The Team Aâwhich includes, myself, Rika, Karua, Lulu and Celiaâstepped forward to challenge â¹Meowrriorâº, the the field boss of â¹Cat-Dun⺠10th floor.
"As you can tell, â¹Meowrrior⺠is a cat samurai specialized in swordsmanship. It uses dual-sword style and like Rika, it excels at defense. Be careful how you attack, lest it pull one you with a counter. Karua, focus on hit-and-run tactic."
"Hn, got it. Escape immediately after striking."
"Same as me. Does it mean weakness is similar too?" Rika asked, pondering if the same fighting style meant the same drawback.
I nodded to her, "Yup, that's sharp of you to notice it, Rika. At close range, consecutive attacks are the key andââ"
"Long-range attacks are highly effective huh. I see, Celia."
"Please leave it to me. I will handle the aggro," Celia nodded, the sole member in Team A to excel at long-range attacks.
The tactic was basically Rika defending and Celia attacking from long distance. Thus, gradually chipping away its HP. It was a case in reverse, unlike the regular monsters we had encountered on the way for whom long-range attacks were a breeze, this field boss was unable to do the same. Suppose one has formed the party specialized in close-combat thinking it was the mainstream team in this dungeon only to get whooped by the sudden twist.
Int-mind and above dungeons were filled with such nasty twists.
"What should Lulu do?"
"You focus on weakening it with your debuffs. Focus more on them than attacking. A wrong step might result in a counterattack."
"Understood! Lulu will be cautious!"
After explaining the key points. We started. Everyone had become quite used to fighting bosses. First step was Tank attracting its aggro, as such, our formidable tank Rika made her move.
"It is my first time to exchange moves with fellow samurai using a sword. My name is Rika, and I will have you become the stepstone of our journey! â¹Reveal Thy Nameâº!"
"Gu-nyu, Jaffus!"
"â¹Thy spirit is very admirable-meow, oneself's name is â¹Meowrrior of the Cat samuraiâº-meow. Come-meow!⺠so it says."
"I beg you, Karua. Stop interpreting its words. I am almost losing my will to fight."
"Hn?"
It was a cool line if I just turn a turn a deaf ear to 'âmeow' suffix at the end. The more I hear Karua's word, the more â¹Meowrrior⺠image continue to change in my mind. You know, it had looked super duper-cool in that samurai clothing and seasoned warrior like tone in the game!
"Can you really understand it though?"
"Just a feeling."
"............"
Get a grip on yourself, me. Focusing on battle is more important.
â¹Meowrrior⺠swiftly unsheathed its dual swords. It wasn't the so-called comical â¹Fish Bone Sword⺠that â¹Chamisen⺠or â¹Wild-Meow⺠were wielding, but real swords. This was one of the aspects that attracted me about it, it looks so cool with real swords. It was strange but the image of cat and sword were oddly complimenting each other.
"Hmm, â¹Shadow Warriorâº! â¹Sword Strikeâº!"
"Gu-nya."
As if to say come at me, warrior (?), â¹Meowrrior⺠took a defensive stance.
Rika primarily relied on parrying to generate aggro, so it was hard to accumulate aggro if the monster didn't attack. Seeing no choice, she used taunt skill â¹Shadow Warrior⺠to attract its aggro and probed her opponent with â¹Sword Strikeâº.
â¹Meowrrior⺠looked unfazed as it swung its sword and offset that skill. They both were clearly cut from the same cloth in terms of battle style.
"Kuh, not yet."
"Gu-nya-nya!"
Seeing that her single-hit skills were being blocked, Rika switched in to attack with a flurry of normal attacks. But as expected, it hardly earned any aggro. A strong opponent indeed.
"Everyone, be careful to not attract its aggro too much. Wait before you use your unique skill, Celia."
"I know. â¹Spirit Summonâº! â¹Element Bost⺠â¹Element Arrowâº!"
"Debuff incoming! â¹Heart Charmâº! â¹Cute Eyeâº!"
"Gynya! Gun-nya-nya?"
Attackers started making their move at my instruction. Celia summoned â¹Fire Spiritâº. Cat's were weak against fire. She further boosted her own status with â¹Boost⺠and attacked with â¹Fire Arrowâº, dealing good chunk of damage to â¹Meowrriorâº. Meanwhile, Lulu used applied debuff â¹Heart Charm⺠and speed debuff â¹Cute Eye⺠to shave of field boss power.
"My turn, â¹Force Sonicâº! Retreating, â¹Slow Slashâº!"
"Heal inbound, â¹Aura Healâº! And â¹Lightning Burstâº!"
"Gunya!?"
Karua swiftly moved to use her four consecutive slashing attack skill, â¹Force Sonic⺠to strike at its flank and right before â¹Meowrrior⺠counterattack could reach her, she used â¹Slow Slash⺠to slash at it while propelling herself backward.
I healed Rika who bore the brunt of counterattack and confirming all attackers had retreated, I slammed down my â¹Lightning Burstâº. My attack shaved quite a good amount of its HP but with Rika having yet to earn complete aggro toward herself, I could only stop from further pursuing my attack lest I overdid it.
It would be another bone-breaking task to regain the â¹Meowrrior⺠target if it shifted away from her.
Afterwards, Rika once again used her taunt skill to further attract its aggro while we, the attackers, continued to sparsely attack in between.
â¹Meowrrior⺠was clearly focusing on the counter. But that passive attacking mode was what left Rika's usual tactic into shambles. Rika looked slightly impatient seeing she couldn't effectively gain its aggro.ââNo, it wasn't just my feeling that she 'looked impatient'.
The next moment, situation took a different turn as soon as â¹Meowrrior⺠eyes gleamed with intensity.
"Gy-nya!"
"Guh, Argh!"
"Rika! â¹Aura Healâº!"
â¹Meowrrior⺠counter landed a critical hit on Rika. It perfectly executed its skill followed by the agitated attack from Rika. Damn you â¹Meowrriorâº, you were aiming for this all along, weren't you!?
Rika was thrown back and suffered from the critical down. Shit!
I hurriedly casted healing magic on her and moved myself wedged myself between her and â¹Meowrriorâº. However, someone slid in faster than I did.
"I will not let you do anything to Rika! â¹32 Star Stormâº!"
Karua apparently had the same thought as she used one of her strongest move from the flank and become a roadblock for â¹Meowrriorâº. Facing the attack, â¹Meowrrior⺠gaze captured Karua. This, this was the â¹Super Reaction⺠from â¹Intuitionâº!
Along with counter-attack related skills, â¹Meowrrior⺠was also able to temporarily change its targetâwhen the main target wasn't present thereâto the attacker when attacked. I should have explained it beforehand, but it seems like she was so preoccupied about Rika's situation that she seemed to have forgotten about it. It's going to be awful at this rate.
"â¹Escape Dodge⺠now, Karua! Run away!"
"Hn!"
"Gu-nya!"
"Hngh!?"
A counter, damn it.
Karua's â¹32 Star Storm⺠was a powerful skill which allowed her to attack her enemies 32 times in just 2 seconds. However, the downside was it left the attacker defenseless for the entirety of the duration. 2 seconds might not be enough to call it a weak point but â¹Meowrrior⺠was a boss specialized in counters. It didn't miss the chance.
Just as Karua had activated her skill, â¹Meowrrior⺠released a flash faster than eyes could perceive and blew back Karua, dealing huge damage to her.
"Karua! â¹Area Healingâº! Hang on, I will quickly heal you!"
Karua's HP was instantly shaved to 1/3. Ah, crap. If it hadn't been for Lulu's attack debuff and Karua herself new equipment, this might have been enough to take her down. I am so glad we bought the new equipment. God bless you, Marry-senpai!
I immediately used AoE healing skill and began working to heal her.
"Lulu, please lower its attack! Celia!"
"I know. â¹Spirit Summonâº! â¹Element Leaseâº!"
"Leave it to me! â¹Heart Charmâº! â¹Charm Swordâº!"
"â¹Guard Rushâº!
I gave my instruction and stood in the way of â¹Meowrrior⺠who was brimming with the intention to attack Rika in her critical down condition.
Celia summoned â¹Ice Spirit⺠with â¹Spirit Summon⺠and used â¹Element Lease⺠to loan it to me. â¹Ice Spirit⺠raises user's VIT by thirty percent. Alongside, Lulu used her attack debuff skill and weakened â¹Meowrriorâº.
I hurriedly activated â¹Guard Rushâº, a three consecutive hit skill which focuses on defense for its duration. It was an extremely effective skill against counter specialized attacks.
"Take it!"
"Nyargh!?"
"It's effective, effective! Take it!"
I readied my shield and swung down my sword. Instantly, it attempted to parry it but it hardly put a dent on my HP after all the preparation. You are 100 years too early to counter me, the Brave!
And the skill ended.
"Not yet! â¹Lightning Burstâº! â¹Shine Lightningâº!"
"Gu-nya!"
I pursued it with magic spells! As long as I open the distance with backstep, â¹Meowrrior⺠counter wouldn't be able to do anything.
However, seemingly realizing that it wouldn't pass through, â¹Meowrrior⺠dropped its focus on counter strategy and switched to attack mode as it rushed at me.
"Ohh!? â¹Defenseâº!"
"Hng-nya!"
â¹Meowrrior⺠used its skill â¹Cross Cat Crashâº. I hurriedly defended against the dual sword's cross slash attack. Alright, it's under wrap.
Just as I was rejoicing, â¹Meowrrior⺠showed the sign of using its second skill immediately after, â¹Warrior Cat's Upper Slashâº. Damnnn! I have already used my defense skill! Time to retreat!
I was about to use â¹Sonic Sword⺠to dodge when a confident voice called out to me from behind.
"Zephyr, change with me. I will settle it now and there!"
"Alright! â¹Sonic Swordâº!"
"Unique Skill â¹Twin Swallow Flipâº!"
Rika switched with me at the precise timing â¹Meowrrior⺠used â¹Warrior Cat's Upper Slashâº, a strong single attack from above, and flawlessly parried it with her unique skill.
"Grgh!?"
"An Opening!"
Rika's â¹Twin Swallow Flip⺠repelled the attack and dealt a great amount of damage. Receiving the attack, â¹Meowrrior⺠was further knocked back and froze in the pose of raising its sword. This is it, this was the chance!
"Take my unique skill! â¹Brave Slashâº!"
With a powerful strike, I slashed at the â¹Meowrrior⺠stiffened due to the effect of knockback, and pushed it into knock down condition.
"Alright, everyone, you know the drill. Go all-out!"
"Here I go! â¹Justice Hero Swordâº! â¹Hero Special Impactâº! â¹Sacred Explodeâº! â¹Lolita of Hero Smashâº!"
"â¹Ancient Spirit Artâº! â¹Advent of the Great Spiritâº! I beseech thy, â¹Ignisâº!"
"Payback time. â¹Scale Breakâº! â¹Delta Streamâº! â¹Star Boost Tornadoâº! â¹Star Burst - Rain Edgeâº! â¹Twin Wild Cat Scratchâº!"
"Here's my little gift for the earlier! â¹Shogun's Burstâº! â¹Flame Slashâº! â¹Ice Strike⺠â¹Lightning Strike⺠â¹Light Flash⺠â¹Dark Sweepâº!
"Gu-nya-rgh!?"
"And my turn, â¹Brave Heartâº! â¹Swift Strikeâº! â¹Lightning Slashâº! Haaaâ--!!"
Everyone immediately rained down their strongest attack at the petrified â¹Meowrriorâº, shaving off a lot of its HP.
From that point on, the tide completely turned in our favor, and it became a one-sided battle, as if we were venting our frustrations from before. The key point was Rika had managed to activate her defensive skill in sync with the counter. So cool, she managed to make a breakthrough in her skills in the boss battle. No seriously, I really want to learn how she managed to parry all those counters.
With Rika garnering its aggro, Celia rain down her attack from the distance.
â¹Meowrrior⺠put up a brave fight by offsetting the long-range attacks with just its sword, but alas, it was destined to never make another comeback.
"Fu, gu-nya."
"â¹Hehm not bad-meow⺠so it says."
"I don't need any 'meow' for god's sake!"
With what seemed to be its final chuckle, â¹Meowrrior⺠disappeared into the pool light particles. What remained were a copious boss drop and a shining silver treasure chest.