The real fun came when the mechanics started, and Tim highly doubted a few beams of light were all Nemset had in store for them.
Tim sent out a splash of Healing Storm and cast a quick Healing Orb on Cassie. She was taking pretty steady damage, nothing too crazy yet, but that would change at some point or if the boss landed a critical hit. The nice thing about having an avoidance tank was that they shrugged off a lot of the damage. The only time it was a big deal was if she took a critical hit.
While a regular tank might absorb a couple of big blows, Tim had to be Johnny on the spot if Cassie got sucker-punched.
He liked the tradeoff.
A little lighter healing load for most of the fight let him contribute in other ways besides healing. Bringing a little utility to the battle was the spice of life for him. A splash of DPS, a hint of interrupts, and a powerhouse of healing, all wrapped up in one super handsome package.
Behold My Power went off, freeing up more of his resources.
Whatever they were doing to Nemset was working. The boss was almost down to seventy-five percent health, and the fight had barely started. The one thing Tim liked about these fights was the bosses with magical abilities tended to take more damage. The developers were kind of like the ancient gods in that regard. They like to give with one hand and take with the other. While the boss’ health went down faster, his attacks also hit harder.
When Nemset hit seventy-five percent health, the mechanics swept them back to the starting area. The pattern of the beams stayed the same but now the sections without them had something on the floor. He didn’t want to call it lava because that was a kid’s game, but you wouldn’t see him testing his luck with the molten liquid.
For now, the coals seemed to follow the same pattern as the lights. The only difference being, as the beams ended, the coals came to life. Tim watched for a few more moments and realized that the rays didn’t have a tell, but the lava did. The floor would glow softly, and when the beams turned off, it burned bright orange for a moment before returning to the regular flooring.
The new development would make things tricky because now they would be continually flirting with danger. Get out of the beams too late—zappo. Leave too early—burn-o-rama. Both situations were lose-lose. They had to find a way to live in between the two spots. It didn’t mean they had to stay together, but if they did, there was less of a chance that they missed moving to the safe zone in time.
Sometimes all it took to get someone's ass moving was seeing someone else running for cover.
“Cassie, can you kite the boss back and forth?” Tim looked at his tank, trusting her to have a solution even if she couldn’t do what he asked.
“He’s been moving pretty easy. I can do it.” She was grinning like this was the most exciting thing she’d ever done.
They were ready to go. “Everyone stay on Cassie’s ass like it’s your dream home and you want to live there forever.”
“Hear that, babe? Your ass is my dream home,” JaKobi blurted, then slapped a hand over his mouth.
Maybe Tim could save him by shouting instructions. “Let’s go, Cassie. We all move as one.”
Cassie sprang into action, and the rest of them followed in a tight knot behind her. They made it past two sections of beams and stopped to wait. The floor under their feet started glowing brighter. Heat cracked through the stone, then the rays turned off, and they were moving again. Sadly, they could only move one square forward at a time because either the beams or the lava was cutting them off at any given moment.
Nemset didn’t give them a break this time. He made them cross the entire space before joining the fight. Now the real work began. They needed to keep moving the entire time. When the floor turned to lava, they had to move and dodge back as quickly or risk getting melted by the beams.
Tim didn’t have time to think of anything but the fight. His entire mindset focused on where his feet were and his teammates' health bars. He knew JaKobi took a hit mostly because he heard it. Stopping to make sure would only slow him so he sent a Healing Orb at him and looked at his status to confirm the spell hit.
They were all taking pretty steady damage now, so Tim switched from Way of the Boulder into his Way of the River stance.
Cassie would take more damage now that she’d lost a big chunk of her protection, but it was easier to give her a few extra heals than it was to top everyone off continually. The fight was going well, and by that, he meant no one had died from sheer stupidity, and the boss’ health was going down rather quickly.
Nemset hit fifty percent health and swept them back to the beginning of the zone.
The beams of energy and the lava on the floor stayed the same. When one was active, the other was off. Nemset himself had an aura around him now that sent off blasts of air in seemingly random directions. Cassie not only had to move the boss back and forth but dodge gusts of wind that could push her into the active danger zones.
The boss took a step to the side. The indicator under him changed directions, and the blast of air went off in the opposite direction than the time before.
So this fight wasn’t only going to be tricky for the tank. It would be for all of them. The DPS would have to rotate to avoid the blasts of air. One wrong move and whoever got hit would have a really bad day, like, the opening credits to Terminator Two bad.
“The time has come for you to meet the goddess. May Vitaria take pity on your souls.” Nemset beckoned them forward.
Cassie led the charge again.
So far they had this part down. It was tricky with the two different traps going across the room, but it hadn’t stopped them yet. The little gusts of air coming off the boss were new, but Tim was pretty sure they could handle it.
Nemset and Cassie clashed together scepter on staff. Tim wasn’t watching the fight anymore. He simply picked up hints and traces of the battle as he stared at the little blue arrow under Nemset’s feet. There had to be a way to figure out which direction it would turn next without endlessly watching.
Tim cast Curse of Giving to ensure it was still active and went back to figuring out where the next gust of wind would go off. Right now the arrow pointed away from all of them but was rotating to where Cassie stood.
“Watch for the air,” Tim called.
He almost called it a fart, but the Pharaoh wasn’t farting. It was more like he was summoning small gusts of wind and throwing them at them.
The arrow turned toward Cassie, and she rotated the boss. As the boss turned, the indicator under his feet stayed pointed in a fixed direction. She dodged to the side as the attack went off and moved into the spot where the air attack occurred. Tim’s extensive staring told him two things: the next blast would miss them but the one after was coming for all of them, and the second was if they couldn’t DPS the boss down fast enough all four of them would have to do some fancy footwork to get out of trouble.
A quick burst of Healing Storm ensured everyone’s health was topped off as the blue arrow shifted toward the group. Tim went left, JaKobi and Lorelei went right, and ShadowLily joined Cassie in front of the boss. Then they all flipped back into their previous positions.
All of them took a little damage from the beams, but it wasn’t anything Tim couldn’t take care of with a round of Healing Orb.
After three more rounds of fancy footwork and dancing around, Nemset’s health hit twenty-five percent. The boss swept them to the side of the room and bent over panting. Channeling that much mana must have been exhausting, not to mention the ass-beating he was taking. The smugness Nemset had exuded since they first encountered him was gone.
Tim felt as though the ancient Pharaoh was slipping into survival mode now and would break out every trick he had at his disposal.
The pattern from the beams changed.
Now five of them went off at once, then the next five. The lava on the floor did the same thing. Wherever lava was active, the beams weren’t, and vice-versa. It was a cool effect visually, but it made the figh
t a little simpler because they would always have a safe spot to stand. The arrow under the boss moved faster now, forcing them into quicker rotations.
They could handle all of that.
The new additions were the problem. Now they also had to play the high-low game Jabari had thrown at them. Beams, lava, gusts of air, and now columns of magic energy. This wasn’t a fight so much as a battle of wits and movement. The good thing was all of it was manageable. The bad thing was one mistake, and it could turn into a tidal wave of errors really quick.
They needed to kill the boss before that happened.
Nemset had a faint purple glow around him, letting them all know that during this phase he was taking extra damage.
“Just keep your wits about you, and we got this.” Tim made sure their health was full and got ready to run.
Cassie led the charge into the room, and he was so close to her that he felt like a creeper at the bar. When she jumped, he jumped. When she ducked, he ducked. Tim wondered if this was what the others felt like during their fight with Jabari. The only difference being no one was shouting instructions. All of them were so focused on what they were doing that it was dead silent.
It was almost like someone turned up the noise-canceling headphones to Cone of Silence levels.
His feet were a blur.
Up down, circle to avoid the wind, up, down, jump to avoid the lava. Heal until his arms hurt and repeat. Nothing would break his focus. This was one of those times the house could have been burning down, and he was too locked in to notice.
All that mattered was winning.
Lorelei mistimed a jump and got blasted into the lava. ShadowLily had her out in an instant, but then they were busy dodging a beam now instead of DPSing. They were alive though, and that was all that mattered. If they could keep up this deadly dance a little longer, they would make it through this just fine.
Tim channeled Healing Storm as he continued to move. He wanted to know if everyone was okay, but he couldn’t look at his interface. All he could focus on was keeping his feet moving, running and jumping, ducking and dodging.
He sprang into the air, and the lava under him disappeared before he crashed into it. Tim hit the floor with a thud, knocking all the air out of his lungs. He rolled over while groaning and was in time to see the last of the golden motes swirling their way into the heavens. He sighed in relief.
The fight was over.
Chapter Fifty-Three
After this fight, there wasn’t a chest.
Those were the breaks sometimes, but delayed gratification could be the best kind as long as the prize at the end of the tunnel was worth it. With Eternia, the payout was always worth it. The goddess hadn’t let him down one time since he entered the game. Some might even say she’d gone above and beyond to help them out. Eternia saved Cassie’s life, gave him the buffs he used in every fight, and set him on the path to helping the High Priest.
From there, the rest was kind of history.
Tim was trying to cheer himself up and it wasn’t because he needed loot right away. The last fight had been draining, physically and mentally. Having to move and execute spells while keeping track of where the boss was letting off a separate attack while dodging beams and lava was nuts. These bosses with magical abilities were always something else. Sometimes a guy wanted a tank and spank or a loot pinata.
Something so simple wasn’t in the cards for them right now.
Everyone still looked a little shell-shocked from the fight, so he sent out a round of Healing Orb. Their health was full, but everyone needed a little something to lift morale. The last battle had been a doozy, but that was what they signed up for. They were the ones out leading the curve. No one was figuring these fights out for them. Sometimes that hurt a little but being one of the first, if not the first to do something came with a sense of accomplishment.
Plus they still had a key and a secret door to unlock.
Tim pulled the key from his inventory and walked toward the wall at the back of the room. “JaKobi, can you get some light over here?”
“Sure thing, boss.” A small light flew from the fire mage’s hand and illuminated the area.
Tim held up the key so everyone could see it. “Look for something that has these symbols on it.”
JaKobi held up his hand. “Do you want me to tell you where, or do you want to look for a little longer?”
“I’m all for skipping ahead.” ShadowLily casually flipped a dagger in her left hand. “This place kinda gives me the creeps, and I can't wait to see what Eternia has in her little goody bag.”
Lorelei motioned for JaKobi to get on with it. “You know me. I hate wasting time and love kissing ladies.”
“Don’t we all.” Tim winked at the ranger and turned to face his buddy while holding out the key. “Care to do the honors?”
JaKobi held out his hands in protest. “No way, dude. I’ve seen too many movies where the guy gets his hand cut off, or crushed, or trapped when using something like that.”
“You know I can heal you through it, right?” Tim waved the key at him, but JaKobi wouldn’t take it.
The fire mage’s impassioned speech seemed to have worked on the others as well because none of them wanted any part of the key.
Tim knew the only way this would get done was if he did it himself. “Fine, I’ve got this. Point me in the right direction, Broham.”
“It’s over there.” JaKobi pointed to a spot on the wall.
When he reached the location JaKobi singled out, Tim looked around for a moment, then found a small recess where he could slide in the upraised portion of the key. He lined up the hole and the key and shoved it in. The key only went in a little bit. Then it stopped.
“It won’t go in.” Tim tried pushing harder.
Cassie snickered. “That’s what she said.”
Oh my God, JaKobi was turning her into one of them. Soon she’d be asking about elevenses.
“But seriously, do you need some help?” the tank finished.
They pushed on the key together, but it wouldn’t go in.
Finally, he got an idea. Tim ran his finger over the circle on the back as they did in the Hellraiser movies. The designs on the cube’s sides folded down and were a perfect match to the recessed engraving on the wall.
The key still wouldn’t fit in the fucking hole.
“Just fit.” He slammed his open palm against the flat side of the cube, and his world exploded in pain.
A small blade stuck out of the cube's back and had impaled his hand. Blood spattered on the floor as the key fit snugly into place. A door didn’t open. The wall didn’t slide away to reveal a hidden passage. The only thing that had changed was now the key's back had a pointed blade sticking through his hand.
It fucking hurt.
“You're not going to like this, but you have to turn the key to the left.” JaKobi grimaced at the thought of it.
Tim rotated his hand to the left. “I blame George Lucas for this.”
“We all used to. Then we saw how bad it could be without him.” JaKobi was willing to say anything to help him through the pain.
His hand hurt but bitching about it wouldn’t open the passage any faster. Blood leaked from Tim’s hand as he kept applying pressure to the cube. If he had to turn the key much farther, he would need someone to lift him because human arms didn’t bend the way the game wanted his to go.
Click.
“Did you guys hear that?” Tim stopped turning his hand.
There was a series of sharp cracks, and the entire wall shook.
Tim pulled his hand from the key and quickly healed himself. Now he knew what every guy who ever had a knife slammed through his hand in a movie felt like. It certainly wasn’t the greatest, but at least with magic, there would never be any lasting damage.
The key fell out of the lock and closed back into an innocent-looking cube. Tim quickly picked it up and stuffed it in his inventory. He didn’t know if they would need it again, bu
t there was always the chance.
“If we have to do that again, I’m calling not it.” Tim hoped his face had the appropriate amount of don’t push me right now written all over it.
JaKobi punched his shoulder. “You can’t call not it in advance.”
“I think we can let it slide this time.” ShadowLily pointed at the stairs leading down. “What do you say we go and find out what’s down there?”
Lorelei moved to the entrance. “When she’s got a good idea, she’s got a good idea.”
“Whatever the fuck that means.” Cassie shook her head. “Still, let’s get her back to Neema before we all have to suffer the wrath of the Desert Wolf.”
Tim gave Cassie the go-ahead. “Let’s do it.”
The secret passage was about what Tim expected.
It was dark and dusty and utterly devoid of anything interesting. Walking down the corridor almost felt as if he was in the loading screen again, except that the walls were very real and much closer to him than he would have liked. At least the passage wasn't forcing them to walk in single file. The three women walked side by side in front of them with room to spare, and the ceiling was a respectable ten feet off the ground.
Knowing how far the palace was from where they started, Tim imagined different things the ancient desert people could have used it for in all kinds of different scenarios. Sure, his mind started down a dark path, but it ended up with this being the kind of tube a space fighter shot from in a science fiction movie. He pictured bright lights streaming by as his fighter picked up speed. Then he was out in the void.
Tim’s imagination had a way of running away with him sometimes. When everyone else got bored sitting in total silence, he spent the time making up stories in his head, working out problems from games he was playing, and living out a plethora of fantasies. He was a pilot, a cop, owned a dispensary, fought for Mars in the rebellion, was James Fucking Bond, and that was a typical morning.
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