Jin-woo watched the camp for ten minutes. He studied the patrol patterns of the desert raiders. They walked in predictable circles between the tents. Every three minutes, all the raiders were on the far side of the camp at the same time for about fifteen seconds.
Jin-woo waited for that moment. When the raiders were all on the opposite side, he sprinted toward the large central tent. He reached the tent entrance without being detected.
He pushed aside the tent flap and entered.
Inside the tent was a single large room. Weapon racks lined the walls. A table with maps sat in the corner. Standing in the center was the Desert Warlord.
The Desert Warlord was a massive humanoid figure, over two meters tall. He wore heavy armor made of dark metal plates and leather. A large curved scimitar hung at his side. His face was covered by a metal mask with two eye slits. A red cloth wrapped around his head.
Jin-woo used Inspect.
Desert Warlord
Level 28 (Mini-Boss)
HP: 3,000/3,000
The Warlord turned toward Jin-woo. His eyes glowed red behind the mask.
"You dare enter my tent?" the Warlord said. His voice was deep and distorted.
The tent flap closed behind Jin-woo. The entrance sealed. He could not run now. He had to fight.
Jin-woo drew his sword. The Warlord drew his scimitar. The blade was longer than Jin-woo's sword by half a meter.
Jin-woo charged forward. He used Power Strike immediately. He held his sword in attack position. The blade glowed red. After two seconds, he released the attack.
The sword struck the Warlord's chest armor. 192 damage. The Warlord's health dropped to 2,808.
The Warlord swung his scimitar in a wide horizontal arc. Jin-woo ducked under the blade. The scimitar cut through the air above his head.
Jin-woo stood up and used Whirlwind Strike. He spun and his blade swept in a circle. The attack hit the Warlord for 267 damage. The Warlord's health dropped to 2,541.
Jin-woo followed up with normal attacks. He struck the Warlord four times in quick succession. 63 damage. 61 damage. 65 damage. 62 damage. The Warlord's health dropped to 2,290.
The Warlord stepped back. He raised his left hand. Sand began swirling around his palm. The sand formed a sphere that grew larger.
"Sand Storm!" the Warlord shouted.
The sand sphere exploded outward. Sand filled the entire tent. Jin-woo could barely see. The sand hit him from all directions.
Damage numbers appeared rapidly. 40 damage. 40 damage. 40 damage. 40 damage. 40 damage.
The Sand Storm lasted five seconds. Jin-woo took 200 total damage. His health dropped from 380 to 180.
The sand cleared. The Warlord was charging at Jin-woo with his scimitar raised.
Jin-woo dodged to the left. The Warlord's scimitar came down and hit the ground where Jin-woo had been standing. The blade cut into the sand floor.
Jin-woo attacked while the Warlord pulled his sword out of the ground. Three normal strikes. 64 damage. 62 damage. 63 damage. The Warlord's health dropped to 2,101.
Power Strike came off cooldown. Jin-woo charged the attack. The Warlord turned toward him and swung his scimitar. Jin-woo released Power Strike before the scimitar reached him.
Both attacks hit at the same time. Jin-woo's Power Strike dealt 198 damage. The Warlord's scimitar dealt 67 damage to Jin-woo.
Jin-woo's health dropped to 113. The Warlord's health dropped to 1,903.
Jin-woo opened his inventory and drank a health potion. His health restored to 263. The health potion cost 50 silver. Jin-woo had five potions total.
Jin-woo continued attacking. Normal strikes. 61 damage. 65 damage. 63 damage. Whirlwind Strike came off cooldown. He used it. 271 damage.
The Warlord's health dropped to 1,443.
The Warlord used a skill. Red energy surrounded his scimitar. The blade glowed with dark red light.
"Face your end!" the Warlord shouted.
The Warlord moved incredibly fast. He closed the distance to Jin-woo in one step. His scimitar came down in a vertical slash.
The blade hit Jin-woo's shoulder. The impact was massive.
Critical Hit! 312 damage!
Jin-woo's health dropped from 263 to zero in one hit.
His character fell to the ground. The screen faded to black.
You have died.
Quest Failed: Prove Your Fury
You may retry by speaking to Guild Master Roderick.
Death Penalty: -200 experience, -28 silver, 4-hour login lockout
Jin-woo respawned outside the Warlord's camp. The tent was fifty meters away. The desert raiders were still patrolling.
Jin-woo checked his health. It was full again at 380. But the quest had failed. The Warlord would be back inside the tent, fully healed.
The 4-hour login lockout prevented him from trying again immediately. Jin-woo logged out.
He sat in his apartment and thought about the fight. The Warlord had 3,000 HP. Jin-woo had dealt approximately 1,557 damage before dying. That was about half of the Warlord's health.
The Warlord had two major abilities. Sand Storm dealt 200 total damage over five seconds. Execute dealt over 300 damage in one hit.
Jin-woo had made mistakes. When Sand Storm activated, he had just stood in the damage. He should have tried to dodge or move, even though the sand filled the entire tent. Maybe the damage was less near the edges.
The Execute ability was harder to avoid. The Warlord moved too fast. Jin-woo had been hit at full force. Maybe Execute could be dodged if he predicted when the Warlord would use it.
Jin-woo also realized his damage was not high enough. He had dealt 1,557 damage before dying. The Warlord still had 1,443 HP remaining. Even if Jin-woo had survived Execute, he would need to deal another 1,443 damage while avoiding more Sand Storms and possibly another Execute.
His health potion had healed 150 HP but cost 5 silver. He had five potions total. That was 25 silver worth of potions, or $25. If he used all five potions and still died, he would lose the money and have to buy more.
"Need better strategy," Jin-woo said to himself.
He opened his character screen and looked at his stats. Level 25. Strength 85. HP 380. His Power Strike dealt around 190-200 damage. Whirlwind Strike dealt around 260-270. Normal attacks dealt around 60-65.
Jin-woo calculated. If he could land every cooldown perfectly and never miss an attack, his total damage output over a two-minute fight would be approximately:
Power Strike: 6 uses = 1,200 damage Whirlwind Strike: 6 uses = 1,600 damage Normal attacks: ~30 uses = 1,900 damage Total: 4,700 damage
That was enough to kill the Warlord, but only if the fight lasted exactly two minutes and Jin-woo never stopped attacking. In reality, he had to dodge. He had to drink potions. He had to avoid Sand Storm and Execute.
The fight would probably take three or four minutes. During that time, the Warlord would use Sand Storm at least twice and Execute at least once. That was 200 + 200 + 300 = 700 damage minimum.
Jin-woo's health was 380. Even with all five health potions (750 HP total healing), he would have 1,130 effective HP. If the Warlord dealt 700 damage with abilities and additional damage with normal attacks, Jin-woo would die before the Warlord did.
Jin-woo needed to either increase his damage, reduce the damage he took, or find a better strategy.
He set an alarm for four hours and tried to sleep. The login lockout would end at 5:22 AM. He would try again then.