In fifteen seconds, the boss just got a lot tougher.
“Healers, top Rose up,” Olaf barked as soon as the stun ended. “Rock get ready to pick it up.”
I briefly heard Pwn retract his statement, “Okay, totally a boss.”
“I’m on it,” Rock said, looking eager to activate his charge as soon as the Devourer got in range.
The Devourer came roaring back, its whip flying toward Rose before Rock could even activate his ‘Charge’.
Fortunately, Heavy was paying attention and he was able to intercept the whip, blocking the burning spike with his shield. Unfortunately, that hit was nearly a killing blow as Heavy was blown off his feet, smashing into the wall next to Rose.
Rock finally charged, ramming his shoulder into the Devourer. “Pay attention, you rotted sack of bones,” Rock shouted, making the Dragonkin boss focus on him.
The Devourer kicked out at Rock, but the Dwarven Paladin easily sidestepped the attack, bringing his crook down on the barely exposed kneecap, causing the skeletal monster to drop to its other knee, if only for an instant. It swung its whip overhead and tried to bring it down on Rock. The Dwarf surprised me yet again, stepping in closer to the Dragonkin, blocking the whip strike at the fist, buckling at the knee under the weight of the fist for a second. It served its purpose, significantly reducing the damage Rock suffered.
I watch Rock closely. I wanted to see him tank. See how he was different from Rose. It surprised me to see Rock was grinning the whole time. “God Geb grant me strength,” he intoned, making his crook glow with golden light before he swung, hitting the Dragonkin’s same kneecap as previously, making the Devourer drop again, this time with a debuff.
Kneecapped – Damage inflicted to the kneecap has rendered the affected leg inoperable for 30-Seconds.
“Light this big ugly up,” Rock bellowed as the ground below him started changing, causing the Dragonkin to light up in the now familiar golden light of consecrated ground, burning the Skeletal Dragonkin every second it remained. And with its knee injured as it was, it was going to be in there for quite a while.
Olaf yelled, “That’s my line. But you heard him, light it up!”
Not interested in arguing, I leaped. There was no telling if I was going to have another opportunity to take full advantage of my abilities. I had no idea how bad of a decision that was about to become.
All the damage dealers unloaded, eager to earn the MVP for this boss and have their first pick at loot. In the time it took me to get to the apex of my jump the boss had already lost 10% of its total HP. And before I could turn and launch myself downward, the boss roared. Yes, that roar.
Paralyzing Roar – Freeze all who hear this roar for 15-seconds.
The paralysis did its job. I drifted upwards for about two seconds more, completely unable to move or activate my skills. Then I fell.
You have fallen and suffered -8,745-HP damage.
You have died.
And welcome to greyscale. You could definitely call it a first to worst kind of situation. Worse, I could only watch what was bound to be an amazing battle, completely sidelined.
The Devourer ran . . . hobbled to the next closest Smith and Forger group. It roared angrily at them and they quickly rushed as if they were afraid. The Forger quickly pulled a burning one-handed sword from the furnace and set it on the anvil then quickly backed as far away as it could. It didn’t matter. The Devourer picked up the weapon and cleaved the Smith and Forger in half in a single swipe. It dropped the whip and cast its absorption spell . . . devouring spell again, growing larger once more. Only this time, I noticed the growth created larger gaps in the heavy armor.
I wanted to shout and yell. I wanted to tell Olaf what I saw. It might have been getting stronger with each Skeletal Dragonkin it devoured, but it was also exposing itself. Creating weak spots. But I couldn’t do anything. I died a stupid death and now the only thing I could do was watch.
Rock was on it again when the Devourer came roaring back with the large burning sword in hand. But the Dwarf wasn’t fased at all. The Devourer leaped a few meters, intent on cleaving Rock in half. Rock just stepped into it, launching his small cannonball-like body shield first into the Devourer’s gut. He successfully interrupted the attack and knocked the boss onto his back.
I thought Rock would start smacking the boss about the head, face, and shoulders now that they were more easily reached. Instead, Rock ran toward the boss’s legs. He hammered his striped cane into that same knee repeatedly and once again, ‘Kneecapped’ appeared by the boss’s nameplate. And again, Rock consecrated the ground under his feet, ensuring the boss would only have eyes for him.
Damage rained down again, quickly eating away another 10%. And again, the boss roared in anger, paralyzing everyone. Off to another forge, this time he claimed a large two-handed maul with small, rounded spikes on each surface of the hammer. It killed the bound Dragonkin and grew even larger.
I wasn’t sure how Rock was going to deal with the much larger weapon but was excited to find out.
The Devourer rushed in to attack with his new weapon in hand. It didn’t leap this time. Instead, it swung the spiked maul like it was a baseball bat only to clang off a golden magical shield hovering in the air above the Dwarf.
Rock grinned and said something I couldn’t hear due to my status. He ran in and hammered at that same knee with his wooden crook. Getting the ‘Kneecapped’ debuff on the boss with just a single hit this time. Then he hit it again. And again. I didn’t understand why he hadn’t consecrated the ground like before. He just kept hammering at that same knee while the spike maul bounced harmlessly off the golden magical shield that was starting to show cracks as if it were weakening.
As quickly as the magical energy shield was cracking, I thought Rock was done for until I noticed another 10% of the boss’s HP was gone.
Instead of attacking Rock, and breaking through the last of the magical barrier, the Devourer roared again, paralyzing everyone. It turned to hobble to another forge and anvil when I saw something . . . impossible. The leg bones were cracking. Long fissures started running up the femur and down the tibia and fibula, spiderwebbing and expanding rapidly. The boss got just one more step before the limb completely shattered.
The Devourer toppled onto its face, roaring impotently as it tried and failed to stand again. It roared out toward the Smiths and Forgers, as if begging for help, but they were all chained up and couldn’t help even if they wanted to. No, the Devourer had been crippled and no one and nothing could help it. And I didn’t understand how. How had Rock done it? I had never heard of someone being able to cripple a monster like that, let alone a boss.
When the paralysis ended, the boss was as good as done. Rock just sat back and smirked, enjoying the show as the damage dealers went to work, holding nothing back. The boss was able to roar again after another 10%, and every 10% thereafter, but it didn’t accomplish anything except to delay its inevitable death.
Combat has ended. Your party has 60-seconds to resurrect you or you will automatically be transported and revived at the nearest graveyard.
About 12-seconds later, as the only person in the raid to die to this boss, I was resurrected by a giggling Babies Breath.
I was immediately teased by Pwn, “First to worst, Jacko. Job well done.”
I was never going to live this down. I went in search of Rose, hoping for a little comfort and understanding. I should have known better.
“Jack, I have no words,” Rose said, acting speechless and unable to hide her grin.
I sighed. “Yes, yes, I got caught midair by that paralyzing roar,” I said. “I literally jumped to my own death.”
“Should I be worried about you?” Rose teased.
I sighed again. I was never going to hear the end of this.
Rose pressed on with the teasing, “Do we need a suicide watch in the future?”
I ignored her.
A few minutes later, Olaf announced the MVP, “Alrig
ht folks. I’m fairly sure we can all unanimously agree the MVP for the Skeletal Dragonkin Devourer is tank extraordinaire, Rock Dudson!”
“Thank you, thank you,” Rock said, waving imperiously to the assembled players.
“Now, before you select your reward. Inquiring minds want to know, how the devil did you do that?” Olaf asked.
Rock grinned. “The Club subskill ‘Leg Breaker’. It can inflict the ‘Kneecapped’ debuff. If you can hit the same knee enough times you can break the leg. Usually a boss is immune to such things. But I’m a Paladin now, aren’t I? My God Geb gave me this crook. Over time, he’s added a number of blessings to it,” he paused to show off the blue and gold striped cane. “Anyway, seeing as I knew we’d be fighting a lot of undead, I asked for a blessing called ‘Return to the Earth’. It makes the undead vulnerable to all effects and strips away any immunities.”
“And you couldn’t have used that sooner?” Olaf asked.
Rock snorted. “That elder drake had four legs, kind of a waste if you ask me. Besides, I can only use it once a day.”
Olaf nodded, “Good time to use it then. Alright, well, hopefully you’ll get another chance to use that to save the day tomorrow. For now, any piece of gear, skill, or spell you want is yours.”
“Well, let’s see what you’ve got,” Rock said, clapping his hands together and rubbing them greedily.
“Flameborn Dragon Maul,” Olaf started. “Mystic quality. I won’t lie, I wouldn’t mind this but it’s more my secondary weapon. Basher?”
“Sorry, Ollie, upgrading my weapons does more for me than anything else,” Basher said apologetically.
“No worries mate,” Olaf said, holding it out for the Barbarian.
Basher happily claimed the spiked maul, equipping it and giving himself a matched set . . . sort of. Anyway, double mystic weapons can only increase his damage.
“Next up, we have a shield, Flameguard Dragon Shield, mystic quality,” Olaf announced.
Rose quickly asked, “Shield Wall?”
“Uh, no,” Olaf answered. “Rock?”
“Nope, quite happy with my scaling shield,” Rock answered, lovingly patting the wooden shield. His shield and weapon were interesting bits of equipment. The crook was shaped like a hooked cane, though it wasn’t much longer than a one-handed mace or club. It was painted blue and gold and had a very Egyptian feel to it. I remembered his shield from the mines near Hammerton. Back then it was a simple wooden kite shield. Now it was more teardrop shaped with twig-like branches wrapped around the edge. And if it was scaling as he said, I wondered if it was the same shield, just . . . one that had grown into what it was now.
“Heavy?” Olaf asked next.
“Absolutely,” Heavy replied, eager to get the mystic gear. The Warrior tank equipped the shield. It was a tower shield made of dark iron that had a slightly orange glow to it, as if the metal was still super-heated from its time in the furnace.
“Next, we have a spell scroll, Devour,” Olaf said, holding a scroll out. “I think this might be a Necromancer spell. Sin?”
Sin Full shook her head. “Necromancy is not my kind of dark magic.” Warlocks were often confused with Necromancers and Demonologists, both of which were taboo in the World Tree. Warlocks used dark element magic to corrupt the enemies bodies, inflicting damage over time effects and debuffs. They also had direct damage spells, but I wasn’t familiar enough with the class to tell you what they were allowed to work with.
“Right, going into the vault then,” Olaf said, tucking the scroll into his bag. “Okay, got a ‘Command: Paralyzing Roar’ here, I’m guessing this is for Warrior classes.”
Heavy, Basher and Rose were all interested. Command skills could generally be self-taught from what I understood in my limited capacity to use them. For this skill to come in a scroll suggested this could not be self-taught or it was extremely difficult to learn on your own.
“Rose, you’re the only tank that hasn’t gotten loot yet among the three Warriors,” Olaf said, offering the scroll to her.
Rose grinned then frowned, her eyes going distant. “Actually, I’ve got way too many new skills and spells lately. I’m going to pass. But, if we ever raid this dungeon again, if it even can be raided again, I’m calling dibs.”
Olaf chuckled and nodded. “Alright, make your case, Heavy,” he said, giving the tank a chance at the scroll.
Heavy was caught flat footed. “Well, it’s a stun, right? I can use it to stun large groups and have more time to build more aggro.”
“Basher?” Olaf asked.
“I’d probably use it to stun a big group then use my ‘Twister of Blades’ to wreck them all,” Basher said.
“Both valid uses,” Olaf said.
“Oh,” Heavy spoke up as if he just remembered something, “I can make a scroll for it. I have Runology, it’s not at a very high level yet, just Rank I, level 53. But eventually I’ll be able to make copies.”
“Sold,” Olaf said, pitching the scroll to the tank. “You have two weeks to get it up to level and make me ten copies. Not to sell, but to give to our warriors and possible future warriors. Talk to me later and I’ll see what I can do to help you with that.”
Heavy nodded rapidly. “I will, I will, sir,” he promised, learning the scroll immediately.
“Okay, got a charm,” Olaf started, holding up a small charm of an ankh.
“Mine!” Rock shouted before Olaf could even tell them what it was.
Olaf continued reading the description, “The Walls of Heliopolis, ‘Ra Guard’ whatever that means. Definitely meant for a tank. Congrats Rock.” With that he handed over the charm to the Dwarven tank.
“Thank you,” he said, equipping it immediately, the small ankh charm hanging from a corner of his shield a moment later.
Olaf picked up a blue booklet next and smiled brightly then sobered to address everyone, “Okay, this is the last item. I’m going to apologize for this up front, but this one is mine, ‘Blueprint: Dragon Canon’. I know there are other engineers but none of you are an Artillery like I am. I can actually use this. I hope you’ll all forgive me this indulgence.”
“All good, Ollie,” Fitz chimed in. “Just put it to good use. I can’t wait to see you use it.”
A couple of others chimed in similarly and Olaf made sure to thank them.
Meanwhile, my thoughts were wondering if the Devourer would have eventually picked up a cannon from one of the Forger and Smith teams. How would we have dealt with that?
“Eager as we might be, I want to leave the tower alone for now. I don’t know what might come out if we were to open the doors now. I can’t speak for everyone, but it’s already nearing 6:00 and I’m ready for a break. So, everyone, let’s do one last check everything up here. I want to clear up any of the undead we might have missed. And once that’s done, we can head back to the Flatlands Camp for a good night’s rest. Be ready for another early start tomorrow, we’re going to pick things right back up again,” Olaf announced, getting a cheer.
Chapter 32
Resting for a night brought a new fervor to the players. Those who’d gained new equipment had been able to get some of it enchanted, often at great expense as we only had a few enchanters with us, and they had even fewer resources with them. The smarter players decided to wait until they could go to Root City to have their equipment enchanted. It reminded me that I had yet to enchant any of my own equipment.
Not long after we made it back to camp, Heavy paid me a visit and asked for help leveling up his ‘Runology’ profession. I spent about an hour with him, having him practice writing the runes he knew, just like Trinico did with me all those months ago. It was kind of nice to know there was another person practicing ‘Runology’ in the Order. As a bonus, I gained five levels to my own skill from teaching him.
Skill: Runology
Rank: II
Level: 89
Experience: 2.25%
Description: Writing is the ability to communicate through the wri
tten word. It's evolution, Runology, is the ability to communicate power through the written word.
Chance to Learn Rank I Unknown Rune: 68.50%
Chance to Learn Rank II Unknown Rune: 18.50%
Chance to Craft Rank I Skill Scroll: +34.25%
Chance to Craft Rank II Skill Scroll: +9.25%
Chance to Craft Lesser Spell Scroll: +16.13%
Chance to Craft Beginner Spell Scroll: +4.63%
Dwarven Expertise: +100% to craft any known Dwarven spell or skill scroll of Rank I regardless of level.
Greek Expertise: +100% to craft any known Greek spell or skill book of Rank I regardless of level.
Norse Expertise: +100% to craft any known Norse spell or skill book of Rank I regardless of level.
Orishas Expertise: +100% to craft any known Orishas spell or skill book of Rank I regardless of level.
Olaf sequestered himself in the smithy of the camp. He was bound and determined to make the cannon from the blueprint he got. According to him, it required Rank IV in ‘Blacksmithing’ and ‘Engineering’ to build the massive weapon. I didn’t want to point out that he was still lacking a cannon crew, but why rain on his parade?
Micaela decided she was going to pull an all-nighter and make a run back to Hurligville and see about bringing in some more people to protect the Flatlands Camp. Our three guards had a rough go of it while we were in the tower. If not for Sergeant Butters stepping up and risking his life to tank, and Trinico likewise acting as a healer, they would have lost the camp all over again. Anyway, Micaela, Eagle, and a few others ran off almost as soon as they got back to camp.
Meanwhile, after spending a little time with Heavy, Rose and I retired to our tent early. We really just wanted to spend some time together. It was strange how quickly I got comfortable when Rose and I were around each other, and it wasn’t just the physical stuff. Don’t get me wrong, that was also good.
World Tree Online: The Order of Epic Grinders: 4th Dive Page 54