Chapter 66 - 59: BIG BROTHER’S MASTER CLASS, THE KITING TACTIC, AND THE BLOODFANG ALPHA

The grassland wind blew gently, sweeping away the remaining mud dust and ash from the brief battle that had just taken place. In front of me, three teenage girls Yuuki the fox captain, Lumina the Elf Priest, and Flora the Dryad still stared at me with sparkling eyes. The title of "Teacher" they had just bestowed upon me felt a little ridiculous, yet at the same time, it touched a small point of pride inside my chest.

I sheathed the Spellweaver’s Dirk back onto my right thigh and gently patted Yuuki’s head to calm her still-wildly swaying fox tail.

"Stop calling me Teacher. We’re playing a game, not standing in a martial arts dojo," I said while chuckling softly. "But since Yuna, your Tank, isn’t here, and you asked me to guide you, I’ll give a little evaluation from the ambush just now."

The three girls immediately stood upright. Their expressions turned serious, like students listening to the advice of the deadliest lecturer on campus. Even the shy Lumina clenched her hands in front of her chest, ready to absorb every piece of information.

I stepped into the middle of them and used a broken branch to draw on the dusty ground.

"First, let’s talk about what nearly got you killed just now: Aggro Management," I explained, pointing at a spot in the center of the drawing. "Yuuki, your area magic is strong, but when your shot missed the wolves, you didn’t deal damage, which means you didn’t hold their aggro."

"But Big Sister," Yuuki interjected while pouting her lips. "Why did the wolves at the back suddenly jump straight at Lumina? Lumina hadn’t even done anything yet!"

I looked at Lumina. "What did you do right before they attacked you?"

Lumina seemed to think for a moment; her face was a little pale. "I-I... I panicked seeing so many monsters. So I activated the [Aura of Light] magic to prepare to give heal (healing) to Yuuki if she got bitten."

I snapped my fingers. "Exactly. In MMORPGs, monsters have a threat hierarchy system. Healing magic or area buffs generate extremely high Passive Aggro instantly. In the eyes of monsters, the healer is the greatest threat because they can prolong the battle. Without a Tank holding them with a Taunt skill, that aggro immediately switches to Lumina."

The three girls nodded in understanding. Flora, who had the most tactical mind among her friends, raised her hand. "Then, how do we survive without Yuna, Big Sister Syl? We’re all thin classes (squishy). If monsters get close, we die instantly."

I smiled crookedly, a smile that often appeared when I was mixing alchemy formulas in my shop.

"We use the Kiting tactic," I answered. I erased the scribbles on the ground with the tip of my boot. "You have to maintain distance from the monsters, attacking while continuously moving backward. Flora, your role here is crucial. You’re not just additional damage; you are Crowd Control. Don’t waste your mana dealing damage. Use your vines purely to bind or slow enemies running toward Yuuki."

I turned to look at my little sister. "And you, Miss Captain. Stop casting spells with your feet planted on the ground. You have a fox race with high agility. Fire a Fireball, then immediately fall back. Lure the monsters into running in a straight line, let Flora bind them, then destroy them."

"What about Lumina?" Yuuki asked.

"Lumina may only cast heal when the monsters are already under a bind or stun effect from you. As long as the monsters are still free to move, Lumina must keep running behind you," I explained. "Understood?"

"Understood, Captain... uh, Teacher!" the three of them shouted almost in unison.

I exhaled in resignation at hearing that title, yet I could not hide my smile. "Alright. Let’s put it into practice. To the north. I’ve heard there’s a small Field Boss around here. We’re going to hunt it."

Practicing the Kiting Theory

We continued our journey cutting through the Whispering Plains. The virtual sunlight began climbing higher, illuminating the tall grass with a golden color. For the next forty minutes, we encountered several waves of monsters: mutant wild bulls and packs of horned wild boars.

According to my instructions, I did not use my attacks at all. I only walked casually behind them with the Whispering Ash bow in hand, supervising and giving commands.

Their progress was extraordinarily fast. Young people truly had fantastic nerve reflexes inside Virtual Reality.

When a pack of wild boars attacked, Flora no longer panicked. She waited until the boars gathered on one path, then slammed her staff. [Vine Trap] bound their legs. Yuuki, without stopping her backward movement, released a series of Fireballs followed by Gust of Wind, creating a deadly spreading explosion. Lumina, who now understood her position, moved agilely outside the danger radius, giving a strength buff to Yuuki at the right moment without drawing aggro.

They danced across the grassland, killing monsters without letting a single one of them touch the edge of their cloaks.

"Wah! Kiting is really fun!" Yuuki cheered after burning the last bull to ashes. "It feels like toying with them!"

"But it really drains stamina and mana," Flora complained while wiping sweat from her forehead and taking a sitting position on a rock. Lumina immediately approached her, giving a bottle of mana regeneration potion.

"That’s the price of safety," I replied while leaning against the ancient stone ruins near them. "You did it extremely well. Yuna will definitely be shocked seeing how neat your formation is when she logs back in tomorrow."

Exactly when they were resting while laughing and dividing loot in the form of hides and bull horns, my long Elf ears caught an anomaly.

The hissing of the wind across the grassland suddenly sounded heavier. The air carried a thick coppery smell, the smell of pure blood. Within a radius of about one hundred meters from us, the grass that had previously been yellowish-green slowly changed color to dark red, as if absorbing blood from within the soil.

"Stand up," I instructed flatly. My voice was not loud, yet it immediately cut through their laughter.

Yuuki and her friends immediately jumped up, forming a triangular formation with their backs to me. Their survival instincts had already begun to be sharpened.

From behind the dense red grass came the sound of a low growl that vibrated in the chest. Not the growl of an ordinary wolf, but a growl from massively sized lungs.

Heavy footsteps were heard approaching. Bum... bum... bum... Every step made the pebbles on the ground jump slightly.

The tall grass parted. The figure that appeared made the three girls in front of me hold their breath in horror.

It was a wolf, yet its size was as large as a war racing horse. Its fur was jet black with blood-red patterns on its back. A pair of curved devil horns emerged from its temples, and its fangs extended past its lower jaw. Across its entire body, its muscles bulged, radiating a ferocious aura that choked the air.

[Goliath Bloodfang Alpha – Level 23 (Field Boss)]

HP: 8500/8500

Type: Mutated Beast

Description: The absolute leader of the Whispering Plains. Grew large by devouring other monsters. Possesses thick hide defense and a roar capable of shattering the enemy’s mentality.

"Field Boss..." Flora whispered; her staff began to tremble.

"Level 23. 8500 HP! Big Sister Syl, our weapons won’t be enough to kill it quickly!" Yuuki cried out; her tone began to be laced with panic. A 6-level difference for beginner players was an absolute death threat.

I drew an ordinary wooden arrow from the quiver at my waist and nocked it onto the Whispering Ash.

"This is your final exam today," I said calmly; my voice floated above the Alpha’s growl. "I won’t kill it for you. You will do it."

"But Big Sister! We have no defense!" Lumina protested; her eyes welled up with fear seeing the giant monster begin scraping the ground.

"You have speed. And you have me as a safety net," I replied coldly; my combat aura began to radiate. "Do exactly as I trained you. Flora hinders its movement! Yuuki, focus on its blind spots! Lumina, keep your distance as far as possible! Begin!"

Hearing my command, Yuuki’s captain instinct took over her fear.

"Flora, set consecutive traps! Lumina, fall back twenty meters!" Yuuki shouted.

The Goliath Bloodfang Alpha howled loudly and immediately charged. Its speed was disproportionate to its body size. In the blink of an eye, the monster had already leaped a distance of ten meters, targeting Yuuki.

"[Thorn Barricade]!" Flora shouted, slamming both hands into the ground.

A row of thick thorny roots burst from the soil right in the Alpha’s landing path. The monster crashed into the barricade with a heavy sound. Flora’s roots could not hold it; they were destroyed into pieces within seconds. However, it was enough to stop its charging momentum for a moment.

Utilizing that fraction of a second pause, Yuuki was already at the monster’s side.

"[Scorching Ray]!"

A beam of scorching fire shot from Yuuki’s staff, slamming into the Alpha’s left eye.

KAAAUUUNG!

[-350 Critical Fire Damage]

The Field Boss roared in pain. The attack on a weak point produced decent damage, yet it also triggered its absolute anger (Enrage).

Its right eye glowed bright red. The creature spun its massive body, swinging its tail as thick as a tree trunk toward Yuuki.

Its speed was too high. Yuuki, still in the animation of finishing her spell cast, would not have time to dodge.

Sring! Sshhhk!

A wooden arrow shot from behind them, embedding accurately right in the joint of the monster’s right thigh base, just before its tail touched Yuuki’s body.

The kinetic impact of my arrow broke the Alpha’s balance. Its tail attack missed, only sweeping the air a few centimeters above Yuuki’s head as she reflexively ducked.

"Don’t stand still! Keep moving!" I shouted, still maintaining my archery stance from a distance of thirty meters.

"Sorry!" Yuuki immediately rolled away and resumed firing Fireballs in succession.

The battle transformed into an extremely intense dance. Flora continuously released every Crowd Control magic she possessed: suction mud, binding roots, wrapping vines. The Alpha destroyed them all with its brutal strength, yet its efforts consumed precious time that Yuuki used to drain its HP bar little by little.

I stood like a ghost in the background. I did not fire magic-wrapped arrows or use the Titan’s Ironbark Longbow. I only fired ordinary arrows. Yet every one of my arrows was a medical intervention. When the Alpha was about to pounce on Flora, my arrow hit its eye, blinding it briefly. When the Alpha was about to ambush Lumina, my arrow slammed into its knee, ruining its stance.

I controlled the tempo of this entire boss battle with only basic attacks.

Ten minutes passed. The HP bar of the Goliath Bloodfang Alpha finally dropped to the critical threshold of 15%.

However, MMORPG systems always have surprises for Field Bosses. When its blood touched the critical point, the giant wolf’s body radiated a thick blood-red aura. Its fur stood on end resembling porcupine spines.

[Warning: Goliath Bloodfang Alpha enters Blood Frenzy phase!]

The monster howled toward the sky. Not an ordinary howl, but a shockwave that made our ears ring. Suddenly, it shook its body extremely hard.

From between its fur, dozens of sharp spines coated in red aura shot in all directions like a barrage of machine-gun bullets. An absolute physical Area of Effect (AoE) attack! [Blood Spikes Shower].

Its closest targets were Lumina and Yuuki, who were currently standing in a straight line. The speed of those spines was impossible for the reflexes of beginners to avoid.

Lumina screamed under her breath, covering her face with her arms, resigning herself to receiving the deadly projectile barrage.

"Big Sister Syl!" Yuuki cried out; her eyes widened in horror seeing virtual death coming to claim them.

In the same second, I dropped my Whispering Ash bow. This was no longer the time to play behind the scenes. The lives of my little sister’s party were hanging by a thread.

I focused my mind, activating the Epic-tier skill book I had obtained yesterday from the ruler of Windhowl Peaks.

"[Eye of the Storm]."

Instantly, the world around me changed. The sounds of Yuuki’s panic, the wolf’s roar, and the rustling grassland wind faded, replaced by my own heartbeat echoing softly. Time seemed to slow until it nearly stopped (Bullet Time).

The colors of the world faded into gray. Yet in the middle of my monochrome vision, dozens of glowing silver lines (trajectory lines) appeared in the air, precisely mapping the flight path of every red spine fired by the boss. I could see exactly where those spines would land and who would be pierced.

The duration of this skill was only 3 seconds. But for me, who possessed massive Dexterity, these 3 seconds were an eternity.

At full explosive speed, I activated [Wind Walk Lv3]. My body shot through the space between the spines that were moving in slow motion. I slid into position right in front of Yuuki and Lumina, drawing the Spellweaver’s Dirk from its sheath in one smooth motion.

One spine headed straight for Yuuki’s chest. I swung my dagger, using the side of its silver blade to parry.

Trang! The spine was deflected.

Two spines headed for Lumina’s head. I twisted my wrist, slashing the air. The passive [Gale Slash] triggered, releasing a crescent wind blade that immediately split both spines in half in mid-air.

Three more spines shot toward me. I tilted my head two centimeters to the right, allowing the first spine to graze my cloak’s shoulder. I spun, kicked the second spine, and used the rebound from that kick to split the third spine with a horizontal dagger slash.

The dance of silver and storm that I performed lasted only a matter of seconds.

To Yuuki and Lumina, they only saw a gray blur appear in front of them, followed by the sound of metallic clanging and an extremely strong wind blast that destroyed all the red spines that should have claimed their lives.

When the duration of Eye of the Storm ended, the colors of the world returned to normal. Time resumed its original speed. I landed on one knee in front of them, the silver dagger shining brightly in my hand, while dozens of red spine fragments fell harmlessly around us like a rain of glass.

Silence blanketed the grassland for a second. The giant wolf boss stared at me with bulging eyes, unable to believe that its ultimate attack had been parried with perfect precision by a single person.

I turned slightly backward, looking at Yuuki who was still frozen with her mouth wide open.

"What are you waiting for, Captain?" I said coldly; my eyes flashed sharply. "Finish it."

Hearing my voice, Yuuki’s courage reignited. Flames of vengeance blazed at the tip of her staff.

"How dare you try to hurt my friends and my big sister!" Yuuki shouted angrily.

She concentrated all her remaining mana. A giant magic circle appeared beneath the feet of the Alpha, which was still in the cooldown animation after its ultimate attack.

"[Inferno Pillar]!"

A giant pillar of fire exploded from within the ground, swallowing the body of the Goliath Bloodfang Alpha whole. A final cry of pain was heard before a series of red damage numbers appeared, completely draining the remaining 15% HP of the monster.

The giant body blackened, charred, then shattered into a swirl of extremely bright pixel particles that dazzled all our eyes.

[Your Party has defeated Goliath Bloodfang Alpha (Field Boss – Level 23)!]

[Gained 12,500 EXP (Party Bonus)!]

[Level Up! Yuuki reaches Level 18!]

[Level Up! Lumina reaches Level 17!]

[Level Up! Flora reaches Level 17!]

Cheers of joy erupted, splitting the silence of the grassland. Yuuki, Lumina, and Flora hugged each other while jumping up and down in excitement. Tears of relief and adrenaline poured across their faces. Defeating a Field Boss while under-leveled was an extraordinary achievement for beginner players.

I slowly stood up, sheathed my dagger, and walked to pick up the bow I had dropped earlier. I looked at them with a soft smile that I could not hide.

Yuuki released her hug from her friends, then ran and crashed into me with an extremely tight hug. Her fox ears brushed against my stomach.

"Big Sister! Big Sister is crazy! Big Sister is really crazy!" Yuuki shouted hysterically, looking up at me with sparkling eyes. "What was that just now?! Big Sister’s shadow moved as fast as lightning! Big Sister parried bullets with a dagger! Teach me! How much does it cost?! I’ll clean your room for a whole month!"

I laughed freely, stroking her black hair. "That’s a craftsman’s secret, Miss Fox. Not for teaching to a careless mage."

Lumina and Flora approached and bowed deeply to me.

"Thank you, Big Sister Syl. Our lives were truly saved by Big Sister," Lumina said sincerely.

"Teacher Syl is truly the best. No wonder Yuuki always brags about you," Flora added with a faint smile.

I waved my hands dismissively, feeling a little awkward being excessively praised by my little sister’s friends. "You were the ones who defeated it. I only cleared a few thorns from your path. Quickly, take the loot before other players take it."

Hearing the word loot, Yuuki immediately shot toward the crater where the boss had died. A glowing golden treasure chest waited there. She opened it, and a bright red light radiated.

"Kyaaa! There’s a Rare-tier mage robe! And a necklace that increases Mana Regeneration!" Yuuki squealed, hugging the items possessively.

I sat on the ruins of a stone pillar, letting the grassland wind caress my face. Watching the free laughter of my little sister and her friends, a pure warmth flowed through my chest. In the real world, my body might still be frail and limited by medical protocols. But here, under the virtual sky of Second World Online, I was their protector. The reliable big brother.

A notification blinked in the corner of my eye. The medical system warning that my playtime remaining was twenty minutes.