Chapter 13: Chapter 11: Targeted Effort

“On your left!” the Elven Archer yelled as the Great Golem’s hand was nearing Veronica. She was just barely able to dodge it before it landed. The missed attacked caused the Great Golem to stick its hand in the ground.

The Elven Archer swung from a stray vine and landed near the arm, “Attack the join!” She said. Veronica nodded and summoned skeletons for cover, before Cardinal, the man they saved, and her self attacked the joint

Cardinal let out a flurry of slashes with his daggers, not yet using the speed and attack potions he had left.

[-30 -10 -10 -10]

His first hit was a critical! He jumped back as the golem finished off 2 of the 4 summoned skeletons. The Elven Archer aimed two charged shots at the joint.

Fwoom!

The first shot hit and dealt 50 damage!

Fwoom!

The second hit and dealt the same. She circled back and did a spray shot to support the man. He aimed at the join with a precise strike, in total doing 120 damage in unison.

The boss still had a good amount of health left, but Veronica thought they were on good standing for their predicament. She readied her wand to aid in small physical damage, but she was stopped by the shaking of the surrounding ground. It rumbled until the Great Golem destroyed the remaining skeletons in its swing, one that came from its recently freed arm.

“We have to stay persistent!” Veronica said.

Veronica was thinking of how convenient everything was. She had been given the ability to see changes in stats, an advantage in battle. She had always been one of the smartest kids in her class, a fact she dreaded. She didn’t like the attention she had gained from her abilities.

She knew Casey had been selected for everything she ever wanted. Goblet of Lacritia was one of the only things she had an escape with, even if a little. She never took it too seriously, it’s why she never leveled that much despite playing for a few months. She saw no reason to hurry. She thought that maybe, just maybe her changing her prior decisions would have made everything easier.

Suddenly, Starch came into her mind, but she didn’t know what he was saying.

+Stunned +Regretful +Angry +Self Pity

She started seeing words, ones that weren’t hovering over other people, but herself. Before she could even finish her single-visitor pity party-

“Get out of the way!” the Elven Archer had yelled. Veronica turned- The Great Golem’s arm was coming right toward her.

“Summon Skele-” before she could finish, the Elven Archer had already pulled her out of the way, letting her go as she cut the vine down.

“What in the realms are you doing?” the Elven Archer yelled at Veronica as she shot an arrow at the moving arm joint of the Great Golem.

“I-I’m sorry,” Veronica said as she scrambled backwards to avoid the arm. It narrowly missed her. She fixed her wand to summon more undead. She still had a good amount of mana left. The Elven Archer and Veronica ran while dealing instances of physical damage, letting the man, Bike, and Cardinal to do their instances of damage too.

Bike shot blasts of light at the joints, further damaging them. Over the course of their attacks, the group repositioned around the ruined clearing four times

“I’m coming!” bike yelled as he rushed to the side of Cardinal. Stray debris from the Great Golem’s assault had hit him, doing a decent amount of damage.

“I don't remember that being a part of the attack pattern,” Cardinal said while slightly wincing. Bike healed him after growing a weak wall of vines.

Veronica summoned skeletons for further cover. They instantly ran to the defense of the wall. “This is going to take forever,” Veronica said. She was starting to worry again. She didn’t know if the Great Golem would outlast them. Her mind angered at the fact her only spell was summoned skeleton.

“How stupid are you?” a voice asked her. Veronica turned as she ran to summon more skeletons to aid the healed Cardinal, who was assisting Bike and the others.

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“What?” she asked. She jumped behind a small stone to avoid another attack from the Great Golem.

“You aren’t too smart, huh?” the voice continued. It was the snarky voice of Starch.

“What do you want from me?” Veronica yelled in her head. The voice had been finishing what it said earlier, when she couldn’t hear what Starch was saying. She pictured him in her head, arms crossed and all, “You are of the Necromancer Class!”

“What does that have to do with anything right now?” Veronica asked as she dodged more debris.

“Some help here!” Bike said as his vines were destroyed while trying to restrain a leg. The Elven Archer assisted ad Cardinal ran up the fading vines. He landed a quick assault on the legs joint before receding.

[-10 -10 -20 -30 -10]

“Clearly the lore wasn’t the only thing you skipped,” Mental Starch said as Veronica started to think. She remembered- Starch already gave her the answer. She forced her brain to spark the memory, “Extension of the Mage and Summoner Classes.”

That was it! Casey was a Necromancer, his character had Summoner and Base Mage Class skills, surely!

+Inspiration +Idea

“Large Cat!” Veronica yelled. Within seconds, a large cat leapt from a portal in front of her, dashing towards the join of the weakened golem arm.

“Um, nice trick!” Cardinal said as he did a joint attack with the cat. The golem recoiled as it shook off the cat, killing it with the impact of its fall.

“No!” Bike said. He was on the Druid Class Path, of course he would have some reaction to animals dying.

He reconnected with Cardinal and the man. Cardinal threw his daggers beforehand, “You didn’t react that way to the wolves,” he said as he landed.

[-10 -10]

“They weren't our friends!” Bike said as he frowned before quickly focusing. The Elven Archer continued her small spray shots on the Great Golem.

Veronica remembered her abilities from before teleporting. “Guys, cover me!” she yelled. The group was confused, but followed her order. “Archer, use the remaining loose vines to function as the assist. Bike, you make more vines for Archer! Random guy, you help Cardinal attack.”

They nodded and assumed their position, ending with the Elven Archer shooting arrows as she landed atop Bike’s vines.

Veronica got to summoning, starting with a large bird, followed by a swarm of Lesser Bees. They did small physical damage, but that was fine for her plan. She summoned more. The golem had no struggle against them, but she continued. She would take a few moments to recharge her mana, followed by her summoning more.

‘Is this a part of your plan?” Cardinal asked.

“Just keep covering me!” Veronica said.

Bike made more vines for the Elven Archer, who swung in for saves when needed. “I just how you know what you're doing,” she said as she jumped behind a vine to collect herself.

After 5 minutes of repeating the technique, the clearing-like chamber had laid bloody with the dead summons of Veronica. “Okay, everyone attack the joints!”

“Whatever you say,” Cardinal said, launching himself at the left arm joint of the Great Golem. The Elven Archer, the man, and Bike followed. They each used their offensive attacks on the joins.

“Mana Blast!” Veronica said as she aimed a pure mana beam to the center joint. It worked! The Great Golem lost it’s right arm in a shattering display! “Keep pushing!” Veronica yelled. The group continued the offensive strategy.

While they attacked, Veronica took the chance to loot the bodies of the man’s teammates without him noticing. She went after the mage, as signaled by the tattered mage hat. She threw the hat aside for later, discovering an intact bag under it. She searched the bag, finding 3 Small Mana Potions and 1 Medium one.

“Perfect!” she thought to herself, before putting the potions in her bag.

“Mana Blast!” Veronica yelled as she joined in on the assault of the Great Golem’s joints. Eventually, cracks became audible.

“This is getting old!” Cardinal yelled as he landed a critical hit on the golem’s core- It shattered! What was revealed was a glowing core, like the one Veronica had seen before.

“It can’t attack and takes more damage! Finish it!” Veronica yelled. She figured the weakened state was nothing but beneficial.

“On it!” Bike yelled as he started whipping the core with vines.

[-30 -20 -20 -30]

The Elven Archer follow soon, swinging on a vine right onto the core, dealing damage with her bow head before shooting directly.

[-100 -100 -100 -100]

Cardinal and the man did joint attacks on the core, landing continuous critical hits, so many that Veronica couldn’t keep track!

“The situation is perfect,” she said as he took out the potions, downing all of them.

[+Mana 250]

“Lets finish this!” Veronica yelled as she used Raise Minor Undead. Within seconds, all of the multitudes of dead summons began to rise. A stream of beards began to dart into the core, dying while dealing immense damage.

[-1—----02—-2340]

The numbers were struggling to display! Veronica followed up with the cats and bees, demolishing the core on contact.

“Die!” The Elven Archer yelled as she shot a massive arrow into the core, causing it to disperse into particles.

The silence became extremely loud. The group looked at each other in utter exhaustion mixed with excitement. Before anyone could say anything, the golem faded, leaving behind it’s smaller core. In it’s departure, a chest grew from the ground. It was brimmed with gold surrounding a mainly wooden texture.

“I call dibs!” Cardinal yelled as he ran to it.

Bang!

The Elven Archer stopped him with a chop to the back, “Not yet,” she said as she pointed to all the debris in the chamber.

“Ow!” Cardinal yelled. “What was that for?”

The Elven Archer started to explain, “If we open the chest, the dungeon will start to dissipate. Are we sure we have everything we need?” she asked as she looked to Veronica.

“You’re right,” Veronica said.

The man hunched somberly, “Yes, I have to collect the items of my friends,” he said as he went to the spot of the brutality. He started putting things in his bag.

Bike went over to the man, “I can say a prayer for them, if you want.”

“I would like that,” the man said as he stepped back.

As the others searched and Bike prayed, Veronica waited. When everything was finished, they met at the chest. Cardinal had picked up some herbs for him to use, and for Bike to enchant. He wasn’t of the Poisoners Class, but Veronica figured he could still benefit from them. The Elven Archer had collected some minor things, none of which Veronica was familiar with.

“You should open it,” the Elven Archer said as she pointed to Veronica.

“I agree” Bike said.

“Yeah,” Cardinal said, followed by the man nodding in agreement.

Veronica gulped, “Uh, thanks for not giving me any pressure here,” she said as she reached her hand out. She grabbed onto the chest before lifting it, each creak getting louder until it fully opened.

{50’000 Gold, 5 Medium Health Potion, 3 Medium Mana Potion, 2 Skill Enhancement Tome, 1 Tooth Dagger, 1 Green Diamond, 1 Ruby, 1 Golem Scroll, Stat Awaken Tome]

Veronica and crew’s eyes widened at the loot that was presented before them. The dreadful battle had been well worth it, for the most part.