Caelus Online

26. Rage Mode

Hearing the sound of the taunt, Astaria instantly realised that Square Jaw would also be affected, so she quickly rushed back into melee range and let loose a flurry of strikes against the goblin's knee, eventually managing to regain the boss’s attention as it swung at her with its fist.

Narrowly dodging the attack, Astaria used [Evasion] to take some distance again. Looking toward her friends for an opportunity to clear away some of the enemy summons, Astaria could see that most of the enemies were now gathered into a group that was being held back by Tyrell and Russel.

Taking this golden opportunity, Astaria launched a fireball right into the centre of the goblins, instantly killing 6 of them while wounding and knocking down a few others that were close to where the fireball exploded.

[6X Elite Goblin Lv 15 defeated. 39.7% XP gained. 336% skill point XP gained]

[Lv 16 -> 17]

[All Attributes +1]

[+5 Attribute Points]

[+3 Skill Points]

Returning her attention back to the Square Jaw, Astaria ducked under the wild swing of the boss’s arm that he was using like a club, and made another swing at the goblin's knee, the action now second nature to her after repeating it so many times.

Glancing back over to her friends, Astaria saw that Ash was making the most of the new skill he unlocked at lv 16, sending out a slash of energy from the arc of his sword, decapitating 3 of the goblins that were rushing him.

[2X Elite Goblin Lv 15 defeated. 9.8% XP gained. 112% skill point XP gained]

[+1 Skill Point]

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Meanwhile, Tyrell was blocking a goblin's spear while closing the distance so the swing of his now glowing hammer would find its mark.

[Elite Goblin Lv 15 defeated. 4.9% XP gained. 56% skill point XP gained]

[+1 Skill Point]

Russel, standing next to Tyrell blocked the onslaught from 2 goblins while Ben and Roxanne launched additional attacks from behind to kill one of the goblins he was fighting.

Pleased that everyone was coping quite well, Astaria moved back again, kiting Square Jaw away from the group while sending out the occasional spells.

In gaming terms, kiting was a method where a player ran around while enemies chased behind while usually unable to deal damage due to the distance. This allowed a player to occasionally attack enemies with low risk or to buy time.  

Seeing that her mana had fallen to 90, Astaria decided to preserve as much as she could while calling for Russel and Tyrell to take over tanking so she could drink a mana potion.

Committing to this strategy, Astaria kept her distance, only occasionally stepping into the boss’s attack range to strike its knee when it left an opening. Glancing back at her friends, she saw that they had almost finished killing the summons, with only 3 of the goblins remaining. Inwardly giving a nod of approval, she called out to Tyrell who was the closest to her.

“Tyrell, tank for 10, need to chug a mana pot!”

Hearing the shout, he let out a quick reply before using the skill [Shield Bash] on a goblin to stun it, then ending its life by squishing its head like a watermelon with his hammer.

“Got it.”

Readying herself, Astaria brought up her inventory menu while maintaining her distance, quickly replacing her staff with the potion in her left hand.

As soon as the clangs created by Russel and Tyrell’s weapons bashing their shields rang out, Astaria immediately stopped moving, uncorking the potion and drinking it as fast as she could with big gulps, her days of partying showing her experience in an unexpected way.

The mana potion that Astaria is using would replenish 750 MP over the period of 60 seconds, however since her maximum MP was at 610, it will only restore that amount. If potions like these were able to replenish mana above the consumer's maximum, it could give a player unlimited mana for that duration depending on the potion’s quality, a serious exploit that rich players could easily abuse.

Seeing her mana start to regenerate, Astaria continued gulping, watching the bitter blue liquid quickly vanish.

With a gasp for air, Astaria lowered her head to see Square Jaw chasing after Tyrell who was hurling abuse at the boss, while Russel started to lag behind the Boss as he attempted to get a hit on it.

“Haha, you big green baboon, looks like your mother hit you with a brick while you were a little green scrote, chasing after me like I stole your damned sweet roll!”

This comment received a few laughs from Ben who was watching Tyrell trying to keep Square Jaw’s attention, while the boss roared in indignation as it understood that the tiny ant was insulting it.

Astaria had no chance to appreciate Tyrell’s taunts nor wipe the dribble of mana potion from her chin upon seeing that Square Jaw had almost caught up to Tyrell.

Immediately casting her fastest attack, two lightning strikes hit Square Jaw from above, giving Tyrell some leeway as the boss staggered from the magic. Seeing that the boss was still focusing on Tyrell, Astaria let off a [Fireball] before rushing forward, readying her sword to strike again.

The fireball exploded on the boss’s back causing its head to snap to the direction Astaria was running from, showing that she had successfully regained the boss’s attention. As Square Jaw charged at her, Tyrell and Russel returned to their positions as the rest of the raid party moved back to its original formation ready for the next stretch of the fight.

The group continued to use the same strategy of using a periodic magical bombardment to limit Square Jaw’s movement while Astaria bought time for everyone’s skill cooldowns to end by fighting with her sword. The party swiftly cleared out the groups of 20 summons with increasing efficiency as the boss’s health hit 50% and 25% respectively, the xp gained helping Astaria reach Lv 18 and gain some more skill points.

[8X Elite Goblin Lv 15 defeated. 39.2% XP gained. 448% skill point XP gained]

[+4 Skill Points]

[9X Elite Goblin Lv 15 defeated. 33.8% XP gained. 504% skill point XP gained]

[Lv 17 -> 18]

[All Attributes +1]

[+5 Attribute Points]

[+5 Skill Points]

With the last goblin gone, Square Jaw let out a deafening roar much louder than when he summoned the Lv 15 goblins, causing everyone's ears to ring.

The experienced MMO players in the group realised immediately that this meant there was a change in the boss, causing Tyrell, Roxanne, and Astaria to shout in unison.

““Be careful!””

Square Jaw finished its deafening roar, slamming both of his hands down onto the floor in front of him in rage, making enraged growling sounds from deep within his throat.

Seeing this behaviour that she had seen from similar bosses, but not from the regular Square Jaw, Astaria called out.

“Berserk state, wait for me to disable its knee before you guys make any kind of attack.”

Deciding it would be too dangerous for the party who still lacked experience, Astaria focused on ensuring that Square Jaw fully lost movement in its right leg. Over the course of the last 13 minutes of fighting Astaria had managed to make the previous gash much wider with blood now spurting out, causing major bleed damage to the boss while its movement noticeably slowed down.

taking a rough guess, Astaria predicted that within 8 good hits she could cut through enough of the knee to completely disable the limb.

Moving with extra caution, Astaria started bombarding the boss with magic attacks as she bought herself a little time to ready herself.

Quickly adding her newly gained 10 attribute points straight into agility, Astaria cast a [Fireball] and [Blast] followed by [Evasion] to close the gap between her and Square Jaw.

Making the most of the stun her [Blast] provided, Astaria unsummoned her staff with a flick of her hand, and using both hands used all her strength to strike the large wound on the boss's knee. Feeling its flesh getting cut again, Square Jaw wildly swung its right arm down by its knee as Astaria barely managed to dodge the attack, the boss's speed having increased from its berserk state.

Taking a step back, Astaria immediately used her [Evasion] skill to dodge the boss who charged at her again with a burst of speed.

Astaria swung her sword as she begans to evade in an attempt to hit the wound again, however, due to the increase in pressure the sword caught the goblin just above its knee, missing its mark.

Having a sudden idea, Astaria moved in to slash Square Jaw's leg again, evading under another lunge. At this stage in the fight, Square Jaw was back in the centre of the room, only 5 metres away from the massive campfire.

Astaria moved to position herself between the boss and the fire, summoning her staff again and launching a mana arrow at its eye which it dodged, loudly roaring in anger as it stepped forward to lunge at her.

Waiting for the perfect opportunity to evade while the incredibly hot fire heated her back, Astaria smirked while observing that Square Jaw was unable to see the obvious trap in its enraged state.

As Square Jaw’s hand was just a foot away from her face, Astaria used her evasion skill to move under the attack and arrive 2 meters behind the boss. With a cast of her [Lightning], the large goblin momentarily stiffened as the attack struck, his previous momentum carrying him half a metre away from the fire.