163 - On the Stage

“You… ugly butt!” I yelled my lame insult at the Buttress. I couldn’t think of a good pun, half surprised and half annoyed by the loss of my [Greater Pyro Shell]. A chunk of AS and my shell’s cooldown were wasted for nothing. “How dare you remove—hang on. Do ants have butts?” I asked, trying to escape the speedier Bastions.

The red Garg-Ants headbutted me as an answer.

Retreat or stay?

Fighting in the narrow opening to this room was my original plan. But that’d mean Megan and Nitana couldn’t reach the Brios and Buttresses if they were outside. We should fight and win here.

I headed to the walls while minor static shocks plagued me. Getting surrounded by Bastion Garg-Ants would be unideal—their overlapping purple flames hurt bad, especially with a Brio coming to debuff me.

I couldn’t reach the actual side of the spherical room because it curved up, and I’d slide down. But it was enough to limit the Bastions into a concave in front of me instead of full encirclement. Plopping [Gnawing Rot] beneath my hooves, I spun to face the red Garg-Ants and placed [Withering Brand] on the closest one.

Bastions had a blue outline beneath them, indicating the buff from the Buttress. It wasn’t only a movement boost; their attack speeds also increased.

Usually, I’d be happy with fast-attacking enemies—they’d dig their graves faster with the retribution shovel. But given that [Greater Pyro Shell] was unusable with Buttresses pestering me, the Bastions were an actual threat. I cast [Healing Touch] each time it was off cooldown.

“What’s taking them so long?” I peered over my shield to check Megan and Nitana. I was barely hanging on; the Bastions weren’t dying fast enough because of Brios healing them.

To make matters worse, the Buttresses weren’t done being ugly butts.

[ Status | Skill Lock: Cannot Recast Any Skill Used for 8 seconds ]

“Pardon me, my good insect sirs,” I told the Buttresses. “What did I do to deserve—? Oh, that’s right. We’re killing your colony.”

It would’ve been fine if only one Buttresses was being a butt. But four of them kept me in perpetual [Skill Lock]. [Healing Touch] was my only healing skill; [Skill Lock] might as well be silence in this scenario. Left with no sustain, I popped a [Frigid Yew Salve].

Frigid Yew Salve | Item Level: 15
Epic | Consumable | No Requirement

Derived from the cursed toxin that permeates the seeds, leaves, and bark of the hoarfrost yew tree, this potent healing ointment restores 5% of Maximum Health per second for six seconds while inflicting Silence on the user, preventing usage of all skills for the duration. However, Arcane Brewers found a way to extend the defensive properties of the hoarfrost yew tree to the user, granting a 25% chance to Freeze enemies that deal direct damage while the Salve is in effect.

On top of the healing, [Frigid Yew Salve] helped my survivability by occasionally Freezing the Bastions.

The Buttresses kept dispelling me. Jokes on them, I had Silenced myself and couldn’t cast [Greater Pyro Shell] anyway. And thankfully, they couldn’t remove the effects of [Frigid Yew Salve] as it was a consumable. Being passive skills, [Ancestral Constitution] and [Cleansing Flames] buffs were likewise untouched.

Come to think of it, this was the first time I conventionally tanked somewhat difficult content for a party. It reminded me that tanking wasn’t only about getting hardbut also staying hard throughout. I had to be prepared for the possibility of my buffs getting removed or losing access to my sustains. Having my own dispels to remove enemy buffs would also be great.

Explosions engulfing the Bastions knocked me out of planning mode.

“Herald, we’re here!” Megan said. “Sorry, we couldn’t immediately come.”

Nitana trotted behind her. “Just going to put on record I hate these blue ants. That Skill Lock thingy was annoying, ugh! Had to use other spells. If I were a giant, I’m gonna step on them.”

“Thanks for the help and nice work,” I said, giving them a thumbs up in Kezo’s place. They both giggled, understanding the reference. “Now, let’s finish the rest of this room.”

Knowing how the Garg-Ants worked, we methodically killed packs of them at a time. I’d taunt the Buttresses—they’d [Skill Lock] me instead of Nitana and Megan—and pull them away from other Garg-Ants. Bastions didn’t need to be taunted as I’d be in their midst, damaging them with [Blight Cloud]. They’d angrily chase me, leaving behind the Brios.

Megan and Nitana aimed for the healer and debuffer greens first. Then, the buffer and dispeller blues. And last were the tanky DPS reds.

In a way, the Garg-Ants had their own parties. They didn’t follow the original trifecta of DPS-Tank-Healer, and I appreciated them for that. I myself was a connoisseur of unconventional party compositions, or builds, for that matter. MCO’s system allowed anyone to be a complete party by themselves, mixing different types of Ocadules and Shards.

Nonetheless, as Melonomi had told me, public parties still preferred players with specialized builds—full support healers, and so on. It was the same in the real world, with experts in niche fields commanding a premium.

“Erm, do we have to kill these too?” Megan gingerly kicked a [Lvl 30 Arcane Blighted Garg-Ant Egg]. After clearing the room of Garg-Ants, we were left with their eggs—dozens of them. “I accidentally hit one earlier, and I think it gave Blighted Tokens… I might be imagining it.”

“One way to find out,” Nitana said, shooting a fireball at a Garg-Ant Egg. It immediately cracked open, with Essence and Gli sprinkling toward us. And Tokens. “Oh boy, that’s a lot of Tokens.”

“They’re the Toady Tokens of this quest,” I said.

“Yoohoo!” Lavender called the entrance. “You guys done?”

“Just going to scramble some eggs,” I said. Megan chuckled while Nitana rolled her eyes. I wondered if someone had already invented the time machine so I could return to the past and stop myself from giving that atrocious reply.

The rest of the quest was more of the same—rooms with varying amounts of Garg-Ants and Eggs.

Settling in the flow of the battle, my mind shifted to my learnings. I had a new appreciation for [Greater Pyro Shell] after the Buttress Garg-Ants denied it to me. Adding a barrier I could refresh was, essentially, a combination of additional health and healing. I had grown to rely on my shell because, beneath it, I was a tanky healer with some DPS, not a full tank.

Rather than getting discouraged from using [Greater Pyro Shell], I wanted to lean more into it—I do like a challenge.

Could Mehubanarath have a better version? The Greatest Pyro Shell?

For it to work, I needed an answer to dispel, Silence, and the like. And I also wanted to use my health, untouched under the barrier’s protection, as a resource. Spreading poison with [Cloak of the Plaguespreader] was a start. My health would ‘safely’ get damaged by poison—such an unboxlike—while my shell protected it.

“Let me have it!” Lavender held her hammer high over the last Garg-Ant Egg in the last room of the colony. It only had a flake of health remaining. She brought her hammer down. It bounced off. The Egg didn’t die.

Jani quickly shot a fire spell, getting the kill.

“You, ass!” Lavender exclaimed.

A small quake preempted any more argument. A section of the room collapsed, revealing the exit.

“Did this quest give us more Blighted Tokens than the first one?” I asked, eyeing the thirty thousand-odd Tokens in my inventory as we headed to the exit. Twenty thousand more to go. “I couldn’t recall how many I started with.”

“I think so,” replied Megan. “Like a couple hundred more?”

“Garg-Ants were also faster to clear once we got the hang of it,” Nitana said. “That’s what it feels to me. No toads fricking hopping away.”

“We’ll compare the Garg-Ants to the Cragodon quest,” I said. “Then decide which one we’ll keep doing.” I looked over my shoulder at Lavender, Jani, and Kai. “Unless you want something different? We can do quests in your range so you can level up faster.”

“It’s better we focus on the highest Blighted Token quest we can clear,” Kai said.

“By ‘we,’ Kai means you three,” Lavender said, gesturing at me, Megan, and Nitana.

“The more Tokens, the better,” Jani added. “This world quest isn’t going to stick around for long.”

“True,” I said, nodding. “And getting good Shards can help your leveling later—an investment.”

“Let’s get to the next quest already,” Nitana said. “I’m thinking of getting a new fairy Shard.”

I smiled, turning my head away so they couldn’t see. Nitana and Megan planned to switch races after the Great Hunt. Apparently, they had changed their minds, even inviting their friends over to Mardukryon mountain. That was the life-changing effect of Herald Stone’s arrival—indeed, a momentous occasion.

“Okay…” Megan slowly exhaled, shaking her hands as if to psyche herself up. “Let’s fight the baby Cragodon.”

-----

Amidst roaring fire and clouds of deadly poison, the [Lvl 46 Arcane Blighted Cragodon Calf] and I danced in mortal combat.

Melodramatics aside, the two of us just stood before each other.

Cracks marred the Cragodon Calf’s rough hide as if dried soil. Purple slime oozed through the gaps, coating its flank and giving it a toxic-looking glow.

The Cragodon’s nose horn knocked on my shields. It alternated in stomps of its hooves, causing AoE damage with debuffs, and snorts that froze me. [Cloak of the Plaguespreader] allowed me to demonstrate my generosity in sharing ailments.

Look at me, Mum! I’m tanking this big guy! I celebrated in my head while outwardly acting like this was normal. I had tanked weaker Blighted bosses for new player parties. Those were for public relations campaigns and showing-off purposes.

This was an actual challenge, with an audience to boot.

If I failed, I could chuck it off to being under-leveled—this excuse was in my back pocket. But I didn’t want to use it.

I am Herald Stone. I don’t reach into my back pocket unless it’s for my wallet.

Megan and Nitana kept the Cragodon under Burn status—something I couldn’t consistently do alone. Burned enemies hit less hard, thanks to [Mantle of Kindling]. My AS also replenished because of it, allowing me to cast [Greater Pyro Shell] and other skills each time they were available.

But my shell couldn’t last halfway through its cooldown. The Cragodon Calf hit like a truck, not that I had experienced that in real life. The times I was ‘naked,’ I walked the fine line of survival. I used [Penitent Fortune Healing] and [Healing Touch] whenever possible. I also made sure the boss was under [Withering Brand].

Nitana helped me tank with her barrier sprite absorbing some hits. Megan enclosed me with a wall of fire, a skill I hadn’t seen before, that reduced the damage I took.

All that wasn’t enough. Health potions were required to keep me alive; I had to buy more after this.

When we got past half the Blighted Cragodon Calf’s health bar, it decided to up the ante. Its furious bellows echoed as its horn glowed deep crimson.

“Show me what you got,” I taunted, knowing full well I could quickly die if it had a much stronger second phase.

The Cragodon Calf gorged me with its horn, inflicting not only fearsome damage but a worrying ailment.

[ Status| Bleeding: Lose 135 Health every second, Reduce Healing Received by 10% for 6 seconds ]

(Author's Notes: Some games have Accuracy and Evasion stats, and some don't. It can either be inherent attributes or tied to specific skills. I decided to include Accuracy/Evasion in the stats, so we can have some jokes, like how can a giant dodge? Herald will not necessarily try a dodge tank, but it's a possibility to add an aspect of it.)