Ultimate Level 1

Five groups had joined together to fight the seemingly never-ending army of wolves.

For over thirty minutes, the fighting had been furious, and Max, at one point, had fallen below half-health, making him consider pulling the potion he had in his storage out and drinking it.

Batrire finally managed to heal him. Both he and Fowl couldn’t help but suffer injuries as two, or sometimes, three wolves would attack at the same time. Fighting them was much harder than fighting the lizardmen or orcs. Destroying the heart or spine was another way to win against those creatures. Against these undead wolves, there was only one way to win: by destroying their head.

“The end is in sight!”

Max looked over the two wolves he was fighting for a second, seeing that whoever had shouted out was right. Only a few more packs remained around them.

Less than ten minutes later, everyone that had banded together slumped to the ground, taking the opportunity to rest as the bodies of the wolves began to dissolve into black smoke.

“That is so eerie,” Max stated as he watched one of the wolves they had just killed vanish completely.

“It is weird how the world does all this,” Fowl replied, bobbing his head. “Only the gods know why.”

“Fowl, when did you become a philosopher?” Tanila teased. “I never took you for one of those dwarves.”

A few chuckles came from others nearby as the healers finished getting everyone who needed healing taken care of.

“Is it over?” Max asked as he moved closer to Fowl.

Fowl shook his head. “There should be a party here that is able to handle the dungeon and the boss. Once they kill it this will all end.”

“Goblin shite! Everyone to arms!”

Max turned and saw an elven man with a bow pointing toward the trees.

Looking in the direction he was pointing, Max saw something.

“What the hell is that?”

Fowl didn’t answer and Max couldn’t take his eyes off the black shape that was floating above the ground. Its body resembled a sheet flapping in the wind.

“Batrire, we need to run,” Fowl declared, turning and looking at the other groups nearby. “We can’t fight that.”

The groups were now shouting and arguing. Each looked at the other, waiting to see if someone else would flee first.

“We can’t.”

Max saw the look in Batrire’s eyes. The look seemed angry. Her face was set like stone as she stared at the creature coming in their direction.

“If it chases, we will never outrun it. It will kill everyone before it heads to town and kills countless innocent people.”

A few groups who had been edging away stopped as she spoke. Her voice was steady and loud. Loud enough for everyone to hear.

“We signed up for this. Together, we can do this.”

“Are you serious?”

Everyone turned and looked at the human warrior who had asked that. His armor had gashes in it and even though he was full health it was apparent he was exhausted.

“You know what that is! How can we win against that?”

Everyone turned back and looked at Batrire, waiting to hear what she would say.

“Every mage here with fire magic will unleash everything they have. We will burn it down as fast as possible. Every warrior must get in its way, keeping it away and doing as much damage as possible while providing a wall to protect the mages. It is too late to run. The moment we saw it, our chance to flee was gone.”

Others murmured and nodded, and the man grunted, throwing his hands up as he turned and moved to talk to his group.

“Fire magic?” Max asked. “Only fire?”

Fowl nodded and began to rotate his shoulders as he always did before a fight.

Max considered that and then moved to where Tanila was.

“I need your help for a minute,” he whispered, drawing close to her.

She narrowed her eyes and nodded, moving to where he had motioned.

“Can you enchant my weapon with fire magic?”

Her head snapped back a few inches as her eyes went wide before returning to normal and she leaned back toward him.

“How do you know about that?”

“I had a mage in my group who talked about the spell.”

She gave a slight frown and shook her head.

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“It doesn’t let me cast on others at its current skill rank. After I raise its rank, I can.”

Max nodded, hoping the next part was actually true.

“And what about items that cast that enchantment? Would you happen to have any of those?”

Tanila couldn’t help herself when she laughed and then stopped herself as others turned to see why she had.

“Those are rare and expensive! Even if I did, I might use it here, but still…”

Max nodded, trying not to show he was relieved, unsure if such an item existed.

“Can you pretend to be casting something on my spear? I can do the rest.”

Her eyes narrowed, looking at him before she opened her mouth and closed it.

“You can’t mean–”

“Just pretend. I’ll hold out my spear. You put your hands near it and make your hands glow.”

Sputtering, Tanila blinked a few times before she finally nodded and held out her hands.

Max pulled a silver coin from his storage and, keeping it hidden in his hand, pressed it against the shaft of his spear.

“Go ahead.”

Unable to believe what she now thought might actually happen, Tanila took a deep breath and began casting a fire spell. Flames erupted around her hands and as she did that, Max cast his fire enchantment, watching his hands glow orange before the shaft went orange and the metal tip glowed red for a moment.

He then put the item he was hiding in his hand back into storage and nodded. He gave her a grin but he saw how she was struggling not to react.

“Seth,” she hissed quietly after leaning close to him, “If we make it back to town, you and I are going to have a chat.”

“If we get back to town, I will be ok with that.”

She groaned and nodded, moving to join the other mages who were lining up.

Moving to stand next to Fowl, he couldn’t help but notice the look on the dwarven warrior's face.

“What in an ogre’s nut sack was that?”

“Just a little help from our mage. Perhaps if you stopped talking about her tits so much, she might help you.”

Fowl choked, coughing a few times before he grinned at Max.

“You know if we survive this, I expect you to pay for drinks.”

“I’ll pay for them all night long if we do.”

Fowl nodded, cracking his neck and then turning to face the boss that was now flying toward them a foot off the ground.

“Remember, everyone, try not to get hit!” Batrire shouted to everyone gathered together. “Protect the mages!”

Max glanced at Fowl, who nodded and leaned over. “It’s a shade. When it hits someone, it absorbs part of their stats. This can get ugly fast.”

The shadowed figure was only about fifty yards away and approaching faster than Max knew he could run. Batrire had been right. It would have run down everyone had they tried to flee based on how fast it was moving.

“Be ready!”

Max had seen the line of five warriors set to do whatever they had to in order to keep it from reaching the casters. A human female warrior, Hanna, stood taller than the rest, and Max had been impressed by her stature. Chain armor covered her from head to toe and she carried a shield and sword. She was to be the main point of defense.

Fowl had mentioned that Hanna was considered one of the better warriors among those below level twenty-five.

She charged first, lunging at the shadow shaped like a seven-foot-tall man in a cloak that seemed to drink up the sunlight that poured down from the sky. In each of its hands was a four-foot black sword that had suddenly appeared from nowhere.

Hanna yelled, her voice ringing across the field, and surged forward, shield prepared to block as she moved to intercept.

“Go!” Batrire shouted, all the warriors moving to encircle the boss.

Its movements were faster than Max thought he could be unless in berserker mode, and immediately, Max knew the boss had at least an uncommon sword skill.

The shade's strikes came in a hard-to-follow pattern, each attack a flurry of thrusts and swings that almost seemed to vanish as it struck.

Hanna somehow was able to deflect every attack that came her way, blocking with her shield or parrying with her sword.

Black sparks flew whenever their swords struck the others. Hanna and the boss were focused on each other.

Max thrust his spear, aiming for its leg, hoping perhaps that would slow it down, but the boss somehow knocked his attack aside, never taking its black eyes off of Hanna.

Each of the other warrior's strikes was the same. The strikes didn’t do anything. No one managed to land an attack.

“Shifting,” Max shouted, moving toward the back of the boss.

Fowl grunted as another of his attacks was deflected and shifted slightly, allowing Max to circle behind the boss.

“NOW!”

Max thrust his spear at the boss’s back, its cloak swirling all around, and as he hit the boss roared, fire-based magical spells striking the front of its body. His spear vanished through the black cloak and struck something, causing the boss to arch forward as a scream that almost hurt his ears rang out.

Everything happened so fast. The spells from the casters, his attack and the shriek came almost at the same time.

Two seconds into the boss’s scream, a sense of dread came over Max. He felt a chill seep into his bones and his brain told him to run. Gritting his teeth, he held firm, pulling his spear back and thrusting again.

He saw a warrior on his right, two over from Hanna, turned around, appearing ready to flee. Fowl appeared to be struggling to stay put, his eyes wide in shock.

As one warrior turned to run the shade struck him with its sword, slicing the warrior's back open.

Its other sword blocked Hanna’s attack while its foot kicked Fowl in the leg, sending him to the ground.

Max’s spear pierced again, somewhere in its back as the cloak hid where he was striking, causing the boss to spin around, yanking itself free from his spear while both swords came in a dual attack aimed at Max’s head.

Jumping backward, Max barely got his shield up in time. The force of the attack knocked him back another step.

More fire spells came, flames igniting its black cloak for a few seconds, causing the boss to turn and try to move toward the mages.

Hanna and the only other warrior still standing in front of it moved to the side, blocking its path momentarily as its swords came at them faster than Max remembered them striking before.

Fowl stood up, trying to get into position in the shifting wall of warriors. He was moving much slower, the boss’s attack having stolen his strength and speed.

Darting forward Max thrust again, going for the boss’s leg again, aiming for near its knee where the cloak didn’t seem to be hiding it.

The head of the spear pierced the back of the boss’s leg, the tip sinking all the way into it.

It jerked free, spinning on the other leg and bringing both swords down at Max.

Lifting his shield Max blocked the two swords coming for his head, struggling under the power of the hit, realizing as he started to stand the boss had set him up.

Its foot hit Max right in the side where his arm was, its black foot slamming into his unprotected flesh.

The world seemed to freeze the moment they touched.

[ Consume has detected an attack by the Skill Leech ]

[ Consume is trying to defend ]