Ruthless ~ 20!

~ 20 ~

Putting this up tonight since I have an early day tomorrow!

“You would. Turn against. Your King?” The mechanical voice of the Dwarven King was slightly stilted, as it came from the actual automaton, and not some kind of recording. It stood and pulled two warhammers off the ground, then started top glow in odd patterns across its armor.

“Oh, sugar snap peas…” Alexis spat, “It’s got enchanted gear.”

“What did you expect from a King that took the best of everything from his people?” Poppy settled into a stance and waited for the King to close with them. Still, even his eyes widened as the Dwarf flashed down the stairs and pancaked one of their mechanical allies with his dual-wielded weapons.

“Go all out!” Joe ordered, setting the standard by casting Acid Spray with both hands.

Damage dealt: 252 (480 acid damage reduced by half, +5% spell penetration due to title. Target designated as ‘gear’.)

“Hey!” Joe was shocked by the amount of damage he had done, even though a good chunk of it was brushed off. “The entire construct is considered an item! If you have anything that damages gear- oof!”

Current health: 64/534 (2,170 damage taken. 1,700 damage absorbed by Exquisite Shell. 450 blunt damage taken. 20 terrain damage taken.)

Joe coughed out a mouthful of blood as he slid down the wall to the ground. He had seen the hammers coming, but hadn’t managed to do anything about them. He was just too slow. A swift Mend reshaped his chest cavity and pulled him up to two hundred and twenty-nine health, and a follow-up Lay on Hands pulled that to four sixty-nine. “Nice.”

His Exquisite Shell was gone for this fight, there was no way for him to remain combat effective as well as dump his mana into it. A sound of tearing metal brought his attention back to the fight in time to see Poppy’s rapier sliding smoothly out of the King’s shoulder joint. Jaxon managed use the distraction to force the King to drop his left hammer, but was sent tumbling from a backhand that he didn't manage to entirely avoid.

The metal Dwarves that had come with them were beating on the King with all they had, making the room sound like a forge. A *tink* sound came once a second as bolts lodged into the armor, somehow bypassing the enchantments and lodging in the armor itself. Alexis was frustrated; she couldn't hit any weak points. “I gotta get my crossbow skill above Beginner!”

Bard spit out blood when he heard that, both from a busted tooth as well as from anger. He was chopping at the King like it was an overly stubborn block of wood that needed to be split. “You’re damaging that with only Beginner ranks in your skills? How!”

“It’s because you all have that title that adds penetration to every attack.” Poppy calmly replied, putting fresh holes into the King every chance he got. “I told you that was overpowered.”

“It’s only five percent, Poppy!” Jaxon had the King’s attention, so his focus was entirely on dodging instead of attacking. “How overpowered can that be?”

“You. Are.” Poppy grunted between attacks, “Adding true damage onto your attacks! No matter how much damage you do, at least five percent of the maximum damage gets through!”

The King didn't seem to like this reveal, or perhaps Poppy had just gathered too much aggro. It flashed gold again, as it had at the start of combat, and Poppy was slammed against the back wall from the first hit… then his face caved in from the second.

Party member ‘Poppy’ has died! Checking… brave death! Respawn set at four hours!

“That hurts.” Joe had been staring at the King, and his Intrusive Scan finally gave him what he needed.

Name: King Drogren. Class: Warrior Automaton. Title: What Might Have Been.

Highest stat: Strength.

Ongoing effects: Runic Automaton. Mode enabled: 75% to death. Blocked. Blocked.

The weak points of the King lit up for his team, all of them in odd spots. Instead of the helmet being a striking point, the center of its chest cavity was shown as the best place to land a blow. “Right, robot! This thing probably has a central unit to power it!”

“Speed off the body meets speed of the mind, Overhaste!” Bard chanted. A pink glow enveloped the team, and suddenly the King was moving at a reasonable speed.

Alexis fired bolt after bolt, having four in the air as the first hit. “They’re so slow!”

“Acid Spray!” Joe twisted as he cast the spell, making the acid spin a small amount as well. This turned it into more of a stream, which gave Joe an idea. He gathered shadows around the end of his Mystic Theurge staff and solidified a giant straw. “Acid Spray!”

This time, the acid was forced from a cone into a high-pressure stream. It carved into the armor to deadly effect, opening a hole on the front chestplate. The King turned it’s shining eyes on Joe, and steam began to whistle as it built up the power for another charging attack. Bard stepped in at the last second, hooking his axes around the King’s left leg and yanking backward.

Instead of charging at Joe, the King flashed with golden light and slammed into the ground. Bard barked out a ‘Ha!’ and started slamming the back of the King like a drummer playing a particularly angry solo. Joe couldn’t risk more acid with his team and the Dwarves on his side attacking, and so was at a loss for a moment… then he saw Poppy’s body. “Yes!”

He ran over and started the process of resurrecting his fallen teammate, his mana flowing out of him like water from a burst dam. Joe learned some new things about himself at this point. One, since his mana had stopped being contained and was now seemingly free-flowing through his body at all times, losing all of it at once left him feeling incredibly weak and drained. Two, there were benefits to doing new things.

Mid-combat Resurrection! Skill level increased directly to Novice VI! You either don't care about your enemies, or you fully trust your teammates to do the work without you!

Poppy stepped out of the new portal, and his previous body crumbled to ash. “You won already? That’s-”

Joe managed to pull him to the floor just in time to avoid a crumpled heap that had been a Dwarven comrade. “Still… in combat, Poppy.”

His mana was coming back swiftly, but Joe still needed a few more seconds before he would be useful. Poppy, glanced to the side and winced. “Need a heal, Joe. Came back below thirty percent.”

“That’s expected.” Joe rolled to his feet and checked his mana. At thirty-three per second, he had plenty to heal Poppy, so he did. Lay on Hands cost one-twenty mana, so it took another four agonizing seconds to top him off. Then Poppy ran forward and got back into the fight.

Joe went back into full support mode, casting Mend at a distance whenever his teammates took a hit. Alexis stood far enough away that all she had to do was occasionally dodge a Dwarf that had become a flying garbage pile. Bard was able to tank two hits so long as they weren’t critical or made when the King flashed gold, but after that he would drop if someone sneezed too hard in his general direction.

“Jaxon pull some aggro, then go full dodge mode! Bard, pull back and let me get you to max health! Poppy, hold back until Jaxon needs help. Alexis, you’re lovely, keep at it!” Joe was barking orders at maximum speed while trying to use his abilities as well as possible. While he was thinking, he realized that he was lacking in combat rituals that could impact non-living enemies. Yet another thing to work on. “Lay on Hands!”

While Bard was being healed, it seemed that the King reached another milestone. This time, his gold was tinged with red, and Jaxon wasn't prepared. Just as Bard’s haste spell ended, the speed King gained a boost and landed a solid punch with his off hand. Jaxon went spinning through the air until he hit a wall, then the outstretched fist lifted into the air and flashed royal purple. His dropped warhammer zipped through the air to return to it's hand, and the Dwarf started moving toward Jaxon again.

“Target the hole in it's chest!” Joe saw Poppy running at it, and yelled just before Poppy got close enough to target it with an ability.

The King lifted its hammers and brought them down at tremendous speed to finish Jaxon off, just as Poppy shouted, “Challenge!”

Both the King and Poppy vanished, but there were glowing orbs remaining that seemed to signify their position. The metallic one was the King, and the green one was Poppy. Jaxon jumped to his feet, staggering toward Joe. Healing was done apace, and the team waited for the outcome.

In under ten seconds, the challenge had concluded. Both the King and Poppy returned. The automaton turned and faced the group. It took a single step, and fell with a massive *clang*. Poppy staggered to the side and collapsed as well, his right leg bent like a banana.

“Poppy!” Joe ran over and focused his Mend spell. The leg slowly straightened, and soon the group simply lay on the ground in exhaustion instead of pain.

You have defeated the King that Might Have Been! Experience gained: 1,500!

“That’s good, at least.” Joe spoke to the roof, not looking around at all. “Seems low for the challenge rating.”

“I don't think we were ever supposed to fight it.” Jaxon pointed at the wall. There was no way to go further, only the way back had opened. “I think that was a punishment for going the wrong way.”

Joe rolled over and thrust his hips at the fallen King.

Dwarven Automaton ‘The King that Might have Been’. Item type: Crafting material.

“We’ll hopefully get something out of this.” Joe told the group as they all got ready to backtrack.

“Right, now we should just-” Bard’s words stopped as the ground shook under them, and all the light in the dungeon shifted to a deep red.

Quest offered: Destroy them!