Chương 35: Master of Kiting

"Straight to the Boss?" Rosalind was baffled. Whoever ran a dungeon and met a Boss right off the bat?

"That's right. The fire I just set drew all the small fry from the first and second gates away. So now we just need to kill the second gate's Boss before they get back, and we get the key to the second floor."

"…How do you know everything?" Faye Quinn asked, curious as a kitten.

"This… call it a gift, I suppose." Ryan rubbed his nose, the corner of his mouth lifting.

"Hmph, never serious!" Faye muttered, then turned away and said no more.

"Right—when the time comes, I'll pull the Boss up front. You all just follow behind and pour out damage." Ryan swept a glance over the squad. Rosalind was an Ice Mage, Faye a Fire Mage, Tessa a Lightning Mage, and Lucy a Light Priest—the four of them together could've opened their own mahjong table for casters. Aside from Serena, a melee Assassin, every one of them was a magic class. A pack of gearless Level 10 squishies, in a Hell-difficulty dungeon, couldn't survive a single Boss hit. Is this weighted training?

Ryan smiled wryly to himself, then crept along the wall, slipped past a few pillars, and at last laid eyes on the second gate's Boss. [Gold Boss: the Wine-and-Meat Monk (Hell): Castle chieftain who loves big bowls of wine and great mouthfuls of meat. An imperial criminal who fled here for his murderous nature—one of the castle's officers! HP: 200, 000, Stamina: 50, 000, Attack: 600, Defense: 400, Skills: Unknown, Level: 13] In a Hell-difficulty dungeon, the lowest Boss grade was Gold, and the [Hell] tag after the name marked the Boss's intelligence: a *[Hell]*-tagged Boss had combat experience enough to crush ordinary players across the board. Just now, though, the Wine-and-Meat Monk was rubbing his round belly, lounging alone on a soft leather couch in a corner of the first-floor hall, lazily tipping a wine flask and savoring life.

Ryan glanced at the ten thousand crossbow bolts stocked in his bag and unleashed a chain assault on the drinking Boss. A dozen-odd shots a second turned the crossbow in his hands into a veritable machine gun; in the blink of an eye, countless bolts streamed out and rained onto the Wine-and-Meat Monk. With the bonuses from bolts and crossbow, Ryan's attack had broken past 500—easily piercing the Boss's defense—and with the Combo talent, his damage climbed steadily.

In a mere five or six seconds, a single bolt was already doing nearly 300. -285! -286! -287! …

"Who the hell's disturbing my drink?! Tired of living?!" The hefty Wine-and-Meat Monk sprang up from the couch, the floor shuddering under him. Snatching an engraved gold-trimmed broadaxe from a nearby table and downing a great gulp of wine, he charged toward Ryan.

"Brat, I'll mince you up as a drinking snack!" he bellowed, baring a mouthful of yellow teeth that turned the stomach. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. As a master of kiting, how could Ryan let the Wine-and-Meat Monk get close? Time for a little ring-around-the-pillar!

The corner of his mouth lifted as he circled the hall's pillars—each so thick it'd take five or six people to embrace—weaving endlessly while his crossbow loosed bolt after bolt into the Boss. Intelligent the Boss might be, but its movement speed was a fatal weakness; under Ryan's 10x acceleration, it couldn't close the distance at all. Add the forest of pillars and Ryan's erratic footwork, and the Wine-and-Meat Monk was dizzied, seeing stars, stamping in fury.

"Brat! Stand still if you've got the guts!"

"Big dumb lug, catch me if you can!" The corner of Ryan's mouth curled as he taunted. Here was a key point: the Hell tag gave Bosses higher intelligence, but it also made their emotions more easily swayed. So under his taunts, the Wine-and-Meat Monk grew so enraged that its attacks and footwork turned ever more frantic and disordered—handing Ryan all the more openings. -1, 100! In moments, his stacked damage had broken a thousand.

"This… is he soloing the Boss?" Rosalind was stunned, scarcely believing her eyes. Recalling Ryan's confidence before they'd entered, understanding finally dawned: his words hadn't been wishful thinking at all.

"My word—Ryan's this amazing? I'm done for! I'm becoming his fangirl…" Faye stared dreamily at the man handling the Boss so utterly, eyes shining. Lucy watched her brother, the focus of the whole scene, a happy smile on her face. Tessa's eyes were wide with shock. Even the reticent Serena couldn't help a single word: "Impressive."

"Don't just stand there gawking—attack! Or you won't get a share of the EXP later!" Ryan called out, reminding the women. With the Heart of Heaven's Punishment barring him from leveling off monsters, if he soloed the Boss, he'd be the one losing out. At his call, the women hurried to act, their ragged ranged damage falling in. Thump! A stray fireball clipped Ryan, very nearly letting the Wine-and-Meat Monk catch him and break his combo.

"Hey—aim a little, would you?!" Ryan smiled wryly. This really was weighted training. Looked like he'd have to find a way to raise these ladies' actual strength later; the studio couldn't lean on him alone. He could help in the early game, but down the road he had other plans—he had to prepare for the coming Virtual Sync. Pour all his energy into the studio, and the loss would outweigh the gain. Boom! Before long, the Wine-and-Meat Monk loosed a last unwilling roar and crashed to the ground. System: [Ding! Plunder successful! Strength +20!] System: [Ding! Plunder successful! You obtained the skill Drunken Fist!] Dazzling light flashed; the Wine-and-Meat Monk burst, loot scattering across the floor. At the same time, golden light flickered over Rosalind and the others—every one of them reaching Level 11. Ryan scooped up the hall key on the ground, swept up the loot, opened the door to the castle's second floor with the women, and slipped through. System: [Ding! Second gate "Castle Hall" cleared! Reward: 3, 000 dungeon points!] As the prompt sounded, everyone finally breathed easier, taking stock of the spoils in the corridor. Under their expectant gazes, Ryan dumped a heap of gear glittering in every color onto the ground.

"Take whatever you want—but nothing outside your own class. I still have to sell that for money!" he reminded them. He still had a billion Azure Coin to save; this was the most he could give. After all, that money was tied to his sister Lucy's very life.