Chapter 252 – First to Explore the Map (1/2)

Chapter 252 – First to Explore the Map

“Attack! Fighters, secure the aggro!” As soon as Nie Yan gave out the order, several Fighters roared and charged at the Plasma Core Golems.

「Klang! Klang! Klang!」The heavy sound of metal meeting metal rang out as shields and swords collided with the bodies of the Plasma Core Golems.

Bladelight and Yi Yan took action almost simultaneously, leading away five of the Plasma Core Golems, while the other Fighters firmly locked down the remaining three.

“Split them up!” Nie Yan ordered tensely. Despite his wealth of experience in Conviction, this was his first time commanding such a large force. He had never taken part in these sorts of expeditions in his past life, but he had seen them in videos. Although he had never eaten pork, he did have the fortune of seeing a pig run.1 So no major problems arose.

The Fighters split the Plasma Core Golems into three different groups, three or four players on each enemy. While shielded by others, Bladelight unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks on one of the golems, slowly pulling it toward an empty area nearby.

Shield Bash!

Bladelight dealt a heavy blow to the Plasma Core Golem with his shield, staggering it back several steps. It immediately charged at him in a fit of anger.

「Klang! Klang! Klang!」Bladelight activated Guard Stance as a flurry of powerful blows rained down mercilessly on his shield.

Bladelight let out a Demoralizing Shout, interrupting the Plasma Core Golem for a brief instant, giving several Fighters the opportunity to surround the golem in a pincer attack.

Seeing the golem’s aggro firmly locked onto Bladelight, Nie Yan issued the next set of orders. “Mages, attack!”

Spell after spell flew through the air, converging onto the Plasma Core Golem. The unrelenting barrage exploded on its body with loud bangs, causing a long string of damage values to float up from its head.

“Sparrow Hawk, mind the aggro!” Nie Yan reminded after seeing Tang Yao unleash an endless stream of spells. The damage he put out was too ferocious!

「Bang! Bang! Bang!」Three critical hits landed in succession.

−202，−229，−203

What terrifying damage!

Most of the Mages were dealing around 40–50 damage, with some of the stronger players hitting in the low 90s. Although a spell would occasionally crit for relatively high damage, it would still do no more than 120 damage.

The Plasma Core Golem’s aggro immediately shifted. It wanted to charge past Bladelight and go after the Mages in the backline

The crowd of Mages showed signs of panic. If the Plasma Core Golem’s aggro got out of control and it rushed into their midst, a one-sided massacre would be the inevitable outcome.

Tang Yao stopped attacking. If he continued, he might even single-handedly cause the entire expedition to fail.

The moment he noticed the golem’s aggro shift, Bladelight slammed a Shield Bash into the golem’s body and followed up with a Taunt.

The Plasma Core Golem’s aggro was back on Bladelight. After several successive attacks, he finally managed to the pull the golem back to the previous spot.

Tang Yao wiped the bead of cold sweat from his forehead. That was a close call. Were it not for Bladelight rescuing the situation in the nick of time, he reckoned he would’ve been the target of everyone’s condemnation. He no longer dared to act in such an unbridled manner, instead controlling his damage output.

After ensuring the aggro was under control, Nie Yan turned to the Mages and ordered, “Continue!”

Plasma Core Golems weren’t particularly difficult opponents. It was just that today was their first time working together, so they were yet to familiarize themselves with each other’s capabilities. Fortunately, they were all skilled players, so nothing major came out of the mistake.

Under the ferocious barrage of spells, the Plasma Core Golem’s health was gradually whittled away. With a clanking sound, it collapsed into a pile of scrap metal.

“What dropped?” Nie Yan asked eagerly. Since it was a Level 40 Plasma Core Golem, anything it dropped was bound to be exceptional.

“A Level 40 Gold-grade Azure Staff, and some Level 40 leg armour from the Everlasting Set Series, Gold-grade as well,” Bladelight replied, picking up two pieces of equipment off the ground.

The Plasma Core Golems had a 20% chance to drop a piece of equipment from the Everlasting Gold Set. That chance was increased to 50% for the first people to explore the map. This was why Nie Yan specifically chose this place for their first expedition.

Glancing at the Everlasting Gold Set’s properties, Nie Yan noticed that everything, including defense, was roughly 10% higher than that of the Everlasting Silver Set. On top of this, the set bonus was a Rank 8 Shield. It was good enough to make even the non-Fighter players drool.

Nie Yan gauged the properties of the two pieces of equipment and decided to reward everyone with 10 merit points.

Bladelight proceeded to pull the next Plasma Core Golem.

Having experienced their first fight as a group, everyone’s teamwork became much smoother. The Mages stuck to a tempo that dealt damage without accidentally shifting the aggro, and the Priests acted in tandem to keep the frontline healthy.