I placed my hands upon the massive stone doors, my muscles tense and ready, although I did not know what awaited us behind them. Our short recess to recover our health, mana, and stamina was over, and it was time to head inside. We had already applied our buffs and were ready to begin. My teammates had been delighted earlier when I informed them of my new ability, and the mood had been cheerful during our rest. Now, however, they remained silent and focused. Unfortunately, the Shieldmaidens could not join us for our assault on the temple. They would, however, guard the doors until we returned—or try to stop anything that attempted to escape should we fail. I assumed it was not allowed due to dungeon rules, as having all the Shieldmaidens with us had bolstered our capabilities and offered us additional strategies. Their help trivialized the fights against the enemies blocking our way to the temple. The Aspects, however, declared they would continue to fight alongside us until the very end.
I hesitantly pushed the doors inward. The stone slabs scraped lightly against the polished tile floor of the temple as I slowly opened them. I crept inside, shield raised and spear ready for any dangers that lurked within. I checked both corners cautiously as the others joined me inside. I dared not relax even as Jen whispered that she did not sense any enemies or traps waiting for us. As soon as all my teammates and all four Aspects were inside, the large doors began closing despite no one physically doing so. As my eyes adjusted to the dimness, I scanned the room we now occupied. We appeared to be in a greeting room or reception area. A sizeable empty desk lined the wall to my left, and a single door waited for us directly ahead. Windows had been placed on the wall in front of us, but I was still too far away to see what awaited us in the next room.
"Jen, mind taking a quick look?" I quietly asked.
Without a sound, the elf crept up to one of the windows and peered inside. Then, after a thorough inspection, she returned to us and began to whisper her report.
"That door will let us into the main temple. A single humanoid, a mage, I think, is standing in the center next to an altar. A portal remains active above the altar, yet I see no sign of other enemies. There are no magical or mechanical traps that I can detect from here. Finally, a ritual appears to have been placed in each corner. All four glow brightly with strange runes," Jen told us.
"Rituals? Can Leo take a look without being discovered?" I queried.
Jen nodded, and the healer crawled to the nearest window. As Leo scrutinized the rituals, one of the Aspects, Lyrei, leaned in to say something to me, "The 'rituals' the elf indicated probably maintain the portal, keeping it open so more undead may defile our temple as they rise. The other Aspects and I should destroy them immediately upon entering. We may be able to prevent reinforcements from joining the battle," the Aspect stated confidently.
I took a moment to consider it. It was very likely that the Aspects' purpose was to interrupt whatever ritual was taking place, forcing the team and I to actually fight the boss. The Aspects would be ridiculously powerful against a single enemy, likely making the battle trivial. So far, the Gardens had been designed to test us at each and every step. The dungeon had been expertly designed to train us and reinforce our capabilities when faced with different scenarios. I was honestly grateful for the lessons I had learned here. It seemed unlikely that the final confrontation would just be us watching four Aspects obliterate the boss. Every hint indicated that the Aspects would have to perform some task while we handled the boss. Still, I would only decide after I consulted the team.
Leo returned and informed us that the rituals acted as anchors for the portal. He went on to explain that portals could only remain open continuously with precise magical preparation and anchor points to sustain them. Without these anchors, portals would only stay open as long as their original creator continued to channel mana into them. I thought back to the portal rooms we had used to reach this dungeon. Every portal had been connected to an intricate network of magical crystals and other devices located all around the chamber.
Following a brief discussion, we determined that the team and I would attack the boss while the Aspects moved to disrupt the rituals. If the patterns of glowing runes did not act as anchors, were unimportant, or couldn't be destroyed, the Aspects would quickly return and join our fight. The four powerful beings insisted that the portal was the primary threat and must be deactivated immediately. Everyone acknowledged the possibility of an endless army of undead creatures waiting on the other side of the portal. Even if we could kill the boss swiftly with the Aspects' help, that wouldn't guarantee the portal's deactivation. We would take the safe route.
I opened the elegant door slowly, my eyes fixed in the direction of the enemy. I could see the silhouette of the boss next to the altar at the center of the large room. It certainly looked like a mage, considering it was wearing robes and holding a staff of some sort. The caster also held another item in its off-hand, but it was too dim for me to determine what it actually was.
I was nearly within Shield Charge range when I could finally distinguish what kind of enemy we faced. It was a large, vaguely human skeleton, but I knew instantly that this was different from the skeletal minions we had encountered earlier. It had very little flesh left on its bones, and its head was just a barren human skull. Each of its eye sockets housed a glowing green orb that diffused an uncanny light along the sides of the altar and the nearby floor. The lich was clad in aged black robes adorned with a substantial cowl. The interior of the hood was illuminated by the creature's glowing eyes, causing strange shadows to dance inside the cover. His garments bore no decorations, crests, or symbols apart from the numerous skulls that hung from his belt. The undead mage carried a long staff while clutching a thick dark grey tome in the opposite hand. The magical book seemed to be radiating an aura of pure evil. The staff was carved from a single massive bone and was topped with a spherical orb filled with undulating vapors. Black, green, and purple smoke danced within the sphere, never mixing or combining despite violently churning inside their container. Whenever the staff was moved, the globe dispersed the thick smoke into the air, yet the amount inside never dwindled.
[Lich Overseer Vheem'zil - Level 19 Undead Boss]
Health: 100%
Mana: 1743/2000
Vheem'zil was once a proud and powerful mage of great renown. Unfortunately, his arrogance and obsession with forbidden magic led to his death and subsequent rebirth as a lich. Liches are powerful undead mages that exert control over undead minions while possessing a mastery of various dark magics.
The description did not offer any hints or unveil any weaknesses, but I didn't let that deter me. I was already accustomed to Leo shouting instructions and information as I engaged new enemies. Thank the gods that kid was such a bastion of knowledge. He possessed knowledge regarding nearly every entity, monster, or creature we came across. There were plenty of fights where I would've been lost without his guidance. I had to force my thoughts back to the present, pushing my mind and body into a state of readiness. I no longer suffered from anxiety before a battle. The unease had slowly been replaced by sharp focus and acute awareness. Rather than let fear or worry consume me, I primed myself to adapt to and counter the enemy's actions.
Continuous use of the interface significantly increased my control of the information displayed. For example, I could now keep the boss's health displayed without the other values or a description appearing. The ethereal text was practically invisible yet quickly and easily accessible. In addition, monitoring an enemy's health often told me how effective different abilities were. Additionally, it was helpful to discover an enemy's specific elemental and magical weaknesses. For example, if Leo's wind slash dropped an opponent's health by 2% while Chain Lightning dealt 5%, I would notify him that lightning damage was over twice as potent.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Cass tapped my shoulder, a silent notification that the rest of my team was ready. Once in range of the boss, I used Shield Charge. I rocketed toward the lich and slammed into him with my shield. The undead mage stumbled backward, his featureless skull somehow giving me the impression that he was sneering at me. The boss nonchalantly turned to address us, pointing a bony digit our way.
"This is who the great Freya sends to defend her grand temple? An inept contingent of middling pawns? What a wretched, pitiful group of thralls. You have no hope of defeating me, and your goddess was a fool to send you! Does she not possess tools better suited to the task? Surely she does not believe peasants are capable of defeating a king. Perhaps she sent you to me as a bribe. You will all make decent sacrifices—my army devours new recruits in perpetuity. Come forward—I will strip away your weaknesses and reshape you into true soldiers." Vheem'zil declared, his voice discordant and shrill.
My temper flared with a surge of unwelcome fury, threatening to supplant my resolute mindset. Vheem'zil's indifference when speaking to us and his insults nearly managed to provoke me. The overwhelming arrogance in his tone and the disparagement of my teammates had managed to get under my skin. The most infuriating thing, however, was his demeanor when speaking to us. The lich spoke to us as things, imparting foul memories of my time when I first arrived on Astika. Bitter remembrances of fighting in the arena as a slave, of killing other gladiators that, like me, were just trying to survive.
To my surprise, his brazen insults to Freya further stoked my anger. The goddess had been nothing but kind, helpful, and generous to me, and the deity had earned both my respect and gratitude. I may not have worshipped her, but I truly believed she was someone trying to help me. I quickly reigned in my anger using deep, thoughtful breaths—stabilizing my mindset and entering a state of focused readiness. One of Telovir's first lessons was never allow your opponent to get inside your head. Anger leads to poor judgment, poor judgment leads to mistakes, and mistakes lead to death. I banished any remaining animosity. The lich casually gestured to the altar, raising the hefty tome he held in his off-hand toward it. Then, he began reciting an incantation that I could not understand, even with my translation ability. The language was guttural and crude. The phrases sounded grim and sinister despite my lack of comprehension. I charged into melee range before he could finish speaking. The lich answered my charge with taunting laughter.
"It is too late!" he sneered with a dramatic flourish aimed at the portal.
I cursed and readied myself for an army to rush through the portal. A few harrowing moments later, nothing happened. The lich seemed to grow angry and impatient as he began reciting the chant a second time. After another failure, his gaze drifted to one of the corners of the room and settled on an Aspect. Risking a glance, I was relieved to see that the Aspects had made it to the ritual circles and were suppressing the magical patterns. Mana sense told me everything I needed to know in an instant. The rituals were combinations of runes designed to anchor and maintain the portal's stability. Infusing the gateway with mana would open it and allow passage. Stifling only one or two of them may let some enemies pass through, but it was rendered useless with all four anchors suppressed. The Aspects were actively unraveling the magic used to create the rituals, dissecting the myriad of interwoven runes with careful precision. I doubted they would finish in time to help us with the lich. I informed the team that we'd likely be handling this guy ourselves.
Vheem'zil raged after witnessing the four beings destroying the anchors. He began to make his way toward one of the Aspects while spitting curses. I intercepted the boss and used War Stomp to slow him while I swapped to my hammer. The bosses we had previously faced were immune to all control effects besides slows, and a failed Crushing Blow confirmed the lich was, too. The inability to paralyze, stun, or otherwise incapacitate bosses was likely a recurring feature of dungeons. Undeterred, I launched speculative strikes to uncover my opponent's defensive capabilities and tendencies. Physically, the lich was strong but lacked agility. Some of his reactions to my attacks seemed clumsy and awkward. He managed to block two attacks with his staff, but a third impacted his ribcage with a satisfying crunch. The lich roared and dissolved into the shadows, reappearing and rising from the floor a few dozen yards away. With a quick gesture and muttered words, I became encased in ice from the knees down. My warhammer disappeared as a spear materialized in my hand, and I quickly hurled it at him. Unfortunately, the weapon impacted an invisible barrier a few inches away from the mage's skeletal body and bounced away harmlessly.
[Frigid Embrace - Frozen in place - 5 seconds remaining.]
"You are nothing! You are worthless! Unfit even to join my army after death!" the lich roared.
I ignored his ranting and closed the distance once able to move, recalling my spear at the cost of 3% of my health—a negligible amount considering my teammate's healing capabilities. Jen and Leo were firing ranged attacks at the boss while Cass and Teos flanked him, ready to take advantage of any openings I could create. When fighting new or unknown enemies, especially bosses, I preferred Cass and Teos to take a cautious approach until I had a solid understanding of our enemy. Once we all knew the enemy's capabilities, patterns, defenses, and attack tendencies, they would switch to a more aggressive assault.
The boss muttered a spell and launched a beam of pure magical energy from the orb atop his staff. I barely had enough time to activate Reflection before the radiant purple beam reached me. The spell impacted my shield and rebounded back at the caster with blinding speed. Vheem'zil grunted as his own spell crashed into him, burning a perfectly circular hole in the front of his robes. The lich grew even more enraged and quickly conjured a massive bone spear before promptly hurling it at my head. As soon as the projectile contacted my shield, it was sent sailing back at the lich. The huge spear slammed into the lich's chest, tearing into his ribcage before dissipating in a cloud of smoke.
"We must destroy his body thoroughly, then find the phylactery containing his soul and dismantle or destroy it! After that, we'll only have a few minutes before he is able to find a new body to host his consciousness!" Leo shouted to us.
Vheem'zil laughed hysterically, "You will never leave this temple, fools. You have done nothing but waste my time. I will reap the artifact sheltered here and harvest the secrets of the pantheon. Even the gods will submit to me."
A cursory check of the boss's status showed his health was still at 89%. It seemed his skeletal body was more robust than it appeared. I rushed back into range, storing the spear and replacing it with my warhammer. I slammed my boot into the ground, landing another War Stomp before engaging again. The lich's tirades were genuinely annoying, but at least his rambling let my cooldowns refresh. As my enemy suffered the slow from my ability, I mentally activated my new class ability. Aspect of the Leviathan filled me with intense and immediate power. My body, under normal circumstances, could perform feats that humans on Earth would deem impossible. Under the effects of this new skill, though, I felt genuinely superhuman. The speed and agility I gained from the extra dexterity, coupled with the raw power from the bonus strength, pushed my body into a dimension wholly alien to me. I was operating at a physical level I never considered possible, even after learning about magic, runes, and attributes. Thus far, all my stats had increased gradually over time. I knew I was faster and stronger than before, but the contrast was nowhere near as drastic as what I was experiencing.
Not wanting to waste a moment of my new incredible power, I used Frenzied Strikes and followed it up with a Devastate. I savagely slammed my warhammer into the boss's chest, rejoicing at the sounds of bones being crushed and shattered. I let the duplicate attack from Frenzied Strikes impact in the same spot with equal ferocity. My left arm was a blur as it lashed out at the lich, further hastened as stacks of Frenzied Strikes accumulated. I continued the assault, relentlessly smashing my warhammer into the lich while he was still recoiling from the first Devastate. My powerful blows launched fragments of bone away as if an explosion had detonated inside the mage's ribcage.
Vheem'zil quickly teleported away upon recovering from the first few hits, forcing a sudden end to my brutal attack. Although the boss probably reacted within a second or two, I had managed to land numerous violent blows before he escaped. Damage to the lich's skeletal body didn't slow him down very much, and I suspected it was an advantage the lich held over most opponents he faced in melee range. Weapons that sliced or pierced did especially little damage to him. Not to mention the mage had spells that could send his attacker or himself out of range. The slow from War Stomp, the insane boost to my speed and strength, and the abruptness of my attack had rewarded me with a multitude of extra hits. I checked his health to see precisely how much damage I had administered, letting out an appreciative whistle at the ethereal numbers. My barrage had dropped the boss to 57%. In an instant, I shaved nearly a third of the boss's health off. A tremendous amount in such a short period, especially considering the lich's capacity to withstand physical damage.
The lich's elegant black robes were now shredded, revealing most of the boss's grotesque figure. His upper torso had suffered the most damage. His ribcage and sternum were utterly mangled and pulverized, while many other sections displayed fresh cracks or were missing fragments of bone. A full second remained on my buff, so I rapidly charged after the lich. Unfortunately, before I was within range, he raised his staff and cast a spell.
[Frailty's Grasp - Paralyzed - 20 seconds remaining.]
My teammates had also been hit with the paralysis spell. I closed my eyes and attempted to free myself with Force of Will. I knew instantly that the magic could not be broken, and Mana Sense informed me the spell was being maintained by the dungeon's mana, not Vheem'zil's. The only conclusion I could come to was that the battle was entering a new phase. We'd be facing something new when this spell ended.