When Shi Feng returned to the group, the Elite Night Rabbit had only a third of its health remaining.
The team worked well together. Kele held the enemy's attention from the front while the others attacked fiercely. To keep control of its aggro, Heizi held back instead of unleashing everything he had. He used Evil Lash to keep the Night Rabbit occupied, giving Kele a chance to catch his breath. Kele was doing well, too: he held the monster steadily and managed its aggro well. He was clearly no beginner, though he still had a long way to go before becoming an expert.
"Kele, don't focus on blocking with your shield all the time. This isn't like other virtual games. You have to hold the monster's attention, but you can also dodge its attacks. That'll ease the pressure on the healer. The rest of you, pay attention to your target when you attack. Don't just swing wildly. Aim for the rabbit's claws or weak spots. That'll take a lot of pressure off the MT, too." Shi Feng didn't jump in to help Kele. Instead, he taught the team how to fight monsters.
If everyone fought in God's Domain as if it were a traditional game, the results would often be disastrous. Healers could never keep up with the damage. Some teams brought an extra healer, but then they didn't have enough damage output and still got wiped. It took everyone months after God's Domain launched to gradually adapt to its combat style. Right now, they were still so naive.
Since Shi Feng intended to train them and lay the groundwork for his future guild, he naturally wanted them to learn how to fight in God's Domain as soon as possible.
The others had assumed Shi Feng was a noob, and some of them were annoyed. The experts hadn't said a word, so why was a noob giving orders? Still, Shi Feng's advice made sense, so they made a conscious effort to follow it.
Kele gradually changed his fighting style, no longer stubbornly blocking with his shield. When the rabbit attacked, he took a step back to dodge. He still had to block with his shield most of the time, but this greatly reduced the pressure on the healer.
With this change, killing the Night Rabbit became much easier.
The few Level 1 noobs were a little surprised, and their opinion of Shi Feng improved. He wasn't as useless as they'd imagined.
Shi Feng smiled faintly, unbothered. He simply watched Kele and thought he was doing quite well.
Kele would become a first-rate expert ten years from now, but he was still far from it. A top-tier MT wouldn't step back; he would dodge in place. When an MT moved, the monster followed, making things difficult for ranged attackers and costing them a lot of damage. But that technique required extensive combat experience and quick reflexes. Kele still had a lot of practice ahead of him.
Before long, the Elite Night Rabbit fell, dropping a Berserker skill book, Whirlwind, along with 3 copper.
Everyone marveled at the Hell-Grade drop rate. They'd killed just one elite monster and already gotten a skill book. If they killed a dozen elites, would they get a dozen books? Skill books were extremely rare outside; even an ordinary skill cost 1 silver coin.
Shi Feng understood what everyone was thinking, but Hell-Grade didn't have such a high drop rate. It was only three or four times that of Hard difficulty. Shi Feng handed Whirlwind to Lonely As Snow, who was still staring blankly, then gave Kele a Level 1 Bronze Equipment defensive plate armor dropped by the Dark Night Ranger. The team's strength improved a little at once.
Kele's mouth fell open when he got the plate armor. He hurriedly thanked Shi Feng. With this Bronze plate armor, his Defense increased by 14 points, and his health rose to 350.
Everyone present except Shi Feng and Heizi was envious. Bronze Equipment was proof that someone was an expert, and you couldn't get it no matter how hard you looked outside. Shi Feng had gotten this piece all by himself, yet he'd given it to Kele without hesitation. Everyone's opinion of him changed, and they felt their captain was a good guy. Unlike other captains, who would surely claim any gear for themselves as soon as it dropped, there was no way they'd give Bronze Equipment to a temporary team member. They'd definitely keep it for themselves.
After that, everyone followed Shi Feng onward.
The dim woods were still frightening, but after their fierce battle, the group wasn't as tense as before.
Every so often, one or two Elite Night Rabbits appeared on patrol, but the team handled them quickly. Kele held one off while Shi Feng and Lonely As Snow charged at the other. The ranged attackers focused on the Night Rabbit in front of Shi Feng.
Its 700 health vanished under their barrage.
They then helped Kele finish off the other Night Rabbit. Before long, both were dead, and they even dropped a healing skill book, Recovery. It had a 2-second cast time. Once learned by an Oracle, it restored 37 health at once, making it much better than Life Prayer. It also had no shared cooldown with Life Prayer, so the two skills together could easily withstand the Elite Night Rabbit's damage.
Sleepy Sloth kept thanking Shi Feng and the others for letting him learn the skill. This skill book was extremely important for clearing dungeons; it would sell for at least two or three silver coins.
"Don't worry about it. Skill books are meant to be used. Let's keep going." Shi Feng smiled in response.
Healing skill books were the most valuable and rarest after AoE skill books. But Dead Silence Forest was a dungeon designed to give players a solid foundation in God's Domain, and at Hell-Grade difficulty, basic healing skills had a high drop rate. In his previous life, Shi Feng had gotten four healing skill books from one Hell-Grade run of Dead Silence Forest. They weren't all that precious.
More than an hour later, Shi Feng's team finally spotted their first BOSS in a flat, open meadow.
Wilmi, Chieftain, Level 3, Health: 6,000.
Wilmi was a ferocious Night Rabbit, standing as tall as two people. Sharp steel claws tipped both paws. It loved to treat its prey to a bloody feast. Once caught, victims had their hearts and lungs torn out, leaving blood everywhere. Countless players had met their deaths beneath those deadly claws.
Seven Elite Night Rabbits guarded the area not far from Wilmi. They stood close together, and attacking one would cause the others to rush in as well, with a high chance of drawing the BOSS's attention.
Even Shi Feng couldn't withstand seven Night Rabbits, let alone a BOSS on top of them.
But they couldn't fight the BOSS without taking out the seven Elite Night Rabbits first.
"Brother Feng, what do we do now? There are way too many Night Rabbits here. They're not giving us a chance!" Heizi looked anxious. The BOSS was right in front of them, yet the system had thrown this obstacle in their way. The difficulty was outrageous. No wonder it was a Hell-Grade dungeon; without overwhelming strength, they'd never get through it.
The others were frustrated with the system's setup, too. Who could withstand seven Elite Night Rabbits? Even a Level 5 Guardian Knight probably couldn't manage it.
"Wait for me behind that boulder. Kele, get ready to pick up the aggro. The rest of you, don't attack without my signal." Shi Feng knew there were seven Elite Night Rabbits here. He pointed to a large boulder in the distance and gave the order.
The others obeyed without question. Shi Feng had directed them through every fight along the way, and they'd killed plenty of Night Rabbits. Everyone had gotten one or two pieces of Bronze Equipment, while Heizi had five. The team was now stronger than any other elite team, and that was entirely thanks to Shi Feng's leadership.
Shi Feng ran to a spot 40 yards from the seven Night Rabbits and quietly hid in the grass, watching their every move.
The others realized that Shi Feng meant to lure the monsters away, but the seven Night Rabbits were too close together. And Shi Feng was a Swordsman with no ranged attacks. How was he supposed to draw one away?
Time passed, and everyone grew anxious. If Shi Feng made one mistake, they'd all be wiped. But Shi Feng remained calm and motionless, watching the Night Rabbits in the distance.
Just then, a breeze swept by, carrying a leaf down from the treetops.
As the leaf drifted slowly toward the Night Rabbits, Shi Feng picked up a small stone beside him and tossed it gently.
It flew straight toward the Night Rabbit closest to the BOSS.
"We're done for."
Everyone knew what would happen next. The BOSS and all seven Night Rabbits would charge them and slaughter them.
Just as the stone was about to hit the Night Rabbit, the leaf drifted right between them.
The stone struck the leaf, which hit the Night Rabbit.
The Night Rabbit abruptly turned and looked around. It saw nothing but a leaf, yet somehow that leaf had hurt it. It then left the group and started searching the area, looking this way and that for something it couldn't identify. Before long, it had wandered more than 20 yards away, getting farther and farther from the others.
"That was incredible!" Lonely As Snow's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he exclaimed in amazement.
The others nodded silently.
What kind of precise judgment and aim did it take to hit the leaf just as the stone struck the Night Rabbit, confusing its aggro and making it blindly search for a target?
It was no exaggeration to call it a remarkable technique.
Was Shi Feng really a noob? Could he be some gaming expert messing with them?
"Summoner, you're up next. Let's see what you can do." Shi Feng returned to the boulder, looked at the Summoner, and patted him on the shoulder with a smile.