*Thud*
Obi felled another Treant, backing up in the process. His client, a rich businessman's son with the in-game name of x_slayerrr_x, had just been smacked into a tree by the main boss. It was a tall, lumbering beast of wood, only separated between Obi's client by a mere sapling. He was only a level 11 Sorcerer, there was no way his armor could withstand the weakest of hits, let alone a full-fledged special.
If the attack was executed, Obi's client would die and take a few hours to respawn. He would lose some income off of that. There was no way Obi would let that slide. He was a level 79 Tank, and there would be no way a puny Wood Golem could ruin his chances of a heavy payout.
Obi activated his [Shield Dash] Gem on his Shield. He was flung forward at an incredible speed, using his shield as a barrier and ramming straight into the Golem's flank. Obi knew his armor could take the hit and keep him relatively unhurt. The impact threw the Golem a few feet into the grass.
[Golem Health: 70/120]
He turned to his client and glared.
"If you wanna fight, come help. If you can't, just stay there and watch."
His client just stared back at him, shaking. He was hopeless, hiding behind a sapling that barely gave him any cover.
As Obi talked, the Golem stood back up, and he heard a whoosh coming from the Golem. The Golem began to convert all its rage into a special form, which lasts briefly but enhances its strength and defense.
A golden shimmering aura surrounded the Golem, forming a golden skin on top of the already hardened bark. The Golem's eyes glowed a bright gold and power emanated from the beast.
The Golem stomped once, and before Obi knew what was going on, began charging at the two.
Obi knew he had to lure the beast away from his client. He held up his shield and started yelling. This made him take aggro, and the Golem narrowed its eyes upon him. As it charged, he rolled away and waited to see what it did next. It ran after him, gaining speed by the second.
Obi turned and sprinted, not very easy in his clunky armor, though not fast enough to outrun the Golem. He was going to have to face it sooner or later.
He had figured out its weakness. The Golem had a limp in its right foreleg which couldn't allow the right side's weight to be balanced. This meant that the Golem was overcompensating for it.
He could hear the crunch of the leaves as he took heavy steps, and also the pounding of the Golem's feet. Breathing in the fresh, pine-scented air, and the rich fragrance of the earth, Obi was invigorated and relaxed a bit. He kept running until he reached the edge of the clearing.
Obi turned to face the Golem as it bore down on him, and fast. There was a tinge of fear in his eyes, but he brushed it away. He knew he could easily defeat a low-level Boss!
Obi had formulated a plan in the few seconds it took the Golem to reach him.
The huge beast made a giant leap with claws extended, that was on point, or not on point. Obi had moved away at the last possible moment, making the Golem smash headfirst into a tree.
Obi smiled, as he readied his shield and sword.
He was surprised when the beast stood back up and shook its head, willing for more of a fight.
The Golem lunged at Obi just before he activated his [Golden Wall] ability. It allowed him to negate all damage done to him for 5 seconds.
The beautifully engraved shield started glowing golden as he activated the ability and doubled in size. The Golem threw itself at the shield, looking for any kind of purchase on the slippery enchanted shield.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Obi noticed the golden glow flickering and realized his mana was depleting quicker than he thought. While the shield was still up, Obi checked his Mana bar.
Mana: 10/300
He knew he couldn't use an ability with 10 Mana so he had to take drastic measures. Obi reached into his satchel and held onto a Mana Crystal. It was the last of which he had acquired, but the situation left him no choice.
Obi pulled out the Mana Crystal from his bag and held it up high in the air. He crushed the Crystal into his fist and shards flew everywhere. Blue tendrils of Pure Mana drifted up and around his arm and into his chest, slowly brightening in intensity.
He checked his Mana bar again.
Mana: 300/300
"Perfect", Obi said to himself as he readied his sword for an attack.
Obi was ready for the Golem when the shield went down and channeled Mana into his sword. He activated his [Mighty Cut] ability from the second gem slot in his sword.
Just as he was about to hit the Golem, he felt a falling sensation, and his surroundings became a light blue with white streaks moving up rapidly. His attack hit no-one, and he could see the mana flow out of the sword and join the tunnel.
After a good 4-5 seconds, Obi found himself next to his client. The first thing he did was check for the Golem. It was confused and trying to grab the air.
"Sean, you actual IDIOT! Why the HELL did you teleport me?"
"I saw you getting hit by the... creature, and I thought you were getting hurt so I teleported you. You told me to help, right?"
"You just made me use my last mana crystal, and then you teleport me while I'm attacking? I lost almost a quarter of that mana through that teleport! You know what? Just stand over there, don't move, and DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID!", Obi yelled as he pointed to a thick, tall tree.
Obi watched Sean slowly shuffle and was about to tell him to hurry up, when he got the chills up his spine. He realized that he still kept aggro from the Golem, and turned around to find the Golem leaping at him.
The Golem overshot Obi, and landed between Sean and Obi, changing its target to Sean. It slowly prowled forward, sensing weakness as Sean panicked.
As it all unfolded before his eyes, Obi barely had time to think before he used his [Shield Dash] and put himself between Sean and the Golem. He grabbed a branch growing out of the Golem's head and used all his strength to throw the Golem away from Sean.
It just stood back up and stared at Obi. What a resilient beast it was. The Golem exhaled, and the golden form slowly evaporated, and the shimmering-gold skin withdrew itself. The entire body seemed to droop in exhaustion, but the Golem still stood to fight.
Obi took one look at the Golem and pitied it. After such a good fight, he didn't want to end such a good beast. The notion momentarily stopped him, but he knew he had the mana for the killing blow.
Obi could hear his client screeching over the mic, and so he muted the channel. He needed to focus on the task at hand. Not only was the Golem angry, but it was also ready to fight. Obi gathered mana in his hand and charged his shield. He activated his [Pivot Point] gem and steadied his foot. As the beast charged at him, Obi threw his body weight against his shield and slammed it against the spine of the Golem. The shield's blunt point concentrated all the force against it and threw the Golem to the ground.
[Golem Health: 0/120]
The Golem skid a few feet before stopping against a large boulder. When Obi looked at it, he saw a magnificent creature, one of noble qualities and bravery, yet only created for people like his client to waste their time upon, and just play a game. As he walked up to the defeated Golem, Obi unmuted his Client who was cowering behind a tree.
"T-that was so close, hadn't you been there, I would have been crushed!"
"Shut it, Sean, now where's the money?", Obi gruffly said.
Sean slowly extracted himself from the tangle of branches and walked up. As he mustered up the confidence to talk back to Obi, a wire transfer of 17 Thousand in-game credits took place.
Sean began, "That was awesommee!! See, I even leveled up! I just want to -"
"My work's done. Now leave my party.", Obi interrupted. He hated it when these brats kept prattling on and on about their fantasies and gear.
The loot involved: 3x medicinal herbs, 32x Wood Chunks, 2x Magical Leaves. All junk at his level. One item caught his eye though. It was a mythical rank gem. He pocketed it before turning away to look at it later.
It was time for Obi to log off. His 4-hour timer had just gone off, and no amount of justification could keep his guardian, Dern, from scolding his ears off. His armor had taken a beating. It would anyways take a long time for his [Shield Dash] to recharge. Obi's combat tag wore off, and he was able to teleport back to spawn. The Devs had changed the decorations for the occasion. FelliFest was around the corner, and they couldn't miss a chance to brighten up the place with some bits and bobs.
As Obi logged off, he watched the red streaks fly by him as he 'flew up'. It never got old. He would be able to surprise his sister, Sara, with a present today. The paycheck of today's quest granted him leeway for another month. The world slowly transitioned to black, and all noise faded until Dern took the headset off.