Chapter 47: The Azure Dragon’s Poisoned Claws

Before they knew it, the seventh morning had dawned.

After coordinating through their friend system, the group resolved to act swiftly, crushing the lurking danger before it could fully emerge.

Hank and Kabasiji, having formed their party, arrived at the entrance of the ‘Azure Dragon Forest,’ where Xue Hu had been waiting for some time.

Hank traded the newly crafted Level 200 blue-grade set to Xue Hu, a set he had forged overnight using the rare ores Kabasiji had unearthed the previous evening.

Xue Hu accepted the armor and promptly equipped it, her gaze sweeping over Hank and Kabasiji’s gear, confirming their readiness.

“The Azure Dragon is no ordinary monster; melee weapons inflict limited damage upon it, unless one possesses a ‘Divine Artifact’ like the one Yi Ye Zhixia wields.

Therefore, we must exploit elemental weaknesses, and gold-elemental orbs are our most effective means of offense,” Xue Hu ‘explained,’ holding up a wooden board.

“While we haven’t found any items that specifically weaken the Azure Dragon, if the three of us share the incoming damage, with those whose health is low retreating to recover and those with higher health increasing their output to draw aggro, we should be able to defeat it through this cycle.”

“Yes, that’s the basic strategy,” Hank affirmed with a nod.

“Even without special items, with three of us working together, we should be fine.”

“However, since coordination is key, we’ll need a commander.

Xue Hu, communicating via a wooden board isn’t ideal for leading, so I’ll take on that role.

Kabasiji, my friend, you don’t have any objections, do you?”

“I have no objections, Hank, my brother.

You should definitely lead.

Having one person direct us will prevent chaos,” Kabasiji said, nodding.

Xue Hu, holding up her wooden board, ‘stated,’ “I’m fine with that too.”

“Alright, then.

When the time comes, whoever I tell to go in, goes in; whoever I tell to retreat, retreats.

You absolutely must follow my commands, or a breakdown in sequence will spell our doom,” Hank declared, nodding.

“First, I’ll go in and draw its aggro.

Then, everyone should maintain a steady damage output to keep the aggro balanced.

When my health gets low, Kabasiji, you’ll step in.

I’ll fall back to heal, and Xue Hu will pause her damage output, allowing Kabasiji to take the aggro.

Once Kabasiji’s health drops, Xue Hu will take over.

We’ll repeat this cycle.

Is that clear to everyone?”

“Understood!”

“Got it!” Kabasiji and Xue Hu both nodded in agreement.

With their plan set, the trio then ventured into the ‘Azure Dragon Forest,’ stepping into the beast’s alert radius.

“ROAR!”

The instant the three stepped into its alert radius, the Azure Dragon immediately rose to its full height, glaring menacingly at the audacious ‘insects’ who dared to trespass.

Hank promptly shouted, “Everyone, fall back a bit! Let me draw its aggro first!”

With that, Hank pulled out a gold-elemental orb and hurled it towards the beast.

Indeed, the gold element boasted formidable penetrative power; the actual damage numbers that appeared on screen closely matched their theoretical values, effectively bypassing a significant portion of the Azure Dragon’s defenses.

However, the Azure Dragon’s health bar showed no discernible movement, indicating its HP was terrifyingly high.

This starkly reminded everyone of Yi Ye Zhixia, whose single strike had cleaved away a third of its health bar—a truly horrifying amount of damage.

“ROAR!”

Though this damage was utterly negligible, a mere drop in the ocean for the Azure Dragon’s vast health pool, it evidently enraged the beast, causing it to lock its aggro onto Hank.

The Azure Dragon swiped a claw, striking Hank and displaying a ‘-50’ damage notification, which instantly brought a collective sigh of relief from the group.

The Level 200 blue-grade set indeed offered astonishing defensive capabilities, and given that the Azure Dragon was a wood-elemental monster not specialized in offense, the somewhat comical ‘-50’ damage figure made sense.

However, immediately afterward, a green ‘Poisoned’ status effect appeared above Hank, followed by a continuous stream of ‘-200’ damage notifications.

In short order, Hank’s health plummeted by a third before the ‘Poisoned’ state finally subsided.

“Holy crap, that’s terrifying! So getting hit by the Azure Dragon poisons you! Thankfully, even with the poison damage, it’s not too painful.

The three of us can still endure this!” Hank immediately retreated, shouting, “Full damage! Be careful to dodge the Azure Dragon’s claw attacks—they’re venomous!”

There was no need for Hank to elaborate; Kabasiji and Xue Hu were already aware of what had transpired.

Within a party, all data and information are shared, allowing everyone to see what happens to each member.

Kabasiji and Xue Hu began calmly launching gold-elemental orbs at the Azure Dragon, while Hank simultaneously healed himself and continued to throw his own orbs, all while striving to evade the dragon’s assaults.

The Azure Dragon’s attacks were not easily evaded.

While its movements weren’t particularly agile, its sheer size meant that all its attacks covered a wide area.

Hank and the other two positioned themselves at three separate corners of the Azure Dragon’s alert radius, ensuring only Hank would bear the brunt of the attacks—a fundamental aggro-management technique for any tank player.

Gradually, Hank’s health dropped to a dangerous one-third of its total.

No longer attempting to be a hero, Hank bellowed, “Kabasiji, my friend, intensify your damage output! Draw the aggro to yourself! I need to fall back and heal!”

Upon hearing this, Kabasiji paused for a moment, not only failing to intensify his attacks but actually ceasing his offensive actions altogether.

Seeing Hank on the verge of collapsing, Xue Hu immediately ramped up her attack intensity, swiftly drawing the aggro to herself.

This allowed Hank to disengage and retreat to the rear to begin healing.

“Ah, my apologies, my apologies.

I didn’t react quickly enough just now, I spaced out for a moment, I’m really sorry.”

Only then did Kabasiji resume his assault on the Azure Dragon, turning to Hank to apologize.

“It won’t happen again.

I truly didn’t react in time just now.

My sincerest apologies.”

“Kabasiji, my friend, how could you possibly space out at such a critical moment?

If we all die, you won’t be able to defeat the Azure Dragon alone! Don’t try any clever tricks that you shouldn’t be playing!” Hank sensed something was amiss, suspecting Kabasiji was attempting to use this opportunity to let the Azure Dragon eliminate him first.

He spoke without politeness:

“While Xue Hu and I might take a bit longer to fight the Azure Dragon, it’s certainly not an impossible task.

If you pull a stunt like that again, I’ll kick you out of the party directly! At worst, Xue Hu and I will just restart the fight, and you can fend for yourself!”

“Apologies, apologies, it truly won’t happen again! My mistake, my mistake.” Kabasiji continued to apologize while attacking the Azure Dragon as usual, leaving Hank and Xue Hu uncertain whether it was a genuine error or if he harbored ulterior motives.

Xue Hu had also endured for a similar duration as Hank, and her health was now critically low.

Hank, therefore, shouted again, “Kabasiji, my friend, it’s your turn now! Don’t you dare space out again! Xue Hu, fall back and let Kabasiji draw the aggro!”

This time, Kabasiji did not space out.

He immediately moved into position, rapidly launching a volley of gold-elemental orbs at the Azure Dragon, successfully drawing its aggro.

As Xue Hu retreated to heal, she met Hank’s gaze from across the battlefield, and in their eyes, they both discerned a shared distrust towards Kabasiji.