Her teammates burst into the room after them. Though Liliana couldn’t see Emyr or Daniel, she assumed they were sneaking past the chaos taking over the boss room. She could see the chieftain hobgoblin in the back, waving around a staff as he tried to cast some sort of spell. Liliana turned her attention off the boss when she saw shadows appear around his feet and yank him off balance.

Charles and Sam were focusing on the hobgoblins and few goblins she hadn’t caught in her skill, throwing fireballs and dueling with arrows. Sasha was waiting behind Alistair as the goblins attacked each other. It was easier than wading into the mayhem before them, and let them focus only on the goblins and hobgoblins that broke out of the control skill. The ones that broke out either turned on their brethren when the still controlled ones attacked or ran at Liliana, enabling Sasha and Alistair to focus on those. Liliana found most of her focus on her skill. Focusing on anything else caused the headache to increase. An irritating drawback to the skill.

As the mobs broke out of her control, Liliana felt her headache lessen, and she mentally noted that there was probably a limit to how many being she could control. Whether that limit stayed the same for all beings, or if it was affected by stats, she wasn’t sure and would need far more testing to determine. She could tell the skill only targeted those she meant it to, not simply whatever fell;l under her light, otherwise her teammates would be in danger of being controlled.

Turning her focus to the goblins that were dropping from her control, Liliana summoned [Light Burst]s around herself, shooting off the spells to dispatch the freed goblins. Any she didn’t immediately kill died to their still feral companions. Essence was rising in the room like storm clouds, rushing into various members of her team. Liliana could feel huge waves of it running into her, and she knew she’d be leveling at least once by the end of this encounter, if not more.

More and more of the goblins fell from her control and as the last of the archers were dispatched, Charles and Sam turned their attention onto the remains of the horde. Liliana estimated they’d taken down a third of the original forces in the room, almost entirely with her skill alone. The last of her control slipped as the remaining goblins slipped below the threshold of her skill. The freed goblins turned bloody fangs towards the group and screeched a primal war-cry.

Most of her Mana had regenerated, so Liliana activated her skills and spells, feeling the familiar rush they gave her as they settled over her and her nearby teammates. [Dancer’s Domain], [Solar Samba], [War Maiden’s Waltz], and [Dance Of The Windsong]. She cast [Dancing Doubles] and watched her Mana plummet with the last addition. She immediately sent the doubles off to do what damage they could to the horde.

It was as odd as ever to watch clones of herself made of shifting light run off to fight their own battles. The way they moved was fluid and seemed a harsh contrast to the bloody battle around them. Grabbing a Mana potion from her storage to combat the drain, she moved forward, dancing between her allies, who were already locked in battle with the goblins. Their movements were stronger and faster with her aid.

It gave her an odd feeling, almost happiness, seeing how her skills helped her allies become more fearsome opponents for the monsters they were attacking. She knew they’d have been fine without her, but with her, they were doing better. As was she, her blade sung a haunting, final lullaby as it slashed without hesitation through the smaller bodies of the goblins. The discordant melody of their dying cries simply further enhanced the sounds of whistling steel, hungry flames and whizzing arrows. Liliana ducked and dodged around both the attacks from the goblins and her own teammates.

A fireball blasted past her cheek as she spun, her blade sinking into yet another small green body. An arrow breezed over her head as she ducked down and swept the legs out from under a hobgoblin before her blade sunk deep into its chest. The thudding of an arrow and then the sound of flesh igniting forced her to spin, seeing another hobgoblin falling to the ground mere inches from her unprotected back it had been targeting.

She felt Mana regenerating at a faster rate inside of her and she looked to see Eric gripping tightly to Lelantos with one hand while another waved a staff around, a green light held at the end. The light had washed over her and boosted her Intelligence she had to assume and she grinned at the goblins around her as floating balls of light appeared around her. Letting loose a [Light Barrage] Liliana spun and twisted through the raining light, finishing off the screaming goblins wounded from her magical attack.

As their team waded their way through the mass of goblins, Liliana checked on Emyr and Daniel. The pair seemed to be keeping the Chieftain in hand. Every time the Chieftain started to cast a spell, one of them knocked him off his feet, or interrupted his cast. A major drawback of large-scale support magic, or any large-scale magic, was that it typically had a cast time. If the caster was interrupted during it, the spell failed. Liliana smiled as she downed another Mana potion to bring her Mana back up as she summoned another [Light Barrage], raining death upon the goblins circling her. Arrows and balls of fire accompanied the beautiful display of deadly falling lights, clearing the path for her.

“How do you move so damn fast?” Sasha called out as the woman carved her own gruesome way through the goblins, coming to stand near Liliana.

“Better Speed,” Liliana said simply as she dashed froward, activating [Leap] she took to the air. Landing on a goblin, she impaled him and turned a smirk back at the woman she’d left behind.

“Try to keep up!” She teased as she turned and cut her way through the last goblins and hobgoblins standing in her way. Past them was the boss, and her allies who were still stuck harrying him to keep the rest of them safe. Liliana would be damned if she’d let them get away with all the experience from a boss kill. Goblins screamed and screeched at her as her blade swung through the air, blood trailing the blade like a macabre ribbon.

Breaking through the last line of goblins, Liliana turned. There were only a few stragglers left. She turned back into the fray, a vicious whirlwind of steel and blood as she cut through the goblins holding her team back.

“Alistair! Get to the boss!” She ordered as she got closer to the tank. The boy nodded, shoving his shield into a hobgoblin. He finished it with a cut to its throat and took off.

“Sam! Charles! Watch his back! Sasha, finish these guys up! Lelantos, get Eric to the boss!” Liliana ordered as she turned and chased after her stepbrother, quickly catching up to him and finishing off any of the few remaining mobs who tried to get in their way. Alistair didn’t slow as they approached the boss, instead he held his shield up and rammed right into the high level hobgoblin. The spell the creature had been about to cast was once more interrupted as Alistair’s higher Strength sent the chieftain tumbling.

“Boost!” Liliana called out, and immediately Alistair knelt down, holding his shield above his head. Liliana jumped up, mentally praising her Dexterity for enabling such a combination move. As Alistair stood, he shoved the shield at the same time Liliana activated [Leap]. It flung her far into the air, and she twisted her body as she reached the crest of her jump and began to fall back to the earth. Black shadows held the Chieftain down as Liliana activated [Light Burst Coat] on her weapon moments before it, and she, plowed into the Chieftain.

The fall knocked the wind out of her and she felt her Health dip from the maneuver, but she paid it no mind as golden light exploded inside the chieftain. Yanking her weapon out of the hobgoblin’s body, she danced back, watching the Chieftain. Boss creatures usually had more Health than their similarly leveled counterparts, and she doubted even with her boosted stats that move had killed it.

“You really had to pull a flashy risky move like that in a boss fight?” Alistair asked her as she retreated behind him. She huffed, turning her face from him.

“When else should you perform flashy moves? I thought I looked rather heroic!” Liliana countered, and Alistair snorted.

“You looked like an idiot,” He informed her and Liliana pouted. However, before they could continue their trade, the Chieftain moved. Verdant green light surrounded his body, bulking it up. Muscles where there had been none before formed, ripping through the already ragged clothing the chieftain had worn.

“Shit, he’s got Earth, Life and Nature magic!” Alistair called out while Liliana kept quiet. She had known as much, but there had been no way to tell her teammates without giving away the fact she knew too much. Knowing the boss had Earth magic was obvious, as it was a racial trait. But the Life was rare for any goblinoid to have, and Nature was a subtype that only came if you had high enough Earth and Life affinity.

The hobgoblin continued to grow until he was brushing six feet tall, and rippling in muscles. While Alistair, and the rest of the team that had joined them, took an instinctive step back, Liliana grinned, tightening her grip on her naginata. This was exactly like the game, when this boss got below 50% health, he transformed into a buffed form. It only happened if all of his minions were dead as well, otherwise it would be the minions that got the buffed form and that was a hell of a lot harder to deal with.

Liliana took off, cries for her teammates following her. She paid them no heed, she was in her element. She knew this fight, knew the moves the boss would make. Confidence filled her movements as she dodged the slow strikes of the transformed hobgoblin.

Duck left, he swings right next, left, then a haymaker, Liliana recounted in her head, dodging each strike perfectly and lashing out with her own weapon at every opening the beast left her.

Ten, eleven, Liliana kept the count going in her head as she stepped, dodged and jumped around the boss. When she reached thirty, she darted back just as the boss brought both his hands to the ground, the floor of the cave shaking with tremors as the boss activated an earthquake skill.

“Use [Bulwark]!” Liliana ordered Alistair, as she darted forward again. Fighting on unstable ground was harder in real life than in the game, but her high Dexterity gave her an edge even if she stumbled a little in her stride. The boss, on the other hand, walked across the rolling ground as easily as he had on the steady stone.

Her teammates were struggling to stand, arrows and fireballs going wide and off their mark. Sam, at least, was recovering faster than Charles, and soon his arrows were once more peppering the boss. Sasha was struggling to stand straight, weaving drunkenly as the floor bucked and heaved under her. Alistair was also struggling, but Liliana could see him activate a shielding skill that extended past and behind him, protecting their teammates.

Daniel appeared as Liliana neared the boss again, he seemed to have as little trouble with the rioting ground as she. His daggers slashed across the boss’ Achilles tendon, forcing the beast to drop to a knee as it cried out in rage and pain. The scout sliced at the creature’s unprotected back, stabbing and slashing like a madman. Shadows were appearing around the boss, grabbing the hobgoblin and holding him down. Other shadows slashed out at him, eliciting more screams of rage and pain.

Liliana added her own blade to the fray, stabbing deep into the creature’s ribs. She pulled back and struck again, and again. Arrows and soon fireballs fell on the boss, their entire team taking the opportunity to rain hell down on the boss as he struggled to regain his feet.

Sixteen, seventeen, Liliana counted and with a last stab, she darted back as the boss let out a deep roar that shook the room. Dust rained down from the stone walls of the cave, a few pieces of stone coming free and crashing to the ground that was slowly returning to normal. The boss flexed his muscles, which seemed to have grown even more since the beginning of the fight.

Shadows ripped silently around him and, with a small blast of power that sent Daniel tumbling away from the boss, the enormous hobgoblin stood. His eyes shone a deep red, and Liliana almost felt she could see a blood red aura coating the beast. With another roar that sent a deep spike of fear into her heart, the boss charged at Alistair, who barely recovered from the intimidating shout in time to brace for the attack.

He’s entered a berserk state, then he’s down to 25% Health. Every attack will further buff his Strength, Liliana noted as she ran back in. Lelantos and Eric were close behind Alistair, the healer needing to keep the tank’s Health and Mana topped off as Alistair withstood an unending rain of crushing blows. The sound of screaming metal filled the room and Liliana attacked the boss with ferocious intensity. Alistair’s shield wouldn’t last for long. They needed to down the boss before it broke.

“It’s reached an enraged state! Give it everything you have. It’s almost dead!” Liliana ordered the team, and with a cry, they rallied to take down the hobgoblin. Fire, arrows, shadows, light and steel flashed in the room as the group rained everything they had on the boss. His attacks got stronger with each fresh wound they dealt him, but the floor was soaked in his red life’s blood and they could all sense that victory was at hand.

At 10% he’s going to turn and attack the DPS, aggro depending on who dealt the highest amount of damage in the last five seconds. Liliana watched the boss as she stabbed and sliced into its hide. With another deafening roar, it turned, its thick arms swinging out and finding nothing but air as Liliana darted out of the way.

“Keep him off the long ranged attackers!” Liliana barked out as the boss began to twist and turn, trying to attack the annoying creatures slowly carving him into mincemeat. Every time the boss tried to turn towards Sam or Charles, Alistair stepped forward to grab his attention, or Sasha buried an axe in him. Liliana played her part of infuriating nuisance well, flitting around the boss and leaving new wounds in her wake, forcing the boss to twist and turn in circles to try to keep up with her faster Speed.

The boss stepped forward, but his leg gave out and the creature went crashing to his hands and knees. With a cheer, the group poured all they had left into the struggling beast. A sword made of shadows finished him seconds before Liliana could shove her own weapon into the creature’s skull. Looking up, she met Emyr’s eyes as he walked out of the shadows, a pleased smirk on his face.

Lowering her weapon, she huffed and turned from him. Essence was rising off the boss, far more than from a normal creature. It split off and filled them. Liliana took a deep breath as she felt it hit her, sinking deep inside of her and empowering her body. She estimated she’d probably gotten at least another two levels today, but she’d need to wait to check.

Sasha and Daniel were already at the boss, skinning him and getting to his core. They’d need to get the cores of the rest of the goblins and hobgoblins in the room, and Liliana leaned heavily on her naginata as she released her skills and spells. Her Mana and Stamina were in the red, and slowly refilling. Eric was off of Lelantos now, moving around the group and casting healing and buffing spells as he did. Liliana vaguely wondered what his Mana pool and regen were like as he came to her and her own Mana, Health and Stamina shot up. With her Mana back up, she activated [Healing Harmony] hoping to get some levels into the spell.

“Rock, paper, scissors to decide who gets to get out of skinning?” Liliana called out, and after a very intense miniature tournament, Charles was strutting around as the rest of them grumbled and got to their sections of the boss room to do the grisly part of clearing a dungeon. It had to be done quickly. In a dungeon, any bodies left around disappeared in an hour. Along with anything on or inside of them, which would mean precious money going down the drain when the cores disappeared.

Still, as Liliana dug her skinning knife into the mangled corpse of a goblin, she silently wished they could just ignore this entire part of it.