Chapter 68: Fracture - Twilight Maze (15) (Patreon)

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There are roughly 4 types of monsters.

Regular monsters are the typical mobs, swarming the field and are commonplace throughout the world. Though some argue that we should have a separate category for those that appear only in select dungeons, I personally think most monsters belong here.

Boss-class monsters.  Regardless of Grade, these always had strength that defied all reason, usually stronger or bigger than their counterparts.  

Then the Variants.  Imagine the [Ujo], one of the infamous keyboard breakers, who already had [Arcane Masochism] and immunity to physical damage.  But now, imagine it as a Variant that also had the [Regeneration] ability of a troll or by RNG, ended up with a Core ability that made it immune to Magic Damage as well.

Then there were the Field Bosses.

Named-Variants of boss-class monsters so powerful that they often ruled over vast amounts of territory; away from the reaches of civilizations.  To claim lands like these, literal wars had to be waged.  A quick way to level up for sure, but extremely deadly.  

This [Gi] was neither a named nor field-boss material.   Still, it was bouncing around the air like the sky was an invisible trampoline and its mobility was worrying; if it got into our backline it could ruin what was supposed to be an easy raid into hell.

I woke everyone else out of their stupor.  “Pull it down!”

They’d been watching the majestic creature gallop in the air like it was on the ground, it’s wings spreading fine snow-dust all around us without a care in the world.

“As long as we don’t let it set up, we’re fine.”

｢ Kyrian Tricilan casts [Lightning Strike] ｣

｢ Dibolot Aedusaus casts [Fire Chain] ｣

｢ Baran Benepir casts [Chained Arrow] ｣

Lightning flashed from above the half-goat-cow creature, crashing down into its back and bringing it back to the ground.  Dibo waved his staff and mana circles forged themselves in midair, tying the creature down before it could resist.  Baran’s arrow found its mark, piercing skin.  The ethereal chains went taut as the muscular elf pulled downwards, holding down one of its wings.

Then our DPS’ went to work; Track and Fulgrin.

I stayed back half a step; waiting for the right moment.

Every swing of Track’s Scimitar summoned another blade of wind which mirrored the swing and left a second cut in the same spot.  It wasn’t a Core effect; but the beastman’s racial trait: [Evolution].  It seemed to me that Track had chosen the [Wind Evolution] path.

If he was already creating physical manifestations of wind then he was definitely at stage 2 of his [Evolution].  If he was at stage three, his weapons would be surrounded by miniature cyclones and leave dozens of lacerations among Gi's skin.  His cuts didn’t go deep but made up for it with sheer number and tenacity.

Kyrian’s Lightning couldn’t burn through its fur; a Grade-8 mage’s firepower simply wasn’t enough.  It was the same for Furgrin whose daggers glowed with green acid.  The only people who could realistically damage this guy was Dibo and Skaris, both wielders of fire, along with Track and I who had unlocked our racial traits.  Being in a snowy field, the monster’s hide might as well be a permanent sheet of ice similar to the Ice Dokkaebi’s [Ice Wine] armor.

The Gi bucked like a rodeo machine, trying to break out of its bindings

“Furgrin! It’s breaking!”  Baran called out a second before his chains snapped in two and the Gi opened up to its full wingspan.  A telltale sign that it was casting its widespread ranged ability.

Damn, it had been going so well too.  I didn’t want to pull Aurora away from protecting our backlines, the [Gi] was way too mobile to risk that.  But I also didn’t want to waste this chance to deal a huge chunk of damage.

I just had to do both.

“Get back!”  I yelled out loud and did the exact opposite of what I said.

Track and Furgrin obeyed, an instinctive reaction of adventurers when working a raid: when someone said a warning you listened.  I leapt into the fray as Track and Furgrin backpedaled out, charging the monster which was flapping its wings and sending spikes of ice towards our backliners.

One icicle the size of a small car whooshed past me, leaving me dealing with the afterwind.  Even just one icicle could lethally wound me.  I heard it crash into the ground a few feet behind me, a sound large enough to deafen my ears but I was already past it.

Clang!

From the corner of my eye I saw Aurora put her Tower Shield on the ground, Eltis and Kyrian huddling behind her.  The icicles slammed into her shield twice more but the female warrior held firm.  Meanwhile I knew that Krag and Dibo would be fine; Dibo looked like a fire mage and should have a countermeasure in place.

“Kyrian! The head!”

Krian’s next lightning strike slammed the Gi’s head to the floor and my sword stabbed through one of its eyes.   I didn’t hesitate to admire my handiwork; I pirrouted on one foot and slashed through its other eye.  A flicker of movement above my head was all the warning I got before an icicle weighing hundreds of pounds crashed in the place where I had been like a meteor.

It started forming more.

｢ [Sadistic Kleptomania] has stolen [Summon Icicle] ｣

The moment I stole it’s ability, the Gi’s own icicles stalled; replaced by a trio of my own.  All three of them found their way through Gi’s ears, holding his head down.

I moved in, Aura illuminating my way as I dove in for the kill straight towards its forehead.

｢ [Gi] casts [Blizzard] ｣

Wind whipped to a fury as hail the size of my fist appeared all around the creature.  The Gi didn’t just summon a blizzard, it summoned a literal storm filling the entire room with icy winds that started to shred into my skin to bits, scraping off every bit of exposed skin.  I felt the liquid in my eyes literally freeze in response to the ice-damage.

｢ Field Effect -  Spirit Maze: -20% Ice Resistance ｣

｢ [Blizzard] reacts with Field Effect - Spirit Maze ｣

｢ Now prone to [Frostbite]! ｣

｢ Now prone to [Frozen]! ｣

“AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!”  

I heard Furgrin scream somewhere next to me.  He put his hands in front of his face, still clutching his daggers.  As I watched the snow began to pile around his feet and bits of blue-white frost began to cling to him.  Icicles started clinging to his arms and within seconds Furgrin was a statue made entirely of ice.  Track fared much better.  The 1st stage of [Evolution] for beastman gave a basic 15% elemental resistance to all elements and an additional 15% to your chosen path.

Aurora hunkered down and I saw Dibo, Krag, Eltis and Kyrian all huddling behind her.  Krag pushed his hands out and cast [Heat], lessening the worst of the effects.

The rest weren’t so lucky.

Baran and Sarai were much further back than Furgrin but still, I saw the archer’s fingers turn black with [Frost Bite] as he shielded his sister from the worst of it.

Skaris who had been running towards me had everything from the waist-down frozen, stuck in place.

My [All Mages must Die!] passive was blocking the magic damage portion of the ability.  But I wasn’t immune to the frost damage; my own fingers began to grow black with [Frostbite].  But if I had blocked any magic damage at all…

I shadow-blinked next to the creature’s head, cutting off one of its ears and stopping the channel.

“Bloody hells! The lad’s using [Aura]!”

Having copied another instance of the icicle ability, I summoned three of them again.

It felt like someone took my heart in their hand and squeezed it.

You see, one of the side effects of the cold is that you grow numb.  Numb in your fingers, numb in your feet and combine that with [Frost Bite], well; you feel numb pretty much everywhere at once.  Now I wasn’t a mage but I knew enough about Mages to know where the Mana came from: the Heart.  That’s where Mages stacked their Mana Cores after all.

This whole time, my heart had been numb and I’d been unaware of how much Mana I used.

One instance of [Shadow Blink].

One instance of the Icicle ability.

Constant use of [Aura].

....And I had never gotten to recover my Mana after using the [Truth or Dare] with Dibo,.

Then what did that mean for the mages who had been casting spells left and right during this entire week and during this raid?

“Dibo! Get up!”  Krag’s voice cracked midway.

The momentum was shifting.

“I’m pulling back! Mr. Kyrian just collapsed!”

Chugging a mana potion wasn’t enough in real life.  Their hearts were strained.  Everyone’s hearts were strained, under constant pressure to pump out more mana while this maze had been pressing up against it like an arcane tumor.

I imagined taking my heart into my own hands and wringing it, hoping something would come out.  My heart answered with agony but a few precious droplets of Aura managed to travel down my arms and into my Katana as gray aura flickered to life.  A streak of blue hair ran past me.  Track.

Wind came to life as he distracted the Gi.  His scimitars clanged uselessly against the thick ice-fur of the Gi but the wind blades that followed up drew blood.  Track wasn’t dealing enough damage though to stumble the Gi, it started to get up onto its feet, one wing flapping and icicles beginning to gather above.  Dozens filled the air, aimed at Track, Me, Skaris and Furgrin’s frozen statue.

I turned off the [Aura] and cast [Hateful Wound] instead.

Blood gushed out of the Gi’s eye sockets and it fell to the side, one mournful cry.  Track doubled his efforts and became a living cyclone of steel and wind; cutting into Gi's neck.

Good.  At least no one died.

...Wasn't this too easy? Yes, I'd run out of Mana. Yes, the others were collapsing. Why did this raid feel so easy?

...And how was it that we opened three Seals from the boss and it spat out a single Grade 8? How did that make sense?

The cold hand of Death itself playing the introduction of our Requiem, using my spine instead of a piano.

Chikk-chiiiikk-chiiiiik-chhhhhh-chik

A second portal opened up in the sky and the second [Gi] descended.

Right into our backline.

“What in the forge!”

“Mr. Kyrian! Ms. Eltis, get behind me!”

“Sssslaveborn! Behind ussss!”

“Sarai! To me!”

“But Furgrin-”

“Leave him!!”

The second Gi landed smack dab in between the three different parties and unfurled its wings with the sound of a thunderclap.  Ice spikes flew out in all directions as the one-legged bovine-monster roared.

Aurora took one particularly nasty hit on her shield but flew backwards, crashing into Kyrian and Eltis who had been right behind her.  The three rolled on the ground ending up in a tangle of limbs but Aurora covered all three of them with her tower shield and it saved their lives.  Four more times the spikes slammed into her shield, denting it.

Krag was hit by the initial unfurling of the wings and ended up at my feet, unconscious.

Baran grabbed Dibo by the back of his cloak and disappeared along with Sarai, no doubt using some kind of invisibility-inspired Core ability.  Furgrin died instantly as an ice spike slammed into him and he shattered to bits.  [Instant Death] from being frozen and taking damage above the threshold.

Skaris got hit by an ice-spike straight through his stomach and the moment carried him forward, his legs still frozen to the ground.

His legs got ripped off.

“SSSSHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAA!”  

I ran forward without thinking, grabbing Krag’s limp body and then Skaris.

Two choices.

Get to Aurora, regroup with the unwounded and restart the raid.

Or… drag Krag and Skaris out of here, back into the maze.

Lives were hanging in the balance.

The correct choice was clear.

The best choice now was to regroup with Aurora, Kyrian and Eltis; get to Dibo, Baran and Sarai.  With three mages, we could pool our mana potions and restart the raid.  We’d put Aurora in the front and with Baran and I as the DPS, we could take down a Grade-8 boss.  The raid would be a success and we’d all go home; having killed two bosses we’d end up with two sets of boss drops.

Skaris and Krag might die though.

No.  Not might.

They would die.

But that was bound to happen sooner or later.  The stronger you got, the more frequently your companions changed.  They died in dungeons, Fractures and even in unlucky encounters in the overworld.  Monsters, Players, Environmental traps and sometimes even Morale.  But as long as your main character survived, the game went on.  You recruited new teammates and trained them from scratch again.

I’d done it thousands upon thousands of times.

Yeah.  This was that kind of shitty game.  I’d just forgotten, that was all.

“Ssslaveborn.”

With a hiss of pain, I looked down at the dying warrior who clutched my arm so hard that it was bleeding.  Skaris’ eyes should have been fading, growing full.  Instead…

Like the nameless orc warrior, his eyes were bright and sharp.  Focused.

Determined.

“Go.”  He hissed.

See? Skaris knew too.

Yeah… he knew.  Just what type of shitty life we’d been living.

I said it before, I’ll say it again.  I knew I’d die a dog’s death in this world.

So I made my choice and hauled Skaris on top of my shoulders; grabbing Krag by the back of his collar.

“No.”

“Ssslaveborn-”

“Shut your mouth, Skaris or I swear I’m going to cut off your arms and your tongue too.”  

He stopped talking. Good. 

I needed to act fast.

“AURORA! BARAN! GET INTO THE MAZE! REGROUP! REGROUP IN THE MAZE!”

I didn’t wait to see if they heard, I ran straight towards Track.

Say what you will about the feline beastman, he was a warrior.

He’d been soloing the monster with no back-up and no mana and it showed.  His armor was all cut gone, the metal nearly torn off of him from the momentum of the icicles weighing hundreds of pounds.  One eye was closed and both his feline ears were reduced to stumps.  Still, his eyes showed nothing but grim mirth facing the first Gi.

The Gi moo-ed at him, lashing out at the cat-swordsman with its remaining ear and launched him towards me.

I  stopped in my tracks, cold,  and caught Track with my chest and knee, trapping him like a soccer ball. His scimitar came dangerously close to stabbing my eye out but left a cut across my lips instead.  He scrabbled like a cat that just came into contact with water.

“It’s me you dumbfuck!”  

“Slaveborn?!”

Without preamble, I dumped Skaris and Krag on him.

Skaris was unconscious with his eyes open.

There was no time.

“Give me a mana-potion.”

Track growled.  “I only have one left.  I’m going to slay that-”

I whirled my katana, eking out mana and activated [Aura].

Goddamit, I almost blacked out from that showmanship but it was necessary.  People like Track wouldn’t listen to words, only actions.

“Give. it.”

His eyes narrowed but the one-eared Gi was slowly gathering itself.  I saw its ear-wing beginning to glow with white sparkles; trying to cast [Blizzard].

“NOW!”

Track tossed me a blue bottle which I took and downed in one shot.

“I’ll open the way.  Stick close to me.”  5 seconds to channel but it only had one ear, so maybe 7.  

“What do you-”

I didn’t answer and rushed the Gi.

It was standing between us and the closest gate.  It would have to die for us to get through.  Plus if we left it, it would recover and we’d have to raid two Grade-8 bosses at once in this forsaken field.

I wasn’t going to waste our efforts.

Pumping mana all throughout my body, I became conscious of just how much I’d been using without realizing it.  Without a visual mana bar, I’d been completely ignorant of the fact that this wouldn’t work like a game.  My mental state wasn’t a frowny face next to the status bar that said: Morale.  It was sadness, grief, panic and anxiousness all keeping me from making rational decisions.

The Gi saw me coming and switched tactics, instead of channeling [Blizzard] it fired off another Icicle.

I cut it in half with [Aura] surrounding my katana.

The smart choice would’ve been to dodge it but Track’s footsteps sounded behind me, heavier than normal.  He was carrying Krag and Skaris.

Yeah, smart choices went out the window the moment I decided to take those two with me.

I cut down another icicle then another.

Seeing the break in the icicle barrage, I did a 360 spin with my katana and nicked the top of Skaris’ head.  Barely more than a papercut if not less.

｢[Sadistic Kleptomania] has stolen [Let there be Fire!]｣

Skaris’ [Bool Dokkaebi] ability flowed into me and lit my katana with fire.

The flames flowed through my aura and the two fed each other, growing larger and I encouraged it, adding more of my mana like adding fuel to the fire.  The [Aura] finally devoured the flames and turned an orange-red, giving off steam.  Also, it no longer wavered like smoke without form but formed a solid rounded form around the Katana.

A telltale sign that I’d reached Stage 2.

The Gi raised its head, wing starting to grow spikes of ice.  Like a swordsman preparing for an overhead strike.

“Slaveborn! It’s going to slam down with its wings! Stop!”  Track’s voice grew smaller as he slowed and I sped up.

It’s wing crashed down like the hammer of a god, throwing up snow.

Never ever back up in a boss fight.  Always, always roll forward.

Getting up from my roll, I spun to the side so that I was perpendicular to its neck.

My katana beheaded it like jello.

As it disintegrated into dust, I saw both Track and Krag staring at me from twenty paces away.  Their expressions were sheer disbelief.

Shoving all the drops into my Dimension Ring, I motioned them towards the Gate.  Krag stumbled forward, still dizzy and Track came through with Skaris on his shoulder.

I could admit it now.

This raid… was a failure.

***