The Great Thief

Baroness Anastari might have seemed easy as there were not any casualties during the fight. However, it was only after experiencing it that they were able to understand just how difficult it actually was, as the whole fight had been riddled with traps.

From the terrain, to the minions, to the Boss herself, Stratholme embodied the game designers’ mission of making things difficult for the players.

If they had not cleared out their surroundings before engaging the Boss, it was absolutely certain that they would have been completely been annihilated from attracting all the other minions. If the Main Tank could not withstand 10 seconds of Silence, they would also have lost the fight. If the Banshee had possessed the players and caused a disruption, that would have also led to a complete loss. Furthermore, if they had been silenced when they were initiating their squad burst DPS, they would have certainly lost.

In the end, these possibilities did not matter. They were extremely lucky and had gotten the First Clear of Baroness Anastari.

As such, the potential equipment that could be dropped was extremely exciting.

Unfortunately, no one was rewarded with a skill point, which were becoming increasingly more difficult to come by. Because of their scarcity, Lu Li had wanted to complete more missions that would have a chance at granting them after completing this Instance Dungeon.

Screeching Bow – this Dark Gold weapon possessed quite an impressive unique effect, so this was a welcome drop from the Boss.

Remnant Dream had an extremely lucky hand. After all, the first equipment that had dropped was for Hunters.

It was unfortunate that Remnant Dream had taken a liking to crossbows, and both Azure Sea Breeze and Lu Li had no use for it. Lu Li decided to place it up in the guild storage for the Hunters to auction using their points.

Anastari Heirloom – this was no ordinary Gold grade equip, because this was a necklace.

Accessories like Rings and Necklaces were rare drops, so they were often worth more than other regular equipment.

This necklace increased the damage of Shadow-type attacks and also possessed a special effect that allowed massive burst damage at the cost of the user’s HP. This was given to Sesame Rice Ball, since March Rain did not need anything else besides Healing equipment.

Lu Li was sure that the previous teams that had attempted Baroness Anastari had failed, since equipment of this calibre would not have dropped from the Boss otherwise. If they had been fighting a Wild Boss out in the fields, then these equips would not be surprising.

The two types of Bosses were on completely different levels in terms of difficulty.

“These people are too incompetent. They couldn’t even finish off an Elite Level Boss,” Wandering suddenly said in an arrogant voice. He had also just realised that they had taken the First Clear in Stratholme.

“Can’t blame them. After all, just look at our own equipment,” Lu Li responded as he signalled for Remnant Dream to continue.

Their party, despite being small, was among the best of the best. Their equipment had been gained from the First Clears of Nightmare difficulty dungeons, and they had many rare and powerful skills that were not easily acquired.

These included Azure Sea Breeze’s damage reduction, Sakura Memories’ Bloodlust, Remnant Dream’s Trueshot Aura, March Rain’s various healing abilities and Hachi Chan’s enhanced Tranquillity, among many others.

Banshee’s Curse (Consume): Upon using, chance of decreasing target’s HP by 30%. Lasts 12 seconds, no effect against enemies past 10 levels of user’s level. Uses left 5/5.

Why did this have to drop from Baroness Anastari?

Truthfully, Lu Li wanted to curse out loud.

Why was it not Banshee’s Wail or Banshee’s Silence? Why did it have to be the useless Banshee’s Curse?

Banshee’s Wail was a crowd-control ability, and the other was a mass-silence ability. Why did it have to be the one that merely decreased the target’s HP by 30%? It wasn’t that this item was completely worthless, but that the other two had far exceeded it.

No one wanted it, so Lu Li decided to put it in his own storage.

He had brought a 4×18 bag, and adding onto the innate 10-space storage, he had a total of 82 spaces. Even so, he was beginning to run out of space.

After defeating the Baroness, they immediately set out to conquer another Boss.

During this time, Hachi Chan would be able to complete a quest called ‘The Restless Souls’.

It was said that during the fall of Stratholme, many people had died tragically. Many had committed suicide just to avoid becoming one of the Scourge.

While they achieved their goal, they did not end up in a good place either.

Now, they lived on as restless souls, wandering the shores and streets of Stratholme.

This was not even the worst thing that had happened to them. They were constantly being tortured and harassed by the crooked Scarlet Crusaders.

The Scarlet Crusaders drew their powers from their hatred of spirits. After all, their goal was to eradicate all the spirits in the world. Naturally, they would not have a sliver of compassion towards these restless souls either.

Hachi Chan had met a man called Egan through her own mysterious ways. Other players would not be able to develop a friendship with NPCs even after days of sticking around, but Hachi Chan had managed to receive a quest from Egan with a few words.

Egan had conducted extensive research in the world of spirits and souls, and through this, had invented a type of machinery that could put spirits to rest.

It was Hachi Chan’s mission to put these spirits to rest.

While this quest was not difficult, the catch was that they were not to attack these spirits. As a precaution, Lu Li prevented the party from using Area of Effect skills that attacked multiple targets. In doing so, they would avoid harming the spirits.

Of course, they could not belittle the strength of these spirits.

If the spirits were enraged, they would unleash a terrifying curse on the players. Those who had been inflicted by this curse would be marked and constantly attacked.

“What a peaceful feeling.”

The first spirit that had been struck by the weapon had a dazed expression on its face.

As Lu Li watched on, the shroud of darkness that had previously enveloped the spirit’s body began to lighten and gradually became transparent. After this, it had transformed into a white light, like the Holy Light, and dissipated into Stratholme’s thick air.

Slowly but surely, they had come to the next Boss to slay.

Nerub’enkan was a terrifyingly strong soldier in the War of the Spiders. However, she had suffered such a grave injury that she had to retire, and became a pawn of the Scourge.

This spider was now guarding a Ziggurat in Stratholme, willing to sacrifice her own life to protect it.

Nerub’enkan was easier to kill than Baroness Anastari, if the players that were fighting it had good enough equipment.

Otherwise, Nerub’enkan would entrap them in its webs, then summon many spiderlings which would slowly devour the players.

As of this moment, Lu Li was not sure if his party was able to fight Nerub’enkan face to face.

“According to my sources, this Boss will drop an exquisite Shield,” Lu Li said, trying to encourage Azure Sea Breeze. Apparently, Main Tanks were growing reluctant to fight this Boss due to its sheer size.

“Ah, screw it. This Boss drops a shield, damn it! Brothers! Let’s go!”