Nova terra kingbreaker t.., p.34
Nova Terra: Kingbreaker (The Titan Series Book 3), page 34
[3 pieces]: +Duration of [Wolf's Rage] for every piece worn
[4 pieces]: +Defense of [Wolf Hide] for every piece worn
[5 pieces]: +Increased area of effect [Wolf Helm] for every piece worn
[6 pieces]: +Faster transformation into [Wolf Form] for every piece worn
There was nothing particularly special about the armor Thorn was wearing when Hati chose him to be an avatar, so Thorn was grateful that the blessing Hati gave was able to be transferred to a better set of armor once he found one. For a moment, the thought of competing with the other players for the Flaming Iron Boots crossed his mind, but he immediately dismissed it.
Thorn’s transformed armor had gained set-piece properties once it was blessed by Hati, making it better than collecting a hodge-podge set of armor. Unlike Asha’s set that he had picked up from Ouroboros, the set bonuses were based on having more of the pieces equipped, making it worth having a full set even though the last two set bonus were unusable as Thorn still had not unlocked the [Wolf Helm] and [Wolf Form] abilities.
A slim Elven archer won the roll off for the Flaming Iron Boots, causing Thorn to frown slightly.
“What’s up? Why the sour look?” Mina noticed that Thorn’s expression was off.
“Those boots are made for a Dwarf. How are they going to fit an Elf?”
“Are you serious? Are...” Mina’s mouth hung open, her words failing her. At her side, Jorge started laughing so loudly that the entire squad looked over at him.
“What?” Realizing that he had just embarrassed himself again, Thorn froze, his face blushing bright red under his helmet. Excited by her new gear, the Elven player equipped the boots, leaving Thorn wide-eyed as the thick, metal soled combat boots changed their shape into a slim-fitting pair of knee high boots with a slight heel. Only the runic symbols along the sides remained the same.
With a groan, Thorn dropped his head into his hands. All he could think about was the countless pieces of gear still sitting in his inventory because they were too small for his massive body. He had just assumed that a piece of gear that was sized for a regular person would not fit him, and no one had ever corrected that assumption. Seeing Thorn’s shoulders slump, Mina joined Jorge in his laughter, doubling over uncontrollably.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” Thorn muttered gloomily, causing Mina, who was wiping the tears from her eyes, to erupt into giggles again.
“You really didn’t know that gear changes sizes to fit you when you equip it?”
Completely ignoring her, Thorn looked at Seven Twisted Leaves, who was handing the last piece of equipment, a short axe, to one of the tanks.
“Loot is all settled. Are you ready to take on a larger group? Our next target has about seventy-five fire elementals. I know it is a big jump, but we don’t have much choice, as there are no groups in between that we’ve found.” The Fae Druid walked over to Thorn.
“I’ll be fine as long as I’m healed.” Thorn was grateful for his helmet as his face was still bright red from his earlier embarrassment.
“Good, lets go.” Gathering up the rest of the Titan squad, Seven Twisted Leaves led them forward down the boulevard-like hallway. According to the map that Baxby drew, the large groups of fire elementals were guarding three large rooms spread evenly across the dungeon. The treasure hunter had identified the rooms as special but had not been able to do a close examination due to the number of fire elementals present.
After fighting their way through a few smaller groups, they arrived in the southeast corner of the dungeon where the first of the large groups was milling about. The large room looked like it had once been a feast hall and was dominated by a large, open fire pit with a massive spit going across it.
“Hey, look at that.” Jorge popped out of the shadows near Thorn, pointing to a large stone chair set in the wall.
“What about it?” Mina asked, furrowing her brow when she could not see anything special.
“That chair is Thorn-sized.”
“So? You know, I’ll never understand the Dwarven obsession with building things really big.” Mina smirked. “Maybe they are compensating for something.”
“No, that is what I am trying to say. It is abnormal. There are traces of something or someone Thorn-sized sitting on it for a long time. Look where the seat is worn away. No Dwarf could do that from sitting on it. I swear, you get denser every day.”
“Hey, what is that supposed to mean?” Mina was about to start fighting with Jorge, when Thorn held up his hand.
“Focus, you two. We’re about to go into combat. You can argue about butt marks later.” Thorn’s tone brooked no argument, and the two short players focused immediately.
“Thorn.” Seven Twisted Leaves called the Titan forward. “Do you see those three who are taller than normal? They are elite mobs.”
Looking at the dense sea of fire elementals in front of him, Thorn easily picked out the elite fire elementals. At least two feet taller than the normal fire elementals, the elite fire elementals had a bulkier build as well as weapons made of the same shimmering red flame that made up their bodies. Still unarmored, these fire elementals were vaguely humanoid but much more aggressive looking.
“We need to be especially careful of the elite fire elementals. They have an attack called [Fire Spear] that has significant piercing power and insane damage. If it hits you, you’ll be dead, so in order to block it, we will use a bubble. The problem is that with three of them, we won’t have enough bubbles to last. The cooldown on [Fire Spear] is too short, and we don’t have enough players who can bubble you.”
“Bubble?”
“[Globe of Invulnerability], [Shadow Fade], [Holy Shield], things like that. Anything that gives absolute damage reduction and can be cast on another person is called a bubble,” Jorge helpfully supplied.
“Got it. How long can they block?”
“Total? We can give any one player eighteen seconds of absolute damage reduction, but on a two hour cooldown. If we space them out and everyone hits their casts perfectly, we can block six [Fire Spear] casts. Unfortunately, the elite fire elementals can cast [Fire Spear] every two minutes. Best case, we can keep them from hitting you for five minutes and fifty-nine seconds. After that, you are on your own.”
“What if I kill them?”
“Sure, that lets us stretch it out. If you can take out one before they cast, we can extend it to eight minutes.”
“Alright.” Thorn’s eyes ran over the mass of fire elementals, carefully judging the spacing between the elite mobs. They were arranged in a rough triangle, around one hundred feet apart from each other, surrounded by a large number of regular fire elementals. “What is the range of their [Fire Spear] attack?”
“One hundred and twenty feet or so. It depends how long they charge it.”
“Hmm. This is going to be rough.” Thorn tapped his tetsubo on his shoulder as he thought. “We need to get them clumped up. If we can do that, then I can just smash them. Otherwise, I am going to be eating multiple spears every time I try and approach one of them.”
“Just be thankful that they don’t kite,” Seven Twisted Leaves grunted.
“I can get you near two of them.” Delmore spoke up. “My ability that lets me swap a spirit with one of my teammates can be used on an enemy with the right conditions. I should be able to drop one of them into melee range while you engage another one. That just leaves the one free.”
“Maybe we can have the other tanks focus on trying to hold its aggro?” Seven Twisted Leaves grimaced as he scratched his head. “We’ll have to split the healers and might end up losing some of the tanks, but it is better than nothing.”
“Pulling one should be good enough.” Thorn glanced at Delmore. “If you can pull one of the elite fire elementals over to me, I’ll deal with the others.”
“What? You’re going to take all three of them head on? Is that a good idea?”
“Honestly? I have no idea.” Thorn chuckled. “If this works, we should be able to clear them without a problem. At worst, I’ll just have to try something else tomorrow. Are we good to give it a try?”
“Your call, Thorn. I mean, you are the one running to your fiery death.” Seven Twisted Leaves shrugged.
“Haha, it’s true. Just make sure that you stand far enough back that you can run if this fails.” Resting his tetsubo against his leg, Thorn got his arbalest out of his inventory and loaded up one of the massive bolts. Once it was loaded, he picked his tetsubo back up and looked at Seven Twisted Leaves, a weapon in each hand.
“Leaves, can you pass me the leader position? I need it to use my [Pack Travel] ability.”
“Sure.”
“I am going to kill one of the elite fire elementals as fast as I possibly can, and then I’ll move to the next. At that point, Delmore, can you send the third elite elemental over to my location?”
“Yes.”
“Great. This will largely hinge on me killing the first target almost instantly, so if that doesn’t happen or there is a problem, get ready to run.”
“Good luck.” The Tigerkin patted Thorn on the shoulder with a furry hand. “I’m going to cast a spell on you that will let me move a spirit to you, so don’t resist.”
Chanting softly, Delmore waved his long-handled dagger around his head and then pointed at Thorn, who was doing his best to remain completely calm. A faintly menacing chill settled on Thorn, making him shiver. Seeing Delmore nod, Thorn checked to make sure everyone else was ready and then made his way toward the group of fire elementals. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself down, focusing his attention on the closest elite fire elemental. Raising his tetsubo, he pointed.
“This one is my first target. After that, I am going to the right. Delmore, pull the guy on the left.”
“You got it, boss.”
Taking another deep breath, Thorn gripped his weapons tightly and dropped into a crouch. His eyes began to take on a hint of red as a heavy aura seeped from him.
“[Wolf’s Rage].”
Instantly, Thorn’s strength and agility shot up, filling his form with power. Not wanting to waste a single moment, Thorn launched himself forward, each step carrying him a dozen feet forward into the midst of the fire elementals. As he rushed forward, Thorn could feel the temperature rising, but he was moving so fast that the first fire elementals he passed did not have the chance to respond.
Sprinting toward his target, Thorn completely ignored everything else. Normally, in a fight like this, letting powerful enemies get into his blind spots was a recipe for death, but if he wanted to take the first elite fire elemental down quickly, he had no choice but to ignore the others. Since he had decided to trust the healers to keep him alive, Thorn spared no thought for defense, instead focusing on maximizing his offensive ability.
As he got closer to the elite elemental, Thorn could hear the chanting behind him grow louder as the healers readied themselves to block any incoming [Fire Spear] attacks. In front of him, the large shimmering fire elemental threw back its head and roared. Lifting the flaming spear in its hand, it drew back its arm, preparing to throw, and froze. At first, Thorn thought that there was something wrong, but then he noticed the glow around the elite fire elemental’s hand growing brighter.
Realizing that it was charging the attack, Thorn took two massive steps forward and threw back his head, a powerful wave of sound echoing from him as he howled.
“[Wolf Lord’s Howl]!”
The waves of sound buffeted the fire elementals surrounding him, causing them to pause and fall into a stupor. Even the elite fire elemental was shaken, causing its hand to drop back to its side. Yet the stunned state did not hold it for long, and after a second, its hand rose again. Still, that second allowed Thorn to take two more steps forward, getting close to his striking distance.
Drawing back his tetsubo for an overhead attack, Thorn felt the air grow blistering as two fiery spears entered his vision. Shooting through the air toward his chest, Thorn knew that if he continued moving forward, they would hit him, yet all he did was grit his teeth and push forward. Determined to hit his target, Thorn could only trust his defense to his teammates behind him.
The spears came closer, allowing Thorn to see the swirling flame that surrounded a burning blue core. The spears made a snapping sound as they traveled, the spiral flame on the outside devouring the air it passed through. Still, Thorn did not flinch, only tightening his grip on his tetsubo as he brought it over his head in a large arc.
Just as the first of the two [Fire Spears] was about to impact on his chest, a brilliant glow bloomed around him, covering his body from head to toe in a deep earthen yellow. The yellow energy started at his feet and flowed up his body, getting to his chest just in time to block the first [Fire Spear]. The swirling rod of flame hit the shield, causing it to ripple violently. Despite looking like it was about to shatter, the yellow shield held fast.
Pushing forward, Thorn’s strike had just begun to fall when the second [Fire Spear] stabbed into the shield. This time, Thorn felt the shield crack where the [Fire Spear] landed, and the tip of the spear nearly touched his armor. The heat from the spear instantly boiled the air around Thorn, beginning to heat up his armor. Without sparing a thought for the [Fire Spear] that had almost skewered him, Thorn smashed his weapon onto the head of the elite fire elemental in front of him.
*BOOM*
With a thunderous sound, the metal weapon ripped through the body of the elite fire elemental, crushing it to the ground. Burning magma splashed onto the stone floor, turning the area around the beaten down fire elemental into a burning hell. Ignoring the flames, Thorn jabbed down with his loaded arbalest, the tip of the siege crossbow coming to rest a few inches from the elite fire elemental’s head.
*TWANG*
*CRACK*
The sound of the massive bolt shooting through the elemental’s head and burying itself in the stone floor echoed from the pillared walls. Without waiting to see if having the majority of its head liquified had killed it, Thorn angled his body to the right, and not pausing for even a moment, Thorn threw back his head.
“[Rallying Cry]!” As the ability activated, Thorn could feel his injuries lightening as his natural health regen and his stamina increased. As soon as the buff took effect, [Pack Travel] kicked in, granting the whole team a boost to their speed. Thorn pushed off the ground powerfully as he activated his charge ability.
“[Shadow Dash]!”
As his form flickered and he shot forward, Thorn could feel the healer’s spells repairing the burning damage he took from stepping into the magma left behind by the elite fire elemental. As the pain in his feet eased, Thorn continued to dash forward, dodging through the crowd of fire elementals as best he could.
For every elemental that his ability allowed him to bypass, he crushed another, leaving a trail of burning stone as the magma they released when they died splattered across the floor. Gritting his teeth under his helmet, Thorn pushed himself to move as fast as he possibly could, trying not to let the mass of elementals slow him down.
Thanks to his [Rallying Cry] ability, [Pack Travel]’s 50% speed increase was able to be applied in combat, and combined with [Wolf’s Rage] he was moving at lightning speed. Unfortunately, Thorn could feel the buff from [Rallying Cry] starting to fade, heralding the end of his speed buff from [Pack Travel]. He had only traveled half the distance to the next elite fire elemental when his speed began to drop and the [Evasive] condition from his [Shadow Dash] ended.
His mind whirling furiously, Thorn realized that he did not have much choice but to try and muscle through. Grinning to himself, Thorn began to wield his tetsubo, striking out in sweeping arcs to clear the path in front of him. Focusing on moving the fire elementals away instead of killing them in one blow, Thorn pushed his way forward until he was only twenty feet away from his target, when a chill traveled down his spine.
Looking over the heads of the fire elementals in front of him, he spotted the elite fire emental’s raised arm, a growing glow surrounding its lifted [Fire Spear].
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
The feeling of being targeted settled in the back of Thorn’s mind, and he instinctively knew that he was about to be facing another two spears. Remembering the last two that nearly skewered him, Thorn couldn’t help but gulp. He had no confidence that his armor, as strong as it was, would protect him against the [Fire Spear].
Still, all he could do at this point was trust that the healers at his back would keep him alive. Forcefully pushing any thoughts about the incoming attacks out of his mind, Thorn focused on crossing the last twenty feet as fast as possible. The brilliant glow surrounding the closest elite fire elemental’s [Fire Spear] flickered, and its arm began to launch the weapon. At the same instant, a pearlescent orb of arcane energy popped into existence around Thorn.
