Chapter 8: The Boss Fight
Four massive flaming meteors materialized out of nowhere, hanging in the air for just a split second before they dropped like the wrath of god himself.
They hit all four golems at once.
The impact shook the entire chamber. Dust and debris exploded outward. The heat from the flames washed over us even from twenty feet away.
CRITICAL HIT! 15,847 DAMAGE!
CRITICAL HIT! 16,203 DAMAGE!
CRITICAL HIT! 15,694 DAMAGE!
CRITICAL HIT! 16,441 DAMAGE!
All four adds evaporated instantly. Just gone. Not even rocks left behind.
Behind me, I heard David say "Holy mother of fuck" in a voice that was barely a whisper.
Stoneheart roared. The sound was deafening, echoing off the stone walls like thunder. It raised both massive arms and brought them down into the ground.
The floor cracked. Fissures spread outward from where it hit. And from those cracks, more adds started spawning.
Six this time. All level 11.
"It's spawning more!" Emma shouted. "Jake, there's too many!"
"No there's not," I said.
I targeted the new adds and cast again.
"Meteor Strike."
Six more flaming rocks fell from the darkness above. The adds didn't even have time to move before they were crushed.
[Stone Golem] DEFEATED! x6
Stoneheart roared again and started charging at me. Each step left cracks in the stone floor. It was fast for something so massive. Faster than it should be.
I stood my ground.
"Fireball."
The massive orange sphere shot forward and slammed into Stoneheart's chest. The explosion lit up the entire chamber like daylight for a brief second.
CRITICAL HIT! 9,284 DAMAGE!
Its health dropped to 40,000.
It didn't stop charging. Just kept coming, one arm raised for a devastating overhead slam.
"Jake, move!" David yelled.
I waited until the last possible second, then sidestepped. The golem's fist came down right where I'd been standing. The impact left a crater in the floor.
While it was recovering, I hit it with Ice Spear.
CRITICAL HIT! 8,673 DAMAGE!
Health down to 31,000.
Stoneheart spun around faster than something that size should be able to move and backhanded me.
I saw it coming but couldn't dodge in time. The massive stone hand connected with my side and sent me flying across the chamber.
STONEHEART THE ANCIENT hits you for 847 damage!
I slammed into the wall hard enough that I felt it even through the game's pain dampeners. My health bar dropped from full to about 60%.
"Jake!" Emma screamed.
I pushed myself up. My ribs hurt. The game's neural interface made pain feel real, just dulled to about 20% of what it would actually feel like. Still hurt like hell though.
"I'm fine," I said, getting to my feet.
Sarah was already casting. A warm golden light surrounded me as her healing spell took effect.
SARAH_HEALING heals you for 234 HP!
My health climbed back up to 75%.
"Thanks," I said.
Stoneheart was charging again. This time I was ready.
"Arcane Missile. Arcane Missile. Arcane Missile."
Three bright blue projectiles shot out in rapid succession. No cooldown meant I could spam them as fast as I could think the words.
CRITICAL HIT! 3,284 DAMAGE!
CRITICAL HIT! 3,156 DAMAGE!
CRITICAL HIT! 3,392 DAMAGE!
Health down to 21,000.
The boss staggered but didn't stop. It raised both arms again and slammed them into the ground.
This time the entire floor started glowing red.
"AOE attack!" Alex yelled. "Get back!"
Red circles appeared on the ground all around the chamber. I'd seen this mechanic before. In about three seconds, those circles would explode with fire damage.
I ran toward the edge of the room where there were no circles. My party did the same.
The circles exploded. Pillars of flame shot up from the ground, each one dealing massive damage. If I'd stayed in the center, I would've taken at least 2,000 damage. Maybe more.
But I didn't. I was already moving back toward the boss.
Stoneheart's health hit 20%. The red veins in its body started pulsing faster, glowing brighter.
[STONEHEART THE ANCIENT] IS ENRAGED!
ATTACK SPEED INCREASED BY 100%!
DAMAGE INCREASED BY 50%!
"Enrage phase!" David shouted. "That's bad! That's really bad!"
I knew. In my old timeline, this was when most parties wiped. The boss became twice as fast and hit like a truck. Most groups couldn't handle the pressure.
But I wasn't most groups.
Stoneheart charged at me again, but this time it was actually fast. Like sprinting fast. It closed the distance in two seconds and swung both fists in a wide arc.
I ducked under the first swing, sidestepped the second, and fired point blank.
"Fireball."
The explosion hit the boss in the face at close range.
CRITICAL HIT! 9,847 DAMAGE!
Health down to 10,000.
It roared and tried to grab me with both hands. I rolled backward, came up casting.
"Ice Spear. Ice Spear."
Both spears hit center mass.
CRITICAL HIT! 8,234 DAMAGE!
CRITICAL HIT! 8,492 DAMAGE!
Health down to negative numbers.
Stoneheart the Ancient froze mid-swing. The red veins in its body flickered, then went dark. Cracks spread across its entire form, glowing orange from the inside.
Then it exploded.
Chunks of stone flew everywhere. The shockwave knocked me back a few steps. And where the boss had been standing, there was nothing but dust and a golden treasure chest.
[STONEHEART THE ANCIENT] DEFEATED!
FIRST CLEAR BONUS: +5,000 EXP
RARE LOOT ACQUIRED
LEVEL UP!
YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 14!
LEVEL UP!
YOU ARE NOW LEVEL 15!
EMMA HAS REACHED LEVEL 10!
DAVID HAS REACHED LEVEL 9!
SARAH HAS REACHED LEVEL 10!
ALEX HAS REACHED LEVEL 10!
Notifications flooded my vision. Everyone in the party gained at least one level. Emma and the others gained two.
For a moment, nobody said anything. We just stood there in the massive chamber, breathing hard, staring at where the boss had been.
Then David started laughing. Not a happy laugh. A kind of disbelieving, shocked laugh.
"We just killed a level 15 raid boss," he said. "With a party of level 9s and 10s. That's impossible. That shouldn't be possible."
"It's possible when you have Jake," Sarah said. She was looking at me with something like awe. "You did like 90% of the damage yourself."
"95%," Alex corrected, checking his combat log. "I did 1,200 damage total. You did 48,000."
I walked over to the treasure chest. Everyone else followed.
"Open it," Emma said. "Let's see what we got."
I opened the chest. Golden light spilled out, and inside were four items.
[Staff of the Ancient]
Rarity: Epic
Level Requirement: 15
+200 Intelligence
+150 Magic Power
Special Effect: All spell costs reduced by 30%
[Stoneheart Armor]
Rarity: Epic
Level Requirement: 15
+180 Defense
+100 Vitality
Special Effect: Reduce all incoming damage by 5%
[Ring of the Ancient]
Rarity: Rare
Level Requirement: 12
+50 to all stats
Special Effect: Increase experience gained by 10%
[Ancient's Bow]
Rarity: Epic
Level Requirement: 15
+175 Attack Power
+125 Agility
Special Effect: 20% chance to deal triple damage
Everyone stared at the items.
"Epic tier," Sarah whispered. "Those are epic. I've never even seen an epic item before."
"The staff is yours," David said to me. "You're level 15 now. You can equip it."
I took the staff. The moment I equipped it, I felt the difference. My mana pool increased. My spell power went up. I pulled up my stats.
[Jake Miller - Level 15]
Class: Archmage
HP: 1,847
Mana: 3,240
Intelligence: 487
Magic Power: 623
I was strong before. Now I was even stronger.
"The armor is for you," I said, handing it to David. "Tank needs defense."
"I can't equip it until level 15," he said.
"Then you've got something to work toward. Emma, the bow is yours."
Her eyes lit up. "Really? But it's epic..."
"You're a Ranger. You need the attack power. Take it."
She took the bow carefully, like it might break if she held it too tight.
"Sarah, you take the ring," I said. "The experience boost will help you catch up in levels."
She nodded and equipped it.
We stood there for a moment, looking at our new gear, our new levels.
Then Alex said what we were all thinking.
"If we can do this at level 10, we can actually beat this game. We can actually get out of here."
Maybe. Maybe we could.
But first, we had a long way to go.
99 levels to go.
And a lot of people were going to die before we got there.