James stepped onto the 25th floor and the novices followed. James took a deep breath in and continued forward.

“I will beat this floor,” James thought to himself. “I am prepared, and I am ready. I have helped beat the drake before. Now I will do it again as a leader. The drake will die.”

When they rounded the corner all five of them grouped up and started their assault on the drake. James had already told them what they could expect but seeing it for themselves was something else entirely.

“Ian you will provide cover fire. I need to dose the drake sufficiently. Derek, see if you can get it to open its mouth a bit. The poison may be faster acting if ingested. Wes be careful of the drake’s tail and stay alert. Warn us if you are running out of energy. Naomi, focus on its weak points for now. I will join you soon.”

After several tests and loops James had found that it’s mouth interior was a vulnerable albeit hard to access sore spot for the drake along with a few spots on it’s snout and underbelly. James would have to kill it to assess its weak points for better reference and he hoped he could do that soon.

James fired off his poisoned arrows and let them sink into areas on the drake’s body. He hoped that by spreading it out the poison would suffuse the drake and weaken many critical areas instead of devastating just one.

Derek blocked the drake’s mouth and parried away its claws and redirected them toward Wes who held his shield and the spear for extra support. The decision to have Wes wield the spear once more came by way of needing a little more damage at time and range around the drake. It was decided and tested occasionally by James as a deterrent. Whenever the drake opened its mouth to breathe fire Wes was there with his shield to block the heat and damage the drake’s mouth.

The lessons were quickly learned by the drake, and it chose to limit its use of fire and built up its fire internally inside its mouth before releasing the attack. This lets them see when the fire would come as the drake let out steam from its nostrils before opening its jaws and letting fire spew.

Wes’s arms stilled in preparation for the drake’s next attack. When it hit his feet did not slide or shift and the beast was rebounded by his defenses. He checked his grip on his shield and jabbed with the spear. He went through the lessons and sparring James had put him through. His jab was quick and forceful. Less than a second after he felt the spearhead pierce the drake’s cheek he pulled back and shifted his blade causing the wound to open up more.

Behind him, Ian bombarded the drake with balls of flame that targeted its weak points. Along with those spells he sent bursts of heated air at the drake annoying the beast further and causing its scales to fall off. After several tests, James found this to be one of the more effective routes for Ian to use. In the past, the drake, who was naturally aligned with fire, almost entirely ignored Ian because of the nature of his spells. But by not hitting the drake with pure fire all the time the attacks became more effective.

James sank the last of the poisoned arrows into the drake. He noticed it was already starting to enter a more aggressive phase because it was having trouble moving pressure off itself and back onto Wes and Derek.

“I’m out of poison arrows now. I’m switching to piercing arrows for a bit. How are we doing?”

James felt the fletching of his piercing arrows and brought them out for his volleys. During his time against the drake, he had started to work with Naomi on improving their arrows against the drake. Without her as ranged support the damage the drake could do while raging was many times higher. If they wanted to prevent injuries and death then stopping the drake’s advances now was critical.

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“I don’t have much energy left,” said Derek. “I feel like I can barely make a dent.”

“I’m holding up but I have used up most of my abilities and need to wait before I can reactivate them again. The shield is at least holding up and so is the spear.”

“Ok. On my count, we go. I am preparing the mana arrow now. Prepare to go.”

James dropped his piercing arrow and brought out a simpler arrow. He started channeling mana into it and the tip glowed before the base followed. He pulled back the string and aimed for the head.

“Now!”

Several things happened at once. James’s arrow released and then so did Naomi’s. She launched a volley of arrows, and they exploded on contact against the drake’s skin. These had been the same ones James used against the memory beasts. While the arrows flew Ian, Derek, and then Wes spun around and ran back towards the back. Once the arrows were loosed into the air Naomi and James followed.

Water mana sucked the drake dry. Its scales cracking from the dehydration. As the mana worked its way through the boss’s body the explosion of fire around it dried the beast out further. Scales fell away from its body, and it took a few steps forward. James and the novices retreated into the tunnel.

Ian uncorked a mana potion and downed it.

“Anyone injured?” asked Naomi.

“Just sore and exhausted,” said Wes. “The retreat worked. Now, what do we do?”

“The drake should be seriously weakened by now. The next steps are to assess the damage and to attack safely. I can fire one more mana arrow but it should be done efficiently. Naomi, do you have more explosive arrows?”

“No, I only created the four.”

“Start making another four. Eight just to be safe. Time the arrows to match with Ian for more effectiveness. Ian, how are you doing?”

“After the mana potion finishes doing its work I will be all good. A few times I went a little too close and almost got swiped by the drake’s tail, but I am all good.”

“That’s good. Everyone back into positions. We can’t let the drake push us back any further so let’s make sure it isn’t given the option to.”

The group quickly regrouped and took their positions. The drake sported several burns and its jaw hung open. They could see marks where the mana arrow had hit causing the boss’s jaw to fall apart. That in combination with the explosive arrows led to a gruesome sight.

The drake saw them and roared an ugly cry. The fire sputtered out of its mouth in a short wide burst instead of a focused directed attack. Wes was able to easily shield them as they pushed forward.

Naomi fired off her explosive arrows as Derek rushed in from the other side. The explosions rang the drake’s failing ears and it clawed at Wes in an attempt to push toward the annoyance. Wes’s feet slid back. The drake spun its tail around and attacked Derek searching for an opening. He could not effectively block so Derek was forced to step back and retreat to stand by Ian.

Ian’s flames were almost more effective than Naomi’s explosive arrows. As Naomi fired the arrows balls of flames followed afterward. This caused the heat to grow even faster around the explosions. While the explosions provided a lot of force Ian’s assistance caused them to inflict lasting pain.

The drake slowed. When Derek returned to stabbing the drake, it could not spin its tail around half as fast as in the beginning nor swipe its claws in time before Wes had his shield up in place. It coughed up more fumes than fire as the poison worked its way through the drake. Blood and soot now coated the creature’s scales.

James watched the drake fail to stop them. He smiled.

“It is almost over.”

He had shown them all he could, and they had succeeded. Each of the novices had greatly improved. Not just since the 17th floor but the first. In the back of his mind, he worried about what would come next, but he buried that thought for later.

James brought out another mana arrow. This time on instinct he flooded it with lightning mana. The lightning arrow he had used to great effect in the past and now against the drake he knew he could end it. The lighting crackled around the arrows and James made no big show of firing off the arrow. James pointed his bow towards its chest and fired.

The novices took the opportunity to deliver the final blows. Naomi's arrows hit critical points with her arrows. Derek's sword strikes became more accurate as he aimed for weak spots on the unmoving drake. Even Ian sent a few more deafening fireballs. The drake let out a final roar as it fell to the ground, defeated. Wes dropped his shield, exhausted from holding it for so long. The others gathered around, catching their breath, and looking at the fallen drake. They were triumphant but also relieved that the battle was over.