Izroth remained at a distance observing the fight. One wouldn't know what he was doing just by looking at him but he was in his character interface!
"It's about time I use these stat and skill points..." Izroth thought to himself. After seeing the stats of that Demonic Beast Shadow Wolf, he knew that if he wanted to increase his chance at survival, he would need to use everything at his disposal!
This was a world boss! These things were not easy to come by, so the rewards and EXP were always quite generous. He was just waiting for the right moment to strike. Those three he was in a party with reeked of bad intentions, they would definitely make their move when the boss HP dropped below a certain point; that is when he would strike.
So far, Izroth had 6 stat points and 1 skill point to spend. The skill point was actually quite rare as you'd only get 1 every 3 levels. There were so many different skills that one had to be careful of where they spent their points. As for stat points, you gained 3 every level so there was a bit more room for error with that.
After thinking it over for a brief moment, he decided to invest 2 points in HP, 2 points in ATK and 2 points in AGI. As for his skill point, although he was very hesitant to spend it, in the end, he chose to spend it on his 'Flickering Steps' skill. He chose this skill because it was his only life-saving skill and he didn't regret his choice after looking at the skill again.
Skill Name: Flickering Steps
Skill Creator: Gear
Skill Level: 2/3
Skill Rank: A
Active - For the next 15 seconds, the user Agility is increased by 350%.
Cooldown: 4 minutes
Description: A skill created by the Famous Adventurer, Gear of the Flickering Steps. His trademark move allowed him to remain untouched on battlefields and only a light flicker of his silhouette could be seen before a foe is slain just moments after.
The cooldown was reduced by 1 minute, but the most important thing was 5 seconds got added to the duration that he could use 'Flickering Steps' and it increased the amount by 50%! One could only dream of trying to catch him in such a state. He had confidence that as long as he wanted to, he would be able to escape from the Shadow Wolf if things went south! Now his character window looked more like:
Name: Izroth
EXP: 0/400
Level: 3(Stat Points: 0)
Title: None
Class: Combat Master
HP(Hit Points): 300/300
Energy: 100
ATK(Attack): 90(60+30)
DEFENSE(DEF): 20
AGILITY(AGI): 30
MAGIC(MAG): 0
Gear Equipped:
Nameless Blade - Main Weapon
Skills: (Skill Points: 0)
Breaker of Limits(Passive) Level: MAXED (S Class)
First Baneful Sword: Destruction(Active) Level: 1/3 (A Class)
Flickering Steps(Active) Level: 2/3 (A Class)
Inventory: (Gold: 0 Silver: 0 Bronze: 70)
-x1 Demonic Boar Hide
Fame:
World Fame - 110
...
Izroth then turned his attention back to the fight after making sure everything was complete and only one word described it... Disorganized! The fight was a total wreck! Mick had messed up the aggro with the Shadow Wolf and it had almost cost Luna her life! A tank was supposed to know how to properly manage aggro, but Mick just randomly used skills and didn't pay attention to any of his surroundings.
To make things worse, Tina was only healing Mick even though most of the damage was going straight to Halls, the main tank! To top it all off, Ryder wasn't even attacking seriously only popping out to deal damage every once in a while before retreating back to the distance.
Luna took out an MP potion and drank it down quickly! It had a very bitter taste, but she felt a rejuvenating feeling overcome her.
+100 MP!
140/250 MP Remaining! (Luna)
Luna glared at Tina who seemed to be taking it easy while focusing on healing only Mick. To make matters even worse, that Mick guy almost got her killed by messing up the aggro! It was like these guys were trying to slowly whittle away at them!
Though what made Luna more nervous than anything a new unknown person who appeared not too far away from them, just out of the distance of the battle. That person looked calm with cold eyes as though the people he was watching wasn't even in his sight. Luna's heart was racing as the situation just seemed to deteriorate more and more by the second.
Luna finally couldn't tolerate it anymore and spoke in a cold tone towards Tina, "Hey Cleric, how about you try to heal someone who is actually taking damage?" She was usually a very quiet person and rarely spoke to others. In fact, the number of sentences she spoke to her current party since they met could be counted on one's fingers. But even she was patient as she was, couldn't continue to ignore their actions!
Tina's eyes narrowed as she stared towards Luna as a smug look appeared on her face, "Eh? Are you stupid or something? I'm obviously healing my tank while you heal your tank. Isn't that how it goes? Why should I hold your hand healing a tank you're supposed to be healing?" Tina snapped back with a cold tone.
Luna was fuming but she kept a serene mind while focusing on healing Halls! Tina obviously had no plans to help with healing Halls, to begin with even though he was the main tank. She didn't even bother trying to heal Luna when she was attacked because of a mistake made by Mick.
Luna simply scoffed before glancing over in the direction where Izroth was standing. He was still standing there with his arms folded, like a ferocious beast waiting to pounce on its prey.
"HOOOOOOOOOOOOWL!" the Shadow Wolf howled loudly as everyone within range took a hit!
-100 HP!
-100 HP!
-100 HP!
-100 HP!
-100 HP!
-100 HP!
It was a sound attack, so defense was useless against those kinds of attacks, but luckily the damage had a set amount of damage it did.
Halls slashed forward with his sword slashing at the Shadow Wolf! He managed to get a nice blow in on its neck!
Clang! Slash!
Critical Hit!
-100 HP!
1,545/10,000 HP Remaining! (Shadow Wolf)
They had managed to get the Shadow down to almost 15% of its HP even while not fully cooperating with together.
Mick seemed to withdraw for a moment before an alert went off.
Ding! Party Leader has changed Loot Settings to Party Leader Only from Roll!
As soon as Luna, Halls, and Quince saw that their faces all turned ugly! How shameless could this guy be?! He barely contributes, almost gets one of their members killed and now he changes the loot settings for the party? Were they fools? He obviously planned on taking all the loot for himself and his group!
Halls eyes immediately turned cold as he gave Mick a death stare, "What's the meaning of this?" Halls voice sounded ice cold as he spoke while trying to restrain his anger.
"Don't worry, it's only to make sure the loot gets divided fairly. You have my word, I'll make sure to divide the loot fairly amongst all of us!" Mick said with confidence as though he was in complete control of the situation. Divide? Ha! He would never do that, only Tina and Ryder would get a cut, the others... Well the EXP should be enough for them to be satisfied.
Luna, Halls, and Quince were so blinded by rage at that moment that even the always calm and observant Luna missed a very important alert at the same moment that Mick changed the loot settings. None of them saw that it said:
'Ding! Player Ryder has left the party!'
The rogue Ryder had left their group and not a single person noticed!
...
As they kept fighting even though they were visibly upset, Luna suddenly felt something was off. She had a frown on her face as her first reaction was to look towards Izroth, but he was still just standing there with his arms folded. What was it? What was this gut feeling gnawing at her...
Luna eyes suddenly widened, "The rogue!" she mumbles to herself before looking around but not seeing them anywhere! She then glanced at the party and saw that there was one less member. Finally, her eyes fell upon the alert she missed!
Luna had only lost her calm for a brief moment but during that time they managed to set all of this up, this is bad! Just as she was about to warn Halls and Quince she heard a shout of pain from her side! It was Quince!
"Gah!!" Quince felt a jolting pain in his neck and then a sharp pain stabbing into his back, he couldn't move at all!
Behind him was a rogue, it was Ryder! He had used two rogue skills on Quince 'Pressure Point' and 'Backstab', before following up with a basic attack. Mages had naturally weak defenses and no protection skills this early on, so rogues were their absolute bane!
Skill Name: Pressure Point
Skill Level: 1/3
Skill Rank: D
Skill Damage: Deals 50% of the user ATK as damage. If you use this attack while stealth, it deals 100% of the user attack as damage. This skill has a high chance of stunning the target for 1 second if it successfully hits.
Description: This skill allows the user to control their target or regroup during a fight, it can change the entire flow of a fight if executed correctly!
-50 HP!
Critical Hit!
-100 HP!
-50 HP!
0/250 HP Remaining! (Quince)
Ding! Player Quince has died!
Quince was absolutely shocked, he couldn't even react before he died! He only had 150 HP remaining after that sound attack by the Shadow Wolf, and during that time Luna couldn't accord to heal him before he was killed by Ryder!
"Quince!" Halls shouted when he saw the alert, but the Wolf aggro was still focused on him, if he turned away, it would probably chase after Luna next because of her healing aggro. He couldn't let her go through that after all the help she gave them! Halls was almost sent into a frenzy at that moment, he felt as though he was being toyed with by these guys. But what he regretted the most was that he was the one who invited them to the party out of desperation!
"Good job Ryder! Hahaha, now take care of the Cleric so we can finish off this boss and collect the prize, don't worry, with the three of us here there's no way the warrior can survive!" Mick said full of authority and confidence as though he was a leader with unmatched scheming.
Luna's heart became ice cold as she saw Ryder smirk before vanishing from view.
"You animal! Do you dare to fight me first?!" Halls couldn't help it any longer and turned his back to try and run towards Luna to protect her, but before he could even get halfway there the Shadow Wolf pounced on him!
SLASH!
The Shadow Wolf lashed out with its large claw towards Halls, the aggro was still on him after all!
-240 HP!
250/700 HP Remaining! (Halls)
He had paid the price for turning his back on the Shadow Wolf while having aggro, he had lost a whopping 240 HP! Halls was skating on thin ice and had no choice but to turn and continue to confront the Wolf.
Meanwhile Mick and Tina seemed to be enjoying the show that was going to happen soon. Tina especially was excited, after all, Luna had spoken to her as though she above her! "Hmph! Acting all high and mighty, let's see you do so now!" Tina smiled waiting for Ryder to make his move.
Luna was on high alert, she was still trying to focus on healing Halls, but she only had 80 HP Remaining! She bit down on her lower lip trying to maintain a calm composure, but she didn't know what to do in this situation! "From the back...!" Luna suddenly turned and raised her staff up to block!
WOOSH!
Ryder actually attacked from the front, so when Luna turned around she completely let her guard down! A large grin appeared on Ryder's face, this was going to be an easy kill!
Luna was shocked, she was so exhausted from the constant high tension battle that she miscalculated! This was it, it was all over... She simply closed her eyes and waited for the dagger to strike her.
Swish! Ziiiiiiiiiiiiing! Clank!
Luna still had her eyes shut tightly but she didn't feel anything, in fact, she felt as though she hadn't even been struck. She slowly opened her eyes and turned around completely shocked! It was him! But when did he even get here? Suddenly what she saw and heard next surprised her.
"First Baneful Sword: Destruction..."
That sound earlier was the sound of Izroth unsheathing, striking awnd sheathing his sword all in one smooth motion.
Ryder stood there, his eyes widened as though he couldn't believe it! Mick and Tina were also surprised by the sudden turn of events. That noob who they thought was just some lucky or rich guy actually attacked! They were utterly infuriated!
Ryder saw the damage number on his screen and thought it must've been a bug, that guy was only level 3 when he was in their party, there was no way he could be that strong! It had to be a bug!
-250 HP!
0/225 HP Remaining! (Ryder)
It was an Instant Kill!