"Lilian, you're empowered now! Hurry and finish off the boss!"
"You got it, Kane!"
Lilian felt a surge of overwhelming power course through her body, filling her with confidence.
She let out a sharp cry, channeling an unprecedented amount of brilliant sacred light at the tip of her sword.
"Take this!"
-170!
Even with her low base stats, the Conceptual Armament enhancement and triple stat boost allowed her to deal nearly 200 damage in one hit.
At this rate, she'd finish off the boss in just a few more strikes!
But at that exact moment—A flurry of white lights shot out from the dense forest, striking the boss directly in the head.
Kane's eyes nearly popped out of his skull—but he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the boss was unharmed.
Tch. Amateur.
A dozen attacks and not a single one landed. Can't even steal a kill properly.
Kane sneered to himself, raising his sword to deliver the finishing blow—only to freeze in place, dumbfounded.
Instead of decreasing, the goblin chieftain's HP bar shot upward like an inflated balloon!
The thin sliver of red left was instantly replaced by a thick, healthy green bar!
"The boss gained 4,000 HP?! How is that possible?!"
Kane exclaimed in disbelief, wondering if he was hallucinating.
Those dozen white lights weren't attacks—they were Heals?!
An insane burst of healing that restored nearly 4,000 HP in one go?!
What kind of broken healing power was this?!
There was no way a priest this overpowered existed in the newbie dungeon!
The holy light orb Lilian had been charging froze mid-air.
Her mouth hung open, her excitement replaced by shock and confusion.
"Kane? What's going on?! The boss's HP—its HP is back up?!"
"It's Heal! Someone healed it! For 4,000 HP!"
Kane's voice cracked with fury.
He whipped his head around to stare at the direction the white lights had come from.
Three figures emerged from the edge of the forest, sprinting toward them.
Leading the charge was none other than Ethan!
"ETHAN!!"
Kane ground the name out through gritted teeth, his eyes blazing with rage.
He'd accounted for everything—Jason's team, the boss's mechanics, even the minion reinforcements—but he'd never expected Ethan to ruin his plans!
4,000 HP healed in one go—that was power no one at this stage should possess!
"Well, well. Fancy seeing you two here," Ethan grinned, meeting Kane and Lilian's glares with amusement.
"Ethan! Are you proud of yourself for pulling this cheap, petty stunt?!"
Lilian's face turned bright red with anger.
She pointed her holy sword at Ethan, her voice shrill.
"Healing the boss? Did a goblin kick your head in?! What do you even get out of this?!"
She couldn't wrap her head around Ethan's actions.
This made no sense! Sure, they'd done something similar to Jason's team—but that was different!
Ethan didn't bother responding.
He just gave her a cool, indifferent glance—one that held a hint of mocking disdain, as if he were watching a tantrum-throwing child.
This complete and utter disregard stung Lilian more than any insult ever could.
Her anger flared hotter than before.
"You—!"
Lilian started to shout, but Kane cut her off, grabbing her arm roughly.
"That's enough! Cut the crap!"
Kane's face was ashen, his eyes dark with fury.
He saw the situation far more clearly than Lilian did.
With Ethan here, plus the Jones sisters backing him up and that god-tier healing power—this boss was no longer theirs to claim.
Staying here would be pointless, not to mention dangerous—they'd risk being killed by the boss or the swarming minions!
"Kane! Are we just going to let them get away with this?!" Lilian cried, unwilling to back down.
The enhancement from Conceptual Armament was already fading from her body, and the exhaustion of the Exhausted debuff was starting to set in.
"Do you want to get swarmed by minions and die here?! Or wait for the boss to come after us?!"
Kane snarled.
He swung his sword, cutting down two charging goblins, then dragged Lilian toward the edge of the battlefield, fighting to break through the encirclement.
His mana was nearly depleted, Lilian was about to be weakened, and more minions were pouring in by the second.
If they delayed any longer, they'd never get out alive!
"Tch. They sure know how to run," Ella clicked her tongue, slashing at the goblin chieftain with her sword.
She spared a glance at Kane and Lilian's retreating backs, scowling.
"They got off way too easy."
"Focus on the boss!"
Amy's cool voice cut through the chaos.
Her sword flashed, deflecting a sneak attack from the side to protect Ella.
Her sharp eyes scanned the battlefield constantly, keeping track of every threat.
"The minions are closing in. We have to hurry."
"Got it, sis!"
Ella replied, redoubling her attacks.
With Ethan's absurdly reliable healing backing her up, she fought without any reservations, unleashing the full ferocity of a berserker.
Her bloodstained blade blurred as it struck, carving massive chunks out of the goblin chieftain's HP bar.
-1080!
-1104!
-1098!
Huge damage numbers popped up one after another.
Ethan's holy light always landed at the perfect moment, replenishing the HP she lost from Blood Burn and keeping her at peak fighting condition.
"Alright, Ethan—you take the last hit," Amy said as the boss's HP dropped to its final 100 points.
She and Ella stepped back in unison.
"Huh? Me?"
Ethan looked at them in surprise.
He hadn't really cared about getting the killing blow.
Those dozen Heals he'd cast earlier had already earned him the boss's talent:
Damage Reduction (B-rank): Reduces all damage taken by 20%.
This was already the biggest gain of the dungeon for him.
It would've been a bonus if he'd managed to copy the Jones sisters' S-rank talents too, but it wasn't a big deal.
Unfortunately, with his endless healing support, Ella's damage output had been absolutely explosive.
She'd shredded the boss's HP so quickly that he hadn't had a chance to copy either of their talents.
But Ethan wasn't worried.
He'd have plenty of opportunities to team up with them in the future—no need to fixate on it in the newbie dungeon.
"Of course," Amy smiled. "You're the one who turned the tide of this fight. And without your healing, Ella never would've been able to deal this much damage."
"Besides, we're giving you the boss and all the loot," Ella added, grinning from ear to ear.
"So you can't say no if we ask to team up with you later!"
"Fair enough. I won't be polite, then."
Ethan didn't waste any more time with pleasantries.
He raised his staff and brought it crashing down on the goblin chieftain's head, delivering the final blow.
-109! (FATAL STRIKE!)
The damage number floated into the air.
The goblin chieftain's massive body froze, the light in its blood-red eyes fading completely.
It crashed to the ground with a thunderous boom, dissolving into a dense cloud of XP and a few glowing loot items.
ANNOUNCEMENT: The Goblin Chieftain has been slain!
Final blow dealt by: Ethan!
Although Ethan had landed the killing blow, Ella had dealt the highest total damage—nearly half of the XP flowed into her body.
But no one would know exactly how many levels they'd gained until they exited the dungeon.
"Quick! Let's see what it dropped!" Ella rushed toward the glowing loot without hesitation, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
The light faded, revealing three items floating above the spot where the goblin chieftain had fallen, each emitting a faint glow of a different color.
"Whoa! Epic loot!" Ella skidded to a halt, her excitement evident—but she remembered the rules and didn't touch the items.
Instead, she turned to look at Ethan.
In the dungeon, some rare items would bind to the first person who touched them.
It was unlikely to happen in a newbie dungeon, but all players followed this unspoken rule out of respect.
Ethan's gaze swept over the three items.
The first was a round shield glowing with blue light, its surface etched with thorny patterns that gave it a rugged, sturdy appearance.
Bramble Shield
Quality: Fine
Requirements: Warrior, Knight, or similar classes
Effect: When a block is successful, reflects 50 fixed damage to melee attackers and restores 5 MP.
"A Fine-quality shield! With damage reflection and MP regeneration!" Ella's eyes lit up.
"Ethan, if you don't need it, you can sell it to my sister!"
"I don't have any use for it. You two can take it," Ethan said, handing the shield to Amy.
Amy didn't refuse.
She took the shield, feeling its slight weight and solid texture.
"Thank you," she said softly.
This shield would be a huge upgrade for her.
"But we agreed—all the loot is yours. I'll transfer the money to you once we leave the dungeon."
Ethan nodded, not arguing.
He wasn't the type to get hung up on trivial matters like this.
If she insisted on paying, arguing would only waste time—he'd just accept it.
The second item was a pair of leather boots glowing green.
Boots of Swiftness
Quality: Good
Requirements: None
Effect: Increases movement speed by 10%.
"Movement speed boots. Not bad," Ethan said, equipping them immediately.
The 5 Agility boost was negligible, but the 10% movement speed increase was quite useful—this would give him a noticeable edge in combat.
The last item was a skill book!
Skill Book: Mass Heal
Requirements: Priest, Paladin, or other Holy Light-aligned classes
Effect: Consumes 100 MP to restore (30 + 100% Spell Power) HP to all allies within a 5x5 meter area.
"Mass Heal?" Ella murmured, her voice filled with envy.
"Ethan, you have the luck of the gods! This is a game-changing skill for healers in the early game!"
With this skill, Ethan transformed from a freakishly powerful single-target healer into an invaluable strategic asset for any team.
Any guild with ambition would be scrambling to recruit him.
Amy was genuinely happy for him.
"Congratulations, Ethan. This skill suits you perfectly."
She could only imagine how devastating this Mass Heal would be with Ethan's absurdly high Spell Power.
Ethan was overjoyed.
He reached out and touched the glowing skill book, which dissolved into a stream of light and merged with his body.
Learned new skill: Mass Heal (Lv.1)
Mass Heal (Lv.1): Consumes 1 MP to restore (30 + 100% Spell Power) HP to all living creatures within a 5x5 meter area.
Ethan nodded in satisfaction as he read the skill description.
The power of his Grace talent spoke for itself.
The 100 MP cost had been reduced to just 1—and when combined with his Spell Cost Reduction talent, it became completely free to cast!