—-

Initially, Kieran wanted to band together with the other parties present in the Fanged Forest to defeat the Colossal Scarlet Wolf. This thought was only spurred on by the fact only he and Altair would become the true damagers of the party. Additionally, they also lacked a designated tank.

If Kieran had to split this role once more, it would interfere with his ability to upkeep a steady damage output. So, during the plan’s innovation, the only plausible option was to join hands with the present forces.

However, that wasn’t the case now.

Based on the display shown by Bastion’s party, it was clear they received the last three remaining advantages—the grace of the Knight, Priest, and Mage mentors. If a party composed of five members with unique benefits banded together, the outcome would undoubtedly become less dreadful.

Therefore, Kieran looked at the other with a spirited gleam in his deep black eyes. “You down to raid this thing?”

“Like, right now?” Bastion answered with raised brows. They had just wasted stamina fighting against other players. Shouldn’t it be better for them to recover to peak condition before thinking of combatting this boss?

Naturally, Kieran understood the worries present in Bastion’s expression, so he shook his head and pointed towards the parties being quickly culled by the Colossal Scarlet Wolf.

“Nah, not right now. After they’re all dead.”

“Hoh? So, you don’t want to help them at all?” Bastioned questioned in return.

Truth be told, he had no qualms with helping nor not helping. He was simply here to acquire experience and close the gap separating his current level, 19, and the class promotion threshold.

“Do they have any relations to me? No. So, I’m not obligated to help anyone. If anything, they should learn to help themselves,” Kieran said with an indifferent coldness. He had learned his lesson. Unless he initiated the contact or had something to gain from the opposing side’s talents, he wouldn’t extend a helping hand._-.

“Mmn,” Bastion gently nodded.

Quietly, he generated an opinion of Kieran. Currently, he didn’t seem like one who would easily mesh with others.

However, he also didn’t seem like the type to instigate trouble unless it came knocking at his front door. Either way, Bastion’s current opinion of Kieran was someone who possessed a chaotic yet neutral outlook—a free spirit who held their own benefit above all else.

Meanwhile, Kieran’s stream raved about his actions against the Sunset Triad and Shadow Cartel.

[Stream Chat <Ballbuster69>: Ngl, I may have busted his balls at first, but I kinda like this dude! RipBozo. Imagine PKing people only to turn around and get rolled. OmegaLul couldn’t be me!]

[Stream Chat <GameStan>: Bwahahaha! They had no PASSION! They got shit on, and he gripped their shit! All that equipment down the drain. KekW]

[Stream Chat <AvidCritique>: Trashcan, absolute trashcans! The Shadow Cartel and Sunset Triad are dog water! Pepegas.]

[Stream Chat <CringeLord253>: Can we get an F in the chat for those bozos? Sadge. But hey, do you think this dude is maidenless? I heard people mention he’s kind of stacked in the face. No cap!]

Unlike his first stream, many doubters no longer jeered Kieran; they supported him.

The community directed their harsh comments toward the third-class organizations that targeted Kieran’s party members. They couldn’t wait to witness the downfall of these organizations!

A few minutes after checking the stream, Kieran noticed the remaining forces had wholly fallen to the terror of the Colossal Scarlet Wolf. At that moment, Kieran cracked his neck and sent a Party Alliance request to Bastion.

It was a feature that few knew about because it had zero light shed upon it. In essence, it allowed two or more independent parties to act as one. However, doing so required one individual to take the mantle as the Alliance Leader.

“Any qualms with me being the leader? I’ll keep the loot distribution locked so even I won’t be able to pick up items. Suitable?” Kieran questioned while finalizing the Alliance Request.

“Nah, I don’t mind. I pride myself on being a good judge of character. You shouldn’t be the type to run off with the loot like those insufferable people before, right?” Bastion said with a cheeky grin. He then winked while swiping his nose. He immediately accepted the request, naming Kieran as the Alliance Leader.

It carried all of the functions of a Party Leader except the unique interface that had zero use currently. ‘This will have its purpose once the era of Raid Dungeons arises.’ However, Kieran did pay attention to the unique role portion. It systematically assigned combat roles based on the evaluated stats of a person.

The only anomaly was Cyr; it gave him a scout role which wasn’t suitable for this battle. It only had increased benefits in open combat areas. Therefore, Kieran manually changed the settings to a close-range sub-DPS.

Naturally, Bastion was given the role of the main tank while Sera held the main support. Cygnus and Sithik adopt the sub-support roles. Alice was the main long-range MDPS (a damager specializing in magical damage), while Aspaira held the sub-role.

Lastly, the two close-range DPS were both Kieran and Altair.

Once the party formed, Kieran had the Healers situate between the long-range MDPS and the close-range DPS. The change in the boss’s information made defeating it with such few numbers feasible. It would simply turn into a war of attrition if they played their cards right.

「Lv.15 Colossal Scarlet Wolf (Rare)

World Boss

Beast Type, Fire Type

Health: 107,800/110,000 (98%)

Special Traits: «Inferno» «Rage» «Eviscerate» 」

Its Health was now half of the initial value. Still, the earlier raiders’ lack of ability allowed the boss to recover more Health, nearly recuperating completely. Nevertheless, Kieran noted this information before swiftly discarding any troubling thoughts.

A few seconds later, they made their move, shifting up as a unit. Once they were within the boss’s aggro range, Kieran gave Bastion a signal.

Immediately, Bastion activated a skill unique to the Knight Class, Shield Press. Like Charge, he rushed forward quickly, but his entire body was protected by the massive scope of the tower shield in Bastion’s possession.

Bang!

Bastion’s body slammed into the Colossal Scarlet Wolf.

Although the World Boss possessed shocking defense, Bastion didn’t rebound. His heavy armor and high Strength kept him affixed to the ground like a densely rooted tree. Additionally, he continued to press his shield forward before following up with an aura-type skill known as Knight’s Honor.

This skill compelled all monsters within Bastion’s aggro range to view him as the biggest threat, generating a considerable aggro value. Immediately after, Bastion lifted his immense shield up and unleashed a skill known as Provocation Smash to further cement his grasp of the boss’s aggro.

Bang!

The Colossal Scarlet Wolf’s head was smashed into the ground. Although Bastion’s attacks seemed powerful on the surface, he had only dealt 180 damage with his string of attacks. However, that was understandable because a Knight’s role wasn’t to deal damage. It was to defend the party and secure their safety.

Alternatively, Kieran looked at Bastion in a new light.

The way he linked his skills together represented a high understanding of his character’s fluency. There was always a slight delay in using skills, but the pause could be avoided skillfully if you understood when it took place.

However, accomplishing that feat took countless upon countless hours of practice.

‘A natural at tanking?’ Kieran wondered.

Although there were signs of ample practice, Kieran also understood that the delays varied between gaming platforms. Just because one mastered their skills in another game didn’t mean they possessed an inherent understanding of their class skills.

One needed to familiarize themself with the new set of skill delays applied by a new platform.

On the other hand, Kieran tried to recall any famous characters named Bastion but couldn’t. Perhaps this was an individual who wasn’t around by the time he joined the Zenith Online scene.

Either way, Kieran felt this individual had ample talent, not one bit inferior to Altair in its own right.

Upon realizing this, Kieran decided to unleash his own ability in total capacity. Not so dramatic that he would aggravate his condition, but just enough to utilize what was already present.

Whoosh!

Kieran led the secondary assault after expending his remaining Unassigned Attribute Points to increase his Strength and Agility to 89 and 50, respectively.

With his Warrior’s Aura active, Kieran angled his approach so it wouldn’t interfere with Bastion’s tanking capabilities. While Bastion defended against the World Boss’s attacks, surprisingly maintaining his Health well, Kieran unleashed a Charge.

-382

Instead of following up, Kieran gave this opportunity to someone else.

“Alice, you’re up! Attack it with your strongest skill,” Kieran ordered.

Alice gave a slight nod without paying too much attention to Kieran. The Mana surrounding Alice reacted violently, quickly congregating before her staff. Surprisingly, it was one of the Mage’s most basic skills, Mana Missle. However, it soon split into 4.

It was no normal Mana Missle. It was an improved version bestowed by the Mage Mentor known as Mana Torrent, which was an array of 4 or more Mana Missiles. At Alice’s current level, she could only conjure four simultaneously.

Regardless, Kieran found this commendable because utilizing a Mage’s higher skills was too demanding compared to physical classes.

In fact, it was proven that a Mage’s mental power improved faster than physical classes. Granted, this was only true until an Advanced Class. Advanced classes thrived in Stage 1 Realism because they introduced the world to the real benefits of Mana.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Each of the Mana Missles landed upon the boss’s body simultaneously. Since it originated from the same skill and landed simultaneously, the damage was treated as one entity.

-2,950! [Critical Hit]

“Phew,” Altair whistled.

That was damage outclassing Kieran’s critical in the best-case scenario! However, Kieran felt no emotion for giving up the highest damager position.

That was simply an empty and childish notion. The most crucial matter was defeating the boss!