Junior led them down a dark corridor.
The flaming torches flickered ominously, casting eerie shadows on the stone walls.
After walking a little bit further away, they came across one final door at the end. It didn't look as heavy as the front doors.
"Stop here."
Junior raised his hand and motioned for the group to stop. He then stood at their front, facing them all.
"I think we should now discuss the roles during the combat.
"I did a quick count while we were on our way here, and we have three Warriors, one Tank, two Helpers, two Mages, one Assassin, and one Ranger.
"We have a pretty good group, I must say."
Junior said, and then looked at Tessa.
"What is your name over there?"
"T-Tessa!"
She stuttered in a cutesy manner.
"You are Helpers with Marcia over there, the girl with those chubby cheeks. You two will be staying at the back."
Junior said.
Tessa looked at Marcia, who returned the gaze, and they just nodded at each other.
"Our Mage is Maureen, the girl with twintails, and Ranger is Fritz over there. They will be staying close to Helpers while raining the boss with long-range attacks."
Junior said.
"Rosabella is our Mage. She will be with them as well."
Dewrey said.
Junior nodded.
"Rich is our Tank. He will be leading the charge and drawing the boss' attention away from the rest of us. While he is doing that, we, Warriors, and you, Dewrey, will be attacking the boss from behind."
Junior patted his friend's, Alexis', shoulder, who was their third Warrior, and Dewrey agreed to the plan.
"…Rosabella, I think you should save your mana for the last phase."
Fang Raon whispered to her.
"Why?"
She looked at him in confusion.
"…I've read stuff about the first boss, and it has three phases. In the third and last phase, he will start shooting some fire from his palms.
"I think you should save just enough mana to use Earth Wall to protect Helpers during that phase."
Fang Raon said.
"…Alright."
Rosabella nodded.
"I hope you all have studied about the boss and know its three phases. If you haven't, I'll give you a quick overview before we start.
"His first phase will be his basic form. It will be just him and his mace. It will still be dangerous, as that mace can kill you in one hit if you are foolish enough to let it hit you with Critical Strike."
Junior said.
'…Critical Strike—there are several ways of killing a player in one hit, like cutting their head off, slicing them in half, or destroying their heart. It's important to avoid getting hit with Critical Strike at all costs.'
Fang Raon thought.
"In the second phase, it will become trickier. He will start throwing his mace as if it is some kind of boomerang.
"Third phase, and shortest phase. He will unleash his magic ability, and he'll start shooting fire from his palms. It is important to kill the boss quickly during the third phase.
"The longer you take, the stronger his attacks will become."
Junior said.
Everyone nodded.
They had all studied the boss, and after three years of Black Online's existence, everyone knew about the first boss.
There was nothing they already didn't know about it, and while the 1st-floor boss was still weak compared to other bosses, it was still a formidable opponent for beginners.
"Shall we begin?"
Junior pulled out his steel short sword and iron shield. He had already gotten his hands on decent beginner weapons.
Everyone retrieved their weapons and slowly approached the door.
When they got close, the door mysteriously swung open, and they entered an open chamber with ceiling light cascading down at them.
The blue light illuminated the room.
The chamber was round-shaped. It had a tall ceiling with rocky walls, and in the center of the room, there was a strange magic circle.
"Get in your positions!"
Junior barked orders.
As soon as he said that, the magic circle started glowing, and it started spinning like a tyre wheel, faster and faster.
At that moment, a figure rose up from the magic circle, his red skin looking like it was painted with blood.
Red Orc rose high, holding a bloody mace in his left, and his eyes glowed with an intense fire that seemed to pierce right through the players.
He had hard, rock-solid muscles and was fully exposed except for the loincloth he wore around his waist.
"Roar!"
Red Orc lifted his mace high into the air.
It was like he was hyping up an invisible audience, and it seemed like this Red Orc was a gladiator from wherever he came from.
[Red Orc: 100%]
The health bar appeared above his head.
"Rich!"
Junior shouted.
In that moment, Rich started running with his tall shield placed in front of him. It was much bigger than that of Warrior's shield.
It was Tank's shield, clad in iron, as he purchased it a couple of days ago, and this was actually his first time using it.
Tank's Taunt!
Rich used the second of Tank's starting skills—Tank's Taunt—and drew the attention of Red Orc straight at him.
Red Orc seemed pissed off for some reason, and he started approaching him, shaking the ground with each step.
He smashed his mace at Rich's shield, and his knees buckled as if he were about to be knocked off balance.
"Argh! Help, quick!"
Rich shouted.
He quickly noticed that he was in trouble, as he couldn't possibly hold back Red Orc all by himself.
"Fireball!"
"Fireball!"
Maureen's and Rosabella's wands glowed with beautiful red as they fired the Fireball cast spell at the muscular creature.
The burning flames smashed into Red Orc's face, causing him to bellow in pain and fury, and his anger quickly shifted.
It was aimed at the two Mages.
"You aren't going anywhere!"
Rich smacked his shield with his heavy sword and used "Tank's Taunt" once again, causing Red Orc's anger to turn towards him.
Red Orc swiped his mace at him, knocking the shield off Rich's hands, and made him look like an idiot standing without a shield.
"Ah…"
Rich looked up at Red Orc's angry eyes. He saw the mace slowly raise above his head. It was the end, he thought.
In that moment, an arrow flew and stabbed into Red Orc's shoulder. It got stuck in his muscles.
"Grugh…"
"Attack!"
At that moment, Warriors launched their attacks from Red Orc's backs, and the swords cut deep into his flesh.
"ROAR!"
[Red Orc: 70%]
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