In the meantime, the early-stage dungeon plot had already concluded.
“The Luminous Moon Bat is about to start. Let’s stop chatting and prepare,” Canvas Shoes reminded everyone, bringing their focus back to the game.
The Divine Spring Cave was the final dungeon in the “Divine Spring Legend” series in the newbie village.
Inside, there were three bosses: the Luminous Moon Bat, the Cursed Milkstone, and the Spirit of the Divine Spring. Although it was a low-level dungeon, the materials it dropped were highly sought after in the mid-level market. It had become the most popular dungeon for beginners in the last two seasons, often referred to as the “alts’ sanctuary.“
However, despite the low difficulty of this low-level dungeon, it was new for Jiang Shi, who had retired from the game after the first season and was brought in to join the team as a healer.
Given Jiang Shi’s modest and cautious personality, he was slightly nervous as the fight was about to begin. He paid close attention to the surroundings.
Canvas Shoes and his team were all around level 80, and they immediately charged forward as soon as the Luminous Moon Bat spawned.
Under their fierce assault, the boss’s health points visibly began to decline.
The damage output was quite impressive.
Jiang Shi had been brought in as a healer, and he noticed that the newbie player was also fighting in the front lines, leaving him alone at the rear.
After casting some minor healing spells on his teammates, he calmly observed the situation.
For now, he was quite relaxed.
After all, these were his guildmates who came to farm materials together. The knight in Canvas Shoes’ team was doing an excellent job in the first phase, keeping the boss’s aggro firmly under control. All the area-of-effect damage was directed away from the teammates, allowing them to avoid taking damage.
Additionally, Jiang Shi’s continuous healing effect from casting minor healing spells kept the team in excellent shape.
However, this peaceful situation continued only until the Luminous Moon Bat’s health fell below 70%.
They entered the second phase.
At the boss’s command, a swarm of small bats swooped down and attacked the team.
Canvas Shoes tried to fend off a group of bats but looked down and noticed his own rapidly declining health points.
It was at this moment that he realized something was wrong. “Why does it feel like my healing isn’t working? Big guy, is your Minor Recovery skill fully leveled up? Why is the healing effect so weak?”
Jiang Shi watched Canvas Shoes’ health points rapidly drop under the assault of the small bats. Then, at the critical moment, he calmly activated a passive buff, Lin’s Protection, to extend the healing effect’s duration. The green light around his cross glowed for an instant, and as the blessing’s effect was calculated precisely, the healing effect kicked in at the moment the enemy’s health points hit zero.
This well-timed heal was textbook-perfect.
Jiang Shi then applied minor recovery spells to the other teammates. Finally, he remembered to answer Canvas Shoes, “Oh, I’m mainly a Rune Mage, so I’ve allocated most of my attribute points to ‘Intelligence.‘ I’ve only added 2 points to ‘Spirit,’ so my healing effect might be a bit weaker.”
His casual explanation almost made Canvas Shoes spit out blood.
Was it just “a bit” weaker?
With 2 points in Spirit, can you even heal as effectively as a level 1 character outside the village?
In Genesis characters could allocate attribute points to different attributes based on their development paths. For spellcasting characters, “Intelligence” increased their spell power, critical rate, and critical damage. “Spirit,” on the other hand, was essential for healing strength, critical reduction, and critical damage reduction.
For healing classes, “Spirit” was an indispensable attribute.
What was the point of having a healer, whether it was a “dad” or “mom,” if they didn’t heal properly? Perhaps their own skills healed more than this paltry amount!
In the fourth season Canvas Shoes had experienced, almost no one had chosen Rune Mages as a career. So, when he saw Jiang Shi for the first time, he instinctively assumed he was a healer. However, it wasn’t until this crucial moment that he realized, “Oh, this character is at level 40, and it’s obviously a returning player from the 1.0 version!”
At that time, the employment rate for Rune Mages and Priests was roughly equal, and these careers hadn’t gone completely extinct like they were now.
Canvas Shoes’ face contorted.
While level 40 characters were considered low-level alts, even for healing characters, having the Minor Recovery spell from tier 1 was basic. But now, with the Rune Mage’s pitiful amount of healing, what were they supposed to heal? It might be less than what they could heal through their own skills!
This was clearly a significant oversight.
He should have asked more questions when forming the team.
Now, with returning players all over, it seemed that all sorts of strange and unusual things were happening. Before this, Canvas Shoes had never expected that someone would come pretending to be a healer when they were actually a Rune Mage.
The knight player heard the conversation and asked in a troubled tone, “So, what do we do now? Retreat? Reorganize the team?”
Canvas Shoes was also in a dilemma.
After a moment of hesitation, he was about to say the word “retreat.” However, just as the word was about to come out, Jiang Shi, the instigator of this whole situation, calmly spoke up, “No problem, keep going. I can handle the healing.”
It was apparent that Sha Gui Shen had a straightforward personality, and he had adhered to the principle of blaming the team leader for the recruitment issue. He hadn’t spoken up until this moment, but he couldn’t hold back any longer. “A Rune Mage healing a dungeon? Who gave you the courage?”
Jiang Shi maintained his casual tone, saying, “Since we’re already here, let’s give it a shot.”
Sha Gui Shen: “…”
“We’re already here.”
Those four words were impossible to refute.
Just as a new wave of bats flew out of the cave’s depths, Jiang Shi noticed a glowing red item in his hand. With a muttered incantation, a wide crimson aura emanated from him, rapidly spreading across the ground and forming a complex lattice of red beams right in front of the newbie player. This radiant lattice imprisoned the group of bats.
The sudden change caught everyone by surprise, and the cave was filled with the screeching of bats.
A Rune Field.
While all players had the capability to use rune stones, only Rune Mages, as their main class, could maximize the effectiveness of the Rune Field.
Canvas Shoes was stunned.
It wasn’t until Jiang Shi had slowly but steadfastly recovered the newbie player’s health points during the time when the bats were under control that Canvas Shoes realized what had occurred.
A few seconds later, he made a decision through gritted teeth, “We’re already at 40%, let’s give it a try! We’ll wipe them out and then see!”
Jiang Shi chuckled and repeated his earlier phrase, “Well, we’re already here.”
Sha Gui Shen covered his ears.
He felt like he was starting to forget those four words.
The knight player was decisive. Using a taunting skill, he redirected the boss’s aggro back to himself and repositioned to face the boss directly to stabilize the situation.
Sha Gui Shen’s character was a Beast Warrior. In this situation, he activated Blood Burst, which allowed him to leech life from the bats under a blood frenzy. He fearlessly charged into the group of bats controlled by Jiang Shi.
Jiang Shi noticed that Sha Gui Shen had chosen to activate Blood Burst at this moment, undoubtedly to help reduce the healing pressure on him. Although it wasn’t necessary, he still felt grateful.
He silently curled his lips into a smile and, when the Blessing Settle skill cooldown was ready, he smoothly gave Sha Gui Shen a minor healing boost.
At this moment, a new wave of bats spawned, and the radiant lattice of intertwined red beams rose again, precisely imprisoning the new group of mobs.
During the previous two waves of bats, Jiang Shi had paid attention to the timing of their appearance and the positioning rules, allowing him to anticipate their movements in advance. With such perfect control, the overall team’s damage received was significantly reduced.
He placed the bats in a spot that accommodated the individual needs of the team members, without disrupting the main damage dealer, Canvas Shoes. This setup even created an excellent environment for Sha Gui Shen’s output.
Sha Gui Shen no longer had any complaints and was thoroughly enjoying himself.
Although, when playing with experienced players, there was not much need for positioning, it couldn’t be compared to the current situation. With Jiang Shi controlling the mobs, the entire team gathered in one spot. It was as if they were being served a sumptuous meal, and they could simply enjoy it without any concerns.
For a primary damage-dealing class, it was an unprecedented and supreme experience.
The thought even crossed Sha Gui Shen’s mind: this was every DPS’s dream support, the dream of achieving nine billion damage! With such support, he would be willing to run dungeons for the rest of his life!
Canvas Shoes no longer had any worries and even had the energy to pay attention to the bats’ clearing process.
After a brief pause, he couldn’t help but ask, “Big guy, the control time for this Rune Field is quite long, is that due to a purple rune stone?”
Jiang Shi glanced at the pile of gold-quality items in his backpack, then casually replied, “It’s close enough.”
Canvas Shoes marveled, “I couldn’t tell, you’re really a big shot!”
One could only say that players like Canvas Shoes who were unfamiliar with the profession didn’t understand. Otherwise, he would be saying not just “big shot” but “incredibly extravagant.”
Purple runes?
He could take one out of his bag at random, and although it was only a low-level rune, simply having this kind of gold attribute made it directly suitable for the auction house.
Jiang – Big Shot – Shi chuckled but didn’t respond. Instead, he gave a friendly reminder, “Is it about to enter the third phase at 30% health?”
“Ah, d*mn!” Canvas Shoes finally noticed the blood-red aura around the Luminous Moon Bat, turned around, and ran back. At the same time, he shouted to the knight beside him, “Old Qi, come back quickly, it’s getting bloody!”
The knight swiftly rode back to regroup with everyone behind the massive rock in the northwest.
After entering the third phase, the remaining bats dispersed with a few shrill cries.
The Luminous Moon Bat didn’t chase after the knight, who had regained aggro. Instead, it let out a deafening screech and started to levitate gradually. It hung inverted in the center on the top edge of the cliff, its malicious gaze intensifying.
“Entering the third phase. Later, I’ll find the weak point to break through. Support, follow the knight and keep an eye on his health,” Canvas Shoes instructed. However, when he didn’t hear a response from Jiang Shi, he couldn’t help but add, “Big Shot, is that okay?”
“Yeah, no problem.”
Solely from his tone, Jiang Shi, the level 40 returning player, seemed much calmer than canvas shoes.
After saying that, he didn’t immediately shift over to the knight player’s position. Instead, he continued with an “everything is under control” tone, saying, “Wait a moment. I just need to secure 10 seconds. I’ll check the strategy guide. Just one look.”
Canvas shoes: “…”
Other teammates in the party: “?”
Author’s note:
In unison: You’re checking a strategy guide at this moment?!
Jiang Shi: Well, we’re rushing into the instance. No need to worry. It’s just a small situation. Just one look, keep calm.
I love you translator ❤️😌