Second World

"The cavern is just ahead," John told them. "Get ready. Those who have lost health in the fight just now use your restorative items first."

"We are all fighters," The Man said. "We have Natural Body Recovery, a little rest and we will be good to go."

Luckily none of the Rangers and Magicians had been hurt so they could save their recovery potions. After Men of Solidarity filled up their HP by resting, they proceeded into the cavern.

Just as John described, the cavern floor was full of stalagmites while the ceiling was filled with stalactites. The hall was not as dark as the other parts of the cave; the walls and stalactites emitted a soft light. The light was probably from bioluminescent fungus and glowworms similar to that found in the real world.

John and his other two comrades doused their torches and stored them. "Get into position," he said to everyone.

The hall was quiet; there was no sign of any monster or activity inside. Could the Boss not be in the cavern anymore? Everybody had this thought, except for Jack, who had seen a lone dark red dot at the other end of the hall. Despite their misgivings, the Magicians still proceeded to their assigned positions, and the melee players broke up into their four teams and spread out.

They moved out silently and carefully. Even though the cavern appeared to be empty, they still did not let their guard down. Jack was surprised by Men of Solidarity's vigilant advance; he thought this rowdy bunch would just charge through the hall. It seemed that this group was rather dependable when the need arose.

As they approached the far end of the cavern, they heard a sound. It sounded like… snoring? Jack approached and peeked out from a stalagmite. A sizeable humanoid beast lay on its side on the cave floor. The beast had dark grey skin and would be around five meters tall if standing up. It had a white cone-shaped horn on its forehead and two large tusks coming from its mouth. The sound was indeed a snore from this beast; it was sleeping while holding onto a massive stone club as if it was a bolster.

Jack inspected it using his God-Eye monocle.

Horned Ogre (Elite boss, Humanoid)

Level: 20

HP: 16,000

It was an Elite; Jack exhaled a relieved sigh. He typed in the Party chat, "found the boss, it's sleeping."

He soon received a reply from John, "sleeping? That's great; the first strike will be ours! Storm Wind, you have the highest level, so Team 2 will initiate the first strike. Lure it to position J. That will be our kill zone where we three Magicians can all attack from our positions. Teams 1, 3, and 4; prepare to take over once Team 2 is in a pinch."

Not long after, another message arrived from John, "all of you do know where position J is, right?"

Jack silently chuckled and replied, "yeah, I know. Don't worry, leader."

But then another message arrived, "uh, where exactly is that?" It was from The Man.

"The center of the cavern!!!" John replied in chat. Jack could imagine him fuming.

Jack headed towards the sleeping Ogre as he gave  a signal for Flame and Trap to attack together in the ambush to score as severe damage as possible in their first strike. They were only five meters away from the Boss. He had a nagging worry that the system would alert the Boss once they came into its vicinity, so he was ready to jump back the instant it moved. But after they arrived in front of it, the Ogre was still soundly asleep.

With a relieved sigh, he signaled Flame and Trap to aim for its head, to try to get critical damage while they had the chance.

"Going to engage in ten!" Jack said in the chat

He raised ten fingers and lowered each one slowly to show the count

His two companions took their positions. When his last finger came down, the three of them made a simultaneous attack. The Ogre's head was big enough, so they didn't have to cram together when making the attack.

Jack used his Power Strike as Flame and Trap both performed Swift Strike. Three numbers floated out of the Boss' head at almost the same time.

Critical! 194!

Critical! 73!

32!

Trap made a mistake due to nervousness; hence he missed hitting a vital part. He was shocked, though, to see one of the strikes did almost 200 damage. He looked at Jack in disbelief.

Jack shouted to them, "Get back!"

He had seen the Ogre's eyes beginning to open.

Finding three tiny trespassers disturbing its sleep, the Boss was furious!

The Ogre slammed its hands to the ground; pushing itself up and creating a small earthquake. It opened its mouth wide and roared at the three trespassers who were now scampering away. Jack and his two partners stopped in their tracks and covered their ears; the roar was so loud it felt like it would burst their eardrums.

They then heard a notification, "you are now Disoriented."

"What the...!" Jack immediately checked the condition.

Disoriented (Negative Status Effect)

Reduction of 50% of movement speed, attacks have 30% chance to miss.

Duration: 10 seconds

Crap! No wonder they were getting slower. The Ogre came towards them. It moved ponderously, but each step was huge. It would reach them in just a few steps!

"Keep going!" Jack told Flame and Trap. Disoriented had reduced their speed so they wouldn't be able to outrun the Ogre. Jack stood his ground to give the other two time to escape.

"But…" Trap was reluctant to abandon his comrade.

Flame, on the other hand, was more accustomed to Jack. She was confident that if anyone could survive going toe to toe with the Boss, Jack could. They should get away first to not get in his way. She yelled to Trap, "come!"

Seeing Flame's decisiveness and Jack's unflinching pose, the hesitant Trap finally left.

The Ogre had arrived in front of Jack; it lifted its fearsome stone club high and swung down. Jack met the blow with a Parry from his sword. The force of the impact forced Jack down into a half-kneel. He lost 62 HP.

'Shit!' Jack thought, 'The damage isn't much less than the higher leveled Priest of Phobos dealt. It's a good thing this Boss is much slower than that Priest, or we wouldn't stand a chance!'

The Ogre lifted its club and was about to strike again, eager to turn this annoying trespasser into mincemeat.

Jack, who had experienced the power of the Ogre's blow, did not wait passively; he side-stepped as the attack came down. Because Disoriented hindered his movement, Jack barely managed to dodge. Luckily his Dexterity was far higher than regular players.

The club slammed into the ground and created a crack in the cave floor. While the Ogre was recovering from its attack, Jack took advantage of the opening to attack. But, thanks to Disoriented, just before his thrust struck it suddenly swerved. His attack barely grazed the Ogre's skin for a low 21 damage.

There were still around three seconds before Disoriented expired. Jack decided to continue fighting the Ogre in melee until the negative status ended. Once his status was back to normal, he would immediately run to position J.

The Ogre lifted its club again, ready to strike. At this moment, loud war cries arose from the far corner of the cavern. The Man and his team ran forward to join the fight. He sent Power Strike to the Boss' leg, taking out 46 points from the Boss' HP.

The Ogre swept its club at them. The other two Men of Solidarity dove down to avoid the wide swing. The Man, however, didn't have time to jump back. He blocked with Parry, but the force blew him back out of attack range. He took 78 damage.

As the Ogre turned to deal with The Man, Jack immediately hit its back with several swift regular slashes, infuriating it. The Boss turned back and took a whack at Jack.

Disoriented expired and Jack's movement speed returned to normal. He moved back quickly, and the Ogre's club cracked the ground again.

"Go!" Jack told The Man's team.. They did not hesitate to run out of range.