Chapter 45: Cliff the Ogre

Xia Yuwei looked at Zhang Zibo, who said, "I definitely can't take the hits."

Hearing this, the morale of the team members dropped somewhat. Although they hadn't expected to be able to defeat an Epic-tier boss when they first started, they had still harbored a sliver of hope all the way here. Now, however, that hope was shattered.

"If the boss can't be tanked, then what's the point of fighting? I've said all along that the Epic-tier dungeon is unbeatable. Looks like someone's big talk just bit them in the tongue," Zheng Yuan sneered from the side, looking at Lu Yang with a face full of mockery.

If they couldn't clear the dungeon, Zheng Yuan was certain that Xia Yuwei and the others would completely ignore Lu Yang from then on. Since they wouldn't cross paths again after today, Zheng Yuan wanted to seize this opportunity to thoroughly humiliate Lu Yang and settle their previous score.

Strong Wine Clear Wind glared at Zheng Yuan and said, "Let's test it out first. I'll give it my all."

Fighting a boss relied not only on gear, but also on player mechanics. Besides, Chimu had given instructions, and Strong Wine Clear Wind didn't want Lu Yang to be humiliated here.

Xia Yuwei also cast a dissatisfied glance at Zheng Yuan, speechless at his short-sightedness. In her view, even if they couldn't beat the Epic-tier dungeon, there were still Expert and Hard difficulties. As long as Strong Wine Clear Wind and the Black-Armored Warrior were around, dropping down a difficulty level would still yield equipment.

However, keeping those two around meant they couldn't afford to offend Lu Yang in the first place. Xia Yuwei said, "I also agree to try it out first, consider it gaining some experience."

Zhang Zibo understood Xia Yuwei's intention and said, "I trust Brother Lu Yang's commanding ability. Let's give it a try."

Lu Yang looked around at the group and said with a smile, "Why do you all look like you've already lost?"

Everyone thought to themselves: Just look at the muscles on that boss's arms and that oversized club, anyone could tell it's unwinnable.

Lu Yang patted Strong Wine Clear Wind on the shoulder and asked, "If I can increase your defense by another 30 points, can you tank it?"

Strong Wine Clear Wind replied, "That should do it. If my defense can go up by another 30 points, tanking him shouldn't be a problem."

Zhang Zibo chimed in, "With 30 more defense, I feel like I could take two or three hits from him too."

Lu Yang said, "Good."

He beckoned to Lanyv and said, "Little girl, come here."

"Ah? What is it?" Lanyv walked over looking bewildered.

"Learn this." Lu Yang pulled Goblin Guard out from his backpack, an item dropped by the Orc Warrior.

"What kind of book is this?" Lanyv asked.

Lu Yang answered, "This book is called Goblin Guard, a divine skill for priests in the early stages. It grants a player a buff that adds 30 defense points, lasting for 30 minutes."

Strong Wine Clear Wind was utterly dumbfounded. Staring blankly at the book, he said, "How could a skill book like this even exist? This—this is way too bugged."

Xia Yuwei and the others were equally stunned. Any player could instantly recognize the value of this book; 30 defense points were simply too precious for players in the early game.

Lanyv quickly said, "I can't accept this book."

If put up at the auction house, this skill book would fetch at least 2 gold coins.

Lu Yang said, "Take it already, otherwise we won't be able to clear this dungeon. Your big brother here doesn't have that much time to waste with you all, I have a lot of other things to do."

"Huh? Oh." Lanyv felt her brain struggling to process everything and foolishly took the skill book. "Then I'll learn it first. Whenever you need me for a dungeon in the future, I'll come at a moment's notice."

Lu Yang said, "That's more like it."

Strong Wine Clear Wind gave Xiao Liang a meaningful look and sent a private message: "Your boss's technique for chatting up girls is quite practiced."

"As expected of my boss," Xiao Liang replied with a look that said he understood completely.

After Lanyv learned the skill, an earth-yellow hexagonal icon appeared in her skill bar. She selected the icon and targeted Strong Wine Clear Wind.

A dense, deep-brown earth element suddenly materialized around Strong Wine Clear Wind, condensing into a hexagonal shape before shattering across his armor.

System Notification: Lanyv used the skill Goblin Guard on Strong Wine Clear Wind.

System Notification: Strong Wine Clear Wind is affected by Goblin Guard, increasing defense by 30 points.

Strong Wine Clear Wind opened his attribute panel and saw that his defense had indeed increased by 30 points. Excitedly, he said, "My defense is at 133 points now, it really increased by 30 points!"

"That's fantastic! We really have a chance to kill the boss of the Epic-tier dungeon."

"Silver-tier equipment!" Zhang Zibo was thrilled as well.

The members of the team were all stirred up. The equipment dropped by an Epic-tier dungeon boss ranged from Bronze-tier at the lowest to Silver-tier at the highest. Since they were the very first in the entire game to run an Epic-tier dungeon, the chances of getting Silver-tier drops were very high.

Seeing everyone's expressions, Lu Yang knew their emotions had been thoroughly mobilized. He commanded, "This boss isn't difficult. Listen to my directions and we can clear it very easily. Now, take your positions according to my instructions."

"Commander Lu Yang, just say the word, we'll listen to you."

"Tell us how to fight and we'll fight that way."

The players in the team had initially thought it was impossible to beat this boss, but now that they saw a chance, everyone became serious.

Lu Yang instructed, "Except for the melees, Mages stand on my left, Priests stand in front of me, and Hunters and Warlocks stand on my right. Keep a 10-yard distance between each group and me."

Although it had been 15 years since he last ran this dungeon, the very first dungeon you ever conquered always left a deep impression. Lu Yang still remembered how he had cleared this dungeon back in the day.

Unlike regular dungeons, the boss of this Epic-tier dungeon had two distinct phases. The first phase was from 100% to 50% health, during which the boss only used pure physical attacks. The second phase was from 50% to 0% health; in this phase, the boss would randomly spawn Frost Flowers and Flame Flowers on the ground. Frost slowed movement speed, while Flame dealt massive damage. This phase was the hardest because the boss would deliberately target players afflicted with a Frost Flower with a Flame Flower next, and anyone hit by the Flame Flower would die within 2 seconds guaranteed.

Novice players facing Frost Flowers wouldn't know how to dodge, and by the time the Flame Flowers appeared, it would be too late to evade.

After mapping out the positions on the ground, Lu Yang said, "Let's aim to clear it on the first try. Everyone who has beaten the normal dungeon knows that this boss has no other skills; it just has high physical output. But this is an Epic-tier dungeon, so if any issues arise midway, everyone must follow my commands promptly."

He didn't want to spell out the boss's mechanics in too much detail to avoid arousing suspicion. While the excuse of being a "beta tester" could cover it, lies told too often would eventually be exposed. Therefore, it was better not to over-explain. Besides, as long as everyone followed instructions, dodging wasn't all that difficult.

"Oh." Strong Wine Clear Wind, Xia Yuwei, and the others blinked. Some of them caught on, while others remained blindly optimistic.

"Since nobody has any questions, Lanyv, cast Goblin Guard on the Black-Armored tank. Clear Wind, initiate the fight. Everyone watch my positioning and move accordingly. Once Clear Wind lands three Sundering Armor stacks, everyone starts DPSing. We'll kill the boss and celebrate together!" Lu Yang said loudly.