The Dragon's Wrath: Ashes of the Fallen (18 page)

I was completely, utterly regressed.

I had fallen back into my old habits, and I wasn't happy with that. Picking up my shield and my axe, I put everything back into their holsters and walked off into the forest. There was a little shame that I had resorted to violence so quickly.

Though that went away rather quickly.

At the end of the day, violence, was sometimes the answer.

Those guys wouldn't have learned anything if I tried to talk it out. Now, they at least knew to watch themselves and their behavior in public. I'm sure they will still misbehave, but fear is a curious thing. Fear will stop someone long before logic will.   

Yeah, maybe I had regressed.

Well, it wasn't that bad.

I had a goal anyways, to build a kingdom in the North. Bloodshed would be necessary, as it was to free Selene and Katherine. Fights will happen, as players will come to blows over disagreements. And eventually, power struggles will occur, as this land, this game state known as The Dragon's Wrath, soon becomes a warzone where factions wage war on neighbors, partly for fun, partly for dominance, and maybe just because. Deep down, we all enjoyed it a little.

A guilty pleasure, is what it was.

Yeah, taking out the baddies was a fun thing.

I kind of liked it, really.

Chapter 51: The Big Boss

(Friday, June 25th Game Day / Sunday, February 28th Real Day)

"You're red again Sigurd," yelled out Barik from a distance.

"Yeah," I replied without much care. "Troublemakers, what can I do."

Barik had been standing out in the rain in front of the dungeon portal, waiting for the group to gather. My one hour window to eat and relax was mostly wasted by the four stooges. Well, at least I made it on time.

Now, we could finally get this dungeon run started.

We were all on the fifth quest chain and needed the fifth boss. It was a moment we had been preparing for, for nearly a week now. To finish the dungeon before any other party, to gain the reputation bonus and a potential title to hang above our heads, some fame, some experience, and maybe even some extra coin too.

They were lofty goals, but they were reasonable.

Our party was experienced and our unit cohesion was top notch after days of grinding and experimenting. I was nearing fifty and the others had already passed the first mark nearly three days ago. As far as the leaderboards were concerned, we were in the top one-percent of the player base. We weren't in the top ten, but we were within the top one-hundred. That was good enough for me.

The levels themselves never meant much to us, anyhow.

It was all about proficiency and learned skills.

Barik was an excellent tank, significantly more developed than I. Allen and Ethan both were more proficient in their respective fields as well, so too, was the frost mage without a name. He had one of course, at least I assumed he did. He was a quiet guy, one that didn't talk much, so no one bothered to ask.

They were all well-developed and ready to proceed.

The only one that had lagged behind slightly, was me.

What I lacked in my singular proficiency though, I made up with being adept at multiple roles. I was a red mage as far as one could tell, a hybrid, jack of all trades type of guy. My tanking skills fell behind by a tier, as did my magic, and my bow proficiency was at least two if not three tiers behind a similar leveled player… but my versatility made up for it.

My Ancient Relic made up for it.

To think that scaling a mountain could have proved so fruitful.

Yeah, it was a nice feeling. Hard work, practice… time devoted to improving myself had created a player beyond reproach.

I may have been outmatched in individual skills, but the combination of my abilities put me a step above the competition at the moment. To say I was the most valuable member of the party wasn't a stretch, even if it was cocky and egotistical of me to admit it. There were certain truths, that didn't really need to be explained.

Now, we would put it all to the test.

"Are we good to go?" I asked as everyone had gathered in front of the portal.

Four nods and various responses followed, and we all turned and entered the dungeon for hopefully the last time. There wasn't much left to do, two hours of clearing trash mobs and four mini-bosses that we had killed a dozen times before, all for the single culminating event of the big boss.

The big baddy that had us too scared to even attempt it.

That goblin, with his inordinate amount of subordinates, to the point that it defied the logic and thematic style of the dungeon in its entirety, was the one that we wanted.

The first boss fell without so much as a hitch.

We had a lot of theories, for potential strategies going forward.

We would be facing off against fourteen goblins and my [Chain Lightning] was limited to five targets. The frost mage's [Freezing Rain] would be effective, but only if we could hold them all together. Ethan's [Flame Wave] was great too, though it couldn't do enough damage, quick enough to matter. So, we were limited with our options.

In order to challenge the fifth boss, we needed to be considerably stronger.

Strong enough that the second boss was killed with three people while two rested.

No other group had managed to take the fifth boss down.

Though, one guild ended up bragging about being the first to conquer the fourth floor a day ago, about a week late to the party, really. They were ridiculed in short order, a lesson to their public relations guy or gal, I'm sure.

One of the keys to our strategy, was to rely on my [Discharge] to disrupt and stun the mass of goblins, with the intent to keep them locked inside the [Freezing Rain] for as long as we could. The second step, was for Ethan to utilize his [Flame Spike] in conjunction with [Flame Wave], a two-part combo of Area of Effect magic that would hopefully take care of the [Outcast Minor Goblins] holding the front line.

[Flame Spike] was a straight-line skill shot that engulfed anything in its path.

It made quick work of the third boss's entourage, so there was definite promise.

We weren't sure though, how effective everything would be.

Multiple spells that required precise timing to effectively chain off each other, wasn't necessarily easy to accomplish. Barik also needed to essentially volunteer for a suicidal mission to run into the center and taunt them all, briefly holding their attention while I worked to off-tank the two [Outcast Goblin Guards]. In truth, with the fourth floor's boss setup of two [Goblin Guards], we had plenty of opportunity to practice tanking, with Barik on two, and with me on two during other runs.

We even gave it another go, to make sure.

I ended up tanking both [Guards] on the fourth floor, taking very little damage this time around. Thanks in large part to hundreds of opportunities to tank random goblins.

Yeah, we had made some pretty significant strides.

Alan had figured out an easy rotation to keep us healed, and both Barik and I were instinctively good tanks outside of our practical efficiency. Having two tanks with one doubling as an extremely
bursty
damage-dealer was quite handy, too.

And now, we stood before the fifth floor's boss.

Seven [Outcast Minor Goblins] front and center in a line, as if they were on a two row stage of sorts, being displayed for all to see. They weren't much but they would eat up my lightning if I wasn't careful. Behind them were the real threats though, two [Goblin Archers], [Goblin Priests], and [Goblin Guards] with one of each flanking the [Outcast Goblin Chief] directly in the center.

The big bad boss, wasn't really all that big at five feet tall and maybe a hundred and twenty pounds… but he was certainly bigger than the other goblins. Curiously, they all looked male and I had yet to see a female, well, I wasn't about to check for genitalia anyways… maybe they were asexual.

That was easier to process, too.

The thought of goblins reproducing down here in the dungeon was a bit disturbing.

Oh well, my mind was wandering too far on a tangent.

"So, which strategy should we try?" I asked after everyone had recovered and settled in. "AoE bombardment, then taunt and tank?"

"No tellin' if we can actually pull it off 'till we give 'er a go," said Barik as he jumped up and pulled out his sword. With his shield at the ready, he was eager to start.

"Let's just see what happens," chimed in Alan.

"I'm ready when you guys are," stated the frost mage.

"Oi, time's a wasting," chirped Ethan as he rolled a small flame around his fingertips. "We've already been here for over two hours."

"Yeah, well then," I agreed with a shrug.

I guess it was time, after all.

Getting into position, Barik took up center next to me while Alan sat far behind us. The frost mage took position up on the left and Ethan took the right, filling out our loose formation. Whether or not that was for the best was to be decided shortly. Mainly, we wanted eyes on target from different vantage points, just in case shit hit the fan.

Taking a deep breath, I exhaled slowly as I focused on my target.

"Five," I called out as I brought my hands together and began to chant my three verses, intending to get one solid [Chain Lightning] off on the [Chief]. As my hands started to glow and electricity sparked and flickered about, to my right an intense flame had been gathered and was steadily increasing in size as the seconds counted down.

To the left, the dwarf swallowed the lump in his throat as he tensed his shoulders, waiting for the right moment to charge forth. Past him, far off from the group, the frost mage's hands were aglow with a cool white-blue luminance as slushed ice flowed between them, creating a sublimating effect as white gas began to permeate outwards.

"Chain Lightning!"

"Flame Wave!"

"Frost Bolt!"

We all yelled, completely in sync.

As the intertwined bolts of lightning surged out and cracked the air, a literal wave of flame rolled directly over the goblins, intermixing with the bolt of frost as if it were some pyroclastic flow with a raging thunderstorm spread throughout. The devastating scene unfolding before our very eyes was a sight to behold, but we couldn't admire our greatness. Without even a second to consider the effectiveness, I ran forward with the dwarf at my side as we raised our shields and barreled through the minor goblins at the forefront, bashing our shields and knocking the smaller goblins back, we went straight into the heart of the swarm.

Barik shot forward, diving behind the chief and picking him up as the guards and minors clustered around me. The priests were already healing the guards as I shouted out a [Call to Challenge], enraging and taunting the goblins into a frenzy and forcing them to pile on top of me.

Arms flailed randomly as seven swords were swung in my direction with two spears thrust towards my torso. The sound of two arrows as they whizzed past my head nearly broke my concentration but I couldn't afford a break. I was on the wrong end of an onslaught that I could barely hope to repel, but I threw out my shield and raised my axe in an attempt.

Swords cut deep into my legs and arms as I focused on deflecting the spears as an arrow hit me in the neck. Suddenly struggling to breathe as blood started to flow, I curled up and began to shake as rain started to fall and freeze on contact with my skin. A single beam of pure flame shot out across the mass of goblins in front of me as they screamed in reaction. The smell of burnt flesh and singed hair flooded my nostrils while electricity had begun to envelop me, ready to burst at any moment.

Only a second had passed and with a thrust of my arms outwards while expanding my chest, I discharged the built up electricity in a perfect circle around me, creating an explosion that rocked every goblin within five feet. Minor goblins flew through the air in every direction as the guards were knocked back a step, but they recovered far too quickly and with my haggard breathing I was quickly losing my stamina.

The first heavy thrust came without hesitation as I blocked it with my shield but then the second heavy thrust came and with my weakened state, a partial deflection was all I could muster.

Piercing straight through my biceps and out the triceps, my right arm was rendered completely useless as I started to choke on the blood that had been draining into my lungs. My stamina entirely depleted, I collapsed to the floor as another arrow found its mark in my chest. Swords pierced through me as I could barely make out a spear shaft curiously sticking out of my stomach.

Eyes hazy, I stared at the shaft as I fell forward.

Then everything went black.

By the time the color had returned, there were only two true shades.

Blue and gray… the world had turned dark again.

I was dead.

"Damn," I muttered to myself as the spirit form of Barik appeared next to me.

Ethan, Alan, and the frost mage showed up a few seconds later, as we all looked at each other in our ghost versions. The first attempt was a complete failure.

We
wiped
.

Entering the dungeon after a short run from the graveyard, there were a lot of questions and not a lot of answers. The fight ended too quickly to be of real use, but I did realize one thing, at least.

"What happened?" asked Alan immediately. "You just dropped, Sigurd."

"Took an arrow to the throat, crippled me from the start."

"Ah, shit," said Barik with a curious expression on his face.

"Well even if that didn’t happen, those priests were healing all the damage we did," stated Ethan with a shrug. "We need to kill them somehow, only the minors died."

Without the ability to see much of anything with all of the pyrotechnics going on, I was woefully short of information. All I knew, was that the archers were deadly. Too deadly to be left alone again, less I wanted an arrow to the knee or throat again.

This fight was rough.

"I couldn't really see anything, how many died?" I asked after gathering my thoughts. "And were any others close, or what?"

Silence filled the room as we continued to walk back, with everyone thinking over the fight from their perspective. Barik and I couldn't watch all of the goblins, what with being stuck in melee and concentrating on swords and spears flying towards us.