Chapter 120: The Mountain Bandit Sorcerer

Time flowed gently onward as they cleared more than half the lesser monsters on the map. Meanwhile, other teammates had successively encountered three more bandit leaders. Each one was dispatched swiftly by their varied tactics, yet Zhang Shan and his group of five hadn’t even managed to sip a single drop of soup.

By now, four orange-tier bosses had appeared in the entire dungeon, with at most one remaining—though it was uncertain whether it was another bandit leader. Clearly, Zhang Shan, the berserker with his passive frenzy, was unlikely to get a chance to farm here.

“This dungeon is really something. We’ve already taken down four orange bosses, but I wonder what the final big boss will be like?” someone mused.

“Do we even need to guess? It’s bound to be insanely powerful—imagine a boss commanding four orange-tier lieutenants as minions. How could it not be?” another replied.

“Maybe there’s more than four. We haven’t even cleared all the mobs; perhaps there are other orange bosses we just haven’t come across yet,” a voice added.

“That sounds about right. Four seems like an odd number; five would be more reasonable,” someone else suggested.

“Let’s hurry and clear the dungeon. Hopefully we’ll get to face the fifth boss ourselves before anyone else does,” urged Fengyun Yidao.

No sooner had he spoken than a cry rang out over their team channel: “Help! All five of us are down! There’s a bandit sorcerer here—an orange boss—and he’s fierce!”

“Whoa, there really is a fifth orange boss! Let’s go! The bandit sorcerer is a new boss, so we should be able to snag some skill points,” Fengyun Yidao said, urgency in his tone.

“Alright, let’s head over and fight the boss first, then clear the mobs afterward,” Zhang Shan decided.

A boss that grants skill points could never be passed up. When they faced the bandit leaders earlier, they hadn’t even considered that some bosses might be untouched and yield free skill points. The sheer number of bosses in this new world made it impossible to remember which had been slain and which hadn’t—only the truly notorious, super-difficult bosses who claimed the first kill drew attention. No one cared to remember the countless unknown orange-tier bosses.

Since the bandit leaders hadn’t been defeated by others, it stood to reason the bandit sorcerer hadn’t been either. This was a skill point they simply had to earn.

Zhang Shan checked the location of the five unfortunate teammates—only a two to three minute run away. After clearing nearby common bandits and recalling his panda cub companion, the five of them swiftly headed toward their fallen comrades.

“I’ll ask about the bandit sorcerer’s skills first,” Fengyun Yidao said while running.

“Yeah, we better get some intel before we mess this up,” someone else chimed in.

“To those downed, what skills does the bandit sorcerer have? How strong is he?” they inquired.

“His other skills are fairly average. It’s his ultimate that’s strong—similar to the priest’s ultimate, but the damage is a bit lower,” came the reply.

“Whoa, the orange boss’s ultimate is a large-area damage skill? How big is the radius? Is it like the priest’s, fifty yards?” another asked.

“Yes, the bandit sorcerer’s ultimate covers a fifty-yard radius, so it’s pretty powerful,” was the confirmation.

This was serious. Among level thirty magic-type bosses, the bandit sorcerer was noticeably stronger than the demons’ sorcerer on the second floor of the Demon Suppression Tower. That demon’s ultimate, the Flame Array, only had a twenty-yard range. For the bandit sorcerer to outmatch an official demon sorcerer was truly ridiculous.

Still, Zhang Shan and his group had no reason to fear. With nearly twenty thousand health himself, Zhang Shan could withstand the orange boss’s five-second burst damage easily. Fengyun Yidao, a warrior by class, had even more health, so he was confident there’d be no issue. As for Fengyun Tianxia and the other two, their gear was excellent, so they should hold up well too.

Soon, they reached the bandit sorcerer’s location. Fengling and Fengyun Qingqing revived two of the fallen, while the other three had to remain down until other healers arrived, as resurrection cooldowns were lengthy.

“Let’s wait for the rest before attacking. Skill points are hard to come by; everyone should get a chance to share,” Fengyun Tianxia suggested.

“Alright, we’ll wait,” Zhang Shan agreed.

“Those aiming for skill points, move fast!” he urged over the team channel while checking the bandit sorcerer’s stats.

Bandit Sorcerer (Orange): Level 30, 1.5 million HP, 3000 attack power.

Skills:

1. Fire Meteor: The bandit sorcerer summons a fiery attack on the target, increasing damage by 50%.

2. Arcane Mastery: Increases magic damage by 50%.

3. Rain of Fire: Casts an area spell on a designated zone, dealing 100% damage over five seconds, with a 50-yard radius.

The bandit sorcerer was indeed strong. His second skill was a buff, meaning each attack theoretically dealt 6000 damage. The ultimate’s theoretical damage was 4500 per second, totaling over 20,000 in five seconds—far beyond what one might expect from an orange-tier boss.

Originally, Zhang Shan thought Fengyun Tianxia and the others could withstand the attack, but now it seemed otherwise. Only Zhang Shan himself could tank it; all fragile classes in the team wouldn’t survive.

However, this wasn’t a problem. The bandit sorcerer’s ultimate required a casting time. As soon as they saw the boss begin to cast, they could simply retreat a safe distance. It wouldn’t be difficult to handle.

Once the team gathered, Fengyun Tianxia signaled Zhang Shan to initiate the boss fight. Since the panda cub had been enhanced by the Heart of Nature, it was now a genuine tank—short-term, no guardian warrior could compare.

Not far off, the bandit sorcerer mingled amid a group of common bandits, blending in almost seamlessly. Without the sorcerer’s staff, it would have been hard to distinguish him from the others wielding cleavers.

Zhang Shan directed the panda cub forward to taunt the boss, then launched his attack. The others swiftly cleared the nearby bandits before joining in the assault.

Fifty players striking a 1.5 million HP boss meant the battle would be swift. If they kept up the pressure, the fight would take less than a minute.

Among the team’s elites, gear was excellent. Aside from divine artifacts and spirit tools, Zhang Shan’s equipment was probably the poorest in the party.

“Damn, this boss is losing health way too fast. It feels like we’re one-shotting him,” someone exclaimed.

As they attacked in unison, the bandit sorcerer’s health dropped by half before he began casting his ultimate.

“Fragile classes, run! We can’t tank this ultimate together!” Fengyun Tianxia shouted, warning all squishy players to flee.

Only Zhang Shan and the strength-based fighters remained to chip away at the boss. If they didn’t run, they would all perish. Though they could be revived later, that would waste precious time.

Better to retreat now and return to finish the fight afterward.