Caelus Online

25. Raids Harbinger

Looking at her friends behind her, Astaria crossed her arms as she spoke up, breaking the silence blanketing the centre of the forest.

“Make sure all of you are in the same party to maximise your XP gain from the boss’s summons, then I will invite you to a raid party.”

In Caelus Online, to be able to freely form a raid party, a player needed to reach Lv 50, however, there were exceptions to this rule. Raid bosses like Square Jaw could be encountered before level 50, so the game allowed players who were within a certain proximity to the boss to create a Raid party irrespective of the player's level. In addition, large-scale dungeons and world bosses which required a large number of players also had this feature.

Seeing Ash’s name disappear from the left of her vision, Astaria waited for an indication from Tyrell who was leading the other party before using the system to invite them to form a Raid party.

[[Server Announcement: Player Astaria is the first Immortal Warrior to form a Raid Party. Astaria has been awarded a unique title]]

After seeing this announcement, Astaria's lips formed a beautiful smile. System announcements were messages from the game that appeared in every player's vision and had their own specific log in the system menu that could be accessed at any time. This was the first server message about a player’s achievement in the log which would undoubtedly give her a major boost in fame, something that she required for her plans to gain the best outcome.

Seeing a notification in her menus indicating a new mail, Astaria quickly checked it to confirm what the message was.

[{New: Congratulations for First Raid Party Achievement}

{Sender: System}

{Congratulations on becoming the first player to form a raid party in Caelus online. You have received the unique title ‘Raids Harbinger’ and have been rewarded with 2 free attribute points and a ‘Raid Party 30% XP increase for 1 hour’ scroll. Received items will be placed in your inventory.}]

Reading this mail, Astaria swiftly applied the 2 new Attribute Points to her WIS and checked her inventory, pulling out the new scroll.

The others just watched Astaria, waiting with intrigued expressions for her to finish what she was doing. After seeing the scroll appear in her hands, Roxanne asked the question they all had.

“Congrats on the new title, I assume that scroll is the reward?”

Showing a jubilant smile, Astaria unfurled the scroll, causing it to disappear in a golden light that floated around all the party members.

“This is a 30% XP increase scroll for a raid team. It seems that this Boss fight will provide us with more rewards than we first planned.”

Seeing Astaria’s motivation rise, everyone expressed their excitement with various comments thanking the system for the conveniently timed buff as they all made their way into the cave.

The group drew their weapons as they entered, walking into the cave that was dimly lit by a few crude torches planted into the walls. After a short time walking, the passageway opened up into a large cave easily over 40 metres in diameter, with a large campfire a metre high at the centre lighting the entire room up.

Sitting next to the fire eating some unknown meat was a brawny goblin covered in scars. His height was easily able to reach 3 metres tall while standing and his large jaw was square-shaped as his name implied. Astaria found out in the past that the goblin's name was apparently due to a fight it had with a paladin who had used a war hammer to smash the boss's chin, deforming it from the goblin's traditional pointy shape to a mangled square.

Astaria also noticed that the room was filled with various boxes of cargo, the occasional chest, and a few empty cages. Astaria’s heart filled with rage seeing empty cages and what it insinuated, causing her fighting spirit to soar as she checked the Boss’s information.

[Raid Boss: Square Jaw Lv 35]

[Mutated Hobgoblin]

Reading the large Goblin's info, Astaria gestured to the party to move into position as she burst forward, sprinting at Square Jaw who was sitting with his back to her. Astaria used her [Evasion] skill to increase her speed and close the distance to the brawny goblin before the boss had a chance to stand up. The boss, noticing that someone was approaching it, turned its head around to see Astaria merely 3 meters away, her sword flashing in the light of the fire as she swung at the goblin's neck with all her might.

Seeing that Square Jaw was unable to respond in time, Astaria used all her force and momentum to slice into the goblin's neck, barely cutting an inch deep.

Leaning back, Astaria dodged Square Jaw's left hand that was initially going to block her sword, but instead moved to grab her, and swung her sword at it, creating a small cut on its wrist.

Enraged at her actions, Square Jaw roared, thankfully not screaming, unlike its smaller brethren. Responding to the boss, Astaria summoned her staff to cast an [Earth Spike], followed by using [Evasion] to create some distance.

Seeing that the earth spikes barely damage the boss, Astaria followed her attack by casting [Lightning] and its add-on, [Residual Burst]. Two lightning bolts strike down onto the goblin's head, the first bolt slightly pausing Square Jaw's movement as it started to stand, while the second made the goblin stagger, using a hand to support itself.

As soon as the second bolt of lightning hit, an arrow surrounded by energy hit Square Jaw’s shoulder followed by a ball of black energy that exploded as it hit its knee, causing the boss to growl in rage. It looked up, staring hatefully behind Astaria at Ben and Roxanne who just launched their attacks.

The rest of the group were in positions behind Astaria, with the corner of the cave that was previously mentioned at their backs. Ash, Tyrell, and Russel were all positioned in front of Ben and Roxanne to stop the boss if it came for them while they kept a distance away to prevent getting in Astaria’s way as she fought, meaning they had little to do until the boss summons more goblins to help it.

Astaria continued her barrage, following up with a fireball and blast which hit alongside a black spear and a flaming arrow sent from behind. With her current skills now on cooldown, Astaria moved closer to Square Jaw who was staggering back from the explosion.

Using the boss’s momentary imbalance, Astaria swiftly stepped in and made another slash at Square Jaw's neck, slightly missing where she had previously hit, creating another shallow gash. With the large goblin now roaring in pain, Astaria continued to attack the boss with her sword, her elegant steps moving her behind the goblin as she slashed at the back of its right knee, once again causing another shallow wound.

After dodging another lunge from Square Jaw who had turned and was now facing her, Astaria moved to the goblin's right side, ducking underneath its hand that had failed to grab her and swung her sword again at the goblin's knee as she passed.

Seeing that she had accurately struck the same place this time, she turned to face the goblin, slamming down her staff as earth spikes shot out, all accurately stabbing into the wound she had just created.

Having bought enough time for her skills to come off their cooldowns, Astaria evaded back to create some distance again, repeating the same barrage of skills that were backed up by additional attacks from Ben and Roxanne.

After repeating the same series of attacks for around 4 minutes, the wound at the back of Square Jaw's knee had grown to be quite large, spurting out blood whenever the boss tried to walk forward. However, the wound on his neck has only grown a little larger since Astaria has been unable to get many hits on the spot that was usually above her head height.

Seeing the goblin's health bar above its head hit 75% of its health, Astaria shouted out to the rest of the party.

“Incoming, get ready!”

As her shout reached the of the group, they retreated backwards into the corner, ready to face the incoming goblins as the boss raised his head upwards and let out the loudest roar yet, its volume causing the cave to shake.

After a few seconds, the echoing sound died down and a large number of rapid footsteps could be heard from the 5 passageways that lead into the cave, eventually spitting out a group of goblins from each.

Astaria, taking the opportunity of the boss recovering from his roar, rushed forward again and managed to slice the wound behind Square Jaw's knee twice more before the boss retaliated, causing Astaria to move back and begin casting her attack skills.

The new goblins seeing the current situation split up into 2 groups, one group rushing for Astaria while the others rushed towards the party of people currently in a defensive formation in the corner of the room.

Russel and Tyrell who are in charge of getting the attention of all of the new goblins, could see that a number of them were heading towards Astaria. Using a skill called [Taunt], they both bring their weapons and shields together, the metallic ring of the collision enhanced by mana drew the attention of every enemy in the room.

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