Amy ran a wide circle and came back with three Wandering Ghosts chasing her. One of them lagged behind the others, a stun icon spinning above its head and its movement clearly slowed. That was the effect of Concussive Shot, a Ranger skill learned at level twelve that stunned the target for a few seconds and reduced its movement speed during that time.
"The last one's mine," Flynn called as he moved in.
The first two ghosts ran straight past him, still locked onto Amy since he had not attacked yet. At the same moment, Not-A-Bystander made his move. His shield left his hand in a clean arc, bouncing between the two leading ghosts three times before snapping back to his grip. Avenger's Shield did very little damage, but it generated a massive amount of threat. Paired with Shield Bash, it was the Guardian Paladin's main way of pulling enemies and the move he relied on most.
The two ghosts immediately turned and charged at Not-A-Bystander. On the other side, Flynn closed in on the slowed ghost and struck with a quick Rupture followed by Keen Strike, cleanly pulling its aggro away from Amy.
Let-There-Be-Light glanced toward Peerless Blood-Sword while keeping an eye on the fight. "Blood-Sword, watch closely. You're built as a Finesse Duelist, so you have some overlap with a Rogue. Pay attention to how Night-Stalker moves. You can learn a lot from him."
"Oh. Okay," Peerless Blood-Sword replied. He adjusted his position while attacking, shifting slightly so he could see Flynn's side of the fight more clearly.
Amy puffed out her cheeks. "Bro, don't talk about him like he's some kind of Legend everyone has to study." It reminded her of how Let-There-Be-Light had talked her into staying in the starter zone, using that same annoying know-it-all tone.
Even though these were just trash mobs, Hell mode meant every ghost had a special ability. The warrior-type ghosts used Sunder Armor, which reduced a player's defense and made tanks take far more damage than usual. The caster-types used Soul Devour, a simple life-drain that healed them while damaging their target. Thankfully, neither skill was used very often, so they were manageable as long as no one panicked.
The ghost Amy had slowed with Concussive Shot was a warrior-type, and that was no accident. Caster-type ghosts fired magic missiles that tracked their target and could not be dodged. Even Flynn had never managed to evade a mob's magical attack, so Amy had deliberately picked a melee enemy for him.
After Flynn's opening strikes, his threat easily surpassed Amy's. The ghost turned toward him and raised its two-handed axe, swinging down in a heavy arc as a faint red glow spread across the blade.
"Whoa. He's done for," Peerless Blood-Sword muttered.
He had been watching Flynn closely, and the smooth transition between Keen Strike and Rupture had already impressed him. That kind of timing was not something an average player could pull off. But when Flynn did not immediately move as the axe came down, Peerless Blood-Sword was sure he was about to see a death.
Let-There-Be-Light reacted instantly, casting the Luminous Shield he had been holding and placing it on Flynn. Before the spell even fully formed, Flynn stepped to the side, slipping past the attack with clean, precise movement. The axe slammed into the ground instead, cracking the stone beneath it.
"He dodged that?" Peerless Blood-Sword blurted out.
Let-There-Be-Light let out a breath and laughed softly. He had never really doubted Flynn, but it was still reassuring to see him perform this cleanly. He shot Peerless Blood-Sword a look that clearly said, 'did you see that?'
Peerless Blood-Sword frowned. "Maybe he just got lucky," he said, though even he did not sound convinced. A dodge like that was not luck, and he knew it. If Flynn lacked real skill, there was no way the boss would value him the way he did.
He turned his focus back to his own fight, but his eyes kept drifting back to Flynn. The longer he watched, the more unsettled he became. By the time the first ghost went down, Flynn had only been hit once, and even that was a blocked strike that barely did any damage.
As soon as the first ghost fell, Not-A-Bystander turned and threw Avenger's Shield at Flynn's target, following it up with Shield Bash to try to pull aggro. Normally, that combination was enough to rip any enemy away. This time, it did nothing. The ghost stayed locked onto Flynn.
Not-A-Bystander paused, surprised. "Night-Stalker, your damage must be pretty high if I can't pull it off you."
"Don't worry about me," Flynn said calmly. "Finish the other one and come help after."
"Got it." Not-A-Bystander did not press further. He trusted Flynn to know his limits.
From the start, no one except Peerless Blood-Sword had really been worried. Everyone else had already seen what Flynn could do.
The three ghosts went down without trouble, though it took a little longer than the first pull. Flynn spent a lot of time dodging while holding aggro, which lowered his damage output slightly, but not enough to matter.
One minute. That was all it took to clear the pack. It was slower than their very first attempt, but compared to the danger of that pull, this one felt almost relaxed. No one came close to dying, and as long as no one was instantly killed, Let-There-Be-Light could keep everyone alive.
Flynn wiped his daggers and started to put them away. Out of habit, he raised one toward his mouth, then noticed the blood fading from the blade and stopped. He laughed quietly and made a casual slicing gesture across his own throat. "Easy, right?"
"Yeah. Easy," the others replied, all of them staring at him a little strangely. That gesture looked far too natural. Amy shivered and thought to herself that she really hoped he was not as unhinged as he sometimes looked.
This time, their resource use was much lower. Let-There-Be-Light sat down to drink and recover mana, then nodded toward Amy. "Pull again. Same care as before."
"Mhm."
Amy had less overall playtime than her brother, but her execution was clean. She used Concussive Shot again and brought back another three enemies. They repeated the same strategy, and once more, nothing went wrong.
They continued like this, even handling packs of four without serious trouble. The only difference was the added strain on Let-There-Be-Light and Not-A-Bystander. At one point, Flynn offered to tank two mobs at once, clearly eager to push things faster, but Let-There-Be-Light shut him down immediately. This was not the time to test limits.
They cleared the courtyard bit by bit until only one final group of three remained, along with the mounted Guard Captain Agud. At that point, Let-There-Be-Light raised a hand.
"Stop here," he said. "This is the first boss, and we've wiped here several times already."
Peerless Blood-Sword and Not-A-Bystander both stiffened, old frustration showing on their faces. Let-There-Be-Light took a breath. "Hell mode is different from Normal. The moment the last trash pack dies, there's no break. Agud charges in immediately. We've wiped four times in a row because of that."
"That's rough," Flynn said.
Amy did not comment on that. Instead, she asked, "What abilities does he have?"
"In Hell mode, he has four," Let-There-Be-Light replied. "First is Charge. He randomly targets anyone more than three yards away, knocks them down for one second, and interrupts casting. Cooldown is about a minute. Second is Crescent Slash. He sweeps his spear in front of him in a wide arc and applies damage over time. Thirty-second cooldown. Third is Hoof Stomp. His mount stuns his current target for three seconds, and while that target is stunned, Agud switches to the player with the second-highest threat. Last is Mass Fear. He casts it at fifty percent and again at twenty percent health. Everyone in combat is feared for two seconds. During the fear, his threat table resets and he attacks randomly. When it ends, threat recalculates."
"Any fifth ability?" Flynn cut in.
"Huh?"
"Like an enrage, or him calling for backup."
Amy rolled her eyes. "You don't need to say that out loud. Everyone knows bosses like this always have something extra."
"Alright, alright. I'm from another planet," Flynn said, waving a hand for Let-There-Be-Light to continue.
"Charge has a cast time. The others are instant," Let-There-Be-Light said. "Charge is the biggest threat to me and Amy, so we can't stand too close, especially if his threat resets. Hoof Stomp means the off-tank cannot survive his damage at all. In Hell mode, only the main tank can take his hits. Mass Fear is what usually wipes us if things go wrong. Crescent Slash is the least dangerous. As long as you and Blood-Sword stay behind him, you'll be fine."
"I get it," Flynn said slowly. "Sounds annoying."
"It's worse than annoying," Let-There-Be-Light replied. This boss had given him more trouble than he cared to admit.
Amy frowned. "How are other groups dealing with him?"
"No one's sharing strategies right now. Everyone's racing progression," he said. "We'll have to test it ourselves and see what happens." As he spoke, his gaze shifted to Flynn and Amy. Some things could not be learned through explanation alone.
"Wait," Flynn said, smiling slightly. "I might be able to ask someone."
Let-There-Be-Light looked at him in surprise. "You know someone who cleared him?"
Amy stared. "Someone already beat the first boss?"
"A friend," Flynn said. "He's stuck on the second one." He sent a message to Chad, asking for the strategy to deal with Guard Captain Agud.