Epoch: A Berserker's Rise

The five meters tall ghoul slightly bent its knees and it released a roar toward the players. The roar itself created a shock wave which exploded against the players. They weren't pushed back, however they felt the power of the boss… as well as fear. In this game there wasn't a fear effect, but facing a powerful being one would feel a suppression, and only those mentally capable of going past it could ignore it.

Among all the players, Adam was level 7, King Slayer was level 6 and the rest were level 5. As for the boss, it was level 10, and was more importantly a Chieftain. Still, the players were no average people. For the members of the First Tier Guilds, although the were weak right now, they had become beings of incredible power in past games.

King Slayer had played multiple games too before and he was accustomed to this, and so were the two sisters. As for Adam, although it was the first time he faced something like that, his soul was much more powerful than the average people, so he dispelled the fear easily too.

But that was only the beginning. The boss began running in the players' direction, far quicker than any previous monster.

Adam looked at Arin and 69420, the other two leaders of the groups. They didn't need to use words to define their plan, because there wasn't really one. Arin and Steel Lungs, the only two remaining tanks both ran toward the boss. Meanwhile, 69420 and the other long ranged DPS were ready to attack the boss at any moment.

The two Assassins disappeared and the Swordsmen were waiting for the tanks to take the aggro as they would probably get oneshoted. As for Adam, he simply followed the two tanks, ready to act as a DPS or take the place of one of the tanks if needed. He might be focusing on DPS, but his defense was really good thanks to his Class Armor.

As the boss approached 69420 fired multiple glowing arrows at it, probably from a skill of his. Everyone had seen how powerful his arrows were, but when they saw the damages he did they paled once again.

-40 HP!

-36 HP!

-32 HP!

69420 had actually used two skills, Triple Shot and Mana Arrow, which he had already used a few times before. When used against normal monsters, his damages would be around 90, meaning he only did one third of his usual damage.

Of course, as a Catkin Ranger, his focus wasn't on damage but rather on high attacking speed and movement speed, his damage was high for a Ranger, higher than most DPS focused players. That was the effect of good equipments.

Still, 69420 showed his real strength after that. When the boss reached the two tanks, he had already shot the boss 10 more times, with some of them having skills that lowered the boss' defense, speed, and strength.

That was the true strength of a Ranger, instead of doing a lot of damage, they would kite their enemies to death by slowing them down. This was possible because this wasn't a magical class and thus the skills didn't cost mana, but only had cooldowns.

All skills had ranks and levels to them, but they also had a third dividing factor to them, and that was for which class they are meant. For example, the skills of a physical class would cost 0 MP, but would have a cooldown to it, while the skills of a magical one would work in the opposite way, with no cooldown but an MP cost.

Of course, this was only for low rank skills, as Adam already had [Wind Blade] that had both an MP cost and a cooldown. Generally, those skills would be more powerful. For example, his [Wind Blade] doubled his attack speed at its basic level, which was incredible since attack speed was a berserker's weakness, and this was only a rank D skill, the second worst rank.

As the two tanks reached the boss, the Evil Abomination's arm suddenly transformed rapidly into a mace, which he swung powerfully toward the two tanks.

Seeing this, Steel Lungs, the Orc Knight, raised her shield and bashed it against the mace. The shock between the mace and the shield created a shock wave which stopped both of their advance.

However, despite the higher strength of the boss, using the shield allowed Steel Lungs to avoid getting sent flying backwards like it would normally do. This was one of the many hidden mechanics of the game, which weren't in any tutorial and had to be found by the players themselves.

For Steel Lungs to find this mechanic so early was as impressive as it was advantageous to her. If she were to fight against a Berserker like Adam who could send her flying with his Mighty Strike, then she would have no chance. Once on the ground, he would only have to activate Wind Blade to finish her, and she would be defenseless on the ground.

Of course, there was a limit to this. If the one striking was much stronger than the one holding the shield, then the one attacked would still be disarmed and get sent flying.

Actually, to decide whether someone would suffer a knock back effect, there were several calculations made by the system with multiple factors as to ensure the game's realism. Among those factors could be attributes, equipment, skills and environment. Those would be the main factors that determined the additional effects following a strike.

Then again, the way one was holding the shield mattered too. Here, although Adam didn't know it, the way Steel Lungs had used her Shield helped her absorb most of the shock. Had a normal player with the same stats as her tried to do the same thing, they would have been crushed. This was a match up between a level 5 player and a level 10 Chieftain boss after all.

As Steel Lungs' shield and the Evil Abomination's mace clashed, both stumbled back and Steel Lung took damages.

- 52HP!

Those were crazy damages for a strike against the shield. Had that mace struck a body, the damages would have been in the hundreds for sure.

Still, as the two stumbled back, this left an opportunity for the close ranged DPS to attack. King Slayer and 2Fast4U, the two Dark Elf Assassins, both appeared behind the boss and attacked its two legs, the heels in particular, their blades shining with a red hue.

Normally, against a level 10 Chieftain boss, a level 5 or 6 Assassin would be unable to apply any effect of stun or similar debuff because of the level difference. However, here was another hidden mechanic, certain spots of the body made debuff more effective.

-502 HP! Cripple!

Critical Hit! -720 HP! Cripple!

The Evil Abomination seemed to lose the strength in its legs as it fell on its knees. Like a real being, having its heel's tendons severed made it unable to walk. The Crippling effect was a debuff that would make the one affected unable to use a part of their body for a certain amount of time. Had they aimed for the eyes, it would have become blind.

Now that the Evil Abomination had lost control over his feet, it had become unable to walk and its strikes would lose some of its power. This was only temporary of course. Everyone near enough could see its tendon regrowing quickly.

Still, the others took the opportunity. After all, the reason those two had successfully crippled it wasn't the area they targeted nor the skill they used, but instead the racial skill of the two Dark Elves that allowed them to ignore 50% of its armor. This meant it wouldn't get crippled again, not by the assassins at least.

Now that it had become unable to move, although it could still attack the Evil Abomination's mobility had been severely restrained and so allowed the rest to attack.

As the two assassins attacked once again the boss, Arno, Silver Sword and Ela attacked it upfront. A swordsman was a good mix between Agility and Strength, and so the three were able to dodge the boss' attacks and attack it.

Silver Sword slashed its neck, and as he did so his sword seemed to be trembling. As for Ela, as the only Dark Elf who hadn't attacked yet, she aimed her sword at the tendons on the armpits of the mace-arm. As for the only NPC here, and the highest leveled one, Arno slashed it on its chest.

-210 HP!

-180 HP!

-200 HP!

Critical Hit! -430 HP! Cripple!

-400 HP!

Four numbers appeared around the boss as it got attacked by the four at the same time, and its arm fell helplessly to the ground. Now, the boss was only capable of using one of its arms to attack, and Adam came in.