Chapter 457

They made quick work of the early floors, their literal mob army sweeping across and leaving devastation in its wake. For the first three floors, it was about quantity over quality with Fel and Alex. At level 66, Fel’s skeletal mobs were a force all on their own to be reckoned with. Meanwhile, Alex, level 64, was utilizing his summoner points, combined with greater summon, to create a versatile army of velocity raptors to run amok. The mobs gleefully crunched down on anything they came across, and swarm tactics meant everything, and James meant everything, on the first two floors was devoured.

With Trogdor in tow, who had happily agreed to join not only because he had yet to reach the fifth floor himself, but because he apparently had been promised a dungeon run alongside Fel and Alex, they even challenged, and defeated, the Perfect Cognivore. That task had been a suggestion of Rue’s, as James and she did need to farm up as much experience as they could, and the first two floors weren’t offering experience given the level disparity. The level 50 secret boss, however, definitely fit in the range of experience gain for Rue and James and defeating it had netted them both enough experience to reach level 48, and some nifty achievements and items.

Past that, they continued the wholesale slaughter on the third floor, though the going was slowing down. The mobs on the third floor were level 40, in range to give James and Rue experience, sure, but not much. The problem wasn’t murdering them. Instead, it was the winding, swampy paths. No one wanted to wade into the swamp, so the party moved slowly from board to board, while skeletons and steampunk dinosaurs took on the swamp hazard, fanning out in a protective bubble to kill anything that came close.

Ifrit, during this time, had been slowly, but steadily, gaining experience as well. The Molten Djinn was gaining levels, and by the time they did reach Grandma Jenkins, he was level 30. Being a third tier Djinn meant he needed a lot more experience each level, than he had originally. Furthermore, the proud summon insisted on landing as many final blows as needed. To become a Molten Djinn, he’d needed to reach level 24, and land 100 final blows. Now, he needed to reach level 36, with a whopping 500 final blows, before he continued down his ‘preferred’ path. What it was, the bastard still refused to say, but James didn’t push. He knew Ifrit meant well. Whoever created such a proud AI, James figured, had done it not to inconvenience the summoner, but to make it feel more ‘real’. That being said…not being able to check out his summons’s stats without getting backlash, was annoying.

Luckily, Alex, Fel, and even Trogdor hadn’t pressed much regarding the Djinn. They’d been living James’s crazy DCO dungeon since release, and he knew they had a lot of experience with not only the wide variety of crazy and wackiness that existed in the game, but also a very…very on Alex and Fel’s part… wide range of experiences with the AI in the game. Still, since they’d blitzed the first two floors, speed running to higher floors, Ifrit had been grumbling. There weren’t enough mobs for him to slaughter for his final kills, and many couldn’t even survive a single shot from Alex and Fel’s mobs. Meaning, he was woefully lacking still for his final kills.

James hadn’t had the heart to mention to the Djinn that he’d have even less of a chance landing final blows on the fourth floor. Something about water mobs, an ocean, and a Djinn made of magma, didn’t seem to mix right. But, that was something James was leaving to mention till they got there. First and foremost, they had an old lady to fight. Though, given the level of their other party members, James wasn’t putting much hope into that fight either. After all, Grandma Jenkins was only level 50, and her summoned pets were only level 45. Sure, she had a boss’s health pool, but that didn’t mean shit, compared to the pain train that was their literal army. At least, that was James’s thoughts as they continued past the decrepit shrine of Xray, which they’d donated to, of course, in order to get the god level cheat of map awareness from it. A split second later though, his map he could see in the corner of his vision was gone. At the same time, two messages came across his vision, and with them, a chill down his spine.

[Instance Announcement: Special Event Incoming]

[Instance Announcement: Area Effect in Place: The Fog]

“Patches.” Rue whispered beside him.

“Shit.” James muttered back, his eye immediately darting about. Their army was spread out, and he could see multiple mobs dropping from their pets alone. Another glance showed the instance they were in had another 25 players in it, for a total of 30. Considering everyone’s levels now, he had no doubt these players were just farming up mobs, gear, loot, and resources. Meaning they too were murdering mobs to their hearts content. Normally, that was fine. However, this particular special event, was problematic. If they slaid a combined total of 100 mobs while the fog was up, Patches, the third floor World Boss, would summon with 100 minions at his beck and call. And while James hadn’t the slightest bit of worry about fighting Grandma Jenkins. The level 60 World Boss, with his special summon bonus’s, was a different story.

However, even as James felt a panicked need to rush to the fourth floor, a look at the rest of the party’s faces told him immediately everything he needed to know. Because, there was one thing he’d partially forgotten…with regards to this group. Alex had a grudge to settle with Patches.

“It’s about fucking time.” Alex said, cracking his knuckles as he began unsummoning his mobs. Whatever he was planning, it seemed he wanted to have all of his summon points for it. Meanwhile, to James’s surprise, Fel’s basic skeletons, of which there were 30, crumbled to dust.

“I’m guessing you’re wanting revenge, right love?” She said with a chuckle towards Alex. His eyes were distracted, as he seemed to be leafing through his summon options, but he nodded to her.

“Oh you know it.” He said.

“Guess we’ll bring out the big guns then.” Fel pointed towards the swamp, and all of the bones from her various fallen skeletal warriors began swarming. Around them, 10 skeletal mages, hands glowing, took up positions in a pentagram form. At each point of the pentagram, one of her 5 skeletal Behemoth’s stood as well.

“What are you…” James trailed off as he realized what she was going to do. Fel was level 66, and she’d continued down the Path of Bones route as a necromancer. He’d heard rumors that class came with a unique summon ability at level 60, for purists of the route, but he’d never seen it used. It apparently took all of the caster’s mp, as well as their entire army as a sacrifice. Not only that, but the special skill also had a 1-minute cast time, and a 1-hour cooldown.

“You’ll see.” She said with a grin. Dark necrotic energy connected all of the mages, like chains binding them to their fate. At the same time, each of the Behemoth’s became sickly green beacons of light, pulsing in rhythm with the swirling mass of bones in the center.

“What should I do?” Trogdor, Alex’s ‘little brother’ Felix, asked. The massive Dragonkin was a level 59 Goth King, a tank class derived from the barbarian class. Not only was he built like a freaking wrestler now, but his healthpool was, for lack of a better word, impressive. His tank stats featured high health and high damage, with passive life steal on his attacks, and an scaling self-buff passive that increased his life gain, and his damage, as his life decreased. Not only that, he had some truly impressive cooldowns that could further help keep the team alive. That being said, Alex’s little brother lacked the confidence and skills that Alex and Fel showcased, and he was constantly asking them for advice. James couldn’t help but feel for the guy. He could tell Felix looked up to both Alex, and Fel, and just wanted to impress them. He was having the time of his life, diving the dungeon with the duo, and James figured the kid was hoping if he did a good enough job, they’d invite him along for more runs. The innocence of it all, was heartwarming.

“Do what every good tank does.” Alex said, his voice distracted. “Keep us alive.”

Felix gripped his skeletal axes and nodded, looking from Alex, to Fel, then to James and Rue. “I won’t let you down.” He said, his voice confident. Then, his gaze faltered as he glanced back towards his brother, his voice dropping slightly. “I’ll keep you safe, this time.” He said quietly, so quiet that James doubted Alex even heard it. What was that about?

“Better prepare ourselves too.” Rue said, pulling James back to the matter at hand. He knew what Patches was capable of, better than anyone else. And he also knew that while Fel, Alex, and Felix were leveled for the fight, this was a world boss. James and Rue would be lucky if they could do much this fight. Meaning, they’d have to get creative.

“Right.” He pulled up his menu, scanning quickly. What could he do, in this situation? What should he do, for this fight? He really wished he was level 50…but sadly they were only level 49. No miraculous lucky breaks this time. Instead, it was time to lean on what every good gamer did, when stats and levels couldn’t help them. Skill…and cheese tactics.