Chapter 11. Fighting a Boss

Before any discussion took place, whatsoever, Arthur called back. “We don’t believe you, Spirit! You are evil and we will rid you of this mine once and for all.”

I shook my head. He couldn’t be serious with this stuff. The prompt disappeared, and I felt a panic. Had I lost my chance to help the elemental? I looked at Janica.

“It’s fine,” Janica said. “Arthur and the other two lost their chance to change course. You can still do what you want to.”

The elemental grumbled, shaking the room. Little pieces of rock fell from the ceiling.

The Tommyknocker’s eyes faded from red to white. He turned, and limped back out through the doorway. The opening closed behind him with the same dramatic shaking and cacophony as before. Our eyes were drawn back to the spirit, who stared us down with fervor. He crouched low for an instant and then charged Thomas, knocking him back into the three of us like bowling pins.

“You just lost a quarter of your health,” Janica said. “Same with the rest of your party.”

“Kite!” Arthur commanded.

“What does he mean by ‘kite’?” Janica asked.

“He means to keep the elemental focused on him while staying far enough away that he can’t get hit,” I told her. “It’s a term from our world.”

We all scattered, running around to opposite sides of pillars. I watched the other three engage with the elemental, but stayed out of danger. As much as I wanted to fight my first boss, it was smartest for me to steer clear for now and keep my loyalty to myself.

“Come get me, you dusty ol’ rock!” Thomas yelled at the elemental.

I laughed from behind my pillar. Thomas had literally taunted the mob. Not with a spell, but with his voice. It seemed to have worked, because the elemental followed him. Christian stepped out from behind his pillar and began pelting the spirit with arrows.

“Boss HP at 99%, now 98%,” Janica informed me. “And Arthur is pushing buttons.”

The spirit chased Thomas while Thomas circled a pillar, slightly faster than the mob.

When the boss’s health hit 96%, he turned and crouched low like before. He zipped at Christian, who dove out of the way. The spirit ran into the wall.

“He’s stunned for 4 seconds,” Janica said.

“That’s it!” Arthur said. “That’s the mechanic we need. Before he charges, he crouches down. Then stuns himself. When he charges, we need to get on him fast and burn him down, then scatter.”

Thomas laughed at the boss dramatically. “You just ran yourself into a wall!” he shouted.

The spirit turned and followed Thomas again. I still couldn’t believe his verbal insults worked as taunts. Christian peppered the boss again, his health dropping to 92%. The boss turned and crouched low.

“Now!” Arthur yelled.

Christian jumped out of the way easily this time, turning and immediately firing at the boss who staggered near the wall that he had bashed into.

Thomas and Arthur closed in on the boss, swinging at him with reckless energy. They tried to retreat as the stun neared its 4 second timer, but they had waited too long.

The boss spun in a circle, the smaller rocks that made up its torso hurling around him. It reminded me of that amusement park ride where everyone gets in a chair and the thing swings round-and-round, centripetal force pulling people wider-and-wider. Except that the people were rocks. They connected with Arthur and Thomas, sending them tumbling back.

#x200e “Arthur and Thomas’s health both below 50%,” Janica informed me, “and the boss is down to 74%.”

A beam of white energy shot from one of the pillars in the room to the boss and held steady like a leash. Back in high school, we had once used nitrous oxide to flash freeze a frog brain that we had dissected, the cold liquid emitting a dense fog. The beam of energy seemed to be made of something similar while the ground around the elemental froze in an eight foot radius. The elemental chased Thomas.

Thomas fled, trying to run around the pillar as before, but the frozen aura caught him, and his body seemed to start running in slow motion. The elemental pounded on him and knocked him down.

“Christian,” Arthur called. “The button.”

Christian turned and kicked the button in the rock pillar from which the beam emanated. The leash-of-frost cut out, and the elemental’s eyes turned back to red.

Arthur pushed between Thomas and the boss, using his two handed sword to block blows as Thomas scampered away. Then Arthur disengaged, and each of them kited around pillars, hiding from the boss’s onslaught. I remained near the door, watching. I needed to make a decision or a decision would be made for me.

“Thomas is down to 17% health, Arthur is at 42%,” Janica updated me. “For you to complete this quest, you’re going to have to actually aid the elemental.”

“Not yet,” I whispered to her.

I was right to wait.

“Okay, we know the mechanics,” Arthur said, back to a pillar. “But we need to execute. Everyone attacks after it gets stunned, but only one hit each. Don’t be greedy. I’m guessing that at every 25% health, the boss will get energized by a pillar. Christian, when the boss is a few percentage points from each breakpoint, you’re going to get to the center to hit the buttons as fast as possible.”

At this point, the three members of Impervious got into a rhythm. And it was impressive. Thomas taunted the boss until he got charged, dodged the bosses charge, then the three of them peppered the elemental for an instant then retreated. Their movements became a pattern to counter the elemental’s pattern. Christian kept his movement consistent, staying in the center where he could both fire arrows and kick the pillar-buttons as quickly as possible. And Arthur was correct about the pillars; they activated every 25%. At 50%, one of the pillars innervated the boss with a green beam of energy, and the boss began filling the room with poison. This lasted no more than a second as Christian kicked the button the moment it activated.

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As the boss approached 30%, I realized that they were going to win. I also realized that, even though the guild members were competent, I couldn’t join them. It wasn’t that I was so attached to Janica that I wanted her around forever. I kind of liked her, but she had her own agenda and I didn’t know if I could trust her. It also wasn’t that I particularly cared whether or not some great evil entered the world; this was a fantasy video game, and such things were part of the experience. No, I needed to betray these gamers because I had made a promise to Sofia. To keep that promise, I needed to steer clear of guild adventures, and I needed Janica’s help righting the mistake I had made by taking the Mystic Class.

I needed to act fast. If I didn’t help the boss for its 25% change, I wouldn’t be able to stop the three of them from winning.

I whispered into the air, “Talk to Spirits,” holding my palms up, dramatically, and looking into the sky. Nothing happened. The boss was at 28%. I panicked, looking at Janica, eyes wide open.

“Open your Spell Book,” she said. “A spell is a complicated thing. You have to understand it backwards and forwards and with nuance before you can just call out the name of it. But for now you can open your Spell Book and activate it the slow way.”

“How do I open my Spell Book?” I yelled at her, no time to type the words out.

Arthur turned to look at me, surprised. Had he forgotten that I was there?

“Just think ‘Spell Book’ and it will appear,” Janica replied.

I did, and a holographic book appeared in my hands. I opened it up and paged through Rejuvenate and Lightning Strike, the spells that I couldn’t cast. On the next page in big, bold, gothic lettering the book read “Talk to Spirits.” My eyes scanned the page, its contents full of diagrams, symbols and mathematical equations.

“Put your hand on the page,” Janica said. “Think ‘activate’.”

I followed her instructions and felt a huge rush. A line of yellowish-white cords shot from my head toward the elemental, weaving their way to him and connecting us.

His head turned for a moment and met my eyes. A silent acknowledgement.

Do you wish to abandon your party and join Earth Spirit?

Doing so will mark you as hostile to all players in combat with the Earth Spirit: Yes/No

I didn’t accept the prompt right away. Instead, I stepped toward the center of the arena, next to Christian. He turned to glance at me, annoyed at my proximity.

“Hurry, Warren!” Janica said. “The boss is down to 26%.”

“Get ready, Christian,” Arthur said.

The boss charged at Thomas. Thomas dove out of the way. The elemental wavered against the wall, stunned from impact. Arthur ran at the boss, connecting with one blow, then another.

The boss dropped below 25% and a central pillar lit up with energy, tiny tendrils of electricity snaking around the pillar.

Christian turned to the button, taking two steps toward it.

I accepted the elemental’s prompt, and Christian’s name plate turned red. I had done it, had betrayed the three men who brought me in here looking to recruit me to their guild. I didn’t feel fear; I felt determination. For the first time in years, I had made a decision to stand up for what I needed. These men may as well have been Tony and his lunchmates or the assholes that used to steal my shoes, tie them together, and throw them over telephone wires.

I took my staff up in both hands and thrust it upward at the back of Christian’s head, right above the neck. The middle of my staff connected with the base of his skull. I heard a crunch, and he dropped to the ground.

“He’s stunned for ten seconds,” Janica said. “His health is down to 58%.”

A beam of blue, sizzling light connected the pillar to the elemental.

“Now Christian!” Arthur shouted. But Christian laid motionless on the ground. Arthur turned to see me standing over Christian’s body and his eyes grew wide.

The boss roared, his body now pulsing with blue energy, electricity humming through and around him.

Arthur tried to run at me, but the boss zapped him from behind, stunning him and making him shake like a cartoon character with his finger stuck in an electrical socket.

I shifted my staff so that it was sticking straight up and down. I lifted it up and drove the butt of it down into Christian’s body once, twice, three times. I had never wanted to injure a defenseless person, but this wasn’t about cruelty. I had already made my betrayal clear— I had to finish my quest or lose everything I had worked for.

Christian died.

“Yes!” Janica shouted with fervor.

Thomas and Arthur looked up at me, enraged. They both began to charge at me, each from a different angle.

There was no way I could fight them and win. Nor could I let them get to the button. So I backed up, putting my body between the activated pillar and the center of the room right in front of the button. I crouched down, holding my staff up defensively.

Thomas got to me first, swinging his shield at me. I raised my staff to meet his shield and he knocked me back. I stumbled a step to my right. No! With me out of the way, Thomas lunged for the button on the pillar. He stopped in mid-motion as a lightning bolt zapped him from the back. He convulsed, shaking, and fell to the floor.

“He’s stunned for two seconds,” Janica informed me. “His health is down to 18%.”

I lifted my staff over my head like a lumberjack trying to break a stump in half and swung down on Thomas’s stunned form. I connected with his head.

You crit Thomas for 8 damage. Thomas died.

Arthur screamed, lowered his shoulder, and slammed into me, sending me flying across the room.

I slid across the floor, then rolled to my knees, facing him. I scrambled to my feet as he began chasing me. “I will never forget this,” he said, panting. “Wherever you go, whatever you try to do. You’re done in this game. Blackballed. I will ruin you!”

“You’re down to three health, Warren. And two stamina.”

I couldn’t run. I could only stumble ahead, exhausted, toward the boss which crackled with energy. I looked back. Arthur was nearly behind me, his sword pulled back ready to swing.

A lightning bolt shot across the room, enclosing Arthur in a static field.

I kept walking toward the boss, dragging myself forward.

Two seconds later, Arthur got up, screamed in rage, and started to chase me again. Another lightning bolt zapped him, stopping him in his tracks.

Arthur died.