"Alright, so we'll rotate beacons, Jack, then Mike, cycle as you accumulate damage or whatever nasty tricks the boss is likely to have," Dave began. "Wayna, Elli, be ready to pick up any adds that spawn. Given that the boss has been bringing them in through that portal, it's safe to assume he's going to get reinforcements. Jessi, you're the off healer, Erick, you're main heals for whatever beacon the boss is on. Bob, you're job is to plug any gaps with a quick application of Jake, when he isn't needed, have him on the boss. Bailli and I will be focus DPS, as it's easier for us to shift targets, so we'll rotate to the adds when they appear, Amanda and Eddi, keep your monsters on the boss."

"Everyone make sure that you've configured your user interface to show the health, mana, and stamina of everyone in our group," Bob advised.

"Everyone set?" Dave asked, receiving nods all around.

"Go, go, go!" Dave said, and the group rushed out from behind the pillar to engage the boss.

They hit it like a wrecking ball. Two swarms of monsters latched on it, while a massive wolf, a T-Rex, and Jake flanked it, tearing into it. An Eldritch Blast and a Lightning Blast added to the chaos as Jack arrived, slamming into it with his bucklers.

It had been a while since they'd all piled onto a single monster like that. It had been even longer since they'd done so, and the monster under attack hadn't immediately died.

With a roar, the figure turned away from the portal to face them.

It looked like a classic fantasy dwarf. It was twelve feet tall, and seven feet across the shoulders. It had dark brown skin, and it's hair and beard were dark auburn. It wore plate armor made from obsidian, and it's eyes glowed the same green as the lines in the Magma Elementals after they'd touched the clipboard.

It lashed out with it's staff, knocking Jack back a step as he caught the blow on his buckler. At the same time, it swept its clipboard in front of itself, parrying the two blast spells from Bailli and Dave.

"Shit, it's pushing a stacking debuff!" Jack yelled as he moved to parry the next blow.

"What is it?" Dave shouted over the cacophony of claws and teeth scraping against obsidian.

"Eight percent extra damage from fire, stacks eight times, lasts eight seconds, refreshes," Jack yelled back.

"What fire damage?" Jessica asked.

As if hearing her, the boss burst into flames. It opened its mouth and bellowed, "Krestor must fall! For its sins, all within will burn, root and stem!"

"Did everyone else understand that?" Bob asked. He'd understood the words, but the language was one he definitely wasn't familiar with.

"System fuckery," Mike replied.

"I'm at thirty-six percent with that debuff, I'll need to pull back after this next hit," Jack warned.

Bob watched as the former project manager braced his shields, parrying the flaming staff. His user interface showed Jack's health drop sharply, going from full to thirty percent.

"Step out left!" Mike shouted as he rushed into the space Jack had occupied a moment earlier.

Jack stepped back and to the left, then back again, then again. The golden glow of Jessica's Anima Blast restored his health, blackened skin flaking away, revealing healthy, unblemished skin beneath.

"I can only take four hits," Mike shouted.

"I'll have Jake pick him up for a few seconds," Bob said, focusing on his UtahRaptor, and having Jake switch from fade to beacon.

"We might want to let Jake tank this one," Jack suggested as he stowed his bucklers and stabbed out at the boss with a long spear. "Fuck, that aura is reactive, and it's giving out the same debuff."

The boss let out a wordless roar, and spun in place, sweeping its staff in front of itself, knocking everyone back.

Everyone except Jake.

The boss looked shocked that the UtahRaptor had been able to withstand the force of its blow, but it wasn't surprised enough that it didn't continue to fight. Slamming the staff down in front of itself, eight pillars of white hot flame erupted around it, preventing anyone from attacking it.

Anyone sane, at least.

Jake was a simple UtahRaptor. He wanted to kill. That was it. Sometimes he'd take a bite of his kills, but it wasn't because he was hungry, it just felt like he should. If Jake had been sapient, he would have been committed to a mental hospital where hundreds of students would have earned their doctorates writing their thesis about his need to kill.

Ultimately, Jake gave not a single solitary fuck about retributive damage or pillars of fire. The UtahRaptor honked furiously as he darted forward, clipping the pillar of fire with a wing as he lashed out with his scythe-like claws.

The boss was not expecting the attack, and with his concentration fully on the pillars of flame and whatever they were supposed to do, it failed to parry the attack, allowing Jake to land a deep gash to the back of its knee, staggering it, and forcing it to shift it weight off of that leg.

It was the first solid blow they'd landed, and Bob might have cheered, had the pillars not flashed, and formed into eight Magma Elementals, each of which was slightly larger than the ones they'd been fighting.

"I'll keep Jake on the boss, corral those things!" Bob called.

Jack, Mike, Wayna, and Elli were already in motion.

"How long can Jake act as the beacon without heals?" Erick asked as he tossed an Effect Over Time Anima Blast on Jack.

"Twenty-five seconds, maybe a few less," Bob replied.

Bailli and Dave were still burning their mana pools with barrages, and they cleared one of the Magma Elementals off Wayna in just three seconds. In that time, the pair she'd been tanking had continually dropped her health from full to forty percent, with a heal landing to fully heal her, and then their strikes landing, dropping her back down.

Amanda and Eddi had lost their swarms, no doubt victims to the boss's reactive damage, and their primary summons weren't looking that good either, but they continued to attack the boss.

It took thirty-two seconds to clear the adds, but twenty-two seconds in, Erick had been able to switch to healing Jake, allowing the UtahRaptor to continue tanking the boss.

The boss had been angry at the beginning of the battle, but Jake's reckless determination to turn it into dino-chow, alongside the UtahRaptor's disgusting durability, had driven the boss into a frothing rage. It had dropped its clipboard to the ground and was swinging its staff two handed, delivering massive, punishing blows to Jake.

The shift had the intended effect, the extra strength lent to the blows was enough to blow past the Eldritch Shield and Anima Blast effects Jake was imbued with, blasting chunks of flesh off the UtahRaptor. Erick was keeping a steady stream of Anima Blasts on Jake, but the increase in damage, when combined with the fully stacked debuff, put a timer on how long Jake could last.

Bailli and Dave were rapidly draining their mana pools as they landed barraged blasts of Eldritch force and Lightning, taking advantage of the boss no longer parrying them, while Eddi and Amanda had both resummoned their primary monsters, which were tearing at the boss as well.

Elli, Mike, and Jack were landing hits with their weapons, while Harv was working to soften the blows that rained down on Jake with strategic spikes of stone that rose from the floor.

They were making progress, as cuts and gashs covered the boss. Bob watched as a greave gave out, badly damaged by hundreds of attacks, and unable to withstand the powerful bite of Eddi's T-Rex. Amanda's wolf didn't waste the opportunity, lunging in and taking a chunk of the exposed flesh, while Elli and Jack took the opportunity to score deep wounds in the leg as well.

The boss screached in rage and pain, then shook its head. "I may have failed today, but Krestor will fall!"

It turned, and dashed the twenty feet back toward the portal, diving into it.

"The fuck?!" Dave shouted

The portal began to snap closed, when Bob shook his head, and said simply, "No."

He cast his Spatial Reinforcement spell, targeting the portal, his Mana Sight allowing him to target the threads of mana that fed the spell, keeping it active. It was only due to the thousands of hours he'd spent casting the Portal spell that he was able to alter the flows of his Spatial Reinforcement spell, and he was forced to feed the Portal a mana crystal to keep it active.

"Got the clipboard!" Jack shouted.

Quest Advanced!

The tunnels beneath the great city of Krestor have become infested with uncontrolled magma elementals! They threaten to destroy the foundations of the city, causing it to fall deep into the planetary mass!

Destroy ten of these elementals to receive a reward! Complete.

Discover where the elementals are coming from to receive a reward! Complete.

Discover why the elementals are attacking the city's foundations to receive a reward! Complete.

Stop the elementals from destroying the city's foundations to receive a reward! Complete.

Hidden Objective Discovered! The Mad Eire has escaped through a portal, but you are able to follow. Destroy the Mad Eire to receive a reward!

"Go, go, go!" Bob echoed Dave's earlier order, "I'm holding the portal open!"

The group rushed through the portal with Bob and Jake in the lead, counting on his Extradimensional Explorer achievement to warn him if the other side wasn't a place he could survive.

Extradimensional Explorer.

You have travelled to another dimension, one not gifted with the System. You have done so deliberately, aware of the pitiable conditions those without the System are subject to. You were fully aware and informed of the state of the dimension and planetary mass you traveled to. This has slightly increased the value of this Achievement.

Reward: User will receive a warning from the System if the user attempts to travel to a dimension that is not biologically compatible.

With no warning from the System, he plunged through the portal with Jake at his side, emerging into a blasted landscape where rivers of lava dominated, with occasional patches of scorched and blackened stone, upon which they'd arrived.

The Boss was ten feet away, hunched over a crate.

It never saw Jake coming.

To be fair, it also didn't see Rexy, Aurura, Jack, Elli, Mike, or the Lighting and Eldritch Force blasts.

But Jake was what it first.

The Mad Eire screamed in frustration as a potion flask flew out of its hand, spinning away across the stone and sinking into a stream of lava.

It then screamed in pain as the entire team collapsed on it, stabbing, tearing and blasting. It's staff was propped up against the crate, but it never recovered enough to reach it. Two seconds later, the Mad Eire stilled.

Quest Complete!

The tunnels beneath the great city of Krestor have become infested with uncontrolled magma elementals! They threaten to destroy the foundations of the city, causing it to fall deep into the planetary mass!

Destroy ten of these elementals to receive a reward! Complete.

Discover where the elementals are coming from to receive a reward! Complete.

Discover why the elementals are attacking the city's foundations to receive a reward! Complete.

Stop the elementals from destroying the city's foundations to receive a reward! Complete.

Hidden Objective Discovered! The Mad Eire has escaped through a portal, but you are able to follow. Destroy the Mad Eire to receive a reward! Complete.

Calculating rewards.

Another screen appeared beside the first.

Quest Complete!

You are the first user to enter this Dungeon!

Clear this Dungeon to receive a reward! Complete.

(All Quest goals must be completed during the user's first entry)

Calculating reward.

The first screen flashed.

Dungeon 801972G610N497ISS6PM18D Completely cleared. 2,316 Magma Elemental Manifestations dispersed. Scenario anchor "Mad Eire" Discovered. Elemental Contract for the destruction of Kestor discovered. Scenario anchor "Mad Eire" defeated. Hidden scenario objective discovered. Scenario anchor "Mad Eire" manifestation dispersed.

User may select from the following rewards.

600 energy crystals.

1 Magma Affinity Crystal

Magma Infused Weapon

Magma Infused Armor

Magma Infused Tool

Magma Elemental Heart

Bob projected his System screen. "Everyone else have the same thing?"

"Yep," Jack agreed.

"Sweet, delicious loot," Amanda mused.

Bob focused on the rewards. As expected the six hundred mana crystals were tier eight, level thirty-eight, which meant he could use them to level up.

Magma Affinity Crystal.

This item, when consumed by a user before accepting a path, will confer the Magma Affinity. This acts as an Elemental Fire Affinity, as well as an Elemental Earth Affinity, with the later operating at half value.

When consumed after the user has accepted a path, the user will receive both the School of Elemental Fire, and the School of Elemental Earth. If the user already possesses the School, they will be allowed to select a skill from it.

This item may be used as a crafting material.

Magma Infused Weapon.

The user may select a weapon type, and they will receive a Magma Infused Weapon of that type.

The weapon will be bound to the users matrix, allowing it to disperse into the users matrix when not in use or when in need of repair.

The weapon will possess the property 'Magma Infused' which will cause the weapon to deal an additional eight percent of its damage as vicious.

Magma Infused Armor.

The user may select an armor or shield type, and they will receive a Magma Infused shield or suit of armor for that type.

The armor or shield will be bound to the users matrix, allowing it to disperse into the users matrix when not in use or when in need of repair.

The armor or shield will possess the property 'Magma Infused' which will reduce any fire damage received by sixteen percent.

Magma Infused Tool.

The user may select a tool type, and they will receive a Magma Infused tool of that type.

The tool will be bound to the users matrix, allowing it to disperse into the musers matrix when not in use or when in need of repair.

The tool will possess the property 'Magma Infused' which will imbue the Magma property to any items crafted with its use.

Magma Elemental Heart

This item will allow the user to Summon a Magma Elemental, which will serve the user under an Elemental Contract in exchange for the Heart.

"Damn," Bob muttered as he checked the other screen, which had begun flashing around the time he'd started reading the Magma Infused Tool description.

Dungeon 801972G610N497ISS6PM18D Completely cleared during users first entry, all Quests complete, including hidden objectives.

User has been awarded the following Appelation.

Fire Resistant.

Fire damage dealt to the user is reduced by eight percent.

"Nice," he muttered.

"Hey Bob," Jessica tugged at his arm.

Bob looked at her and then followed the line of her arm, which was gesturing toward the portal. "Is the portal supposed to be doing that?" She asked.

"No, no it's not," Bob replied as he watched the weave, which should have been stable, shake and shift.

"Hey everyone, we should go. Like, now."