Rancid The Skeletal Prince hovered across the monster in a banner title wrapped in thorns and hellish spikes.

A fierce aura crawled from the core of the Elite Spawn.

An aura that crackled with ancient arts.

One that told of a power level all its own.

A monster worthy of the title, worthy of the raid, worthy of our time and resources invested.

I hoped its drops would be worth it as well.

But this was me getting far ahead of myself.

My body and soul quaked in response to his dominance.

Around me my raiding party grew worried and their resolve wavered.

I could see it in their eyes and in the way they held their blades without the confidence of masters.

With fingers that shaked.

With breathing that sped and raced.

New waters always seemed as dangerously deep as an imagination could take them.

Every new clear, every new raid, everything new always involved the fear of the unknown.

The greatest fear man could face.

We had learned to respect the land by fearing it but never cowering.

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In a world where the cold bites.

We grew fangs to match the pain.

With a shamble and a shake, the wretched prince lashed out in a swipe that sent an ooze across the battlefield.

A toxin that bubbled, giving me the feeling that the darkness corroded just as much as the poison within it's damage type.

Move!

Dodge!

Pop your acidic resist pots.

Burn your cooldowns.

Now!

It was chaos.

It was hell.

It was the later ranks of raids.

My grin began to spread.

It was painful.

It was also plain as day.

That this was progression.

This was the only way one grows.

Through being pushed into corners with fierce creatures that can slay just as easily they can be slain.

Pain sparked across my body as a splash of acidic ooze graced the edges of my cloak.

Slowly bubbling with a sizzle that burned.

As if without a thought or second to spare, instantly I began to be filled with a sensation of refilling.

With a cleansing of everything that caused hurt.

I was a priority target for the healers that chanted their angelic choruses from afar.

My eyes glanced over at their sides momentarily, but I quickly snapped my sights back on the monster at hand.

Don't be a fool.

Respect that which could end it all.

Take life seriously, I muttered to myself. Scolding myself like a teacher does a school boy.

My ego rushed with the knowledge of my importance, only to clash with the morals that knew that for every point of healing I recieved, my men would go without.

A shriek shattered the sullen sky that was painted in a scarlet red with twinges of crackled purple lightning.

All around an army of dead rose to meet the call of their once loved and now dead and loved prince.

The next phase had begun.