The Broodmother, as the boss was called, landed with a deafening crash, a roar stunning everyone nearby. It cracked the ground on impact while throwing up a cloud of dust all around it, covering everything and everyone. Noah took a stumbling step back, his vision blocked, ears ringing. He felt panic rise, unnaturally sudden. Very likely some sort of fear ability from the boss. It made him want to turn around and run. To hide in a corner and cower. They couldn’t possibly win against—
“As the light dims and all hope is lost,” a voice reached his ears, each word a whisper in the wind, yet as clear as the toll of a bell. It empowered Noah. Made him stand taller. Replacing the fear with courage. Confidence. His head rose and he looked towards the dark shadow as the final words were whispered, “A hero makes his last stand!”
The air exploded outwards, removing the dust and any debuff affecting everyone in the room. A glow engulfed Noah, and he felt amazing right now. Vitalized, powerful. Unstoppable.
> Active
> Last Stand – Legendary, Silver
>
> You’re under the effect of Last Stand. For 30 seconds you’ll periodically cleanse debuffs while any negative effects will have reduced potency. You also gain an increase to all of your stats, a damage reduction and heal to full at the start and the end of the buff.
Everyone was under the same effect, their bodies glowing in a golden, soft hue. They shook off the stun and fear of the boss, picking up their weapon with a determined expression.
“Good call, Leah!” Owen shouted. “Everyone to your position! Can’t get caught with our pants down again.”
The tank was the first to engage the boss. He roared twice in succession and the huge spider started to glow a soft red. Then it charged him headless of anything else, as if there was nobody but him and that monster. The man stood his ground, shield slamming the ground as he braced himself. Noah heard the support chant a skill, a blue glow mixing with the golden light on the tank and then the monster collided. An ethereal shield trice the size of the original thing appeared and to Noah’s surprise the tank stood his ground without moving an inch. That ethereal shield broke apart a moment later as the boss reeled backwards, roaring while it appeared stunned. The impact had thrown up dust all around the two, though not enough to cover them up.
The warriors weren’t idle, however. They flanked the boss and anticipated the moment it crashed into the shield, taking opportunity of the stun affecting the boss. They clearly practiced that combo regularly enough, all of the fighters rushing the many legs of the spider nearly at the same time. Swords cut into the chitin like skin, whacking against it as if they were felling trees, various sweeping skills trailing flashing lights with each stroke of their weapons. The damage done was severe, a few of these legs were straight up dismembered or bleeding profusely. The party leader, Owen, was the only one who didn’t join the fight immediately, he stood where he was, whispering something under his breath as he held the sword in front of him. Then flaming wings appeared on his shoulders, bright and beautiful, a single clap of it sending him soaring into the air. He was above the boss within moments, sword held like an angel personified before he dove straight down. A series of flaming swords appeared next to him, all aimed at the spider. The crash exploded in a sea of flames, engulfing friends and foes alike. It harmed the boss while any ally within the flames received a powerful cooldown reduction. It was amazing. It was crazy. It was everything Noah wanted for himself. To be part of a group like that, to do these amazing things together and work as a true team.
Despite all the pretty effects and damage they’ve done to the boss, it wasn’t over yet. Far from it. The spider roared again, a shock wave of pure force throwing everyone but the tank towards the walls. A phase two, as the guild called the enraged state of a boss. It affected the closer ranged adventurers harder than the ones that were positioned near the wall. Noah stumbled a few steps as he already was right next to the wall, but others were less fortunate. They slammed into the unyielding rock surface in various sounds of clanks or soft thuds, grunts and shouts of pain. Last Stand was still active but while it could cleanse the resulting stun from the impact, it couldn’t clear non-debuff states like disorientation. It bought the boss enough time to recover it’s footing again.
The tank was the only one who hadn’t been affected at all, roaring once more to take aggro. Unlike before it didn’t start to glow a soft red hue and instead of facing the man, it turned to look at the back line with an angry hiss. It clearly resisted the effects of a taunt this time and Noah watched with wide eyes as the people at the back were too busy chucking down potions or grabbing their dropped equipment to notice they were targeted. It charged a moment later, sprinting faster than a man in full armor and a towering shield could keep up with, aiming straight for a red haired sorceress.
Noah wasn’t proud over the fact that he froze right then. His eyes watching the inevitable crash. The tank would never make it in time to stop the attack and the sorceress hadn’t recognized the danger she was in. She was fumbling with a red potion, her wooden staff broken in two near her feet. She uncorked the glass and moved the head towards her lips, a red liquid sloshing from the motion. She froze a moment later, her eyes going wide. It was too late, however, the monster ate up the distance within seconds, rapidly running towards the girl until—
The tank was there, appearing out of thin air as if he had been there all along. A teleport skill, Noah realized, a rarity for tanks to awake. Very likely his most potent ability. The man raised his shield and a blue ethereal copy appeared in front of it the very moment the monster crashed into him. The shockwave of that block sent the red haired sorceress on the ground, the potion shattering while it spilled it’s content all over the ground. The spider roared and jumped backwards, this time less impacted by the stun effect. It caught the few fighters off guard that were rushing the monster to get more damage in, quickly jumping out of their reach. Then it faced the tank and charged forward.
“Need a heal and shields!” the man shouted while the others were quickly scrambling out of the crossfire.
Noah sighed out a breath of relief as he slowly made sure to distance himself as well. They managed to survive the worst so far, though it had cost them a supports ultimate and the tanks teleport skill. Two abilities that wont be available any time soon. All in all, the boss fight was going as well as one could hope for. No casualties, everyone healthy enough to fight. A good start for a fight!
It was sheer coincidence that the next step backwards made Noah’s feet catch on something. He almost stumbled over it and when he looked over his back his face fell. The support was on the ground, struggling to sit up as her head was covered in a splatter of red. She grabbed it, spat some blood out, and chanted words of healing. The spell fizzled out, however. Most likely due to her lack of concentration.
“Need a heal!” the tank repeated and right then Noah knew he wouldn’t get any. The support must’ve gotten knocked into the wall pretty hard, or perhaps she had an unlucky landing, but there was no way she’d be in a condition to support anyone. If Last Stand’s final healing would activate on the tank, perhaps. Then it might be doable. The Broodmother, of course, didn’t wait. It charged forward and the tank must’ve realized there wasn’t a heal coming as well, because he fumbled with his belt to grab a much more potent potion than the others were using. It wouldn’t be enough. Far from it. Not with his guard down, trying to gulp it down. Not without a support. Not without help.
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Not without...
Noah didn’t think. He might not be a real support like the girl on the ground, he might not have abilities as prestigious and wonderful as any of these people here, but he was still a support. Still shared the same class. Noah acted before he could think. “As I will,” Noah whispered. “You’ll exist. As I see, you’ll be.”
> Active
> Mimicry – Very Rare, Bronze
>
> Summon an exact copy of a target of your choice within visual range. For purpose of spell effects, it’s considered the same class, race and rank as the target, but acts as a summoned creature. Any stats, abilities or equipment it may have will be 1/10 as efficient.
>
> 1/10 of the damage done to the mimicry will return to the caster. If the returned damage exceeds the casters total health, the casters HP will remain at 1 but suffer from Backlash.
An exact copy of the tank stood before Noah, a blank expression on his face, yet not entirely without a spark of life. There was something uncanny about it, the way its eyes were following his. Almost as if aware. Intelligent. Noah shook of the feeling and touched the mimicry to activate another ability.
> Active
> Displacement – Very Rare, Bronze
>
> Swap position of a target with matching class in touching distance with another target in visual range. If one of the targets is an ally, add a shield based on the amount of buffs affecting them. If one of the target is an enemy, each debuff afflicting them will cause spatial damage.
>
> Both targets require a similar physique.
There was no transition or effect that would give away the teleportation, one moment the mimicry stood near lifelessly in front of Noah, eyes eerily following him, then a more alive version stood before him, a potion on his lips as he gulped it down with wide, panicked eyes. The flask froze as the tank blinked at Noah, surprised to find himself out of harms way.
“Wha—“
Noah knew it was a jarring experience to be teleported against your will, to put it mildly. Like a sudden lurch of your belly. The few times he had used it on a fellow adventurer, it had caused the person to throw up mid fight. Another ended up slashing a teammate while he was mid swing and one of many reasons why people were quick to throw Noah out. It always did more harm than it ever helped, so before something bad happened, he quickly rushed out, “I displaced your position with a copy. Your support got knocked hard, she needs a bit to recover. Spider will attack—”
He saw and felt it then. The Broodmother crashed into the mimicry and completely destroyed it in a single hit, the damage it received slamming into him as true damage. He had a brief moment where he saw the monster continue it’s momentum to crash into the wall, most likely taking out a good chunk of health, and then Noah’s world exploded. Backlash slammed into him harder than a boulder to the face. An excruciating pain shot through him, as if a lightning had struck all his nerves while burning it all at once. He was out an instant later and within that brief, clear minded awareness he had of it all, Noah hoped he didn’t fall on top of the bag with potions. They were pretty expensive after all.
And please finish the boss.
----------------------------------------
Once upon a time Noah had been a dreamer. A child looking up towards the future with wide, sparkling eyes.
“I want to be an adventurer!” he would say. He would say that a lot, to the dismay of his siblings and parents. Everyone in his family was an adventurer and of course he would be one as well, it was like stating that the sky was blue. Everyone knew that already. However, it didn’t stop him from repeating it again and again, for it meant the world to him.
His dreams had been swiftly shattered during his awakening. A ceremony that marks the passing of a child into adulthood. A priest would perform a rite, the awakening, and if one of the gods deemed you worthy, you’d receive a blessing from one of them. Not everyone would get one, of course, the gods were fickle and nobody knew their design, but the few that are, are blessed with a class. The ability to grow and use skills best suited to their being. Noah’s blessing was that of a support and he was the happiest boy, now a man, alive. Everyone wanted a support and if there’s one thing he wanted the most, that’s being needed.
Noah laid in his bed curled up, holding the blanket tightly to his body. He was alive, he found out. Breathing still, with all of his limbs attached. A victory in his book and he hoped that nobody had gotten seriously hurt. He only remembered the shattering feeling of his mind when his mimicry had died, then blackness followed by a dream. Of a young boy, wishing upon the stars to be an adventurer.
Stupid.
“Oh!” a too familiar voice exclaimed. A woman in her twenties came into vision, blue eyed, blond, a roundish face with long, flowing hair. She frowned down at Noah, a bit of smudge on her nose. “How do you feel? Any tingles? Weird sensations?”
Noah held in the sigh as he returned his sisters look. Contrary to her appearance she was in her fourteens, her gold rank nearly stopping the passage of time. It gave her an otherworldly beauty, as if the gods themselves came down to remove most of anything detracting from her near perfectness, even the smudge seemed to be placed by the gods themselves, but to Noah it was an overall flawed look. As if the person before him bore no marks of life. Nothing to make her appear real. A painting on a wall. “No tingles this time,” he grumbled dutifully. “Still feel the aftereffects from Backlash.”
It was her turn to sigh, mainly directed at Noah as if it was his fault all along. “So it didn’t work. Another step back.” She moved out of sight, heading for a table with parchments and various quills. “Subject did not react to the admission of Rootwart with Dungextract.”
Noah whirled to look at her with wide eyes. “Jane! Please tell me you didn’t actually use…” she shrugged as an afterthought and Noah felt bile rise up.
“Mm,” Jane hummed. “Subject reacted by throwing up. Possible effects after all?”
“You gave me dung!” Noah accused. That was his sister, alright. She was one of the most well known supports out there, a miracle, as people started to call her. For some reason she made it her live work to find a cure for Backlash, a far too common side effect from a lot of mage and support skills. People all across the world would kill to find a cure for it. Naturally, with Noah’s reliable way to cause it, he made for an excellent test subject. Create a mimicry, hit it hard enough and force the Subject into backlash. It didn’t help that he just couldn’t say no to her. Family and all that.
She finally turned back from her papers and looked at Noah, one eyebrow lifted. “So I heard you saved a man.”
“He’s still alive, then?” he asked. “The others?”
“All well. A bit of a bruised ego there, to be fair.”
“Better that than dead,” Noah chuckled.
“That’s true.” A lull broke out between the two but it was hardly a pleasant one. His sister was still scrutinizing him, as if she was seeing something he couldn’t see himself, reading him in a way that he always disliked. He suspected it was a skill of sorts, maybe related to her rank. Either way, rather unpleasant. She finally nodded. “You’ve done well.”
He could’ve done more, a thought came unbidden, yet true. If he had been a better support, had been stronger with more useful skills, perhaps he could’ve prevented it from escalating that far to start with. To heal the tank myself and assist the support.
“You’re doing that thing again,” she admonished. “Where you beat yourself up over things you can’t change.”
“It’s hard to deny the truth.”
“Yet you deny yours.”
He rolled his eyes. “Which is?”
It was her turn to roll her eyes. “That you’re an idiot.”
Noah snorted. “So you’re done experimenting on me?”
“Yeah. You might want to stay near a toilet for a few days,” she added belatedly. “Rootwart is known to cause severe bowel movements. Now go, before Mom and Dad get home.”
Noah glared at first, then grimaced by the end. “Right.” He carefully sat up before testing his feet. A bit shaky with a slight wooziness, but it wasn’t too bad. “When will they be back?”
“The moment they hear about your injury, I reckon,” she gave him a pitiful look. “Better hide now.”
Ah dammit.