032 The Herald of Ashes!

Flame Warrior!

Just as the monk was about to roll over and start fighting, the Flame Warrior who had obtained the Brotherhood Sword leaped in front of the Undead Mage, blocking the monk's path.

"Damn, a summoned creature actually wielding the Brotherhood Sword as a weapon—you guys are impressive!" The monk, worldly and shameless, instantly shifted his resentment upon seeing the Brotherhood Sword was gone. "That wretch Totem Nether Spring, don’t think being a dual-talented professional makes you special. If I ever see him again… Anyway, you two, lend me some beer!"

This monk, who had just been itching for a fight, now pulled out a wooden cup and came over, asking for beer. So uncouth! Morning Breeze was used to his antics and paid him no mind. The Undead Mage had accomplished his task and gained two powerful summoned creatures, so his mood was good; he let the Flame Warrior step aside without making things difficult for the monk.

"If Totem Nether Spring hadn't tried to hog the Brotherhood Sword, I could’ve gotten it! So frustrating, so tragic!" The monk drained a cup of beer and immediately poured another.

"Ha! Shouldn’t monks abstain from alcohol?" Morning Breeze knew that the monk was likely a real monk in the outside world, and monks generally avoid meat and drink, but this one seemed to disregard all rules—and was quite lecherous, too.

"Tri-skilled benefactor, you misunderstand. As the saying goes, 'Let wine and meat pass through the intestines, but keep Buddha in the heart.' Drinking is just my way of paying respect to Buddha, nothing to fuss about." Not knowing how to address Morning Breeze, the monk simply called him "tri-skilled benefactor." After all, Morning Breeze could tank, heal, and deal damage, making him a formidable player with triple specialization. However, while he was versatile, none of his specializations were truly exceptional.

"Monk, you're interesting!" Hidden, the Undead Mage, rather liked the monk’s personality and added him as a friend.

As the monk added Morning Breeze as a friend, he suddenly cursed, "Damn you, Wind, it's you! Not honest at all, you even have an alt, and got yourself a hidden class! How could you betray me?"

The monk already had Morning Breeze's main account as a friend; when he added the alt, the system notified him, revealing Morning Breeze’s identity.

"Monk, feeling dissatisfied? Want another match? Last time you still owed me 22 minutes on the practice dummy—if you win this time…"

Morning Breeze hadn’t finished before the monk cut him off, "I don’t want to bully your alt. That 22-minute business, I’ve already forgotten!"

Fight Morning Breeze? This guy had taken down more than a dozen pro players; who would dare? Morning Breeze no longer had the advantage of a berserker, but his triple specialization was flashier than a paladin's. The monk felt he wouldn’t be a match.

"Right, I discovered a Bloodthirsty Werewolf lair with a friend. Interested in trying your luck? There might be dark gold equipment or hidden classes!" Hidden thought the two had enough strength; with two more, they might be able to topple the lair’s guards.

"Let’s go! Righteous as I am, I must rid the Alliance of these werewolves!" The monk’s sudden sense of justice was clearly triggered by the prospect of rare gear and hidden classes. For someone who’d fight for the Brotherhood Sword, he’d never miss such a chance.

"Bloodthirsty werewolves? I think I have a key in my warehouse. Wait here, I’ll go fetch it." Morning Breeze said, then used a town portal scroll to return. He’d gotten the key during a previous class change quest when saving Xiao Xue and her group, killing patrols for it, but never found the lair—now he had, and he wouldn’t miss the chance.

Near the entrance to the Withered Treefolk dungeon, Totem Nether Spring and the beautiful priestess watched the dungeon door. He regretted not inviting his guildmates and forming a proper party. With them, the shapeshifter wouldn’t have slipped in, and the Brotherhood Sword would be his. But the sword was a true test of brotherhood, and Totem Nether Spring felt that even with friends, he might not have gotten it. His dual talents clouded his judgment; he hadn’t expected Morning Breeze to upset his plans, nor had he anticipated the final boss being so powerful, requiring damage to be split amongst the party.

"They’re coming out!" As Totem Nether Spring pondered, the priestess spotted the monk, then Hidden the Undead Mage. Their outfits drew attention, making them easy to spot.

"Let’s see where they’re headed!" Totem Nether Spring was determined to get the Brotherhood Sword. Having just obtained the weapon, death within 24 hours would drop it. He didn’t know the sword was now a summoned creature’s weapon—killing Hidden wouldn’t make it drop.

"Wait, they’re resting under a tree, seems they’re waiting for someone," the priestess noted. The two showed no urge to leave, calmly resting under a nearby tree.

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"They probably don’t have the Brotherhood Sword, or they wouldn’t dare stay here. Most likely, the shapeshifter has it." Totem Nether Spring found it tricky, knowing Morning Breeze’s class had stealth abilities, making him hard to catch.

Soon, they saw Morning Breeze suddenly appear before the monk and Hidden, then Hidden cast a teleport spell, and all three vanished.

System: You have discovered the Dark Forest.

Hidden brought them by teleport to the Dark Forest, where another player was already waiting—a Barbarian, weapon warrior, with a massive two-handed sword slung across his back.

This weapon warrior, larger than typical barbarians, was known to Morning Breeze from his previous life—a super expert wielding the unique epic weapon, Ashbringer.

"My friend, War Maniac, owns a bound epic weapon, Ashbringer," Hidden introduced briefly. "The new friends: this is Duan Morning Breeze, his alt is a barbarian shapeshifter, triple specialized. This is Monk, a Windwalker and Brewmaster monk, main talent Windwalker DPS."

"Greetings!" War Maniac spoke, his voice booming, much like Morning Breeze’s own.

"Hello!" Morning Breeze and the monk replied, though the monk couldn’t resist gossiping, "War Maniac, could I see your Ashbringer? It’s my dream to have an epic weapon."

"Of course!" War Maniac replied readily, taking out the Ashbringer. It was a black broadsword marked with a skull icon, the entire weapon shrouded in darkness—a truly imposing sight! This was the legendary Ashbringer. Morning Breeze wondered how War Maniac had acquired such a formidable weapon.

"Once the quest is done, I’ll have my main fight you. My main’s a dual-talented warrior, Berserker and Shield Master, with two epic Brotherhood Swords—one at 100% attributes, a match for your Ashbringer." Morning Breeze genuinely wanted to test War Maniac’s strength; if not for the werewolf lair quest, he’d have pulled him into the arena already.

"I’d love that!" War Maniac clearly shared Morning Breeze’s enthusiasm and was eager for a duel.

"Let’s focus on the quest," Hidden reminded them.

As the four headed to the Bloodthirsty Werewolf lair, they assigned roles: Monk as tank, Morning Breeze as healer, Hidden and War Maniac as DPS. The monk protested, claiming he could heal and wanted to swap tanking with Morning Breeze; tanking meant enduring pain, and his tanking skills weren’t top-notch. Morning Breeze, as a triple specialist, had no objection.

The lair’s first level was guarded by groups of six Bloodthirsty Werewolf sentinels, apparently linked by threat chains. "I can’t pull six at once!" the monk exclaimed.

These werewolves were level 25; the monk struggled with two, let alone six. Hidden was puzzled. "Last time, only four were together; now it’s six, and level 25."

"The Horde’s sentinels keep getting stronger—players are hitting level 20, so the guards’ level and numbers rise." Morning Breeze offered a suggestion, "Let’s each pull three. Monk, prepare your healing orbs, I’ll cast Rejuvenation on you. Hidden and War Maniac, focus on Monk’s three, then mine."

"Okay, I should manage!" Six werewolves were impossible for the monk, even with healing, but three was manageable. Hidden and War Maniac had explosive DPS, so they’d kill quickly. The monk could prepare three healing orbs in advance, each restoring 10% health—three chances to recover.

The six werewolves’ threat chain meant not all aggro focused on one; when one was attacked, they all targeted the same player. If Morning Breeze’s damage exceeded Monk’s by 20%, he could pull aggro. Monk would attack three, and Morning Breeze would pull the other three—no problem.

Rejuvenation!

Morning Breeze couldn’t cast healing spells in bear form, so he buffed Monk and himself before pulling. He drew three werewolves aside, using Swipe for damage, then constantly leaped about to dodge attacks. He didn’t need to maintain aggro for others to DPS, since Hidden’s Flame Warrior and War Maniac focused on Monk’s three; Morning Breeze just needed to keep his three occupied.

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It had to be said, War Maniac and Hidden’s Flame Warrior had incredible burst—they prioritized area skills like Cleave and Whirlwind, then focused single-target attacks to kill one werewolf quickly, lessening Monk’s pain.

The Brewmaster monk’s tanking principle was being in Ox Stance, reducing damage received by 25%, lowering crit chance by 12%, and gaining Drunken Fist effects—each attack only dealt 70% damage, with the remaining 30% deferred for 10 seconds. Using "Bloody Brew," generated by skills, removed the stacked deferred damage; each brew only consumed one point of true energy, so the monk constantly drank to dispel it, using Drunken Fist to minimize damage.

The monk really did resemble a drunken master, drinking from a flask while dodging attacks with agility, unlike novice monks who just took hits head-on. Though lacking healing, he could tank three werewolf sentinels for a short time, and if things went wrong, could activate damage mitigation skills.

Morning Breeze, though not a true drunken master, had stylish movement. He leapt about skillfully, frequently shifting back to human form to toss heals to Monk or himself. Operationally, Morning Breeze was more advanced, able to tank three werewolves while shifting forms and healing, whereas Monk was struggling.

Luckily, War Maniac and the Flame Warrior quickly dispatched Monk’s werewolves and came to help Morning Breeze. Now, he didn’t need to shift forms—he needed to build more threat, or else lose aggro. If threat overflowed, the fight would turn disastrous.

Clearing six werewolf sentinels wasn’t a problem, but dealing with hordes took time. After testing the pull, Morning Breeze said, "Monk, I’ll pull next. Just heal me!"

Monks had healing skills, but without Mistweaver talent, their heals were much weaker. Still, it was a minor heal. Monk was nervous, "Wind, you’re a makeshift tank and dare to pull six? If you die, don’t blame my poor healing—honestly, I’m not great at healing!"

Healing required skill; casting spells involved timing and technique. Advanced healers could blend incantations to reduce casting time, but it took extensive practice and gestures—very complex. Monk admitted he couldn’t do it, which is why he chose Brewmaster for tanking.

"No problem! Bear tank has high dodge—it’ll be fine! But you need to let me pull first, or some mobs may go rogue. Focus your attacks on the front three, and position yourselves accordingly. When I leap back, you can take my spot and use Cleave for maximum effect."

Morning Breeze planned to split the mobs into two rows, front and back, so he’d only take hits from the front row. This made pulling harder and required high teamwork from DPS. He’d attack the front row, so the back row’s aggro would be low. If War Maniac and the others attacked from behind, aggro would overflow; they could only attack the front. Morning Breeze occupied the front, with three werewolves behind—safe from attack. Only the left and right had openings, and warriors’ Cleave worked best from the front, testing their movement and speed. Hidden’s Flame Warrior required even greater skill.

To maximize efficiency, this was the only way. He had to manage the front three, build enough threat while dodging, and keep the back three’s aggro built—otherwise, War Maniac’s Whirlwind would pull them away.

"We’re not the problem—it’s whether you can hold aggro!" War Maniac was confident in his own skills, but knew tanking required greater expertise—even he couldn’t do it, and wasn’t sure if Morning Breeze could manage.

"Let’s try!" Morning Breeze wasn’t certain either; he wasn’t a professional tank, only practiced in duels. Now, he’d find his limits.

"Great!" Monk was delighted—not having to tank, just tossing heals from the side, was a luxury. If he could avoid tanking, he definitely would.

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