Knowing the layout for the second level helped a little with how fast we were clearing it, but we made sure to clear out everything so there wasn’t that much difference in the time it took. Never know when a boss will do something annoying like call the whole floor down on you. Better safe than sorry, plus it was good experience toward the next level. When we go to the passage leading to the mini boss we took a break to recover and rest up then moved on. Entering the tunnel we all understood this fight would be a lot different from the one upstairs. It looked easy at first glance but I had a bad feeling about that fact. There were just a bunch of normal skeletons with a variety of weapons and no armor. Must have been a couple dozen of them, but they were weaker than the ones that we had been fighting at only level fourteen.
When we entered all the skeletons came to life and started chattering and moving toward us. We attack and I start getting more nervous as Timbre wades in, smashing enemies left and right. The rest of us pitch in and bones begin to fly everywhere. A few minutes later the floor is littered with lifeless bones and Timbre has a few scratches. I quickly take care of her by laying my hands on her shoulders and casting Reverse Pain a few times. After that we head in separate directions to start looting. When I look around though none of the bones are dissolving like all the other things we killed in here did. A cold shiver runs down my back and the ominous feeling I had before comes back with a vengeance.
“Form up! Get back together!” I shout my warning just as all the bones scattered about start to vibrate. The ruckus from all the skeletons clattering about on the stone floor is intense. As all the girls gather around I try to find the source of the disturbance. In the center of the room where the most bones are stacked I can see a light peeking out from between them. As we watch the bones all around the room start to rise up off the floor and spin around the room. It’s like there is a tornado in the center of the room picking up speed. It spins all the bones around, slowly pulling all of them to the center where the light is. Now that the bones aren’t blocking my sight I can see a glowing spell circle on the floor. It’s a pentacle almost enclosed in a circle with just the points of the star going beyond the barrier of the circle and it was glowing a deep vibrant purple color.
All of the bones in the room are caught up in the phenomenon and in a short time are condensing in the center of the room. Above the center of the circle they start locking into place with one another and something is taking shape. The whole process takes a couple minutes and when it’s done there is a figure standing in the middle of the room. It is completely composed of the bones of those skeletons we defeated and stands about nine feet tall. Standing on four legs that resemble an insects with a human-ish torso attached like some sort of bone-spider-centaur. There are four long arms with vicious looking claws formed with the canine teeth of the skulls that adorn its torso like a macabre armor. Last, the head looks to be formed of two different skulls that were ripped apart and pieced back together.
Now fully formed, the horror in front of us snaps its bifurcated jaw together with a loud sound that reminds me of two rams butting heads. Looking in our direction with its purple flames for eyes it leans over and takes up a weapon in each of its four arms. Now it’s armed with a short axe, short sword, dagger and wooden club. Not one to just stand by while my enemy gets powered up like in some cheesy anime I have been preparing myself. When the level 16 Bone Abomination starts to advance on us I raise my hand in its direction and release the overcharged spell I was holding. On the next step forward a dense spike of stone shoots out of the ground to strike the joint where the leg connects to the rest of the body.
The result of my attack is a good start, destroying whatever is holding those bones together while shattering the bones on contact. Down a leg now the thing that is advancing on us looses a good chunk of health. Unfortunately that only slows it down for a moment and the three remaining legs shift to compensate for the lost limb. Timbre takes her position at the front and the other two release their spells. Thia is striking its arms but the damage is all superficial, and Azzaria is trying to use Roots to slow it down with no effect.
“Focus on the joints. They are the week spots. Start with the upper left arm, the one with the club.” After giving out the order I follow my own words and hit the mentioned joint with a fireball. The concussion knocks the shoulder back a little preventing it from using the club as Timbre closes with it. The momentary pause also allows for an arrow and Ball Lightning to connect with the same spot. The concentrated attack doesn’t destroy the limb though. It’s damaged and I can tell that it isn’t able to use the club very well, but it can still move. Timbre uses the distraction to good effect and smashes her hammer into another leg while ducking to avoid a quick slash from the dagger.
I tell Thia and Azzaria to switch targets to the upper right arm with the axe and continue my attack on the already weakened limb. My ice lance nearly misses the joint when the boss swings the club to be intercepted by Timbre’s shield, but with the amount of control I have over my spells now I’m able to adjust slightly to compensate. The spear of ice digs into the shoulder joint and sticks there. Frost starts to form over the limb and the left side of the torso, slowing it down some. I’m not sure if it’s because of the icy obstruction still lodged there or if there was just enough damage done, but the club wielding limb goes limp. I targeted that one first because the club could have caused some trouble for Timbre if she took too many hits. As it is, Azzaria has to cast a healing spell on her after taking just one hit from the large weapon to her shield.
Timbre is holding her own while blocking or dodging most of the hits and countering the very few hits with a glowing hammer to the torso. Every time she connects there are pieces of skull and skeletal armor flying everywhere. The other two have connected with the axe wielding arm a few times but it’s still working. That is when I check the abomination’s health to see it’s at fifty percent and before I can call a warning the boss spins a full circle. Timbre was the only one close enough to be hit with the weapons it holds but a glowing silver shockwave spreads out to knock the rest of us back a step.
The sudden strike from multiple weapons knocks Timbre off balance and to the side, the shockwave after forcing her to take a knee or fall over. The Bone Abomination takes advantage of her weakness and bends over sharply to bite into her shoulder. Standing back up with her in its mouth still, its lower arms try stabbing her. Luckily, Timbre didn’t lose her shield and hammer. With the shield held close, the arm with the dagger can’t get through to gut her. Meanwhile the sword wielding arm keeps getting deflected by her hammer. I’m worried about her though because she is still taking damage from the continued bite and is unable to counter strike in the position without taking serious damage.
Azzaria gets off another heal to help out Timbre but that is only a stop gap so we can help get her free. I take a few seconds to charge spells again but not to their full extent since Timbre is not doing well. Raising both arms I concentrate in order to direct the dual casting of Earth Spike at different legs. The one that Timbre had bashed earlier explodes from the attack but the other one only takes a little damage. The boss stumbles and falls to its knees as it takes on a bipedal configuration. The good news is that it released Timbre from its jaws. The bad news is that my antics have drawn attention to myself once again.
Our opponent is down to about ten percent health when it hops back to its full height once again. Ignoring everyone else it looks right at me and then throws all three weapons that it still has in my direction. I’m surprised by the move and miss deflecting the first one which is the dagger. It has enough force to shatter my Mana Barrier but bounces away doing no damage. I get my staff’s shield up for the next one but it skips off the edge before I can bring it in line. The spinning sword blade wings me in the left arm and the axe slams into the staff’s energy shield causing me to acutely feel the mana drain necessary to maintain the shield.
I survive the surprise attack and that proved to
be the end for the mini boss. Timbre jumps up behind it and I can see the silvery glow of her hammer overtop the monster’s head as she uses Crush with a powerful overhead swing. It comes down right on the things crown and continues right through the skull and neck before catching in its chest. With a wrench of her arm she tears the mithril hammer free and steps back as what’s left of the skeleton falls to the ground. As I look at her I can’t help but think about how sexy that was. We all wait for a moment to see what will happen now, but we all relax when the bones start to float away as the characteristic purple motes of this dungeon.
With the fall of the boss we all release a sigh of relief. Azzaria and I start casting our healing magic on our injuries and we all take a break. I take a few minutes to let the adrenaline leave my system and my racing heart to calm. While the others sit to rest I get up and walk over to where the boss fell to see what loot it dropped. All that remains is a gold ring. It’s a plain looking band with the image if an animal engraved in the face of it.
Gold Ring of the Badger: Simple ring made of gold and enchanted with the aspect of the badger. Item class: Rare. Durability: 25/25. +1 STR, +3 AGI, +2 VIT. Reduced pain received from injury.
I take the ring and show it to the girls. We all agree that is should go to Timbre, who puts it on with a big smile when I hand it to her. I can’t help but smile at her enthusiasm and the genuine joy radiating off her. The stat increases are what she needs, but as our acting tank the pain reduction makes it a given. I don’t think I’m the only one who feels bad for her whenever she takes damage for us by standing in the way of our foes. I can see Thia wince when she looks at Timbre’s injuries and Azzaria is always in a hurry to heal her.
After our looting and we have recovered I stand up. “Alright. I don’t know about all of you, but I want to get past this floor boss. I’m really starting to get sick of this smell.” It isn’t as bad as it was upstairs but it’s pervasive. I’m not getting used to it and it’s a constant annoyance even now. The only times the smell wasn’t present was in or near the safe rooms. With nods of agreement from the rest of my party I turn to the exit. We backtrack down the hall and to the branch that leads to the floor boss. The door we come to at the end of the hall is different than the plain one from upstairs. It’s a black metal with a large skull taking up the whole surface. The lower jaw of the skull is hanging open like it’s screaming and, as if that wasn’t creepy enough, the eye sockets have real flames within. The purple flames lick the top of the sockets and escape a little giving it the impression of fiery eyebrows.
Having inspected the door close up and seeing the difference, we all look to each other. Not knowing much about dungeons, none of us know if it means anything. After looking around at each other everyone stops, looking to me. I shrug my shoulders to them indicating I know as much as they do. Without further adieu, I step forward and give the door a push. I avoid sticking my hand inside the mouth because I may not be sure what is coming next, but I’m not stupid. All I need is to lose a hand by some dumb door trap that is so obvious. The door swings in silently from my push and reveals a dark hall with ceilings that rise higher than the light will show. It’s about a hundred yards wide and goes back for a long distance. We can’t see much deeper into the hall due to the distance but there are purple lights back there like the torches that have been lighting the whole place.
Shadows dance as we cautiously make our way down the hall. The torches are all along the walls but the hall is so large that the center is poorly lit and creating a perpetual twilight that we are traversing. The farther in we go the more I can tell there is something at the back of the hall. As we approach I can finally make out that there is a throne of bone on a raised dais and the lights we were seeing when we entered aren’t torches. They’re eyes. A cloaked figure sits hunched over in the throne and stares at us. When we are finally close enough to make out the facial features we stop. The door makes a lot of sense now. Upon the throne sits a skeleton in a cloak of midnight black material and, just like the door, its eyes are burning with deathly flames.
Tearyl the Lich, level 18. Dungeon Boss, 100% HP
I always hated fighting a lich back on Earth and I doubt that the experience will be any more pleasant here. Cliché as it is to see a lich at the end of an undead dungeon I can’t say I wasn’t expecting it. The place is named a crypt after all. Anyone who is a gamer knows that a lich means one thing. Adds. Or for the non gamer; a mob of undead helpers to make things more difficult. The whole time you fight the lich, his minions will be interfering and making it hard to interrupt the curses and other nasty spells the lich flings around. And on top of all that, this one’s description looks like he is the final boss in this dungeon. Meaning he will be the strongest creature in here.
When I see the information that my Identify skill provides I take a step back. I wanted to take at least a few minutes to try and strategize with my party, but as soon as my foot lands there is a booming sound from the direction we came. Looking back I confirm what I already knew, the door closed and trapped us here. Facing forward again I can see that the lich is standing up. I quickly turn to my team to establish some semblance of a plan.
“He is a lich, and I’m willing to bet that he is going to create more undead to fight us and keep us away from him. Timbre, your hammer has been the most effective against the skeletons so I want you to draw the attention of all that you can and start to lead them around while you fight. Keep backing up while you fight so they can’t surround you and take them out as fast as you can. Thia, Azzaria and I will focus on the lich, but we need to take out any of the ranged minions he calls as fast as possible.” I spit out the words as fast as I can and barely breathing as I rush to get the plan out in time. When I turn back to the lich I find him walking forward until he is at the top of the three steps leading up the dais.
I quickly cast my Mana Barrier while the girls do the same. Then I start charging a spell. Tearyl takes a moment to look at us standing before him and clacks his teeth together a few times. It takes a second to realize it, but I think he is laughing. His jaw bone snaps shut one last time with an audible click and he raises his arm. As it comes up his hand is exposed showing the bleached finger bones. When the lich has his hand raised straight up a purple haze appears around it and its eyes flare brighter. He drops that arm to the side the purple haze that was surrounding it shoots off in that direction. A moment later we can hear the rattle of bones and metal.
The back of the hall has less light than the rest of the hall so I didn’t see the bones in the corner before. I see them now though since they are moving and coming together to form minions that quickly equip themselves. They all have good looking leather armor and weapons that don’t look like they are falling apart. One has a bow and one carries a staff, while the other five have various melee weapons. There is one plus side to this start of the battle though. The lich’s theatrics gave me plenty of time to charge up the Ice Lance spell in my hands to the max. The mana feels like it’s a bucking bronco in my hands that could get loose at any second. Adding one final touch to the spell with the power of my will I set it to spin before I fire it at the dungeon boss.
I had never charged the spell as much as I just did and I found it to be a little intimidating at this strength. The spinning motion I started is causing a whistling as the spear of ice cuts through the air to the lich like a missile. The minions he had summoned were on the way to step in front of him but they could only get to within a few feet when my spell struck. I was pretty sure of what would happen but I was still a little disappointed when my spell struck a magical shield of purple that materialized in front of Tearyl. That is why I chose one of my stronger single target spells to begin the battle. My mood improves a little though when the impact shatters my Ice Lance and the larger than usual chunk of high speed ice becomes a multitude of shards that spray the minions who just arrived.
The attack didn’t cause the lich any damage and only a little to the summoned skeletons, b
ut that isn’t all it did. Looking back to the lich I am more pleased when I notice a few cracks have formed in the magic barrier. A bolt of lightning crosses my vision and brings me back to the task at hand. Focusing in on the staff wielding skeleton I start casting. It only takes a couple casts of Zapp from Thia and an Earth Spike from me while arrows fly around to take out our targets, but I am slowed down a little from being attacked. The lich wasn’t idle while we took out his minions. He was casting, and I was his target. The first thing he sent my way was a purple bolt of magic that had a screaming face at the head of it. That impacted my barrier spell and caused no damage. As I focused on eliminating the ranged minions I suddenly felt like my limbs were heavier and a feeling of exhaustion settled in.
It’s then that I noticed a new icon under my health and mana bars in the corner of my vision. Taking a second to focus on it I get the description. I’m affected by a debuff called Cripple. It has reduced my strength and agility by half for one minute. Thankfully it was me hit with this instead of Timbre. This highlights to me how some curses might get through my shielding. My guess is that it got through because there is no damage component to it. The next time the lich casts I raise an Earth Wall to block it which seems to work, but it does make me split my attention until the ranged minions go down. Timbre finished off two of her followers by this time. Things under control, Thia and I focus our loving attentions on the boss.
A Mage Rising: (The Chronicles of Herst 2: A LitRPG Saga) Page 16
