Hssssst!
After it regained itself from being struck by Reilei's attack, the Ouroboros straightened up its body as it spewed out a putrid mist from its mouth that filled up every corner of the room. There was nowhere for Reilei and her party to retreat as they had to deal with the mist head-on.
〈Battle Alert: You have been affected by the Corrupted Ouroboros «Corrosive Venom» for 15 seconds!〉
〈Battle Alert: All stacks of «Venom Bite» have been expunged!〉
-200 [Two Tons]
-467 [Broken Fists]
-67 [Hidden Pulse]
-27 [Shuyi]
«Resisted» [Phoenix]
«Resisted» [Reilei]
Surprisingly enough, Reilei and Phoenix were completely unaffected by the Ouroboros' Corrosive Venom. As for Hidden Pulse and Shuyi, the two of them barely received any damage. The players who were in the least favorable positions was Two Tons, due to absorbing and blocking most of the snakes, and Broken Fists. Normally, this much damage would not have been an issue for Phoenix, but there was just one issue…
When one second passed by, everyone received the same amount of damage again and this caused a look of horror to appear on Broken Fists' face. It was not just a one time damage, but a skill that did damage every second! Since the skill would last for a total of 15 seconds, this meant everyone would continue to take damage until the Corrosive Venom skill ended.
There was also the natural mist poison that was dealing damage on top of the Corrosive Venom. This made the damage per second being done to Reilei and her party extremely burdensome.
Phoenix was already having trouble conserving her mana and this only made matters worse. How was she supposed to keep up with that kind of damage? Even if she consumed a mana potion, she would barely have enough mana remaining to outlast the duration of the Corrosive Venom. Not to mention, she would not be able to consume another mana potion for 1 minute.
This was the first time Phoenix experienced any mana issues when it came to healing and conserving her mana. Therefore, she was under a lot more pressure than she was used to against the Corrupted Ouroboros. However, that much was to be expected considering it was her first time facing a rare boss, especially one with such a high-level gap. She started to discover just how frightening the position of healer was. With one mistake or waste of mana, the entire party could collapse in a heartbeat.
Phoenix could feel her head spinning as she tried her best to keep up with the damage being done by the Corrosive Venom. The pressure was stacking up and one could see the look of fear, doubt, and panic on her face as her breathing became slightly erratic and unbalanced.
"What should I do? I can't heal everyone. I don't have enough mana. Do I have to just abandon someone? What should I do? My mana won't last this way. Even with a mana potion, I don't have enough. We'll be wiped out at this rate! It'll be my fault!" Phoenix's thoughts were in chaos.
"What are you doing you useless healer?! Heal me already!" Broken Fists roared as his face turned pale while he witnessed his HP swiftly depleting. He only had around 4,000 HP and so if things continued in this way then he would die! How could he die when there was a hidden rare boss right in front of him?
"Shut your mouth! Haven't you already caused enough trouble?! Don't you see her mana is practically depleted?!" Two Tons raised his voice in anger. He tried to be patient with Broken Fists, however, he was going too far insulting Phoenix when she was clearly under a lot of pressure and trying her best. When he glanced over in Phoenix's direction, he could see the pressure was getting to her by the expression written all over her face. After quickly checking the battle logs, he knew that if things kept going this way Phoenix may not last the rest of the fight.
"You-!" Broken Fists wanted to retort, but when he saw that vicious look in Two Tons' eyes, he swallowed his words. He grit his teeth in anger at being yelled at like some nobody. He promised himself that he would eventually settle the score with that fellow!
"Phoenix! Prioritize healing the others! I'll manage on my own somehow! Since you and Realistic don't seem to be affected by the Corrosive Venom, the worst-case scenario has already been avoided. Just hang in there!" Two Tons yelled out as he attempted to motivate Phoenix.
"O-okay…" Phoenix said softly as she followed Two Tons' instructions. Despite Two Tons' words of motivation, her nerves remained unsettled. It was as if the more she tried to calm herself, the more pressure was put on her shoulders.
"It's no use…!" Two Tons thought to himself when he saw that Phoenix had not relaxed in the slightest. This would undoubtedly increase the chances of a mistake occurring.
Just as Phoenix was healing like her life depended on it and her mana was about to reach its breaking point, a voice cried out that snapped her out of it.
"Ayanellia! Use Mana Attraction on Phoenix!" Reilei said.
Nyu…
Ayanellia nervously faced towards Phoenix as a thin blue veil of aura appeared around her body. At the same time, that blue aura vanished from Ayanellia's body and briefly reappeared around Phoenix before disappearing.
〈Battle Alert: You have been affected by the skill «Mana Attraction»!〉
〈Battle Alert: Your mana has been recovered by 30% of your total mana!〉
〈Battle Alert: Your in-battle mana regeneration has been increased by 25 per second for 10 seconds!〉
〈Battle Alert: Your in-battle mana regeneration has been increased by 250% for 10 seconds!〉
"?!" Phoenix was startled as she suddenly felt a refreshing energy wash over her. When she noticed her mana being restored at a fast rate, she could not help but widen her eyes in shock. What was with this insane mana regeneration?! She only had an in-battle mana regeneration of 10 mana per second which was pretty average for most players her level. However, with the boost from Reilei's skill, it had jumped from 10 mana per second all the way to 123 mana per second!
Not only that but it also immediately restored 30% of her mana turning her feeling of dread into one of hope. This provided Phoenix with enough in-battle mana regeneration cast a healing skill and still regain mana every second. In other words, she would instantly regain any mana she lost for the next 10 seconds with an added bonus of mana. With this, she was confident in being able to keep everyone alive!
"Thank you, Realistic! I'm sorry you had to see my pathetic side. I'll make it up to you by giving you all the heals you want." Phoenix said in a playful tone as a smile appeared on her face. The look of panic on her face had disappeared as the pressure had been lifted off of her shoulders. While she still had to carefully manage her mana, thanks to Reilei, she received some much-needed breathing room.
"Glad to see your head back in the game, Phoenix! Are you alright?" Two Tons said.
"Yeah, never better! Just leave the healing to me and defeat that oversize reptile!" Phoenix responded.
Phoenix secretly released a sigh of relief. She had just lost her cool there for a moment, but fortunately, she was able to regain her footing thanks to Reilei's assistance. It was a good thing that she taught Reilei about skills before they fought the Ouroboros, otherwise, the situation may have just deteriorated and spiraled out of control. Though this was a good experience for Phoenix. After all, it taught her the true pressure and responsibility that came along with being a healer. It was not just some easy sit back and absorb experience class as many people made it out to be.
More than anything though, Phoenix was shocked by the Mana Attraction skill Reilei used. Did she really not undergo a class advancement already? If she did not, then how could she have such a powerful skill in her possession? It had to be at least a B-rank or A-ranked skill! However, having such a high-ranked skill without a class advancement should be next to impossible.
"It worked…" Reilei muttered to herself. She was relieved to see that Phoenix appeared to be back to her normal self. Although Reilei did not understand how many of her skills worked, she was able to easily connect some things and use some of the common sense she gained from her discussion with Phoenix. Since Phoenix was lacking mana and she had a skill that allowed herself or allies to recover mana, all she had to do was use it on Phoenix to help out, right?
The skill Reilei used was not a direct class skill per se, but instead, it was a skill unique to Ayanellia called Mana Attraction.
Summon Skill Name: Mana Attraction
Summon Name: Ayanellia
Summon Skill Level: 1/4
Summon Skill Rank: A
Cast Time: Instant
Passive: While this skill is off cooldown and the Summon: Ayanellia is summoned, the contracted summoner gains +10 in-battle mana regeneration and +100% in-battle mana regeneration.
Active: The contracted summoner can cast this skill on themselves or an ally within 25 meters of the summon's location. The Summon: Ayanellia buffs the target and allows them to draw in natural mana from the atmosphere, immediately recovering the target's mana by 30% of their total mana. The target also gains +25 in-battle mana regeneration per second and has their in-battle mana regeneration increased by 250% for 10 seconds. This skill cannot be used if the Summon: Ayanellia is not summoned.
Cooldown: 1 minute 30 seconds
"Alright! Time to give it everything we got and kick it into second gear, attack together!" Two Tons roared as he used his Shield Furnace: Backlash Blow. The shield in his hands erupted in intense flames that shot out towards the Ouroboros and temporarily sealed its movements.
At the same time, Shuyi and Hidden Pulse increased the pace of their attacks on the Ouroboros without resting for a single moment. As for Phoenix, she was now clear-headed and corrected the timing on her heals. However, the person who had the biggest contribution was undoubtedly Reilei.
Bang!
-1,627
Reilei continued to use her Orb of Creations as she had done before. With her great agility and damage, she provided a consistent amount of damage and even overtook Shuyi on the DPS charts. Though Shuyi, not wanting to lose to Reilei in terms of damage when all she was using was basic attacks, stepped up his level of play and passed Reilei once again. This continued back and forth with Reilei and Shuyi constantly fighting for the top DPS spot in the party.
"What's with that ridiculous damage and fighting-style..?" Shuyi said to himself as he struggled just to keep up with her in terms of damage. He was going all out and yet she seemed to be casually striking the Ouroboros with the summoner's orb in her hand. If that was the case, how could she be possibly keeping up with him in terms of overall DPS?
Although Shuyi hated to admit it, if the Ouroboros was not so resistant to her weapon's stagger effect, Reilei's movements were not so sloppy, and she was not so inexperienced in combat, then he would have definitely been left in the dust in terms of overall DPS.
Even without the cooperation of Broken Fists, Reilei and the rest of her party were able to evolve their teamwork over the course of the fight. At last, the dysfunctional party started to somewhat look like an actual party. Although it was a struggle and there were numerous close calls where some of them almost died, everyone managed to hang on and chip away at the HP of the Ouroboros.
30%…
25%…
10%!
"Here comes the Ouroboros' enraged state! Be on guard!" Two Ton warned. This caused everyone to immediately go on full alert mode and they received a battle alert that they were not looking forward to.
〈Battle Alert: Corrupted Ouroboros has entered into an enraged state!〉
It was here at last. The dangerous enraged state of a hidden rare dungeon boss! It was these last few moments that would determine the victory or defeat of Reilei and her party.
