TSA Chapter 29

The group quickly arrived at the second stage.

A black leopard, four to five meters tall, lay sprawled across the ground, its massive body blocking the valley entrance. As it noticed intruders invading its territory, its blood-red eyes opened, and a low growl rumbled in its throat, like a predator intimidating its prey. Slowly standing up, its height doubled, exuding an immense sense of oppression.

Behind it, the mountain was dotted with countless small hunting dogs, all with the same blood-red eyes. The sheer number of them sent shivers down everyone’s spine.

[World] Summer Fireworks: Oh my god, so many monsters… this is terrifying!

[World] Returning to the Sea: That leopard was huge, lying down, but standing up, it’s at least seven or eight meters tall!

[World] Ten Years: Its claws are bigger than my head… I bet getting smacked by it would hurt a lot…

[World] Pathfinder: Good luck, pros! You can do it!

“Four Seasons, you’re the main tank; Coke, you’re the off-tank. Everyone else, control your output and attack slowly—absolutely no aggro-pulling. Be cautious of the boss’s Wind Blade. When the boss summons mobs, everyone group up near Bai Ran, and Bai Ran will activate group healing immediately,” Night Owl instructed based on prior experience.

Four Seasons’ equipment wasn’t necessarily better than Coke’s, but his physical condition and reflexes were unmatched, making him the better choice as the main tank for this boss. As the off-tank, Coke used AoE skills to draw aggro, quickly pulling the mob’s aggro when they spawned and minimizing team casualties.

Bai Ran’s Holy Light skill lasted for 15 seconds. As long as the mobs could be cleared within that time, the boss could be defeated.

Everyone: “Got it!”

The team quickly prepared themselves, stuffing delicious food into their mouths without tasting it, then braced for battle.

At Night Owl’s command, Four Seasons charged in first, slashing the leopard boss with his longsword, leaving a gash on its body.

The leopard, enraged, swiped a massive paw at him. Four Seasons raised his shield to block but was still forced back a few steps by the leopard’s sheer strength.

The others waited patiently, ensuring Four Seasons secured the boss’s aggro. In this game, balance between professions was crucial. High-damage professions had lower defenses, and if aggro shifted, most DPS couldn’t survive even one hit from the boss. While priests had slightly better defenses, they could only endure two hits at most.

“Ready!” Four Seasons called out.

Night Owl: “Charge!”

A flurry of skills flew at the boss, battering it relentlessly.

“Roar!” The boss reared up on its hind legs, then lunged forward. The ground shook violently, and the resulting shockwave knocked everyone off their feet, their HP plummeting.

The team quickly got back up and retreated slightly, allowing the priests to heal.

Ran Qi and Feng Tian worked in perfect harmony, quickly restoring everyone’s health without overlapping their efforts. While Ran Qi’s Holy Light could have healed the group in one go, its cooldown was five minutes. They couldn’t risk using it in case the boss summoned mobs again.

As Night Owl attacked, he analyzed and recorded details in his mind. Thanks to Ran Qi’s earlier insights about the boss mechanics, he deduced that its skills were tied to its health thresholds. Every time it prepared a skill, there was likely a tell. Understanding the boss’s mechanics would make it easier to avoid high-damage skills, greatly improving the team’s survival rate.

Recalling how the boss had reared up before unleashing its shockwave, Night Owl remembered a similar skill used by the Mutated Chameleon in the Blackstone Mine. Back then, jumping had helped them avoid the attack. Maybe it would work again.

“If it rears up on its hind legs again, it’s probably about to use the shockwave. Everyone time your jumps and try to avoid it,” Night Owl suggested.

“Got it.”

At 80% HP, the boss suddenly arched its back, as if gathering energy. Two seconds later, eight massive fan-shaped Wind Blades shot out in all directions, aiming to slice the team in half.

“Dodge!” Night Owl shouted and spotted the path where the Wind Blade was coming, pulling Ran Qi away just in time to avoid the attack.

The Wind Blades grazed past, the chilling wind leaving a stinging sensation on their faces.

Despite Night Owl’s timely warning, some close-range players like Four Seasons, Gu Le, and other melee fighters couldn’t escape unscathed. The closer they were to the boss, the denser the Wind Blades, leaving them with no room to dodge.

Thankfully, there were no critical hits, and the priests quickly healed everyone back up before the team resumed their assault.

At 75% HP, the boss summoned its mobs.

A horde of snarling hunting dogs poured down from the ridges, charging toward the team.

“Take out the mobs quickly!” Though the hunting dogs were only half a meter long, their sharp teeth and claws were no joke, and their sheer numbers made them a serious threat.

Four Seasons continued to tank the boss while Gu Le raised his shield and used Revolving Sword to draw the mobs attention. However, the skill could only target eight enemies at a time, leaving some of the hunting dogs free to attack the rest of the team.

Still, the group remained composed. Night Owl cast Glacier, covering the ground within four meters of him in ice. Any hunting dogs that entered the icy area were instantly frozen, their bodies shattering moments later.

Though Glacier was a control skill, Night Owl’s damage output was so high that the frozen mobs died instantly.

Soul Chaser’s Explosive Arrows, Smoke’s Thorn Barrage, and Blossoming’s Earthquake followed, quickly clearing the rest.

Everything went smoother than expected. Compared to the beta test, the team now had more skills and better gear. Maybe they could clear two stages in one go!

The team continued attacking methodically, gradually syncing with the boss’s attack patterns, which improved their efficiency.

Before long, the black leopard boss fell.

[System Announcement] Silent no longer, resounding greatness! Congratulations to players [Night Owl], [Soul Chaser], [Plume Ink], [Sword at Fleeting Time], [Coke], [Bai Ran], [Windstorm Jiangnan], [Feng Tian], [No Happiness], [Four Seasons], [Raphael], [Smoke], [Shura], [Blossoming], and [Thousand Mechanisms] for achieving the first kill of the Abyss Dungeon Cat Demon’s Lair Stage 2 Boss: Demonic Leopard! They have earned the title [Leopard Slayer] and [Physical Exchange Coupon *1].

[System Announcement] Player [Night Owl] struck the final blow! The Demonic Leopard dropped its prized [Leopard Ring] and [Kick Shot – Skill Book] before fleeing in defeat.

[Leopard Ring]

Restriction Level: 10 or above

Limited Profession: Archer

Grade: A

Durability: 200/200

Attributes: Agility+44, Critical Strike+41, Constitution+19, Strength+22

[Kick Shot – Skill Book]

Can Learn Level: 30

Limited Profession: Ranger

Description: Instantly kick the enemy into the air and follow up with an arrow shot, dealing 110% physical damage + strength value.

The dropped ring and skill book were practically tailor made for archers. The four archers on the team were all staring at the items with shining eyes.

Night Owl: “The archer with the highest DPS gets the skill book, the second gets the ring. No objections, right?”

Skill books were incredibly rare drops. While the ring could be farmed later or replaced with another, the skill book, being irreplaceable, made it the more valuable item of the two.

“No objections!” It was the fairest distribution method, and everyone agreed.

This time, the top DPS among the archers was Soul Chaser. Thanks to his Explosive Arrow AoE skill, he dealt significantly more damage, especially against mobs. He also happened to be a ranger, making the skill book a perfect fit for him. Surprisingly, the second-highest DPS was Thousand Mechanisms, who probably had some hidden skills boosting his damage. Plume Ink and Raphael were just slightly behind Thousand Mechanisms, making it a close race.

[World] A Lonely Boat: Amazing! Another first kill! Night Owl is just too awesome!

[World] September Sky: The Abyss Dungeon bosses drop amazing loot; it’s really tempting!

[World] June Snow: Maybe hit Level 30 first? What good are the drops to you if you can’t equip them?

[World] Unbroken Mountains and Rivers: I hope Night Owl clears this dungeon quickly. Maybe they’ll run a carry service! I’d pay anything for that!

[World] Sunset Red: I don’t think Night Owl is the type to bow to money…

[World] Jia Tu: Maybe Night Owl’s guild will lead dungeon runs in the future?

[World] Misty: That makes sense! Hopefully, they get a Guild Summoning Order this time. I can’t wait to join!

Entering the valley guarded by Demonic Leopard, the team spotted four mysterious altars deep inside. On each altar rested a black stone, but there was no sign of the third-stage boss.

After pondering for a while, Night Owl said, “We probably need to break these four stones for the boss to appear.”

Windstorm Jiangnan asked, “Should we break them all at once?”

Night Owl: “No, one at a time. There might be mobs spawning.”

“Understood.”

Hearing this, Ran Qi subtly exhaled in relief. He had been worried they might smash all four stones simultaneously, as a surge of mobs and elite monsters could easily overwhelm the team.

They started with the first stone on the left. Surprisingly, it was rather fragile, breaking into pieces after just a few hits.

As Night Owl predicted, once the stone shattered, skeleton warriors emerged from the ground. They moved slowly but had hardened bones and high defense, making them difficult to deal with.

After clearing four waves of mobs, the third-stage boss finally appeared.

A towering black skeleton emerged, its hollow eye sockets burning with eerie green flames, as though it had stepped straight out of a horror movie. It wielded a skull staff, capable of casting dark magic.

This skeleton boss wasn’t too difficult to defeat as long as they understood the mechanics. It had three skills: summoning corrosive Black Rain, teleporting to the player with the highest aggro to release a powerful exploding Dark Energy Orb, and reviving skeleton minions to attack.

Black Rain had a limited range. When they saw the boss raise its staff, retreated immediately. It didn’t move while casting the spell. After summoning the rain, it would instantly teleport to the person with the highest aggro. During this time, only the warriors should attack it, as they were the only ones with enough health and a shield to survive the explosion of the Dark Energy Orb.

The revive skill was even easier to handle—just had one warrior held off the minions. Once the boss was defeated, the minions were no longer a threat.

Ran Qi knew the mechanics of this boss well, but he couldn’t explain how he knew them.

He could only wait for the battle to start and find ways to subtly guide the team.

However, the skeleton boss didn’t give them any time to react and immediately charged at the group, likely enraged by the death of its minions.

Four Seasons quickly stepped forward to tank it, and the others waited for him to secure aggro before launching their attacks.

The skeleton boss opened with Black Rain. Pretending to look up at the sky, Ran Qi spoke up, “Run! There’s a black cloud—it might be the boss’s skill!”

Night Owl made a quick decision. “Scatter!”

The group immediately spread out. Just as they cleared the area, black rain began to pour down, leaving deep craters on the ground. It was clear how devastating this AoE attack would have been if it had hit them.

Shura sighed in relief. “Good thing Bai Ran noticed it in time.”

“Of course! Our Brother Ran is amazing!” Plume Ink chimed in, seamlessly showering him with praise.

Ran Qi smiled back, but his focus was on Four Seasons. The boss had likely targeted him with its teleport skill since he had used a high-aggro ability during the Black Rain phase.

Thankfully, Four Seasons was a high-HP, high-defense warrior with a shield, so the explosion wouldn’t kill him. However, the problem was that he was standing in the middle of the group. When the Dark Energy Orb exploded, it would likely affect everyone nearby.

How could he convince Four Seasons to move away from the group without raising suspicion?