This is my style!

After finishing off the Steelback Boarfolk and the Phantom Troll Spearmen, the team moved on to the Troll Guardian Boss. The main challenge was to clear the two waves of minions around the Boss, and Morning Wind stuck to his usual strategy of focused fire and burst damage. This battle was different, though, because Mad Warrior and Monk had powerful bursts, allowing the group to swiftly wipe out both groups of minions.

Although Morning Wind continued to use his shield to tank the elephant and the Troll Guardian’s attacks, he frequently switched to a one-handed sword for offense, especially when a free Whirlwind Strike was available. During the cooldown of Shield Slam, Morning Wind relied on his single-handed sword, ensuring he maintained enough damage output.

With Morning Wind’s damage output reduced, Mad Warrior also began to control his attacks, no longer mindlessly unleashing skills. He started experimenting with managing his rage, coordinating his abilities to maximize efficiency.

“Morning Wind, pay attention to your parry and block!” Data King began reminding Morning Wind to balance his offense and damage mitigation. Using a one-handed sword, Morning Wind lost the ability to block, and his parry chance was low. Had Data King not sped up the healing, Morning Wind might have already fallen.

“Sorry, this is my tanking style! I can’t change it!” Morning Wind had already adapted his tanking methods considerably, but giving up three free Whirlwind Strikes was nearly impossible for him. At most, he’d switch back to his shield after a free Whirlwind Strike—that was his limit.

There were thirty-two warriors in the world with both Berserk and Shielded dual talent specialties, eight of whom were mainly tanks. The defining feature of these tanks was possessing Titan's Grip from the Berserk warrior tree, allowing them to wield a shield alongside a two-handed weapon. Morning Wind specifically chose the Shielded specialty for tanking, yet his approach leaned heavily toward offense.

An aggressive tank! Data King hadn’t expected Morning Wind’s tanking style to be so bold. Some tanks focused on blocking, others on parrying, some even on dodging through movement, but Data King had never heard of a tank whose forte was aggressive assault. Morning Wind’s tanking abilities weren’t particularly strong overall, but his explosive attacks were formidable, especially when his hand speed reached its peak—even Monk couldn’t match him. This was what Monk admired most about Morning Wind.

Aggressive assault! Morning Wind spent more time with his shield, but that didn’t significantly dampen his burst power. At first, Morning Wind wasn’t used to how the shield slowed his attacks and weakened his output. If he followed Data King’s advice all the time, he’d feel constrained—it simply wasn’t his style. Through battle and gradual adjustment, Morning Wind discovered the style that suited him best—maximizing output while fully utilizing his shield.

—126

The Brotherhood Sword struck the side of the elephant, dealing unimpressive damage, and Morning Wind was knocked back five steps. He suddenly noticed the Troll Guardian Boss was different from the first time he faced it. Previously, the Spearmen’s mount, the elephant, didn’t have such high defense and couldn’t knock players back. Why was it different now?

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“I am the embodiment of the divine…” Monk leapt onto the elephant, grabbing the Troll Spearman and launching an onslaught: Tiger Palm, Crane Spin Kick, a flurry of attacks swept across. Players like Monk, who fought with fists and feet, possessed astonishing attack speed—only Morning Wind, during his burst phases, could compete; otherwise, Monk’s speed was unmatched.

“Watch my unique skill, Dragon Soul Kick!” Monk delivered a spin kick that left the Troll Spearman dizzy, then hopped back and quickly stepped forward, kicking upward to the Spearman’s jaw, sending him flying.

Switch to one-handed sword!

Charge!

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The Troll Spearman was actually kicked off the elephant by Monk. That Dragon Soul Kick was so ferocious; most Bosses mounted on their rides were nearly impossible to dislodge, but Monk managed it. Morning Wind reacted fastest—before the Troll Spearman hit the ground, he charged in and knocked him further away, denying any chance to remount the elephant.

God Mode!

It would be best to kill the Troll Spearman outright. Once Morning Wind activated God Mode, he opened with Giant’s Strike, completely ignoring the Boss’s defense: Bloodthirst, Heroic Strike, free Whirlwind Strike, Rage Slash!

Fragile—without the elephant mount, the Boss was extremely vulnerable. Morning Wind unleashed a burst, taking nearly 40% of the Boss’s health in six seconds—his damage was terrifying. The power of Rage Slash was astonishing; with a 30% crit chance, Morning Wind could cast it continuously, his lethality extraordinary.

Charge!

Mad Warrior didn’t join in the assault on the Troll Spearman this time; instead, he charged to block the elephant, preventing the Boss from remounting. Though Mad Warrior wielded Ashbringer with tremendous burst power, he was still a notch below Morning Wind, only able to rival Monk. Mad Warrior summoned a fire dragon to entangle the elephant and burn it, then raised Ashbringer and struck down hard.

“Mad Warrior, hold it off for six seconds!” The Boss’s health had dropped to 30%; Morning Wind could now chain Rage Slashes endlessly. Six seconds meant four global cooldowns—he could unleash four Rage Slashes, burn sixty rage on two Heroic Strikes, and with Monk and Shadow’s output, finish the Boss off.

The elephant’s charge wasn’t something Mad Warrior could block for long; once the fire dragon vanished, stopping the elephant would be difficult. He knew that if the Troll Spearman remounted, killing the Boss would take much longer.

Roar!

Unexpectedly, Mad Warrior flipped and leapt in front of the Boss, grabbing Ashbringer blazing with flames in both hands—now ten meters long, like a giant sword of fire poised to cleave the elephant in two. The searing Ashbringer struck the elephant, making it roar in pain and halt its charge. Its neck flailed wildly, batting Mad Warrior away.

“It’s chaos—complete chaos!” Data King was speechless. Morning Wind and his team didn’t follow any standard dungeon strategy; now he could only frantically heal to keep Morning Wind alive. After activating God Mode, Morning Wind ignored defense, wielding two one-handed swords for relentless output. During the endless Rage Slash phase, he tanked the Boss directly; had he not triggered Last Stand to boost his health by 30%, and Data King not cast Lay on Hands to fully heal him, Morning Wind would have fallen as the tank.

Rage Slash!

Morning Wind’s final Rage Slash emptied the Troll Spearman’s health. Monk had saved up true energy for one last burst, but Morning Wind snatched the killing blow. Just as Monk thought the battle was over, the elephant suddenly mutated—its black skin turned red and sprouted many fine red hairs.

Berserk Mammoth Elephant!

After its master was slain, the elephant went berserk, its attributes soaring. Morning Wind had sensed something off about it earlier, but hadn’t expected this transformation. Clearly, as the Troll Spearman’s health dropped, the elephant began to mutate. This was a hidden Boss.

Mammoth Charge!

Shield Wall!

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The mammoth elephant charged rapidly at Morning Wind and Monk. Both tried to dodge but found themselves unable to move. Morning Wind quickly switched to his shield and activated Shield Wall; Monk shifted to the Ox Form, reducing damage received and slowing 20% of incoming attacks.

One of the mammoth elephant’s enormous tusks pierced Monk’s leather armor, impaling him through the abdomen and instantly killing him. Morning Wind, a plate-wearer, had Shield Wall up, reducing damage by 60%, but was still sent flying, losing half his health. His finely crafted shield was punctured and rendered completely useless. When fighting Bosses, the risk of equipment damage from Boss abilities was real; repairs were troublesome, and usually, such gear was simply scrapped.

“Damn, what kind of Boss can one-shot? My leather armor set…” Monk’s soul appeared in the graveyard, checking his leather chestpiece—it was destroyed, and he was so frustrated he felt like dying again.

No one expected the Boss’s Mammoth Charge to be so devastating; it was clear that any non-plate player would die instantly! The mammoth elephant hadn’t specifically targeted Monk—he was just too close to Morning Wind, allowing for a combo attack.

Roar…

After killing Monk and sending Morning Wind flying, the mammoth elephant let out a sky-shaking roar. Fearing another charge, Morning Wind quickly flipped and jumped back in. Mad Warrior and the others focused fire on the Boss, determined to avoid a wipe.

War Stomp!

As the group approached for another burst, the mammoth elephant began stomping the ground, dealing AoE damage and causing everyone to become stunned. Without a shield for blocking, Morning Wind took immense damage; Data King felt Morning Wind couldn’t withstand this onslaught and immediately cast Hand of Protection on him. (Hand of Protection: Immunity to all physical attacks for ten seconds, triggers a Forbearance effect for one minute. Cannot be used on targets already affected by Forbearance. While under Hand of Protection, the target cannot attack or use physical skills.)

With Morning Wind immune to physical damage, the mammoth elephant immediately switched targets to attack Mad Warrior. Mad Warrior hadn’t switched to his shield or activated Shield Wall, so he was killed by a swipe of the mammoth’s trunk.

“This Boss is even stronger than the Troll Guardian…” Data King was at a loss for how to direct the fight, having no information on this Boss. He could only heal as best he could.

“This isn’t Hand of Protection—it’s the Wipe Hand…” Morning Wind hated when Paladins cast Hand of Protection on him, because while protected, he couldn’t attack at all. Unable to hit Morning Wind, the mammoth elephant targeted Shadow’s Flame Warrior instead. That fiery summoned creature couldn’t withstand more than a few hits before falling.

“Shadow, run now!” Shadow’s aggro was low, even lower than Data King’s as a healer. Now the mammoth elephant was after him. If Shadow escaped, the Boss would need time to chase him, allowing Morning Wind’s Hand of Protection to expire.

Divine Shield!

After Data King activated invincibility, Morning Wind was still under Hand of Protection, and the mammoth elephant charged toward Shadow. Fortunately, Shadow had already fled, widening the gap; the mammoth elephant would need time to reach him. Data King hoped Morning Wind would find a way once he was free from Hand of Protection.

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