“Alright.” Hazel didn’t ask questions, immediately heading down the right path. The others didn’t care either way; to them, this was all just part of clearing the map and getting upgrades.

  Just like the last tunnel, this one was filled with the same Ghostly Form guardian spirits. The passage was much lower and narrower than the open cavern, which actually worked to their advantage, as it prevented them from accidentally pulling too many mobs at once.

  As the team steadily advanced, Kael was once again relegated to the sidelines. He used the downtime to think about his plans for the future. This trip to the bottom of the pool had exposed some serious flaws in his build.

  First, his underwater combat ability was abysmal. Both his clone skill and his Galeharrow bow were severely hampered in the water.

  Second, going purely for physical damage was too extreme. As players leveled up and explored more of Godpath's world, they were bound to encounter more and more mechanics designed to counter physical DPS.

  These guardian spirits were a perfect example; he was completely helpless against them. He was lucky these were just trash mobs. If they ran into a boss with Ghostly Form, they'd be in serious trouble.

  Just as Kael was lost in thought, the group ahead came to a halt.

  "Hazel, what's wrong?" Rena asked.

  Hazel could only point into the distance, speechless.

  Everyone peered past her and saw a vast, new cavern ahead. Floating in the air were countless shimmering blue spirits, a dense swarm of them. And in the very center of the swarm, radiating an intense light, was a towering spectral figure.

  It was obviously a boss.

  Kael felt a headache coming on. Speak of the devil.

  He spoke quietly to the group. "Alright, let's clear the trash mobs first. Be careful not to step into the boss's aggro range. Orion, you're on pulling duty with your glyphs. Nobody else moves."

  "Got it."

  Orion crept forward, judged the distance, and flicked a lightning glyph through the air.

  -6213

  Seven guardian spirits immediately peeled off from the swarm and flew toward him. Orion scrambled back behind Hazel. Timing it perfectly, Hazel let out a challenging shout, locking the spirits' aggro onto her. They swerved and descended on her as one.

  -1275

  -1091

  -1621

  …

  Hazel's gear was optimized for physical defense; her magic resistance was nowhere near as high. Taking focused fire from seven magical mobs at once hurt. Kael, with his high health and magic resistance, would have been the ideal tank for this situation, but he had no way to generate threat against the spirits. All he could do was watch as Hazel grit her teeth and endured the onslaught.

  The team fought with painstaking care, slowly thinning the herd. After forty long minutes, the cavern was finally clear enough for them to get a look at the boss's stats.

  [Guardian Susan] Level 30

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  HP: 10,000,000

  Physical Attack: 0

  Magic Attack: 6,200

  Physical Defense: 0

  Magic Defense: 5,100

  [Ghostly Form]: Cannot deal or receive physical damage. Takes double damage from magical attacks.

  Ten million health, and a staggering 5,100 magic defense. Even with the double damage bonus from Ghostly Form, the party's mages, who averaged around 3,000 magic damage per hit, would only be doing a couple thousand damage each time. Their combined DPS would be maybe seven or eight thousand per second. Against a 10 million HP pool, the fight would take forever.

  Worse, with 6,200 magic attack, any one of its skills could one-shot them.

  Everyone turned to look at Kael, their expressions saying it all: This is impossible.

  Kael didn't say a word. He just turned and gave Orion a long, meaningful look. Following his gaze, the rest of the party fixed their eyes on the diviner.

  Orion, having never been the center of so much attention, puffed out his chest. "Don't you worry, boss," he declared. "I guarantee I'll complete the mission you gave me."

  Mission? the others thought, confused. They watched expectantly as they finished off the last of the trash mobs.

  Soon, only the boss remained. The party stood at a safe 50-yard distance, waiting for Orion to reveal his ace in the hole.

  He pulled a collection of items from his pack—glyphs, powdered silver, and other reagents—and began tracing a large circle on the ground, about ten yards in diameter. He meticulously drew glowing runes within the circle using the silver dust, then placed several glyphs at key points around its perimeter.

  The girls, intrigued by his bizarre behavior, gathered around to watch.

  "What's he doing?"

  "No idea."

  "It's some kind of Diviner ritual, I guess. Makes sense."

  "Heehee."

  Once the circle was complete, Orion stood in the center, took a swig from a wineskin, and sprayed a fine mist of alcohol in a circle around him. As the mist settled onto his markings, the entire circle erupted in a silent, magical flame. The fire burned for thirty seconds before flickering out. He looked at his handiwork and nodded, satisfied.

  Kael was impressed. He had assumed [Manifest] was just a standard spell, not an elaborate ritual. He pointed at the circle. "And this thing can make a Ghostly Form mob corporeal?"

  "But of course."

  The girls finally understood. Orion was preparing a way to break the boss's immunity. Rena went up to him, her curiosity piqued. "So how do you trigger it?"

  Orion said smugly, "All we have to do is get the boss to stand inside it for three seconds, and it'll solidify."

  He expected a wave of praise. Instead, he got a wave of criticism.

  "What? The boss has to go inside it?"

  "And stay there for three seconds?"

  "Dude, that's kinda useless."

  "Uh, well…" The praise he was hoping to bask in had evaporated, leaving him speechless.

  Just then, IronShell walked over. He addressed the girls with his usual quiet intensity. "Don't worry. I can guarantee the boss will stay in that circle for more than three seconds."

  While the girls dismissed Orion, they seemed a bit intimidated by the stoic, bald monk. No one questioned his claim. Kael wondered how he planned to pull it off, but didn’t ask.

  After finalizing their positions, Kael left his three clones behind and began walking toward the boss. While he couldn't generate aggro through attacks, the boss wasn't blind. It would still attack any player that entered its territory.

  As Kael crossed the 20-yard threshold, Guardian Susan raised its right hand and launched a bolt of blue light straight at him.

  -3024

  Even with Kael's 3,000+ magic resistance, her basic attack still hit for over 3,000 damage.

  Having drawn aggro, Kael immediately turned and kited the boss back toward the group. Guardian Susan followed, gliding slowly but surely into the ritual circle.

  "She's coming!"

  "The boss is in the circle!"

  "Hold your fire! Don't pull aggro!"

  As planned, no one else attacked. Kael led the boss into the center of the circle and stopped moving. The boss, content to have its target stationary, remained in place and continued to hurl spells at him.

  One second.

  Two seconds.

  The boss's translucent form began to flicker, its edges hardening as it started to shift from ethereal to solid. Guardian Susan seemed to sense the change. Its body wavered as it prepared to glide out of the circle.

  Just then, a powerful shout echoed from behind it.

  "Shackles of Spirit!"

  In that instant, invisible chains of spiritual energy erupted from IronShell and wrapped around the boss, binding it in place. It struggled violently against the unseen bonds, but couldn't break free. As it fought, its transformation completed, its once-ghostly body becoming fully solid.

  Thwip!

  An arrow from one of Kael's clones flew across the cavern and struck Guardian Susan's newly corporeal leg.

  At the same moment, the leg was instantly encased in the shimmering blue threads of Silkbind Shot.