LIGHTNOVELONLINE Tutorial 69 – Strategy: Crowd Control
“Veil of Shadows?” Artem repeated as he thought about it.
“Is that, that spell that makes you look like a shadow on the ground or the wall?” Roman asked as he stared at Liam.
“Yeah that’s the one,” Liam replied with a grin. “I was thinking about using it as a scouting ability to help us look ahead. What do you guys think?”
The others thought about it and agreed with the logic.
“Alright then, I’ll go see what’s lying in wait for us,” Liam said as the shadows around them start to swirl from Liam’s feet and engulfed him.
Everyone watched as this happened and was amazed by it.
“Dude, Shadow magic looks so cool,” Roman stated as he watched Liam’s shadowy form on the floor slink off through the open door.
“I heard it can be dangerous too if you don’t know what you’re doing,” Mercer commented as he stared off into the door with a look of concern.
Liam slowly walked close to the wall as he entered the hallway.
The hall had Yooperlite stones spread out enough to give just enough light in some spots while leaving areas of the floor and walls with no light.
He shifted from one wall to the other making sure to stay closer to the shadows to try and not get any attention from anything he couldn’t see.
It was quiet as he cautiously made his way to the first corner. As he reached the corner he peered around the edge and saw two skeletons walking back and forth lifelessly, dragging their rusty swords.
Liam slipped pass them without alerting them to his presence.
He continued this pattern coming across only a small handful of skeletons and Rotted Zombies here and there until he reached a doorway.
He approached the open door frame but did not go in.
As he looked inside he noticed a set of small stairs that lead into a wide open room. In the back was another set of stairs that led to a platform with a weird looking Skeleton with what Liam could think of as purple sticky and slimy viscera inside its open ribcage.
Liam felt his stomach do a flip as he watched a long organ move about on its arms and through its open mouth.
Upon further examination he noticed that there were piles of bones, weapons, and rotted corpses around its feet.
Liam assessed the creature.
“Wrathful Mohrg. 2000/2000 HP. 3500/3500 MP.”
Liam felt a shiver run down his spine and his blood ran cold as the creature’s head suddenly snapped to look at the door.
Did it just notice me assess it? Liam thought as he hugged the wall.
Creatures with a good amount of intelligence can tell when someone or something is assessing it. Eri suddenly said.
Liam felt his body suddenly twitch as he heard Eri’s voice.
Do you love trying to give me a heart attack? Liam mentally said to her with an exasperated tone.
Did you forget that I am here? Eri asked back.
Yeah. I’m still trying to get used to a crazy woman in my mind. Liam retorted.
Eri let out a laugh. Get used to it. When you become my champion, I’ll always be able to talk to you each time you enter a dungeon.
Liam shook his head and started his way back.
So, you were saying really smart creatures can tell when they are being assessed? Liam asked.
Yes. That Mohrg is a very intelligent creature too. A spell caster of sorts. It’s been a while since I’ve seen one. They are rare to come across. Eri explained.
Why’s that? Liam questioned.
Mohrgs are corpses that arose from murderers that never atoned for their crimes. Their spirits stayed in their bodies corrupting them even in death until they reanimated. Eri stated.
Sounds like a pain in the ass type of monster. What abilities do they have? Liam asked trying to get as much information as he could.
You’ll have to figure that out when you fight it. Eri stated with a slight smile, knowing what he was doing.
Liam clicked his tongue as he emerged from the hall and took down his Veil of Shadows.
He explained what he saw to the others.
Ariyana gave a disgusted look as Artem and Mercer grimaced and Avery, Blair, and Roman frowned as they listened to Liam describe the E.F.M.
“Have any of you heard of a creature like this?” Liam asked as he looked at them.
They all shook their heads.
“I kind of figured, but still thought I’d ask,” Liam said with a sigh.
“So, what’s the plan?” Artem questioned.
Mercer and Liam looked at each other.
“Got an idea?” Mercer asked.
“I didn’t see any Shredding Zombies when I peered inside, but that creature does have intelligence so I’m not sure how to approach it,” Liam stated. “I’m probably going to have come up with something during the fight, but for now we’ll focus on the mob while keeping an eye on that E.F.M.”
“Sounds like as good of a plan as we’ll be able to have,” Avery stated.
Liam nodded. “However, Artem and Blair, I’m going to need you both to be ready at any moment just in case.”
Artem and Blair nodded.
“Alright, let’s clear the hall then prepare for that fight,” Mercer stated as they turned for the door.
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“Any loot drop off that Skeleton?” Roman asked as they searched the fallen Skeleton Warriors.
“Just coins,” Ariyana stated as she handed Mercer the fallen coins.
“We can split the coins evenly later. Let’s get ready for the fight. Artem?” Mercer said as he looked at Artem.
“Already on it,” Artem announced as he pulled out several small rectangular bars with some sort of colored icing on them. “I call these Iced Buff Bars. Each have different buffs and I used different colored icings to tell them apart. Blue is for magic buffs. Red is for physical. Lastly, tan is for defensive buffs.”
“These look almost like energy bars back from my world,” Liam commented as he grabbed a red bar. He took a bite and felt the effect of the buff fill him up. However, he was more impressed with the taste and texture.
Each bite he took he tasted strawberries and it melted on his tongue. It wasn’t hard to rip apart and easily broke when he bit down.
“Mmmm,” Ariyana moaned as she ate her blue bar. “Artem, you just keep raising the bar on food and snacks I love to eat.”
Artem blushed as he looked away from her.
After Mercer finished his bar he asked, “Is everyone topped up and ready to go?”
Everyone looked at each other and nodded.
“Ok, the formation we will go with is, Artem and Blair in the front,” Liam started. “Artem, use your taunt ability to gather as many as you can. Blair strike down any you can within your weapon’s range.
Artem and Blair nodded.
“Avery and Roman will be right behind them and fan off to the sides,” Liam continued. “If any monsters they couldn’t aggro slip by then focus them. If there aren’t any close by then focus on the ones they have.”
“Got it,” Avery and Roman stated.
“Ariyana and Mercer, stay in the back and cast buffs on everyone. After you do that then join in on attacking,” Liam added. “Ariyana, if you think your long ranged magic isn’t needed then go ahead and join Avery and Roman.”
Ariyana nodded.
“I will use all my utility spells to try and slow down cluster of monsters as long as I can so we do not get over run by them,” Liam informed. “We will call this strategy crowd control. So that way I don’t need to explain this every time. Does that sound good?”
Everyone nodded in agreement with the name.
“I’ll call out whenever buffs are starting to come off so you can rebuff us. Monster priorities goes as followed. Artem and Blair, your priority will be any Skeletal monsters. Ariyana, Avery, and Roman, your priority will be the zombies,” Liam instructed.
The five of them nodded.
“Mercer, our priority will be Shredding Zombies if they appear. If they don’t then we’ll help with the zombies. Also, if anyone sees any changes that I don’t, call it out and we will readjust our plans,” Liam finished while pulling his goggles down over his eyes.
“Sounds like a good plan,” Mercer stated. “Let’s do this.”
Liam and the others slowly approached the door and peered inside.
Just like Liam had told them, there were several Skeleton Warriors and Rotted Zombies. They were spread out throughout the room.
Closest to them were two Skeleton Warriors and four Rotted Zombies. Four more Skeleton Warriors were off to the right with two Rotted Zombies. To the left were two Skeleton Warriors and four Rotted Zombies.
The Wrathful Mohrg was still standing in the middle of the pile of bones on the raised floor in the back of the room. It had its back facing them. It looked like it was staring at the bones spread out.
Artem and Blair turned to look at the others behind them.
The others nodded, letting the two know they were ready.
Artem and Blair then looked at each other and nodded as well before Artem ran into the room towards the closest group.
When he got into range, Artem slammed a foot down and let out a loud roar. This roar made the group of two Skeleton Warriors and four Rotted Zombies turn their attention on him.
They returned his shout with a gargled shout of their own, alerting the other creatures in the room of the intruders.
Liam rushed in with the others and scanned the room to see where he should start first.
As he looked around, he could hear Ariyana cast her Echoes of Sound spell as Mercer pulled out his newly practiced instrument, the violin, and play his Resilient Defense song on the two Defenders in front. Avery and Roman rushed towards their opponents without any hesitation.
Liam determined that the group with more Skeleton Warriors was closer than the other. He pulled out his Shadow and Moon Blade daggers, pointed his Shadow Blade at the group of enemies and started to chant, “O Gravity, powerful and dangerous. Bring the Force down upon my enemy slowing its movements. Gravitational Force Increase!”
Over the pass four days Liam had practiced Gravitational Force Increase over and over till he was able to get it pass level ten. When he got it to level ten the single target part had changed to a multiple target spell with a ten foot radius. It also increased the debuff to dexterity from negative two point five to five percent. The power buff increased from two point five to five percent. The spell also changed from lasting thirty seconds to forty five seconds. The final change, however, was the biggest surprise. The chant had shorten.
Liam watched as the group of monsters’ movement slowed to a crawl as a massive pressure pushed down on them.
He swiftly shifted his attention to the other group and chanted, “O Gravity, powerful and dangerous. Condense into a single spot and hinder my enemies’ movements. Pull to you with the force you have been known to have and keep any and everything that tries to escape. Gravity Well!”
He flung the basketball sized orb towards the middle of that group and watched the monsters’ bodies start to get pulled into a cluster right around the gravity ball. The monsters tried to move, but struggled to pull themselves off each other.
“Alright, they are locked in place now,” Liam started as he scanned the area once more for any monsters he missed earlier.
He didn’t see any, but noticed the others were almost finished defeating the first group of monsters. He looked between the other two groups before instructing, “Once this group is finished, move to the group to our right.”
“Got it!” the others shouted as the last monster in the first group dropped.
Liam sheathed his daggers and pulled out his throwing ones. He aimed for the Rotted Zombie that was the farthest in the back of this group. Right as he brought his hands back and started to throw the weapons, Artem and Blair jumped right into his line of fire.
“Crap, look ou…,” Mercer started to call out, but stopped as he watched the daggers flew in a curve around the two Defenders and back in to land right into the Rotted Zombie’s face.
Mercer turned to Liam with a look of shock and awe and stammered until he found the right word he wanted to ask, “Bu…di…how?”
Liam grinned at him and replied, “Practice.”
Not liking the simplified answer, Mercer just shook his head, notched an arrow, aimed and shot at the other Rotted Zombie.
Liam watched as Artem, Ariyana, Avery, Blair and Roman took on the Skeleton Warriors. He judged if it was a good idea for him and Mercer to focus on the remaining Skeleton Warriors in that group.
After a short deliberation he looked at the other group of monsters that were still struggling to extricate themselves from their predicament and informed, “Mercer, you and I will snipe the Rotted Zombies from the other group. The rest focus on taking down those Skeleton Warriors then join us on finishing the last group!”
“On it!” everyone acknowledged.
Liam and Mercer turned to face the group of Undead monsters being sucked into one spot and started to aim their projectiles. They released their weapons and watched as they sunk into their targets at a much faster speed thanks to the Gravity Well spell.
Feeling good about this, Mercer moved to get into a better position to fire another arrow. He released it and watched it sail through the air. The speed of the arrow started to pick up as it got closer to the target.
However, as it was about to hit, the Gravity Well ability winked out. This allowed the creatures to move their bodies away from each other and out of the line of trajectory of the arrow.
Mercer cursed as he watched it, but then paled as he watched the arrow fly pass the group of creatures and towards the E.F.M.
“Shit!” Mercer shouted as the arrow hit the creature on the shoulder.
Liam looked to see what was going on and saw the Wrathful Mohrg let out a disgusting gargled roar.
After letting out its terrifying battle cry, the Wrathful Mohrg raised both of its hands up and started to gargle something in some unrecognizable language.
Liam threw a dagger to try and stop it from doing what it was doing, but before the dagger could hit the monster, a long boney hand formed from the pile of bones and swiped the dagger down.
“What the…,” Liam started to muttered as he watched a skeleton start to stand up.
Liam assessed this creature that emerged from the bone pile.
“Skeleton Butcher. 500/500 HP. 0/0 MP.”
This one was taller than the Skeleton Warriors they were fighting before and stared at Liam. It grabbed two big rusty swords by its feet and then let out a long anger clattering noise from its teeth clanking together.
Liam watched as more creatures emerged around the Wrathful Mohrg.
Six Skeleton Warriors, five Rotted Zombies, and four Shredding Zombies.
Liam assessed these ones to make sure there were no other special monsters amongst them, but what he saw made his blood run cold.
“Skeleton Warrior. 300/300 HP. 0/0 MP.”
“Rotted Zombie. 400/400 HP. 0/0 MP.”
“Shredding Zombie. 350/350 HP. 0/0 MP.”
“Oh shit,” Liam swore.