Despite being awed by Elias Finch’s skill, Don had seen enough of life to stay calm. He had spent a year traveling across the country once, and he’d witnessed plenty of big scenes. Chaos didn’t rattle him easily anymore.

He followed Finch and the others into the mountain stronghold. The base was surprisingly small, nine out of ten tents were only about a meter high. But two tents stood clearly above the others.

A high-level thief approached Finch and reported respectfully, "Mr. Finch, outside the largest tent closest to us is a Level 20 Normal Boss, a physical attacker. Inside the larger tent opposite, there’s a Level 23 Enhanced Boss, a magic attacker. He’s wearing a large gourd around his waist. Looks like the quest item Brother Don mentioned."

Elias Finch smiled faintly. "Thanks. I’ll go take a look."

Without hesitation, he walked straight toward the tallest tent.

War Fire Snow Fox didn’t dare be careless and followed closely behind with several high-level Sea Elf priests.

Don arrived at the tent. The curtain was open, and inside stood a half-orc wizard whose body looked like a bloated lump of flesh. This creature wore a gray robe and gripped a staff that glowed a ghostly green. Its face was as wide as a sixteen-inch plate.

"Oh, this guy is so corrupt he’s actually fattened himself up like this?" Elias Finch teased.

The Debtborn shared the boss’s stats in the party chat so Don could see them too.

[Orc Priest Bogut, Enhanced Boss] [Level 23] [HP: 780,000] [Magic ATK: 900–1,100] [PDEF: 800] [MDEF: 1,000] [Skills: Lightning, Weakening Curse, Fireball] [Boss Description: A high priest sent by the Orc King to the Brugg stronghold, specifically responsible for instilling enslavement ideology among the Bruggs, corrupting their minds and bodies until they are bound to servitude for life, unable to resist.]

Don never would have expected this thing to basically be a cult member. Definitely someone who deserved to die. But how was he supposed to kill such a powerful boss? Forget the level gap, its insurmountable magic attack alone was enough to give him a genuine headache.

Elias Finch smiled faintly, strode forward, and stood in front of the boss, flicking his Maple Leaf Sword.

A beam of red light shot out from the blade and washed over the boss. But the boss didn’t lose a single drop of HP. A taunt skill, commonly used by human warrior players.

Enraged, the boss swung its staff and unleashed a bolt of lightning at Finch. Finch’s body swayed slightly as a sizable damage number appeared above his head.

[788!]

But that damage was less than a fifth of his total HP. Don was secretly amazed. Elias Finch was genuinely thick-skinned.

Finch glanced over and said, "Idiot, what are you standing there for? Go!"

His level was high enough that once he used Taunt, Don could go straight in and attack without pulling aggro.

Don nodded, darted around to the massive body’s flank, and delivered a vicious Backstab with his dagger.

[1,905!]

Elias Finch whistled. "Impressive damage. Lily, let me see if you’ve improved."

Lily drew her crossbow from her slender waist, raised her jade-like arm, and fired an arrow straight into the boss’s body. The bolt carried a powerful gust of air as it struck home, and then the damage number appeared.

[309!]

Don was stunned. "What kind of attack power is that?"

Lily huffed. "Don’t laugh! Ugh! I thought a full Agility build would be really powerful! But my attack is terrible!"

Don comforted her. "Silly girl. A crossbowman’s Agility growth tier is 12, but the Strength tier is only 8. If you dumped everything into Agility, you’d be putting the cart before the horse. Later on, when you have more skills and better equipment, your damage will naturally scale up."

Lily nodded after hearing his analysis. "I guess my level is just a bit low, so the boss is suppressing my damage. Hehe, thinking about it that way, I feel better!"

Elias Finch wiped his brow dramatically. "This girl is too good at comforting herself."

Taunt had a short cooldown, only about ten seconds, making it one of the key skills warriors relied on to hold aggro. Because Finch used it continuously, the boss never shifted attention even as Don and Lily attacked it relentlessly.

This boss really was powerful. A single critical hit could shave off about two thousand of Finch’s HP, which kept his priest team very busy. Chainmail drop rates were low in the early game, and Finch’s HP pool was enormous. A novice priest simply couldn’t handle the workload.

When the boss’s HP dropped to forty percent, it quickly revealed its ferocious side. With a sudden swing of its staff, a black halo shot outward and struck Elias Finch directly.

Finch’s HP didn’t drop, but a thoroughly unpleasant debuff appeared above his head.

[Weakness Curse: Magic Defense reduced by 30% for 60 seconds]

Finch was taken aback. "Good heavens, that’s troublesome. Minions, keep my HP up!"

The priests all smiled and worked even harder.

After the debuff landed, the boss went into full offensive mode. With a wave of its staff, a fireball the size of a fist flew straight at Finch. Less than three seconds later, a loud boom rang out, smoke rising from Finch’s body as a staggering amount of his HP was ripped away.

[3,009!]

Fireball. The power of that skill is terrifying.

Don broke out in a cold sweat. If that thing had hit him, he didn’t know whether he could have survived it. What kind of hidden quest is this, making me fight a boss this dangerous?

Just then, the Debtborn called out, "Lily, Don, you two can withdraw safely now. Leave this to us."

Don nodded and immediately began to retreat. Lily, clearly still a newbie to the game, asked in confusion, "Why? We haven’t killed it yet!"

Don was too tired to explain. He grabbed her hand and dragged her forcibly out of the tent.

Elias Finch then revealed his ruthless side. "Damn it. You beat on me for that long, huh? Felt good, didn’t it? Now it’s my turn. Brothers, grab your weapons and kill this son of a bitch!"

In an instant, the terrifying side of the War Fire team came to the fore. Several fierce werewolf beastmen charged at the large wooden stakes supporting the tent and hacked them with their axes, cutting the posts clean in half. Then they pulled the canvas backward, sending the entire structure flying away.

The boss’s massive body was suddenly exposed out in the open.

At that moment, the players who had been stuck outside unable to enter the tent all glared with murderous fury. The melee fighters charged forward swinging their weapons, while the ranged players, who had already formed neat lines in advance, unleashed their skills in a coordinated volley.

Elias Finch’s Maple Leaf Sword burned bright red as he swung it down on the boss. And an absolutely shocking damage number appeared in the air.