. “Dodge it!” Raine yelled. The members of his group hadn’t made it to their levels so quickly by being normal people. They were each at least one step on the martial path, and easily evaded the falling missile.

It crashed into the floor, easily parting the regular stone. The outer surface of the stalactite crumbled away, revealing a metallic sheen, exactly like the stones in the slimes.

Raine, still stabbing away at the boss, didn’t look back as he issued the next command, “Ignore the boss and hit the absorption stone as hard as you can!” Once more they followed his instructions without hesitation, only FierceFire having no clue why he would give such an outlandish order.

When her Blast resulted in the small ball of fire being sucked into the metallic object with zero noticeable effect, a seed of doubt crawled up her spine. But the others weren’t stopping, so she didn’t either.

The boss broke free with a furious bleat. Veins bulged across its expanding muscles. It beat its chest hard enough to cause Raine’s vision to quake, then leaped at him with a powerful flap of its wings. Raine burned through his Discipline at a prodigious rate, barely managing to lead the enraged boss in a circle around the group once more.

The stalactite started to vibrate under their combined assault. A few hits later, it turned a sickly orange. Raine positioned himself just right, and the moment his cooldown ended, he shouted, “Scatter!” Without looking to see if they listened, he fired off a Rupture right in the ariesilae’s face before immediately activating Parry.

The boss threw itself forward, and then blasted away from Raine to smash directly into the glowing rock. It exploded, releasing all the stored energy from their attacks. Shrapnel dug deep into its chest and head, ripping apart tough hide as easily as it had shredded the Bullet Slime. [-14,000]

It released a moaned howl, stumbling back in a bloody mess. One of its wings was gone, and an arm dangled at its side. It turned toward Raine, muscles quivering in the tell-tale signs of a Berserk skill activating. Unfortunately for it, Rupture weakened its base defenses. Instead of the ten thousand damage it was supposed to receive, that one stone nearly killed it. 

Normally, he would need to repeat the entire ordeal, dislodging a second stone and finishing the fight right as its Headbutts began to repeat a second quicker than the cooldown on Parry. 

With a shout, Raine Pierced his spear into its exposed heart. Between Berserk and Rupture lowering its defenses, and the direct strike to an exposed organ, the beast received a massive hit. [Critical hit! -1,368] With a last pitiful bleat, it collapsed to the floor. Raine was surrounded by a whirlwind of glowing lights and trumpets that reverberated in his ears.

[Obtained 42,000 Group SP bonus 600% Superiority for defeating an elite boss 5 levels above you]

[Obtained 87.5% AT bonus 600% Attunement for defeating an elite boss 5 levels above you]

[Obtained 1 gold 37 silver]

[Level up! +5 free attribute points]

Before the party finished reading the kill notification, Raine already swiped the coins and was heading toward the mouth of the cave. In the open light, it was revealed that they were at the very tip of the mountain. Vile Peak Town was a speck far below, obscured by clouds. Great eagles soared in every direction, and there was no path that greeted him, merely open skies and a cliff face that only a goat with wings would dare tread.

Without saying a word, he broke into a sprint and leaped. Shamefully, SolemnRiver released possibly the most girlish scream of her life as he vanished out of sight. She raced to the edge, looking down but he was nowhere to be seen.

“W-what?!” She scanned the skies, her well-trained and sharp eyes spotting only massive birds circling for prey they couldn’t find either. A powerful gust of wind nearly took her over the edge, and FierceFire was there, pulling her back, both girls panting from the close call.

“Where did he go? Why would he do that? Is it some sort of gamey gimmick to get us back to the ground faster?”

“Sure, you test it first. Let us know how that goes,” one of the guys laughed, bending over to activate the loot rolls.

There were two pieces of armor, a consumable potion, and a recipe for a short sword. All four items were quickly rolled for by everyone, and when they saw Raine’s blank name rolling as well, their eyes popped. Not one had noticed he was still in the party HUD with full health. He didn’t win any of the rolls, but that didn’t stop them from cursing his name.

“What the hell is that guy's problem? Who does he think he—” FierceFire’s vehement speech was cut short when a series of flashing lights sprang across her HUD.

[Regional System announcement: Congratulations, Alaric’s party for being the first group to clear a nightmare difficulty dungeon!]

[World System announcement: Congratulations, Alaric’s party for being the first group to clear a nightmare difficulty dungeon!]

[World first achievement for first group to clear a nightmare difficulty dungeon! Acquired Title: Sky Catcher]

[Achievement for first group to clear nightmare difficulty Devil's Defiance Dungeon. Skill Point Acquired]

“A-a-alaric?!” FierceFire squeaked, her eyes large as saucers as she gazed out at the empty sky.

SolemnRiver was equally shocked as she read and re-read the notifications, “Are we really the first to clear a nightmare dungeon? How is that possible? I know for a fact there are several masters playing. Shouldn’t they have pulled it off before us?”

The two guys shared a look, then left the party. Each retrieved a small crystal from their inventories. Crushing them, a vortex of wild energies was released and they were pulled in, vanishing.

SolemnRiver stiffened, a gasp filling the chilly air, “No! This is so embarrassing! That shameless bastard's name is the one everyone is going to see. Oh no. If Great-grandfather finds out I wasn’t even the party leader… He’ll definitely dock my points before the succession competition begins. Freyja, you can’t tell anyone. Promise me! Whatever happens, we have to keep our involvement in this announcement a secret.”

“Uhh… Taly. You really shouldn’t look at the forums for a while. Maybe ever.”

Of course, there was no way such a warning would actually dissuade her. SolemnRiver opened the forums, and the top post, only minutes old, had in excess of ten million views. Her vision swam as her trembling finger clicked it. At the very top, there was a video that had her and FierceFire’s faces as the clickbait thumbnail: Easy clear guide - nightmare (Devil's Defiance Dungeon) with internationally acclaimed beauties, FierceFire and SolemnRiver!

“That fucking bastard! I'll rip out his guts with my bare hands! I'll eat his eyes! I'll—”

End of Return of the Martial Messiah book 1

Thank you for reading!!