Mohai returned to his first den. The first den had a Level 2 Reincarnation Pool and he had killed the bandit leader who occupied it after he left yesterday, so it was vacant at the moment.
“Stay outside and keep your eyes peeled.”
It was already morning and they had started killing players along the way. This first den was closer to Guggenheim, so there might be players wandering around.
Occupying the Reincarnation Pool required 30 minutes and Mohai needed a Level 2 one. Without the Level 2 Reincarnation Pool, he could not recruit more men.
If he did not want to occupy the Level 2 Reincarnation Pool, he would have to spend materials to upgrade again, and he had no intention of wasting another Magical Crystal.
While 30 minutes was not long, since players were already venturing into the Magma Zone, this place became a route that they must pass. The players soon noticed bandit leaders guarding the den.
A dozen bandit leaders standing together was quite a scene, thus players who saw them for the first time were shocked.
Although most of the players would discuss the game in the forum, the forum was already flooded with information. Many players did not know about the group of Elite monsters in the Monolith Stronghold, so when they saw the bandit leaders together, they thought that they had encountered some special event. Therefore, more and more players were called over.
The bandit leaders’ weaknesses were obvious, and despite their astonishing number, as long as the players could divide the bandit leaders, the bandit leaders were not that tough a foe.
Soon, more than 10 parties gathered around the den.
Mohai noticed the players a while ago, but he could not leave the Reincarnation Pool or tell his bandit leaders to kill the players. If his men left his sight, it would be suicidal.
Having once been a player before, he knew what the players were trying to do. Therefore, he stayed put and waited for them to gather.
All the major guilds had been formed yesterday and each guild already had their own guild emblem. None of the gathering players were from the top guilds, so Mohai did not fear them no matter how many players there were.
If there were too many players, killing the bandit leaders would not give them a fair share of loot, so they would not choose to bring a swarm of players over.
“Ready! Each party must lure one away and be careful! Now, move out!”
As Mohai expected, after the players gathered up to a certain number, they marched in from every direction.
The other bandit leaders did not have the Template Manager, so when the players entered their aggro radius, they were instinctively triggered.
“Don’t stray too far away,” Mohai cautioned.
The perks of having Loyalty within the bandit leaders were on full display. All 15 bandit leaders had at least 4 points in Loyalty, and without it, even if Mohai told them to stay close, they would have been distracted by the players within their aggro radius and soon forget the order.
With a higher Loyalty value, Mohai’s order overwrote the aggro.
Unless the bandit leaders were taunted by [Provoke] from the Shield Knight or something similar, they could take out anyone based on Mohai’s orders.
However, Mohai did not fix a target for them. He gave them a simple order and let them engage the players on their own.
It was dangerous to fight a dozen bandit leaders at once. The players who gathered in the parties planned to split bandit leaders up by taking one leader each, so even if one of the parties messed up, the others would still be fine.
However, with Mohai’s order, the bandit leaders did not follow the players. They would return to the den if they ventured too far.
It was not unusual for a monster to return to its spot once the players left its aggro radius, but the players were certain that something special was going on because it was unusual for the bandit leaders to act this way.
Although Mohai did not command the bandit leaders during the fight, the players still felt pressured.
Every bandit leader was well-equipped and with the Rank E Ruler ability in effect, the effect of their gears was amplified.
A normal attack from these bandit leaders could inflict around 150 damage to the players which was around 30 to 40 damage higher than common bandit leaders.
More importantly, these bandit leaders were not stupid anymore. Since they had killed countless players under Mohai’s lead in the past two days, they were already experienced. They knew which occupation class had weaker defense and their attacks would frequently land on weaker players or glass cannons.
Parties with Shield Knights held up against the bandit leaders quite well as they were able to tank most of the attacks, but parties without Shield Knights were soon forced into a difficult situation.
As Priests could not keep up with the healing, players started to die. After the first player fell, others fell like dominoes and the whole party collapsed swiftly.
As parties started to fall, the rest was forced to retreat and regroup.
The bandit leaders who managed to wipe out a party did not chase after the survivors, instead they went after the other parties with Shield Knights.
Mohai’s subordinates were stronger than normal bandit leaders. The Shield Knight in the party was barely holding up against a bandit leader, and when the second one joined the fight, the Shield Knight fell right away.
The situation was crumbling piece by piece, and the survivors started to retreat as things worsened.
“Not bad, not bad.” Mohai watched over the battle through the seams of the stone house, feeling pleased with the outcome.
The bandit leaders performed a lot better than he expected. Even without his command, they knew how to strike the weak spots.
“These bandit leaders are a lot stronger than common ones!”
“Their attacks are 30 to 40% stronger and a lot more flexible!”
“More players needed, especially Shield Knights and Priests! Otherwise, we can’t win!”
The survivors soon came up with a new strategy as they called for more help and waited for their party members to revive.
After 10 minutes, the number of players in the area doubled.
“Charge! We will take them down and continue leveling!”
With double the numbers, the players had no reason to lose anymore. They charged towards the bandit leaders furiously.
This time around, the players were a lot more well-prepared. Each party had their own Shield Knight and the number of Priests also increased. The pressure from the bandit leader’s attack was greatly reduced.
“There’s another one here!”
As the number of players increased, one of the parties noticed Mohai hiding in the stone house. The party leader called his party over and charged into the stone house.
‘Kids these days must have a death wish.’ Mohai sighed.
The number of players increased even more. Mohai had to strategically command his bandit leaders to make sure they were not overpowered, so he must quickly deal with the players who came after him.
[Heavy Bash]!
The stone house was very narrow. The party leader, a Shield Knight, charged in and wanted to pull Mohai out of the house, but Mohai did not act accordingly. He used [Heavy Bash] and caught the Shield Knight off-guard.
[Snatch]!
Mohai snatched the Shield Knight’s shield away. Without the shield, the Shield Knight’s defense plummeted and his skills were disabled.
A single normal attack damaged the Shield Knight by more than 100 HP.
The [Heavy Bash] and the normal attack combined inflicted more than 300 damage to the Shield Knight’s HP.
“Heal! Heal! I need healing!”
The players outside the stone house finally realized what happened. In turn, the Priest raised her staff and wanted to heal, but a figure appeared before her in a flash and stopped her from moving.
“Heal!” The Shield Knight was hit again and lost more than 100 HP again.
“I can’t! The monster is blocking my sight!” cried the Priest.
Be it a Priest of other range classes, unless they were casting an AOE skill, they had to have the target within their sights to be able to cast a single-target skill.
The Shield Knight was originally within the Priest’s sight, but when she wanted to heal him, the monster in front turned around and blocked her from seeing the Shield Knight inside the stone house.
“Get in!”
The remaining party charged into the stone house and tried to save the Shield Knight, but when they went in, they helplessly saw the Shield Knight already on the ground.
Some of them started to teared up. The Shield Knight was killed too quickly and after they charged inside the stone house, the exit was blocked by another monster.
…
The battle went on smoothly, but the players soon realized that things were getting weird.
The bandit leaders were aiming the Priests in the party.
Did the Priest have more aggro than the Shield Knight? Possibly, but it did not feel right!
One of the Shield Knights wanted to use [Provoke] to save the Priest, but before he could cast the skill, the bandit leader turned around and used [Heavy Bash]. After the Shield Knight’s skill was disrupted, the bandit leader attacked the Priest furiously.
Priests had low Physical Defenses and could not heal oneself. The only way for a Priest to recover was by drinking a healing potion. Alas, no amount of potions were enough to help the Priest survive the furious attacks of the bandit leader!
In the next moment, the Priests started to fall. With the Priests all dead, it was almost impossible for the parties to take down the bandit leaders, especially when their attack was so high.
Although the survivors did not want to give up just yet, as the bandit leaders killed their party members one after another, they would be annihilated if they lingered, so all the players were forced to retreat again.
“Bring more men! Call in the guilds!”
The players were really mad. They no longer cared about the loot and decided to call in their friends from the guilds. Soon enough, the number of players reached an all-time high, but before they were able to siege the bandits’ den, time was up.
Mohai stood up and took all the materials out, placing everything into the Reincarnation Pool.
It had been 30 minutes and it was time to recruit!
What kind of subordinates could he recruit with these materials?
Although he was clueless, he believed they would provide him with great results.
He spoke to the bandit leaders who he recruited from the pool and got a general understanding of how recruitment worked.
Unlike converting equipment, as long as Mohai could provide excellent items, he would be able to recruit decent subordinates!
[A powerful being has been attracted. Please choose one from the options provided.]
After Mohai put all the recruitment materials in, a line of words popped up on the surface and a list of options followed.
‘Damn it! Is this a joke?’ Mohai criticized in his heart when he saw the options.
[Level 13 Elite, Level 13 Elite, Level 13 Elite].
Good materials indeed resulted in good subordinates, but at first glance, all the options were the same. Every single one was Level 13 Elite. As for what kind of Elite, it did not reveal the slightest hint.
After scrolling for a few pages, Mohai saw a different option. “Huh? Level 12 Variant Elite?”
“Variant Elite! I choose you!” He tapped on the Variant Elite without a second thought.
Swoosh!
A few seconds later, a blob of black came afloat from the Reincarnation Pool.