The Ember Golem’s arena was dangerous even without the boss.

The ground had turned from red to a smoldering black. A subtle red mist coated the air. Breathing was heavy and hot. Disfigured columns, covered in black spiky thorns, were spread across the room. Ether flowed within the columns, as if the columns were alive.

The boss itself sat at the back of the arena with its eyes closed. Thousands of ether oozed out of its body. Immediately, Vivi knew this boss was far stronger than the fang tanker.

The Ember Golem was a giant horned figure with humanoid proportions. It had the face of a hairy goat. From the neck down, its body was coated in molten rocks, giving it a golem-like appearance. The hands didn’t look heavy; Vivi guessed the monster would be surprisingly nimble.

Its weapon was a thick quarterstaff, lined with glowing patterns. Vivi didn’t recognize any of the patterns as runic. If the lines were supposed to be veins, the runesmith had spread them with suboptimal distribution. Ether flowed in the patterns nonetheless. The quarterstaff would crush any little humans in its path with a clean hit.

“The goat variation, huh…” Ven said. “Not the worst. Your new sword should cut right through.” He smirked at Aang.

“Yes,” Aang said. “First, we cut off its hands and feet. Alisa, don’t attack the head this time. Blow off its posture when it attacks. A clean hit will get rid of one of the hands.”

“Yes,” Alisa said. “Rohan, I’d like to have my ‘gravity pull’ back.”

“What? So soon?” Rohan asked.

“I gave the skill to you for two days, and you managed to snap your sword,” Alisa said with her arms crossed. “It’s useless in your hands. Give it back.”

Rohan sighed but complied. A single colorful wisp, far larger than a regular wisp of ether, transferred from his core to Alisa’s.

Was that a skill wisp? Vivi asked in her head. Can skills be transferred like that?

“Yes, skill wisps hold a lot of similarities with ether,” Lucius said. “Humans can only hold three skills at a time. Some anomalies can change this number, but three is the typical cap. Spirits don’t have any slots for skills. That’s why humans are essential for spirits. We need someone to hold the skills wisps we gain. Transferability is also why skills are so sought-after. Hunters will pay thousands upon thousands of ether to buy skills. A good skill can decide the entire fighting style of a hunter.”

The demons said they have nine skills, Vivi thought. Are they rich?

“They’re certainly wealthy,” Lucius said. “Lesser hunting companies would be jealous. Although, more powerful families, even the Greenwitch hunting company, usually have dozens of common skills and multiple rarer skills.”

The demons made final preparations. They drank strength potions. Rohan stretched extensively, taking practice swings. The others were calmer. Vivi stood with Lydi and Feni.

Everyone was ready. Aang filled his runesword with ether and took a calm step toward the boss. His aura consisted of around two hundred wisps of active ether. Not nearly all of his reserves.

The Ember-goat Golem woke up, as if a trapwire had been activated. It stood on two legs. Vivi flinched by its sheer size. The monster must have been fifteen feet tall. It stood still and assessed its enemies.

The demons’ formation made no sense to Vivi’s eyes. Aang stood alone at the front, facing the monster. Ven and Rohan stood by the columns on both sides, far from the boss itself. Vivi and the alchemists stood back. Lydi stood calmly with her staff.

Alisa hid. Her stealth was good. Vivi couldn’t sense her ether aura at all. Interestingly, however, Alisa hid near the back line in a shadowed section of the arena. Wasn’t she planning on getting close with her daggers?

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The boss attacked first. It tapped the heel of the quarterstaff at Aang, as if intending to crush an insect.

Aang side-stepped the attack. He barely had to move his feet. He kept a relaxed posture and faced the boss.

“The goat variation always does this,” Feni said. “It believes itself to be some great overlord. Visitors are mere annoyances. As long as you approach without a large aura, the Ember Golem believes it can kill Aang with a quick thump. When it fails, it gets confused.”

As Feni had said, the boss tapped its quarterstaff at Aang again, this time with a little more force. Aang dodged just as easily. This continued for a few more attempts. Each time, the boss’s eyes glowed brighter, growing slightly angrier.

“And when it fails enough times,” Feni said, “it gets mad.”

The boss growled. Its eyes glowed red. It went into stance and lifted its quarterstaff, preparing a heavy blow.

That was when the demons’ skills came pouring in.

Alisa’s right arm turned into solid wisps of ether. The dangerous kind, as if a surge had erupted on her palms. She threw her crush-runed dagger forth with explosive force. Vivi’s hair flared out from the shockwave the throw left behind.

The dagger pierced the Ember Golem’s right hand, including the quarterstaff inside the monster’s fist. The dagger devoured everything in its path, crumbling the monster’s stone skin into bits. A gaping hole was left behind. The quarterstaff snapped in half.

“A discharge skill!” Lucius gushed.

After the attack was thrown, Alisa’s hand returned to normal. She pulled the dagger with her left hand, using the gravity spell. The dagger returned safely to her hands.

The boss screamed in rage and pain. Its hand was blown off, wisps of ether flowing like blood from a wound. Its stance was off, and it had no weapon. Vivi knew Aang could have killed the boss there, cutting right through its stone skin. Alisa could have aimed the dagger at the boss’s face, killing it. The demons were playing with the boss.

The Ember Golem initiated its next move. Its aura grew outward, extending far. Quickly, the whole room was cloaked in the boss’s misty ether.

“Here they come,” Feni said, preparing herself.

The columns across the room glowed brighter. Large concentrations of ether formed within. Rohan and Ven went into stance, already prepared for what was coming. The columns moved, as if they’d grown mechanical.

The concentrated ether escaped from cracks in the columns. The ether welled together, forming flying black skulls. Monsters spawned from the columns.

The skulls were unstable, and their shapes were disfigured. Their auras appeared to be burning as wisps rapidly escaped from their black ethereal bones. Tens of skulls were spawning all around the room.

Aang’s gang stopped playing around. Rohan and Ven slashed the skulls in half while the monsters were still forming. Lydi’s staff glowed red with ether as power charged within. The power was released as a discharge; a powerful projectile that disintegrated the skulls in one blow.

There were too many monsters to kill instantly. Surviving skulls flew at the nearest target, mouths wide open. Their teeth were sharp and straight.

Vivi felt a chill looking into a skull’s gaping mouth. One was charging right at her. She slashed it open with her runesword. The skull merely vaporized, dropping no collectible ether.

While everyone else dealt with the skeletons, Aang faced the boss. His full ether aura was released. His scorched black skin turned pitch black, and his white tattoos appeared ascended. Cloaked in an aura of ether, Aang appeared like the demons Ythar’s priests prayed for a swift death to. His presence rivaled Andre’s spirit blade.

The boss threw a desperate punch at Aang with its remaining arm. The attack was futile. Aang dodged, then grabbed onto the massive wrist. He pulled.

The goat-golem lost its footing. A thump resounded across the arena as the boss landed on its stomach.

Aang didn’t stop there. He slashed the golem's arms off with his runesword. Then he moved to the legs, cutting off everything from below the knees. The golem turned into an immobile stack of stone. The boss continued screaming, pushing more ether into its columns.

“Stop killing skulls!” Feni called.

Vivi lifted her eyebrows but did as asked.

Feni must have seen her confusion. She continued, “The boss is close to dying. Cutting all limbs is enough to kill most monsters. However, the boss still has enough ether invested in a major attack. The skulls. As long as we keep the columns active, the boss won’t disintegrate. Just don’t die to the skulls.”

“Leave them to me!” Rohan called. He ran around the room, collecting as many skulls after him as he could.

“The potions!” Aang said. “Help me lift it!”

The boss’s face was stuck on the ground. The scene looked quite ridiculous—a limbless boss monster laying face-first on the ground, while a Knight in full plate armor ran around as fast as he could, chased by a horde of dozens of flying black skulls.

Everyone except Rohan ran to the boss. Vivi and Ven lined up to help Aang grab the boss. Lucius pushed ether into Vivi’s hands to protect her from the heat. On a count of three, they lifted the boss on its side. The boss thumped on its back.

Aang grabbed all of Lydi’s potions, jumped on the boss’s chest, and threw all of the potions into the boss’s throat.