Two bolts whistled through the air. Coincidentally they aimed for the two tanks. Radiant Shield was still alright but for Silver Blade the situation began to get dangerous.
But Radiant Shield showed a great grasp of the situation at that point. His [Holy Barrier] had come off cooldown a few seconds ago. Instead of panicking and using the skill on himself he targeted Silver Blade.
With a flash a bright barrier protected the young woman. When the bolt crashed into it, it stopped moving for a moment. The barrier rippled like a bubble in the wind.
However, the contest was clearly lost by the bolt. Despite its unwillingness it suddenly burst apart, sending scraps in all directions.
Right at that moment an arrow accompanied by a ball of water appeared and slammed into one of the golem's chests.
The being made from metal was just about to fire its first bolt when its body suddenly froze. Losing its last HP it finally tumbled and fell.
Now only a single enemy was left. With their two tanks the party showed no fear. Whenever the golem brought out its skill the party would line up behind Silver Blade.
The young woman grinned mockingly at the Lord. Protected by the holy barrier she didn't fear any attacks.
Thus, the party worked together, stably chipping away at the golem's HP. None of the friends died until the golem succumbed under their attacks.
"Not even a boss, yet so difficult!", said Cyclone as she stretched her body, trying to get rid of the fatigue in her bones.
"This combo was quite disgusting.", agreed Quickstep.
Radiant Shield glanced over his shoulder, smiling at their healer:
"We have to thank Balm this time."
"Ah, no, no. We all did our jobs!"
Balm's ears were slightly red as she waved her hands. Cyclone grinned at her friend, saying:
"No need to be so shy. We owe you this time."
"Don't we still owe her a meal anyways?", added Silver Blade.
"Right. If this continues, we will pay for Balm's food for years to come."
"She deserves it for saving our lives."
The friends continued to joke around. Seeing Balm's embarrassed attitude made them only want to praise her even more. You could never appreciate your healer enough. After all you rely on them to save your life in critical situations!
The conversation only ebbed out when a gate not far away opened and Fortune, Bloody Edge, and Watchful Eye returned.
Cyclone had already gathered the loot in the meantime. With a few materials, recipes, and uncommon equipment the gain was not bad, but it didn't stand in relation to the difficulty of the fight.
The blond mage was somewhat unhappy, but Silver Blade surmised that the party might have used a large amount of luck to even survive the fight.
Although Cyclone didn't buy it, she knew there was no use in harping on the issue. She followed Balm over towards the levers.
They looked around seeing that everything had been reset to the state before the party began the puzzle. Even the cable car which brought them here had returned, replaced by number 3. And with the end of the fight the blearing alarm stopped as well.
The two women took out all the notes they had made. They organized their thoughts, calculating the correct order to reach platform number 3.
Thanks to Cyclone's chaotic scribbles it took a while. But no one blamed her as the puzzle was too complicated, delivering too much disorderly information.
Thus, it took Cyclone and Balm almost ten minutes until they finally figured it out. After double checking again they told their friends to enter the cable car.
The two women still felt uneasy, confirming again. If there was one thing they wanted to avoid at all cost, it was having to return to the start again. Who knew if another round of golems would be waiting for them.
After coming to the same solution thrice in a row Cyclone and Balm were finally willing to continue. Gritting their teeth they pulled the violet, green, and yellow levers.
They entered the cable car and controlled it to start driving. The vehicle moved for a short while. This time it didn't head for platform number 4, but number 2.
Cyclone and Balm were glad. At least their calculations for the first car hadn't been wrong. They got off, approaching the next batch of levers.
Like these the two women continued.
Turn off violet. Activate dark red. Activate orange. Board car 7. Reach Platform 4. Change colours. Enter car7. Reach platform 6.
Again and again, until they entered cable car 6. It drove slowly and steadily.
"Haha! We did it!"
"We're the best!"
Cyclone and Balm celebrated loudly as it became obvious that car number 6 was heading for platform number 3! Finally, they were about to reach their target.
The rest of the party heard the two women's voices and congratulated happily. They had been riding along all the time without being much of a help. They were glad that the puzzle segment was now over after multiple hours.
When the cable car came to a stop the friends got off. Finally, they had reached platform three. Looking ahead they saw a few groups of soldiers guarding in front of a huge gate.
Like the rest of the city there weren't many ornaments on the gate. It was slightly opened, revealing a gap through which the combined noise of various tools could be heard.
The party members gathered together before leaving the platform. Instead of heading for the gate they first walked to the right.
After fighting through a few groups of common enemies they arrived in front of a suspiciously intact house. Cyclone eagerly entered first, approaching the two chests hidden below a staircase.
The party naturally knew about them from their first run on normal difficulty. They waited in anticipation for Cyclone to reveal the items. The first chest opened and spat out its content.
Cyclone's face froze. The chest gave out a cooking recipe. Glancing at Liam the mage tried to sound enthusiastic:
"Neat! I'm sure your sister will be happy..."
Liam chuckled but didn't comment. However, just as Cyclone put the recipe in the guild treasury, he immediately wrote his sister.
[Bleary Mirage: Serena, quickly look into the treasury. Buy the recipe for fried red-boar ribs with lontateer corn!]
[Mirage Fan #1: Liam... could this be considered insider trading?]
[Bleary Mirage: What? Where did you get this from?! I'm only helping out my sister.]
[Mirage Fan #1: Uncle Braag taught me. He said it's the best way to get really rich.]
Liam gritted his teeth. Somewhere Braag felt a shiver running down his spine.
[Bleary Mirage: Don't listen to Braag! The best way to get rich is being good at Fate of Crunaboul, alright?]
[Mirage Fan #1: Got it.]
Liam let out a sigh of relief. He would have to say a few words to the guild members in the future. He couldn't let them lead Serena astray. It was good that the young girl still obediently listened to him.
Liam kept an eye on the guild treasury. He nodded when he noticed that the recipe disappeared a few seconds later.
Meanwhile Cyclone was already beginning to open the second chest. She sent out prayers in her heart feeling that her luck had been in a slump, totally neglecting the fact that Silver Blade's new pants had been an extremely lucky find.
Maybe you are only saving up now as a build up to something outstanding. Right? How about a legendary item?
Cyclone was smiling to herself as she entertained some delusional thoughts. Finally, the chest opened. A blinding light erupted. A pair of gloves appeared in the mage's hand.
At least according to its description this item would fall into the category of gloves. Yet it looked more like bandages for one's hands. They were of a dazzling golden colour with patterns symbolizing the four elements embroidered on their palms.
Cyclone's eyes lit up brightly feeling the comfortable fabric. From its looks alone this pair of gloves was definitely of high quality.
Without glancing back Cyclone could already feel everyone breathing down her back. Thus, she hurriedly revealed the item's description.
[Bandages of the High Cloud Hall
Category: Rare, Set
Level requirement: 32
Physical Defence: 11
Magical Defence: 7
Source: +14
Stance: +20
Effect 1: Recover 5% of your QI with every normal attack
Effect 2: Increase the elemental damage of your attack by 20% if you used a different element previously.
Two-piece Set effect: Increase your passive QI recovery by 3p/second
Three-piece Set effect: ???
Four-piece Set effect: ???
Restriction: Bound upon wearing, must be QI user
These bandages were created from the hair of four different beasts aligned with the four elements. After soaking in Pure Yang Water for 20 days the hair is finally woven by a grandmaster into these bandages. Only elite disciples of the High Cloud Hall are worthy of these works of art.]