The Dragon's Wrath: Ashes of the Fallen

Chapter 43: The Second Floor

(Wednesday, May 26th Game Day / Thursday, February 18th Real Day)

Heading down the narrow dark gray and black rock tunnel that was loosely supported by a random assortment of old and rotting lumber left a lot to be desired. At least, we figured it wouldn't collapse.

If it did, well, that would only add to the realism I suppose.

The ash that permeated the air had also suddenly become thicker. We were already well acquainted with the smoke that obscured our vision and made it difficult to breathe, but I never imagined it would get progressively worse.

What used to be a slight burning sensation in my eyes and nostrils was now a steady burn. My mind wandered at the thought of what the third, fourth, and fifth floors would be like. If the situation continued to deteriorate with each descent, there may come a point where a mask would become a necessity. The thought of choking on smoke for an hour wasn't exactly appealing, even if there weren't any negative health implications.

Eh, but that was neither here nor there.

The situation in front of us was at least bearable.

The lighting that was barely serviceable before at least did not disappoint, and remained a constant. To think that we would all be glad to see a few torches spread randomly throughout the cave interior. Well, what little light the torches provided was at least reassuring, even if the situation was excessively dreary.

I suppose a bright and cheerful dungeon would be a misnomer of sorts, anyways.

Walking forth, the priest actually slipped on some moss and fell to his ass, earning him a kick and a laugh from the dwarf. No words were said though. The situation was oddly serious, even if there were only trash groups ahead.

Exiting the tunnel pass and entering the large opening with its domed ceiling that curiously showcased our dancing shadows as the flames moved to and fro, we came to a halt as we stared on. Before us squat a group of goblins, not unlike the previous goblins we had seen. But in the fashion of increasing difficulty, the group of goblins had made a substitution with their members.

The prior groups had been made up of two [Outcast Goblins] and three [Outcast Minor Goblins], and now that had been reversed. There were three [Outcast Goblins] now along with two [Minor Goblins]. Suffice to say, the difficulty ramped up rather quickly from only a moment before.

Also in consideration was the adjustment in level.

These goblins ranged from level 38-40 opposed to the level 35-37s on the first floor, while the minor goblins were now level 28-30 over the previous level 25-27. Yeah, they were now slightly more experienced, more skillful, did a bit more damage, could take a bit more damage, and probably moved slightly faster as well.

Hell, I was still only level 31.

For a beginner dungeon, they really upped the difficulty from the first floor.

At least, that's what I thought until we actually pulled.

Throwing out a [Chain Lightning] and following with our duo chain combo of alternating [Lightning Bolts] and [Frost Bolts], we made quick work of the goblins to the point where it was almost silly. In theory we were expecting some resistance, or at least I was, but in practice it only took another ten seconds per group.

The second floor wasn't that fresh after all.

Oh well.

It didn't take more than twenty-five minutes for us to reach the end of the second floor and to come face to face with the mini-boss and his entourage. Instead of the two [Goblins] and two [Minor Goblins] standing by the [Goblin Guard's] side, there were four [Outcast Goblins]. Going by the fact that the prior trash had upgraded in a similar fashion, it seemed rather inconsequential to me but the group wasn't as positive or anywhere near as confident as they were a minute ago.

"So this boss is actually kinda difficult," said the dwarf while stretching his arms out. "Basically, I can't tank all five at the same time, so it'll take some creative mixing."

"Huh?" I said immediately. I was at a loss as to what creative mixing was supposed to mean, and didn't quite follow. My best guess was that he meant we needed to change strategy. If that was the case, it didn't seem like a big deal.

I really couldn't understand the sudden loss of confidence they shared.

The dwarf looked over at me and sighed slightly. "Been 'ere twice, killed the boss once," said the dwarf. "The way we got it to work last time, was the archer pulled goblins off me and they killed them as quickly as they could. Peel fast enough, and we're good. Too slow, and I die, we lose."

"Eh I think we can do better than that," I stated clearly and without hesitation. "I figure us two mages can get a good jump on the group and then we'll fall back and pull the goblins to the room we were just in. I'll immobilize one and pick another off you to off-tank when I can. As long as we rotate quickly enough, I can hold my own without heals against one or two without issue."

The dwarf just stared at me silently as he mulled it over in his head. I didn't have much reason to brag or to overstate my ability, so I felt my reply was perfectly within reason. Though to be fair, I did have a few relatively strong spells.

They just had to put a little faith in me, was all.

"Ye going to use that lightning tether thing ye used on the last guard?" he asked, ending his momentary silence. "It seemed to stun it fer a few seconds last time."

A smile broke out on my face before I realized it.

This little dwarf picked up on everything.

He was right after all, the way my [Arc Lightning] worked was as a single-target channel that applied a constant one-second stun every second. Unless the target had a high resistance, they would simply die in place… or be immobilized until I ran out of mana, the latter of which being more likely in most situations.

"Yeah, I can't use it for long but I can interrupt a guard for a short while," I answered. I briefly tried it on the last mini-boss and found that the stun didn't apply more than three times; it seems bosses were given resistances in-case a player tried to do that. You couldn't really fault the developers for that.

It was a necessary handicap for the sake of game balance.

"Right, do that then," he said with a bit of enthusiasm. "This fight is already hard enough but if ye can get them low and take one off of me every few seconds… I think we can manage."

Having figured out our plan of attack, we fell back to the far edge of the previous room and settled into our positions for the upcoming fight. With everything ready to go, I had the frost mage follow me back down the narrow passageway that led to the mini-boss of the second floor. Turning the corner and gauging the distance between us, the five goblins continued to munch on cooked rodent as they appeared oblivious to our presence.

Nodding at the mage, I began the process.

As I started to harness the power of electricity between my hands, I whispered my chant in order to increase the power of the spell. "Through power, darkness turns to light, render all to ash," I said softly, holding at the end as I waited for the mage to finish his chant. The mage to my left had started to whisper his own three verse version as he gathered a small amount of cold light-blue frost and formed it into a compact ball. With white gas floating about as if it were dry ice, the subliming effect of the frost was an interesting touch that distracted me for a moment.

Though the instant he finished his chant, I recaptured my focus and aimed at the goblin closest to my position. Without any further hesitation, I thrust my arms out with open palms and yelled out, "Chain Lightning!"

As the four lightning bolts left my hands and entwined into a larger bolt, the air cackled and cracked as the room was engulfed in light. Simultaneously, the mage mirrored my move and called out, "Frost Bolt!" as the bolt of ice flew through the air at a slower pace. With its trail of frost fluttering in its wake, the flakes of ice reflected the lightning with a beautiful crystalline light display.

The entwined lightning bolts hit their singular target and nearly instantly split off and bounced onto the other four hapless goblins that stood nearby. Writhing in pain, the goblins clutched their heads in desperation as some fell to their knees, but I didn't see any of it. I had already turned around and started my hasty retreat the second the spell left my fingertips.

As I ran, I just imagined it all in my head.

It was more fun that way, anyway.

Turning the corner after exiting the passageway, I continued to sprint to the far edge of the room where the party had set up prior. Eight seconds had already passed due to the long run as the mage finally caught up with me, and I immediately began chanting once again. Two seconds had passed as the first goblin came around the corner and into my line of sight, right on time as I nearly finished my chant. Holding the spell for a second longer, I waited as the second goblin appeared a bit behind the first.

Targeting the closest goblin despite the fact that it wasn't the one I initially hit earlier, I decided to go with what the situation gave me. The third, fourth, and fifth goblin soon appeared as they spit and cursed my existence while blindly charging forth.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the dwarf getting itchy as he wanted to taunt immediately. That wasn't the plan though, and he held his ground to the side of me for fear of getting hit by my spell.

In a single second, the five goblins had closed the distance between us to a mere ten paces as I finished my spell cast. Right as the goblin at the forefront raised its sword in an attempt to slash at me, I yelled out once again, "CHAIN LIGHTNING!"

A loud bang rang off as the bolts flew but two feet into the vanguard, instantly paralyzing it and causing it to fall to the floor at my feet. "Frost Bolt!" repeated the man next to me as the cold ball of ice smashed into the back of the head of the goblin underneath me.

In the blink of an eye, between the flash of my lightning and the explosion of white frosty mist that enshrouded the goblin in front of me, the dwarf had lunged forth and used his [Call to Challenge] to taunt the remaining goblins onto him.

With his loud bellow, the goblins instantly turned their attention to the short and stocky man with a shield as their eyes burned with rage. Losing what little sense they had, the goblins worked themselves into a reckless frenzy over the taunt and wildly hacked and slashed at the man who could barely withstand their attacks.

Drawing my axe for but a split-second, I swung down with the force of a seasoned lumberjack as the goblin between my legs struggled to get up. Entering through the back of the skull and clearing through into the dirt below, brain matter and skull fragments splattered across my cheek as I immediately threw an arm out and yelled, "Arc Lightning!"

The nearest goblin started to convulse in place as a solid tether of electricity formed between it and my open palm. Pulsating electricity surged forth as it burned the goblin internally, draining its health and my mana at an unprecedented and unsustainable rate. As the goblin's muscles contracted involuntarily, it was rendered defenseless and shook in place.

Seconds later, arrows had found their mark into its head as a frost bolt pelted it in the chest. The second goblin collapsed to the floor as I turned my focus to the third goblin and began another channel of [Arc Lightning].

All the while, in the four seconds since the fight had truly started, two heals had fallen on the tank. One had started three seconds early before the first blow had even landed, yet the dwarf was already at a near critical 32% remaining health from the onslaught of the [Guard] and the remaining goblins.

As the dwarf desperately tried to defend himself from the [Heavy Thrusts] and the [Lunges] of the guard, I switched to the nearest of the last two remaining [Outcast Goblins]. A third tether and channel resumed, as I locked the goblin in place for the party members to easily dispatch of it. But right as the goblin was about to fall, my channel cut-out as my mana ran dry.

No longer under any crowd-control, the goblin turned to charge me, as my threat was the highest of all the participating players in the group. It raised its sword as it closed the distance between us, cursing at me with what little energy it had left.

Then, in an instant, the goblin released its attack and slashed away with a speed I was unaccustomed to. Grasping my axe as quickly as I could, I barely swung in time to partially deflect the sword blow as it sliced away a portion of my triceps.

Gritting my teeth, I tried to ignore the pain as it flashed through my mind while bringing my axe to a high-guard. The goblin lunged at me as if to skewer me but a swift counter swing led to the axe finding itself deep in the goblin's neck as its sword weakly glanced off my leather armor.

Yanking the axe free, I kicked the goblin onto its back and raised it up once more.

Dropping the axe with one fluid movement, it landed cleanly in the middle of the goblin's chest, right through the sternum and between the ribs. The goblin's chest now completely split open, I ignored the bulging eyes and blood flowing out of its mouth as I quickly ran behind the [Goblin Guard] and swung with all of my might.

As I landed my blow, at the edge of my peripheral vision I could see that the archer and mage had finished off the last of the remaining [Outcast Goblins] as it fell to the floor. The side-swing found its mark in the ribs of the goblin guard that was completely unaware of my presence but it quickly turned and threw its shield back in reaction to my attack, knocking me onto the flat of my back.

The sudden unexpected impact with the hard ground caused me to lose my wind as I gasped for breath, struggling to breathe for a moment. In that instant of struggle, the guard launched a [Heavy Thrust] at me that I barely managed to avoid as I kicked out at the dirt and rolled to my side. The spear lodged deep into the mossy ground and as he violently pulled his spear back, loose clumps of dirt were flung over me just a foot or two away, falling onto my face and getting into my eyes.

In a precarious position, I was afraid of the next attack.

But then a frost bolt hit the goblin from behind and as it turned its head to glance back, I used that momentary distraction to leap onto my feet and prepared for a second attack. As I raised my axe and pulled down with all of the muscles in my core, back and shoulders fully engaged, the guard raised its shield to meet me halfway.

The sudden thud of the axe head clashing with the wooden shield reverberated through my hands as the shaft of the axe splintered and snapped in two, sending shards of wood flying into my face.

Instinctively squinting my eyes so as not to be blinded by loose wood, I lost sight of the spear that was being thrust in my general direction. Pain instantly registered in my abdomen as I turned to look at the goblin guard in front of me.

As the guard pulled the spear out and attempted a second thrust, a sword found itself lodged deeply in the back of its skull, to the point where part of the sword blade was no longer visible on the surface, and was coming out the front of the goblin's head. It was a fatal blow to the goblin and a sigh escaped my lips as the second thrust pierced through my chest.

"What," I muttered as I reactively coughed out some blood.

Collapsing to the floor, I couldn't help but wonder what had just happened.

The fatal blow, wasn't fatal?

Its brain was split in two… yet it was still moving, still fighting with barely any health remaining. A quick glance at my own health told me my fate was sealed, as the 2% remaining ticked down to 1%. The dwarf with his sword stuck in the skull of the goblin guard looked as if he was playing ring around the rosy with the goblin as they circled each other in an attempt to dislodge the weapon.

The last thing I saw was a frost bolt exploding into a shower of frosty mist as my vision went black. In a moment I found myself in that gray-blue world with haze surrounding me. I could barely make out what appeared to be a graveyard from where I was standing, somewhere out in the middle of the forest.

I had no clue as to where I had been transported to, but a glance at the flowing river in the sky told me all I needed to know. Following that intersecting river of blue and gray, I eventually made my way back to the entrance of the dungeon. Going through the portal as a ghost didn't have the same feeling… in fact, it was an empty feeling void of any of the normal senses.

It was a creepy feeling.

Returning to my body was the same as before, and as soon as I accepted the resurrection I found myself being sucked back in. My vision went black one last time and then, I opened my eyes to find myself staring at the dark domed ceiling of the abandoned mining complex. Watching the light flicker about as shadows cascaded and danced above me, I couldn't hear any sounds of battle.

Sitting up, I saw that the group was relaxing as well as they sorted through the equipment from the fight. It appeared the boss fight was largely a success. Minus my stupid mistake, all was well.

Somehow in the midst of the hysteria, I had lost track of the dwarf and the guard's last movement. I partially wanted to blame the shattering of my axe as the main culprit but I knew that wasn't true. I let my guard down thinking the goblin had died from the blow to the head. Not in my wildest of dreams would I expect a creature with a sword split down the middle of its skull and coming out of its forehead to still continue to fight.

Yeah, that just didn't happen every day.

Oh well.

I lost a lot of experience from that mistake, to the tune of 25% of my current level's maximum total. Well, at least I didn't have to worry about losing any items or a time restriction on resurrecting. Though there was a time restriction of fifteen minutes if you died from PvP, but the penalty there was only a 10% loss of experience and a 5% drop in money. You could actually earn a living if you were good enough at Player Killing, farming players as if they were creatures.

"Always someone dying with this guy," the dwarf finally said to break the silence.

"So even when you killed it the last time, someone still died?" I asked, a little puzzled that the boss was so difficult. I had honestly expected it to go quite smoothly, and thought it did until I screwed up.

"Right, I died last time but the goblin went down while it chased the priest around," said the dwarf with a bit of laugh as he patted his friend on the back. "It was hilarious watching this elf 'ere run around with his skirt up, 'oh look at me prance, can't step on me gown now!'"

"Oi jackass, it's not a skirt, it's a robe," the priest shot back. "All casters wear one."

"Oh yeh, this caster 'ere doesn't 'ave a skirt does he?" the dwarf retorted while pointing a finger at me. "Movin' on, what do ye say to continuing down to the third?"

"No issue with me, experience is what it is," I said with a chuckle.

Since I basically lost all of the experience I had gained from the first floor, I figured it couldn't hurt to at least try and recoup some of the lost experience with a quick trash clear. Well, I did complete the two quest chains, so it wasn't a complete loss.

A quick glance at the loot before us, there was another [Old Dory] and a [Cracked Aspis] from the goblin guard that no one really wanted along with a [Crude Sleeveless Leather Jerkin] and [Crude Leather Gloves]. Those two actually made for a fairly decent entry level tanking set, seeing as they were slightly above the [Worn Leather Vest] both the dwarf and I were wearing.

As far as stats go, the only real difference was in the thickness and hardness of the leather. It wouldn't last long if you were stabbed a few times, as it would simply be shredded apart, but it would take a bit more effort from the opponent to pierce through.

The game didn't really have a conventional loot system with random plus defense numbers or plus health numbers and offered a more realistic resistance based off material quality and design.

What that meant for late game… well, I could only imagine once iron armor made its rounds and if steel plate armor is ever discovered, I would start to worry about the practical effectiveness of melee weapons or bows in general. A fully armored tank in plate armor would be a serious monster when super human physical abilities were added on top.

I mean, weight and mobility were essentially the only drawbacks to such armor in the past, reduce or remove that liability and you have the definition of a super tank.

Yeah, well I didn't have to worry about that.

If I've learned one thing in life, it's that metal conducts electricity quite wonderfully. A bunch of metal cans running around the battlefield waiting for a lightning strike?

Hah, I couldn't wait.

After everything was piled and sorted on the floor, I was able to finally get a good look at our assortment of goods. There were seven poor quality swords, six enchanted rings with plus-two to a random attribute, two rings with plus-three, the aforementioned leather armor, shield and spear, and seventy-one inferior quality vendor swords.

"Quite the haul, really," I said after looking everything over. "At least three-hundred copper for each of us, if not a bit more." My mind was preoccupied with what kind of NPC I could draft, or if I should invest in livestock or other goods to help develop my village. This was easy money and experience all in one nifty package, and certainly more enjoyable than hunting wolves ad infinitum.

"I'm taking the leather if there's no objection," said the dwarf as he looked around.

"None here, you're the tank," I replied as I eyed the plus-three strength rings. "I'll take the vendor trash and two rings, if you guys want the better stuff."

"I don't need any of it," said the priest.

"Same, maybe a ring but it's all junk," reiterated the mage.

That just left the archer, but he didn't say anything.

He was a bit of a quiet fellow. Fairly forgettable really, not even sure what his name was, honestly. Ah, well, I didn't actually know any of their names since we all had our name plates hidden.

Taking as many of the ten copper inferior swords that were cracked and rusty as I could, I had devised a slight plan in my head. From the looks of the weapons they were certainly brittle and most of them had already cracked but the rust was only on the surface. The iron used to make them was still usable… if I could bring them back to the blacksmith, he could probably melt them down and smelt them into new swords. Raw materials essentially, and at a discount price.

That was one way to corner a market, take junk people were willing to give away and turn it into a valued commodity that they would pay top dollar for. Shrewd, perhaps, but I saw it as utilizing what was given to me. In the far North, the northern wastelands were a desolate place with no potential. At least that's what they say.

The joke was on them, though.

Yeah, I couldn't wait to repurpose these trash swords. They were certainly worth more than the ten copper offered at the trade post as a raw material, and I intended to fill-up my oversized double-wolf pelt bag to the brim with them.

With all of the gear sorted, it was now time to roll down to the third floor.

Heading down through the passageway that connected the second and third floor, the change was fairly gradual but it was there. The pass had narrowed and was a bit shorter, while the rooms themselves were a bit smaller overall with a lower ceiling. Running or kiting would be more difficult down here, and I realized that a change of strategy might be necessary.

And, of course… the smoke was still there.

The ash was definitely thicker and could be visibly seen floating about in clumps as I almost wanted to cough. My eyes and nostrils continued to burn, only, a bit more intensely than before… much like I had figured when we entered the second floor. Yeah, I would be buying or crafting a mask of some sort for my next return trip.

Covering my mouth and nose with my hand while squinting my eyes, I pressed forward until I came upon a group of goblins relaxing around a fire. I swear, they all did the same damn thing. Just sitting around a fire, eating rat or taking a nap… what a lousy life these goblins lived.

Or maybe, it was a glorious one.

Who knows.

The typical progression was in effect but I didn't even bother to really look, they were trash mobs and would die within a few seconds each. The only thing I was really curious about, was the mage's spell repertoire. He only used [Frost Bolt] and nothing else, which I found somewhat strange.

"Just out of curiosity here," I started to ask as we moved between trash groups. "Is frost bolt your main damage spell? I haven't seen you use anything else."

"Yeah sadly, at the moment it's my only reliable, chainable spell," he replied with a shrug. "It's our first spell, second is flash frost but that's just a crowd control shackle with a short duration, not at all useful here. Third spell is ice shard which is just a weak instant cast ability to use while on the move… I'm pretty much a one-trick pony at this stage of the game."

Ah, I felt a little bad for him but, oh well.

At least he had options I suppose, even if they weren't good ones.

I was sure they would play some role later down the road, spell kits were usually meant to have some synergistic approach that might not be readily apparent so early in the game. I imagined his low-mana cost spells with built-in slows had some theme in mind. On the other hand, my high-mana cost, high-damage lightning spells with a stun were damn near perfect for Player versus Player scenarios, and I was kind of excited at what I could do with some of the future spells.

Having a Wondrous Legendary Artifact certainly made things more appealing.

Thirty some minutes after we had started clearing the third floor, we had arrived at the mini-boss in all of its miniature glory. Along the way, we actually had a rare find off one of the [Outcast Goblins] when it dropped a [Rusty Iron Xiphos].

The sword was basically the Greek version of what became the Roman Gladius, and was a poor quality but common grade weapon. It was actually fairly good for the level and worth at least a hundred and twenty copper.

The dwarf took that up pretty quick though, and no one really complained.

Taking a look at the boss, I found myself pleasantly surprised as a smile crept up my face. There was a level 42 [Goblin Guard] which was expected, but there were also three [Goblins] and one [Outcast Goblin Priest]… who just so happened to have a very peculiar weapon on hand.

I wasn't really sure what weapon a priest should be equipped with, but I usually imagined a mace or staff. Curiously this goblin priest had a hand-axe, one that looked awfully interesting. Seeing as I had recently lost my axe in the last fight, my replacement weapon was staring right at me, teasing and tempting me to go and grab it from the clutches of the soon-to-be dead goblin.

Even so, I didn't have a current melee weapon outside of my dagger that doubled as my skinning knife. It really wasn't that great for combat… assassinations and last line of defense sure, but not an offensive weapon in the least. I mean, at least not for me seeing as I had no skill proficiency with daggers or knives in general.

"We good to give it a go?" asked the dwarf with little emotion showing.

"I don't have a melee weapon, so it might be risky," I replied cautiously.

To my surprise the dwarf disagreed with me completely.

He looked down at his gear before stating his position, "I improved my armor considerably from that last boss and that Rusty Iron Xiphos is an upgrade as well. I think, if ye can cc that healer and kill them in order, I think, I can hold out."

Well, I was interested.

It's hard to turn down loot and experience when it stares you in the face.

I was a little regretful for not turning in the second quest and picking up the third, but it wasn't like I had a chance to do so, seeing as we never left the dungeon. Eh, it didn't really matter anyways, if you can do it once, you can do it again.

"I'm in, I think we can blow the priest up before it gets a chance to heal, long as you can tank the guard and two goblins for a bit," I said while thinking over the best strategy. "Actually, I think we should focus one of the normal goblins first, then swap to the priest second, I'll cc it before it can cast anything."

The two of us looked at the rest of the party members that were standing idly by and the archer and mage didn't bother to say anything. They were basically along for the ride, so we took their silence as a verifiable yes.

"It's risky, I don't like it," said the priest after everyone else had already agreed to go forward. Well, despite his protest, his buddy was the tank so he was dragged along kicking, figuratively of course.

Without much room to kite or maneuver we decided to stay put in the single room with the boss and his entourage, since a two second run through the narrow passageway wouldn't really do us a lot of good. Plus, we needed to make sure we killed the first goblin immediately, and then transition to the priest before any healing could happen.

I decided to go with a little dramatic flair this time around, taking a stance with my legs spread a bit past shoulder width and with my knees bent.

Bending both elbows and bringing my palms close to my chest, tucked in on the right side, I began to chant my three verses as electricity started to arc between my fingertips. As three seconds passed in the blink of an eye, four small lightning bolts could be seen circling around each other as if stuck in a current.

Aiming at the nearest goblin that was sitting on the floor, I held my breath for a split-second as I thrust my arms forward and touched the base of my wrists together, opening my hands outwards as I directed the flow of electricity towards its target. Two seconds later, the blinding flash and loud crack of thunder that followed dazzled, as it always did. The four entwined bolts of lightning split the air and entered into the body of the goblin and then immediately arced out onto the four unsuspecting goblins nearby.

As raw power passed through their veins and they all started to momentarily convulse in place, a bolt of ice smashed into the very same sitting goblin as a cloud of white frost exploded into the air. Then as the electric current discharged into the dark ground below and the goblins regained their mobility, a small shard of ice was shot through the air.

Afraid to blink, as I might miss it, the shard of ice pierced right through the sitting goblin's neck and went out the other side, as the goblin fell back and grasped its throat. I immediately retracted my arms while holding my bent stance and began to gather a surge of balled up electricity, all the while watching as the first goblin clutched at its throat as it began to bleed out.

The goblin priest's hands had begun to immediately glow a golden-yellow as it prepared a holy spell in order to heal its comrade, but I was faster.

My cast time was the same, but I started sooner.

All the while, the dwarf had already charged into the fray and shouted his taunt at the remaining goblins as three of them began to pound their weapons furiously into his already cracked shield. His stalwart defense held without much issue at the moment, but time was a negative and limiting factor.

I needed to hurry.

"Lightning Bolt!" I shouted quickly as I thrust my arms back out with open hands as a ball of lightning crossed through the air, leaving a trail of lingering electricity between my hands and the head of the bolt.

In an instant, the goblin priest's hands that had been raised above its head stopped glowing as its body shook violently from the spell rebound of a failed cast combined with the paralyzing effect my lightning. As it struggled to voice its screams, its eye bulged out as if they were ready to explode as I created a tether of lightning between us.

Channeling my arc lightning, the pulsating beam of waxing and waning electricity connected the two of us in a gross mismatch of power. Watching its health rapidly decrease while stuck in place, a well-aimed arrow landed in the right eye-socket of the priest as its head snapped back and it fell limp to the floor.

Immediately turning to the next goblin, I waved my right arm over and kept it extended as another [Arc Lightning] was thrown out. The third goblin was instantly locked up as the dwarf took advantage and slit its throat in barely a second as I almost lost my concentration.

The mage to my side was trying to cast a frost bolt at the goblins but switched to the guard as they were falling too fast. The archer did the same while I tethered the last of the normal goblins and watched as it slowly died in place.

With only the guard left, the dwarf had no issue defending himself as I quickly ran over to the priest and looted the hand-axe mid-fight, then ran behind the guard and began to hack away. Out of mana, I could only use what items I had left, and decided to wield an axe in my right and a dagger in the left as I hacked and slashed, and slashed and stabbed as furiously as I could.

Blood was splattering everywhere as the goblin guard shrieked in pain and threw its shield wildly about while thrusting and swinging its spear in a loose circle. I nimbly dodged the shield this time around, wiser to the mechanics of the fight, and simply rolled to the side and resumed my attack on its flank.

One [Heavy Thrust] later from the guard as it attempted to kill our tank with its last blow, and I was able to chop deeply into the neck of the goblin, cutting the entire length of the axe-head into its throat. Then with as strong of a pull as I could muster, ripped it out as its head flopped about.

As the goblin guard fell to his knees with his head loosely held on, I took my new hand-axe and hacked once more all the way through, severing it completely as it fell to the floor and rolled away. It was disgustingly gruesome, but it got the job done.

I wasn't about to die to a goblin a second fucking time.

There would be no letting down of my guard, before the fight was truly over.

I learned my lesson the first time and I would make sure a dead creature was truly dead from that point on. But, damn, I was getting mad again and I didn't really understand why. Maybe it had to do with the competition, the nature of the game, but I was getting angry during a lot of these fights.

Whatever, it was working for me, so I couldn't complain.

"That was easy," said the dwarf after we all had a moment to breathe.

"It actually was," chimed in the priest a little later. "I didn't have to heal you nearly as much since they all fell so fast. What changed? It was supposed to be harder."

"Less goblins," the dwarf replied casually. "I only saw three of 'em and the two smaller ones fell quick. I'm half tempted to try the fourth floor right now."

I was in agreeance, now that we had learned the mechanics of the fight and the group was in sync, we had a pretty good chance of clearing through the entire dungeon. I didn't want the group to end so long as the goal line was in sight, but before anything could be said to persuade the group, my hopes were crushed.

"Ah no can do guys, I've got work in five hours," interrupted the mage as he waved. "I'll see you guys later but I'm logging off, need some sleep, good run all."

"Eh, work," mumbled the dwarf, clearly disappointed.

"Let's sort the loot and be on our way then?" proposed the priest as he eyed the items on the floor. There wasn't a whole lot from this boss, just a [Crude Iron Dory] which was a decent quality, common grade spear that was slightly better than the [Old Dory]. Oh, and the hand-axe I picked up, a [Crude Iron Hand Axe] that was a decent quality item as well, and was surprisingly decent.

It was actually better than the two-handed axe I was using before and could easily double as a small woodworking axe or as my one-handed axe for my tanking set, paired with a shield. I started to laugh a little as my quest to become a full-fledged Viking was progressing smoothly. Now all I needed was my longship and a few warriors to run around with me… and maybe a pet dragon.

If we could have a pet dragon, that is.

"It is three in the mornin'," said the dwarf with a sigh. "Guess it ain't a bad time to call it quits, can hit it again tomorrow."

"I could kind of guess from the accents, but Aussies yeah?" I decided to ask, just for future reference. "It's only ten in the morning here, so figure you're on the other side."

"Yeh, it's a bit late 'ere," he replied. "We'll be back at it, I'll invite ye if yer around." At that moment, I received a friend invite from the dwarf and I readily accepted it, seeing as I had no reason not to. He was a good player, had his head on straight, and was a bit aggressive, all the things I valued in a party member. Now his name was visible in the drop-down menu that listed all of my two friends and I started to chuckle at how empty it truly was.

But hey, I was on the road to popularity now!

Ellieby was the first one, that trader I had met previously, and now, this dwarf tank known as Barik Grimsson was on my friend's list as well.

I wasn't expecting much from the Call to Arms so everything else was a bonus.

I was only really expecting to find some quests, random pick up groups, maybe some loot, and a bit of experience, but as it were, I was forging some early connections that could be quite useful down the stretch. It was always a good thing to have potential allies in a game that was so heavily focused on both the Player versus Player action along with the Player versus Environment aspect.

"Ey, mage isn't yer first role is it?" asked Barik with a grin.

"Nah, started with archery then worked my way into axes, picked up lightning just recently actually," I replied honestly. I had no reason not to be upfront anyways, no one knew anything about lightning magic in general, since it was an unpopular proficiency. There was little risk in him or anyone else finding out I was a bit special.

"Right, figured that was the case," said Barik plainly as he turned to walk away with a light wave. "Be seein' ya."

"Likewise, thanks for the group," I followed up as the party disbanded and everyone went their separate ways, not wanting to waste another minute.

It was always funny how abruptly groups disbanded and fell apart once the goal was reached. You could spend hours with some people, develop a short but ultimately temporary acquaintanceship and then when the task at hand was complete, in a matter of seconds everyone would bail as if they couldn't stand to be in the party a minute longer. Heck, the dungeon wasn't all that hospitable anyways, so I couldn't blame them.

But, online relations were certainly strange.

The funny part, was that it wasn't always like that.

In the past, people treated online communication as an extension of normal face-to-face communication, using proper manners and such as if it were required. Then somewhere down the line, as more kids gained access to the net perhaps, acronyms and slang became more prevalent. Now, it was almost weird to see interaction sometimes. Just like the archer in the group who didn't talk, that was considered normal behavior.

It was socially a bit strange, but not online.

Not here, in this game.

Well, we had been pushing hard for around two hours, so even I was feeling a little fatigued after the party disbanded. Not that I was exhausted but, it was just one of the game's strange features to prevent excessive grinding. It was a bit odd that it hit so quickly though. Maybe that had to do with the harsh environment of the dungeon, breathing in this smoke… an added effect for realism, perhaps.

Oh well, it was a good enough of a time to take a break.