Chapter 198 - To cage a beast. (2/2)

[Star deer]

While fighting a group of deer, it was hard to fight them if there were not enough tanks. They would even surround the player group while they were attacking and it was a decent technique but had a few flaw which players could use to their advantage. The deer were quite fast, would ram into the players with their heads bent low and this was their advantage. They just moved in a straight line at a fast pace without checking if there were any player are before them once they started. A simple dodge would allow a player to escape the attack and it could also be used against the beasts by making them ram into one another or into environmental obstacles like trees. This was a common tactic that was used against similar beasts which he had used a number of times.

So, under Shadow's guidance they quickly started to coordinate and fight. The fae players were actually very good at it as they could simply fly up causing the deer to ram into others. Though this method caused a lot of meat of the deer to get spoiled and occasionally even their antlers, it was still better as they were able to get a decent loot without incurring much damage themselves. Frankly, the others were just fine with the loot they were able to get by killing deer in this manner, but Shadow kept talking about using their attacks better so that they wouldn't spoil much of the meat of the beasts till Agua decided to put an end to it.

”Mr. Shadow. Please, stop nit-picking over the smaller details. We have always fought like this and it is hard to maintain such control when fighting so many beasts,” said Agua. ”You are censuring over the small things.”

Balthazar also felt that it was true and let them try it out in their own way. ”They are not my guild and are just supporting me. I have gone overboard,” thought Balthazar as he realized that he had always led any team in that manner and continued the same with them. They soon cleared up a side of the area so that they could setup the cage and lure the mud lizards. Shadow had already used his weapon to stab into a crippled deer to make it bleed into a potion bottle for that. He also had some meat pieces which he decided to use to lure the mud lizards.

He had the rest of the group wait there just in case to keep watch against any other beasts that were approaching. With the two fae elementalist who positioned themselves on a couple of trees in a direction and also the assassin and archer covering from behind, they had a clear view of the area around and Balthazar was moderately confident that there wouldn't be any issues that would creep up unexpectedly on him.

”It might take some time for me to lure the mud lizard. I can't use the lure before I isolate a lizard from the place and I need to do some reconnaissance,” said Shadow looking at Agua. ”Please, wait and do not hurry or tense up.”

”We already have expected that,” said Agua. ”Once, the beast enters the cage, will you do the rest or shall we have one of my members, ”

”No. Leave it to me. It is best if we have as many people on scouting as possible. If there is already a beast or two in the area, only then get the assassin to position himself close by and lock the cage once the beast is inside,” said Shadow as he went towards the area in the map.

The residence of the mud lizards was in a part of the forest right beside a small waterfall about 10 metres high. It was a small stream that flowed out of a small hole from an elevated area creating a small muddy area that spanned for a quarter of a square kilometre.

It was clear that this area would be the habitat of the mud lizards. It was filled with mud and didn't even have any obstacles or cover to hide behind. It was a nightmare for an assassin to travel without cover. Though they have stealth, if a beast keeps looking at him straight for some time it is bound to discover the player. He found a few mud lizards on moving around the river. They were dark brown almost black in color and were 2-metre-long.

[Mud Lizard]

Level 18;

HP: 7500/7500;

He observed the mud lizard from a distance through his scope to check its basic physical characteristics to get any idea about its attack patterns. He hadn't hunted them before, so he needed to observe its behaviour for some time. He found it hard to believe that a beast which was very similar to actual lizards and was only 2 metre long overall would be a level 18 monster similar to a salamandrid that was double its length. With its size, he was sure that its physical attacks wouldn't be much of a problem

Its tail was small and so were its maw and limbs. It wouldn't be able to do leaps like the salamandrid or langstonia. Its tail attacks wouldn't be much useful either as it had a small tail with scales and there wouldn't be much momentum in its strikes. So, Balthazar believed that its mostly a magical creature with high magic resistance and probably has mud or earth-based attacks based on its habitat.

Realizing that he understood the reason for it being designated as a level 18 beast by the game. All beasts with earth-based magical abilities tend to be able cover themselves with earth or mud armor. Even their attacks tend to have a strong blowback effect.

He decided to experiment a bit before he went ahead and lured them. He chose a tall tree at the edge of the area, climbed it, took out his crossbow and tied the dynamite to the bolt. He released the bolt with dynamite amidst the lizards to check their response and found that they noticed it as soon as it fell on the land and they popped up to check the object that they noticed. A bunch of lizards were underneath the mud and had also come out to check the disturbance. As it exploded, they had covered themselves with the mud to protect themselves.

When he threw a piece of meat, they tried to attack it first indicating that they couldn't realize the nature of the object thrown. But soon they smelled the meat and started to fight for it as the mud beneath thier limbs moved like a wave transporting them closer to the piece of meat. It was clear to him that these beasts depended on their magical skills even for movement.

He used a few more dynamites tied to crossbow bolts to spread the beasts in the direction he wanted so that he would be able to lure the beasts easily later. The lizards spread away from the bolts when the noticed one fall on the ground dispersing themselves away. Unable to notice the culprit they just covered themselves with mud and spread away from the bolts when they noticed one touch the ground. He did it till he got one isolated from the others. If he needed the beast to follow him, he would have to let it see him and only one of them to see him. He took his time to separate one beast from the others using dynamites and pushed it closer to his location.

”I got one which could be lured from the others,” he informed Agua and the team. ”Everything fine on your side?”

”Yes. All is well. Just get here quickly,” replied Agua. ”The ruckus you caused has attracted the beasts to our sides towards the location of the mud lizards, but everything is peachy near the cage.”

”OK. I am luring it now,” said Shadow as he quickly shot a couple of pieces of meat lure the other beasts away while he got down and used his clone to attack and make it follow behind him. He didn't use the crossbow or dynamites as he was afraid that it would recognize him and call for help.

As expected, the beast started to move towards him. He quickly started to spread the blood of the deer and meat in his bag towards the direction of the cage as he threw a large piece of meat inside the cage and waited by the side.