I didn’t trigger my Moment of Mastery as Nerien came toward me, because it seemed like she wasn’t a moron and we were playing the same class—the chance that she was opening with some extraordinary game-changer was low.

And so my Reactive Armor triggered as my Mana Shield absorbed more than a hundred damage—and this was what I’d really wanted. I sent a lighting-fast thought to Cuby: bomb the mages. The longer they couldn’t cast a Supercharged Devour Magic on me, the better—it was the only thing that could wipe one of my overleveled buffs.

Then their attacks began to batter me—or rather, fail to. My Defense Rating was 38… base. With the bonus from Reactive Armor, it was 45. They had, by my guess, 15 to 18 Precision each without buffs—which could bring them up to 22 or more.

They had less than a 25% chance of hitting me until my Reactive Armor counted down and brought my Defense Rating to 31. I dodged efficiently, casting an Invert Hostilities as bait more than anything—I saw a rope-bound harpoon bounce off my magic armor, which deflected spells from all directions with little bursts of light. More melee characters leapt or climbed into range of me, but their blows only occasionally chipped at my Mana Shield for negligible damage.

“Dispel him!” cried Nerien—her face now as full of fear as it was of rage. Apparently, she’d realized that she was fighting the boss of Mount Mirrak.

A moment later she struck me with a Hex of Chains, perhaps using her Moment of Mastery to ensure a hit. My armor still did much to help me avoid damage, however, and they didn’t get me off the ledge. Then I saw the debuff for a Slow Spell appear, and shortly thereafter was knocked to the ground by a miracle-fueled shifter. I saw more debuffs appear… and then lost focus completely as I was taken by a fear spell and curled up into a ball on the ground.

Alatar! Cuby was saying as I came out of the spell a few seconds later, attacks still rebounding off my steadily declining Defense Rating. Reactive Armor was now in its downswing and I was being burdened with debuffs—and then I was stricken by a confusion spell, likely cast by Nerien herself, and I finally realized it:

I was an adamantine pinata, a wonderful party game! Inside me there was a special, treasured card—but it was very, very hard to get me open, and—

I came out of the spell laughing, my Mana Shield at 1500 points, but steadily dropping as my Defense Rating hit the Reactive Armor valley. My resistance was helping me tank it, but there were so many of them… I took another Hex of Chains, and another fear while it was still up… but I came out of this grinning right before I was confused into thinking I was a pinata again.

But this lasted about 1 second. I was knocked to the ground, my Mana Shield low enough to start recharging—and there were enemies just clinging to my arms and legs, isolating my limbs so that I couldn’t get up.

Bomb me.

Cuby didn’t ask me if I was sure, and a moment later a concussive grenade blew us all over, toward the rim of the mountain. I used Rousing Command, my higher Physical Resistance helped me spring to my feet, at which point I used Mighty Leap—to jump about a meter and a half.

We’d chosen my position very carefully. It had a good view of the road below—but also only a short incline until one reached the edge of the mountain.

I spun to see more than a dozen enemies getting to their feet, including Nerien—and I loosed the fragmented spell I’d been holding all this time, a Supercharged Telekinetic Hammer.

It was like golfing with army men. Up and away they went, except for two of them who had been on the fringes. I saw Nerien and another player spread the web-wings of a Charm of Gliding before I wheeled to look at the battlefield below. Haroshi was fighting the spirefiends alone, and two of them remained. A crew of seven players were fighting Axxonni, the boss, and seemed to be in mostly good health.

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As soon as I looked at him, Axxonni’s armored head snapped to face me, and he wheeled his 40% health horse and began to charge toward me even as he cast his blind again—which once again hit me with a 4-second debuff, the stacking resistance rules apparently not applying to boss abilities.

Fly! Cuby shouted.

And so I did: I used my Mighty Leap, then my Gift of Empyreal Flight, spreading a pair of translucent, blue-white angel’s wings and throwing myself into the air, casting an Intuitive Supercharged Haste without the movement component as I rose, rose higher, bringing myself closer to the mountain—and saw, even as I was 50 meters above the ground, the hook of a grapple gun bury itself in the sheer stone of the cliff face, Nerien coming out of the fog a moment later to perch against its side.

But it was no matter: I was far outside her range as my wings finally ended and I cast a glide, heading toward where I knew Cuby was waiting on a ledge just below me….

And then Nerien appeared beside me in midair in a cough of black smoke that was exactly like the one the devils used, her two-hander coming down at me with frightening speed—and I used my Moment of Mastery to twist out of the way and trigger Evasive Insights, spreading my wings again a moment later to glide to—

Haroshi appeared, weapon glowing with the white light of a miracle, and smashed with one of his lightning-swords, the blow stunning me and causing me to fall through the air…

But Cuby grabbed me with her Invested Hardlight Tether, and instead of plummeting to the ground I swung toward the mountain at the end of the rope—which was broken a moment later by Nerien’s thrown two-hander.

I fell for only a split-second: Cuby’s grapnel punched into my abdomen almost immediately, launched as soon as Nerien had thrown her weapon. Again I swung toward the mountain, slamming into it and hanging there—at which point Nerien appeared right above me in another cough of smoke, and as I came out of Haroshi’s stun I had enough time to think: they get two?

But my Evasive Insights let me flatten myself against the rock fast enough to avoid her one swing even as I tore Cuby’s grapnel from my abdomen and launched myself off the mountainside with a Mighty Leap, equipped my own grapple gun, and started casting an Intuitive Hardlight Tether.

At least one more, I thought as the arc of my leap reached its apex and I invested my spell in Cuby, who was gliding right above me, and started casting an Intuitive Telekinetic Hammer.

And sure enough, Haroshi appeared right above me, between me and Cuby. He twisted to avoid her thrown grenade, which fell uselessly to the ground below, then hit me with a blinding strike, the minimal duration enough time for him to land on me and wrap his arms around me in midair so as to bear us both down toward his party below.

Cuby tethered me, and we fell, the glowing cord tightening as Haroshi and I wrestled in midair. I got a brief glimpse of his face—surprise was written there clear as day. My Strength was much, much higher than he’d anticipated, and the momentary shock was enough for me to twist to put him under me and loose the basic Telekinetic Hammer, sending him to the ground below.

Hanging beneath her as we gradually lost altitude, I gave Cuby another Hardlight Tether, then stored another Telekinetic Hammer—but we could see Nerien and Haroshi below us, and it was clear after a few moments that they’d run out of teleports. They only got two, or so it would seem: after a few seconds they both dove back toward the battlefield to support their troops.

We did it, I said, casting my own glide as Cuby dismissed the tether.

We did it! she said, joy clear as day in her voice. I can’t believe it! I think we might have taken out half of them!

I’m almost 13, I said. And—holy hell, Cuby, you’re level 16.

I know!

Let me cast some Moments of Mastery and we can level, maybe even get back down there to—oh.

I had my arms out to glide, but my neck craned to see her flying slightly above and ahead of me, looking at her while we spoke.

Which is why I saw the great black shape looming out of the stormcloud above us, and the bottom dropped out of my stomach as terror gripped me, not needing an in-system source: the spirefiend diving at us was the largest I’d seen, twice as large as any I’d seen, and its mouth was wreathed in the same dark red energy used by devils and High Priest Axxoni.

Matriarch Eradicia – Level 15 Boss – Queen of the Peak

Eradicia let out a short, earsplitting shriek—and a wave of power radiated outward from her, striking me and stunning me for 5 seconds.

I plummeted toward the ground below.