Nyxfall 7: The Veilbreakers-Chapter 58: The Grimhorn Den 2

The Whelps were not a threat to any of them, but they couldn’t ignore them either. It took three normal hits before dying. A swarm of them could really become annoying. A ten-player dungeon did not make any distinctions between a ten-player team or a seven-player team.

A single wave of Grimhorn Whelps had over 14 to 16 such beasts. Fortunately, both Bella and Prince could handle four each. When one of them wandered around, Kai quickly one-shotted the Whelp. Zayden, Jor, and Mimi each handled three, with occasional help from Sherry, who killed one or two or helped injure them.

Kai took the role of killing any Whelp that surprised any of the six of them by jumping from dark corners or suddenly changing targets to do a sneak attack. When the Bonegnashers joined in, Kai had to aid Bella and Prince, who took on the bear-like, bone-covered monsters, while the others protected the group against the horde of Whelps. The numbers had not decreased at all; instead, the addition of Bonegnashers had made them even busier, forcing the front-row fighters to exert more mana and stamina.

Kai also actively started killing more and more Whelps while aiding Bella and Prince whenever the Bonegnashers got too close to them or were about to make contact with their bodies. No other monster joined in during the beginning part of the dungeon, but the number of monsters were increasing slowly, and the rate at which the hordes came attacking one after another also shortened, giving them less time to heal and regain their MP in between.

Still, without losing a single one of them, they somehow managed to reach the first gate, finally giving them some relief from the constant hordes of monsters. The other side of the door held the first mini-boss. Only after clearing the boss room would it open the way forward to enter the next section of the dungeon.

There were two mini-bosses and a final boss in the Grimhorn Den. The info on the final boss wasn’t even public, if any team had even reached that far. Kai stood up while the others sat in a circle outside the first mini-boss’s wooden gate — healing and eating. All eyes turned to him.

"The name of the guy is Vurkrash the Goremaw. It’s an enormous, mutated bear-beast with twin jagged tusks covered in dried blood. Its hide is thick, with cracked plates of bone along its back and crimson-glowing eyes. It’s an updated version of the Bonegnashers we fought earlier.

The attacks are Gore Charge, a massive charge with stun and knockback. The second one is where it grabs a player, bites, and slams them to the ground. It gains berserk status at 50% HP, increasing its speed and attack.

The most annoying thing, according to many players who faced the guy, is that it summons a large number of Grimhorn Whelps at 75% and 30% HP."

"How many?" Bella asked.

"Forty first, then fifty."

"Along with the boss? That’s.." Zayden muttered. Kai couldn’t hear the whole thing though, as Mimi spoke up, "How do we do it?"

Kai replied, "The boss doesn’t have any long-range skills at all. As long as there are three people who can perfectly dodge, attack on time to interrupt the charging skill, and deal enough damage to keep reducing its health at a steady pace — it can be dealt with. It’s for when many Whelps are summoned and we have to deal with them along with the boss.. Otherwise, it’s pretty straightforward."

"Who can do it?" Jor asked, nervous sweat on his forehead.

"Bella and Prince.." Kai answered.

"You said three.." Zayden said.

"The third is a given.. It has to be Kai," Sherry said. "Pay attention. You’re going to witness why we broke the dungeon record in Beast Hollow last time.."

One by one, everyone got up, done with their preparations to handle the big fight. Kai pushed the big wooden door and entered inside. It was a large midsection of the cave they had been traveling through so far. There were two more doors — one on the opposite side and another on the left side. The area was over 40 meters wide with brightly lit torches on the walls all around them.

The mini-boss, Vurkrash, was standing inside a large ritual-like pitch-black circle drawn on the dirt floor, with a black star inside. 3000 HP.

Kai remembered the dungeon lore he had read in the description before entering:

’Deep beneath the forested Grimhorn Hills lies a twisting network of caverns infested by savage, horned beasts and warped creatures. Once a sacred hunting ground for a long-forgotten tribe, the den became cursed when a terrible spirit seeped into its heart, corrupting its alpha beasts into monstrous forms. Now, it thrives as a primal domain ruled by blood and bone.’

"Engage.." Kai said.

Bella and Prince stepped forward and attacked the boss, one with a sword, the other using her fists. The task was assigned to them because they could dodge most of the time and parry somewhat. Otherwise, this was a job for the tank. Zayden was a new player and still needed to adjust to his role. Other than him, there was no real tank with the skills their group had.

Any class with the appropriate skills could play any role they desired, but some classes were just better at certain roles. Like a tank was the Earthshaper class’s go-to role. Warpblades were the close-range DPS, and Spirit Forgers could do healing and give boosts unlike any other, with many such skills already available to those classes.

Bella’s Spirit Forger was still in the beginner stage and could only boost herself for now. She could do a little healing too, but it wasn’t much effective compared to the mana cost. So, they all opted for using healing items.

Once the boss was effectively aggroed by Bella and Prince, Mimi, Jor, and Zayden joined in, dealing damage when the boss’s back was turned toward them. Kai regularly released arrow after arrow, dealing steady damage. Sherry did the same beside him.