“This is bad… I’m running out of MP and I only have a single MP potion remaining. It isn’t enough… I can’t hold on healing for much longer…!” Luna looked calm on the outside but on the inside of her mind was chaos. She had just joined this party by chance while finishing up her tutorial quest. Clerics were always welcome to parties because every party needed a healer. She wasn’t playing with anyone else so she thought it would be a good idea to join and make new friends.

Little did she know that she’d be dragged into such a hopeless situation and left in a pitiful state.

“Gah!!” one of her party members were flung aside and bitten down on by the wolf instantly killing them! There were only her and 4 other people remaining from the original strong party of 10 players. 2 of them were from the party she joined and the other 2 were from the party they teamed up with to take down this boss. 1 warrior, 1 fighter 2 mages, 1 cleric were all that remained.

“T-This isn’t possible to beat right now…! We have to escape from here!” one of the mages from the party Luna’s group teamed up with said in a nervous state. He was constantly glancing at his other party member which was the fighter in the remaining group as though giving him a hint.

The warrior couldn’t see what they were up to because he was too busy holding off the monstrous wolf! The fighter was slowly starting to withdraw further and further from the fight while nearing his mage party member.

While the warrior was keeping the wolf occupied, they would find a chance to slip away! After all, if you died in this game your gear had a chance of dropping and you lost EXP! How tragic would that be if they only slowly waited for their deaths!

Although the warrior or mage from Luna’s party didn’t notice the other two members movements, Luna herself did. She looked extremely gloomy as she thought to herself, “Even if I shout out to warn my party members, there’s a chance that I’ll only end up distracting them and causing one of them to die.” Luna was completely seething at the actions of those two players.

RIIIIIIIP!

The sound of a claw tearing through armor could be heard as the warrior took a massive amount of damage! Luna was barely keeping up with the heals and her mana was rapidly decreasing. If he took another hit like that too soon, they would be completely done for!

As soon as that demonic wolf monster struck the warrior the fighter and mage made a run for it! They actually ran away from the battle! The remaining warrior and mage were shocked! But it didn’t take long before that shock turned into a rage! They abandoned them without warning! Anyone would be boiling with anger after all the sacrifices made for this fight!

“COWARDS!” the warrior shouted in a loud fit of rage before taking out his anger on the demonic wolf beast before him.

“Halls, Luna, we’ll probably all die here but I’d rather lose a bit of experience and an item than run away with my tail between my legs like those guys!” the mage said visibly upset with a cold look in his eyes as he watched the two players run away.

“Focus on the fight, for now, we still have a chance if we work together properly” Luna mostly said that to cheer herself up. She knew that it was nearly impossible while staring at this monstrous beast before them.

Name: Demonic Beast Shadow Wolf (WORLD BOSS)

Level: ??

HP: 3,645/10,000

ATK: 200

DEF: 60

AGI: 80

Skills:

???

???

???

Halls and Quince had grim faces when they heard Luna speak. They knew that she was just trying to cheer them up and give them hope, but this situation was absolutely hopeless. Though, even knowing that they still decided to not give up!

…

“A world boss!” Mick said as a look of greed flashed in his eyes. That same look appeared in Ryder and Tina eyes as well. That was a world boss! Perhaps even the only known one so far! If they could defeat it the EXP and rewards would be out of this world!

“Look! It’s HP is almost down to 1/3rd, if we help them out, maybe we can actually beat that thing! As for the rewards…” Mick didn’t need to say anything further. The three of them knew each other well enough to understand what he was getting at.

While they were busy being blinded by greed, Izroth was looking over towards the direction that two other people ran. Cowards! That was the only thing that came to mind as Izroth scoffed at their actions. He then turned his attention back to the battle that was going on.

“The stats on the monster are pretty high…” Izroth took a moment to search his memories or rather those he inherited.

“I see, so that’s why it has such high stats. A world boss is meant to be taken on by quite a large group of people. This could be considered one of the easier world bosses taking into account its strength. I guess being a hardcore gamer has its benefits” Izroth thought to himself as his attention shifted over towards the Cleric in the back, Luna.

“She manages to perfectly time the heals, there hasn’t been a single MP or heal wasted. She is also keeping calm under such an intense situation, not bad. Being able to remain calm in these kinds of situations is something that’s hard to accomplish” Izroth commented within his mind. He had a certain respect for people with that kind of temperament. After all, you could easily teach techniques or skills, but learning how to remain calm under extreme circumstances, not many could successfully do this.

While Izroth was observing the battle on a more in-depth nature he suddenly got an alert!

Ding! You have been kicked from the party!

The max number of party members was 6 people. Since there were 3 of them and 3 people left fighting, they had to make some room. After all, there was no way this noob dared to run away this deep into the forest, plus they might get something even better than a rare weapon from this world boss! Though of course, they wouldn’t let Izroth off that easy after what he put them through.

“Stay here, we’re going to go help them finish off that boss! If you try to run away, heh well don’t blame me for being impolite!” Mick looked at Izroth with disdain written all over his face. This was the first time that Mick through aside all acts and finally revealed his true nature!

Izroth heart grew extremely cold as he was talked down on and threatened as he stared at Mick. He dared to threaten him?! Izroth couldn’t even remember the last time someone dared to threaten him! He was respected as the number one cultivator in all seven realms, no one had even dreamt of threatening him.

Mick had a smug look on his face when he saw Izroth wasn’t responding or trying to run away. He thought that he’d scared Izroth silly and they dared not to move! Little did he know that he silently sealed his own fate.

Mick nodded towards Ryder and Tina who looked satisfied now that they believed Mick put Izroth in his place. They would make sure to have their own fun and repay the humiliation from early later on.

The three walked out of the trees and towards the world boss, the situation was even dire than it was a few moments ago! The fact that the three of them were holding on by themselves could be called a miracle, but Luna healing was so perfectly timed and calmly placed that it was keeping them in the fight much longer than expected!

Though she couldn’t take all the credit, Halls was always a good tank timing his blocks perfectly and avoiding damage any time he could, but still maintaining the aggro on the Shadow Wolf.

Cling!

-50 HP!

3,250/10,000 Remaining! (Shadow Wolf)

Halls struck out with his sword doing some damage to the wolf, though at this rate it was hopeless.

A fireball formed in Quince’s hand as he aimed it towards the Shadow Wolf!

Wooooooooosh!

The fireball flew through the air striking the Shadow Wolf near the right side of its face!

-150 HP!

-3,150/10,000 Remaining! (Shadow Wolf)

The Shadow Wolf angrily howled before smashing down with its massive claw towards Halls! Halls managed to block the claw with his shield, but he still felt like his knees were going to collapse from the pressure!

BLOCKED!

-120

170/700 HP Remaining! (Halls)

120 damage from a normal attack that was blocked with a shield! That was crazy damage!

Suddenly a warm light green light enveloped Halls healing him for some of the damage he just took. It was Luna who used Cure on him!

“Nice heal!” Halls thought to himself. All the fights up until now have been extremely easy as though they didn’t even need to try, now he understood why that was. Luna was an absolute monster of a Cleric! The timing of her heals were so exact it was almost like she was a computer programmed for that specific task!

+100 HP

270/700 HP Remaining! (Halls)

“My MP can’t hold out for much longer, I have another 3 Cures remaining before I have to drink my MP potion.” Luna was growing weary. Keeping up this level of concentration under such an intense situation was exhausting on a mental level. One small slip up could cause everything to collapse, that’s why it’s important for her to remain calm as much as possible.

When Halls and Quince heard that, they were silent as they continued to battle. They knew that Luna tried her best and if it was any other healer they would have long since died. They could only silently wait until she ran out of mana and for their inevitable deaths to arrive.

Just as they were all in an extremely gloomy mood a shout sounded from not too far away.

“Hey, we’ve come to help! Invite us to the party with you!” Mick said while charging out, behind him was a woman with a cleric staff in her hands. Another person was there too, but he disappeared soon as they entered the battle range. That was most likely a rogue!

Halls seemed extremely shocked and speechless at least but quickly regained his composure. Help had arrived! They had a bit more hope at last! He quickly made a bit of distance between him and the Shadow Wolf and invite Mick and Tina to the party!

Luna frowned a bit on the inside, she didn’t know why but the feelings those two gave off was very cold and detached… She may just be imagining it, but she still was a bit on guard trusting her gut feeling.

“Mind handing me party leader? I have a rogue I need to invite to the party as well” Mick said with that friendly smile of his.

Halls frowned a bit, asking for party leader was a bit much… After all, he was a complete stranger! But, this situation called for all the help they could get, so he had no choice but to trust them. “After you invite him, return the party leader back to me” Halls handed over the party leader to Mick and soon another person joined their party. Because they were now a part of the same party the others could clearly see a rogue sneaking up behind the Shadow Wolf.

A small grin appeared on Mick’s face, he soon rushed forward towards the Shadow Wolf! “Look out!” he ran forward and blocked the attack from the Shadow Wolf!

BLOCKED!

-180 HP!

270/450 HP Remaining! (Mick)

Halls was furious that Mick hadn’t given him back the party leader, but he didn’t have time to speak because the Shadow Wolf started focusing its attacks onto him again!

Luna’s expression grew a bit cold as she seen the actions of this shameless person.

Party:

Name: Halls

Class: Warrior

Level: 6

HP: 270/700

MP: 60

Name: Quince

Class: Mage

Level: 6

HP: 250/250

MP: 70/260

Name: Luna

Class: Cleric

Level: 6

HP: 220/220

MP: 60/250

…

Izroth was watching what unfolded and couldn’t help but to look towards Mick and his little group of friends with a look of contempt and disdain. He already had a good guess at what they were planning. There was no way those three greedy people would ever share anything with anyone. As soon as they got the chance, they would stab them in the back.

A small smile appeared on Izroth’s lips as he looked at the battle, finally, he looked at the group of three filled with killing intent. “Don’t worry, if any of you make it out of this forest alive, may I be struck down by the heavens themselves!” Izroth took a very serious oath! One had to know that when one starts on the path of cultivation, any oath made to the heavens had to be kept or they really would be struck down!

Izroth slowly left the trees and appeared within view of the group fighting the Shadow Wolf.