Oristo 46: Endure until the Last (Boss)

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Chapter 46: Endure until the Last (Boss)

I don’t know how many times my vision went red as my HP dropped into red-bar territory, but with the healers from the rest of the group, I managed to survive the last few minutes of bear mode.

In what felt like way-too-short a duration, I lost my fur and claws and was only barely surviving thanks to Chie’s super-armor.

“Ah, shiiiiit…!”

Time to RUN!

“Guh.”

I take a tiny bit of fall damage as I catapult off the raijin I had ended up on, trying to smash it into the ground as a bonus, but my STR has taken a decrease after bear mode wore off, so no dice.

Tch.

I barely had time to stand before eel-snakes and lightning start flying at me again.

Yeeeah, I’m going to need a minute…

Without caring for my image, I turn tail and run the hell back towards the base camp.

A deep, booming voice with some sfx overlay yells,

“Don’t let that bear get away!”

Catch me if you can, sucker!

I zig zag the entire way back, hearing lightning pockmark the ground right behind me almost every step of the way.

Shi-t!

I’m glad I practiced this run in real; I don’t care if it has no practical use in boxing, coach!

Not that I was serious when I went to the boxing gym anyway.

With my vision red-screening for the I-don’t-know-th time, I take a flying leap into the wall of vanguards Baldro has on defense duty.

Using an ukemi to break my fall, my momentum’s a bit too much and I roll into the rearguards, robe-wearers dodging out of the way as I tumble by.

Just like a cartoon, I ended up rolling into the crates of supplies stacked behind the rearguards, landing flat on my back with my feet up in the air.

“…Yo.”

I grinned and raised a hand up.

“Oooh, jeez! Naru-san, why are you always like this?!”

Since I landed right at her feet, Baldro’s main healer, Chino, scolds me as she takes the opportunity to land a <Minor Heal> and <Small Recovery> on me.

“Just sit right there as we try to transfer the aggro! Don’t. Move!”

Eeeh….

Actually, HoTs are pretty damn effective to get me to sit still since I have to wait for my HP to recover.

But did you have to use <Small Recovery>?

I mean, I had, like, 5% HP left.

No way I can recover my full bar in the 15 second duration, 20HP/sec.

But, well, the healers have their hands full, so I guess I should be a good girl, since I was basically sponging off all of the healers’ heals up until right now.

They probably ended up having to neglect the heals of the other vanguards.

My bad~.

“… Exactly what am I supposed to say about all this?”

Dark said.

While I was discontentedly popping open a Major Potion with my teeth, since I’m still gripping my axe in one hand, Dark has maneuvered over to where I am, with one eye on the battle.

“What?”

I ask as I spit out the cork with a grin.

“No, not ‘what’… hah… is that a special race? Werebear?”

Even while speaking, Dark was carefully sniping snake-eels, disrupting their formation so our vanguards and magic users could aim at the raijin behind them.

“Nah, it’s a Talent.”

“… I see. From the Starting Dungeon, huh? That’s definitely an orange one.”

“Maa, that’s how it is.”

I down the potion at once.

No time to worry about Overdose or we’ll all get wiped out – and anyway, I’m ‘resting’ in the back, so I have time for the unofficial ‘potion cd’, whatever the duration is.

“Still, even with an op Talent, those stunts were freaking ridiculous. How many newbs are going to be sent to the respawn point trying to copy your aerial fighting? <Flare Heal>!”

Chino sighed.

“Eh… they weren’t that high off the ground. I don’t think you can call it an ‘aerial’ battle…”

I protested so, but Chino snaps,

“And just how many people can jump their entire height?!”

“Well, this is VR, right? So it’s more of a question of stats… Hm. Chino, don’t you think the aggro transfer was too quick?”

As Dark attempted to pacify the flustered Chino, his eyes narrowed suddenly.

“ “Huh?” “

At his words, Chino and I look out over the battlefield.

“…True. I woulda thought a couple of them would have followed me.”

I polish off the potion and tossed it into the Item Box.

Just as I was doing so, the glow around Dark’s eyes wore off, and he rubbed them irritatedly.

“…Tch. My <Enhanced Seeing> wore off.”

“Ah… It messes with your sight if you use it consecutively. I prefer to use <Enhanced Hearing> or <Enhanced Smelling> myself.”

“Heh… so Naru-san also took [Sharp Senses].”

“…You guys. Talking so casually when there’s complete chaos going on around us.”

Chino clicked her tongue at Dark and I while the other rearguards around us showed tense smiles at her scolding.

“It’s not interfering with my sniping.” “I’m bored.”

Dark and I responded at the same time.

I’ll let you guess who said what.

“Hm?”

Suddenly Dark stood up tall, shielding his eyes with his hand.

“Dammit, there’s an irregularity… I can’t tell. This CD is too long!”

That is inconvenient.

I switch between the See/Hear/Smell enhancements all the time so the CDs didn’t bother me, but I guess if you mostly use sight to detect things, it would be annoying… hang on.

I was still checking the potions and buff items I had, when I came across Kit (Wayfarer’s).

Ah… I totally forgot to stop by the Wayfarer’s Guild.

I wonder if I’ll remember next time I return to town… hah!

“Hey Dark, here.”

“What is – wha-!? Where’d you get these? These must have cost a fortune!”

Dark panicked and almost dropped the small, shiny, silver spyglass I tossed him.

“I killed a … yeah… don’t ask. I still don’t know if I’m going to get in trouble with NPCs about it.”

Dark, Chino, and the other rearguards in earshot made faces like they just ate something sour.

“R-right… well, I guess I’ll use them…”

“Yeah, if you want to keep them, you’re gonna have to owe me something.”

I put the spyglass in Lending Mode.

“Keep them… you don’t have to return them? I mean, to the NPCs.”

“… I dunno. ANYway, my HP is almost full and my DEX and STR reduction is gone, so Imma be off!”

Raising my hand in a salute, I rush back towards the front of the battle.

Iiiii’m back~!

“…Oh geez!”

I hear Chino protesting behind me, but y’know, even though the vanguards are putting up a decent fight, it’s along the lines of being able to keep alive.

There doesn’t seem to be much headway in actually doing any damage to our opponents.

ZZZZZAP!

Whoa!

I just spoke too soon.

That boss guy just launched a lightning beam and fried a bunch of people.

Ah… we might have lost some people.

“Cheeestooo-!”

With my usual battlecry, I ignore everyone who was still staring in dread at the scorched ground where the boss’ AoE attack had landed and leap out from behind the shields, croqueting an incoming snake-eel out of the way.

Although I’m joining in with the guys fighting against the ground attack, I still have to be aware of the eels and the lightning.

Umu. It’s considerably more difficult than before, especially with much stronger lightning attacks being cast from the raijin now.

“Hahaha! Naru! You crazy ass bear! Welcome back!”

Mega-Obentou was nearby, chopping up small fry lizards and snakes as fast as he could, while keeping a nervous eye on the boss-guy.

“Good to be … back! <Power Slash>!”

An abnormally large snake came over to get its head slashed off.

“…Truth be told, I wonder if we’ll manage. We’ve had at least a few ‘game overs’ already. The healers have already given up on keeping us all alive.”

The tank next to me said.

Umu. It does seem to be quite bad.

The non-stop chaotic battle seems to be wearing the vanguards’ nerves down.

As proof, the Raid Chat’s a mess.

RAID CHAT: [Uno]: ♪[“-Guh! We need help! The raijin’s are targeting the back!”]
RAID CHAT: [Baldro]: ♪ [“Jet, Kaori, take your parties and head to the back! Cover the rearguard!”]
RAID CHAT: [Kaori]: ♪[“Roger!”]
RAID CHAT: [Sharp Eyes]: ♪ [“… It looks like there’s some small dragon-like adds coming… Oh shit! They’re kirin lookalikes!”]
RAID CHAT: [Stein]: ♪[“Oh fuck me… there’s a limit to how many elites they should be able to have! Offensive magic, aim to damage! Archers, intercept attacks!”]
RAID CHAT: [Dark Ranger]: ♪[“We finally have the Cloud Drummers down from 12 to 3. They’re also not producing Sky Snakes as often. But the kirin things are numbering 9.”]
RAID CHAT: [Stein]: ♪[“Shit – Baldro, can you figure out what the condition is for that big guy’s AoE nuke attack? Dammit, we’ve lost 5 players last time.”]
RAID CHAT: [Baldro]: ♪[“That’s… I don’t know.”]
RAID CHAT: [Chino]: ♪[“His feather attack is super annoying too, with the heal debuff… a guy like this, if he’s not the last boss, I’m gonna cry.”]
RAID CHAT: [PurinLuv]: ♪ [“Heyheyhey, I can’t keep up with all of this! *Burp* I’m probably going to get Overdose soon, y’know? … Or heartburn.”]
RAID CHAT: [Kohane]: ♪ [“… Purin aside, the MP drain IS a little… I mean, even the attack mages have had a couple MP potions…”]
RAID CHAT: [Stein]: ♪ [“Goddammit, shit! What the fuck is the Boss’ pattern?! Dammit, how the hell do you even-”]
RAID CHAT: [Baldro]: ♪ [“Stein, keep the chat clear.”]
RAID CHAT: [Stein]: ♪ [“Then you figure out what the fuck we’re supposed to do!”]

Ah… Stein seems to be pissed off as hell.

It’s true that the battle right now is ridiculously difficult.

An endless march of monsters along the ground, with elites thrown in that can disrupt our formation, coupled with an aerial assault of ridiculously difficult-to-take down elites, and the friggin’ last boss-like guy raining down laser-like lightning strikes and debuffs.

On top of it all, there’s no discernable pattern to the boss’ attacks.

The monsters all surge towards any opening we have, the ranged keep shooting into our rearguards without fail, and the boss keeps hitting the areas with guys with the least HP…

This game, it’s too efficient!

Baldro and Stein have already collapsed from their initial setup, and now Stein’s commanding the attackers while Baldro’s commanding the defenders.

Well, that’s their expertises from the beginning so that’s what they should have stuck with, right?

Maa… it’s hard to know exactly how the enemy is going to attack, so it can’t be helped.

It looked like there was going to be a sky army and a land army attacking us so those guys split the parties up, but the monsters ended up all moving as one cohesive army.

Luckily everyone’s a top player who’s run with Baldro and Stein before, so when those two inadvertently reverted to their normal forms of command, everyone adapted easily and came back together.

But still, just when we’re feeling relieved that we killed over half the raijin’s, the enemy’s backup came, we’ve lost quite a few players, and the magic users are running out of MP.

Just as everyone’s falling into a panic;

RAID CHAT: [Toru]: ♪[“So, you have made it past my Four Generals. However, I, this Leticia, the greatest guardian created by the Faerkin, will not allow you to desecrate their last legacy! Begone, insolent ones, or I shall bury you as well within this tomb!”]
RAID CHAT: [Toru]: ♪[“Good job, top defenders! We’re on our last leg now! Stand strong just a little bit longer, we’re counting on you!”]

A dramatic female voice with some sfx can be heard from Toru’s side.

Everyone around me suddenly realizes it’s Toru’s side’s Last Boss Speech, and as Toru says a few words to encourage us, a huge cheer wells up.

That Chibi – well, he’s good at motivating people, that’s for sure.

He must have heard the panic and frustration going on over here and hurriedly recorded the Boss Speech into Raid Chat.

I mean, on our end, we have no idea how much longer this is going to go on.

Hearing about an end in sight really makes a difference.

“… Wish our Last Boss woulda been nice enough to let us know he’s the Last Boss with a speech.”

Bentou grumbled.

“No kidding. When I think that there might be something worse after him…”

The tank next to us responds to Bentou, then turns pale and looks a little sick.

I can’t help but remark,

“… Well, it’s probably going to get worse anyway.”

“Ah geez, why would you say that?!”

Bentou complains loudly at me.

“Naw, well, y’know. That guy, the Cloud Rider or whatever Baldro said he’s called, hasn’t fully appeared from out of the clouds. He’s still wreathed in them.”

This time, all the vanguards around us go pale.

“Oh god, and we’re down to 22 people…”

“Ugh… this was impossible…”

Bentou gives me ‘a look’ as he smashes up a komodo dragon thing with the rest of the suddenly spiritless vanguards around us.

“Naru, Otouto-kun just got everyone’s spirits up.”

“My bad~.”

“ “ “ “ “ You’re not feeling sorry about it at all!” “ “ “ “

See?

I’m keeping the unity up.

—

—

Extra

Some terminology:

STR – strength (physical strength)

DEF – defense (physical attack mitigation)

END – endurance (overall resistance to both physical and magical Bad Statuses and influences HP)

INT – intelligence (magical strength)

WIS – wisdom (magical attack mitigation)

Dividing your stats – taking a different Talent that boosts stats other than the ones you have been focusing on raising

Robe-wearers – slang for people specializing in Magic Talents; can be derogatory depending on the circumstances

Clankers – heavy-armor wearing tanks that can’t sneak worth a dime

Adds/Additions – the small fry sides that comes with your main boss/monster

DoT – damage over time, eg bleed, burn, etc.

HoT – heals over time

Red-bar – HP so low that the HP bar turns from green to red.

Red-screening – HP so low that the screen turns red. Usually happens at the same time as red bar. In OriSto, the player’s field of vision pulses a red haze in their peripheral sight

Support – a player that specializes in buffs and debuffs; sometimes includes player that specializes in heals, but in OriSto it just refers to buff/debuff specialist with heals referring to players that specializes in heals

Wipe – everyone dies

Unique quest – a quest that is only offered once on a first-come-first-serve basis on the entire server

Kiting – running around with a monster’s aggro entirely on you in order for either you or others to take potshots at it while it chases you; an inelegant but often useful manner of fighting~

Pull – attacking or attracting a monster in order to lure it closer; usually the duty of a ranged attacker to lure a monster to a safer area for the party to engage it

Gank – sneak attacking someone while he/she is preoccupied with something else, usually fighting monsters (totally a jerk move unless you’re playing an fps. Then s/he shoulda been paying attention) … well, ‘gank’ is kind of all over the place in definition, but that’s what I’m using it for.

VR sickness – an upgraded version of motion sickness from virtual reality

Mez – mesmerize; when a Bad Status forces the target to take no action for either a certain amount of time or until attacked(and for gods sake, please listen to the castor when s/he says not to attack because s/he mez-ed something) There are multiple Skills that can produce this effect to varying degrees in OriSto

CC – crowd control; a broad term referring to any abilities/talents/skills that will limit opponents, often times rendering the targets to be nearly useless. People who use Debuffs and Bad Statuses are often the main contributors to CC, but even a DPS player can help out with a well-placed Stun or Knock Down

Proc – when an event with an x% chance of happening is triggered, eg a randomly generated special event in a dungeon, or the fire/ice/elemental damage on weapons

—

Please note that most of this terminology is generic MMO terminology, but some of it is also unique to OriSto.
I kind of just threw some things in that I thought weren’t common knowledge, whether because I made it up or because it’s nerd-speak.

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