Chapter Two: Boss Room

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Bosses Identified!

Royal Guard - (S)Pillar Monster - Final Stage

A skilled and loyal defender of the Shadowborn Royalty. Ascension limited by bloodline.

Current Pillar Allocation: Twelve Complete Pillars

Royal Advisor - (S)Pillar Monster - Final Stage

A loyal servant knowledgeable in the customs of the Shadowborn Royalty and culture of their race. Ascension limited by bloodline.

Current Pillar Allocation: Twelve Complete Pillars

The entire room was completely covered by different Patterns. A vortex of shadow magic funneled into an egg larger than Aiden, and two humanoid shadow forms stood to either side. Platemail covered every inch of the Guard. It took two steps forward, positioning itself in front of the strange shadow egg, and raised its sword and shield.

Blizzy charged forward towards the Guard, and Aiden circled towards the Advisor. Its hands glowed ominously as magic accumulated into a thick sphere. A sinking suspicion saved Aiden when the Advisor threw its arm forward. He threw himself to the side, the air of the ball’s passing ruffling his hair.

His palms sweat and neck sweat as he eyed the Advisor. Hollow, lifeless eyes stared back at him, calmly watching his every movement. Aiden tried to creep forward, but each attempt would only become a futile game of dodgeball. As far as he was, he couldn’t use Arctic Gale to lock onto the Advisor, and Hoarspike’s accuracy was spotty on the best of days without guidance.

The ground under his feet began to frost as a layer of crystalline ice manifested, the result of Crystalline Embodiment. Another ball flew towards him, and the ice underneath his feet exploded upward into a six foot wall of ice. Wind coalesced around his feet. Like a springboard, he propelled himself up and over the demolished wall, using the icy mist as a smokescreen.

Silver’s icy blade cut through empty air when he emerged, striking the spot he’d last seen the Advisor. He whipped his head around in an attempt to locate the shadow mage, but only Blizzy’s cry of pain and cry for help over their bond clued him in.

Pushing off with another gust of wind, he leapt over the large shadow egg in the center of the room and cast an Ice Shield instantly. The Guard’s sword only took a quarter of a second to pierce through the thick sheets of frost, but Blizzy used that short reprieve to retreat away from the two Shadowborn bosses and return to his side.

“Take the mage, Blizzy,” Aiden said, pointing towards the Advisor.

She didn’t hesitate. She circled around the Guard, and it rushed toward her with its shield in front of it, attempting to slam her away. Aiden moved, the wind wrapped around his feet and launched himself forward. Two bounding steps placed him only a half-step behind the Guard. He stabbed into its exposed back at the same time he cast Hoarspike.

Silver’s ice blade made contact, but the shadow arm rebounded the attack with little more than a scratch to show. Even the Hoarspike did little to pierce the thick armor, but that had never been Aiden’s intent. No, the two Shards hovering over his shoulder were.

Well, that and garnering the Guard’s attention so Blizzy could do Blizzy things.

The Guard turned faster than Aiden expected. Tapping his foot bought him the space he needed to avoid the Guard’s counterattack.

“Your fight’s with me.” He cast Icy Touch, and Silver’s icy blade shined with the imbued power. “I’ve been itching for a good fight, so don’t disappoint.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Blizzy race towards the Advisor. She nimbly dodged the violet attacks and constantly harassed the Shadowborn. Seeing how well she fared, he eased his mind of the nervousness of leaving her to fight on her own and fully focused on his fight with the Guard.

With the enhanced mobility provided by his Dancing Winds ability, Aiden safely stacked up Shards. Each time his blade came into contact with the Guard’s armor, sword, or shield, another Shard appeared. Proliferation’s effect became invaluable as the number of Shards grew.

Aiden danced around the Guard. When he hopped back away from the Guard, his back slammed into the egg-like shadow construct in the middle of the room. The Guard’s entire body radiated with a violet energy reminiscent of the magic the Advisor used. For a split second, it completely disappeared from Aiden’s vision. When it reappeared, the triangle shield smashed into his shoulder and flung him through the air and away from the construct.

When his body hit the ground, he slid for a good distance. He groaned in pain as he rose to a kneel and took stock of the situation. Before he had a chance to fully process, he threw himself to the side. A barrage of violet needles slammed into the ground next to him and exploded into black and violet spikes.

“Stay away from the egg, got it. Lesson learned.” His arm ached, so he forced himself to rise to his feet and took damage control. The shield bash had fractured the armor created by Crystalline Embodiment. He whistled in surprise and turned toward the approaching Guard. “You pack quite the punch. You’re the first opponent to ever damage this armor. Hopefully you can’t do that disappearing thing often.”

Apparently, that wasn’t the case. The violet magic still oozed off the Guard like steam. Once it got in range, it leaned forward with its sword raised above its head. Like before, the Guard disappeared for a brief second before reappearing.

“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Aiden stood clear of the Guard, an Ice Shield now affixed to his left forearm. “What else do you have?”

Violet energy coalesced on the edge of the Guard’s sword. Aiden immediately erected an Ice Wall, lunging out of the way of where he anticipated the strike to land. It never came. He waited several long seconds before leaving the cover of the Ice Wall…

And nearly lost his head.

He ducked, barely avoiding the Guard’s attack, and threw himself back. Once again, he felt surprised as the sword cleaved through the entire length of the Ice Wall with ease. For the third time, the Guard disappeared.

Aiden never once considered trying to block those magically enhanced strikes. Rather, he continued their game of cat and mouse, though this time he was the mouse until the moment Proliferation activated and his Shard stacks maxed out.

The long blade of ice disappeared with a click of the pen. Another click activated his Water Discipline and formed a long whip that he lashed out with instantly. The whip wrapped around the Guard’s sword arm. It prepared its shield and pulled with all its might, but Aiden had been counting on something similar.

Using Dancing Winds, he propelled himself forward. As the shield moved to meet him, he stepped against the ground and threw himself to the side. Like a pendulum, he spun around the Guard at dizzying speeds, the whip wrapping around the Shadowborn.

It struggled to break free, but Aiden wouldn’t waste the opportunity. He stopped himself behind the Guard and grinned at the familiar sound of ice grinding as his Shards snapped together to form a fully powered Glacial Fang.

“You fought well.”

Aiden clicked Silver and dismissed the whip as his most powerful attack slammed into the Guard and encapsulated it in ice. Only when the shadow magic holding the Guard together started to fade and Pillars started tinkling to the ground did he release the breath he’d been holding. For as strong as he knew Glacial Fang to be, the Guard proved to be a formidable foe with incredibly high defense ability.

He turned and approached the construct, laughing as he played Dodge The Lethal Shadow Magic with the Advisor. While it fired at him, Blizzy was free to do as she pleased. When the spikes stopped, the little dragon’s happiness flooded through their bond.

She scarfed down the twelve Pillars that appeared, causing Aiden to groan internally, and then ran over towards him. She nuzzled up against his leg, careful to not impale him with her incredibly sharp horn, and trilled a happy song.

“First thing’s first, damage control. You good?” He knelt next to her and began his inspection. His hands softly brushed across her limbs, sides, and back, thoroughly checking for any injuries. “Looks like you’ve got quite a few chipped scales, but there’s no internal bruising. Gotta give it to you for that. After I fought that Guard, I was worried he might’ve got you good.”

She rolled her eyes at him and chirped twice.

“I know, I know. You say this every time, but I still worry about you. It’s what makes me a good friend, you see.” He pet her head for a few minutes before rising and returning to the encased Pillars. With a wave of his hand, the ice melted. He quickly shoved the Pillars in his bag, holding the last one in his hand for a few seconds. “It’s only been a month, yet one of these is barely enough to upgrade with.”

Perfectly Formed Pillar

Nine Perfectly Formed Cores fused, creating a perfect Pillar for Ascension.

A magical resource.

Essence Value:

500

Core Value:

10

He sighed and tossed it in the bag with the others. Blizzy chirped as she eyed the bag and nuzzled against him.

“If you keep saying things like that, I’ll mistake you for Oli.”

The small dragon huffed and playfully pointed her horn towards his leg.

“Hey now!” He poked her head. “It was a joke. Don’t take everything so seriously, otherwise you might actually turn into Oli.”

Ten seconds.

He managed to keep a straight face for ten seconds before bursting out in laughter. She glared at him for a moment before chirping happily alongside him. They stayed like that for a good five minutes as he tried to control himself, his arms gripping his aching ribs and burning lungs.

“Haa, I really needed a good laugh. Things have been so hectic and stressful lately,” he said more to himself than his Companion. She nuzzled against him, and he smiled. “Glad I have you to keep me company. You’re such a good girl.”

She chirped happily, sending signals of support and happiness over their bond. Petting her again, he turned and stared at the egg-like construct, the vortex of shadows never once ceasing to funnel magic into it. Next, he looked around the room with countless Patterns. Notifications had stacked, hundreds at this point, but he didn’t feel prepared to deal with them yet. That would have to come later. The most pressing thing was the fact that beating the Shadowborn Guard and Advisor, two Shadowborn with the status of Bosses, hadn’t been enough to conquer the dungeon.

Pushing himself to his feet, he approached the construct. Now that he was no longer in combat, the notification page popped up.