by Jason Cheek
My blades sank deep into Kharborg Bonebreaker’s back as a bellowing “Kiiiyaaa!” ripped from my lips. I immediately wrapped my legs around the Goblin’s waist as the mob reared back away from the table shrieking in agony. The boss’s Hit Points plummeted to a third as I ripped my blades free and slammed them home once again as the boss whirled around throwing himself back against the table trying to knock me off.
The entire time Unalia’s and Tinyr’s arrows continuously pelted the mob’s chest and face as the shaman flung himself back and forth, until sprawling against the tabletop where it had been working. Its health dropped to less than half as it urgently pawed at the table knocking the Light Elf corpse to the floor when it suddenly found what it was looking for. As Kharborg Bonebreaker’s fist snatched up the bone-headed staff, I felt power surge through the Goblin’s body as it threw its head back and bellowed.
“Knyja aftur!”
For a split-second, I’d thought the battle was going to be a cake walk. The ease at which Unalia, Tinyr and I had knocked the shaman’s Hit Points down below half had been unreal. A part of me had even wondered if I’d made a mistake keeping the rest of the team back to play it safe, but in the blink of an eye, everything changed as a wave of energy exploded out from the shaman blasting everyone off their feet. The intensity of the explosion was so severe that I immediately lost my Ice Barrier and Holy Shield all at once as my health dropped to nearly a quarter as a 30-second stun flashed to life on my virtual interface. As I laid there slouched against the wall unable to move my body, I saw the Goblin’s lips pull back into a cruel smile as its guttural speech began echoing throughout the room.
“Ah ny fornarloomb til tilraunum minum.” In a flash, the shaman’s Hit Points went to full health as a dark-green light enveloped its body. Seeing the incomprehensible look on my face at his words, the creature spoke again in common. “Ah, new slaves for my experiments. I look forward to hearing your screams as I peel the flesh from your bones.” There was a loud boom as the exit to the corridor was sealed with a thick stone slab as the Goblin threw back its head with a guttural bark of laughter. Raising its arms high above its head, the shaman began chanting.
Urgently I tried to cast every instant cast spell that I had in my repertoire, swearing each time an error message flashed before my eyes stating that the action could not be performed while stunned. I couldn’t move my head to look at the rest of the team, but the group stat window in the corner of my vision showed all of them down to a quarter health with the same flashing debuff icon under their avatars’ pictures. As I helplessly watched, a glowing red circle of runes appeared on the ground in front of the chanting shaman.
My mind immediately switched gears. This whole thing was probably some sort of a scripted scene within the game. Otherwise, the boss wouldn’t have looked so obviously weak and helpless. The questions I needed to figure out was what the shaman was going to do and how could I best keep my team alive once the debuff faded away? As the last seconds of the debuff ticked by, I thought about what Yun would do as soon as he was released and came up with what I hoped was a working plan.
Black, shadowy shapes began taking shape in the air above the glowing runic circle. As the seconds ticked by, five muscular creatures solidified before my eyes. Each humanoid mob stood at least six feet tall with long, coarse, black fur hanging from their bodies. Instead of a normal face, the summoned creatures had misshapen rat-shaped heads and glowing red eyes. I mentally swore as soon as the name tags above their heads became visible: Were-Rat warriors, Level 27.
Letting out an ear-piercing shriek, the Were-Rats focused their beady-red eyes on me, hungrily gnashed their fangs as the stun debuff released me from its hold. As the summoning spell ended, the Were-Rats hunched down on all fours and lunged at me. Thankfully, I was already moving. I lurched to my knees as a wave of ice ripped from my body with a shout.
“Frost Nova!”
Before the freezing blast reached the far side of the room, I’d already slammed my Marauder Warblade home into its sheath as I instant cast Ice Barrier. As the blue shield settled around my shoulders, the shaman’s clawed fist lashed out at me with a spell just as I released a Flurry bolt into the shaman’s face at point-blank range. In the blink of an eye, a thick cord of coursing electricity danced between us as my Ice Barrier’s defense points of magic protection began dropping like a rock. I tried to dive out of the spell’s attack radius, but the throbbing ribbons of lightning followed my every move as I rolled off the table diving to the other side of the room. While the spell hammered at my shields, thick streamers of energy lashed out around me like a living creature, almost as if the spell were searching for more victims to attack. Finding nothing in range the energy of the spell finally collapsed into itself, dissipating away as I sprung back to my feet blasting away at the shaman with my Frost magic once more.
There was no doubt in my mind that this spell was Chain Lightning. It was the expected upgrade to the lightning spell that the lower level shaman from earlier had used against me and was perfect for a boss fight such as this. Also, it was the only spell I could think of that a shaman could cast that could wipe out an entire team in one shot. Although the magic attack had lasted only a few seconds, the lightning strike had completely drained my magic shields and savaged my Hit Points. Mentally crossing my fingers, I could only hope that the bastard had a cool down for the damn spell, but with a dungeon’s boss, anything was possible.
My focus was so complete on slamming Flurry spell into the shaman ugly face that it took six blasts to realize that my icy shots weren’t actually reaching the boss, but shattering on some shimmering barrier about a yard out from the green bastard’s face. By then the Were-Rats were busting out of their icy prison, only to be refrozen in place as Yun’s Frost Nova exploded throughout the room. It was at that second the icy cold dread of what was happening sank into my bones as I sullenly realized the freeze spell had no effect on Kharborg and I’d already dished out at least 2,880 points of damage to whatever barrier was protecting the mob. That amount of damage was five times more than what my Ice Barrier could withstand.
“He’s protected by some sort of barrier against magic attacks!” I shouted completely freaked out as my mind went blank. “I can’t freaking hurt him with my Flurry bolts!”
Kharborg Bonebreaker’s gloating laughter rang my ears as the Goblin looked at me in disdain. Its glowing-red eyes filling my vision as the thought reverberated in my head that there was nothing we could do to stop him. It was in that critical moment that Yun’s Flurry bolts and Unalia’s arrows slammed into the Were-Rats in front of me. The mobs’ cries of pain partly seemed to clear my mind as the creatures launched themselves at the rest of the team with shrilling screeches of rage. It felt as if I were watching from a distance as Sarka lunged forward to stop the first Were-Rat with a Shield Bash. As her blade plunged to the hilt in the second mob’s chest, she yelled out at the top of her lungs.
“Don’t just stand there with your thumb up your ass, move your ass Ironwolf!” Sarka’s words made the pressure in my head worsen as my eyes felt like they were bulging out from the strain. It felt like I was fighting an invisible battle inside of my own head as I watched Sarka tackle all five Were-Rats at once. She took on their clawed attacks with her shield and sword, spinning and dodging like an All-Star as Tinyr called out to me urgently. “We got this Star, now go kill that bastard!”
My sword felt unbelievably heavy in my hand as I turned back to face the shaman’s terrible gaze. It felt like all of my willpower were draining out of my soul as I helplessly watched the Goblin raise its clawed fist towards me like an executioner. We stood there like that for what felt like an eternity as beads of sweat broke out on Kharborgs’s forehead. The screams of combat coming from the rest of the team as they fought for their lives faded away behind me as I fought against the psychic pressure demanding that I surrender … demanding that I simply give up the fight and die. A wordless growl tore from my dry lips as the mus
cles in my neck and back bulged out from the psychic exertion. It felt like I was straining against an unbelievable weight as I raised my sword before me like a shield and took a step forward.
“Falla niour til min ormur!” The shaman spat at me in its harsh guttural speech as it strained at me, baring its fangs in hate. “Bu ert ekkert!”
Ignoring the psychic needles piercing my skull, I drew my second blade forcing my body to take another step towards the evil creature. Blood ran from my nose and ears as I fought against the mental pressure one step at a time. By the time I managed my fifth step the terrible pain I felt tearing at my mind suddenly broke, disappearing as if it were never there as the Goblin staggered a step back clutching at its head in agony. Instantly the feelings of helplessness and defeat faded away as I snapped out of the mental funk that had been weighing my thoughts down. As my eyes came into focus once again on the shaman’s deformed face, I lunged forward burying both blades deep into the Goblin’s chest. Shrieking in agony, the shaman thrust its clawed fist at my chest as another massive bolt of lightning sizzled between us blasting me across the room.
The impact against the stone wall jarred my teeth as I slammed to a stop. The physical pain was almost a relief after the mental agony I’d just endured. Rolling back to my feet, I snatched my blades up from where they’d dropped as I checked over my stats. The lightning blast had taken a third of my remaining health away and made my teeth feel like they were going to explode. Spitting the blood from my mouth, I watched the shaman heal himself to full health as I cast my Ice Barrier once again. Meeting the Goblin’s hate-filled eyes, I watched the mob’s gloating look change to one of shock as I cast my own Minor Heal. My Hit Points rose once again, this time to 100% as Yun cast a follow-up heal on me back-to-back with a Holy Shield as a savage grin crossed my face.
“Is that all you’ve got?” I shouted in rage at the shocked shaman’s face as ribbons of red began filling my vision. Unconsciously I released a Frost Nova spell to help the rest of the team as I began stalking towards the green bastard that had fucked with my mind. “Because I’m going to beat the living shit out of you!”
No matter how pissed off and badass I felt, Kharborg Bonebreaker was still a level 28 Boss. Still, this time my mind was my own. Dual-wielding my blades, I began hammering at the boss like a maniac. Every other hit my weapons drew blood as we fought on the far side of the room. The Were-Rat skull perched atop the shaman’s staff made the weapon unwieldy as he tried to parry my strikes to no avail. I slowly and steadily started working the bastard’s Hit Points down with physical attacks. Every 30 seconds Kharborg would blast me with a lightning attack, completely depleting my Ice Barrier shield, but since my spell had the same cooldown, I’d simply recast my shield as soon as he blew his load. As I got into the battle’s rhythm of dodges and attacks, I began shooting Flurry blasts at the Were-Rats in-between attacks on the Boss and made sure to use my Frost Nova spell as soon as its cooldown timer was up.
It took nearly five minutes of constant fighting for the first Were-Rat to fall, but as the team got the hang of it, more Were-Rats followed the first. The second mob took almost as long as the first since the team was still fighting against heavy odds. During that time the Boss did his best to push me back towards the rest of the team, but even though the elite boss was three levels higher, he was still a caster, and my P&E exam gave me the extra strength I needed to keep the green bastard trapped in his corner of the room.
Every time Kharborg tried to step back to cast a heal spell, I was there with a Kick to interrupt the cast as I slowly worked the shaman’s Hit Points back down to half. The team never slowed down in their fight. Yun saved his Mana for casting Holy Shields, Minor Heals and Frost Novas as Tinyr and Unalia burnt down the mob’s one at a time. The third Were-Rat fell at the fourteen-minute mark of the fight, while the fourth collapsed to the ground three minutes later. Unfortunately, it was when the team began wearing down the last Summoned Were-Rat that the battle suddenly went south.
In a burst of overwhelming strength, Kharborg Bonebreaker suddenly stepped forward blasting me off my feet with a shriek of rage as he whirled around to face the rest of my team. Immediately a bolt of pure lightning shot out of his clawed fist targeting the rest of the team on the other side of the room. There was no time to warn anyone. One second Sarka was bashing the Were-Rat back with her shield and the next she was flying through the air like a ragdoll.
The attack didn’t stop there. As soon as the lightning hit, tentacles of glowing energy reached out for the rest of the team like an electric octopus connecting Yun, Tinyr, and Unalia together in a matter of seconds. Only this time when the spell faded away, the rest of the team was blasted off their feet as a clap of thunder reverberated throughout the room with a ground-shaking boom.
His summoned pet echoed Kharborg's bark of triumph as the Were-Rat leaped on top of Yun with a shriek of triumph. “Nooooo!” Yelling out in outrage, I began blasting the Were-Rat with my Flurry spells. My first struck the mob while it was still in mid-air. My second hammering the creature in the back of the head as its clawed fist sank deep into Yun’s chest as his life bar turned gray. My third blast hit the Were-Rat as it spun around in slow motion as the spell’s slowdown effect kept the creature from using its unnatural speed. As my fourth blast hit, Sarka leaped onto the mob’s back as she tore into the dying Were-Rat like a woman possessed as Tinyr and Unalia piled on top of the creature a half-second later, flailing with their weapons. Turning my focus back to the gloating shaman, I saw the boss was once again at full health as the adrenaline from my rage flowed through my veins.
“I’m going to rip your freaking head off and shit down your throat!” I raged like a berserker throwing myself atop the Boss. My Overpower skill kicked in driving the Goblin to ground as my blades pierced through the creature’s chest and the stone beneath. Ripping my Jagged Bonesplitter Axe from my belt, I began hammering at the shaman with two-handed blows as blood spattered around me with every hit. As Kharborg’s clawed hands ripped at my chest and legs unable to get through the Marauder Armor, I hammered my axe blade again and again into his foul face as a sheen of red fell over my eyes.
I don’t know how long I battered the shaman boss or when the horrid creature finally died. I came to trying to catch my breath on top of the bloody remains of a hacked-up Goblin. Sitting back on my calves, I threw my head back breathing heavily as the axe-handle fell from my hands. My head swam as I leaned forward to grasp the hilts of my blades still buried in the mob’s chest. Bunching up my muscles, I surged to my feet ripping the swords out of the Goblin’s corpse and the ground underneath in one smooth motion as I whirled around looking for more enemies.
“Whoa, there champ!” Tinyr yelled out worriedly. Backing away from me with both hands held up with the palms facing out, he spoke hurriedly. “Everything’s good, man. There’s nothing left to kill. It’s just your friends here man so put the weapons down.”
Dropping my blades to my sides, I plopped bonelessly onto my ass. Realizing that wasn’t enough, I dropped all the way to the ground and rolled onto my back, feeling like I was about to pass out. A second later, Sarka was there passing me a waterskin.
“By the way, that was pretty badass.”
Gulping down half the contents, I recapped the water skin and hugged it to my chest. “Actually, that’s my line.” I tiredly said, shaking my head as Unalia walked up behind Sarka. “Seriously, you guys kicked freaking ass. Sarka, I still can’t believe how you tanked all five of those freaking level 27 Were-Rats.”
“Thanks,” Sarka said blushing furiously. “It does help to be somewhat near the mobs’ levels for a change.”
“Your level 25?” I asked surprised, focusing on her character’s properties. “When did you level up?”
“I got the level when we took down the second rat,” Sarka said proudly. Actually, everyone leveled up. Even Yun.”
“Grats on reach level 25 guys,” I said nodding at Tinyr and Unalia. “I fre
aked out when everyone was blown off their feet.”
“No shit Sherlock,” Tinyr said rolling his eyes. “You were kind of scary there at the end. Unalia wanted us to help you when you dropped down to 70 Hit Points, but no one wanted to get close to your swinging axe.”
“Dropped down to 70 Hit Points …” I squeezed my eyes up trying to remember what happened after I lost my temper. “When the hell did that happen?”
“When you were pummeling the boss to death,” Unalia stated quietly looking away.
“Yea that was pretty badass,” Sarka said, her eyes glowing. “The first time he blasted you with that lightning spell at point blank range you just shrugged it off like it was nothing, but the second one was something else. You were in the middle of hacking his arm off when the spell blasted you to the ceiling.”
“I’d never seen anything like that. The fucker never got a chance to pull those swords out. You bounced back to your feet in the blink of an eye and began hacking his arms off.” Tinyr said with a nervous laugh. “Remind me never to piss you off, man.”
“Then how did I get down to 70 Hit Points?” I asked confused.
“Well, he blasted you another two more times after that,” Tinyr said with a shrug. “Like I said. We wanted to help, but Unalia made us wait.”
“No sense in getting hit by that Chain Lightning spell,” Sarka said with a shrug. “And you were kind of out of it.”
“Um … yea, kind of sounds like I was.” I said with an embarrassed shrug. I’d been guilty more than once of focusing so hard on taking out a Boss that I lost track of whatever was going on around me, but nothing like this.
“No worries man, it’s all good,” Tinyr said, offering me a hand up. “Um, Yun is still taking a dirt nap and …” the little thief paused pointing back over his shoulder towards the entrance, “the room’s still sealed.”
“So you’re saying I need to get my ass moving,” I said, rolling my eyes at the ceiling.
