Genesis Sync

“GAH! WHO DARES?” Sog roared as he finally realised he was being attacked and turned around as John’s stun finally wore off.

“I see what you mean. He certainly likes his super criticals,” Shelur remarked while looking at John’s damage numbers with interest as the imp stared at John in shock and said. “Time and space magic? Just what in the underworld's name is this class?”

Mel nodded while saying, “Told you. He certainly seems to have a way of achieving them.”

“He’s incredible,” Black Dragoon marvelled. “Who’s ever heard of a tank taking off more than ten percent of the boss’s HP just to grab the agro?”

“INSOLENCE, I SHALL SHOW YOU TRUE PAIN, HUMAN,” Sog roared before saying, “Summon: Imp.”

“That’s it, go now,” Emberslag ordered while raising her palm towards Sog and saying, “Lightning bolt.”

“Get to work, imp,” Shelur ordered while also raising her palm towards Sog and saying. “Corruption.”

“Lunge,” Black Dragoon said as she jumped in next to John, stabbing Sog in the chest before adding, “Rising Dragon.”

John jabbed at Sog with his staff, hitting him in the shoulder before grumbling, “It’s way too awkward to use a staff and a spear.”

[Damage Dealt: 15 to Sog]

Black Dragoon chuckled as she stabbed the boss with her spear while saying, “That’s because spears that you would normally wield with a shield aren’t as long as the staff you're using. That staff is more commonly used by ranged classes.”

John nodded while saying, “I really need a better weapon to go with this shield; not only is this thing awkward, its length makes it really slow to use with only one hand.”

“That’s what she said,” Shelur joked as she fired off a darkness bolt.

Emberslag rolled her eyes at her friend and fired off her own lightning bolt while saying, “Normally, this is the point I would say maybe one will drop, but even if it did, we know the result.”

During the five seconds that Sog spent summoning his imp, John managed to hit him with another basic attack, along with his temporal blast and cosmic strike as they came off cooldown.

As he finished summoning his imp, which appeared from a magic circle much like Shelur’s had, Sog raised his hand to John and said, “Corruption.”

[Damage Taken: 96 by Sog]

[HP: 760>>664]

[You have been inflicted with the Corruption spell. You will take 30 damage every 3 seconds for 6 seconds.]

“Fuck that hurts, and I couldn’t even block it,” John cursed as he saw Sog’s imp aiming at him before it released a fireball at him, causing him to hastily raise his shield to block. Unfortunately, due to his hasty actions and lack of practice, he was unable to block the entire attack.

[Partial block. Damage Taken: 15 by Sog’s Summon: Imp]

[HP: 664>>649]

“Healing Spirit,” Mel said just as John felt something warm wash over him and restore most of his lost HP.

[Healing Received: 100 from Dream Star]

[HP: 649>>749]

“It’s an instant-cast spell with no travel time,” Black Dragoon replied as she stabbed Sog again. “There practically impossible to defend against.”

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“She’s right, and that damage is nothing compared to a direct magic attack,” Shelur replied just as Sog finished casting his next spell and said. “Soul Fire.”

John didn’t have time to react as a red bolt of flame erupted from Sog’s hand and impacted John’s chest, pushing him back slightly and causing him to groan in pain.

[Damage Taken: 166 by Sog]

[HP: 749>>583]

“What the fuck was that? Your HP just dropped by a chunk,” Mel cursed before pointing her hand at John and saying. “Healing Spirit.”

[Healing Received: 100 from Dream Star]

[HP: 583>>683]

“You had to jinx us,” Emberslag complained while Shelure cursed. “Fuck, the boss knows soul fire; that’s a rank two spell that adds one hundred damage to your magic attack power. However, it comes with a larger mana cost and a three-second cooldown.”

“Three seconds?” John replied as he charged back at Sog and stabbed him with his staff while complaining, “How’s that fair? My temporal blast also has a three-second cooldown but only deals thirty damage.”

“That’s because yours is only a rank one skill, whereas that soul fire is clearly a rank two,” Mel replied.

Seeing this, John quickly brought his shield in front of him just as Sog said, “Darkness bolt.”

The dark energy slammed into John’s shield, which sent a shockwave up his arm; however, he received a notification that made him smile.

[Perfect block. Damage Taken: 0]

[Class Mission update:]

[Use Block to successfully nullify 10 attacks: 1/10]

“Nice block,” Black Dragoon remarked as she saw it before thrusting her spear at Sog while saying. “Thrust.”

“Temporal blast,” John remarked as his magic attack came off cooldown again, and since Sog was standing right in front of him, he decided to return the favour from before and fire it straight at the orc's face.

[Critical Hit]

[Damage Dealt: 90 to Sog]

[MP: 270>>245]

[Temporal Blast Cooldown: 3 Seconds]

[Class Mission update:]

[Cast Temporal Blast and damage an enemy 10 times: 4/10]

“Ouch,” Shelur remarked before asking in a teasing tone. “I hope you don't treat all orcs like that.”

“Just the ones that piss me off,” John replied as he quickly raised his shield upon seeing red flames gathering around Sog’s hand, which the boss was raising towards him.

“Soul fire,” Sog said angrily as he once again aimed the attack at John's chest. John was ready for it this time, however and took the attack on the shield.

[Perfect block. Damage Taken: 0]

[Class Mission update:]

[Use Block to successfully nullify 10 attacks: 2/10]

Although John managed to perfectly block the attack, the force of it pushed him back slightly while shockwaves once again ran up his arms.

The three attacking women took the opportunity to fire off their attacks at Sog, and after they all impacted, the boss howled in rage before glaring at Shelur while saying. “TRAITOROUS BITCH! YOU’D RATHER TEAM UP WITH THE OTHER RACES TO ATTACK ONE OF YOUR OWN KIND?”

“One of my own kind?” Shelur scoffed in reply. “Sorry, but I’m not into working with bandits or smuggling animals.”

[NOTICE: Veteran Boss HP has dropped to 5% or lower and has entered RAGE MODE]

[RAGE MODE: Boss attack power and casting speed double; however, End Stat halves]

“Oh shit,” Shelur cursed as she saw the notification, and Sog began charging a large-scale AOE spell while Emberslag quickly ordered. “Hit it with your hardest attacks.”

“Chaining Lightning.”

“Darkness Blast.”

“Rising Dragon.”

“Cosmic Strike.”

“Lightning Bolt.”

[Damage Dealt: 45 to Sog]

[MP: 245>>220]

[Cosmic Strike Cooldown: 5 Seconds]

[Class Mission update:]

[Use Cosmic Strike to damage an enemy 10 times: 4/10]

As everyone's attacks landed on the boss, even Mel, who had fired off the lightning bolt, something that surprised John. The spell Sog had been charging collapsed along with his body as it fell lifelessly to the floor.

[Enemy Sog Defeated]

[Notice: Player level is more than 1 level lower than the defeated enemy; experience amount increased by 50%]

[Notice: Player is under the effects of dungeon exclusivity rights; enemy kill exp will be doubled.]

[210 exp rewarded]

[Exp: 532/700>>742/700]

[Ding]

[Level up]

[Level: 6>>7]

[All stats increased by 2, with an extra 2 added to Spirit and 1 to Strength]

[SPI: 37>>41]

[WIS: 32>>34]

[STR: 36>>39]

[INT: 34>>36]

[VIT: 34>>36]

[Quest Update]

[Kill White Tiger Bandits: 11/20]

“Wait, that's it?” Mel asked in surprise. “I was expecting the boss to be way harder.”

“Well, it helps that Vincarna's stats are so broken and he successfully locked the boss’ aggro onto him with that super critical hit at the start,” Emberslag replied. “Honestly, I wasn't expecting it to go that smoothly. Nice work.”

“Nice work on blocking those attacks,” Black Dragoon said to John while flashing him a small smile. “I'm impressed you managed to block his second soul fire attack.”

“I got lucky,” John replied humbly before adding. “I just happened to notice the flames flickering around his hand.”

“There you go, being humble again,” Mel said while rolling her eyes, which caused Black Dragoon to glance back at her and ask. “I assume this is a normal thing?”

“It is,” Mel said, nodding with a sigh. “He just can't seem to take credit for his own accomplishments.”

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with being a bit humble; God knows some of the rich idiots I’m unfortunately acquainted with could learn a thing or two about being humble,” Emberslag complained before adding. “But being too humble can just make you appear weak. While humility keeps us grounded, crossing the line into excessive self-effacement can hold back our career and personal growth.”

“What she’s saying is that you should accept credit when credit is due, just not to the point where it becomes obnoxious,” Shelur added.