Earth
Hillside Lake Dungeon, Ontario
August 17, 2019
13:33 EDT

[That’s a Kobold Chieftain,] Ben said, pointing to the most distinctive kobold in the chamber.

The Kobold Chieftain was at least a head taller than all the other kobolds that surrounded him, though part of that may have been because he stood upright while the rest of the kobolds had a slight hunch. While the other kobolds wore nothing but loincloths, he wore leather armor and a necklace of bone. He was also much more heavily muscled than the rest and held a large axe in his right hand.

[Like the shamans, a chieftain is able to buff any kobold below it in the hierarchy, though they do it with shouts rather than spells. He also commands them. They won’t just run at us with single-minded purpose, so what we did in the last room won’t work. We could focus him down, but then that would enrage the rest of the kobolds, just like killing shamans will do.]

[How much do their stats increase when they enrage?] I asked.

[I’m not actually sure. It depends on the level of the kobolds, I think. It might be something like a thirty percent boost at this level, but a level forty kobold might get a fifty percent boost.]

The group was comprised of ten Kobolds, four Kobold Shamans and one Kobold Chieftain. I had wondered why it was smaller than the last group we had killed, but it made sense if the chieftain was able to give them commands.

[I guess I’ll keep the Chieftain busy while you guys deal with the rest, then. Unless you think your earth elemental could do it, Mace?]

[Nah, it’s on cooldown, and I don’t know how intelligent it is. It could just go start beating on things and accidently kill it, or one of the shamans before we’ve taken care of the regular kobolds.]

[Alright, I’ll take care of it then.]

---

I ran in when we were ready, the footfalls of my large form alerting the kobolds to my presence almost immediately. They screeched and began to run towards me, but a growl from the chieftain made them stop. Instead, they turned around and retreated behind the shamans, grouping up behind the chieftain. It was as if he was baiting us to kill the shamans first, knowing that it would send the rest of the lesser kobolds into a frenzy, greatly increasing their damage and speed.

The chieftain was my target, though, so I just barreled through the four grouped up shamans. They went tumbling, but there wasn’t any significant damage. I continued on to the chieftain who brandished his weapon as I closed the distance. He began running forward before leaping into the air and bringing his axe down in a two-handed overhead chop.

I had opted to go without weapons initially, relying on Mana Shield and my armor to keep me safe. Reaching out, I simply grabbed onto the axe haft, stopping his attack mid-strike. The chieftain looked up with wide eyes before I vigorously shook my arm. Unable to hold on, he fell on his backside.

I threw his axe as far as I could, which caused him to growl out his displeasure. He seemed to bark out orders, and all of the regular kobolds started their attack. That was the signal my friends were waiting for, each of them running in and finally joining the fight. Mason had to close the distance, while Ben, Anja and Sonja started sending spells or arrows flying.

The kobolds tried swarming me like they had Mason’s elemental on the floor above, but they just bounced off my Mana Shield instead. I picked up two kobolds by the arm and tossed them behind me for my friends to deal with before finally activating my swords and striking at the rest of the kobolds around me. I was able to kill two before they gave up and went after the rest of my group, which made me look around the room.

I hadn’t kept an eye on the chieftain, so I wasn’t surprised when I saw him running back to join the fight, his axe in hand. I Blinked in his path and collapsed the sword in my right hand before lowering my arm and clotheslining him, once more dropping him on his ass. My job was simply to keep him out of the fight, at least long enough for my friends to deal with the regular kobolds.

He quickly got back to his feet, shouting something I couldn’t understand before a red haze enveloped him. I looked around the room and saw that the rest of the kobolds had that red haze surrounding them as well. Well, those few left alive, that is.

I turned back to the Kobold Chieftain, my eyes growing wide in surprise. He had leapt into the air when I wasn’t looking and was bringing his axe down in an overhead chop once more. His axe was glowing red like the rest of him, surprising me again when his cut pierced through Mana Shield like it wasn’t even there.

The axe connected with my left shoulder, causing me to cry out in pain when it cut through my armor. Pissed, I punched him in the face using my right arm before feeling a brief jolt of pain in my chest. Suddenly the pain in my left shoulder spiked, causing me to look over where the wound was stitching itself closed.

Knowing I would be perfectly fine in a few moments, I grit my teeth and activated both my weapons, stalking towards the chieftain. He was already back on his feet, though I wasn’t planning on toying with him any longer. I blocked a strike with one of my swords before thrusting through his chest with the other.

His eyes went wide in shock as he choked, some blood dripping out of his mouth. I put a booted foot on his chest and yanked my sword free, likely doing more damage coming out than it did going in. The chieftain fell back with a large jagged hole in his chest, blood pouring out of the wound and soaking the cavern floor around him.

I turned back to my friends and saw that there were only two shamans remaining. They were promptly dealt with, the fifteen bodies in the room disappearing soon after. I turned back around and picked up the Mana Gem before walking over to rejoin my friends, who were doing the same.

[What happened?!] Anja asked as she walked over.

[I looked away for a second and when I looked back the chieftain was bringing his axe down. Mana Shield was up, so I thought it would bounce right off. You can imagine my surprise when it cut through like it wasn’t even there, before doing this to my armor,] I replied.

[It’s healed already? How?] Anja asked.

[There are healing potions, or something like a healing potion built into the armor. They’re in crush-proof cases, but if an injury is detected then one of them activates. I don’t know what I’m going to do about the armor, though. I don’t think it repairs itself.]

[Sounds like you were hit by Penetrating Chop,] Ben sent. [It’s a Tier S ability able to bypass shields, and does pretty well against armor, too. It’s a testament to the armor’s durability that it didn’t do more damage.]

[I didn’t realize there were attacks that could go through shields. I guess I’ll need to be more careful, especially when fighting against a chieftain.]

Ben nodded. [It’s got a pretty long cooldown, so most of the time it will only be able to be used once or twice a fight. By the time we fight against high level kobolds, a lot of them will probably have the ability, though, so it’s better to get used to it now, rather than then.]

---

The third and fourth floors were more of the same, with Kobold Chieftains making regular appearances. The only new additions were weapon-wielding Kobolds that Ben identified as being Kobold Warriors and Kobold Archers. Actually, they were more like replacements than additions, as they outright replaced the regular Kobolds once we got to the fourth floor.

While the warriors and archers did add some difficulty, we were able to make quick work of the two floors. They were smaller than we were expecting them to be, with each only having five chambers to go through, without any of the branching paths we had come across on the second floor.

Each of us gained another two levels over the two floors, bringing us up to level twenty-four. We were also surprised that three Skill Gems dropped from regular enemies, but Ben said he was surprised it took us this long to have some drop. Apparently Skill Gems have a one in two hundred chance of dropping from anything other than a boss or a chest, so it was about time we got lucky on that front.

---

We met another intersection with three branching paths and were deciding which way to go when we heard a noise coming from the right. As we crept forward, it sounded like metal hitting metal. Arriving at the source of the noise, we looked around the corner seeing a Kobold Chieftain overlooking a central pit. Inside the pit were two Kobold Warriors who were locked in fierce combat. Neither seemed to be pulling any punches, with both of them having numerous cuts from the other’s sword.

Surrounding the pit were another ten Kobold Warriors, with a smaller amount of Kobold Archers dispersed in the group. All of them were cheering the duo on, watching with rapt attention. There were also three Kobold Shamans standing behind the Chieftain, but they were seated and watching in silence.

[What’s going on here, Ben?] I asked.

[If I’m right, it’s survival of the fittest. There are twelve Kobold Warriors there, and they probably take turns fighting to the death. When half are remaining, the Chieftain sends them to another chamber and waits until new kobolds spawn in. When they do, he repeats the process. Floors like this have increasing difficulty with every chamber since they are constantly weeding out the weak. It also means that there is probably a Kobold High Chieftain on this floor, likely the boss we’ll be facing.]

[Kobold High Chieftain?]

[Think of them like a Kobold Chieftain on steroids. They’re bigger, faster and are much more intelligent, able to strategize. They frequently setup floors the way this one is setup. By the time a kobold makes their way to the boss room, they’re elites, and will be much stronger than the ones we’ve been facing. There won’t be many kobolds alongside the boss, perhaps a half-dozen at most, but they will fight very well together.]

[Wouldn’t a floor like this be quite easy if someone was patient?] Sonja asked. [People could wait until most of the duels have happened and then move in when there are only a few enemies remaining.]

[Nope,] Ben replied. [That paths branching off the intersection we were just at probably lead to different training areas. This one seems to be one for Kobold Warriors, which means that the archers and shamans in this room have likely been through a number of chambers so far, and this is where they have been stationed. It ensures that there are always a number of strong kobolds in each room. While waiting for kobolds to kill each other will make it slightly easier, it doesn’t have all that much of an impact.]

[So how many chambers do we need to clear before here and the boss room?] I asked.

[Four, I think.]

[Then we’d best be going, I think. Hey, Mace, it looks like there might be an opportunity for you,] I said, gesturing with my head to the pit where a new pair of Kobold Warriors had jumped down and were preparing themselves for battle.

Mason looked where I was looking and a broad grin appeared on his face. He nodded and then got up, running in with me right behind him, and Ben and the twins right behind me. Mason jumped right into the pit using Whirling Leap, doing a large amount of damage to the kobolds sitting around the pit before turning his attention to the two warriors who were in the pit with him.

At the same time Mason jumped into the pit, I used Blink to appear in front of the chieftain. I grabbed onto his axe and stepped into an uppercut that lifted him off his feet and sent him crashing into the three Kobolt Shamans who had been sitting beside him. I threw the chieftain’s axe towards the entrance of the room before turning back and walking towards the chieftain and the three shamans.

We had learned not to kill a chieftain the hard way, when I punched one with too much force, accidentally breaking his neck, killing him instantly and sending the others into a frenzy. We had learned that warriors and archers didn’t get all that much of a damage increase from a shaman dying at this level, so I activated my swords and cut the head off one of them before turning my attention back to the chieftain who was back on his feet.

I disabled my swords and let go of them, thankful for the quick-release straps that went around my wrist, and punched the chieftain again, this time in the stomach. He doubled over giving me the opportunity to knee him in the face, sending him flying backwards yet again. The two shamans had been peppering me with lightning bolts and weak fire spells the entire time, but they didn’t have anything that could go through my shield, meaning that they were nothing more than a nuisance.

Still, I reactivated my swords and dealt with the shamans while the chieftain was recovering from the pain. They didn’t fall as quickly as the first shaman did, but they did fall after each received a few strikes with my abilities. Seeing the chieftain was getting back up, I blinked behind him and wrapped an arm around his neck, lifting him into the air when I was standing at my full height. Satisfied that he wouldn’t be able to hurt me, I looked to see how my friends were doing.

All five Kobold Archers were dead, as were most of the Kobold Warriors, there only being three remaining. I saw two fall in quick succession so I activated one of my swords and impaled the chieftain through his back. My strike pierced his heart and exited on the other side, delivering a mortal blow. Letting go, he dropped like a rock, my sword being pulled free as he fell.

I wiped the blood coating the blade on his leather garb and then waited for his body to disappear so I could pick up the Mana Gem. When I had it, I turned around and collected the shards dropped by the shamans and then turned back towards my friends.

[Well, that was easy,] Mason said with a laugh.

[It’ll be a bit harder in the next chamber,] Ben said. [The kobolds in there will have graduated from one room already, whereas the warriors in here were freshly spawned.]

[Still, it’s pretty easy to do a lot of damage very quickly when they’re all sitting in a nice circle for me,] Mason said, holding his arms out and gesturing to the benches around the pit.

[I guess it’s good that we went this way, then,] I said. [I doubt the other chambers have fighting pits like this one.]

Ben nodded. [Archers probably fight each other in a large room, though I have no idea what the shamans do.]

[Alright, let’s get a move on.]

---

The second chamber was at around the same difficulty as the first, having only nine Kobold Warriors but adding two more Kobold Archers, bringing the total up to seven. There were still only three shamans and the chieftain, so we did the exact same thing we did in the first room. I was happy to see another Tier C Skill Gem had dropped from a warrior, quickly dropping it in a pouch before continuing towards the next chamber.

There was a visible change when we arrived at the third chamber; the kobolds looked a bit bigger and carried better equipment. No longer dressed in loincloths and carrying poor quality weapons, now they were dressed in leathers and wielding iron or steel weapons. After a quick count, we also determined that there were an extra two kobolds in the room, bringing the total to twenty-two.

[Fire Elemental for this one, if you will, Ben,] I said, turning back to look at him.

[Are you sure? It probably won’t be up for the boss if I use it now.]

[I’m sure. We’ll probably use Earth Elemental for the next room as well. You said the boss will only have a few kobolds with him, right? I don’t think we’ll need them for that fight.]

[Yeah, it should only be six or seven, at most. Give me thirty-seconds,] he said, standing up and walking out of sight of the kobolds inside before starting his cast.

We waited about twenty-five seconds or so, and then Mason and I ran into the room. The Kobold Chieftain in this room wasn’t using a two-handed axe like the previous ones had, so I knew I had to change what I was doing. I still Blinked in front of him, but grabbed onto both his wrists and lowered Mana Shield before bending down and headbutting him. When he didn’t let go of his swords, I repeated the process, hitting him again.

He finally let go of his swords, so I placed my foot on his chest and kicked, letting go of his wrists and sending him flying into the shamans. I bent down to pick up the discarded swords and then walked towards the shamans.

[Jonathan, behind you!] Anja called from behind me.

I activated Mana Shield just in time to hear something strike my shield, so I turned and saw a Kobold Warrior standing behind me, readying his axe for another strike. I was about to step forward and attack him when an arrow pierced through the side of his skull, instantly killing him and dropping it to the floor. I nodded to Sonja, who returned it, before turning to do my job.

The chieftain was back on his feet though he was pretty wobbly and was shaking his head. Not giving him any time to recover, I walked forward and uppercutted him before turning to the shamans and quickly dealing with them. They seemed more confident than previous shamans, putting up more of a fight. They fell quickly, but not before getting a few casts off, likely buffing the rest of the kobolds or healing them as much as they could.

I turned back to the chieftain who was getting back to his feet, the usual red haze encompassing his body. He shouted something and then reached behind his back, pulling a dagger out from a sheathe hidden on the small of his back. He began moving faster than I had ever seen a kobold moving before, prompting me to activate Precognition so I would be able to react in time.

With the ability active, I was able to see his dagger glowing red, knowing that he was probably about to use Penetrating Strike or whatever it was called when using something other than an axe. I dodged to the right, hitting him in the back with the flat of one his own swords, sending him stumbling. Turning around he launched himself towards me once again. His dagger wasn’t glowing this time, so I tossed one of his swords behind me and grasped onto his wrist.

[Okay, Jonathan, you can’t stop playing with him now!] Anja called from behind me.

I thrust forward with my free arm, impaling him through the heart before letting go of his wrist and ripping the sword free. I was surprised when the chieftain’s body disappeared, but the sword stayed in my hand. Suddenly I was able to determine what the stats on it were, realizing that it was a piece of loot.

Lesser Enchanted Iron Cutlass
Uncommon
10 Weapon Damage
+10 Strength
+10 Agility
+10 bonus Strength or Agility, whichever is highest.

It was a pretty nice sword, and would be very good for me and the twins. I grabbed the Mana Gem and shards before rejoining my friends.

[Lookie what I got,] I said, holding the cutlass up in the air.

[A weapon, nice!] Ben said. [Is it any good?]

[Pretty good, yeah. Take a look, girls. Let me know if either of you are interested in taking it.]

Anja grabbed it first, shaking her head for a moment before handing it off to her sister. She shook her head as well, handing it back to me.

[If it was a two-hander then it would probably be nice, but I’ll pass,] Sonja said. [Why don’t you take it? It’s a lot better than what you’re using, isn’t it?]

[It is, but I figured I’d give you both the chance to roll on it. You don’t want it either, Anja?]

She shook her head. [I’ll stick with my katana and daggers. It’s too big, at least as far as one-handed weapons go.]

[Alright, cool,] I said, extending one of my weapons and putting my new cutlass inside its dimensional storage. The sword began changing in shape until it became an exact copy of the cutlass I had been holding. [Did we get anything else?]

[Nah, just the usual stuff,] Mason answered.

[So, what? One more chamber like this left?]

[Should be,] Ben replied. [Two at most, I would think.]

[Okay, let’s get going. Perhaps we’ll actually find a challenge this time.]

I heard Ben laugh from behind me. [I don’t think anything is going to be much of a challenge with you in that form. It’s comical watching you toss monsters around.]

The distance between chambers was pretty small, so we ended up making it to the fourth chamber pretty quickly. Looking inside we saw that everything was even bigger in this chamber. The chieftain was probably seven foot tall by now, with the rest of them being a few inches shorter. The chieftain was wielding battle axe, while the warriors were wielding a variety of weapons, though two-handed weapons were the norm.

There was only one more kobold in the room, bringing the total up to twenty-three, but I was confident that we’d be able to deal with them easily enough. Mason had to summon his Earth Elemental, so we waited until that was finished before Mason led the way. I didn’t waste any time running into Blink range. Deciding to do something new, I Blinked forward and just barreled into the chieftain, knocking him down. I used the small amount of time it gave me to start cutting into the shamans who were behind him, killing two of the three, before turning back towards the chieftain.

He was already back on his feet, barking out orders before shouting something else as he was enveloped in a haze, actually growing a foot or so. He grinned at me before disappearing completely. Two can play that game, I thought, activating both the camouflage ability I got for scanning Selalea’s son, as well as Precognition so I would know where he was going to strike.

I used the time to finish off the shaman, neatly chopping his head off while he was in the middle of casting something. I soon found out that it wasn’t me who the chieftain was targeting.

[Sonja, move!]

I saw the chieftain appear right behind her, his axe already swinging, but she turned into lightning and was already moving. I Blinked and grabbed onto his axe before he could disappear again, punching him in the face and sending him on his ass.

Precognition deactivated when I ran out of mana to sustain it, which proved to be the worst possible time. Grinning up at me, he reached down to a sheathe on his leg and withdrew a dagger. Grabbing it with both hands, he impaled himself through the heart, immediately killing himself.

[Oh fuck, the chieftain just killed himself!] I sent to my friends.

Turning around, I Blinked again, appearing between a group of five enraged Kobold Warriors. Grabbing the back of two of their heads, I lifted them up and smashed them together, their heads popping like melons. Dropping them I activated my swords, tearing into the remaining three, killing them quickly thanks to my new weapon and my greatly-enhanced strength.

Turning, I looked for more kobolds to fight. Spotting two archers standing side by side firing arrows at Mason, I Blinked behind them, thrusting my swords into their backs, causing them to immediately go limp. It seemed like all the other kobolds were dealt with, so I waited for the corpses of the two archers to disappear so I could loot anything left behind.

[You said that chieftain killed himself? Why the hell would he do that?] Anja asked.

[I’ve only heard of it happening when a chieftain thinks he is outclassed, but that’s usually when a high level adventurer enters a low level dungeon.] Ben said. [Maybe he thought he wouldn’t be able to beat Jonathan so he killed himself to give the remaining kobolds a chance?]

[That could be the case, but why didn’t the other chieftains do the same thing? Does that mean I’ll have to physically restrain chieftains now to stop them from doing that too?]

[You might have to,] Anja said with a laugh. [Either that or use your human form, or your hybrid form. You have to admit that things are pretty easy with you in that form.]

[I do enjoy it. Maybe I’ll go with my hybrid form when we get to the sixth floor. I’d rather not have to sit on chieftains or fight enraged kobolds.]

---

Making sure we collected all the loot, we made our way down the passageway before coming up to a small chamber that had two other paths leading into it, likely the paths that had the archer and shaman training areas. There was also a set of large double doors, which had a bunch of kobolds carved into it. It looked like there were three Kobold Warriors, two Kobold Archers, one Kobold Shaman, and a massive Kobold Chieftain standing behind them. Seeing the image, it really made me wonder if that was what we would be facing on the other side of the doors. If it was, then Ben was bang on the money.

I didn’t see any door handles on this side, so I just walked up to the doors and pushed on them. They glided open revealing nothing but darkness, but if it was anything like previous boss rooms then torches would light up the room as soon as we entered. Making sure we were good to go, we walked into the room.

The doors closed behind us automatically before the room lit up. There was a massive kobold sitting on what was essentially a throne. It was hard to tell exactly how big he was, but he was much bigger than the other six kobolds who were making their way towards the middle of the room to stand between us and him. The kobolds definitely looked like elites, being bigger and looking meaner than the kobolds we had fought previously.

The three Kobold Warriors were each wielding different weapons, with one using a war hammer, one dual wielding a pair of cutlasses, and the last one wielding a two-handed battle axe that looked like a smaller version of the one that was leaning on the boss’ throne. All three of them were wearing mail armor, though the warrior that was dual wielding had lighter armor than his counterparts.

The Kobold Archers were equipped and dressed identically, with large wooden longbows that were as tall as they were. Their leather armor looked better than the stuff other rangers were wearing, but wasn’t anything special. Interestingly, it was the Kobold Shaman who looked different from others he has seen, but that was primarily because it was a female.

Kobolds didn’t seem to have any breasts, but she was more slender in appearance in addition to having a shorter snout. She wasn’t wearing much armor, or clothing in general, wearing only wristguards and a leather skirt. She was also wearing a bunch of necklaces as well as a skull helmet with feathers fanning out behind it. We knew not to underestimate her as she had definitely gone through a lot of combat, beating out many other competitors to get to where she was now.

None of the kobolds made any moves, they just grouped up with the warriors in front and waited.

[What’s the deal with the female?] Mason asked.

[For some reason female kobolds are prevented from being a number of classes, those being warriors and chieftains along with a few others at higher levels. They can be archers, shamans and assassins, though the males usually beat them on floors like this one. It is very rare that a female is able to fight her way into being one of the boss’ protectors. It means that she is easily the strongest shaman we’ve come across so far. Her spells will be more potent, and her buff effects will probably be increased as well.]

[I’m assuming that the warriors and archers will enrage if we kill the shaman?] I asked.

[That’s right,] Ben nodded. [We have to deal with the exact same abilities, they’re just stronger versions.]

[So do we have to fight the boss at the same time we fight the other six, or do we fight the boss after the six.]

[The first one. He’s probably just waiting until we cross an invisible line and he’ll get up.]

[I guess I’ll keep him busy, then. Can the four of you deal with the other six without the use of the elementals?]

[We should be,] Anja said. [We’ve been pretty good at fighting over twenty enemies at once, these six shouldn’t be a problem.]

[Alright, let me know if you need help. Are we ready to go?]

[I think so,] Ben nodded. [Just keep in mind that it is possible, and likely that the warriors and archers have attacks that will bypass your shield, so don’t rely on it to protect you.]

[Got it. Okay, let’s go,] I said extending my weapons and walking forward.

The Kobold High Chieftain rose as soon as we all crossed a certain threshold, grabbing his battle axe and walking forward. We hadn’t been able to tell exactly how big he was while he was sitting, but now that he was standing it was clear that he was just as tall as I was in my dragonkin form, if not a little taller.

He was wearing a plate cuirass, but the rest of his armor looked to be high quality leather. It was clear that he was heavily muscled, that extending to his tail that was longer and thicker than any of the other kobolds. He barked out a command and the shaman began casting a spell. When she was done, a red haze enveloped them all, slightly increasing their size.

The boss immediately barked another command, and the three warriors started running forward while the archers started loosing arrows. We all spread out while I put up Mana Shield and began sprinting towards the boss. The warriors looked like they wanted to stop me, but the boss said something I couldn’t understand and they all went around. It was fine with me.

I Blinked the remaining distance hoping to surprise him, but Quick Slash connected with nothing but air. He moved impossibly fast, appearing directly to my right, his axe already in motion. I Blinked again and that started a game of cat and mouse. Neither of us could land a hit on one another, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep it up forever. Blink’s mana cost increased with every use within a certain amount of time, and the boss didn’t seem to want to give me that time.

I activated Precognition just before Blinking and then turned to where I knew the boss would be appearing from next. Collapsing my left sword, I let go and reached up, ready to catch his axe as he tried to bring it down on me, while thrusting forward with my cutlass. The boss reappeared, a brief look of alarm on his face before he reacted, letting go of his axe and dodging out of the way of my strike. He grabbed onto his axe and ripped it out of my hand, causing me to stumble forward.

He used the time to activate Penetrating Chop, requiring me to use Blink again. His axe impacted the floor, shaking the cavern floor and creating a huge rent. He pulled his axe free and turned, though not towards me. He shouted and leaped towards my friends, targeting Anja. I didn’t need to warn her. She disappeared into smoke, reappearing behind her sister just as the boss appeared where she had previously been standing.

[I think we’re going to need to deal with the elites before we can fight the boss!] I sent. [He’s too fast for me!]

[Switch off with me, I should be able to keep him busy!] Sonja sent, immediately turning and using Triple Shot. The boss’s back was to her, so the first arrow lodged itself in the bosses shoulder, while the remaining two simply seemed to bounce off, his scales turning a silvery color, looking like metal.

[Are you sure?]

[Yes! Go take care of the archers! They’re causing a bunch of problems.]

I turned towards the archers who were having a field day. They were firing at Mason and Ben primarily, as they were both stationary targets most of the time. Having Mana Shield up, they only had to dodge when a Penetrating Shot was being fired their way. I took out a weapon I hadn’t used recently before using Blink to appear behind one of the archers. Thrusting forward, I used Barbed Spear before ripping it back out causing the archer to begin bleeding, before following it up with a Gash to do extra damage. Or trying to, at least.

The archer tumbled forward, dodging my attack while holding a hand to its injury and yelling something. A blue-green haze encompassed him, and I realized that the shaman was healing the injury. Looking around, I saw that Mason was locked in combat with two of the warriors while Anja was dealing with the rest. None of the warriors were injured, which meant that the shaman was healing any damage we had been able to do.

I spun, finding the shaman a short distance away. She was in the middle of channeling a spell, but well within Barbed Spear range. I activated the ability, my spear magically extending and piercing through her gut before dragging her back towards me. I channeled mana into the shield strapped to my arm and hit her with a Shield Bash, stunning her and stopping the spell she was channeling.

As soon as she was stunned, I stopped channeling mana into my spear and my shield so they collapsed and then gripped my cutlass in both hands. Using all my strength, I swung my sword, aiming for her neck. I felt something impact Mana Shield, but didn’t feel any pain so I knew it was probably a regular attack from one of the archers. I continued my attack, striking the shaman and cutting through her neck like a hot knife through butter. Her head went rolling across the floor, but unfortunately that just pissed off the other kobolds, and the boss in particular.

I turned as he roared and saw him leaping towards me, his axe raised overhead and glowing red. I rolled to the side, barely dodging the attack while picking up my spear and reactivating it, thrusting forward using Barbed Spear. I would have liked to hit him somewhere in the chest, but he was too well armored there, instead opting to go with a leg.

He bellowed and reached for the offending object, but I had already ripped it free, causing him to begin bleeding. It seemed like he didn’t have a way to heal the injury, as he ripped his axe free and turned towards me. I had gotten back to my feet while he was preoccupied, and put my spear away, going back to dual wielding swords.

The boss had raised his axe above his head and was bringing it down on me once again. I raised one of my swords up to block it, but it seemed that I had greatly underestimated his strength. I managed to deflect it slightly, but the attack struck my Mana Shield, draining my mana completely, dropping the shield. He grinned and stepped into a punch, aiming for my stomach.

My armor weakened the punch slightly, but it still hurt, driving all the air from my lungs. Surprising us both, a jet of fire accompanied that air, scorching the boss but not doing any real damage.

---

Earth
Spectre Base, Canadian Rockies
August 17, 2019
11:40 PDT (14:40 EDT)

“Did he just--”

“Breathe fire? Yes he did!” Selalea answered, clapping her hands excitedly. “It’s not very effective against a kobold, but at least he was able to do it. Will he be able to replicate it? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Is that the only resistance they have? Or do they have some protection from other elements?” Tich asked as the group watched Jonathan strike with one of his swords. The angle wasn’t very good, so it just glanced off the boss’ plate cuirass.

“Just fire. If he had breathed lightning or acid, it likely would have done a lot of damage,” she answered, her eyes glued to the screen.

Jonathan had Blinked behind the boss, dodging an underhand strike and launching an attack of his own. He targeted the boss’ left hamstring, seemingly cutting through part of it before the boss’ skin turned metal once again, stopping all forward movement. Jonathan ripped the sword free, Blinking again when the boss turned around, and targeted the same hamstring when the boss’ skin turned back to normal. This time he was able to sever the muscle, dropping the boss down to one knee.

---

Earth
Hillside Lake Dungeon, Ontario
August 17, 2019
14:42 EDT

(Sonja)

A loud bellow of pain sounded throughout the chamber, causing everyone to look over to where Jonathan was standing behind the boss, who was kneeling on the floor. He seemed to be struggling to get up, which triggered the remaining Kobold Warriors to abandon their attacks and run towards him and Jonathan. The Kobold Archer didn’t need to move, so he just began firing arrows at Jonathan as fast as he could.

We were wondering why Jonathan killed the Kobold Shaman, but it came clear when the first warrior fell to the combined effort of Anja and Mason, followed by one of the archers falling to one of my arrows.. They had all gotten much stronger and faster after the shaman had fallen, with me having to use all my tools just to avoid attacks by the warrior who had decided to chase me around. Luckily I was able to immobilize him with Tethering Shot or incapacitate him by traveling through him using Ride the Lightning, which I did on multiple occasions.

It still only offered me a brief respite, the warrior having overcome the effects rather quickly. There were a few times that my sister had to warn me, but I was always able to move out of the way in time, thanks in most part to my high agility. As well as increasing the strength of my ranged attacks, it also allowed me to react much more quickly to incoming attacks.

I had been helping with one of the warriors when the boss shouted, so I turned, firing off a Tethering Shot in its path before turning to deal with the archer. Everyone else followed the warriors as they ran towards the boss, though I noticed that my hands were glowing red. Knowing that Aura of Bloodlust was active, I activated Rapid Fire to increase the speed of my attacks even more, before activating Triple Shot.

I fired off three consecutive arrows faster than I could even see, before following it up by a Siphoning Shot immediately after. The three arrows from Triple shot impacted the archers back just as the fourth was loosed. I had aimed for his head with the last arrow, but the three previous impacts sent him stumbling forward, so it missed entirely. Still, the three arrows did a lot of damage and slowed him down a lot, so I began firing arrows down range as fast as they appeared in my hands.

The archer was seriously struggling, finally falling after four more arrows struck it in the back. I used Ride the Lightning to appear beside it, an arrow already nocked before firing it at its head at close range, making sure it was dead. Mason had decided to attack the warrior that had ran into my Tethering Shot, so I decided to leave him to it. Running forward, I fired arrows as I moved, targeting the warrior who was fighting Anja while Jonathan contended with the boss.

While the kobolds were stronger and faster while being enraged, they weren’t tougher than they were originally. In fact, they were probably easier to deal with because the shaman wasn’t able to heal their injuries almost as soon as they happened. Anja used Shadow Step when she saw my arrows in the air, appearing behind Ben before firing off Ice Shards from a distance.

Ben wasn’t able to contribute as much as he would probably like, as all but one of his offensive abilities dealt fire damage. That didn’t mean he was useless. He was another body that enemies had to worry about, and he was able to deal damage as well as drain his targets mana using Chaos Bolt, as he was currently doing to the warrior Anja and I were in the process of fighting.

After about fifteen seconds of our combined assault, the second warrior fell, leaving Mason fighting the last one. Looking over, the warrior was clearly on his last legs, moving slowly while Mason practically danced around him. Wanting to finish it off so we could help Jonathan with the boss, I activated Triple Shot once more, sending arrows down range. There was quite a spread on the three arrows, the first hitting him in the chest while the second and third hit him in the neck and head, respectively. He dropped like a rock and Mason nodded over to me before looking over to the boss and activating Whirling Leap.

The boss had gotten back to his feet, though he wasn’t moving as fast as he had previously, and his axe was missing. He was visibly favoring one leg over the other, keeping his weight off of his damaged leg as much as possible. I fired a Siphoning Shot at his healthy leg, but it proved to be bad timing. My arrow struck right after Mason impaled him through the back with the point of his halberd, the boss’ skin turning to metal and bouncing my arrow.

The boss spun, backhanding Mason before reaching back and pulling the halberd out with a groan. The boss looked like he wanted to use the halberd to attack Mason, but was clearly befuddled when the halberd collapsed into a small tube that easily fit into his palm. Angry, he threw it away before limping towards Mason. Jonathan used Blink to appear between them, throwing a punch that connected with the boss’ left cheek, sending him stumbling backwards.

He was able to catch himself, pushing off with his good leg and tackling Jonathan. Unfortunately for him, Jonathan had put up his Mana Shield just before, so the boss collided with it before falling on his face. Extending his cutlass, he flipped it around in his hand before grabbing it with both hands and driving it through the boss’ back.

It wasn’t a killing blow, as the boss groaned out in pain before trying to lift himself off the cavern floor. Wanting to end the fight, I activated Triple Arrow again, this time aiming somewhere more vital. The three arrows flew true, striking the boss in the head. Only the first actually did anything, with the other two bouncing off when his metal armor activated. Still, it was enough.

With a last shuddering breath, the Kobold High Chieftain collapsed to the floor, remaining motionless.