Renjaolh drew back the bowstring. Mana gathered towards him. The crisp sound of the string echoed through the surroundings as multiple arrows embraced by dark magic shot towards the friends.
"Scatter! Shield, get him!"
Silver Blade shouted quick orders. Immediately everyone controlled their basilisks to escape towards the sides.
Radiant Shield narrowed his eyes. Their mounts, being of unique rank, gave strong boosts to their movement speed and stance. For Radiant Shield his speed increased from 10,28 to 51,4. Sprinting at full speed he was marginally faster than the boss.
Now that Renjaolh unleashed an attack, his Panton slowed down for a moment. Radiant Shield activated his mount skill [Dash]. His basilisk called Tinna, named after the dragon in a show Radiant Shield used to love as a kid, let out a high-pitched cry as mana played around her gorgeous yellow-orange feathers.
Suddenly Tinna almost doubled her speed. Her body turned into a blur as she closed the distance with the boss, overtaking him and blocking his path.
[Stance -7]
[Stance -7]
[Stance -7]
Radiant Shield helplessly glanced at his dwindling stance. Although unique mounts directly tripled one's stance, the [Dash] skill cost a high price.
The rest of the party also had to experience this firsthand. Faced with the incoming arrows, they controlled their mounts to weave between the attacks.
Liam connected with Reen as if it was his second nature. His and the mount's movements looked incredibly fluid as if they were one unit.
A dark arrow aimed right for Liam's chest. The veteran lightly tapped Reen with his knee and the basilisk understood instantly. She lightly tipped the ground and used her wings as support to sway to the side without losing any momentum.
[Stance -31]
The dodge still used up a lot of stance, but it was preferable over having to activate [Dash].
"Damn, look at him!"
"So smooth!"
The others watched enviously. They were still getting used to fighting on mounts. When an arrow aimed right for Cyclone, she hastily activated [Dash].
Her mount called Spark turned into a blur and quickly left the attack range.
"Stoohop."
Cyclone barely managed to regain control. Her hair was disheveled by the wind, flying chaotically behind her back. Her body hurt from the bumpy ride.
Just as Spark finally slowed down again, Cyclone's eyes widened in horror as she ended up right in front of another arrow.
As Cyclone's body and the arrow made contact, sparks suddenly flashed around her violet-red gloves as her new set equipment triggered. A thick lightning bolt erupted and collided with the arrow. The damage was directly reduced by twenty percent.
[-2787!]
[-747!]
Yet the lightning bolt didn't dissipate. It siphoned off some of the arrow's power and carried it along as it reached the boss in a flash, slamming squarely into the dark elf's chest. The damage it prevented earlier was now dealt to the boss.
[-432!]
The rest of the party wasn't fearing much better. Only Watchful Eye quickly got the hang of it. Riding was part of his extensive training. Although the mounts in the game were mostly controlled by one's thoughts, with physical action only serving as an assistance, it was still an advantage to be proficient in riding.
While others had to get used to the movements of their mount, Watchful Eye found it easier to figure out the connection between his own body and that of his basilisk called Mamba. Watchful Eye didn't have a strong preference for any name and just went along with the trend to not chose an overly complicated name.
While the others all struggled to various degrees he sat upright on Mamba's back, holding onto the feathers with one hand and wielding his staff in the other. Faced with the incoming arrows he maneuvered calmly, steering Mamba like a boat through the stormy sea.
Watchful Eye was slowly closing the distance towards Renjaolh. He waited for Radiant Shield to secure the aggro.
The burly tank sat on Tinna's broad back. They arrived in front of Renjaolh, blocking his path. With a thought Radiant Shield gave the order to attack.
In Fate of Crunaboul players fighting from a mount could choose to let their own attacks be performed by their mounts. This didn't improve the damage but made their movements cleaner.
As Radiant Shield, equipped with shield and hammer, could barely reach the enemy from his mount's back, he directed Tinna to attack in his stead.
The basilisk narrowed her piercing eyes and kept her wings close to her body as she slammed her shoulder into Renjaolh.
"Out of my way!"
The boss shouted angrily. He let out a pained groan as he collided with Radiant Shield. Both mounts tumbled backwards, their powerful footsteps digging deep into the dirty road.
"Nice job!"
Watchful Eye praised loudly. After two weeks the others didn't find it strange anymore. The usually taciturn man softened somewhat when sitting on his mount. Silver Blade was glad to see him having some fun.
Clad in monk robes Watchful Eye made it past the storm of arrows and reached Renjaolh. His staff whirled through the air, crashing into the dark elf's back.
[-551!]
Following up Watchful Eye instantly activated his basilisk's skill [Five-Colored Feather Storm]. Mamba let out a loud cry as QI cycled through his body. His feathers lit up brightly. Countless illusionary feathers bearing the colors of the five elements shot in all directions, creating a beautiful and deadly spectacle.
[-74!]
[-42!]
[-56!]
Renjaolh suffered strongly under the continuous damage. Watchful Eye was satisfied with this skill but the high cost of 150QI did affect his damage noticeably.
After this beautiful opener, Liam arrived swiftly. Before coming to a stop his swords instantly flashed through the air. His ultimate skill was activated causing a holy light to engulf him and Reen.
Liam's movements were faster than ever before. His swords arrived almost simultaneously, performing normal attacks.
A moment later Reen crossed her magnificent wings before her body and slashed at the boss, unleashing a [Cross Slash] in Liam's stead.
Liam himself immediately switched to [Double Slash] leaving the boss no time to react. Holy marks exploded above the dark elf's head, drowning him in a blinding light, their damage enhanced since Liam's ultimate skill had reached rank 2.
[-1064!]
"Damn, expert! Leave something for us!"
Watching the boss loose a huge chunk of HP in no time at all, Cyclone felt left out. After receiving one hit from the arrow storm and losing a third of her HP, she avoided the rest.
Now she controlled Spark to stop and waved her wand. Even with the game's help, aiming while moving speedily was something which the players had to get used to, but Cyclone didn't want to embarrass herself with a miss right now.
With a flick of her weapon, she sent a transparent magical sphere towards the enemy and instantly followed up with a [Lightning Strike]. The two attacks arrived almost simultaneously.
[-589!]
[-884!]
[-488!]
As a fierce lightning bolt struck from the sky, her new necklace looking like a stylish blue lightning bolt sparkled. Its effect activated and improved Cyclone's lightning damage.
[Maelstrom Jewel
Category: Rare, Set
Level requirement: 38
Intelligence: +5
Source: +7
Stance: +13
Magical Damage: 110
Effect 1: Increase all your lightning damage by 5%.
Effect 2: After dealing lightning damage you have a chance of 10% to trigger a bolt of lightning which deals 5% (MDMG) lightning damage.
Two-piece Set effect: Dealing lightning damage to more than two enemies within 5 seconds increases next the damage of your next lightning attack by 20%. (45seconds cooldown)
Three-piece Set effect: When receiving damage, you have a chance of 5% to reflect 20% of the damage as lightning damage. (30seconds cooldown)
Four-piece Set effect: Dealing lightning damage more than thrice in 10s on a single enemy reduces their void damage by 10%
Restriction: Bound upon wearing, INT above 90 points
Hundreds of years ago the infamous Maelstrom appeared above the western ocean. While some worked to dissipate it, others sought to protect it for the treasures it gave. This jewel was spewed out by the magical phenomenon and forged into a potent magical necklace.]
Cyclone was enthusiastic about her new equipment. But even more so about Spark. With a thought she activated the mount's skill [Chaotic Lightning Dash], completely ignoring the high mana cost which was a commonality that all mount skills shared.
Lightning erupted from Cyclone's body, engulfing her and her mount. Suddenly the lightning condensed into a sphere the size of a watermelon and began to chaotically move through the battlefield. It reached an insane speed as it crisscrossed and flied up and down.
Its flight path was random, but it luckily hit Renjaolh twice.
[-951!]x2
After ten seconds Cyclone reappeared tens of meters from the rest of the party. Her mind was dizzy, causing her head to sway. But bright laughter came from her lips as she enjoyed the rollercoaster-like skill.
Her friends chuckled as they were infected by her mood, but their focus was directed at the boss.