Ashes of the Fallen

Caught a little off-guard by the bluntness of his response and an accent that reminded me of the land down under, I started wondering what role would be best. A look at the group in front of me told me they had two casters of some sort, an archer, and a tank.

I guess it wasn't a hard decision after all.

"I'm a mage," I said bluntly with some conviction.

The dwarf stood still for a moment, looking once over at the group behind him as if to reassure himself. In truth, I wasn't much of a mage but it definitely sounded better than archer or off-tank. Plus, it certainly wouldn't hurt to raise my proficiency with Lightning Magic.

Continuing where he left off, "got any experience?"

"Yeah, I'm on the second quest," I confidently stated.

"Right, let's go then," replied the dwarf with a quick nod.

What… that was it?

Well, that was easy… if only every group invite went as smoothly.

An invite to the group and a quick step through the portal a second later brought me back to that dimly lit cave that stunk of urine and puke. That sudden change was unnerving yet again, and I wasn't sure if I would ever get used to it. Going from the refreshing cool air of the forest to the cold, empty yet muddy-feeling of the portal, with it all culminating in that overly humid and rancid environment that was called a dungeon; it simply was an odd transition.

There was definitely a separation between worlds.

With the rest of the party appearing directly behind, we were finally ready to get things started. I could only hope that these guys were decent. The confidence of the dwarf next to me was at least reassuring. It was actually strangely a bit too reassuring, and with a quick check of the options, I found out why.

It appeared that the dwarf had an aura that bolstered morale.

Well, he was still a confident fellow and that did help in addition to his aura.

Quickly checking all my items and statuses, I was ready to go. But before we could begin, the dwarf had glanced at me and seemed startled. Confusion displayed clearly across his face as he asked, "how the hell do ye 'ave so much health!? I'm level thirty-seven and ye've got as much health as I do…."

Oh, so he does have emotions.

I laughed a bit to myself before deciding on how to reply. "Bonus attributes man. The UR-Exam gave me a wee bit of a boost." Following that up with a wink, I let a grin slip out as well. Yeah, I had two-hundred more health than him and was only level thirty-one. An axe-wielding mage with the health of a tank, nothing too out of the ordinary here!

Shaking his head, the dwarf let a grin of his own shine through before replying in kind. "No shit. I didn't think it was worth, but if a mage has more health than a tank I should get my freakin' stubby ass down there." As he finished talking, he continued to walk forward until he reached the middle of the room. Suddenly stopping and without turning around, he raised his voice for all to hear.

"Right, who's pullin'? I'll AoE taunt them off ye," he said loudly.

With a quick glance at the archer who didn't seem to care, I figured now would be a good time to shine. Like a kid raising his hand to answer the teacher's call, I eagerly replied. "I can pull. I've got a good AoE to start it."

"Ye do that then," the dwarf stated calmly.

Without a moment to lose, I quickly walked around the corner and down the dark narrow passageway. I had yet to actually use [Chain Lightning] but they didn't need to know that. They were on a need to know basis, and they didn't need to know. I mean, what was the worst that could happen anyhow?

Staring at the goblin camp, five of those disgustingly filthy creatures were settled by the fireside munching on what appeared to be roasted rat. With their height ranging from four feet tall to four foot six, oversized heads with odd spade-like ears and hourglass eyes… they were just as repulsive as the first time I encountered them.

It was of no matter though, as they would die all the same.

Gathering myself and getting into position, I began a chanted verse while focusing my attention on casting a [Chain Lightning]. The cast time itself was quite short, comparable to a [Lightning Bolt] at two seconds but it cost over twice the mana. There was also a cooldown period of eight seconds as well, so it couldn't be used repeatedly in quick succession. Fortunately none of that really mattered; I had enough mana to cast quite a few of them and it looked to be a very powerful spell.

As four distinct miniature lightning bolts started to take shape between my hands, they had started to entwine into a single yet separate mass. The cool off-white light radiating from my hands was a sight to behold, and I couldn't wait for what was to come. Building up the charge to its maximum three verses, I focused my attention on the [Outcast Goblin] far out in front.