“Choose your highest damage, single hit skill,” I elaborated as we rushed back into the boss room. “Single hit. Not multiple hits like your swarm of fireballs or fairies, Nitana. Once the first fireball connects, you’ll die, wasting the rest. Kezo and Nitana, both of you are going to attack the boss—”
“And freaking die?” Nitana interjected though she was already buffing up for battle even if she didn’t understand my plan yet. “You just mentioned that.”
“Exactly,” I said. “You’ll die and run back here. Before I forget, let’s trade. Give me your Toxic Goops, and I also have something for you.” They needed a fast return trip, so I gave them one [Sour Litchi Juice] each, increasing their movement speed by twenty-five percent. Good thing I bought several pieces from Clement when I fought the Blighted Mud Golem. While executing our trades, I said, “One more thing, Kezo. Do you know if DoTs trigger retribution or reflect?”
Recalling RPGs I’ve played, reflect didn’t work with DoTs, but I had to confirm if it was the same in Mother Core Online. Surviving a DoT of one percent of my max health per second was easy enough. Surviving a percentage of the Vinereavers’ humongous health was another story. Kezo could kill me with a flick of his finger, but he removed only a tenth of the Vinereavers’ health with his signature skill—I didn’t want to imagine how much was one percent of the Vinereavers’ health pool.
“Damage-Over-Time effects are not considered hits,” Kezo replied. “They usually don’t trigger retribution or reflect unless special mechanics are involved. If you’re thinking of poison, I’m positive you’ll be safe. Jensen ran a retri-tank build before; he told me about it when we fought a monster that poisoned us.”
“Good to hear.” I gave him a thumbs up. “I can counteract the Vinereavers’ healing.”
“What about me?” Megan asked. I got the twelve [Toxic Goop] she looted while fighting toward this boss area but didn’t give her a [Sour Litchi Juice] in return.
“You’re going to do something else,” I told her.
“A different mission? I hope it’s not too hard.”
That’s what she said.
“So let me get this straight,” Nitana said. “Hit the ugly plants, die, come back, and repeat?”
“Yes, we continuously throw ourselves at the boss,” Kezo said. A red smoke enveloped him like a ghost trying to enter his body; this must be his strongest skill. “It’s a modified version of the strategy Jensen told me about.”
“Very modified, seems like,” Nitana muttered.
“Since we don’t have healers or ress spells, this is our alternative,” I said.
“Good thinking, Herald,” Kezo said. “The ethereal crimson cloud around him puffed up and began to take shape. “An advantage is that we can use our most powerful spells because we don’t care about getting instantly killed.”
“The disadvantage, on the other hand, is you’ll have to run back here,” I said. “The Sour Litchi Juice can help. A waste of time to visit the merchants to buy more powerful food buffs.”
“Nitana, once you respawn in the village,” Kezo said, “use a Sigil Totem to teleport to the other side of the tunnels and enter from there. That’s what I did. It’s a much shorter route, and you don’t have to play hide-and-seek with the village guards.”
“Copy that,” Nitana said. “I’m ready.” A multi-colored fireball ballooned at the end of her staff. It looked like she was holding a giant lollipop of energy.
“I’m still a few seconds away from fully charging up,” Kezo said. By now, the wispy substance had solidified into the ghost of a Mardukryon—a colossal warrior, larger than Chief Nogras, wielding two swords. “This is my strongest skill, but I rarely use it because it takes a while to get ready and has penalties after casting.”
“I’ll have to debuff the boss first,” I said. “Watch out. It’ll attack after I use my skill.” I cast [Gnawing Rot] on the Vinereavers.
Lvl. 7 Gnawing Rot: Spread a festering miasma over a small area (maximum of four), causing any enemies entering it to lose 97 Armor and Magic Resilience (maximum 545), 2% Armor and Magic Resilience (maximum 10%). The effect of the decay persists for 13 seconds after leaving the area.
Cost: 85 Energy
Duration: 45 Seconds
Cooldown: 5 Seconds
Vines shot forward, and eyes and mouths opened. “Wait for five seconds, Nitana, before attacking,” I said, using [Horde Stampede] next. We all ran around as vines tried whipping us. It was funny to see a gigantic Mardukryon ghost trotting after Kezo. “Megan, you’re going to use your Totem. Drink potions to refill your health. I’ll help out healing you.”
“Oh, okay!” she said. “Thank goodness my part is simple.”
Then I used [Poison Bottle Cast], throwing a [Nam-Go Poison Bottle] and [Vaporizing Reagent] at the enemy. I went with Nam-Go first because it was the more potent of my two poisons. Its Armor reduction debuff would boost Kezo’s damage.
Lvl. 1 Poison Bottle Cast: Throw an Akhos Poison bottle and a vaporizing reagent, turning the specific poison into a gas cloud that spreads over a small area (maximum of two). The Akhos Poison in cloud form has a 15% increased chance of inflicting its negative status, with its duration increased by 3 seconds. Enemies in the affected area have their poison resistance reduced by 10%.
Item Cost: 1 Akhos Poison Bottle, 1 Vaporizing Reagent
Duration: 40 Seconds
Cooldown: 10 Seconds
Nam-go Poison Bottle | Item Level: 15
Epic | Consumable | No Requirement
A potent poison carefully extracted from the Nam-go serpent and distilled to its most concentrated form over a fortnight. This modestly difficult-to-prepare concoction reduces a poisoned unit’s Armor and Health Regeneration by 10% and causes a loss of 2% of Max Health per second. (If applied to equipment, it has a 12% (10.5%) chance of poisoning the enemy per damage instance. Poisoned Status lasts for 6(+5) seconds)
Duration: 10 Minutes
Uses: 5/5
“Nitana, Megan, go for it!”
“Meg, tell my dog I love him,” Nitana said with a laugh. The rainbow fireball grew larger as it left her staff and zoomed into the monstrous heap of tendrils.
“Nitana, I won’t forget our friendship!” Megan melodramatically said as she planted her [Spell Bonded Totem].
Nitana’s fireball exploded in a beautiful technicolor fireworks display. Her health bar whizzed down to nothingness, and she vanished. Megan’s Totem spewed a stream of fire and disappeared a second later.
“My Totem’s damage is so tiny,” Megan complained. “It died super quick!”
“That’s because your spell is channeled damage,” I said, “not a single hit like what Nitana used. Just stick with it. No time to go to the Chief’s Lodge, change Shards in your slots, and transfer LSPs. Kezo, are you done?” [Poison Bottle Cast] finished its cooldown, so I cast another one, this time using [Morabodry]. I layered the two poison clouds.
“Here I go!” Kezo shouted, charging at the boss with swords raised. His giant ghost buddy copied him. Burning red liquid that looked like blood oozed from Kezo’s sword, seemingly flowing upward. The ghost’s own blades radiated golden light so bright it was blinding. “I’m going to meet my ancestors!” A colossal blast followed, shaking the floor.
The Vinereavers lost thirty percent of their combined health from all our attacks. Vines reached deep into the blue canisters to absorb healing nutrients. Purple bubbles danced along the fleshy tendrils. The annoying plants healed with their bullshit-sucking, but my poison put in the work, keeping it down. Hey, I’m a contributing member of society.
“So cool!” Megan gushed. She plopped another Totem, paying its health cost. “We can do this!” In her excitement, she didn’t notice a thin golden thread beside her and the laser sniper sight on her knee.
“Watch out!” I called.
An eye fired. Megan jumped left. The laser clipped her hooves, nearly killing her. I rushed to Megan’s side. I used [Penitent Fortune Healing], followed by [Healing Touch], then [Cleansing Flames] to remove the movement speed penalty so I could evade unhampered.
“Sorry, my bad,” Megan said.
“Focus on surviving,” I said, casting another [Healing Touch] on her. She was the clumsiest of us all. Maybe I should’ve told her to do the same thing as Kezo and Nitana. “Keep an eye on your health when making Totems. We don’t have time to redo this.”
“Should I return to the village and buy stronger health potions?”
“No need. Just continue what you’re doing. A couple more attacks from Kezo and Nitana, and we’ll win. Our job is to negate the Vinereavers’ heal.”
A few minutes later, we heard shouts echoing from the corridor and the powerful beating of hooves. “I’m here. I’m here!” Kezo burst through the circular door, his red ghost buddy in tow, materializing through the walls. “A fresh delivery of ancestors!” Gigantic swords swung down at the Vinereavers. An explosion. And Kezo was gone again.
Nitana arrived about a minute later, carrying her lollipop of energy. “Did Kezo already pass by here?” Megan nodded her head and opened her mouth. But before Megan could speak, Nitana attacked the boss and died.
The boss had less than thirty percent health left. One more wave!
“Five minutes left,” I told Megan. “And I’m running out of poison bottles.” Specifically, the [Nam-Go Poison Bottle]. I had plenty of [Morabodry] left, but I couldn’t stack multiple poisons of the same type.
“Oh no! What’s going to happen?”
“The boss’ health will start going up,” I told her as I flung another poison bottle at the boss. Then I refreshed [Gnawing Rot] and [Withering Rot]. “You must damage the boss more to guarantee that Kezo and Nitana can finish it off when they return.”
“Wha-what?” Megan jolted in surprise. Good thing she jerked back. A laser missed her by half an inch. “Don’t rely on me for important stuff like that! What if I mess up?”
“You’re not going to mess up. And I have a backup plan.” I quickly told her about it. “Can you do that?”
“Definitely,” she said with conviction.
Two minutes to go. I didn’t have any more [Nam-Go Poison Bottle] to throw. The health of the Vinereavers started to creep up noticeably. Megan planted her [Spell Bonded Totem] each time her health was past halfway; she also didn’t get hit again. Where was Kezo and Nitana? They should kill the boss soon!
Megan also shared my thoughts. “Should I message them? They’re still not here! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!”
“Trust in them,” I said, trying to calm my voice. I also wanted to scream like Megan. Every second the Vinereavers were alive was another second to absorb chemicals, gradually inching the threshold to kill it higher and higher.
One minute to go.
My mind raced for alternatives if Kezo and Nitana didn’t make it. We weren’t going to fail—that was against the existence of Herald Stone, a scientific impossibility, an inconsistent reality. We were going to finish both of Bawu’s quests in the name of getting hard!
I should go for the backup plan and prepare the backup for the backup plan. This was a gamble. I was stacking my [Ancestral Constitution] when I heard hooves. The steps weren’t in rhythm. Two people galloping.
“They’re coming!” Megan said.
Barely in time. Is this the power of friendship?
I looked up at the boss. Its health regenerated past thirty percent. I narrowed my eyes. “Megan, prepare for the backup plan!”
“Herald, we’re here!” Kezo showed up first, blood-covered swords at the ready. His ghost buddy roared as it phased through the walls, brandishing golden swords.
“Sorry for the delay,” Nitana said, running right behind Kezo. “Some village guards in the way.”
The two of them charged at the group of Vinereavers and attacked simultaneously.
KABOOM! BO-BOOM!
I squinted as multiple flashes of different colors filled the cavern. I set my sights on seven health bars close together. They remained visible despite the blinding light. Kezo and Nitana’s health bar drained to zero before disappearing. The remaining five—that of Mon-Aleh and company—also went down. And down, and down.
And stopped—less than five percent.
“Megan!” I shouted. “Do it! Sacrifice yourself and finish the boss!”
Temple
DoTs in games are usually not reflected, so I just copied the mechanic here. But it'd be too powerful otherwise, so I set up Vinereavers to have a healing skill if they could absorb nutrients to prevent Herald from cheesing the boss. This boss will give some good rewards, so I don't want it to be easy.
Fifteen advanced chapters on Patreon. Thanks to all patrons, especially Cidule tier Teeneet (aka Whale)
Read my other story: REND - a psychological novel with an atypical protagonist
Join our Discord
“Choose your highest damage, single hit skill,” I elaborated as we rushed back into the boss room. “Single hit. Not multiple hits like your swarm of fireballs or fairies, Nitana. Once the first fireball connects, you’ll die, wasting the rest. Kezo and Nitana, both of you are going to attack the boss—”
“And freaking die?” Nitana interjected though she was already buffing up for battle even if she didn’t understand my plan yet. “You just mentioned that.”
“Exactly,” I said. “You’ll die and run back here. Before I forget, let’s trade. Give me your Toxic Goops, and I also have something for you.” They needed a fast return trip, so I gave them one [Sour Litchi Juice] each, increasing their movement speed by twenty-five percent. Good thing I bought several pieces from Clement when I fought the Blighted Mud Golem. While executing our trades, I said, “One more thing, Kezo. Do you know if DoTs trigger retribution or reflect?”
Recalling RPGs I’ve played, reflect didn’t work with DoTs, but I had to confirm if it was the same in Mother Core Online. Surviving a DoT of one percent of my max health per second was easy enough. Surviving a percentage of the Vinereavers’ humongous health was another story. Kezo could kill me with a flick of his finger, but he removed only a tenth of the Vinereavers’ health with his signature skill—I didn’t want to imagine how much was one percent of the Vinereavers’ health pool.
“Damage-Over-Time effects are not considered hits,” Kezo replied. “They usually don’t trigger retribution or reflect unless special mechanics are involved. If you’re thinking of poison, I’m positive you’ll be safe. Jensen ran a retri-tank build before; he told me about it when we fought a monster that poisoned us.”
“Good to hear.” I gave him a thumbs up. “I can counteract the Vinereavers’ healing.”
“What about me?” Megan asked. I got the twelve [Toxic Goop] she looted while fighting toward this boss area but didn’t give her a [Sour Litchi Juice] in return.
“You’re going to do something else,” I told her.
“A different mission? I hope it’s not too hard.”
That’s what she said.
“So let me get this straight,” Nitana said. “Hit the ugly plants, die, come back, and repeat?”
“Yes, we continuously throw ourselves at the boss,” Kezo said. A red smoke enveloped him like a ghost trying to enter his body; this must be his strongest skill. “It’s a modified version of the strategy Jensen told me about.”
“Very modified, seems like,” Nitana muttered.
“Since we don’t have healers or ress spells, this is our alternative,” I said.
“Good thinking, Herald,” Kezo said. “The ethereal crimson cloud around him puffed up and began to take shape. “An advantage is that we can use our most powerful spells because we don’t care about getting instantly killed.”
“The disadvantage, on the other hand, is you’ll have to run back here,” I said. “The Sour Litchi Juice can help. A waste of time to visit the merchants to buy more powerful food buffs.”
“Nitana, once you respawn in the village,” Kezo said, “use a Sigil Totem to teleport to the other side of the tunnels and enter from there. That’s what I did. It’s a much shorter route, and you don’t have to play hide-and-seek with the village guards.”
“Copy that,” Nitana said. “I’m ready.” A multi-colored fireball ballooned at the end of her staff. It looked like she was holding a giant lollipop of energy.
“I’m still a few seconds away from fully charging up,” Kezo said. By now, the wispy substance had solidified into the ghost of a Mardukryon—a colossal warrior, larger than Chief Nogras, wielding two swords. “This is my strongest skill, but I rarely use it because it takes a while to get ready and has penalties after casting.”
“I’ll have to debuff the boss first,” I said. “Watch out. It’ll attack after I use my skill.” I cast [Gnawing Rot] on the Vinereavers.
Lvl. 7 Gnawing Rot: Spread a festering miasma over a small area (maximum of four), causing any enemies entering it to lose 97 Armor and Magic Resilience (maximum 545), 2% Armor and Magic Resilience (maximum 10%). The effect of the decay persists for 13 seconds after leaving the area.
Cost: 85 Energy
Duration: 45 Seconds
Cooldown: 5 Seconds
Vines shot forward, and eyes and mouths opened. “Wait for five seconds, Nitana, before attacking,” I said, using [Horde Stampede] next. We all ran around as vines tried whipping us. It was funny to see a gigantic Mardukryon ghost trotting after Kezo. “Megan, you’re going to use your Totem. Drink potions to refill your health. I’ll help out healing you.”
“Oh, okay!” she said. “Thank goodness my part is simple.”
Then I used [Poison Bottle Cast], throwing a [Nam-Go Poison Bottle] and [Vaporizing Reagent] at the enemy. I went with Nam-Go first because it was the more potent of my two poisons. Its Armor reduction debuff would boost Kezo’s damage.
Lvl. 1 Poison Bottle Cast: Throw an Akhos Poison bottle and a vaporizing reagent, turning the specific poison into a gas cloud that spreads over a small area (maximum of two). The Akhos Poison in cloud form has a 15% increased chance of inflicting its negative status, with its duration increased by 3 seconds. Enemies in the affected area have their poison resistance reduced by 10%.
Item Cost: 1 Akhos Poison Bottle, 1 Vaporizing Reagent
Duration: 40 Seconds
Cooldown: 10 Seconds
Nam-go Poison Bottle | Item Level: 15
Epic | Consumable | No Requirement
A potent poison carefully extracted from the Nam-go serpent and distilled to its most concentrated form over a fortnight. This modestly difficult-to-prepare concoction reduces a poisoned unit’s Armor and Health Regeneration by 10% and causes a loss of 2% of Max Health per second. (If applied to equipment, it has a 12% (10.5%) chance of poisoning the enemy per damage instance. Poisoned Status lasts for 6(+5) seconds)
Duration: 10 Minutes
Uses: 5/5
“Nitana, Megan, go for it!”
“Meg, tell my dog I love him,” Nitana said with a laugh. The rainbow fireball grew larger as it left her staff and zoomed into the monstrous heap of tendrils.
“Nitana, I won’t forget our friendship!” Megan melodramatically said as she planted her [Spell Bonded Totem].
Nitana’s fireball exploded in a beautiful technicolor fireworks display. Her health bar whizzed down to nothingness, and she vanished. Megan’s Totem spewed a stream of fire and disappeared a second later.
“My Totem’s damage is so tiny,” Megan complained. “It died super quick!”
“That’s because your spell is channeled damage,” I said, “not a single hit like what Nitana used. Just stick with it. No time to go to the Chief’s Lodge, change Shards in your slots, and transfer LSPs. Kezo, are you done?” [Poison Bottle Cast] finished its cooldown, so I cast another one, this time using [Morabodry]. I layered the two poison clouds.
“Here I go!” Kezo shouted, charging at the boss with swords raised. His giant ghost buddy copied him. Burning red liquid that looked like blood oozed from Kezo’s sword, seemingly flowing upward. The ghost’s own blades radiated golden light so bright it was blinding. “I’m going to meet my ancestors!” A colossal blast followed, shaking the floor.
The Vinereavers lost thirty percent of their combined health from all our attacks. Vines reached deep into the blue canisters to absorb healing nutrients. Purple bubbles danced along the fleshy tendrils. The annoying plants healed with their bullshit-sucking, but my poison put in the work, keeping it down. Hey, I’m a contributing member of society.
“So cool!” Megan gushed. She plopped another Totem, paying its health cost. “We can do this!” In her excitement, she didn’t notice a thin golden thread beside her and the laser sniper sight on her knee.
“Watch out!” I called.
An eye fired. Megan jumped left. The laser clipped her hooves, nearly killing her. I rushed to Megan’s side. I used [Penitent Fortune Healing], followed by [Healing Touch], then [Cleansing Flames] to remove the movement speed penalty so I could evade unhampered.
“Sorry, my bad,” Megan said.
“Focus on surviving,” I said, casting another [Healing Touch] on her. She was the clumsiest of us all. Maybe I should’ve told her to do the same thing as Kezo and Nitana. “Keep an eye on your health when making Totems. We don’t have time to redo this.”
“Should I return to the village and buy stronger health potions?”
“No need. Just continue what you’re doing. A couple more attacks from Kezo and Nitana, and we’ll win. Our job is to negate the Vinereavers’ heal.”
A few minutes later, we heard shouts echoing from the corridor and the powerful beating of hooves. “I’m here. I’m here!” Kezo burst through the circular door, his red ghost buddy in tow, materializing through the walls. “A fresh delivery of ancestors!” Gigantic swords swung down at the Vinereavers. An explosion. And Kezo was gone again.
Nitana arrived about a minute later, carrying her lollipop of energy. “Did Kezo already pass by here?” Megan nodded her head and opened her mouth. But before Megan could speak, Nitana attacked the boss and died.
The boss had less than thirty percent health left. One more wave!
“Five minutes left,” I told Megan. “And I’m running out of poison bottles.” Specifically, the [Nam-Go Poison Bottle]. I had plenty of [Morabodry] left, but I couldn’t stack multiple poisons of the same type.
“Oh no! What’s going to happen?”
“The boss’ health will start going up,” I told her as I flung another poison bottle at the boss. Then I refreshed [Gnawing Rot] and [Withering Rot]. “You must damage the boss more to guarantee that Kezo and Nitana can finish it off when they return.”
“Wha-what?” Megan jolted in surprise. Good thing she jerked back. A laser missed her by half an inch. “Don’t rely on me for important stuff like that! What if I mess up?”
“You’re not going to mess up. And I have a backup plan.” I quickly told her about it. “Can you do that?”
“Definitely,” she said with conviction.
Two minutes to go. I didn’t have any more [Nam-Go Poison Bottle] to throw. The health of the Vinereavers started to creep up noticeably. Megan planted her [Spell Bonded Totem] each time her health was past halfway; she also didn’t get hit again. Where was Kezo and Nitana? They should kill the boss soon!
Megan also shared my thoughts. “Should I message them? They’re still not here! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!”
“Trust in them,” I said, trying to calm my voice. I also wanted to scream like Megan. Every second the Vinereavers were alive was another second to absorb chemicals, gradually inching the threshold to kill it higher and higher.
One minute to go.
My mind raced for alternatives if Kezo and Nitana didn’t make it. We weren’t going to fail—that was against the existence of Herald Stone, a scientific impossibility, an inconsistent reality. We were going to finish both of Bawu’s quests in the name of getting hard!
I should go for the backup plan and prepare the backup for the backup plan. This was a gamble. I was stacking my [Ancestral Constitution] when I heard hooves. The steps weren’t in rhythm. Two people galloping.
“They’re coming!” Megan said.
Barely in time. Is this the power of friendship?
I looked up at the boss. Its health regenerated past thirty percent. I narrowed my eyes. “Megan, prepare for the backup plan!”
“Herald, we’re here!” Kezo showed up first, blood-covered swords at the ready. His ghost buddy roared as it phased through the walls, brandishing golden swords.
“Sorry for the delay,” Nitana said, running right behind Kezo. “Some village guards in the way.”
The two of them charged at the group of Vinereavers and attacked simultaneously.
KABOOM! BO-BOOM!
I squinted as multiple flashes of different colors filled the cavern. I set my sights on seven health bars close together. They remained visible despite the blinding light. Kezo and Nitana’s health bar drained to zero before disappearing. The remaining five—that of Mon-Aleh and company—also went down. And down, and down.
And stopped—less than five percent.
“Megan!” I shouted. “Do it! Sacrifice yourself and finish the boss!”
Temple
DoTs in games are usually not reflected, so I just copied the mechanic here. But it'd be too powerful otherwise, so I set up Vinereavers to have a healing skill if they could absorb nutrients to prevent Herald from cheesing the boss. This boss will give some good rewards, so I don't want it to be easy.
Fifteen advanced chapters on Patreon. Thanks to all patrons, especially Cidule tier Teeneet (aka Whale)
Read my other story: REND - a psychological novel with an atypical protagonist
Join our Discord
