Chapter 54: 54 – Reverse Herding

"Handle the mobs over there first!" I told Nitana, pointing beyond the Rotted Cedarlyon. The monsters were closer to reaching Kezo on that side. She hesitated, looking back and forth between me and Kezo. "Focus there!” I insisted. “I'll call for your help here later!"

She gave me a firm nod. Fiery fairies swirled around her as she galloped in the opposite direction.

"Let's get this started," I said as I charged the monsters on my side while whipping myself.

My shell was up, both shields in front of my body, [Ancestral Constitution] maxed. My hooves dug into the snow as I thundered onwards, raking them to the sides as if I was parting waves. If only I had epic background music to accompany my charge."

Monsters came crashing out of the forest, perhaps double the number as before.

I curved to the right, to a group of cackling Frost Imps climbing over a gigantic toppled Mardukryon statue.

Using their crude bows, they shot arrows as I passed by to say hello. A few of their projectiles hit and destroyed my [Greater Pyro Shell]. Good thing I had cast it several seconds before and it was already off cooldown. I managed to recast it in between the rain of arrows otherwise I would've died even if most of them missed.

I'm squishier than a marshmallow melted in the microwave!

My regeneration and [Healing Touch] could patch me back to full health in a few seconds—obviously, that was good. But it highlighted the problem that my health pool was still incredibly low even if all my attribute points were invested in Vigor. High health regeneration meant nothing if I was dead in a second or two.

The Frost Imps released another clumsy volley, but I was already out of their range and heading to another group of monsters.

Screeching in anger, the imps placed their bows on their backs and dropped on all fours, crawling on the ground like four-legged spiders to chase me. Their wide mouths that stretched ear to ear spewed glowing blue wisps. If they got close enough, their breaths would slow me down and spell my doom—is that too melodramatic?

Right now, I shouldn't think of what was in front of me. I should focus on what was in front.

Hollering Nixigaunts ambled on their knuckles like gorillas towards the Rotted Cedarlyon. I hurled rocks at them—that got their attention.

Some of them brandished blades of ice, others had their massive fists held high, ready to slam the ground as I came near. But three continued onwards, ignoring me. Dammit! I’m not attractive enough for them? And to think Mum said I’m handsome.

"Juicy level twelve target here! Come get me!" I yelled as I rushed to head off the Nixigaunts separating from the rest. I ducked under swinging ice blades and navigated my way through cascading mini glaciers as these troll-like beasts brought their fists to the ground for their AoE freezing skill.

And I was safely through—Boom! That’s a lie! My shell!

One of the Nixigaunts swiped my flank with an ice blade. Another slash I couldn’t avoid brought my health bar down to a sliver. Ripples of ice nearly caught my hooves. I didn't bat an eye at nearly dying. I calmly healed myself and recast my shell as I continued to chase my targets.

With my sling, I aimed for the leading Nixigaunts. My stones hit their backs. They turned around and roared. Then they hunkered down on their knuckles and followed me. Mission accomplished!

The Cedarlyons and Laphisheres up ahead were getting closer and closer to my partymates killing the mini-boss. In between the marching trees, the rolling monster rocks sped up. I couldn't reach all the Laphisheres in time, but perhaps I could still herd the Cedarlyons.

Is this what a cockroach feels like? The thought crossed my mind as the colossal Cedarlyons stomped around me. I weaved through their legs like a dog running through an obstacle course, trying to hit every one of the monster trees with my sling.

Please let attacking be enough to get their aggro. I hoped that being the only player nearby could help ensure they switch their attention to me. I should've bought [Enraging Taunt] if nothing else, I berated myself.

I had thought about upgrading my gear when I should've bought helpful Ocadule Shards instead. Kezo and the others didn't even bother checking my equipment because they expected me to die, or at the least be as useful as a fart in the wind. If I had taunt and CC skills, maybe some debuffs as well, I would've had more impact on this team.

"Megan, behind you!" I shouted. Rocks from Laphisheres smashed into her back. Oof, that's a late callout.

"Thanks for the heads up!" she said. It wasn't in a mocking way, but more to be polite to the dumbass newbie. She got damaged, but only slightly as I could see from her health bar. After all, she was seven levels above the [Lvl 37 Laphishere] although she was using a DPS build.

Her Totem turned around and shot beams of concentrated fire like a blowtorch at the Laphisheres and some Cedarlyons I wasn't able to aggro. If I had been able to gather those monsters too, there wouldn't have been a drop in their DPS on the mini-boss. Sponge up all those learning opportunities. It's not only the character that levels up but also the mind of the player.

"Nitana! Nitana!" I desperately called as I sharply turned left, heading back to my partymates. I didn't bother checking the monsters chasing me like I was a famous actor mobbed by out-of-control fans.

Their howls, roars, and screeches, as well as the slushing snow and shaking ground told me there was a battalion of them that wanted a piece of me...or pieces of me.

Over the din of the monsters, I heard several twangs. I erratically ran to avoid the falling arrows, then returned to a straight line as the Cedarlyons were about to catch me with their long limbs.

I heard the rumbling of the Laphisheres catching up, and I crisscrossed, almost gambling where they'd come from. They blew past, stopped, and then slowly rotated themselves to face me. I was right, they were laughably slow at turning.

"Herald! I'm here!" Nitana circled from the other side of Kezo and the Rotted Cedarlyon. The rising smoke and the sparkles of light coming to me like a swarm of fireflies told me that she had killed plenty of mobs on the other side.

"Tactical air strike on me!"

"Wha—?"

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"Your fairies! Send them to me!" I kept dashing left and right in front of the monsters like a large piece of meat tied to a string dangled before a pride of hungry lions.

I was doing this not only to avoid the attacks of the monsters but also to bunch them up more. Those in front would stop to attack me as I passed, and those at the back would press against the front row as they tried to reach me as well. And I also didn't want them to get closer to my partymates so zigzagging delayed them.

But it was also very dangerous and I couldn’t keep this up for long. I was one mistake away from death.

"Come here!" Nitana told me, gesturing with her hand. She cast her barrier sprite on me. "Get out of the way so I can attack them."

"I'm staying here! Send your fairies to me!"

"What are you talk—?"

"Blow me up! Pound my spot with explosions!" Is someone not going to take the cudgels of joking here?

Every party should have a Mason. Alas, I couldn't fill that role. The most I could do was set up the joke. Such a loss that there was no one to deliver the punchline.

I wasn't sure if Nitana understood my plan, but she began summoning her fairies and sent them in my direction. "I hope you know what you're doing."

"Just keep sending fairies!" I dug my hooves into the snow to brake myself. The Nixigaunts caught up, wildly swinging their blades. Nitana's fairies descended. I extended my arms, accepting the sweet release of death like a hero staying behind with the bomb, sacrificing his life to detonate it while others fled.

KABOOM! BO-BOOM! Boom!

"You fools! There's no friendly fire here!" I gloated at the dying Nixigaunts swallowed by the flames while I stood unharmed. This was something not possible in real life. Well, it was possible…but it would be only a one-time thing.

Cedarlyons, Laphisheres, and Frost Imps also continued coming to me. But so did Nitana's fairies. The monsters converging on my location were like moths flying to a candle's fire. I continued casting [Healing Touch] and [Greater Pyro Shell] while moving back and forth to avoid random arrows and rocks flying around. I also momentarily switched to my whip to restack my [Ancestral Constitution], before returning to dual-wielding shields.

"Don't let up, Nitana!" I yelled. I couldn't see her because of the smoke and fire. "Continue what you’re doing!" I hope she can hear me.

Standing amid a blazing inferno was even better than a hero walking away from an explosion. The sparkling lights from the Essence and Gli made it seem as if I was ascending to Valhalla, climbing steps made from the bodies of the surrounding monsters.

Estimating that most of the mobs have died, I galloped out of the explosions and smoke. Several monsters followed me. "Continue killing them," I hurriedly told a confused Nitana as I passed her. "I'm going to gather those on the other side."

"Gotcha," she said as she summoned more fairies to finish off the remaining monsters. "Leave these guys to me."

I repeated my herding process on the other side, albeit with far lesser monsters since Nitana had already cleared the majority of them while Kezo killed those that got past her. I led the mob back to Nitana and she destroyed them.

In a way, I supposed this was sort of 'reverse herding'. Shepherd dogs would chase around sheep to herd them. In contrast, the monsters chased me as I herded them. Hmmm...What the hell am I thinking? There go my random thoughts again.

"That was awesome teamwork, wasn't it?" I said as I returned to Nitana's side.

"I suppose," she said with a grin. "Thanks for holding back the monsters over here. I wouldn't have been able to handle them coming from both sides."

There's a joke somewhere here that I better not make. My first foray into boss hunting with a party was hitting me hard with nostalgia. I wasn't close with these guys so I should hold back on immature, and probably offensive jokes. A sense of innocence, free from the worry of the 'real world'...something that I hadn't felt since the time I played Nornyr Online—since the time I last lost myself in fantasy games—was returning.

And it felt great.

"But I didn't hold them back," I said. "I was distracting them."

"They didn't reach Kezo and Megan. Like only some. And that's more than what I can do on my own."

I checked how our boss killers were doing. The Rotted Cedarlyon only had less than a fifth of its health remaining, maybe a sixth—they managed to deal more damage because they weren't that distracted even though more monsters came in this wave.

"Let's go help them," I ran to the mini-boss. I waved at her to follow. "Hurry, before it calls for mobs again."

"But our role—"

"Trust me on this!"

"Okay, I will." And she followed me.