The first set of adds come swiftly after that as the boss dropped to 1350/1800. Alburet was already turning to the door to see a single caster and a Shieldbearer. He weakened the Shieldbearer, making it drop its shield and allowing Gerald to pick it up as it tried to go past him to Mary. The three DPS stopped hitting the boss and focused the caster down quickly, with Fluffball taking the brunt of the damage which left her at 72% of her life.
They turned after the caster died and killed the Shieldbearer next, who hadn’t been able to reclaim its shield, before again focusing on the boss. Mary dodged the third vial easily, but the fourth vial cost Gerald almost twenty percent of his life before he was able to side step clear, coughing the whole time as he held his shield up and didn't even try to attack until he could see again.
Alburet was already moving when the next vial came, so it easily missed him as he went towards the door as the next set of adds came in. Two casters and a Shieldbearer this time. Alburet cast Sap Strength on the Shieldbearer again, making it drop the shield. Fluffball and Frank's skeleton were each tanking a caster, so Alburet went melee to regain mana faster as Bob burned down first Fluffball's add then turned to the other one as it dropped the skeleton.
DrFrank cussed and began to raise a new skeleton, which took five seconds for him to complete the spell. As he did, Bob stopped casting to regain his mana and Alburet stepped in next to Gerald to renew the Demonic Retribution and Demonic Haze buffs. He quickly backed out as the boss dropped to forty percent under the onslaught of Fluffball and DrFrank's new skeleton.
It was a good thing he was in motion as it meant he only caught the faintest hint of the poison cloud that exploded near him. Alburet gagged, dry heaving as he moved away. The air in his lungs felt heavy and harsh. He staggered for a few steps until he got clean air in his lungs, his eyes watering.
“Dear Devs, fuck you,” Alburet gasped, wiping his eyes until he could see again.
Once he was stable again he joined back into the damage. Frank dodged the vial at 30% health and the DPS all turned towards the door as the boss dropped to 450/1800 to catch the last wave of adds. Four casters came in and Alburet groaned. “Fuck, this is going to hurt. Bob, gonna need you to pull aggro on one.”
“Damn it,” Bob hissed and started chain casting his spell even faster than he had been.
Alburet went into melee against another, as Fluffball jumped onto a third and the skeleton picked up the fourth one. DrFrank focused the one on his minion first, which meant the skeleton died just before it did. Fluffball was weaving at 25% of her life as hers dropped and she turned to the one that had put Bob down to 5% of his life.
“Go home, Bob,” Alburet shouted not knowing if it would work. A cheerful cry met his ear along with a pop as Bob vanished.
Fluffball growled,” You saved the fucking imp, when I'm this badly hurt?”
Alburet nodded as he blocked another attack, hearing DrFrank casting his summoning spell. “Yes, just tap that one more time and it will fall over.”
Fluffball smashed the caster into the ground then turned to the one on Alburet and ripped its head off. Alburet blinked at the sheer ferocity that she showed in that moment. Fluffball growled at him as her eyes glowed red before she went back across the room to the boss.
Alburet, at full mana thanks to having gone to melee, stuck out his hand, “I summon Bob the Mighty.” A smoke cloud billowed and Bob appeared still at 5% health. “Welcome back. We need your help.”
“Sure thing, master,” Bob said his voice happy as he turned and began to cast at the boss again.
Mary dodged the vial at 20% and warned them that the boss would rage soon. She drank the mana potion Alburet had given her and tossed a heal onto Fluffball before going back to focus healing Gerald.
Frank stopped DPS to pool his mana as they got closer to the 180/18000 mark. That was smart, Alburet had to admit, running out of mana in the burn phase would be stupid. The boss hit the 10% mark and began to glow red.
Gerald stopped attacking and focused solely on defense to try and stay up as long as he could. Alburet smirked, realizing that as the boss frenzied and attacked faster that meant Demonic Retribution was going off more often and stealing even more health from the boss.
Gerald lived through the fight, barely. The boss dropped with Gerald at only 10 health left to his name, just as Mary called that she was tapped out of mana. The rest of them sagged as the adrenaline rush left their bodies, letting out a ragged cheer at their success.
“Good work with the adds,” Gerald said as his health started to regen on its own since combat had ended. “Wow, what a rush there at the end. I tank for that feeling.”
Alburet chuckled, having known a few adrenaline junkies in his time and this had to be the safest way to get that feeling. “So we all get loot this time, right?”
Mary nodded as she touched the boss which sent a pop-up to each of them, “Yes, here’s the loot.”
Ring of the Mind
+2 intelligence
Alburet smiled at his pop up and touched the accept button on the panel causing a ring to appear in his hand. He slipped it on with a smile, looking at the others. Fluffball was holding up a new chain shirt with a pleased smile, Gerald was holding a new sword, Mary had a ring on her hand and DrFrank was putting on a necklace.
“Good job everyone,” Mary said proudly. “I really do want to thank you all for the flawless run here, well minus Rocksure.”
Chuckling Alburet replied, “Well yeah, if you discount him it was good.”
“Tell me why you risked me over the imp,” Fluffball asked as she stalked towards him her fur still red tinged.
“The caster had two hits left in him but his next spell would have killed Bob. Bob loses happiness if he dies and I need a happy pet for the bonuses. The caster wouldn't have been able to kill you, so I chose the way I did.” Alburet said calmly. “If it bothers you, then I’m sorry but that is what I thought at the time.”
Pursing her lips, Fluffball considered then nodded, “Fine. We still up for grinding outside?” Alburet lips twisted up in a devilish grin and Bob fell over laughing, while DrFrank broke into a chuckle. Fluffball went red and shook her head, “That isn't what I meant.”
“I know, but wow what a straight line,” Alburet said, bowing her to the door. “Let us sally forth.” he turned to the trio still in the room, “Thanks for the run guys. If you want DPS and I'm around just let me know. Anyone know how to friend someone here?”
Fluffball spoke from the door, “You need a Mindstone for that. We get one when we turn in the supply quest at the keep, I think.”
“Shall we go turn in the quest then come back?” Alburet asked.
“That’s a good idea,” Marysue said. “We can go back as a group to speed up the travel time in case mobs jump us outside.” Everyone agreed to the plan so they headed out of the room and out of the keep.
Alburet
Human Summoner
Level 8
Strength: 5
Agility: 13
Constitution: 20
Intelligence: 27
Wisdom: 33
Charisma: 20
Health: 600
Mana: 730
Spells:
Demon Skin-Rank 2
Demonic Retribution
Summon Least Imp
Fire Blast
Sap Strength
Demonic Haze
Abilities: