Sludge Beetle Bombs

I laid down the explosives to cover the entire safe zone and pitched a tent directly in the center. By the time I was done, I could sense that the group of players was already drawing near. Several scattered players that I had sensed had disappeared as well, probably thanks to Tim.

With the first part of my plan complete, I moved on to the next. I used telekinesis to levitate up above the geysers, directly above where the tent was. There was a thick mist provided by the geysers that would somewhat hide me from the other players, but I couldn't rely on it alone to keep me from being seen. I needed them to not look up, so I placed my Bluetooth speaker inside the tent before I ascended above the mists.

Telekinesis was very useful, but not really for flying. It required too much concentration for it to be used for tasks like this, and I needed my concentration for fighting. It was easy to push and pull, but anything beyond that would be too much. On the ground, my natural mobility and senses were at their best, so I need to make sure that no one spots me until after they're grouped and get hit by the explosives.

"Looks like… Just 15 more meters…"

"On your right, another geyser…"

"Clear…"

"Follow me, slowly…"

"Shhhh, up ahead…"

Thanks to my mind stat, I heard the voices of the Alorae soldiers as they converged on where I was located on the player map. They were very cautious and only surrounded the tent from a distance at first. If any of them looked up, I would be in a lot of trouble, so I pressed play on my phone. Enter Sandman by Metallica started to play, and I watched as the players started to look around at each other, confused.

About half of them were within the range of the explosion already, but I wanted them all, so I waited. Due to their confusion, none of them cared to look up, and they all eventually entered the blast radius. I tried to sense Gillion, but he was not there, along with several others I had sensed earlier. I didn't have time to search, I had to act now. The opening instrumental continued playing as they began to draw closer to the tent. Almost all of them reached the tent, and the song started with…

"Say your prayers."

At that moment, I threw the Sludge Beetle Bomb that was in my hand directly down at the tent, where it exploded and caused the rest of the explosions to violently erupt in the area. A thick purple sludge coated everyone in the 12-meter zone. I rocketed down, landing on top of where the tent was and looking at all the players surrounding me. I quickly used telekinesis to throw the sludge-covered tent to the side, so the spot where I was directly standing was clean.

"You're not gonna like this part, friends."

I flicked open the lighter and lit it with a smile. The players scrambled to try and get up and run, but it was too late. I dropped the lighter, and the entire area lit up in flames. One feature of the Sludge Beetle Bomb that was in the description was that it was flammable, but it was far more effective than I expected.

The area at my feet was clean from sludge because I had thrown away the tent, so I was in a good position. I had been worried at first that the sludge wouldn't light because of the thick mist, but everything was going according to plan, except for one thing. I still did not see Gillion anywhere. I had expected him to at least throw some shadow magic at me while I was lighting his soldiers on fire.

Several enflamed players rushed at me, injured but still not out of the fight. The plan was to rock their group a bit so that I could fight them easier. It would be much easier to take them on when they were disoriented in a hazardous zone. To them, I was definitely some kind of evil villain.

The song continued playing. "I tuck you in…"

Notification

You have resisted… 

Notification

You have resisted… 

Notification

You have resisted… 

Notification

You have resisted… 

…

A barrage of player skills were all used at once by the group of angry, burning players. I was not worried, and it was all thanks to their lack of concentration and the level of my resistance. That fucking mimic was the second-best thing to happen to me in this life, but I'll never tell him. He's the only reason why I can fight like this right now.

Durning the round of debuffs, three players rushed into melee range of me, coming from three separate angles. Two of them slashed at me with swords, and one thrust at me with a spear. Their moves were sloppy because of the fire, but I could tell that this was a coordinated assault. But what I expect to happen next is for several of their mages to fire ranged attacks and debuffs at me while I am distracted in close combat. I was surprised to see that none of the tanks had approached me first.

A second barrage of notifications hit me as I deflected the three blows made by the soldiers surrounding me. If anything, the notification screen hanging so often was the real debuff that they were trying to hit me with. Luckily, I resisted all of the spells that were cast at me, but I didn't block all of the magic attacks that were made. Among the mages, a few of them were throwing different spells at me, like fire, ice, and lightning.

A shard of ice cut into my shoulder as a plume of fire erupted beneath me and a bolt of lightning struck me in the chest. My vitality was so high that these attacks did not do much to me, but over time, there was no telling how much damage I would be accumulating as the fight went on. Gillion was probably sitting tight somewhere with his tanks, waiting for the small fries to weaken me. What an ass.

I leapt out of the safe spot I was standing in and rushed towards the cluster of mages that were slinging spells. They were being defended by two swordsmen and three spearmen. Right now, other than the mages, their guards, and the three soldiers who attacked me, the rest of the players were either too dazed by the explosion or too preoccupied with emergency healing to come at me. This was definitely the best time to pick off some of their mages.