Duke was heartened to see that the rest of the team was recovering from the effects of the last two waves. Axis and Jablach were back on their feet and ready for action. Greslarnier was still a bit drained from the effort of punching through the wyrmlings’ resistance but gave Duke a nod and a smile when he inquired as to its readiness. Aurelia and Eihlen were both ready to continue as well. Baslin was still concentrating on the spell he was casting so Duke didn’t interrupt him. Instead, he looked through the notifications he had been ignoring.
*** You have pushed your mind and spirit significantly and as a result, your Psyche has increased by 10. Continue to push your limits in other areas to see additional gains. ***
*** Your MENTAL FORTITUDE Ability has increased to Practiced 67. ***
Duke ignored the rest of the Ability increase notifications until he came to one he did not want to earn but was hopeful he received.
***
You have been subjected to Soulfire. Your exposure is now sufficient to assimilate this into your Abilities. You now have SOULFIRE as an Ability at rank Untrained 1. Make use of this Ability to increase its rank and potency. As you now have access to this Ability, you gain limited resistance to its effects based on your SPELL RESISTANCE Ability.
***
Duke took a moment to consider this new Ability in light of his previously newest Ability. Both were powerful attacks that bypassed most resistances. While UMBRAL REAPER was much higher ranked, he felt that SOULFIRE could be even more devastating based on how it had debilitated virtually the entire team. Then again, he didn’t know the limits of either Ability. He had yet to see something survive UMBRAL REAPER but the wrongness he felt when he used the Ability really pushed it to a last resort in his mind. It was something that he would have to explore in greater depth. He considered researching it but even Baslin’s library was woefully short on information about the Umbral.
His contemplations were interrupted by the start of the next wave. He stood to move down with Axis, Jablach, and Aurelia when Greslarnier stopped them. “Baslin will handle this wave. You four continue to recuperate and jump into the next wave.”
Not wishing to argue, they paused and watched the wyrmlings ride onto the battlefield with their riders. Once they were fully onto the field, Baslin ceased casting his Spell. It was like the entire dungeon had collapsed. Boulders of all different sizes fell from above, pelting the wyrmlings. At first, the boulders were no larger than a head but as time passed, larger and larger boulders fell until finally boulders the size of houses plummeted down, smashing the remaining wyverns to paste.
They stared at the carnage as the dungeon began to clear the field yet again. Baslin started laughing. “Oh, hehe. Look at that! Did you see the size of those meteors? Oh what fun! I have to do that again! Wohoo! Ring of Rooms, where is that stone titan dust? I know I have some more of that around in here somewhere!”
They all stared at the mage for several seconds before turning back to the field. “I guess we’ll take the next wave.” As they waited for the next wave to come along, another two Heaven’s Wrath towers rose out of the ground to cover the beginning of the battlefield.
“Aren’t you worried about mages taking those towers out?”
“Not really. If they follow patterns, they won’t attack the towers until they reach you defending the base tower. When they can no longer advance, they attack the towers.”
Duke looked over to Aurelia. “Did you notice that?”
“Nope.” She responded.
“Me neither.” Jablach added.
“That’s why Greslarnier is in tactical control.” Axis explained.
“Good thing too.” Duke added. “Let’s get down and get ready for the next wave. Maybe these towers will work.”
They waited for the next wave Duke could hear Baslin starting to cast again. He knew it would take at least another wave before the spell was ready but was confident that they could handle this wave. He wanted to try his new Ability but was not sure it would be effective in this situation as it was the same as the wyrmlings’ breath weapons. I can try it. Got nothing to lose. Worst case, I go with UMBRAL REAPER and hope I can get over the trauma.
When the wyrmlings came in the next wave, there were a bit more than 20 mages among the riders judging by the barriers protecting from the towers. Without discussion, Axis took off down the road to get into position to attack the rear of the mages. Duke prepared to TELEPORT the mages while Jablach ignited his blades with black flames. With a nod, the TELEPORT executed, and they attacked the mages.
These mages seemed to be a bit stronger and better prepared as they immediately responded with various attack spells that looked nasty. Aurelia was the only one who tried to tank any of the spells, using her shield to deflect a stream of fire into another section of the mages. Between blades, claws and blunt attacks the mages were taken down in short order. It was a short, but intense fight as the mages attacked with no regard for their own survival, happily taking mortal wounds to deliver and attack of their own.
Of them all, Duke had fared the worst from the mages’ attacks as he wound up fighting with similar abandon, trusting his REGENERATION to work as he used SOULFIRE for the first time. He found it to be devastatingly effective on the mages, completely breaking their concentration and making them unable to cast spells or otherwise react. When he looked up from his last kill, he saw the other three looking at him with concern.
“What?”
“You might want to put some clothes on. Watching your burns heal is really not pleasant.” Jablach commented.
Duke looked down, seeing his clothes hanging off him in ragged scraps and the burns that he had been ignoring drove him to RESTORE all four of them. He looked up in sudden realization, remembering the wyrmlings that should be coming, but there were none that he could see.
“Yeah, the towers took care of that batch. It’s only the ones immune to the towers that seem to be a problem. Pretty cool, huh?”
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“Very cool. I’m making two more Heaven’s Wrath towers to fill our last tower spots so we can keep the same general plan. Baslin will be done with his casting soon and I would like for it to have as big an impact as possible, so call the next two waves as fast as you can. If the pattern holds, wave 45 will be ones immune to the towers and it will be the last of the Tier 4s. I’d rather have mountains falling from the sky on the ones that are immune to the towers.”
Without a second thought, Duke called the next wave and prepared to rip the mages from the wyrmlings’ backs. Axis sprinted to his position again and they went to work. Duke felt considerable strain getting past the mages’ defenses this time but was still able to TELEPORT them due to his massive Psyche characteristic score and the Master-ranked Ability. He was concerned that he might not be able to get all the mages when they tiered up, but they tore into the mages from this group nonetheless.
Aurelia had conjured her warhorse and charged into the group of mages. Duke had done a great job of gathering them together and she was happy to smash right through the group. Her Ability had ranked-up in a previous wave and now hit with an obscene fifty-two times damage modifier. The impact of her charge was tremendous, her magical warhorse seemingly unaffected by the bodies it slammed through. The fourteen mages that she caught in her charge were dissipating clouds of mana before she could halt her charge and turn around. When she turned for another charge, she found Axis standing over the final mage howling in victory.
The towers were blasting the remaining wyrmlings and riders, starting to thin their numbers. Greslarnier called out to everyone. “Regroup and call the next wave! Let the towers deal with the remains of this wave.”
Duke called the next wave the moment everyone was back in position. The wyrmlings that came out with this wave were larger yet again and the group quickly exchanged worried glances. Duke IDENTIFIED the first he saw.
*** You have encountered a Greater Wyrmling. This is a young dragon. This dragon is beginning to come into its power and realize its potential to become one of the most powerful creatures on the planet.
Tier: 4
Level: 200
Health: 1,527,500
Mana: 1,575,000
Special Abilities: Magic Resistance, Flight, Soulfire Breath Weapon, Spells, Thick Scales
Weaknesses: Avarice
***
*** You have encountered a Dragonkin Wyrmrider. This draconic creature.
Tier: 4
Level: 200
Health: 744,000
Mana: 787,500
Special Abilities: Dragon Riding, Flight, Mounted Charge
Weaknesses: Hollow Bones
***
“Um, yeah. Baslin, blast the ever-loving shit out of this wave. They are all at the peak of Tier 4 and there are dragonkin riding actual dragons now. I’m not sure even the barrage from hell is going to be enough.”
Heedless of Duke’s words, the dragons continued to pour out onto the field. Fully two-hundred forty of the mounted dragons pushed their way through the towers. They were not completely unfazed, but they did not seem terribly bothered. Baslin released his spell.
Again, the ground rippled as the impacts mounted. The cascade of falling boulders slowly overwhelmed the flying beasts, sweeping them from the sky. The onslaught lasted for minutes, knocking most everyone off their feet. Duke had taken to the air to keep himself steady. As it was, he could see nothing through the sheer amount of rock dust created in the wake of the Spell’s impact. He readied himself and waited for the dust to clear before giving in and switching to DUNGEON SIGHT. Even with the penetrative aspects of the Ability it took him several seconds to make out the situation.
The dragons were buried under the fallen rubble, but there were still several that were alive. When Duke relayed this fact, several glances were exchanged before Greslarnier spoke up.
“Duke, you may have to use your UMBRAL REAPER Ability on them. If anyone gets close to them, they are likely to be blasted by the dragons’ breath weapons. From up here, I can see the breath weapons melting the rocks around them. I didn’t know soulfire could do that, but no one can get close to them like this.”
With dread in his heart, Duke nodded and unleashed his UMBRAL REAPER Ability. The umbral shadows poured out of his eyes, cloaking his body in an ebon cloud. The cloud expanded away from him, creeping along the ground. Duke was certain he could see horrors moving in the cloud and suppressed a shudder with the full force of his will. He clamped down as hard as he could on his emotions and his body alike, allowing nothing to betray him.
The cloud crept through the smashed boulders, slipping though cracks and continuing to expand across the area. Finally, it reached the area of the trapped dragons. Duke could see that the rocks were glowing a bright orange as they started to melt away. The umbral cloud still expanded, not seeming to be affected by the heat and began to penetrate the cracked and melting rock formation.
Moments later, screams of draconic terror ripped their way across the field. Duke finally lost his battle and collapsed to his knees from the strain. The sound of the dragons’ roaring screams echoed across the area striking fear into the hearts of every member of the team. Axis howled in response, his wolf fighting its way to the surface in the howl of a cornered animal. Jablach stopped moving altogether, his demonic instinct telling him to not move, to not be seen by the greater demon roaming the land. Greslarnier closed its eyes humming in distress. Aurelia gripped her sword and shield so tightly, the bones of her hand broke. Eihlen curled up against the wall in a fetal position. Finally, Baslin cowered behind his Archmage’s defense.
Abruptly, the dragons’ roaring screams of torment ceased, and the battlefield began to clear. One by one, the team recovered from the shock, horror, and fright that had been dominating them. Duke was interrupted by a notification.
*** Due to successful use under immense strain, your MENTAL FORTITUDE has ranked up to Adept 3. Your Ability now provides increased resistance to fear effects. ***
He couldn’t help but to laugh at it all. Aurelia was the first to speak. “Oh, that’s it. He’s completely lost it.”
“No, I don’t think that is the case.”
“It was a joke, Greslarnier. You know, a tension breaker because that was just too intense to not do something about. That Ability is horrific.”
“Is truly is. It pulls up all the monsters lurking in my Id and unleashes them on my foes.”
“Monsters from your Id? What is that?” Baslin asked, having finally regained his composure.
“I don’t know the book-definition but it’s the part of the mind that subconscious drives and needs come from. At least that’s what Freud thought.”
“And this Freud is a great thinker amongst your people?”
“Some thought he was. Many called him the father of psychology, the study of the mind. Others just think he was obsessed with his mom. Most just misquote him or misinterpret his theories. I was just referring to an old story from before I was born in which the ultimate monster was created from the Id of a scientist and ultimately killed him.”
“That seems to fit what that Ability does at least in part.” Baslin concluded.
“There are five waves left to go. Can we really finish this dungeon?” Eihlen asked.
“I am going to finish it, even if I have to rely on that horrible Ability. I now have some resistance to its effects so maybe you all want to step out at this point. I’m sure the rewards will still be amazing.”
“I’m not going anywhere without you.” Aurelia responded, steel in her voice. “You stay and fight, I’m staying to fight.”
“Same here. I’m not abandoning you after all we have gone through this dungeon. I’m seeing this through to the end.” Axis added. The other all quickly followed suit until Eihlen was the only one who had not spoken.
“In all honesty, this dungeon scares the hells out of me. I think you are all crazy for wanting to continue with it. That said, I stand with my king and my general.”
“Oh, don’t put that on me.” Aurelia said. “If you want to step out, you step out. This dungeon is ten times harder than it has any reasonable right to be. You are the lowest Tier here and no one, and I mean no one expects you to stay against Tier five freaking dragons.”
“Thank you for saying that. I’ll just hide behind Baslin and use my ranged heals on you all. He’s got one serious magical shield.”
All conversation ended as the next wave began.