Dren swore to himself. But he was certain he could take them. After all, he had practically dominated the troll at the end. Then killed his party. While he still had conflicting feelings about the latter. They weren’t near enough to cause him to hesitate. Drawing his last dagger he prepared to engage the charging defender. Only when he was a few meters away he suddenly burst forward with seemingly impossible speed. The blow did little damage but sent Dren flying backward to crash into some underbrush. He barely rolled free to see several sharp icicles flying right for him. Snapping to his feet in a manner that looked as if someone had yanked him up, he avoided the projectiles. But found himself forced to dodge the swing of the defender's short sword.

Activating his new Battle Focus ability his vision instantly sharpened just as a blinding flash of light hit him.

Blinding Light debuff partially resisted. You are blind for two seconds.

With a growl, he dived away knowing an attack was incoming. He felt a blade graze him and something sharp whizzed by his face. Leaving a shallow cut on his cheek and slamming into his shoulder. The surprise attack caused him to drop his unenchanted dagger. Scrambling on all four with far greater speed than seemed possible. He rushed away from his swearing attacker. Only to smash headfirst into something solid. Swearing himself now, he dived behind the tree he had just headbutted as loud thumps indicated more dodged projectiles. His vision was just starting to fade in when another flash of light washed over him.

Blinding Light debuff resisted.

“It failed. He must have some sort of resistance buff or a hell of a lot of intelligence.” Dren glanced at the speaker and spotted the healer.

A moment later a second wave of light hit him.

Blinding Light debuff resisted.

Dren glared at Jen who matched his fury tenfold. But he had no time to worry about that. From behind the defender Charles came charging in with that ridiculous speed. But with his ability active and now expecting it. Dren managed to flip over them at the last second, his dagger even scoring a decent cut across the side of their head. Leaving their scalp bleeding. ‘Their defense is weaker than Mike’s was.’ He thought to himself as he twisted his body in midair violently to avoid more frozen projectiles. From the shadow of a tree the archer he had forgotten about appeared from nothing. His arrow let loose before he winked out of existence again. It was too fast and Dren was already busy avoiding one set of ranged attacks. The arrow struck him in the shoulder with enough force to send him spinning as he fell.

A quick glance at his health showed he had lost about thirty health. Even with his increased defense that archer did the same large amount of damage as the one he had met early on. Dren was just glad he hadn’t scored a critical hit.

Hitting the ground he dove behind a tree then jumped up to pull himself off the ground. The defender charged around into view, his sword already swinging. It only bounced off the tree. Dropping down he stabbed as he landed. His blade slid down against their collarbone and sank deeply in. With that critical strike delivered he started to follow up. But another wave of blinding light was followed by more frozen projectiles as the others repositioned. He was driven away as the defender started glowing from a heal spell.

‘Damn it. With two healers this will be a pain. Worse, one failed resist of that stupid blind spell and I could really be in trouble.’ Dren’s thoughts raced as he darted away, an arrow shot from the invisible archer piercing his trailing cloak. With that brief glance, Dren realized they hadn’t moved and changed directions to charge right at them. They appeared as they released their shot, right when Dren was almost on them. But he had expected that. Spinning around he lashed out with his arm like a whip. Dren couldn’t see the archer anymore but he had tagged him with his Assassin’s Eyes. The glow was vanishing as they returned to invisibility but it was slower than the rest of him vanishing. Giving him just enough accuracy to land his blow. His wide-bladed dagger cut thru the archer's neck sending a spray of blood. It wasn’t as effective as his from-behind sneak attacks. But it did plenty of damage still.

While he wanted to follow up with a stab from his off hand, without a weapon it would have little effect. So he did the next best thing and snatched up their bow before diving away. Several frozen projectiles rushed past him. One clipping the flailing archer even as a heal spell hit him.

“Damn it. He almost one-shot John! Great now you are yellow Sam.” The group's healer swore loudly. “Shit shit shit. The wound isn’t healing right. Help me, Jen.”

As much as Dren wanted to keep the bow he had stolen. It was more likely to get in the way and he didn’t have time to store it. So with a grunt, he chunked it into the woods before moving towards the mage next. Rushing out from behind a tree he charged right at the mage. The first projectiles he was able to avoid but unlike Sara who had panicked, they kept their cool. Firing off another set of icicles when he was too close to dodge. So Dren didn’t even bother. He tanked the hits. Taking twenty points each for two icicles but it allowed him to close in on the squishy mage. Slamming his dagger into the glowing line on his chest he pierced the mage's heart. At the last moment, his body had become covered with frost and Dren felt a good deal of the power in his stab drained away. Still, they didn’t look good.

Dren’s dagger was already moving for a second thrust when suddenly he found himself turned around. No one had moved him or touched him. But his body had moved on itself. Turning and charging right at the defender.

Taunt resist failed.

Charging right at the man he took a shield bash head on. The blow caused him a surprising amount of damage.

Stun resisted.

While he had resisted the actual stun effect he was still off balance. The defender swept in his blade which turned black with a green glow as he did. Dren did manage to partially dodge the attack but caught the blade across the back of his shoulder. It burned as if the blade was on fire and he caught a whiff of the sickly sweet smell of rotting meat. Even that glancing blow had done more damage than all the other attacks he had taken so far. Dren suspected this Charles had min-maxed for strength as much as possible. Unlike Mike who had been almost completely built around defense.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Diving into a roll he snapped up and lunged back towards the mage. Hoping the healing hadn’t gotten him out of the one-shot range yet. But before he could get to him. He was forced to pull up short to avoid getting hit by another arrow. This one with the arrowhead glowing brightly. Before he could try and resume his charge another set of icicles fired towards him. At first, he intended to take them head-on again but had to dive out of the way. His battle focus gave him enough awareness to sense the defender rushing in. As he dived away they shot past him, their shield black and glowing.

Dren was frustrated. This was harder than he thought. With only one weapon left he was at a disadvantage when it came to dealing damage. He still had Mike’s short sword in the backpack strapped to his back. But, it wasn’t like they were giving him time to dig it out. He couldn’t burst down one of the squishier ones with only a single hit. Plus with all three of them working together. He was almost constantly on the defensive. The stupid archer had somehow recovered his bow. Even with both healers focusing on restoring their party and not bothering with their debuff spells. Dren realized really he was losing. Things continued like that. Repeatedly, he attempted to get to any of the squishier natives to finish one off. But even when he managed to deal damage. It was never enough. A taunt or another attack would come in to interrupt him before the healers started focusing on them.

Worse Dren knew Jen had enough health to survive several hits and any move toward the other healer resulted in focused attempts by the others to stop him. An arrow caught him here and there. As did the icicles. Both did small bits of damage while the ice attacks seemed to also slow him down slightly as the cold made his body stiff. Not much at first but with each one he felt his body become just a little bit stiffer. But by far the most dangerous of them was the defender. His attacks were powerful and whatever he was doing seemed to make them worse. Dren’s own regeneration boosted by his high spirit seemed to do little to them.

When it became obvious that he couldn’t win. Dren switched to trying to escape. But they were determined to prevent that. His first attempt was ruined by an unresisted taunt. After that, they all moved to reposition. More to contain him than to avoid him. Despite his high defensive stats he was being whittled down. One glancing blow after another.

In an act of desperation. Dren attempted to do a flip over the defender as he had once before. Only while mid-air did he see them glance up with a smile. Right before he insulted him.

Taunt resist failed.

Landing on the ground Dren turned back towards the man instead of attempting to flee. His dagger attack was deflected by their shield before their sickly glowing sword was thrust right into Dren’s gut. A huge amount of health was depleted as he took the empowered critical strike. An arrow slammed into his left arm while two icicles impaled him on the back. His health dipped lower as the sneering defender twisted his blade. “This is for Mike.” With that the man headbutted him, emptying his health bar.

Life Surge activated. Forty-two health restored.

With a grunt, Dren’s limp falling body snapped upright. The surprised defender didn’t react as he swept his arm upwards and buried his dagger right in the man’s crotch. His eyes crossed and Dren knew the damage wouldn’t be fatal. But it definitely stopped him from attacking. With a shove, he managed to knock the off-balance man to the side as he clutched his crotch. An arrow smashed into him while Dren ducked under two more icicles. Then he was running.

His stomach wound as well as the others caused by the defender's weapons still burned like they were on fire. The surge of healing from his partially charged Life Surge seemed to heal around those wounds but not really touch them. With his last trump card spent he fished out a crimson potion and gulped it down. The rest of his wounds healed. But none of the ones caused by that defender’s attacks were among them. He didn’t even get the full use out of the healing potion.

Behind him they chased. Or at least the mage and the archer did. Dren was tempted to turn back and try to finish them off. Yet chose not to with his health in the one-shot range, he couldn’t risk it. Worse the archer seemed to have more agility than him. He would close in but fall behind as he paused to fire an attack. Dren’s head started pounding and he was forced to deactivate his battle focus leaving him with a constant fear that he might not dodge an arrow. He might be able to take one more arrow. If it wasn’t a critical hit. Still, he wasn’t willing to risk it and they hounded him as he ran.

As he rushed along something odd ahead caught his attention. It looked like a stone building of some sort. Covered in vines and mostly blocked by foliage he couldn’t tell what kind of building but it was at least something. He obviously wasn’t going to get away like this. Constantly having to dodge attacks let even the mage keep up with him. Shifting his direction he charged right for the building hoping to dip inside. Maybe find a way to lose them in it. Just before he made it an arrow hit him in the back. His health dropped down to just a tiny sliver as he stumbled forward. The moment he crossed the thresh hold of the building a system message popped up.

You have entered Profane Ruins Dungeon (Level 15). Party: Solo

*****

Name: Dren

Race: Human (I)

Class: Assassin (6)

Profession: Enchanter (5)

Health: 2/850

Stamina: 166/850

Mana: 12/700

Agility 27

Dexterity 27

Endurance 32

Intelligence 26

Spirit 26

Strength 32

Toughness 32

Vitality 32