The friends' concentration reached its peak. They communicated with Watchful Eye while frantically dodging the boss's skill. Simultaneously Radiant Shield and Silver Blade had the strenuous job of blocking the guardian's path.
This fight was a difficult test for the party's coordination. But after playing together since the first dungeon Liam and his friends had a great tacit understanding. Even without the veteran's lead they held on until the skill finally ended.
All in all the party took some minor damage but this didn't threaten their completion of the fight. Soon, Watchful Eye had redirected the water once more, giving the boss no time to bath in the vitality gifting water.
From this point on the golem's didn't have many options left. The arms swinging its hammer almost appeared listless as its last few HP were taken away.
With the grating sound of metal on metal the boss's legs gave in. It slumped to the ground, the light of its crystal slowly dimming.
"Good job, guys! Second try!", praised Silver Blade.
"I wonder how long other guilds took..."
"I'm sure others wasted more time with this fight. After all they don't have a Watchful Eye-Bleary Mirage-combo."
"We shouldn't forget that they have a head start of more than half a day!", reminded Balm.
"You're right. No time to waste!", agreed Cyclone.
The blond mage quickly approached the fallen golem. She closed her eyes and rubbed her hands. She reached out with her hand, letting out a sigh as she patted the boss's shoulder:
"Rest well, big guy. No one will force you again to damage the fields you wanted to protect!"
Maybe the golem heard Cyclone as it shone in a bright light, handing over its loot to the mage. A gorgeous pair of heavy pants appeared in her hands. It was silver with green and golden highlights. Mythical wyverns were gracing its knee parts, mysterious and powerful. They magically attracted all the warrior's attention with the mighty aura they emitted.
Cyclone's eyes lit up brightly as she read the item's description. She even whispered to herself:
"This sounds so powerful."
Suddenly she heard a cough coming from behind her back. The mage snapped out of it and glanced over her shoulder, jumping in surprise as she was met with multiple hungry pairs of eyes.
"W... what do you want? I don't taste well!"
"Come on, stop joking around. Show us the item.", urged Quickstep.
"Ohhh... I didn't know..."
"One more word and I will loot the next boss!", threatened Silver Blade.
"What?! You wouldn't dare! I thought we were friends, Silva!"
"Cy..."
"Okayokayokay. Here."
Cyclone knew that her friends were really about to run out of patience, quickly posting the item's info in the group chat.
[Legwear of the Vanguard of the early Dragonslayers
Category: Rare, Set
Level requirement: 32
Physical Defence: 29
Magical Defence: 36
Constitution: +11
Magical Resistance: +6
Effect 1: After taking elemental damage heal for 4% of your max HP over the next 5 seconds
Effect 2: Increase your physical and magical resistance by 3 when fighting with an ally and by 10 in mounted combat.
Two-piece Set effect: Increase your resistance against all attributed damage by 15%
Three-piece Set effect: ???
Four-piece Set effect: ???
Restriction: Bound upon wearing, STR above 90 points
Everyone once started weak, even the fabled Dragonslayers. Yet one's perception of 'weak' is not the same for all people. The armour of the early Dragonslayers definitely stood out amongst those of the same level, yet it was soon discarded as its wearers outgrew it.]
Silence fell on the room. No one expected to randomly find such outrageously powerful equipment. Silver Blade held her breath as she robotically reached out with her hand.
Without a word Cyclone handed the item over. No one complained. It was obvious who was the most efficient user of this item.
The female tank caressed the stylized wyverns once before putting the item on. The silver armor appeared on her legs, giving off a mystical air worthy of a hero in a story. They even outshone Silver Blade's other rare equipment, her chest plate.
Radiant Shield let out a sigh, his eyes full of longing.
"Why don't you boast more physical defence..."
"Or some agility...", lamented Quickstep.
"Don't worry guys, I will try to get you something similar next time!", promised Cyclone.
As the friends slowly recovered from the shock Silver Blade secretly communicated with Liam in the chat. She wanted to know if it was worth it gathering the full set and if Bleary Mirage knew where to find other pieces. The answer to both questions was a yes.
The two friends kept it in mind while Cyclone revealed more of the loot. It was a mix of a few subpar items and a few more interesting ones. Among those were three recipes and a scroll which could summon a golem to fight.
Cyclone didn't spend the items much attention, going through them quickly. After she was done, she urged her friends to continue the dungeon.
"Let's hurry up, guys. Others probably killed the boss yesterday. We are late already."
The mage took the lead, heading for the two gates which had opened after the boss died. But Silver Blade stopped her.
"Didn't you forget something?"
"Hm, what?"
"Watchful Eye..."
Cyclone blinked incredulously. She tilted her head looking past Silver Blade at the hole in the street.
"What is he doing? Is he stuck?"
"No idea."
[Silver Blade: @Watchful Eye what's going on down there?]
[Watchful Eye: I'm on my way. After the boss died, a chest got revealed down here.]
[Cyclone: Coming, coming!]
[Watchful Eye: Too late.]
[Cyclone: Ah... I guess... you... deserved it.]
The friends couldn't help but laugh looking at Cyclone's message which looked as if she suffered pain with every single word.
They waited for a few seconds until Watchful Eye finally climbed out of the hole. Looking at his dishevelled appearance they refrained from commenting. At least the man had been rewarded for his sacrifice with the new gloves he now wore.
The party was finally ready to continue approaching the gates.
"Raff! Raff!"
Fellfell barked anxiously. Cyclone patted the dog's head with a smile.
"Wrong door, buddy. We need to take the left gate."
"Raff?"
"Leeeft gaaate."
Fellfell's eyes moved as if he pondered something before changing direction and entering the left gate.
"Hey, he really understood you.", said Silent Acacia with a grin.
"Of course!"
The party quickly followed the dog, finding themselves in another stone corridor. A few heavy doors made from solid stone and engraved with vivid images led to the left, but unfortunately those were all closed.
Silver Blade let her eyes wander around the corridor. It wasn't much different than in normal mode expect for the two more groups of NPCs.
"Back to monster bashing..."
The tank spoke lazily as her and Radiant Shield started the fight. With great familiarity the party disposed of the enemies one by one, fighting their way through the corridor.
Only at the end the end did they meet a new enemy. It was a bipedal metal golem with the height of a human. It leaned against the last gate to the left. A quick check revealed that it was of Lord Rank.
The party knew about the enemy from their first dungeon run. They sent Radiant Shield to engage the enemy while Silver Blade stayed close to the ranged players.
The metal golem wielded a large crossbow. Each bolt produced a heavy thud as it collided with Radiant Shield, reverberating through the man's body.
Quickly, the enemy was surrounded by the melee fighters. All kinds of attacks chipped away at its HP bar.
After losing almost three thousand points the enemy revealed its first skill. The crystal inlaid in its chest shone brightly as it emitted a wave of magical energy.
A potent power could be felt from the magic. None of the players dared to get close. The Lord turned its head focusing its single, circular eye on Cyclone.
Silver Blade reacted instantly, jumping in front of the mage. The sound of a highly tense string echoed through the corridor. A bolt engulfed in dark magic shot at a speed which was impossible for the players to catch.
Luckily the players were prepared beforehand. The bolt didn't hit Cyclone and was instead blocked by Silver Blade's shield. An insane cost of 29 points of stance showed the attack's terrifying damage potential.
However, despite all the preparation the boss's skill still deviated from normal mode. Instead of firing once it fired thrice.
When the boss swirled its head around and focused on Liam, the veteran's heart skipped a beat. He didn't wait until the bolt was actually released but escaped with a flash step beforehand.
The frightening, low thud rang in Liam's ears as he reappeared a short distance to the right. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the bolt sticking out of the solid stone wall, the wooden shaft shaking at a high frequency.