"Such bold words, could it be God's inheritance?" A hint of surprise flashed in Kalis's eyes as he asked.
Lenore and Eira exchanged a smile, deliberately keeping him in suspense with a mysterious reply: "Some secrets are better left unsaid. You'll find out soon enough!"
"Damn it..." Kalis shook his head helplessly.
Since they refused to elaborate, he wasn't in a hurry. After all, he'd face the BOSS head-on soon enough, and everything would be revealed then.
After the team stepped through Drakenspire's bronze city gates, they sped off toward the mountainous region inhabited by high-level monsters in the distance.
The teammates were quite curious about Kalis's hidden class, Celestial Mage, and fired off several questions. But Kalis didn't explain much, only mentioning casually: "My spells have a slightly wider area of effect, that's all."
As soon as he finished speaking, he steered the conversation back on track, asking for details about the BOSS they were about to challenge.
It turned out Eira's epic hidden quest had started back in the starting village, forming a chain of interlocking legendary quests. It began with slaying the Level 15 Earth Worm in the starting village, then defeating the Level 25 elite Flamefang Wolf after reaching the main city.
Next was the Level 35 Rare BOSS Withered Wood Warden, followed by the Level 50 Epic BOSS Thunder Colossus. And now came the final stage—the Level 65 Legendary BOSS [Umbral Life Sorin]!
Learning that the two of them, only around Level 27, had actually defeated a Level 50 Epic BOSS by leveling up, Kalis was genuinely surprised. Upon further questioning, he found out they'd exploited terrain advantages, hiding in a cliff crevice the BOSS couldn't reach and chipping away at its health with ranged skills until it died.
"After the Level 65 Legendary, could there be a hidden Level 70 Mythic BOSS, or even a Level 100 Transcendent BOSS?" Kalis speculated half-jokingly.
Eira, as the quest holder, shook her head immediately: "This is the final chapter of the quest. Once completed, I'll receive a token that allows me to visit Drakenspire's Temple and meet the Archbishop to complete my job advancement."
The Archbishop of Drakenspire, like the Archbishop of Valorian, was one of the few Mythic-grade NPCs on the continent!
"It seems this quest really holds some big secrets..." Kalis's interest grew even stronger.
"We still have a long way to go. Why not grind some levels along the way?" Lenore said, raising her hand to gather a wisp of holy light. A Holy Smite landed precisely on a Level 28 Furious Stone Ape by the roadside.
Whoosh—
Seraphina reacted instantly. Before Lenore's spell effect faded, she drew her bow and loosed an arrow that cut through the air, hitting the stone ape's head dead center.
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Two damage numbers floated above the Furious Stone Ape's head, instantly stripping it of a tenth of its health.
"Roar!"
The stone ape roared in fury, then called over four of its companions, all charging toward the team with roars.
"Taunt!"
Mireya lifted her reforged steel great shield, larger than her own body, while a faint threat aura emanated from her as she cast a group taunt skill.
She'd intended to lock all the mobs' aggro firmly on herself. But instead, she pulled out a loaf of bread from the system shop and started eating slowly, looking like she planned to watch the show while taking hits.
Eira also drew her longsword, preparing to step forward and deal damage.
But in the next second, a shocking sight unfolded—all five Furious Stone Apes ignored Mireya's taunt, directly bypassing her great shield and charging frantically toward Kalis at the back of the team!
"Senior Kalis!" Mireya was horrified. She quickly threw away her bread, rushed forward, and slammed a Shield Bash into the leading stone ape, trying to pull the aggro back.
Yet after taking the hit, the stone ape only glared angrily at Mireya for a moment before turning around again and continuing its charge toward Kalis.
Mireya: "..."
Kalis: "..."
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
Seraphina made a quick decision, casting her group skill Multi-Shot. Seven or eight arrows shot toward the mob group like shooting stars, dealing a series of damage numbers ranging from 210 to 420.
Eira wasn't to be outdone. She shouted "Whirlwind Slash," and sharp sword energy swirled around her. A single sweep dealt around 330 points of group damage.
"Kalis, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and attack!" Lenore urged from the side.
She knew Kalis had an enormous amount of HP, but standing there motionless as a mage was taking slacking off to a whole new level!
"Oh."
Kalis replied softly, casually swinging his staff and slamming it directly into the head of the charging stone ape.
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A glaring single-digit damage number floated up slowly.
"What are you doing?!"
Everyone's faces turned ashen in an instant, and they almost couldn't resist rushing over to "teach him a lesson" along with the stone apes.
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Several stone apes had already reached Kalis, gnawing frantically like enraged wild beasts. The scene was chaotic for a moment.
But Kalis still had no intention of using any spells. Instead, he smiled and teased: "I just wanted to give you guys more chances to shine. Otherwise, if I make a move, this battle won't have any suspense at all."
"Ugh, your old habit of showing off is acting up again!" Lenore facepalmed helplessly.
"Blessing of Courage!" She raised her hand and cast a buff on Seraphina.
With the blessing, Seraphina's attack power increased by 15%, and a faint holy glow emanated from her. Her hands moved quickly, firing arrows as densely as raindrops.
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High damage numbers kept popping up above the stone apes' heads. As an archer focused on agility, Seraphina already had a high critical strike rate, and occasional critical hits dealt double damage.
Eira also kept spamming skills, unleashing five different melee abilities in a row, dealing quite impressive damage.
Kalis let the stone apes gnaw on him frantically while secretly observing his teammates' skill combinations and battle rhythm.
The battle didn't last long. The five Level 28 mobs couldn't withstand the relentless onslaught of two top-tier damage dealers and were soon on the verge of death.
"Kalis, this isn't how you slack off! Even if MP potions are expensive, you don't have to be so stingy that you're hitting monsters with your staff!" After the battle, Lenore complained, half-amused and half-exasperated.
Before Kalis could reply, Mireya walked up to him with a gloomy face, looked up, and asked: "Why did my taunt fail? Kalis, could you actually be a knight in a mage's robe?"
As a tank whose job was to pull aggro, failing to hold the attention of a few ordinary mobs was a huge blow!
What was even more absurd was that Kalis hadn't really attacked at all—so why were these stone apes' aggro stuck to him like glue?
Looking at Mireya's dumbfounded and wronged expression, Kalis struggled to hold back a laugh and gave her an encouraging look: "Don't be discouraged. Practice more, and you'll definitely be able to pull aggro successfully!"
Mireya: "..."
That comment was worse than not saying anything—it was like pouring salt on her wounds!
"Hmph..."
Mireya turned her head huffily, lifted her great shield, and continued walking forward.
Before long, another Furious Stone Ape spawned by the roadside.
Still holding a grudge, the angry petite tank activated her Charge skill, rushing forward like a silver bolt of lightning. Her huge shield, like a door panel, slammed hard into the stone ape's face.
"Shield Bash!"
"Taunt!"
She chained the two skills together in quick succession. Although the damage wasn't high, the threat value was definitely maxed out!
But three seconds later, when the stone ape recovered from its stun, it still ignored the fierce-looking Mireya, hopped over to the side, and charged toward Kalis at the back, roaring "Roar" as it went.
Mireya: "..."
Everyone: "..."
"Sigh, being handsome really is an original sin. Even monsters want to get close to me voluntarily." Kalis sighed, feigning a profound tone.
He knew exactly what was going on—it was all the work of Augustus's Curse. His threat value was always the highest in the team, and no matter what forced threat skills the knight used, they couldn't shake his threat priority.
"I refuse to believe this!"
Mireya was completely enraged.
As a knight whose duty was to pull aggro, this was simply a humiliation!
"None of you attack. I want to see what's wrong with these mobs!"
The angry petite tank carried her great shield and ran back to stand in front of Kalis, blocking him and the stone ape tightly.
She stood so close that there was almost no gap between the two of them and the monster. Logically speaking, the stone ape shouldn't have been able to reach Kalis at all.
But in the stunned eyes of everyone, the stone ape nimbly jumped to the side, circled around Mireya's great shield, and continued charging frantically toward Kalis!
"Ahh!! I'm so angry!"
Mireya snapped. Gone was the relaxed look of eating bread earlier. She swung her great shield and started smashing the stone ape repeatedly.
This Furious Stone Ape only had 4,200 HP in total. It was on the verge of being killed by a full-stamina knight, yet it still insisted on attacking Kalis, completely ignoring Mireya's attacks and anger.
"Roar..."
After a moment, the stone ape fell under Mireya's great shield, dropping 9 copper coins and a whiteboard-quality leather wrist guard.
"Waaah..."
By the end, Mireya was so angry that wronged tears welled up in her eyes, and she almost cried.
She glanced at Kalis's still stable threat value and his massive 5,890 HP, then silently put away her greatshield and one-handed sword, pulling out a heavy two-handed greatsword from her inventory.
If she couldn't pull aggro, then she might as well switch to damage-dealing halfway through!
Knights could already use a variety of weapons like greatswords and spears, so she had plenty of options.
It's just that... she'd put all her points into stamina, so her damage output would probably be "slightly" underwhelming!