Ashes of the Fallen

The final boss' entourage had completely betrayed the style and theme of the dungeon. We had been fighting groups of five goblins from the very start, eight groups of five goblins per level, for four levels plus seven groups from the fifth. That was  thirty-nine groups of five goblins… yet now, we were faced with a group that defied the dungeon's logic.

There were two rows of goblins, lined up on display.

The first row featured seven [Outcast Minor Goblins] at level thirty-five, then the second row featured seven goblins all at level forty-five. At the wings there were [Outcast Goblin Archers], one on either side. Then followed [Outcast Goblin Priests] just inside, one of each as well. Then came the [Outcast Goblin Guards] flanking the singular goblin at the center, the same ones that were considered the "boss" of the sub-boss or mini-boss fights prior.

Now they were actually living up to their namesake.

They were actual guards here.

That goblin that was in the center was special, it even had the name for it.

The [Outcast Goblin Chief] stood taller than all the rest and was clearly well-built and well-equipped in comparison to all the other goblins we had previously faced.

Goblins were short creatures, ranging from four feet tall to five feet tall, but this [Chief] was at least five foot six, with powerfully built shoulders and a weapon that truly stood out. The [Chief] was armed with a halberd, of roughly the same length as the [Old Dory] that a [Guard] used… only, instead of being a simple spear, it also had an axe-head on one side and a hook on the other.

A pole-axe with three distinct uses, at around seven feet in length, would prove problematic. It also had leather armor that covered its entire body, leg guards, arm guards, pants, vest, shoulder pads, and gloves and boots. The only thing it was missing was a helmet; it wore some kind of bone crown instead.

Thankfully, it didn't have a shield, but the guards on either side of him still had their shield and spear combo… and the three of them would pose quite a problem.

I, actually, didn't want to even risk it.

"I'm thinking we pass on this fight," I said with some regret. "Even if the fourth floor's boss was smooth, I don't have the confidence that we make it out here, not yet."

"This fight's a whole 'nother level," said Ethan while shaking his head.

"How strong ye figure that chief is?" asked Barik plainly.

"At least stronger than the guard," I replied quickly. "Creature hierarchy is almost always based on strength, especially seeing as their intelligence is quite low. I wouldn't be surprised if that chief had all the proficiency skills of both axe and spear."

It was needless to say, but I said it anyways.

The strong ruled over the weak in nature, and unless its intellect was vastly superior to make up the difference, there was a significant likelihood that the chief was easily twice as strong as the guard standing by its side. If it could utilize multiple skills, I'm not sure how we could even possibly tank it along with the two guards at the same time.

The most likely strategy that came to mind was to AoE bombard the creatures and have me take up two guards while Barik picked up the chief, but my AoE could only hit five targets. Seeing as there were fourteen targets, my chain lightning wasn't going to be all that useful.

I needed to increase my proficiencies… I needed my fourth tier lightning spell.

"I think we should grind this dungeon out a few more times," I said after thinking things through. "Get our fourth tier spells and come back and give it a shot. I've got another AoE that might help, and I'm going to see if I can find a proficiency trainer for shield-bearing and axes."

"Right, we'll need to be on top of our game for this fight," replied Barik with a nod.

"So we're done for today?" asked Alan seemingly out of the blue.

"Ah, yeah, I guess we are," I answered.

The group immediately started packing up all of the loose items and began to head out towards the dungeon exit. It was a bit of a walk but it gave us time to chat over the future prospects. Ending on a high-note wasn't such a bad thing anyhow, better than dying and losing experience needlessly, at least.

"Until we can safely clear the fourth boss with ease, I doubt we stand much of a chance on that fifth boss," I said while walking behind Barik.

"Might be a few days, a couple more levels," he replied calmly.

"Thinking at forty-five you can take them?" I asked.

"Ye know levels don't mean much, need to improve our skills first," Barik stated with confidence. He was right after all, levels weren't the singular focus in this game, nor was gear really. The game was based on ability, where proper strategy and teamwork, and inherent skill outweighed ten or twenty levels. Gear was important of course, but it didn't factor quite as heavily in the early stages of the game.